CH 24

“…Three Thousand Food House emerged victorious in this competition.”

As the words fell, the manager quickly signaled the staff in charge of the live broadcast to shut it down immediately. The staff understood and was about to exit the live streaming room, but their actions were blocked by a hand.

“That white-haired person, don’t disrupt the order of the scene!”

The manager shouted sternly. Feng Ye opened the staff member’s hand, gave the manager a faint glance, and then turned his gaze to Bai Xianzhi.

Bai Xianzhi had recognized Feng Ye a long time ago and knew that he was helping him. He spoke to the manager, “Manager, what does this mean? Do you want to shut down the live broadcast? But I remember the results haven’t been announced yet.”

“According to the previous agreement, Manager, shouldn’t you announce who imitated whom?” Bai Xianzhi asked.

The manager looked at Bai Xianzhi with an unpleasant expression. Admitting that Time Moon Hotel imitated would be a huge blow to their reputation. He couldn’t just casually say such a thing, and he was sure that Time Moon Hotel didn’t imitate anyone!

Looking at Bai Xianzhi, the manager said gravely, “The truth is still unknown, and our hotel will continue the investigation.”

“The truth?” Bai Xianzhi mocked, “The taste of the dishes your hotel makes can’t compare to mine. Isn’t that the truth?”

“The chef you competed with was from the Orc Branch, not the head chef who developed these dishes. Let’s wait for the head chef to return to determine the truth!” the manager replied.

Bai Xianzhi laughed with indignation, “The competition was accepted by your own words, and the agreement was acknowledged by you. But now that you’ve lost, you’re trying to play tricks and avoid admitting it. Truly impressive!” The online viewers in the live streaming room also started discussing…

【”It makes sense. Everything was agreed upon before the competition, but now Time Moon Hotel wants to back out. It’s really petty!”】

【”I feel like Time Moon Hotel handled this situation poorly. If you lose, just accept it gracefully. But now they’re creating this whole scene, giving off a bad impression to onlookers.”】

【”I can understand it to some extent. For a hotel, the dishes are crucial. How can they casually admit to imitation without thoroughly investigating?”】

【”If they couldn’t handle losing, they shouldn’t have agreed to the competition in the first place! Now that the results are out, they’re playing tricks. It’s really unappealing!”】

【”Since the dishes were created by the head chef, they should have had the head chef participate in the competition from the beginning. What’s the point of involving a chef from a branch?”】

【”Maybe at first, Time Moon Hotel thought dealing with Three Thousand Food House would be enough with a chef from the branch. But they didn’t anticipate…”】

【Indeed, the manager did think this way, but that could only be considered one of the reasons. The other reason was that the head chef couldn’t be present at the moment!】

“Manager, it’s not a good habit to play tricks after agreeing to a fair competition.”

The manager glared at Bai Xianzhi, unable to shut down the live broadcast controlled by the white-haired man, and being pressured by the owner of Three Thousand Food House. Must they really admit that Time Moon Hotel imitated?

“Wait!”

A male voice suddenly came from outside the door. Bai Xianzhi turned to look, frowning, “She Bo Bo?”

At the same time, a surprised voice sounded in his ear, “Master Chef!”

In fact, “She Bo Bo” wasn’t his real name; his true name was Long Bo Bo. His identity wasn’t that of the Snake Clan but the Dragon Clan, which brought with it the troubling problem of the “Sensitive Period.”

During the Sensitive Period, dragons couldn’t do anything and had to stay in the Dragon Realm, enduring a pervasive itchiness all over their bodies. The Sensitive Period occurred once every five years, and the timing was unpredictable. Few dragons could anticipate when their Sensitive Period would occur.

This time, Long Bo Bo had to hurriedly return to the Dragon Realm due to the sudden onset of his Sensitive Period. It was not easy to endure it, and when he finally got out of the sensitive period and acquired the All-Pass Card again, he didn’t expect such a big incident to have happened!

Three Thousand Food House and Time Moon Hotel were actually having a competition to determine who imitated whom!

Seeing this news, Long Bo Bo almost cried. When it came down to it, this whole thing was his fault!

As a dragon, Long Bo Bo had a strong passion for cooking. He devoted all his energy to culinary arts and successfully became the head chef of Time Moon Hotel, the largest hotel in the Three Thousand Worlds.

Although his culinary skills had been acknowledged by countless people, Long Bo Bo always felt that it wasn’t enough. At this time, he saw the news about Three Thousand Food House’s dishes becoming delicious, and the pictures posted online looked really good. So Long Bo Bo went to Three Thousand Food House.

After tasting Bai Xianzhi’s dishes once, Long Bo Bo was amazed. He had never eaten anything like it before and had never imagined that these unremarkable and strange wild vegetables and fruits could be mixed with various ingredients to create unique and delicious flavors!

At that time, Three Thousand Food House was recruiting staff, and Long Bo Bo had not thought about stealing Bai Xianzhi’s culinary skills and passing them off as his own. He applied to be a staff member just to personally witness Bai Xianzhi’s culinary skills, to experience the culinary art that broke the barriers in his mind.

Of course, later he found that there was just too much he could learn from Bai Xianzhi, so he wrote down the steps of the four dishes with a pen. He intended to go back and study each step’s effect on the ingredients in detail, but he didn’t expect the Sensitive Period to suddenly arrive, forcing him to hurry back to the Dragon Realm.

