The Reviled God of Cooking Tries to Slack Off - Chapter 121

Wen Qi was stunned. “What do you mean?”

“Call Xiao Ping right now,” Jiang Tingzhou said. “Let me talk to her—she’ll know what to do.”

Although confused, Wen Qi still followed the instruction.

As the opening day drew nearer, while the mall was secretly stepping on its “competitor” during preparations, the sugar factory remained quiet and orderly, steadily going through its own business preparations.

Kitchen equipment was installed first, followed by intensive training for the waitstaff. The chefs were already test-cooking in the woks. 

For the past few days, people who passed by the lawn for a picnic could always catch a whiff of mouthwatering aromas in the air.

At the time, the chef competition was still trending. Many viewers who had missed out still thought about it with longing and regret—they had watched through screens but hadn’t tasted the food in person. Even though audience tickets had been sold during the event, demand had been overwhelming, and many never managed to get one when the show exploded in popularity.

People’s expectations for good food never change. 

Up to now, Jiang Tingzhou’s restaurants hadn’t done any real promotion so far—just a quiet post on his personal account, seen mostly by loyal fans. But now that it was finally making moves, it sparked a lot of buzz.

Many people rushed to visit without verifying anything carefully. Under President Zhong’s deliberate guidance, some unsuspecting young fans even thought the restaurant opening at the mall was Jiang Tingzhou’s new venture.

The location was dangerously close to the sugar factory. 

A few days later, the mall at the intersection opened, offering giveaways and promotional events. The crowd was immense, the atmosphere lively, and the huge new restaurant was packed to the brim.

Outside the restaurant, those who couldn’t get a seat enthusiastically took waiting numbers, with the latest numbers indicating a 2-3 hour wait.

Li Shuyan caught wind of the buzz. She didn’t run into Jiang Tingzhou that day—he was reportedly tasting dishes with the chefs again—so she pulled Wen Qi aside: “What’s going on with you guys? Are you letting them bully you? Wait, I’ll go deal with them right now.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Wen Qi stopped her. “Just take care of the factory. Boss Jiang knows what he’s doing. He’s already made preparations.”

Li Shuyan gave him a skeptical look. “Really?”

“Really,” Wen Qi grinned, visibly more relaxed. “You’ll see—tonight, no, maybe even this afternoon, there’ll be results.”

It was lunchtime, and the mall restaurant was bustling with customers having their first meal there. Aside from regular diners, a number of food bloggers had shown up, cameras in hand, ready to explore.

Short video content was trending, and the food blogging scene was booming. Unlike Jiang Tingzhou, who focused on cooking, most of these influencers focused on eating. Many of them had hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers.

Internet celebrities brought free traffic, and the restaurant welcomed them, even saving good seats for the bigger bloggers.

Some were also livestreaming their visit. The broadcast viewership was high, driven by interest in the chef competition and the new restaurant. 

Before long, the first hot dishes were served, looking quite appetizing on camera.

“Wow, even with so many people, the food comes quickly,” said a livestreamer named Xixi—a bubbly girl with a round face and hundreds of thousands of followers. “Look at this stir-fried yellow beef—so fragrant!”

She held up a chopstick-full to the camera, smiled brightly, and said, “Fans eat first!” before taking a bite.

The comment section immediately lit up:

【“Looks amazing! Stir-fried beef is the best with rice!”】

【“How is it? Is it good?”】

【“I was drooling during the chef competition. So glad they opened a restaurant so soon!”】

But after her first bite, Xixi’s expression subtly changed. She kept smiling for the camera, but her smile looked stiff.

Trying again, she scooped beef onto rice and took another big bite. Her face soured even more. She quietly put her chopsticks down.

The cameraman was startled. “What’s wrong?”

“Try it,” Xixi said. “It’s… not what I expected.”

The livestream comments turned into a flood of question marks and concern.

The cameraman took a bite. “It’s not terrible, but… it’s just average. Like random takeout.”

That summed it up.

Though visually appealing with lots of chili, the dish was overwhelmingly salty and spicy, with a strong, greasy aftertaste that lingered unpleasantly. Even paired with rice, it didn’t work.

