Chapter 3: The Profiteering Mother Who Sells Her Daughters (2)

Recently, the public account of a popular and famous B city food critic, [B City’s Tip of the Tongue], has quietly posted such an article——

Title: Good food can be found in any alley! The sudden popularity of a small restaurant’s home-cooked fare. Miraculous wait lines since launch. The waitlist is currently a month ahead!

The readers noticed the writing was a huge contrast to the editor’s usual relentlessly sharp remarks. The tone of the entire article was almost at a fanatical level of obsessiveness. It was reluctant to use the slightest negative remark, extremely petty against all criticisms, while eagerly piling all its praise on the dishes and the description of the small restaurant.

The composition was filled with phrases like ‘don’t miss out,’ ‘unforgettable moments,’ ‘impressionable flavors.’ The editor even stated that he was regretful that he was unable to generate the words to fully describe the deliciousness, and suggested everyone to taste it for themselves – coming from this person, this type of advertising was unheard of.

While describing a simple fried oyster dish, the paragraph was written as follows——

“A bowl of fried oysters personally prepared by the boss lady starts from selecting the freshest oysters; not the large ones that are meant to be sampled purely in its raw form, but the smaller ones that are suitable for frying in soy sauce. A small yet strong in flavor, it allows one to sample the unique taste of the sea. Powered with just the right amount of sweet potato flour after cleaning, she adds seasoning, stirs in pieces of leek over hot oil, adds chopped green onions for fragrance, and fries them into a crisp while maintaining their soft and chewy insides. She then mixes in a pre-prepared egg mixture, flipping the oysters to fry on the reversed side until it’s ready to be served with some coriander as garnish. The only sauce available is the boss lady’s secret sweet and sour sauce, unique only to the Golden Autumn Eatery. As for whether you should try it with dipping sauce, it is entirely up to the customer. If you want the original flavor, just send it right into your mouth, and if you want to taste the unique homemade sauce, dip it in to enjoy a different flavor.”

Just like that, a bowl of fried oysters became the regular staple in the Golden Autumn Eatery, combined with seasonal sides chosen by the boss lady. Though the editor did not usually eat oysters, when these were served, the aroma was enough to tempt him to take a bite. The flavors that melted inside his mouth were unforgettable.

The exaggerated description only described the one dish from the Golden Autumn Eatery made by the owner. Though it may look like a paid review, the sentiment was shared by the tummies of many other food critics and gluttons.

Under the scoring section, the editor showcased yet another extreme like no other——

“Taste: Perfect score (If the menus were in front of me, I just want to eat it all!)

Environment: Perfect score (I just remember that it is very clean, the food is so amazing that I would have gone there even if it were covered in flies. Not to mention, the decent renovation!)

Service: Perfect Score (The boss lady is warm, friendly, and a great cook. I wanna marry her!)

Value: Perfect score (If only I could use money to buy a spot for dinner! I would even be willing to bankrupt myself!)”

Just the over-the-top caption was enough to make anyone sneer, but upon seeing high-resolution photographs, complete with a raving review that was even more exaggerated than the title. One has to wonder—— Just …Just how rich is the Golden Autumn Eatery? And it’s a restaurant with such an outdated name? Do critics these days all write nonsense? Shouldn’t there at least be some realism?

But in the end, with their 100,000+ readership, and the replies in the comments section crying over reservation spots, this review had left critics momentarily speechless.

What is this?

Are there limitations?

Of course there are!

Prior to the sudden rise in popularity of the Golden Autumn Eatery, many gluttons have already rated this establishment as their personal No. 1 restaurant. They were so unwilling to share their #1 eatery with other people that they started inventing a myriad of weird code names to avoid getting caught when they talk about it in group chats or forums. After all, the waitlist was already filled to the brim. If they had to compete with new returning customers, it would only make it more difficult for them to return for more.

Unexpectedly, this review had now made headlines on a public account. Hearing this news, these gluttons could only suffer in silence as they speed-dialed the restaurants’ number that was saved in their contacts, and made their reservations.

When they were finally connected to the other line, a gentle female voice came through saying: “I’m sorry, we have a 2-month long wait for the next reservation. Would that be acceptable?” With gritted teeth, they accepted the appointment and then headed over to the official page of the public account and reported it.

Who cares about dignity and patience?! Good food is life!

…

“Xiuzhu, have the senior take us out for dinner!” While the teacher on the podium was not paying attention, Fang Yanru turned and whispered to her dormmate, Jin Xiuzhu, with an eager expression.

Jin Xiuzhu gave her dorm mate an uncomfortable look and proceeded to purse her lips.

But Fang Yanru did not give up, pretending not to notice Jin Xiuzhu’s social cues, she used her elbow to nudge her with a smirk: “Remember our dorm rules? Hur hur, looks like our Xiuxiu puts her boyfriend before her friends! How can you date a guy without letting us meet him?! That brother-in-law of ours hasn’t passed our inspection yet!”

Right. Even Jin Xiuzhu was unable to refute that. After all, these were the customary rules she had agreed to after entering college. Yanru had previously invited them, so with that in mind, she quietly agreed, and not long after, the dorm group chat erupted.

Fang Yanru quickly sent out the news: “Ahem, I have a big announcement! Our Xiuzhu’s boyfriend is going to treat everyone to dinner. Everyone come show your support!”

So, dorm mates Zhen Susu and Huang Xiaoping also started replying enthusiastically. These three started chatting up a storm, and even came up with various tricky questions to torture this ‘brother-in-law’ that night.

“Tonight, we shall eat our fill at the expense of the senior for stealing one of our dorm’s ‘flower’!”

