Chapter 84: Teaching a Fish How to Swim

Chapter 84: Chapter 84: Teaching a Fish How to Swim

Nan Zhi’s words were merciless:

"None of it is acceptable."

The young man looked slightly annoyed.

He clenched his fists, but then he suddenly caught sight of Fu Chao and Xie Yu, who had come out after hearing the commotion.

His eyes darted around, and his expression quickly shifted to one of misery and helplessness:

"Aren’t these vegetables all fine? There are no rotten or spoiled ones here. My dad went to the countryside early this morning to get them! He’s over sixty, with high blood pressure and high cholesterol, yet he still has to get up at 4 a.m. every day to procure vegetables. It’s really not easy for him. Boss, please, have a heart. We’re just a small business. Don’t make things so difficult for us."

The young man had a simple, honest-looking face. He wore a grimy T-shirt and his pants were covered in dust.

When he spoke in that low, humble voice, he truly looked like an honest man being bullied, easily evoking sympathy.

It made Nan Zhi, by contrast, seem a bit cold and unreasonable.

The viewers in the live stream chat also saw this scene unfold.

Through the camera, they could see that all the vegetables on the ground were perfectly intact.

One after another, they expressed their confusion at Nan Zhi’s behavior:

[Aren’t these vegetables perfectly fine?]

[People running small businesses like this have it tough. Everyone should be a bit more tolerant.]

[Yeah, Nan Zhi is being way too picky. I think that young boss is about to cry.]

[So pitiful. He worked so hard to deliver the vegetables, he’s all dirty, and now he’s being turned away.]

[Celebrities like Nan Zhi have zero sympathy for ordinary people!]

[Ermmm... am I the only one who thinks this is a bit of a guilt trip? Like, whoever’s weaker is automatically in the right?]

...

Fortunately, Fu Chao and Xie Yu, standing behind Nan Zhi, didn’t say a single word from beginning to end.

They didn’t even show a hint of doubt in their eyes, standing firmly on Nan Zhi’s side the entire time.

As for Nan Zhi, she couldn’t be bothered to waste her breath on the young boss.

She pulled out her phone, dialed a number, and put it on speaker.

The call connected quickly, and a cheerful voice came through:

"Hello? Boss Nan? Did my boy deliver today’s vegetables?"

Nan Zhi questioned him coldly:

"Boss Yang, I’m afraid the vegetables your family delivered today don’t quite match what I saw yesterday, do they?"

Boss Yang on the other end sounded a bit baffled:

"N-No, that can’t be right! I picked everything according to the standards you set yesterday, without cutting any corners! Boss Nan, I know how sharp your eyes are. I wouldn’t dare try to teach a master her own craft!"

Nan Zhi glanced at Xiao Yang, whose face had paled slightly:

"Is that so? Because all the vegetables I’m looking at are substandard. The radishes are pithy, the leafy greens aren’t fresh—did you think a spritz of water would hide that? And these bamboo shoots reek of sulfur. Did you think I wouldn’t be able to smell it?"

Fu Chao discreetly twitched his nose. ’Huh, I really can’t smell a thing.’

Xie Yu secretly glanced over the vegetables. ’So there’s this much to it.’

These two didn’t know any better.

But Nan Zhi was a true expert.

The few points she had so casually raised were already making Xiao Yang break out in a cold sweat.

Xiao Yang probably never imagined that someone who looked so young could have such a brutally sharp eye!

No wonder his dad had said it would be like "teaching a master her own craft"!

Xiao Yang bitterly clasped his hands together, silently pleading with Nan Zhi to let him off the hook.

But his old man was no pushover.

After Nan Zhi’s sharp critique left him red-faced, Boss Yang quickly realized who was behind the mischief and apologized profusely.

He not only personally promised to replace the batch of vegetables but also offered a discount on all future orders from his business.

Only then did Nan Zhi reluctantly relent.

About ten seconds later, Xiao Yang’s phone rang.