The rice, served in a bamboo tube, was undercooked—hard and lacking in aroma. It didn’t taste like bamboo rice at all.

As an experienced food blogger, Xixi had tried too many delicious dishes to stomach something so underwhelming. Her appetite vanished.

The livestream viewers were stunned:

【“Is it really that bad?”】

【“Is she exaggerating? This place is packed!”】

Trying to remain fair, Xixi said maybe it was just that dish and tried the others—but her frown only deepened.

When comments accused her of slandering the restaurant for money, she raised her voice: “I swear—I’ve never taken a dime to visit a restaurant. I call it as I see it. This place is just average. Don’t believe me? Let me show you.”

She showed the next dishes. Pickled pepper crucian carp—fish meat completely flavorless. Bandit-style pork liver—should be tender without any fishiness, but this one wasn’t fresh, and even with piles of chili and peppercorn, the off-taste remained. Fried noodles—oily to the point of dripping. The camera zoomed in, showing oil pooling at the bottom of the plate.

The dishes looked flashy but lacked soul. They didn’t have the true flavor of stir-fried Jianghu cuisine.

“Tell me, am I being too picky?” Xixi shook her head. “This is really disappointing. I wonder if the nearby Northeastern restaurant is better.”

But the barrage quickly warned her:

【“Don’t go—it’s even worse over there. Pretty decor, but the food’s bad.”】

【“I saw a blogger with a million followers visit. He’s Northeastern and looked excited… until the food arrived. His face said it all.”】

【“I saw that too. The fried pork with sauce was soggy, sauerkraut ribs a disaster, and the ‘signature’ pork stew was so bad he said in the Northeast you’d be shot eight times for cooking like that.”】

【“Wait, weren’t these restaurants promoted through the chef competition? Was the competition all hype?”】

That last comment made Xixi sit up straighter.

“Hey now—don’t slander the competition!” she said firmly. “The chef competition was amazing. I’ve really eaten that food!”

Her cameraman nodded. “Yeah, I ate it too. Look, if the competition stir-fried beef deserves ten points, this one deserves maybe three. Worlds apart.”

Although she wasn’t a judge, Xixi had been invited to the audience food stalls during the competition and had livestreamed from there. Clips from that time were still on her channel.

Her fans backed her up.

【“Yeah, I watched her eat twice her usual amount on stream and still not want to stop—looked like she was about to choke from overeating but kept praising.”】

【“Remember when she saved her leftovers and ate them for two days? She cried after trying takeout again. Poor girl!”】

【“She was ecstatic when she got invited back for the finals. Didn’t even want her New Year’s Eve dinner after that. I was watching—it was adorable.”】

Many bloggers who came today were locals from Yongqing and Shangying—close enough to drop by easily—and many had also eaten at the snack street during the chef competition.

Whether or not this new restaurant met the competition’s standard couldn’t be hidden. Maybe it could fool casual customers, but not the food bloggers who’d tasted the real deal.

And the verdict was nearly unanimous:

This place isn’t good.

Xixi finally gave up, put down her chopsticks, and sipped soy milk. She noticed her livestream viewers had surged.

Though the food disappointed, mentioning the chef competition drew in tons of traffic. She wasn’t about to let that go.

“I think there’s something fishy going on,” she said, eyes gleaming. “This restaurant can’t be run by the chefs from the competition. Let’s investigate—something’s off.”

Just as Jiang Tingzhou had planned, he didn’t need to say a word. These bloggers, many of whom owed their growth to the competition, were naturally driven to expose the truth for the sake of credibility and views.

He hadn’t done anything shady—no paid smear campaigns. All he’d done was send invitations, encouraging fair reviews.

Food bloggers needed traffic and hot topics. Visiting new “internet-famous” restaurants was already part of their job.

Yes, diners can be blind. They can follow the crowd. But if you think you can fool them forever, you’re wrong.

Flames refine gold. Waves wash away sand.

Traffic is a double-edged sword. Under the spotlight of public scrutiny, it becomes clear who’s real and who’s just riding the wave.

Trying to cash in with subpar food while riding someone else’s fame?

Impossible.