“I’m looking for all the hard questions. Gonna make sure we give Senior Chen a thorough background check!”

“Totally necessary~ Then we should ask the senior to sing a song for our Xiuxiu, hehe!”

…

Jin Xiuzhu felt a sense of helplessness as she watched the flurry of text messages without responding.

Upperclassman Chen Wentian and her have been dating for 3 years now. She admired his intelligence, kindness, and tenacity. However, she also knew that he did not come from a good family background, which was the reason why she never introduced him to her dorm mates, and dated him secretly.

She was not ashamed of him for his origins, however. Instead, she worried that he might be placed in embarrassing and difficult situations.

Her roommates’ boyfriends would often give them branded bags and makeup, and take them out for expensive meals. On the other hand, Jin Xiuzhu enjoyed dates that involved strolling together, watching movies, or reading in the library.

Chen Wentian was never stingy with her. He was more than willing to spend whatever money he had on her, but he also carried the burden of taking care of his family and repaying his student loans, which left him with little to spare on the side. She was understanding about all of this, and they have a romantic relationship that was unique to them.

However, the practice of treating your dorm mates was implemented before her relationship started, so, while it troubled her, she did not know how to politely reject it.

Recalling that she still had quite a bit of money left over for living expenses, she relaxed, knowing that she should be able to cover this meal, and so she sent a text to Chen Wentian.

“Wentian, my dorm mates and I are going out to eat tonight. You should come too!”

After getting a confirmation, Jin Xiuzhu nodded at her own carefully crafted message. The other party should not be expected to pay for the meal!

But not long after, Jin Xiuzhu was given another shock!

Fang Yanru casually announced to the group: “I have a reservation at this restaurant with a long waitlist, which just happens to be tonight. Location is still a secret~ Hehe, make sure your senior has his purse strings ready, we don’t intend to go easy on him!”

As soon as that text came through, everyone fell silent. Ever since they enrolled into university, out of the 4 of roommates, everyone knew that Fang Yanru came from the most well-to-do family. Her branded handbags and makeup are worth thousands, and yet she would just leave them carelessly lying around. Her boyfriends were all from rich backgrounds. Despite being in her 4th year in college, she has never eaten a single meal in the campus cafeteria. If she were to have a long-term reservation at a restaurant, then that would mean…

Zhen Susu could not help herself and felt that Fang Yanru was purposefully trying to make Jin Xiuzhu look bad. Recently, she kept picking up on Fang Yanru’s sarcastic remarks that were deliberately meant to embarrass Xiuzhu, but ripping off someone else’s boyfriend is going overboard. Won’t this negatively affect their relationship?! She suppressed her anger, and tried to turn things around: “I think we should pay for ourselves. I seem to have a healthy appetite lately, and I’m afraid to bankrupt Xiuzhu’s boyfriend. I’m a character that is capable of eating 10 bowls a meal!”

Sensing the awkward tension, Huang Xiaoping also chimed into the group chat: “Right right! Yanru, the restaurants you pick never fills me up QAQ, I think the small side restaurant outside our school is pretty good! Guaranteed full belly!”

“Didn’t my boyfriend take everyone out for a meal? Side street restaurant?! It’s not healthy nor hygienic! I guarantee that we will be well fed at the restaurant I booked tonight! Don’t worry about your pretty bellies; this is not western food, it’s eastern fare. Reservations are difficult to get. You can’t even jump the line!”

Fang Yanru felt like she might have been too harsh, so she added: “How much a man loves you is dependent on how much he’s willing to spend on you. Can’t you all just be a bit more realistic? This Chen Tianwen graduated a year earlier than us. If he can’t even afford us a meal, then he definitely won’t spend a single cent on our Xiuxiu! If he really doesn’t have the money, then I can just pay. Would that do?”

Her reply was considerate towards Jin Xiuzhu, and it was enough to repel their words. The group chat went silent once more.

Zhen Susu and Huang Xiaoping could not be bothered to lecture the privileged Fang Yanru about money, and secretly opened another chat without her. They told Xiuzhu that they were willing to pay for themselves later. Xiuzhu did not wish to take advantage of them, and only responded with an emoji.

Not wanting her dorm mates to start a fight over a meal, Jin Xiuzhu decided to end it: “I know that Yanru was doing this for my own good. Fine, let’s meet at 6 PM at the entrance. You can be our guide~”

In reality, she immediately regretted it after sending that text, but her mother had repeatedly told her to never take advantage of others. Now she would just have to grin and bear it. As a precaution, she quietly borrowed 2000 yuan from her younger twin, Wanzhu, and felt slightly better.

Well, I’ll just have to treat it as the necessary funds to woo my senior!

That was how she comforted herself.

After suppressing the rebels, Fang Yanru was proud of herself. After all, the male-god that she had a secret crush on somehow ended up with her dorm mate. She could not bear it. In her opinion, from name to personality, Jin Xiuzhu is just a dull person. How can she be of any help to her senior? What a joke!

Her suggestions today were set up to intentionally bleed Chen Wentian dry. She had long asked her family to cause some obstacles to Chen Wentian’s entrepreneur company, and when she was sure that he had no money to spare, she quickly requested this get-together. She spent a long time before this to find someone who was willing to sell their spot to this private eatery. It costs at least 1000 per person to eat there!

She wanted the senior to know that Jin Xiuzhu is unworthy of him, and would only be a hindrance to his future. She also wanted Xiuzhu to know that the senior is a bottomless pit that is not suitable for her, so she should break up with him as soon as possible!

She has to have Chen Wentian, whatever it takes!