Chapter 144: How a Sharp Tongue is Forged

Backed by the television station and the tourism bureau, Bai Renzong felt considerably more confident.

Tact? What was tact? He only knew how to speak the absolute truth!

The next day, October sixteenth, Bai Renzong began planning his restaurant reviews in Beichang City.

He kept a special little notebook, filled with local restaurants recommended to him by his followers—some well-meaning recommendations, while others were places they wanted him to test and expose.

Previously, constrained by his modest fame, lack of powerful backing, and the looming threats of the Phantom World Group, Bai Renzong could not openly wander around the city critiquing establishments. He had no choice but to record these places in his little notebook.

However, times had changed!

Now, he was not only a renowned content creator with two million followers, but he also represented the local tourism bureau and television station!

Did the restaurants under the Phantom World Group not want to make money? Of course they did!

Why was "Late Rice" always so prosperous no matter when you went? Because it was a famous, time-honored establishment in Beichang City, featured in the city's official tourism brochures. Anyone visiting Beichang City would naturally stop by to check it out. Therefore, while not every Chinese restaurant might care about the Michelin guide, every single one of them hoped to be included in the local tourism brochure.

Not to mention that restaurants reviewed by Bai Renzong had a chance to be featured on television interviews afterward.

Even restaurants belonging to the Phantom World Group would not want to miss such a golden opportunity.

By mid-October, the kitchen at Yijia Xuan had adapted to the new recipes and pace, meaning Han Jiayi was no longer as overworked and could spare time to accompany Bai Renzong on his restaurant reviews.

Unable to contain his excitement, Bai Renzong arrived at "Jiuwei Xuan," a famous internet-famous restaurant in the city, around four o'clock on the afternoon of the sixteenth, preparing for his first restaurant review since his return.

Established two years ago, this restaurant's signature dish was a local Beichang specialty known as "spicy crab claws," alongside crayfish and barbecue. The hype surrounding it was immense, and reviews across all major platforms were uniformly five-star.

Thus, Bai Renzong was here today to see if it truly lived up to its legendary reputation.

Upon entering the restaurant, carrying their filming equipment, they were quickly recognized by a waiter.

Noticing the waiter's hostile expression, Bai Renzong decided to seize the initiative.

"Hello, we represent the Beichang City Tourism Bureau and Beichang Television Station to gather material. May we film here?" Without waiting for the waiter to drive them away, Bai Renzong preemptively delivered his rehearsed lines.

The phrases "Beichang City Tourism Bureau" and "Beichang Television Station" struck the waiter like a thunderbolt, leaving him momentarily dazed. The waiter stammered, his arrogant aura instantly vanishing, and replied timidly, "Uh... p-please wait a moment, let me go ask the manager."

Shortly thereafter, the manager came over in person to host them.

"Hello, hello, right this way," the manager smiled politely, leading them past the logo of the "Phantom World Group" and deeper into the restaurant.

Of course, Bai Renzong would not deliberately speak ill of a place simply because it belonged to the Phantom World Group; if the food was good, he would say so.

Some establishments would specially instruct their kitchen to use better ingredients or larger portions for people who looked like live streamers or content creators, a phenomenon that was impossible to completely avoid.

Yet, if a restaurant truly wanted to grow and build a lasting reputation, relying on such petty tricks was useless, a fact the proprietors surely understood.

"Give us three portions of your signature spicy crab claws," Bai Renzong said, scanning the menu. "And... bring us an order of braised crayfish, and a plate of cartilage." With that, Bai Renzong turned to Wang Bei and Han Jiayi. "Is there anything else you two want?"

"Grilled green peppers," Wang Bei smiled and said. Han Jiayi replied with a gentle smile, "Then I'll have an order of oysters."

"We have oysters with cheese and with garlic paste..." the manager offered with a beaming smile.

"We'll take one of each," Bai Renzong said, handing the menu back to the manager.

"Please wait a moment, they'll be ready right away," the manager said respectfully, taking the menu as he withdrew.

Judging by his nervous demeanor, it was obvious he intended to give the kitchen special instructions to take extra care with this order.

Seeing this, Han Jiayi felt a twinge of worry: "Old Bai, if we do this, won't they give us special treatment?"

"It doesn't matter," Bai Renzong said lazily. "Our goal is to find genuinely exceptional restaurants, and places like this... that only want to muddle through—how good could you possibly expect them to be? A restaurant that pursues excellence naturally won't treat people differently."

Before long, their dishes were served, and the manager even thoughtfully presented them with a complimentary fruit platter.

"I honestly don't mind this kind of special treatment, hehe..." Wang Bei laughed smugly, spearing a piece of watermelon and eating it.

"Alright, let's start the broadcast." Bai Renzong nodded at Wang Bei.

The live stream commenced, and Bai Renzong delivered a brief introduction, outlining the restaurant's background.

"This restaurant is called Jiuwei Xuan, located at 302 *** Street, Beichang City," Bai Renzong introduced. "Their signature dish is spicy crab claws. Do you all know what spicy crab claws are? It's a Beichang specialty made with our local alkaline noodles, stir-fried with crushed swimming crabs, garlic, and scallions. That's right, it's fried noodles, but it has plenty of sauce and isn't dry at all. Take a look."

With that, Bai Renzong lifted a pair of chopsticks laden with noodles from the bowl before him to display them in front of the camera.

