Chapter 93: The Pot Calling the Kettle Black

Seeing the boiled fish in front of them, the two each took a piece of fish and ate it, then sighed in unison.

“This fish isn’t fresh.” Bai Renzong put down his chopsticks, rinsed his mouth, and said, “Either it was dead before it was cooked, or it was killed yesterday.”

“Mm... the flesh isn’t firm at all. It has this almost mushy feel to it.” Han Jiayi frowned. “But that’s strange. We ordered a live fish here just now, and they took it downstairs to butcher it. How could it not be fresh...?”

The waiter nearby hurriedly said, “All our fish are killed on the spot. The fish you ordered just now still had its head and tail, didn’t it? If you need, we can bring it out for you to look at!”

“Do you know why fish tastes fresh?” Bai Renzong asked the waiter in return. “It’s because of the amino acids in the flesh. But if a fish has been dead too long, the proteins and amino acids start to spoil, and that fresh flavor fades.”

As he spoke, Bai Renzong pointed at the pot of boiled fish in front of them. “The meat in this dish barely has any fresh flavor left. There’s no way it came from a fish killed just now.”

“This... why don’t I get the manager to talk with you?” The waiter was momentarily at a loss.

“Forget it.” Bai Renzong sighed. He had only come out to have a meal with Han Jiayi, and there was no need to get too caught up in this; it would only spoil both their moods.

But at that moment, Han Jiayi suddenly picked out a piece from the tail end of the fish. By its size alone, it was obvious that it was not from the fish they had ordered earlier; it was much smaller.

“What did you just say?” Bai Renzong turned to the waiter and asked, “The head and tail were all still there? Then bring them out and compare them. Let’s see whether they match this tail.”

The other side had only been stubbornly pretending otherwise. Once the head and tail were brought out and compared, the truth was instantly laid bare.

So the manager came over next to apologize, saying that the kitchen had been busy and made a mistake, mixing up their fish with another table’s, then replaced it with a fresh serving of boiled fish.

“A restaurant-review creator is supposed to expose places like this.” Bai Renzong shook his head and sighed, picking a large piece of fish for Han Jiayi. “What a pity. The places that should be reviewed never allow it, while the ones that do allow it are all just shameless cash grabs.”

“Ah, there’s nothing we can do.” Han Jiayi pouted. “This is a little spicy, though. Can you handle it?”

“More or less.” Bai Renzong nodded. “The reason they use such heavy seasoning here is probably to cover up the fact that the fish isn’t fresh. But...”

But the owner had come up with a perfect excuse, and they had even replaced the fish dish for them.

Bai Renzong had always been the type who would yield to kindness but not to force. Since they had already replaced the fish and apologized, he really had nothing more to say. After all, it was only one case, and there was no evidence to prove this restaurant was a repeat offender.

“By the way, how did you find this place?” Han Jiayi asked curiously.

She might not have said it, but the moment she did, Bai Renzong got annoyed. “It was recommended by a creator I follow on D Station! Just wait. I’m unfollowing her the moment I get home today! This has to be paid advertising!”

Han Jiayi could barely suppress a laugh. “Oh, come on. Being a creator isn’t easy either. People have to make a living.”

“Next time, let’s find the places ourselves, okay?” Bai Renzong said as he ate some salt-and-pepper pork strips. “We can treat it like the two of us sneaking out to review places in private, and then once we find a good one, recommend it to everyone.”

“Mm, okay!” Han Jiayi’s eyes lit up with delight. “That sounds really nice!”

She liked that feeling, whether it was the two of them going out quietly on their own, or finding a good place and then sharing it with others.

“Then it’s settled.” Bai Renzong nodded.

In Bai Renzong’s view, restaurants could basically be divided into three grades: not worth the price, worth the price, and better than the price.

Willow Pavilion belonged to the third category. Although it served only simple home-style dishes, the food was delicious and cheap; for twenty yuan, you could get the quality of a forty-yuan meal.

