Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Xia Tang did another search and was surprised to find someone livestreaming from this very restaurant.

Gu Fei was a small-time food-review streamer. After seeing tons of fans trashing this place, he decided to check it out himself for a review segment.

While killing time on his phone waiting for his food, he saw the streamer group chat buzzing about how big Zhang Feiyu's livestream had blown up. Once he got the full picture, all he felt was envy.

They were both streaming in Ningchuan—when was he ever gonna get that kind of luck?!

Just as he was thinking that, enforcement officers from the Market Supervision Administration strode in fast from outside. Before the staff could even say a word, the group made a beeline for the kitchen.

On a normal day, Gu Fei might not have clocked who they were, but after just watching Zhang Feiyu's stream, he knew that uniform all too well.

Gu Fei slapped his thigh, thrilled. This was a gift from the heavens—he had to grab it!

"Guys, gotta run—the market supervision folks just showed up here too." Gu Fei sent the message and went live on the spot.

He couldn't follow them into the kitchen, but he could film from outside.

The officers noticed him recording but didn't say anything, just kept inspecting. The deeper they went, the darker their faces got.

They'd seen Jiang Chao checking out street vendors. Those stalls had finished goods on display, so even if the quality was iffy, at least the surface looked decent.

After all, that stuff was out in the open where customers could see it—the vendors wouldn't dare let things look too rough.

But this place's kitchen was tucked away tight. You couldn't see it from the front at all, so it was a total mess.

A grimy rag was sitting right on top of ingredients about to be used. A small bowl of thawed shrimp already stank a little, with fly eggs on top.

The cook making fried rice nearby had been using a rag to sweep rice off the stove into a takeout box when they walked in. Only when he saw them did he stop in a panic.

"What am I even looking at? How can a kitchen be this nasty?"

"I'm gonna throw up. I ate here once and got acute gastroenteritis. I thought I was picturing the worst, but I still underestimated how bad this place is."

"Damn, I looked up their delivery page—over three thousand orders a month. That's a big operation. And the store page looks pretty solid. But this is reality? I'm done."

"Please tell me the streamer didn't eat anything here before going live. I can't even imagine what would've happened if he did."

Watching the rats and roaches scatter in panic after the officers stirred them up, then looking at the ingredients piled on the floor, Gu Fei's stomach turned. He couldn't help stepping back a few steps, only feeling less sick after getting some fresh air outside.

At the same time, he was super glad he hadn't eaten anything. He'd thought coming here was just a little adventure, but after seeing that kitchen, he realized he'd been asking for it. That stuff wasn't fit for a human to eat.

The officers kept inspecting, and even they couldn't help gagging at the clearly spoiled ingredients and the sour stench that had built up in the closed-off space.

The owner only got the news then and rushed over, instinctively trying to defend himself—it was too hot, that's why the ingredients went bad so fast, and they were about to toss it all anyway.

But the officers weren't having any of his excuses. They confiscated all the spoiled ingredients, shut the kitchen down on the spot, sent the rest for testing, and as for the final penalty...

"You'll find out soon enough." The officer said, walked out of the kitchen, took a deep breath, spotted Gu Fei nearby, and after a moment said, "Any customers who got sick after eating here—keep your evidence, try to negotiate compensation with the owner first. If they won't pay, you can file a joint lawsuit for damages."

"What are you talking about?" The owner panicked at the officer's words.

His restaurant had been cursed out by plenty of customers, and a lot of them had demanded compensation after getting sick. But on their own, people would just vent on the platform, he'd deny everything, and they couldn't do much about it, plus they weren't sure it was worth the time and hassle.

But with the officer saying that, these people would have real leverage.

The owner's guess was dead on. But there was one thing he didn't know—before, people didn't sue because they thought it was a waste of time and wouldn't get much money anyway. But after today's two streams, a lot of people now knew the minimum payout was a thousand yuan.

One person filing a lawsuit alone was a pain, but with a group, things got way simpler.

Of course, the owner had no one to blame but himself. If fewer people wanted to sue his place, those customers might've had some doubts. But he'd screwed over too many customers and handled complaints like crap in the past—their anger hadn't cooled to this day, and they still remembered it.