Before leaving, the manager of the Orc Branch found him and said they wanted him to give a class to the branch’s chef. Long Bo Bo didn’t have time for that, so he had to hand over the notes he had previously summarized to the manager. Unfortunately, he accidentally included the menu he had written during his visit to Three Thousand Food House, leading to this ridiculous situation.

Long Bo Bo looked apologetically at Bai Xianzhi and bowed, saying, “Mr. Bai, I’m sorry. That’s how things turned out. It’s all my fault that you had to go through this. I’m sorry!”

The manager, who had been obedient as a quail ever since Long Bo Bo appeared, also bowed and said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Bai. It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t unilaterally pushed the four dishes forward, this wouldn’t have happened. Time Moon Hotel is willing to compensate you tenfold of our revenue for the distress and loss you’ve suffered. At the same time, we will permanently remove these four dishes from all our branches and post an apology statement in various locations. We hope to make up for the harm caused to you!”

Well…

Bai Xianzhi felt somewhat embarrassed. Now that the truth was revealed and the other party’s attitude seemed sincere enough, he realized that he hadn’t actually suffered much. After all, his restaurant was small, with limited capacity to accommodate guests, and the economic losses were negligible. The tenfold compensation felt a bit exaggerated.

“No need for this compensation. It’s enough to clarify the truth,” Bai Xianzhi declined, thinking that any business person wouldn’t refuse money, as it meant profit.

However, the manager in front of him was not an ordinary person; he was stubborn and unwavering. Even after the competition results were out, he refused to back down, showing his absolute determination not to give up on the outcome he had determined. The manager firmly stated, “No, compensation is necessary!”

Bai Xianzhi tried to decline once again, “Really, there’s no need.”

The manager insisted, “I will transfer the money to your account!”

Bai Xianzhi: “……”

What’s wrong with this person? Can’t I refuse the money?

q_q Can someone save me!!

Feng Ye looked at Bai Xianzhi and said, “There’s no need to remove the four dishes from Time Moon Hotel; instead, you can increase their sales. However, half of all the sales should be given to Mr. Bai, considering it as an investment in his culinary expertise.”

The manager’s eyes brightened, “Agreed, but we can make it three-fifths, giving Mr. Bai three-fifths of the sales!”

Bai Xianzhi also thought it was a good idea. It was like the ‘Spicy Blood Hot pot’ from the Blood Clan. He said, “I agree too, but two-fifths would be enough. Three-fifths is too much, as Time Moon Hotel still has to cover the staff’s salaries and maintain the environment.”

The manager was about to say something but was stopped by Long Bo Bo, who interjected, “Alright, we’ll go back and prepare the contract. Once it’s ready, we’ll find Mr. Bai to sign it.”

And so, the controversial event of Time Moon Hotel imitating Three Thousand Food House came to a peaceful conclusion. The online viewers in the live streaming room commented:

【”Did you expect a heated battle? Who would have thought the result would be so… harmonious.”】

【”This is more than just harmonious. It’s like a happy ending from a family drama!”】

【”…Actually, I’m not surprised. After watching the livestream, I couldn’t help but feel that the owner of Three Thousand Food House is the real creator.”】

【”+1, the owner of Three Thousand Food House has great charisma. It’s evident that his culinary skills are outstanding!”】

【”It’s unbelievable! Who would have thought this was just a misunderstanding caused by the head chef of Time Moon Hotel? And these four dishes are so delicious!”】

【”Am I the only one with this question? If the dishes from Time Moon Hotel are already delicious, then I wonder how much better the ones from Three Thousand Food House taste! [Drooling.jpg]”】

【”Ah, you’ve noticed the crucial point! I’ve decided to go to Three Thousand Food House and try it out tomorrow! Just watching the livestream by the owner of Three Thousand Food House left me drooling!”】

…

From then on, Three Thousand Food House completely changed its negative image in the Three Thousand Worlds. As a result, Bai Xianzhi found himself busy in the kitchen for a long time to come.

Of course, Bai Xianzhi didn’t know this yet. After all, Three Thousand Food House hadn’t officially opened its doors. He was currently expressing his gratitude to Feng Ye, knowing that if it weren’t for Feng Ye’s timely intervention at two critical moments, this matter wouldn’t have been resolved so smoothly.

“Mr. Feng, thank you. I don’t know how to repay you, so you keep this card. Consider it as a VIP card for Three Thousand Food House.”

Feng Ye took the black card, which had some strange characters on it, and asked, “What is it?”

Bai Xianzhi’s nervous gaze swept over the card; it was a membership card he obtained for Auntie from the lane. He calmly said, “It means VIP. With this card, you’ll be a VIP at Three Thousand Food House. Whenever you visit, I’ll prioritize meeting your needs and reserve a table for you at all times!”

Feng Ye nodded, pocketing the card, and asked casually, “Am I the only one?”

Bai Xianzhi nodded, “Yes, currently, you’re the only one.”

Feng Ye looked satisfied and turned to Bai Xianzhi, saying, “Well then, can I eat now?”

Bai Xianzhi smiled, “What would you like to eat?”

“Three Mushroom and Sliced Meat Soup.”

Bai Xianzhi hesitated, “I’m sorry, but we don’t have three mushrooms.”

Feng Ye: “…Alright then, just Sliced Meat Soup.”

…..

Author’s note: Feng Ye: Finally, no need to wait in line anymore…

1TL: YSIAD “You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you ”