Chapter 118: Food Critic Li Shan

Chapter 118: Chapter 118: Food Critic Li Shan

"Just leave this to me. You can count on me to get it done!"

Li Shan declared confidently, then hung up the phone.

He thought of something and let out a soft scoff.

His eyes, behind their gold-rimmed glasses, were filled with disdain.

...Only to be quickly replaced by irritation.

"What a dump of a street! How can there not be a single parking spot?"

Li Shan glanced at the cars packed tightly on both sides of the road and silently grumbled a few words about their owners’ lack of class.

Finally, he managed to find an empty spot in some forgotten corner by the entrance to a residential complex, parked, and got out.

It took him about three or four minutes to reach the entrance of a seemingly unremarkable little restaurant. He tilted his head back to look at the sign.

’Nan Family’s Small Restaurant? How tacky.’

He started to walk inside.

"Hey, hey, hey!"

A middle-aged woman in a floral silk blouse blocked his way, saying displeasedly:

"What do you think you’re doing?! Have you no manners? Can’t you see we’re all waiting in line here?"

Caught off guard, Li Shan turned back in confusion.

"Are you talking to me?"

The woman sneered:

"You look young enough. Gone deaf already?"

Li Shan felt a surge of humiliation.

It had been a long time since he’d felt this way—not since he’d become famous!

"Ma’am, do you have any idea who I am? And you want *me* to wait in line?"

He never had to queue, not even for famous restaurants in the Gourmet Record or those with three Michelin stars. The manager always personally welcomed him, terrified he might utter a single bad word!

And what was this woman saying now? That he was deaf?

Furious, Li Shan was about to retort.

The woman opposite him gave a dry laugh and rolled her eyes.

"Oh? And who are you? The President of the United States? You want all of us to form an honor guard and welcome you?"

The string of barbed comments left Li Shan seething. His anger flared.

Snickers of agreement rose from the people nearby.

Feeling everyone’s eyes on him, Li Shan’s face flushed crimson.

"Fine, fine, fine! It’s just a line, right!"

He glanced at the entrance, noting the lack of any host to greet customers. He walked to the end of the line, and without a word, pulled out a black notebook and began scribbling furiously.

’Lacks any sense of service. No host at the door to greet guests. A restaurant like this...’

Li Shan kept writing, but something felt off.

’I’m not reading this out loud, so how...’

"Ah! What are you doing?"

Li Shan was startled.

He realized an old man stood behind him, fanning himself. The man was squinting, reading aloud every word Li Shan had written in his notebook as a small crowd listened in.

Li Shan hurriedly closed his notebook.

"Who gave you permission to look? Don’t you know that’s..."

"’Against the law? You gonna call the cops on me? Go on. The station is right over there.’"

The old man continued to wave his fan despite the mild weather. He looked at Li Shan with a cheerful, good-natured smile, but his words were anything but soft.

’Business first! Business first! Business first!’

After chanting this to himself three times, Li Shan forcibly suppressed his anger, deciding not to stoop to the level of these old folks for the time being.

Unfortunately for him, the aunties and uncles weren’t done with him yet.

"Hey, sonny, judging by what you were writing, are you one of those... what’s it called... from the internet?"

Li Shan had been feeling a bit flustered.

But at these words, he lifted his chin.

"That’s right. I am..."

"...a food streamer?"

Li Shan felt as if he’d been punched squarely on the bridge of his nose. The world swam before his eyes.

Stunned for several seconds, he finally retorted loudly:

"A gourmet! A food critic! How dare you confuse me with some food streamer?"

Li Shan’s indignation was completely lost on the older crowd.

"What’s the difference between a gourmet and a food streamer?"

"Is there a difference? They both just show up to eat."

"So they’re just like us?"

"Yup, hahaha."

"..."

Li Shan was about to pass out from sheer rage.

He thought about the treatment he usually received. At other restaurants, everyone fawned over him. Nothing like this.

’As expected of a low-class dive. Even its patrons are low-class!’

Finally, the line moved along, and soon it was Li Shan’s turn.

The two women ahead of Li Shan stepped inside, giving the waitress a thumbs-up.

"Xiao Qi, this expansion was a great idea! You should have done it ages ago! Look, even our wait time is shorter today!"

Qi Pei’er nodded with a cheerful laugh.

"We were just too swamped before, weren’t we? We can’t let the quality of our food suffer for the sake of more business."

The women immediately nodded in agreement.

Li Shan pursed his lips from behind them.

He’d done his research before coming. He knew this restaurant was filming a variety show, and that the waitress in front of him was a singer named something like Qi Pei’er.

Of course, none of that was important. Li Shan’s goal for the day was to pose as an ordinary diner, and then...

"Xiao Qi, this fella says he’s a gourmet, or a food critic, or something."

The fan-waving old man suddenly poked his head out from behind Li Shan.

Qi Pei’er’s smile froze.

"Oh? A food critic?"

Li Shan, who had no intention whatsoever of revealing his identity: !!!

He took a deep breath. Since things had come to this, he figured he might as well be upfront about it.

So, Li Shan pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and gave a polite nod.

"Yes, that’s me. I was told there was a decent little restaurant in the area, so I came to check it out."

"Oh, I see, I see. Good, good."

Qi Pei’er nodded repeatedly, then called Qi Zhang over to lead the customer to a table.

Li Shan frowned.

"Aren’t you going to seat me personally?"

Qi Pei’er looked blank.

"Huh?"

Li Shan stressed,

"I’m a food critic. As per protocol..."

"There’s a protocol for that?"

Qi Pei’er scratched her head and gave a resigned nod.

She asked Qi Zhang to watch the door for a moment while she personally led Li Shan inside.

The noisy, crowded dining hall filled Li Shan with disdain.

When Qi Pei’er led him to a table in the corner, his disdain reached its zenith.

"You—You’re seating me *here*?"

Li Shan couldn’t believe his eyes!

Qi Pei’er was unfazed.

"You’re a party of one, right? This small table should be sufficient."

"...I’m a food critic!"

"So? Does that mean you eat a lot?"

"Forget it."

Li Shan waved a dismissive hand, signaling for Qi Pei’er to leave.

Qi Pei’er left a menu with him.

"Alright, take a look. Call me when you’re ready to order."

She hurried off, heading straight for the kitchen.

"Zhizhi! There’s a food critic out front! And he’s clearly here to cause trouble!"

Qi Pei’er might be an optimist, but she wasn’t a fool.

She’d sensed he was looking for trouble the moment he appeared.

Her playing dumb earlier had been entirely intentional.

So now, she made sure to run and warn Nan Zhi.

Nan Zhi, busy at the stove, paused for a moment.

"A food critic? Alright, I understand."

She then gestured for Qi Pei’er to get back to her work, indicating she shouldn’t worry about it.

After Qi Pei’er left, Xie Yu frowned.

"You’re really not going to do anything about it?"

Nan Zhi calmly lifted a whole chicken from a deep pot.

She moved with great care, making sure not to break the skin and compromise the flavor.

"Mm, don’t worry about it. Let’s just focus on what we do best."