Once Gu Fei's stream started gaining traction, people who'd filed complaints saw the officers actually show up and immediately wanted to team up. People who'd gotten sick from eating here also piled into his comment section.

Gu Fei was a little stunned watching the flood of comments. Just how bad was this place's food to have messed up this many people?

Seeing someone break down how the owner would have to pay out, Gu Fei did the math. With all the compensation plus the fines coming after, this place would probably go under.

But that was a good thing—the sooner this kind of place shut down, the better. Ideally, the owner would be forced to pay so much he could never open up again!

When people like this ran restaurants, the customers were the ones who suffered!

Gu Fei couldn't help but hint at this in a roundabout way, and it immediately got a ton of agreement.

With a kitchen like that, the owner was the most to blame. Whether he was actively negligent or just clueless, the fact was he wasn't fit to run a restaurant. As customers, they needed to find ways to keep people like this out of the food business.

More people meant more ideas. Soon someone suggested rounding up as many victims of this place as possible, getting evidence ready, and making the owner pay.

As long as the owner had to pay out enough, even if he still had money left, he probably wouldn't dare go near the restaurant business again.

...

The other streamers in the group saw Gu Fei's message, froze for a second, clicked into his stream, and watched his viewer count climb.

Compared to Zhang Feiyu's numbers, this wasn't that impressive, but compared to Gu Fei's usual stats, it was a huge jump. They were all green with envy.

Everyone had been mocking Zhang Feiyu for taking a shortcut, and this guy had been joining in the mockery just moments ago—how'd he end up on the same shortcut?

"I don't buy it, guys. I'm heading out to look around. There's gotta be more places like this. I'll find one, report it, and go live when the officers show up," someone said in the group.

"Easier said than done. That's all luck. Don't count on it," another replied after a pause.

But while streamers elsewhere hesitated, the local Ningchuan streamers were all hyped.

Those at home rushed out; those already out were searching everywhere for restaurants, frantically hunting for shady spots in the city.

Especially places that had a rep for making people sick—those were absolute gold. The moment they found one, they rushed over, only to run into the same colleague who'd been swearing he wasn't leaving the house.

The two exchanged awkward smiles, and before they could even go in, a third streamer showed up, face lit up with the thrill of going viral.

The three stared at each other, then finally went in together and ordered something. But looking at the food, they were a little hesitant to take a bite.

They'd watched Gu Fei's stream and knew what some kitchens looked like. If this place was anything like that last one, would eating this food land them in the hospital?

But if they didn't eat and just called the hotline, what if the officers took it too seriously?

As the three were agonizing over this, someone stormed in from outside, pissed off, and started arguing with the owner. The guy had eaten something from the place, barely made it a short ways before getting violent diarrhea, and only came back after squatting in the bathroom until his legs gave out.

Perfect opportunity. The three seized the moment and whipped out their phones to call the hotline.

Scenes like this played out all over Ningchuan. Report calls kept coming in one after another—no day had ever been this busy.

By the time Jiang Chao finished up at the night market, packed up, and got back to the bureau, he found the lights still on. Normally everyone would've clocked out by now.

"Why's everyone still here?" Jiang Chao asked, surprised.

His colleague glanced at him and pulled out a report sheet.

"This just came in—a log of reports and complaints, all from food places in Ningchuan City."

Jiang Chao took it and glanced at it. The page was packed with complaints, some spots having over a dozen each.

"Why are there so many complaints?" Jiang Chao was confused.

"Maybe because of what you did today..." His coworker gave him a quick rundown.

They hadn't really bought it until they casually asked the complainants, and that's when they figured out it was all because of Jiang Chao.

Mid-sentence, the coworker glanced at his phone and stood up: "Okay, gotta go—a big complaint just came in."

But before leaving, he noticed Jiang Chao lost in thought, gave his shoulder a solid pat, and whispered, "Still, well done!"

The Market Supervision crew barely got any rest all night, pulling an all-nighter. The complaint calls didn't slow down until almost dawn, though nobody knew if it was just a breather.

A lot of them didn't even bother going home—they just crashed at the office.

Jiang Chao was wiped out too after a long night, but he was getting more and more curious about Shen Dongqing.