"Alright, without further ado, let's dig in." Saying this, Bai Renzong tossed the spicy crab claws in front of him, slurped up a mouthful, wiped his mouth, and fell silent with a straight face, seemingly searching for the right words.

The manager paced anxiously behind them, awaiting the verdict of the trial.

"How should I put it?" Bai Renzong lowered his eyelids and said coldly, "To manage to be cloyingly sweet and intensely salty all at once is genuinely quite an achievement..."

Bai Renzong took a large gulp of his beverage, looked directly into the camera, and said, "I don't know if any of you have ever had pickled mustard greens, but it tastes pretty much like that. You can simultaneously taste a very heavy sweetness and a very heavy saltiness."

"So, do you think it tastes good?" Wang Bei asked curiously.

"Cloyingly sweet and overwhelmingly salty, do you think that could possibly taste good?" Bai Renzong asked back, looking at Wang Bei with a puzzled expression.

This sentence struck the manager standing behind them like a bolt of lightning.

Bai Renzong continued, "I suspect—merely suspect—that such heavy seasoning is used to cover up the fact that their crabs are not fresh. The swimming crabs in this particular bowl of mine are fine, but I can't guarantee that's what you'll get if you come to eat here."

Han Jiayi glanced sideways at the manager behind Bai Renzong, who was anxiously biting his fingernails with an expression that revealed his conspiracy had been exposed.

At this moment, Bai Renzong turned to Han Jiayi: "Now, would our lovely Jiayi share her thoughts on this bowl of noodles? If it were you, how would you make it taste better?"

"I'm not sure if everyone has tried XO sauce stir-fried noodles," Han Jiayi replied, "but if I were to make spicy crab claws, I would follow that approach, gradually heating the noodles from low to medium and finally high heat, while using less salt and sugar to highlight the natural flavors of the noodles, the crab, and the sauce..."

"Then let's try making it right after we get back tonight, shall we?" Bai Renzong said with a smile, gently patting her head.

"Mm..." Han Jiayi nodded with a pursed, smiling lips.

Live stream chat comments: "Caught off guard by a mouthful of dog food."

Following that, Bai Renzong continued critiquing the remaining dishes: "The braised crayfish—this is prime season for them, and the crayfish are plump. But the sauce flavor is far too heavy; it feels like it might be trying to mask something." "They used way too much oil for the pork cartilage. Does everyone remember the couple's lung slices I reviewed in Chengdu City? Too much oil prevents the seasoning from properly coating the ingredients."

However, when he bit into a grilled oyster, Bai Renzong raised an eyebrow: "Hmm? This cheese-baked oyster is quite good."

Saying this, Bai Renzong showed it to the camera: "Did you all see that? The cheese even stretches. It's very fragrant when you eat it, somewhat resembling western-style buttered scallops. I'll recommend this one; it's relatively outstanding among the dishes."

Finally, after finishing the meal, Bai Renzong delivered his summary: "In conclusion: the spicy crab claws are overwhelmingly cloying. Too much oil in the cartilage, the crayfish are overly salty, though the shrimp themselves are quite large. The cheese oysters are worth a try. What's that? You're asking about the grilled green peppers? Ask Xiaobei about those."

Wang Bei chimed in from behind the camera: "They were grilled nice and tender, pretty good actually."

"Alright, that about wraps it up. I'd say it's just a classic internet-famous restaurant—the hype is huge, but the actual food is just mediocre. Whether you want to visit or not, I'll leave that for you all to judge." Bai Renzong stood up, preparing to scan the QR code to pay.

"No need, no need..." The manager hurried forward to stop them. "Please treat this meal as my treat."

"How could that do? That sounds like something gangsters would do. I'm here to review restaurants, not to extort you." Frowning, Bai Renzong scanned the code to pay anyway, and then showed the price to the camera: "Three people, three hundred and eighty-two yuan. Honestly, you could pick any random barbecue joint on the street and get this exact taste, probably at an eighty percent discount."

Han Jiayi and Wang Bei looked on somewhat anxiously at the grim-faced restaurant owner and staff, appearing slightly worried about whether they would be able to walk out of the establishment safely, but in the end, the staff merely watched silently as Bai Renzong departed.

"I just love the look on their faces when they're furious yet can't do a thing about me." Bai Renzong sighed with deep satisfaction. Once outside the restaurant, he exclaimed with immense delight, "As expected, reviewing restaurants should be like this! Say whatever's on your mind!"

"But I feel like if you keep doing this next time, you might actually get beaten up..." Wang Bei said with a hint of worry.

Bai Renzong thought for a moment and nodded: "That makes sense, so I'll need to step up my boxing training lately."

"Unbelievable, this guy has no intention of reflecting on himself whatsoever..." Wang Bei whispered as she discussed it with Han Jiayi. "Sister Jiayi, you really need to hold Old Bai back at critical moments; he has completely let loose and is wandering further and further down the path of a sharp-tongued critic..."

"Mm... I think so too." Han Jiayi nodded. "I'll try to talk some sense into him when we get back."

Just then, however, Bai Renzong abruptly stopped walking. Staring at his phone in a daze for quite a while, he finally turned to Han Jiayi: "Mumu, Yang Hua says his 'soup' research is complete, and has invited us over to taste it tomorrow."