His true intentions exposed, the manager grew flustered, but he quickly composed himself and retorted:
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
"What are you all standing around for?"
"Get over here and throw this troublemaker out!"
In his haste, the manager had completely forgotten that there was another streamer they had invited inside Yamada Residence. He had really run into a brick wall this time.
Since his prepared excuses were useless, he couldn’t be bothered to overthink it and played his trump card: kicking them out by force.
He couldn’t let this streamer, who had appeared out of nowhere, continue his broadcast.
Otherwise, the reputation that Akatori had painstakingly built these past few days would be destroyed in an instant.
At the manager’s call, the other chefs—aside from Ikegawa Yoshihiko—instantly surrounded them. Even the few young women in kimonos who had been serving customers closed in.
They all looked ready to jump into the fray at a moment’s notice.
Seeing the menacing crowd, Li Xiao and his three friends immediately stood up from their seats.
Zhou Yu, who had never seen such a spectacle, was terrified by the sight of the murderous-looking chefs and hid behind Li Xiao. He whispered:
"Brother Li, shouldn’t we just leave?"
"A wise man doesn’t fight a losing battle. They clearly outnumber us, and they’re all so muscular. I don’t think we’re any match for them."
But beside them, Huang Zhiyuan curled his lip.
"What’s there to be scared of? You think they’d dare to get physical in broad daylight?"
"Li Xiao’s phone is still live. They’re the ones who should be scared."
Zhang Jiawen chimed in:
"Exactly. Brother Li’s stream is about to break ten thousand viewers. These guys wouldn’t dare try anything funny."
The manager, who had been about to order his men to throw the four of them out, had his expression suddenly change.
’A livestream?’
’Ten thousand viewers??’
However, a cold smirk soon appeared on his lips.
He used Douyin himself and often sent gifts in the streams of pretty female influencers.
As far as he knew, streamers with a few hundred thousand followers might only have a few dozen viewers at any given time.
To break a thousand concurrent viewers, you’d need to be at least a million-follower streamer—and a major one who hadn’t bought a lot of fake followers.
For this person to have nearly 10,000 concurrent viewers meant he was likely a top-tier streamer with tens of millions of followers.
There were only a handful of streamers with tens of millions of followers doing food content in Yangcheng, and he had contacted basically all of them over the past few days.
Even for the streamers who hadn’t agreed to do a store review, he had at least become familiar with their faces.
He was certain that this person before him was not among the streamers with tens of millions, or even several million, followers.
The guy’s companion was only saying that to bluff him.
He turned his head to the chefs beside him and barked:
"What are you waiting for? These people are deliberately causing trouble, disrupting Mr. Ikegawa Yoshihiko’s cooking and disturbing the other guests! Get them out of here now."
"The boss will handle any consequences!"
These chefs, of course, knew how powerful the owner of Akatori was. After hearing the manager’s promise, their worries vanished, and they began to close in on Li Xiao’s group.
"Hey kid, trying to scam people instead of getting a real job, huh?"
"Get lost if you know what’s good for you, or don’t blame us for what happens next!"
"Ten thousand viewers? And I’m a top influencer with tens of millions of fans!"
"Couldn’t you be anything better than an internet beggar? That’s hilarious. Get out of here with us, now!"
"Do you have any idea who our boss is? You think you can scam us?"
...
Watching the chefs gradually approach him, Li Xiao wasn’t the least bit flustered.
He picked up his phone, which was already on a call, and hit the speakerphone button.
"Hello, officers, did you hear that?"
"We feel our lives are being threatened. I’m very worried they might attack us. Please dispatch officers as soon as possible!"
A serious, middle-aged man’s voice immediately came from the other end of the line.
"This is Akatori, correct?"
"We’ve located your phone. Nearby officers will arrive as soon as possible. Please ensure your own safety."
"If you continue to feel threatened, you can keep the line open. This call is being recorded and can be used as evidence later."
The men who had surrounded them, ready to make a move, instantly sobered up when they saw "110" on the phone’s screen and stopped in their tracks.
Their boss’s background was indeed formidable, but no matter how powerful he was, he couldn’t be more powerful than the police.
The manager never would have imagined that the guy would actually call the police. His face turned ashen.
Seeing that physical threats wouldn’t work, the manager instantly changed his tune. He bowed slightly to the other customers in the room.
"Valued guests, my sincerest apologies. Due to a troublemaker, Yamada Residence will have to temporarily suspend service."
"If you are willing, you may wait for the police to arrive and resolve the matter before continuing your meal."
"Of course, if you’d rather not wait, you are free to leave for now. We will provide each of you with a 200 yuan cash coupon for your convenience on your next visit."
Hearing this, Li Xiao narrowed his eyes.
The manager’s solution seemed reasonable on the surface, but it was actually quite insidious.
People who could afford a 1,700-yuan-per-person meal certainly wouldn’t care about a 200 yuan coupon.
Of course, it was also impossible that they would be willing to wait for the police to handle it.
Everyone’s time was precious. Even if the police were nearby, the time it would take for them to arrive and sort things out would still be significant.
The diners present were bound to be displeased.
The manager had presented two seemingly reasonable options. Logically, even if neither was ideal, the customers wouldn’t direct their anger at the manager. He had offered a choice; it was their problem that neither was acceptable.
Thus, the people present would turn their anger toward the instigator—Li Xiao.
A middle-aged man in a suit, around 50 years old, frowned at Li Xiao.
"Young man, if you have an issue, take it outside. It’s highly inappropriate for you to be disturbing everyone else’s meal in here."
Seeing her man speak up, the young woman in a miniskirt beside the middle-aged man immediately scoffed:
"Exactly! If you can’t afford it, don’t pretend to be a big shot!"
"You dare to eat at a high-end restaurant that costs 1,700 per person when you’re not even wearing a single designer brand?"
"Did you realize your credit card was maxed out and you couldn’t pay the bill, so you decided to cause a scene?"
Li Xiao looked at the woman.
The woman was probably about his age, with a very hot body.
She wore a black crop top and an off-white miniskirt so short it barely covered her backside. Any slightly exaggerated movement would likely expose her underwear.
Both the crop top and the miniskirt featured huge brand logos.
Although Li Xiao wasn’t very familiar with women’s fashion...
...he had spent plenty of time shopping with his girlfriends in the past. While these two items could barely be considered luxury goods, they were from the lower end of the luxury spectrum.
Her whole outfit probably didn’t even cost 5,000 yuan.
Their ages suggested they could be father and daughter, but their level of intimacy far exceeded that. Besides, Li Xiao didn’t think any father would want to see his daughter dressed so revealingly.
Moreover, he had noticed earlier that the man wore a ring on his left hand, while the woman did not.
It was obvious what their relationship was.
Li Xiao rolled his eyes in disdain.
Though he’d had many girlfriends in his past life, he was always devoted in his relationships, focusing on only one person at a time.
People always called him a player, but in his eyes, his periods of devotion were just a bit short. He was still far better than those scumbags who were juggling several women at once.