He'd checked out other places overnight. Some had obvious problems—one look in the kitchen and you could nail them on the spot. But others were sneakier—if they hadn't been super sharp, the owners would've pulled one over on them.

Like, moldy or spoiled ingredients were prepped ahead of time and set out in the kitchen so they didn't look off at first glance. It was only the owner's nervous look when Jiang Chao walked in that gave it away.

The night market had the same tricks, even better hidden. How the hell did Shen Dongqing catch all those stalls?

...

Potatoes and rice—a total carb bomb. After Xiao Ze left, Shen Dongqing was dead tired. He dragged himself through his nightly routine, hit the bed, and slept like a log—no dreams, straight through till morning.

Summer mornings come early—it was only five, but Shen Dongqing was wide awake. He stayed in bed, not wanting to get up, and opened the system panel, saw his Fame Points had bounced back overnight to fifty thousand.

He hit the big wheel and did two ten-pulls.

Maybe because his Master Chef skill was still running, those two ten-pulls gave him five Master Chef Cards.

Man, his luck today was insane!

Grinning, Shen Dongqing tucked the cards away. With five cards in his pocket, he felt a lot safer and got up to start the day.

If he didn't have the Master Chef Card, he'd have gone to driving school to knock out his license. But with the card active, hitting driving school would just be wasting the skill's time.

He'd already decided yesterday to use the leftover skill time to scope out the area near his place.

He couldn't vouch for anything else, but at least he could make sure his own food was safe.

Before, he didn't have the ability. Now, he could go hard on food dangers in his neighborhood.

After getting ready, Shen Dongqing headed out, first stop: the breakfast joints near his place. He could check for problems while also scouting out a decent breakfast spot.

He started with the breakfast shops and stalls he usually hit, scanning the food for obvious red flags. Luckily, the three spots he frequented were all clean.

The taste was meh, but the ingredients were solid and the food was clean—good enough to eat.

And taste-wise, he'd get his normal senses back soon, so no need to be picky.

After those three spots, Shen Dongqing had already downed three breakfasts. Even with small portions, he was stuffed.

As for the other breakfast places, some had decent food, but the owner's cooking skills were so bad that Shen Dongqing walked right out without even trying a bite.

Others were selling yesterday's leftovers, some of it slightly off, and Shen Dongqing jotted down all these issues as he left.

From morning to noon, his sweep went from breakfast spots to bubble tea shops, snack joints, and even the veggie market, where he caught someone selling pork that wasn't exactly fresh. It wasn't spoiled, so he just added them to his blacklist.

He remembered buying meat from that stall before. Not sure if it was a one-time thing, but once was enough—without his sharp senses later, he'd just skip that pork stall.

By noon, Shen Dongqing was beat from walking, but he'd covered all the eateries near home. He added a bunch to his blacklist and a few to his whitelist for when his taste buds went dull again.

As for the rest of the restaurants, he didn't hit them one by one—too tiring.

Plus, after a whole morning of this, his nose was worn out. He just ordered some of his usual takeout, but cut down the portions so even four orders wouldn't waste too much.

One rider grabbed all four orders. When he showed up, even after climbing the stairs, he was all smiles when Shen Dongqing opened the door.

"Here you go," the rider said, handing over the food with a grin.

"Thanks," Shen Dongqing replied.

The rider hung around, hesitated, then pointed at the fried chicken: "You might wanna order less from this place. They're online-only; who knows what their kitchen's like. Don't want you getting sick."

"Alright, thanks for the heads-up, I'll be careful." Shen Dongqing hadn't expected to hit a dud on his first order. He thanked the rider sincerely—even though he could sniff out problems himself, it was still a nice gesture.

"With four orders in one go, I make more and it's less hassle, so I figured I'd give you a heads-up." The rider felt a bit embarrassed and tried to justify his words, then hurried downstairs.

Shen Dongqing closed the door with a smile, opened all the takeout containers, and his smile faded as he let out a heavy sigh.

The fried chicken's problem was glaring—the moment the packaging opened, the smell of old, low-quality oil wafted out. Just the scent made his brain command him to toss it all away.

Of the remaining three, one fried rice had a lethal amount of seasoning, masking any natural aroma; it was all just flavoring, no better than plain rice.

