When Da Tuanzi reached the front of the Wen family’s shop, before he could even say a word, the livestream chat exploded.
[Holy crap, this must be the ‘shell-picking’ mentioned earlier, right? It’s my first time seeing it in person!]
[The renovations are almost exactly the same! Isn’t this just intentionally misleading people?]
[So disgusting, so disgusting. What kind of good food can someone with this kind of character even make?]
[Exactly. Doing this drags down a good shop’s reputation. If someone goes to the wrong place, wouldn’t they end up blacklisting the brand online?]
[Fortunately, Da Tuanzi ordered from both shops today. Otherwise, I can’t imagine how a shop that actually does things right is supposed to survive.]
[Can’t they sue them? Something like this happened in my hometown before. Looking back, it was literally bad money driving out the good.]
[You can’t sue them, dear. This kind of storefront appearance is everywhere. Even if you file a lawsuit, the process is extremely complicated and takes a long time. How could a regular small business owner have that kind of energy?]
[I’m so angry. I feel so bad for this family.]
Da Tuanzi first circled the perimeter. Noticing a few water marks on the ground by the entrance, he knew this place likely set up outdoor tables at night, but the hygiene conditions were far superior to the Wu shop he had just seen.
Walking through the door, a cool breeze from the air conditioner hit his forehead, instantly improving his impression of the place.
Seeing a customer arrive, Mother Wen spoke with a hint of apology, “I’m sorry, the lunch sets are already sold out. We only have cold side dishes and braised items right now.”
Da Tuanzi’s original intention was just to take a look, but seeing how bright and clean the interior was, with cold dishes kept inside a counter and even a mosquito-proof screen installed behind the counter, his interest grew. The large pot of braised food was also placed near the entrance, but unlike the other shop, the sauce in the pot was shallow, with a tiny flame underneath just to maintain the temperature.
“…Give me a braised chicken drumstick and a platter of mixed cold sides.”
Mother Wen replied, “Sorry, the drumsticks are sold out. We only have some vegetarian items left.”
“Vegetarian is fine then.”
“There are only two kinds of cold sides left: dry-fried green beans and salted peanuts.”
“Both are fine.”
While Mother Wen briskly packed the items, Da Tuanzi habitually looked for the hygiene supervision certificates posted in the shop. Upon seeing the hygiene permit for cold dishes, he couldn’t help but strike up a conversation with Mother Wen.
“Your shop actually went through the trouble to get this specific certificate?”
Mother Wen looked over. “Of course we had to. Like I said before, raw and cooked items must be kept separate. Our family specifically partitioned off an area just for making cold dishes.”
Perhaps thinking Da Tuanzi had children at home and was concerned, Mother Wen didn’t hesitate to lift the curtain to the back kitchen. “Look, everything in our shop is clearly separated.”
In all his time livestreaming, this was the first time someone had directly opened their kitchen for him to see. Amidst his shock, Da Tuanzi shuffled over. Seeing that the back kitchen was just as clean as the front, his doubts vanished instantly. He exclaimed, “Your shop is truly among the cleanest I’ve ever seen.”
Mother Wen said proudly, “If nothing else, my family is truly obsessed with cleanliness.”
Even Wen Fan was actually very attentive to this. Before Mother Wen had obtained the formal certificate, they already used separate cutting boards and knives for cold and cooked items. It was only because the Wen family’s space was so small; if it were in the past, she would have wanted separate rooms for raw and cooked preparations.
Da Tuanzi began chatting casually with Mother Wen. “Is the shop usually busy?”
“It’s busier in the evening. At noon, it’s mostly meal sets and delivery because it’s too hot.”
“Do you have outdoor seating at night?”
“Yes, but it can’t be too late. We usually pack up around ten o’clock.”
“That early?”
“We’re right next to the school. Besides, we can’t sell things that late anyway. If you come after 8:30 PM, there’s not much left.”
…
Once Mother Wen finished packing, she handed over the containers, each stuffed to the brim. “Please come again.”
Only after stepping out did Da Tuanzi have the time to look closely at the comments on his phone.
[The lady boss has such a good temper. Having such a disgusting neighbor and she doesn’t even complain.]
