Chapter Thirty-Three: Shattering All Preconceptions

“Here you go.”

“The mapo tofu you ordered, shredded pork with garlic sauce, seaweed and pork hock soup, and spicy shredded potatoes.”

Ten minutes later, the waiter placed all four dishes in front of Tanya and, before leaving, cast a look of surprise, wondering if a young woman could really finish so much food.

Tanya smiled slightly without saying a word, holding up her phone to give the livestream viewers a close-up.

“The tofu looks very tender, and the chopped scallions sprinkled on top after plating use the residual heat to release their aroma—a clever touch. But I wonder how it actually tastes.”

“The sauce on the shredded pork dish looks thick, the pork is pink and tender, and the green bamboo shoots look fresh too.”

“Pity there's not much to say about the seaweed and pork hock soup just from the look of it.”

“Tanya, you must try the shredded potatoes. It seems simple, but this dish really tests the chef’s skill!”

“Agreed.”

“Looks absolutely appetizing to me.”

“Looks aren’t everything—it has to taste good too!”

“That’s true. Let’s see how Tanya reviews it.”

“Yeah, I trust Tanya’s opinion.”

…

To be fair, just from the looks of the food, the audience in the livestream was generally satisfied—much better than they'd expected.

Yet, as the chat buzzed, Tanya subtly furrowed her brow.

The viewers could only see the dishes; they couldn’t smell them.

In reality, despite their appealing presentation, there were flaws in the taste of all four dishes.

Take the mapo tofu, for example:

Aside from the signature numbing aroma, there was a faint sour smell.

There could be two reasons for this:

Either the tofu already had an off smell before the restaurant bought it,

Or it wasn’t used on the day it was purchased.

Either way, it showed the chef hadn’t paid attention to this flaw—or if they had, they assumed the customers wouldn’t notice and ignored it.

That’s just irresponsible!

Tanya wasn’t a chef, but she certainly had an eye—and palate—for food.

She sighed silently, put the phone stand back in place, and got down to business.

She scooped up a piece of tofu with the sauce, gently blew on it, and put it in her mouth.

They say you can’t rush eating tofu, or you’ll learn the hard way what it’s like to get burned and have no one to blame but yourself.

It’s a shadow that haunts many.

“So, how does it taste?” scrolled the unified question from the chat.

Wow, it’s delicious—an absolute delicacy!

Tanya wanted to say that, just to surprise everyone, like buying a lottery ticket on a whim and hitting the jackpot.

But her conscience wouldn’t let her.

Tanya knew her viewers stayed with her because of her sincerity. If she lost that, the consequences were all too clear.

“It’s pretty average. The tofu has a sour aftertaste if you chew it too long, and the Sichuan pepper powder sprinkled on top is the generic supermarket kind—not freshly ground and toasted—so the numbing flavor isn’t pure.”

“Let’s not overanalyze it. There’s nothing special about this one. It’s about the same as any regular stir-fry restaurant. The only positive is that it’s reasonably priced.”

After finishing, Tanya instinctively glanced around to see if any waiters were nearby.

Fortunately, there were none.

“I knew it, you all didn’t believe me.”

“I wasn’t expecting much anyway—just wanted to confirm my suspicions.”

“Since the host is so honest, I’ll give you a follow.”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions—maybe the other dishes are better?”

…

Tanya glanced at her follower count.

508.

Sure enough, down by two.

With a slightly bitter smile, she tried the shredded pork with garlic sauce, the spicy shredded potatoes, and the seaweed and pork hock soup.

“The spicy shredded potatoes are decent. They were soaked in water beforehand, so the starch content isn’t heavy—they taste refreshing.”

“The seaweed in the pork hock soup is dried, so it’s rather salty. But since our city Canglan isn’t by the sea, it’s hard to get fresh seaweed, so I’ll let that slide.”

“The pork hock is braised until tender and melts in your mouth.”

“Just like the mapo tofu, these two dishes are nothing special—completely ordinary.”

“But the shredded pork with garlic sauce is a bit odd.”