Another dish, spicy shrimp, had poor-quality shrimp. The price wasn't low, but the meat was soft and mushy—not even the texture of fresh dead shrimp. These were frozen leftovers from days ago, thawed again today.

The last was a stew, fragrant but loaded with additives. Not illegal, but hardly worth eating.

Shen Dongqing thought of the potato and beef brisket he'd given Xiao Ze and suddenly regretted it.

Even reheated, that dish would taste better than any of this.

None of the four items he ordered appealed to him. He considered cooking himself, but he hadn't bought groceries, and by now, the market would have stale produce.

Gritting his teeth, Shen Dongqing headed out, refusing to believe he couldn't find a decent place to eat near home.

...

While Shen Dongqing was out, Xiao Ze finally wrapped up a morning of work. He'd barely woken up when he got a call from the station.

Knowing he wouldn't be eating at home today, Xiao Ze took the packed potato and beef brisket to the police station, storing it in the cafeteria's cold storage until he was ready to heat it up.

With the lid on and kept cold, the aroma didn't escape, and the morning passed uneventfully.

"Brother Xiao, are you ordering takeout? The platform sent out big discount coupons; it's cheaper today," Du Wei asked after finishing his work and browsing the delivery apps, seeing Xiao Ze was also done.

"Minimum order too high?" Xiao Ze saw through his scheme at once.

"Forty-five yuan minimum, and I can't eat that much," Du Wei scratched his head.

"After what happened yesterday, you're already daring to eat out today?" Zhou Hua asked.

"That was a fluke, definitely a fluke," Du Wei insisted, mainly because the big coupon was too tempting to waste. He pressed Xiao Ze, "Brother Xiao, are you ordering?"

"Nah, I brought my own food. I'll just eat in the cafeteria." Xiao Ze shook his head and got up to leave.

"Is Brother Xiao still shook from yesterday?" Du Wei turned to ask Zhou Hua.

"Brother Xiao probably cooked last night, then got called into the station first thing this morning. Be a shame to let it go to waste." Zhou Hua said, also getting up to head out.

"You're going to the cafeteria too?" Du Wei called out.

"I don't have your nerve." Zhou Hua tossed out a remark.

Watching everyone else head to the cafeteria, Du Wei stared at the fat discount coupon. As much as it pained him, he gave up on it. Fine, cafeteria it was.

But the second he walked in, Du Wei took a deep breath. What the hell was that meat dish? It smelled amazing!

Du Wei, who'd been bummed about missing out on takeout, was now glad he'd come. Otherwise, how would he get a piece of something this good? Those guys would scarf it all down without a peep.

But once he got inside, Du Wei found out it wasn't the cafeteria's dish at all—some coworker had brought it in to heat up.

"Who brought this?" Du Wei asked.

"Your squad leader, Xiao Ze." The cook replied.

Seeing everyone eyeing the kitchen like hawks, Du Wei felt a spike of alarm. With this many people drooling over it, would Captain Xiao's food get swiped right out from under him?

Xiao Ze came out carrying a small pot of potato-braised beef brisket, walking straight into a wall of hungry stares.

"Brother Xiao!" Du Wei yelled, then lunged forward in a single stride. Before anyone could get a word in, he quickly shielded Xiao Ze and hustled him to the side.

Zhou Hua had already fallen in behind Xiao Ze, and the two flanked him like a security detail. Even if anyone wanted to say something, the way the three of them were positioned made it hard to get close.

"Scared the hell out of me—I thought they were gonna grab it." The three sat down at a table by the wall, and Du Wei let out a long breath, speaking quietly.

"They're not that desperate." Xiao Ze thought he was exaggerating.

"Brother Xiao, if this weren't your food, I'd have already snatched it. You believe me?" Du Wei said in a low, serious tone.

Zhou Hua went to grab rice and brought it back, setting it down in front of the three of them.

Two pairs of eyes locked onto Xiao Ze. He sighed. He knew coming to the station meant no solo meals.

"Go easy, save some for Liang Wen and Xu Ling." They were both still busy and couldn't come to eat, so they'd need to bring food over later.

The two nodded eagerly and dug in.

The second the braised beef brisket hit their tongues, they realized what a brutal request they'd just agreed to. Food this good, and they had to hold back to save some for coworkers—pure torture.