He answered it with a grimace.

Even from two or three meters away, Nan Zhi and the others could hear Boss Yang’s booming curses.

The tirade went on for nearly five full minutes.

Nan Zhi and the others didn’t move; they just stood with their arms crossed, listening with great interest.

When he finally hung up, Xiao Yang looked completely deflated.

Nan Zhi glanced at him and said unhurriedly:

"You’re running a business, and so am I. If I sympathize with you, does that mean my customers deserve to eat subpar vegetables?"

This wasn’t just directed at Xiao Yang, but also at the audience.

Sharp as she was, she had already anticipated the direction the live comments were going.

And sure enough, the live chat was flooded with guilty-looking emojis.

[I suddenly realize I’m a huge idiot. I believe anything anyone says.]

[The mind games are too deep. That Xiao Yang is such an actor!]

[There’s nothing wrong with being kind-hearted...]

[I think Nan Zhi is right. They’re running a restaurant now. If I were a customer, I’d definitely be unhappy.]

[So what if you’re kind-hearted? Does being kind mean you should just let the customers eat crappy vegetables?!]

...

After Xiao Yang finally left with his cart of vegetables.

Fu Chao’s back, which had been tense the whole time, finally relaxed.

He seemed to have forgotten they were live streaming and said casually:

"Nan Zhi, thank god you’ve got a sharp eye! I almost fell for that kid’s bullshit! I was actually starting to feel sorry for him!"

Nan Zhi stated flatly:

"Boss Yang drives an imported Mercedes E-Class."

Fu Chao instantly fell silent.

The live chat went silent as well.

An imported Mercedes E-Class starts at at least 500,000 yuan.

It wasn’t a top-tier luxury car, but anyone who could afford it was by no means from a poor family.

The truth was, Boss Yang’s vegetable business was quite large.

Otherwise, Nan Zhi wouldn’t have even considered their vegetables in the first place.

The ingredient standards for a proper restaurant with a storefront couldn’t be equated with those of a night market fried rice stall.

Of course, this was already the result of Nan Zhi lowering her standards.

If judged by her own true standards, even these vegetables wouldn’t be considered acceptable.

In the Otherworld, she had had an entire county as her vegetable supply base.

’Now, I should at least have a private farm.’

’The road ahead is long and arduous.’

Just then, another batch of ingredients arrived. This time, it was meat.

There was also a pile of things wrapped up like traditional Chinese medicinal herbs.

Everyone was on edge, terrified that Nan Zhi would once again say, "Not acceptable."

Fortunately, all the meat passed inspection this time.

Looking at the neatly arranged meat and the "herbs," everyone grew curious.

Nan Yi, her big eyes shining brightly, looked at Nan Zhi with great anticipation:

"Mommy, what are you going to make?"

Nan Zhi gave a mysterious smile:

"You’ll know soon enough."

She had considered many options for the first dish to attract customers to the new restaurant.

After much thought, nothing seemed more suitable than this—

Nan Zhi took the role of head chef, with Xie Yu as her sous chef.

Fu Chao and Qi Pei’er also joined the team to help with odd jobs.

As for Nan Yi and the other three children, they were purely spectators.

Seven pairs of eyes, along with countless more from the live stream, were all fixed on Nan Zhi’s movements, curious to see what new marvels her skillful hands would create.

They watched as Nan Zhi opened the paper packages and took out the medicinal herbs inside—oh, no, they were actually spices.

Package after package of dried tangerine peel, star anise, cloves, black cardamom, cinnamon, and other spices were laid out before Nan Zhi in a dazzling array.

And she, like a general inspecting her troops, casually grabbed a handful from the selection, seemingly at random.

Fu Chao happened to have a digital scale nearby.

He secretly took the star anise Nan Zhi had just grabbed, placed it on the scale, and his eyes instantly widened:

"Exactly 75 grams!"

It was a perfect zero after the decimal point!

Not a bit more!

Not a bit less!