Chapter 22: Fried Rice Beauty?

Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Fried Rice Beauty?

The moment the customer left, Nan Yi reached out and tugged on Nan Zhi’s sleeve.

"That person was a little strange."

His little face was stern, and his dark, deep eyes held a surprising intensity.

He looked a bit like that man.

Nan Zhi’s mind wandered for a moment, but her expression remained unchanged as she patiently asked,

"Oh? What was strange about him?"

"Well..."

Nan Yi couldn’t say specifically what it was.

Relying on his animal-like intuition, he had sensed a prying, uncomfortable feeling from the man, but he had no proof.

He opened his mouth, thought for a moment, but still couldn’t come up with a reason.

His shoulders suddenly slumped.

"I don’t know."

His tone was stiff, and it sounded like he was sulking.

Nan Yi didn’t realize it, but in the past, he would have resisted or hidden away. He never would have sulked at Nan Zhi.

Sulking was a privilege reserved for children who knew they were loved.

Nan Zhi noticed, and a light smile touched her lips.

"It’s okay. We’ll just keep an eye on him."

Nan Yi looked up in surprise, tilting his little head.

Just as the mother and son were murmuring to each other,

Xiao Qian pushed through the crowd to the front and quickly told them that the man was a food vlogger.

Nan Zhi’s first reaction wasn’t alarm, but rather:

"Wow! Yiyi, you were spot on!"

"Hmph."

Nan Yi tried to keep a stern expression, but a hint of smugness still escaped from the corner of his eyes.

Nan Zhi’s smile deepened.

After thanking Xiao Qian, she began to mull over the situation—

The man hadn’t bought anything else. He had come straight for her fried rice stall.

’Could it be...?’

’The production team?’

-

Nan Zhi had guessed correctly.

The young man’s name was Yang Nick.

Of course, that wasn’t his real name, but his online handle.

As a fairly well-known food vlogger, when Yang Nick accepted the commission, he assumed it was just another promotional stunt for a restaurant.

This was all routine for Yang Nick. He put on his mini-camera, started his live stream, and headed over, telling his fans only that a friend had recommended a fried rice stall.

When he saw the bustling food truck from a distance, Yang Nick’s thoughts were similar to his fans’—

’Oh, another viral food stall that’s only famous for its good-looking owner.’

Still, he was being paid to do a job.

Though scornful, Yang Nick expertly rubbed his hands together for his audience, feigning excitement.

...At this point, he still had no idea that he had actually been hired by the production team of a variety show.

He was just thinking, ’Can a small stall like this even make back the money they’re paying me for this promotion?’

Yang Nick’s live audience, however, wasn’t so kind:

[Another "Fried Rice Beauty." Old Yang’s getting paid for this, isn’t he?]

[His friend recommended it. Old Yang probably didn’t know. He’s usually pretty honest with his reviews.]

[Heh, you can tell this woman isn’t serious about cooking. She’s probably just trying to go viral for her looks and break into showbiz!]

[Gotta say, the brother and sister duo are both pretty good-looking.]

[What? They’re mother and son?]

...

Yang Nick’s live stream and *Cub Observation Diary*’s were on different platforms with different audiences.

Furthermore, Nan Zhi no longer looked like the person the public remembered.

So, for the time being, neither audience realized the connection!

Yang Nick, disguised as a regular customer, bought a portion of fried rice.

Along the way, he overheard other customers boasting about how unbelievably divine the egg fried rice tasted.

Yang Nick: ...

’Come on, lady, even if you’re going to hire shills, don’t make it so obvious!’

’It’s so staged! They’re going to blow their cover!’

Worried that his own reputation was on the line, he grew anxious and made sure to show a hint of doubt for the camera.

"Is the fried rice really that good? I find that hard to believe. You’re setting my expectations way too high!"

That statement finally managed to steer the public opinion in his live stream, which had started to question him, back in his favor:

[I thought Old Yang was selling out. I was just about to flame you.]

[Old Yang, you got screwed over by your friend again, didn’t you? You gotta be more careful!]

[The restaurant scene is full of landmines. Even Old Yang steps on one sometimes!]

[These paid actors are laying it on too thick. You’d think they were talking about Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, not fried rice!]

[If they have so much money to burn, they should just give it to me! No middleman to take a cut!]

...

While his audience was busy with their cynical comments, Yang Nick had already found a public table at the night market and sat down.

He opened the container, ready to offer a few remarks.

The night breeze carried the rich aroma of egg fried rice straight to him!

Yang Nick froze, subconsciously swallowing. "Th-this does smell amazing. I’ll give it a taste!"

He quickly unwrapped his chopsticks and shoveled a large mouthful of rice into his mouth.

To be fair, Yang Nick had eaten at countless food joints, from famous restaurants to hidden back-alley stalls.

But none of them had ever served an egg fried rice that delivered such an incredible impact as the one before him now!

The long-dormant foodie soul within Yang Nick ignited, and he began gesticulating wildly at the camera.

"This is seriously delicious! I am absolutely not kidding! It’s fluffy but holds its shape, rich but not greasy. Every single grain of rice is coated in egg, and the way each grain is so distinct... it’s like they’re glowing! No wonder it’s called Golden Egg Fried Rice! No wonder everyone said it was divine! After one bite, I honestly felt my mind go blank, like I was floating on a cloud!"

After rattling all that off, he buried his face in the container again, eating with total, blissful abandon!

[Really? I don’t believe you.]

[That’s so over-the-top. Is he high or something... Somebody should investigate!]

[As a long-time fan, I can say I haven’t seen Old Yang this happy while eating in a long time. It must be genuinely good.]

[I have to admit, you’ve piqued my interest. That night market is right near my house!]

[The egg fried rice does look pretty good. Maybe it actually is delicious?]

[Whoa, my mouth is watering.]

...

At first, the live comments were a little skeptical. But after seeing Yang Nick finish his portion and decisively get up to buy a second, their doubts gradually vanished. One by one, they were completely sold!

Now they had to see for themselves what this egg fried rice, so highly praised by Yang Nick, actually tasted like!

-

Backstage at the production office, it was completely silent.

Seeing this familiar routine play out, the other staff members had long guessed it was their own Director Xu’s doing.

It was just that Director Xu’s original plan had likely been to use the food vlogger to "expose" Nan Zhi’s fried rice and generate some controversial publicity in the process.

After all, back then, they had all assumed the customers at Nan Zhi’s stall were just paid actors hired by her agent.

But now...

"So he shot himself in the foot, huh?"

"More like a happy accident. At least the outcome is good."

"Yang Nick doesn’t know the truth, does he?"

"Nope."

"Good. It’s better if he’s kept in the dark."

"Weren’t we talking about making a sacrifice for the ratings? Is that still happening?"

"Umm..."

Xu Lin reminded them, his face expressionless,

"I can hear you."

The muttering in the room instantly vanished.

In the end, Xu Lin left the room to cool off.

The second he was out the door, someone brought out a food container.

"He’s finally gone. Quick, let’s eat the fried rice! It’s no good when it gets cold!"

"Why is there only one? I said I wanted two!"

"There are too many of us, it would’ve been too awkward to buy more!"

"I heard Nan Zhi is planning to limit purchases. The stall is getting more and more popular."

"No way!"

"..."