"Brother Xiao, let's set theirs aside now, in an insulated container. Otherwise, I seriously can't hold back." Du Wei said painfully.

Zhou Hua didn't say a word. He just grabbed the lunchbox, carefully set aside two-fifths of the dish, and went back to eating with a pained look.

If Xiao Ze had eaten all this by himself, he'd have been more than satisfied. But split five ways, their cravings were barely sparked before the food was gone.

All three couldn't help glancing at the packed portion. If not for their sense of loyalty, they'd have almost caved.

Du Wei and Zhou Hua got up to grab more rice and sides. Xiao Ze didn't have to lift a finger—he just waited for them to bring it.

When they got back, Xiao Ze suddenly remembered what had been bugging him yesterday and took the chance to ask.

"What were you two following me and Shen Dongqing around for yesterday? What were you trying to find out?"

If they hadn't eaten that meal, they'd never have said a thing. But having eaten, they hesitated a moment before confessing their earlier screw-up.

"If I'd known, I wouldn't have fed you." After a long silence, Xiao Ze sighed.

The two were puzzled.

"Shen Dongqing made this dish. If he found out you two were gossiping about him like that..." Xiao Ze said.

"Brother Xiao, I messed up. Please don't tell Brother Shen." Du Wei grabbed Xiao Ze's hand, pleading.

Zhou Hua snapped out of it and joined in the begging.

"Knock it off, knock it off." Xiao Ze frowned. He'd originally planned to get to the bottom of it and tell Shen Dongqing so they could apologize, but now that he knew the truth, it felt awkward. Telling Shen Dongqing would just make things weird.

"You don't have to tell him, but shouldn't you make it up to me somehow? Here's the deal—I'll give Shen Dongqing your numbers. He usually hits me up when something comes up, but if I'm busy, he can reach you two." Xiao Ze thought about Shen Dongqing's situation and said.

Shen Dongqing ran into too much trouble, and going through the whole formal police report process was a pain in the ass. If he knew people directly, things would go a lot smoother.

Xiao Ze couldn't guarantee he'd always be free. If he had to rely on calling people in, it would slow things down. What if he was busy and missed the call? Giving Shen Dongqing a few more cop contacts would be way more reliable.

Du Wei and Zhou Hua nodded eagerly. Even if it meant Shen Dongqing might call them for help, helping out built goodwill, and with goodwill, maybe they could score free meals like Xiao Ze did.

"Brother Xiao, you had dinner with Brother Shen last night, didn't you!" Du Wei deduced and stated confidently.

Xiao Ze nodded.

"Brother Xiao, you must've eaten a ton yesterday." Du Wei added.

Xiao Ze found it odd: "How do you know?"

"I just know." Du Wei slapped the table. "If you'd only had a little, you wouldn't be so willing to share. I sure as hell wouldn't be."

Only someone who'd eaten their fill and was completely satisfied could resist their cravings and share with others.

Seeing the envy on Du Wei's face, Xiao Ze couldn't help pulling out the photos he'd taken yesterday and showing them off.

At the sight of those photos, the two felt a jealousy they couldn't put into words. It was maddening—they'd only eaten this much, and even after stuffing themselves with extra rice, they were still hungry. Captain Xiao had eaten all that! The lucky bastard.

But thinking about that braised beef brisket and then yesterday's hotpot, Du Wei couldn't help saying: "Brother Xiao, you took Brother Shen out for hotpot yesterday. That's not treating him—that's torturing him."

When someone can cook food that good, you make them eat regular hotpot? Even if there's no opium in it, that just doesn't fly.

Xiao Ze's face turned red. After finishing that meal yesterday, he'd thought the exact same thing. From now on, when thanking Shen Dongqing, he absolutely could not take him out to eat—at least not to some run-of-the-mill place. He'd have to wait until he found a dish that could match that braised beef brisket before he could even think about inviting him.

Just as he was thinking of Shen Dongqing, Xiao Ze's phone rang. It was him.

Shen Dongqing was looking to report another restaurant.

"I'm so done with this. None of them run an honest business. I can't even get a decent meal in peace. If they won't let me eat well, I'll make sure they can't do business at all. They can all go get shut down." Shen Dongqing said through gritted teeth.