Gourmet: The God-Level Culinary Tycoon

The wontons at this shop were authentic Cantonese style—thin wrappers with a thick filling. With one bite, meat juices burst forth.

The tenderness of the pork and the crisp snap of the shrimp exploded in my mouth.

As I chewed gently, the two distinct umami flavors blended together.

Li Xiao’s eyes lit up as he swallowed the food.

The wontons were even better than he had imagined. No wonder a long line was already forming at the door at 5:30 on a weekday.

The instant Li Xiao swallowed,

a series of system notifications chimed in his mind.

[Congratulations, you have unlocked your first Atlas entry!]

[The gourmet food Atlas entry you unlocked is: Wonton Noodles]

[Food Rating: 71 [Average]]

[As the food rating is Average, rewards are doubled (x2).]

[Congratulations, you have received a cash reward of 200,000.]

[Congratulations, you have received the Wonton Recipe.]

[Congratulations, you have received the Bamboo-Pole Noodle Recipe.]

[Note 1: Rewards will be automatically legitimized. You do not need to worry about their origin.]

[Note 2: Reward multipliers vary based on the rating.]

[Rating: 60-69, Passable; x1 reward multiplier]

[Rating: 70-79, Average; x2 reward multiplier]

[Rating: 80-89, Good; x3 reward multiplier]

[Rating: 90-99, Excellent; x4 reward multiplier]

The next moment, Li Xiao saw his phone screen light up.

[Your savings card ending in 7700 has received a deposit of 200,000.00...]

At the same time, knowledge on how to make wontons instantly flooded his mind.

Li Xiao’s eyes widened in delight.

He hadn’t expected the system’s reward to be so generous—a direct deposit of 200,000.

His family had been well-off in both this life and his previous one.

But a sudden windfall of 200,000 was still enough to make him ecstatic.

After all, this bowl of wontons only cost 12 yuan. The return on investment was an astonishing 16,000-to-1.

With a return like that, even the investing god Warren Buffett would have to pay for his dinner just to learn his financial management methods.

Temporarily suppressing his joy, Li Xiao knew this was just the beginning.

This was only the first Atlas entry he had unlocked, and it had only received an "Average" rating, yet it yielded such a reward.

If he unlocked more entries and achieved higher ratings, the rewards would only get bigger.

Despite the system’s reward, Li Xiao didn’t forget his actual job.

’Since I’m trying to fulfill my predecessor’s last wish, I have to do it properly. I can’t just slack off.’

’If you’re going to do a job, you’ve got to commit to it.’

He immediately started explaining to his livestream audience:

"I just tried the wontons. The ones here at Yun Ji Bamboo-Rising Wonton Noodles are very well-made."

"The wrappers are thin and the filling is generous. I’m eating the shrimp wontons right now. The pork is tender and finely ground, with a distinct texture, not that mushy feeling you sometimes get."

"The shrimp has a crisp snap to it, and the meat is very firm. You can tell at a glance that these are freshly peeled, not some cheap frozen shrimp."

"Don’t be fooled by the fact there are only six wontons in this bowl. For only 12 yuan, the value for money is incredibly high!"

As soon as Li Xiao’s praise went out, some doubtful comments appeared in the live chat.

"What did I tell you? There are no honest streamers these days! Looks like another one who got paid to promote this place!!"

"These days, as long as a shop is willing to pay, streamers will praise their food to the heavens, even if it’s disgusting!!"

"Six wontons for 12 yuan and he calls that good value? Where I’m from, 12 yuan could feed you for a whole day!"

...

Seeing the viewers’ skepticism, Li Xiao frowned slightly.

He wanted to argue back, but he knew it wouldn’t be very effective.

Society is full of conspiracy theories these days. The spectators behind their screens all think they’re master strategists, under the delusion that they’re the only sober ones in a world of drunks.

The more you try to explain, the more they assume you have something to hide.

After a moment’s hesitation, a slight smile touched Li Xiao’s lips.

"Those of you saying I took a promotional fee or got paid off probably haven’t seen the video I posted earlier."

"I’ve actually made it very clear before. I didn’t create this account to make money. I did it to promote good food and to expose fake shops and food bloggers."

Sure enough, as soon as he finished his explanation, the live chat erupted with even more fervor.

"Every streamer says they don’t do paid promotions, yet they all take ad deals faster than anyone else!"

"You expect me to believe someone in this day and age works for something other than money? Yeah, right!"

"C’mon, bros. Are you going to believe the streamer? Or are you going to believe that I’m Qin Shi Huang?"

"Hey, bro upstairs, as long as you don’t ask me to transfer you money, I’ll believe you!"

...

This topic clearly hit a nerve with most of the audience, and more and more people jumped into the discussion.

As the number of people discussing in the chat grew, the number of online viewers also steadily rose.

30...

40...

50...

Seeing that the atmosphere had been sufficiently stirred, Li Xiao knew it was time to make his final move—the long setup was complete, and the final reveal was at hand.

Li Xiao:

"So, it seems a lot of you don’t believe me, huh?"

A torrent of "I don’t believe you" immediately flooded the chat.

Li Xiao:

"Alright then. In that case, I will make a solemn promise right here."

"If anyone—be it a netizen, a shop owner, or an employee—can provide concrete evidence that I have accepted any promotional fees or have been paid off by any shop..."

"I will personally reward the whistleblower 300,000 yuan!"

"I will make a separate video about this and pin it to the top of my profile."

"Furthermore, I will also have a lawyer notarize this matter!"

"I welcome all netizens to supervise and hold me accountable."

"Of course, that 300,000 is just for now. Once my follower count breaks 100,000, the reward will increase from 300,000 to 3 million!"

"And when I break 1 million followers, the reward will go from 3 million to 30 million!"

"I originally wanted to interact with everyone as a normal person, but I didn’t expect to be met with such distrust and alienation."

"Fine. I’m done pretending. I’m laying my cards on the table. I’m a rich second-generation kid!"

"I’m doing this account purely as a hobby!"

To shut them up, he opened his banking app.

After covering some key information with his finger, he showed the balance displayed on the screen.

Although this bank card only had 260,000 in it, it was more than enough to shut most of them up.

After all this commotion, the number of viewers in the livestream shot up from 30 to 85.

Seeing the soaring popularity, many ass-kissing comments began to appear in the chat.

Li Xiao’s mood instantly improved.

Most people quite enjoy a bit of flattery, and as an ordinary guy, he was more than happy to receive it.

Having just received 200,000 from the system, he was naturally in a great mood.

Coincidentally, the lucky bags in the stream had just been claimed.

With a grand wave of his hand, Li Xiao announced, "Everyone, just by showing up in my stream, you’re giving me, Brother Li, a lot of face."

"So Brother Li won’t be stingy. I’ll hand out a few small perks for you all!"

As he spoke, he dropped five more keyword-activated lucky bags into the stream, each worth 99 yuan.