Chapter 22: A Counterproductive Reminder

Solving the problem of not being able to eat a massive amount of food as a single person was incredibly simple: just find more people.

Li Xiao glanced at his roommates and asked in a low voice, "My dear sons, anyone interested in going out for a good meal tonight?"

The other three in the dorm immediately looked up at him.

"Master Li, are you treating us again?"

"Brother Li, what delicacies are you taking your brothers to eat this time?"

"Of course we’re interested! Brother Li, what’s on the menu for tonight?"

Li Xiao turned his phone around to show them the screen.

"My treat, of course. Celestial Treasure Restaurant, sizzling Jue Jue claypots. I checked, and their portions are pretty big. I plan to order quite a few dishes.

"But I’m afraid I won’t be able to finish it all by myself, so I need you guys to help me share the load.

"However, I’ll be livestreaming tonight. You might accidentally get your faces on camera while I’m filming. Of course, if you mind, you can sit at the next table."

The three of them waved their hands repeatedly.

"Mind? Why would we mind? We get to freeload food and drinks off Brother Li and experience what it’s like to be an internet celebrity on the side. We’re making out like bandits here!"

"Sizzling claypots? Brother Li is as generous as ever!"

"If I knew Brother Li was treating us tonight, I would have skipped lunch to save room for this free meal!"

Their enthusiastic answers didn’t surprise him. The four roommates had always shared a great relationship.

Li Xiao said, "Then it’s settled. We only have two classes this afternoon anyway.

"Let’s meet at the campus East Gate at five o’clock sharp. The four of us can easily split a rideshare and head straight there. If we go too late, I’m worried there will be a line."

While Li Xiao and his roommates were busy discussing the agenda of tonight’s livestream...

***

Inside Yun Ji Bamboo-Rising Wonton Noodles.

Yun Hongquan looked in confusion at the food bloggers scattered around his dining area, all holding cameras or phones to shoot videos. He turned to his wife, who was binge-watching a Korean drama next to him. "Ying, did you invite all these people over?"

Huang Shuying glanced up at the dining area, then rolled her eyes in annoyance. "It’s your shop’s business. Why would I dare stick my nose into it?"

Hearing his wife’s denial, Yun Hongquan grew even more puzzled. Ever since the old man retired, he and his wife had been the only ones running the shop. He hadn’t invited these people, and neither had his wife. Could these streamers have come on their own to review the restaurant?

He had actually encountered this kind of spontaneous food reviewer before. Usually, they had very few followers and were just starting out, doing these free shop reviews solely to build up their portfolios and accumulate fans. The reason he was so confused this time was that four different reviewing streamers had shown up all at once. It would be far too much of a stretch to call this a mere coincidence.

Suddenly, he thought of the streamer named ’Brother Li Loves Food’. Could it be that yesterday’s livestream had drawn these streamers here? After all, he also used Douyin, and he knew that some streamers loved to ride the coattails of trending topics to post videos.

At this thought, he couldn’t sit still any longer. Taking out a pack of cigarettes, he quickly walked over to one of the male streamers.

"Cigarette, brother!" Yun Hongquan shook out a Yellow Crane Tower cigarette and offered it to the man.

The male streamer, who had been focused on filming with his phone, was startled. When he realized the person standing before him was the boss who had just been sitting behind the cash register, panic surged in his chest. After all, he was here to film a negative hit piece. Now that the owner himself was standing right in front of him, he wondered, "Did my plan to film a negative warning video accidentally leak out?"

He nervously waved his hands. "Sorry, I don’t smoke."

Hearing that the streamer didn’t smoke, Yun Hongquan didn’t force it and stuffed the cigarette back into his pocket. Then, with a beaming smile, he asked, "My name is Yun Hongquan, and I’m the owner of this shop. Little brother, are you here to film a review video of our place?"

As the saying goes, you don’t slap a smiling face. Seeing the boss’s polite demeanor, the streamer had no choice but to introduce himself.

"My name is Deng Dongyu. I am indeed a food reviewing streamer.

"Can I help you with something, boss?"

As he spoke, Deng Dongyu carefully watched the man’s every move. He was already considering making a mad dash for the door at the first sign of trouble, just to spare himself a beating.

Yun Hongquan chuckled. "Nothing, nothing at all. You guys must have come over to review the shop after seeing yesterday’s livestream, right?"

Deng Dongyu took his work quite seriously. He had already researched his audience’s demands before coming, so he naturally knew about yesterday’s stream.

"Yeah. I saw that yesterday’s livestream got a lot of traffic, so I came over to shoot a review while the hype is still hot.

"Is filming not allowed here?"

Yun Hongquan thought, "Just as I suspected." These streamers were like hyenas smelling blood; they flocked wherever the traffic was. Li Xiao, that uninvited streamer, had already subconsciously given him a terrible impression of these internet personalities. He was deeply worried that these guys, just like Li Xiao, were here to cause trouble for him.

Consequently, he instinctively raised his voice and put on a fake smile.

"Of course I don’t mind you shooting videos to ride the traffic wave, little brother.

"However, you can’t twist the facts and say our shop’s food is bad.

"Otherwise, I will definitely pursue legal action."

Hearing this blatant threat, the fear in Deng Dongyu’s heart inexplicably faded, rapidly replaced by a wave of disgust. Before he could speak, a female streamer in a sailor uniform standing at the next table retorted in dissatisfaction.

"What’s this? Are review videos only allowed to sing praises now, and never criticize?

"It’s not like you paid us to be here. We make the most authentic review videos. If something is good, we’ll naturally praise it; if it’s bad, we absolutely have to criticize it."

Faced with her sharp rebuttal, Yun Hongquan was rendered somewhat speechless. It was true that they hadn’t taken his money, so he really had no leg to stand on to dictate what they did. He noticed that the gazes of the other streamers directed at him were also growing increasingly hostile.

He immediately abandoned any thought of arguing, somewhat regretting his overly aggressive tone just now. If he kept pushing the issue, it would likely provoke even more resentment from the rest of the room. If that happened, even if his shop hadn’t originally been slated for bad reviews, these streamers might very well pin some trumped-up charges on him.

Left with no other choice, he could only retreat behind the cash register with an awkward smile. He hurriedly instructed a waiter, "Send an extra bottle of soda and two side snacks to every table. And be polite when you speak to them, got it?"

The waiter nodded quickly and turned to the fridge to grab the drinks.

Looking at the soda and snacks placed in front of him, a flash of disdain crossed Deng Dongyu’s mind.

He thought, "Now he knows how to bribe me? What was he doing earlier? Besides, it’s just a bottle of Cola and two sides—not even worth thirty yuan combined. I’m a major streamer with 130,000 followers! With this meager offering, is he trying to bribe me, or is he trying to brush off a beggar?"