[They gave so much food! That box is so full!]
[Their business was already good to begin with. Didn’t you hear? Everything sells out by 8:30 PM.]
[I’m getting off work early today. I’m going to check it out tonight!]
[While you’re at it, spit on that Wu family’s place when you walk by. What kind of people are they!]
Looking at the chat, Da Tuanzi thought the same thing, but he still said some diplomatic words. “Everyone, don’t be impulsive. Regarding the two shops today, it’s fine to support the Wen family, but please don’t cyberbully the other one.”
[I won’t cyberbully them. I’m just asking—that shop also has cold dishes, do they have the permit?]
[Exactly! And those meal kits—are they high-quality or some ‘San-wu’ brand?]
[Did they pass the hygiene inspection?]
[What about fire safety?]
Amidst the righteous indignation of the livestream audience, Da Tuanzi sighed and ended the stream, preparing to go home and edit the video. Before leaving the street, he looked back once more and shook his head. “Truly, those who commit many injustices will bring about their own destruction.”
Even without him, people like that wouldn’t last long.
In the afternoon, Wen Fan was stunned when she arrived at the shop. Usually, no one would be there at this hour, but now four or five tables were already occupied.
Mother Wen was drenched in sweat. “All these people came after watching a livestream… Tao, Tao, help me check who they’re talking about. Why didn’t I see any livestream?”
Local young people often have a stronger sense of justice. If it were just a tasty shop versus a bad-tasting shop, people might just laugh it off. But today’s livestream had left many people fuming. The reason was simply the unfair competition between the two shops. One was doing business honestly, slowly building a reputation through skill, while the other did nothing but counterfeit them.
In an instant, many people empathized with Mother Wen and wanted to curse the counterfeiters to death.
Yang Tao was being questioned by Mother Wen. After a few sentences, his confused expression turned into one of excitement. “Who did you say? Da Tuanzi?”
Mother Wen replied, “I think he was called Da Tuanzi. They said it was a livestream, but I didn’t see anyone streaming today… except for a young man holding a phone at noon. I thought he was playing a game!”
Yang Tao grabbed Mother Wen’s arm. “Auntie Xia, we’ve really made it!”
He quickly searched the platform and found Da Tuanzi’s account. There were videos of his face on the account. “Is it him?”
Mother Wen studied it for a moment. “Yes.” It was indeed the one who came to buy cold sides and braised food at noon.
“Hahahaha!” Yang Tao grew excited. “This is a massive stroke of luck.”
Da Tuanzi’s promotion fees were not low. Someone had mentioned before that hiring him for a single promotion cost at least tens of thousands of yuan—and even then, the food had to be good, or he wouldn’t accept the job. Now, they had received a promotion for free. Yang Tao felt that all the previous troubles were nothing now.
The Wen family’s business was about to take flight!
Wen Fan looked at the people in the shop, feeling dazed herself. When asked what they wanted to eat, every single one of them said twice-cooked pork over rice.
“Little sister, can you tell your dad to put more potato slices in the twice-cooked pork?”
Watching the livestream at noon, that was the most mouth-watering part. A group of foodies stared at each other. If they couldn’t eat twice-cooked pork over rice today, they probably wouldn’t be able to sleep all night.
Wen Fan silently counted the heads and picked up her phone to call Father Wen.
“Dad, buy more pork belly… get ten pounds—no, better buy thirty pounds.”
Father Wen was at the market and thought he had misheard. Only after he bought thirty pounds of pork belly and returned to find all eight tables full—with people even sharing tables—did he finally snap out of it.
Wen Fan lightly took the pork belly from Father Wen’s hands.
Father Wen asked, “What… what’s going on?”
Even when business was good, it had never been this good! Wen Fan thought for a moment and chose a phrase she had just heard from Yang Tao.
“This is the power of the internet.”
Da Tuanzi rushed to finish the edit and posted it that night. Once it was posted, Sun Mengyun, who was wondering why her order volume had suddenly plummeted, noticed the strange looks from the owner of the pancake stand next door and heard people vaguely saying she was “famous.”
Only then did Sun Mengyun see her own shop on the short-video platform. Her eyes nearly split from rage as she stared at the screen.
