The Gourmet Customizer

Chapter 92: Chapter 73: Liu Ahbao Proves His Innocence, Takes Fans to Eat (2)

Su Chen was a little baffled by this whole display. The chubby kid was talking as if they knew each other.

"I’m Liu Ahbao, Master Lu Yongliang’s youngest apprentice!"

"Oh?" It dawned on Su Chen. "Elder Lu’s apprentice? Wait, you mean... an actual apprentice?"

The image of the old man who had tested his skills flashed through Su Chen’s mind. Lu Yongliang definitely had some real talent, but taking on an apprentice? It felt like something out of a TV drama.

"Yep, Lu Yongliang’s apprentice! My master told me that if I want to be a food vlogger, I have to start by reviewing your restaurant. He said that if I can truly understand your food, it means I’ve made it. He also said that if it’s okay, I should try to learn a thing or two from you!"

Seeing that Su Chen wasn’t the unapproachable type, Liu Ahbao immediately switched into chatterbox mode, as if terrified that Su Chen wouldn’t want to listen to him.

He spilled the entire story: how he had traveled all the way from E Province to Jingzhou, how he had painstakingly made his way to this very restaurant, and how he had racked his brain to produce a review video. Then, he explained how a hater’s accusations had forced him to come back and clear his name.

The commotion drew everyone else out from the kitchen.

"So that’s what happened! Those two men were the real haters!" Liu Shengnan clenched her fists, looking like she wanted to crush them.

Bai Xiaobo was also furious. "I can’t believe the cafeteria in the building across the street would resort to such a dirty trick! Trying to slander us online! Despicable!"

Aunt Fang said, "You can never know what’s in a person’s heart. These days, people can’t stand to see you succeed. We have to be careful."

Only Ling Shuyu spotted the flaw in all this. "There’s something wrong with this Sun the Second guy. We’re taking business from his cafeteria, so he tries to slander us on the internet? Does he really think the Xinghui employees will see a livestream and just stop eating here? That’s ridiculous..."

Su Chen had been thinking the exact same thing.

’Is this guy nuts?’

’My business doesn’t depend on random city residents, so why is he trying to smear my name to them?’

"Could it be possible that Sun the Second just isn’t all there?" Zhang Li analyzed. "If he’d just made the cafeteria food a little better, he could earn money from the employees and get the company subsidy. But he just refuses to do a good job. He’d rather earn nothing than do it properly. The guy’s definitely got a screw loose!"

Everyone thought it over. That really seemed to be the only explanation.

The whole thing was just illogical!

The two men who were eating heard every word of their discussion. Zhan Yang wiped his mouth. "Boss Su, could I get another bowl of noodles?"

He had already finished his third bowl.

Each bowl brought a new sensation, and for a foodie like him, he was dying to know what a fourth bowl would be like.

"You can, but I wouldn’t recommend it. A fourth bowl would have almost no flavor. It would be like eating plain noodles."

Zhan Yang grunted. "Well, if you don’t recommend it, I’ll pass." He rubbed his stomach. "Boss Su, I haven’t had food this good in Jingzhou for a long, long time. I was wondering, what other dishes do you serve?"

This was Bai Xiaobo’s time to shine.

"Our restaurant doesn’t have a set menu. We specialize in custom-tailored dishes. All you need to do is..."

He had the speech down pat.

"Oh?" Fang Chang’s eyes lit up. "I’ve heard of this business model before, but only at high-end private kitchens. I never expected to find a place like this in Jingzhou, and with food this good!"

Zhan Yang rubbed his belly in satisfaction. "This trip was well worth it. Hey, Ah Bao, my friend and I will transfer you the money for the meal in a bit."

"No way! We agreed I’d treat you guys in exchange for helping me film!"

Fang Chang shook his head. "Nope. If you were really a shill, we definitely wouldn’t pay you. But now that we know you’re not, there’s no way we can let you pay. Besides, you brought us to such an amazing place. We should be thanking you!"

After some polite refusal, Zhan Yang and Fang Chang transferred the money to Liu Ahbao, said their goodbyes, and left Delicious.

Before they left, the two of them added Bai Xiaobo on WeChat and made a point to ask, "Do you guys do delivery?"

Su Chen shot down the idea.

The restaurant wasn’t at the stage where it could start offering delivery yet.

Once the customers had left and only the staff remained, Liu Ahbao finally got his chance to talk to Su Chen. "Boss Su," he asked happily, "you don’t mind if I edit my video here, do you? I want to fire back at them right now!"

Su Chen nodded. "Be my guest."

He Shuting, fired up, wanted to jump into the online argument too, but Su Chen stopped her.

"We’re not getting involved in this."

"Why not!" He Shuting asked, baffled. "They’re coming right at us! We have to fight back!"

Su Chen shook his head. After so many years as a streamer, he understood one thing very clearly.

"There’s no real right or wrong in an internet flame war. The only way to maintain the high ground is to not enter the battlefield at all. Once you get involved, you lose any claim to being right. Like I always say, we just need to focus on doing our jobs."

"Oh..."

Having rarely seen her boss so serious, He Shuting obediently dropped the idea of arguing with people online. Still, she was quite interested in Liu Ahbao’s short video account.

After all the commotion, it was getting late—already past five o’clock.

Su Chen asked Bai Xiaobo, "How many dinner orders do we have?"

Xiaobo didn’t even need to check his notes. He answered quickly, "Two orders of stir-fried chicken for 6 p.m."

Su Chen grunted in acknowledgment. He could wait a few more minutes before starting on them.

"Boss Su, I’ve noticed something lately," Bai Xiaobo said, scratching his head. "Fewer and fewer people from Xinghui are coming for buns and wok-seared noodles. And we’re running low on pork knuckles in the storeroom."