“In terms of portion, it’s more generous than most restaurants, and while the flavor isn’t authentic, it’s not bad either. But at thirty yuan a plate, it’s a bit overpriced. I wonder if the menu has a misprint.”

Tanya double-checked the menu to be sure.

“Boss, I remember the shredded pork with garlic sauce was only sixteen the other day. How is it thirty now? I haven’t heard about pork prices going up lately!”

Suddenly, a customer at the register started grumbling, echoing Tanya’s analysis.

“Hey man, think carefully—was the portion this big last time?” The waiter, handing out cigarettes, replied with a grin.

“Even so, it shouldn’t have doubled!” several workers protested.

Tanya filmed the whole exchange.

“Listen, I’m sure you all agree our Chef Li’s skills are top notch, right?”

“If not, we wouldn’t come all the way here to eat!”

“Well then, isn’t his cooking worth the price?” The waiter kept handing out cigarettes.

The workers lit up, unwilling to keep arguing, so they left, muttering, “If you’d told us about the price change, we wouldn’t have ordered it. We don’t care about the skill—just want to fill our stomachs.”

The waiter mouthed something behind their backs, silent but with a sneer that suggested nothing pleasant.

“Hey, it really is thirty yuan! If those guys hadn’t said something, I wouldn’t have even noticed!”

“When did this change? Why didn’t they announce it? That’s just taking advantage of old customers!”

“This is strange—the price isn’t just up for the shredded pork. A few other dishes have gone up too. Look, the steamed pork was eighteen before, now it’s twenty-two.”

“What’s going on?”

“Have Chef Li come out and explain. There should be a reasonable explanation. Don’t just say the portions are bigger—were they not enough before?”

The waiter clearly hadn’t expected this uproar and was completely flustered.

“Everyone, please calm down. Brother Li isn’t here today.”

“What? Not here? So these dishes weren’t even cooked by Old Li? Then what were you boasting about his skills for? Aren’t you embarrassed?” Many of the customers were older and experienced, and their retorts left the waiter speechless.

“Haha, that guy’s been stumped—awkward ending for him.”

“Tanya, give us a close-up of his face. Perfect meme material.”

“No gourmet food today, but at least we got a show.”

“Thirty a plate? Why not just rob us?”

“That’s not the point. Thirty per plate is fine, but only if it’s justified by the quality—be it skill or premium ingredients. Don’t just use portion size as an excuse, or we might as well go to a buffet.”

“True.”

“Agreed, agreed.”

…

Tanya couldn’t help but laugh, but since she was at the scene, she suppressed it—it wouldn’t be proper to let it show.

The waiter looked helplessly at the other staff.

“Everyone, let me say something.”

An older chef emerged from the kitchen, putting on a look of indignant frustration.

“You don’t understand—we raised prices because we had no choice!”

“You all know the Diner at the end of the street? They charge fifty-six for shredded pork with garlic sauce!”

“What? Did I hear that right? Fifty-six?” The crowd erupted in shock.

“It’s all changing again!”

Just then, a sweaty young man ran in from the direction of the street’s end.

“What’s changed? Spit it out!” the middle-aged chef barked, annoyed at being interrupted just as he was about to calm the crowd.

“It’s the Diner at the end of the street—they’ve changed again!” The young man, still breathless, shouted, “Shredded pork with garlic sauce is gone. They replaced it with scallion beef—eighty a plate! And…”

“And what?” someone urged.

“And they’ve added two dishes no one’s even heard of!”

“What are they called?”

“One’s called Flavored Bone and Meat Soup, and the other is… um… Atypical Secret Sauce—priced at one eighty-eight and two eighty-eight, respectively!”

After finishing, the young man tugged on the sleeves of the other waiters.

“Brother Li and the other restaurant owners are waiting over there to watch the fireworks. He told me to get you all to join in and boost the crowd.”

On hearing this, several waiters left without a word.

Even some of the diners seemed eager to follow, whether out of shock or curiosity.

“So expensive?” Tanya sat there stunned. After a moment, she hurriedly stood up.

“Boss, check please!”

Meanwhile, the livestream chat exploded.

“Tanya, take us with you—let’s see what these legendary dishes are!”

(To be continued…)