In all fairness, Da Tuanzi had been extremely cautious. Whether it was the delivery or the store visit, he had used mosaics to cover the main identifying parts. At the very least, you couldn’t tell which two shops they were just by watching the video. However, he couldn’t stop the netizens from being experts at de-coding. In the comments below, people had posted all the shop names.
[The authentic one is Wen Ji; the shops next to it are the grocery store and the pharmacy. Wu Ji is the fake; it’s next to the pancake stand. Do not go to the wrong place!]
[I went to eat at Wen Ji tonight. It was super crowded. I also heard people say the Wu family stops customers out front. Don’t listen to their nonsense when you go!]
[Wen Ji’s braised dishes are a masterpiece, seriously. I’ve never had such a delicious braised drumstick.]
[Waaaah, I got off work late. Everything was gone by the time I got there.]
[So delicious! It’s the kind of food so good you wouldn’t stop eating even if someone slapped you.]
…
The hand Sun Mengyun used to hold her phone trembled. She wiped away her tears, dropped the phone, and was about to settle the score with Mother Wen.
Wu Daneng walked in from outside and stopped her. “Where are you going?”
Sun Mengyun cried, “I’m going to fight her for my life!”
She just couldn’t understand. Why was Mother Wen so ruthless? She had only copied her a little, and her business wasn’t even as good as Wen’s. Why was she so intolerant? Now that this video was out, how could she still keep her shop open? Wasn’t this going to ruin her?
“That Xia Yingzhi is too ruthless, too wicked! How are we supposed to live!”
Sun Mengyun was truly crying now, feeling an indescribable regret mixed with deep resentment toward the Wen family.
Wu Daneng looked as if all his energy had been drained overnight. But seeing his wife breaking down like this, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything harsh. “What are you going to her for? Did she force us to do this?”
Wu Daneng coughed twice and sat down dejectedly. “Mengyun, I know you wanted a better life, but from beginning to end, those people never took the initiative to do anything.”
When they first started stealing business, the Wens said nothing. When they copied the storefront later, the Wens didn’t come to make a scene. Now that they were posted online, Wu Daneng felt his vision go dark as he looked at the comments. Stepping out of his own shoes, he realized what they had done was truly wicked. Even if those people hadn’t proactively invited an influencer to expose them, so what if they had?
Nothing said was a lie.
Sun Mengyun’s voice was choked with sobs. “Then what should we do? If she wants me to bow my head, I’ll go bow my head. Can she then come out and say it’s not our fault?”
Even if they clarified things, could the shop still stay open?
Wu Daneng smiled bitterly. “It can’t stay open.”
“We won’t compete with her anymore. We’ll go back to selling rice noodles.”
Wu Daneng pointed toward the front of the street. “That spot at the end of the street, the empty unit next to the hair salon.”
“The sign is already being put up.”
“It’s a rice noodle shop.”
Sun Mengyun’s legs instantly gave way, and she covered her face and wept. Wu Daneng was also somewhat lost. How exactly had he reached this point? Why, when the rice noodles were selling perfectly well, did he suddenly think of causing trouble for others?
In the past, he had once said he would never use pre-prepared meal kits. Their own child was only four or five years old; one should treat other people’s children with the same care as their own. Even just to earn good karma for the child, they shouldn’t use those harmful ‘San-wu’ things. But how had those words later become mere wind in his ears?
Was it because of greed, or the pressure of life? At this point, there was no way to talk about it anymore.
The Sun couple closed their doors. Within a week, the original shop had a “For Rent” sign posted on it.
When Mother Wen passed by the shop entrance, she couldn’t help but sigh. “What a waste of perfectly good lives. Sigh.”
Wen Fan sat on the back of the electric scooter, not feeling much sentiment toward the family that had vanished from her life.
“Mom, can I have a cup of Crème Brûlée Crunchy Milk Foam today?”
“Didn’t you just have one yesterday?”
“Then… how about a Taro Ball Milk?”
“Thirty percent sugar.”
“Thirty percent isn’t sweet enough!”
“If that won’t work, then don’t drink it.”
“…Fine, thirty percent it is.”