Chapter 407 - 160: 368-Yuan Champion, Doll in Hand

Chapter 407: Chapter 160: 368-Yuan Champion, Doll in Hand

There were too many people here, so she didn’t say much.

After all, Delicious was now a somewhat well-known food company in Jingzhou. Between Su Chen’s previous livestreams and his time as a street vendor, a fair number of people in the city recognized him.

But for the moment, it seemed no one in the crowd recognized him.

If an employee from Delicious started bidding now, and something unexpected happened, they might be recognized.

Then, it would be inevitable that trolls online would start talking.

Ling Shuyu simply wanted to avoid such unnecessary trouble.

Su Chen’s egg-fried rice was in a similarly awkward predicament. For some inexplicable reason, no one seemed to want to even try it.

Just as it looked like this awkward situation was going to continue, and just as the host was about to declare the auction a failure...

From a corner no one had been paying attention to, the man who had previously paid a high price for the Sautéed Pork Slices suddenly popped up.

"Holy shit, this fried rice is amazing! Can I get another bowl?"

The host was stunned.

"Sir, you’re already eating the pork. Isn’t one bowl of rice enough? That dish must be amazing if it makes you want this much rice!"

"No, it’s not the pork!" the man exclaimed, holding up his plate. "I haven’t even touched this yet! It’s the fried rice. Holy shit, it’s so good! Can I get another bowl?"

This time, before the host could speak, Su Chen spoke up.

"The next one’s not free, you know!"

The man actually nodded without hesitation, tossing his plate of pork onto the prep station. "10! I’m willing to pay 10 for another bowl!"

Generally speaking, the price of egg-fried rice in a normal small restaurant ranges from 8 to 18 yuan.

So his offer of 10 yuan was quite reasonable, especially since he’d already had one bowl for free.

Ling Shuyu’s sharp eyes caught something. Just as the man offered to pay, she saw someone who looked like the restaurant’s owner standing at the entrance, frantically making faces and gesturing with his eyes at the man on stage.

’So he really is a shill.’

’Which means Chef No. 6 was probably a shill, too.’

A corner of Ling Shuyu’s mouth lifted into a smirk. She settled in to watch the show.

But the man’s impassioned demand for another ten-yuan bowl of rice didn’t manage to capture the crowd’s attention.

Just as the host was about to give the man his bowl of rice...

The middle-aged man next to Zhang Heping squeezed past Zhang the Second and Shi Qi, moving between them to take a step forward.

"Host, may I ask a question?"

The host glanced at the owner by the entrance before turning back with a smile. "Go ahead, sir!"

The middle-aged man pointed at the wok on the stage. "Are you auctioning one bowl of rice, or this entire wok?"

The host hadn’t expected someone to be such a stickler for the details. The question stumped her, and she again looked pleadingly toward the owner at the entrance.

At this point, Su Chen stepped forward and took the microphone.

’We’re just here to have some fun, after all.’

Su Chen took the initiative and said, "My suggestion is, since I made such a big batch, why not let everyone here have a taste first? Then we can start the auction. What do you think, Host?"

"Well..."

"Yes! Let’s do what the young man says!" The owner had come up onto the stage. "Our whole goal with this event is to get a lively crowd! Keep it real! Come on, get some tableware out here. Let’s get everyone a taste."

He’d thought the event would end with his own chef’s Sautéed Pork Slices, but he never expected a Cheng Yaojin to show up halfway through. This was free publicity, and he wasn’t about to pass it up!

Waitstaff moved quickly, bringing out stacks of disposable bowls and chopsticks from the restaurant. They put a small spoonful of rice in each bowl—not much, just a bite or two.

Other staff members then passed them out to the crowd. Of course, not everyone could get one; only about two dozen samples were handed out in total.

People farther back tried to push forward for a free taste. Many stretched out their arms in vain and could only sigh in disappointment when they came up empty-handed.

Luckily, because they were standing near the front, the Delicious employees and the inquisitive middle-aged man all managed to get a sample.

The free samples had just been handed out when cries of astonishment began to ripple through the crowd.

"Holy shit! It really is garlic egg-fried rice, and it’s so fucking good it’s insane!"

"Garlic... egg-fried rice... so good!"

"NOM NOM! This is the first time in my entire life I’ve tasted egg-fried rice like this. It’s a little strange, but it tastes amazing."

"Hey! Are we starting the auction for the whole wok now? Can we start bidding?"

The middle-aged man at the front of the stage beat everyone to the punch and started stirring things up again.

"Host, Owner! I have another suggestion."

The owner on stage was getting annoyed. "What is it?"

"He worked hard making this, after all. Why don’t you give the auction money to contestant number 8? You guys just provided the ingredients. It’s a promotional event, you can afford to be a little generous."

The owner frowned. "Fine."

’Who the hell is this guy, anyway?’ he thought. ’Why won’t he shut up? I was just trying to prevent cheating!’

But since the event had already reached this level of excitement...

The discount card and stuffed animal prize seemed well worth it!

Giving the auction money to the contestant was no big deal.

The host seized the moment. "Wow! You all heard it! Our boss just announced that all proceeds from this auction will go directly to the contestant! So let’s get the bidding started! The current high bid to beat is 33 yuan for the Sautéed Pork Slices. Do I have an opening bid?"