Yijia Pavilion and Blue Tile House belonged to the second category. The average bill ran into the hundreds, but the craftsmanship and ingredients were genuinely worth the money.

As for this place...

Setting aside the shady business of secretly swapping fish, this pot of “killed-and-cooked-on-the-spot” boiled fish cost more than two hundred yuan.

Yet in Bai Renzong’s opinion, even after replacing it with fresh fish, the dish was only worth about one hundred yuan at best. The seasoning, the knife work, the plating, the service—none of it had any real standout point.

The biggest highlight was probably just that the decor was fairly luxurious.

As for this restaurant, Bai Renzong’s final verdict was simple: whoever gets fooled, gets fooled.

This place was a textbook example of the current “internet-famous restaurant” marketing model. When it first opened, they hyped it up mercilessly, bringing in creators and livestreamers to review it and create the illusion that it was bustling and absolutely worth visiting. Then they went all out milking customers, squeezing out as much money as they could.

Once they stopped being able to fool many new customers into falling into the trap, they would scam a few unlucky people into franchising, and when the brand had grown large enough, they would just sell it off and walk away... nice and comfortable.

Right now Bai Renzong badly wanted to expose the place, but unfortunately, without the owner’s permission and without solid evidence, he couldn’t publish such a review.

He could force it out if he really wanted to, but if the restaurant pursued a copyright or infringement issue, he would still have to take it down.

It was just like the first video he had made about Yijia Pavilion. If Han Jiayi had pressed the matter, he would have had to delete that video; she had simply chosen not to dig further.

“Where were we?” Han Jiayi clearly didn’t want to dwell on this restaurant any longer, so she returned to their earlier topic. “Your love life, right? How many times have you dated?”

“Once.” Bai Renzong answered lightly.

At that moment, Han Jiayi felt a little sour inside. This annoying Bai had actually dated someone before! His ex-girlfriend was definitely not as pretty as me. Definitely!

“But it was an online romance.” Bai Renzong added, “We only dated in a game. We never met in real life.”

Han Jiayi burst out laughing with a “pfft,” only to choke on the chili and start coughing violently.

“Not laughing anymore?” Bai Renzong asked as he gently patted her on the back. “Karma.”

Han Jiayi shot him a fierce glare, and Bai Renzong asked in return, “What about you? How many times have you dated?”

“I-I...” Han Jiayi brushed back her hair and stammered, “I, um... when I was in college, I went to Le Cordon Bleu in France to study cooking. You can’t really date abroad, and then after I came back, I was busy opening a restaurant, so I didn’t have time to date. Once the restaurant finally stabilized, I signed with Phantom World Group, and the contract says I can’t date, so... well, yeah.”

“So you haven’t dated either? And you still laughed at me?” Bai Renzong asked irritably. “Laughing at someone with fifty steps while you’ve only gone a hundred, huh?”

“But I... I had a lot of people pursuing me! They just didn’t meet my standards!” Han Jiayi said with perfect confidence.

“There were a lot of people chasing you abroad too?” Bai Renzong asked curiously.

“At the time I was fully absorbed in studying cooking. I didn’t have the time to bother with them.” Han Jiayi rolled her eyes.

The two of them ate and talked, and for the first time Bai Renzong felt this kind of pleasant, natural ease during a blind date. In the seventeen previous ones, he had only ever felt constrained and nervous.

This had to be what it felt like to meet the right person.

“Come on, Old Bai, win her over!” a voice rang out in Bai Renzong’s heart, and another voice asked, “How exactly are you supposed to win her over?”

That voice then answered cheerfully, “How should I know?!”

Just then Han Jiayi checked the time and was instantly startled. “Eat faster! The movie’s about to start. I bought the one-thirty-five showing.”

Thanks to Xuan Yuan Li Tao, Su Jiaren, and B-am for the two monthly votes, and to This Life Has Tea, This Next Life Has Books, and Mu Li Zhi Ye for the tips.