The Gourmet Customizer

Chapter 89: Chapter 72: Zhang Li: I’m Turning to the Dark Side

Only after Zhang Li was a good distance away did Wang Rui unhappily stuff a mouthful of noodles into his mouth. "Look at her, so smug!"

The finance lady commented thoughtfully, "She’s just a young girl. Still, you have to admire her courage for chasing a job she’s passionate about."

Wang Rui was unimpressed and continued slurping his noodles. ’This is way too good,’ he thought. ’Zhang Li must be ecstatic to work here, right?’

The petite girl returned to the kitchen, carrying the green onions. "Sister Ling, I got the green onions!"

Ling Shuyu stood before the stove, averting her gaze. "Mhm, just leave them there. I’ll peel them after I finish this pot of noodle soup."

"Okay, I’ll just go eat first... Sister Ling, where’s my stir-fried chicken?"

She was stunned. Zhang Li was truly dumbfounded!

’I was just gone for a moment to grab a bundle of green onions. How is my stir-fried chicken gone?’

’Taking the whole plate would have been one thing, but what’s the deal with leaving just the soup?’

"I don’t know," Ling Shuyu said, stirring the eggs with her head down. "Someone was in the kitchen just now. Why don’t you go out and ask?"

"Damn it!" Zhang Li clenched her fists, feeling like she was on the verge of her villain origin story.

’Are they hazing the newbie?!’

’Is this the unspoken rule of the workplace at Delicious?!’

’So ruthless!’

’From now on, I have to stick close to Sister Ling. The only way for newcomers to survive is to band together so the old-timers can’t bully them!’

With a fierce look in her eyes, Zhang Li squatted in a corner and silently peeled the green onions.

’Why is it always the well-behaved ones who get bullied?’

’Don’t I deserve to have a complete lunch?!’

’I’m going to turn to the dark side!’

...

As usual, Delicious had no customers all afternoon. However, Bai Xiaobo took a few orders, and the customers specifically asked for the stir-fried chicken.

This was a no-brainer. He wrote down the orders and waited for Su Chen to wake up.

「Meanwhile, in the Jingzhou City District.」

After Liu Ahbao returned to his hotel, he used the video editing techniques he’d learned to cut the footage from the morning into a two-minute clip. He then uploaded it to his Douyin account, "Ah Bao’s Food Tours."

Satisfied, he paid five hundred yuan to boost the video’s traffic.

’Whether I can make it big is all up to you!’

With that done, Ah Bao began to wonder what his next move should be. If he were to continue food vlogging, a food desert like Jingzhou really didn’t have many good places to go.

Besides, Lu Yongliang had given him a mission: he had to get close to Boss Su and, ideally, learn a few tricks from him.

Unfortunately, during his meal earlier, the boss had been unwilling to even meet him.

’This is going to be tricky!’

Just as he was at a loss, Ah Bao’s phone went DING. He glanced at the screen.

"Hey? Paying for traffic really works! It’s only been a few minutes and there are already comments? And quite a few of them, too!"

This was the first video he had ever posted. Excited, Ah Bao quickly opened his phone, ready to interact with his new fans.

["This must be the shill from Old Uncle’s stream today, right? LMAO, shills are so brazen they’re posting their own videos now!"]

["Old Uncle just went live and said it. That place is a total rip-off! They charge 88 yuan for half a chicken, and it tastes disgusting! Whoever goes will regret it. This guy is a shill, everyone, don’t fall for it!"]

["Shills these days are so bold. He even dares to claim the title of a Hubei Cuisine Senior Technician. I’m dying!"]

Liu Ahbao’s brow furrowed as he read the new comments.

’This is the very first video I’ve posted. How are there already haters?’

’And they’re calling me a shill?’

’I don’t even fucking know Boss Su! How could I be his shill?!’

TAP, TAP, TAP!

Liu Ahbao instantly typed out a long block of text, but after a moment’s hesitation, he deleted it.

’This isn’t the time to get into arguments with viewers, not even with haters.’

’You say I’m a shill? Fine, I’ll prove it to you!’

’But who is this Old Uncle from the comments section?’

Liu Ahbao searched on Douyin and soon found a streamer named "Old Uncle’s Food Tours" who was currently live.

"Folks, I’m telling you, whatever you do, don’t eat at that company in the Development Zone. They go by the name of ’Delicious Customization,’ but if you ask me, they’re just out to rip people off!"

"I ordered two servings of their 88-yuan stir-fried chicken, and I didn’t even take a single bite!"

’Shit!’

Liu Ahbao recognized the face on the stream. Wasn’t this the guy who was sitting next to him and eating at Boss Su’s place today?

’Damn it!’

’You clearly polished off three bowls of noodles by yourself, and you have the gall to say you didn’t take a single bite?’

"A shill! He has to be a shill! To say something that disgusting tastes good is absolutely ridiculous! That dude was probably suffering while he ate it, haha!"

Liu Ahbao ground his teeth in frustration as he watched the stream. The worst part was that despite the lies, the live comments were a stream of praise, all supporting this "Old Uncle" guy.

[Bro, food vlogging is supposed to be authentic. Aren’t you afraid of getting struck by lightning for spouting lies like that?]

Unable to contain his anger, Liu Ahbao posted a comment.

But alas, his comment was quickly drowned in the flood of messages. When he tried to post again, he found he had been muted.

"Fuck!"

Liu Ahbao couldn’t stop a curse from escaping his lips.

’My very first video, and this happens?’

Although he was a newcomer to the internet world, Ah Bao quickly figured out what was going on.

If he wasn’t mistaken, this "Old Uncle" was the type of food vlogger who "worked with" restaurants for a living.

Back when he first decided to make videos, several restaurants in E Province had contacted him, offering a generous payment in exchange for him praising them to the high heavens in his short videos.

But Ah Bao felt that he was, at the very least, a reputable figure in the culinary circles of E Province. ’Me? Stoop to that level for you?’

’I can’t believe that after coming to Jingzhou, I’d get targeted by a scoundrel like this.’

Liu Ahbao decisively pulled his Senior Technician certificate from his luggage, then turned his camera on himself.