Having received Zhuang Wen’s permission, Li Xiao finally relaxed.
He spoke to the camera, "Since everyone is so interested, and Captain Zhuang has agreed, I’ll take you all through the lens to see the kitchen of this so-called high-end Japanese restaurant that charges 1,700 per person."
Watching the four people begin their inspection, the manager closed his eyes in despair. He knew that this time, not only was he finished, but Red Bird was likely doomed as well.
Seeing Li Xiao heading into the kitchen, some of the guests in Yamada Residence who had been watching the spectacle couldn’t sit still either. Xia Country People naturally had a penchant for watching drama baked into their DNA. Now that they could watch it unfold live, who could resist?
Seeing that these people wanted to tag along, Zhuang Wen didn’t refuse. She simply reminded them not to cause any trouble before leading her team into the kitchen.
The inspectors were very experienced. They first checked the issues raised by the whistleblower.
First, the cooking equipment indeed hadn’t been cleaned in a long time; all the grills had some degree of stubborn stains. The kitchen cabinets were also covered in a thick layer of dust. Although the refrigerators showed signs of having been washed, it was clearly a perfunctory job. Large amounts of grime lingered in the corners, and miscellaneous items that shouldn’t be in a commercial kitchen were scattered everywhere.
Zhuang Wen conducted a rapid inspection. The two inspectors behind her weren’t idle either, methodically recording every problematic area.
Upon seeing such an abysmal storage environment, she immediately ordered, "Randomly sample a few food items for a rapid on-site test. I have a feeling these won’t meet safety standards."
In the livestream chat:
"My god, they put leftover food and cooked food together?"
"Those semi-finished products aren’t even sealed with plastic wrap?? Are you sure they won’t go bad?"
"Hasn’t this shop been open for less than a month? Why is there so much filth on the refrigerator seals?"
"Good heavens, they didn’t even separate the cutting boards for raw and cooked food? With this kind of hygiene, they dare to serve ingredients that aren’t fully cooked???"
"If I’m not mistaken, the broccoli in the fridge is starting to turn yellow, right?"
"We found the reason why the broccoli was burnt. It seems it’s not because the Bird-Burning Immortal’s skills are lacking, but because the ingredients are terrible."
"This hygiene environment is worse than a street stall, isn’t it?"
In just a few minutes of inspection, a mountain of problems had already been uncovered. After checking the most obvious issues, Zhuang Wen didn’t stop. According to her experience, if even the most superficial food hygiene tasks couldn’t be done properly, the internal problems would undoubtedly be extremely serious.
She looked at the manager. "Please show me your food purchase ledgers. Oh, and the ones for the seasonings too.
"Wei, Long, go check the seasoning cabinet for any non-compliant additives."
Hearing Zhuang Wen ask for the ledgers, the manager’s face stiffened. Their shop did indeed maintain ledgers, but those books were only used to brush off inspections. A careful check would reveal that the data in them was entirely fabricated.
Seeing the manager’s hesitation, Zhuang Wen immediately sensed that something was wrong. She narrowed her eyes. "What? No ledgers?
"Then we can only proceed under the assumption that all the food lacks a legitimate sourcing channel.
"As the store manager, you will likely bear joint liability as well."
Hearing about joint liability, the manager’s last trace of luck vanished completely. He hurriedly spoke up, "We have them, we have them! I’ll go get them right away."
A moment later, looking at the obviously perfunctory ledger in her hand, Zhuang Wen tilted her head, tapping her finger against the book. "Do you purchase the exact same goods every day?
"Also, does your shop only use these five seasonings?
"Where is the data for the other seasonings?"
Seeing that his fabricated ledger was seen through at a glance, the manager immediately stammered, unsure of how to explain. Just as he was trying to come up with an excuse, the two inspectors who had gone to check the seasoning cabinet returned.
"Sister Wen, we found something," Wei said. "This can of baking powder is imported from Japan. I used a translation app to check the ingredients, and the list shows it contains aluminum."
"These jams on my end have problems too," Long added. "They are all produced in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Our country has explicitly banned the import of food from Fukushima Prefecture.
"In addition, there are many Japanese seasonings without Chinese labels. We suspect they might be smuggled goods, though further investigation is needed."
Zhuang Wen raised an eyebrow. She had anticipated that this shop would have issues, but she never expected there to be so many.
"You guys are quite something," she said to the manager. "Using smuggled food and importing food from Fukushima are both explicitly banned by the state. Moreover, baking powder containing aluminum can cause neurotoxicity. You are truly audacious.
"Gather everything up. Make sure we don’t miss any important physical evidence," she instructed her team.
By the end of her sentence, Zhuang Wen’s expression had turned completely icy. When conducting field inspections, they found many non-compliant shops. However, most only had minor hygiene issues, such as failing to use sterilizing cabinets for tableware or haphazardly storing food. It was genuinely rare to see someone so blatantly using prohibited additives.
Looking at the manager, whose face had already turned deathly pale, she felt not a shred of pity. It was absolutely impossible that someone like him didn’t know the state forbade the use of these illegal additives. Yet, despite repeated warnings from the authorities, he had deliberately broken the law. In her eyes, it wouldn’t be excessive to send such a person straight to prison.
Seeing the situation becoming increasingly complicated, Ikegawa Yoshihiko, who had been silent all this time, walked over. Speaking the Xia Country language with a thick, awkward accent, he demanded, "What... exactly are you doing?
"We are open for business... Why is a whole group of you coming in here to cause trouble?"
Looking at the man’s Japanese chef uniform and listening to his peculiar accent, Zhuang Wen frowned slightly. "Are you from Japan?
"Please show your work permit, sir. And while you’re at it, show your health certificate as well."
Ikegawa Yoshihiko, somewhat at a loss, retorted, "What work permit? What health certificate?
"I am a legal citizen of Japan! Why would I need those documents?"
Zhuang Wen was immediately amused by this man’s bizarre train of thought. Normally, she would have started chewing him out by now, but she hadn’t forgotten that someone was livestreaming right next to her.
Therefore, she put on a stern face and explained, "All foreigners working in Xia Country must have their employers apply for and receive approval from the local government to obtain a one-year work permit.
"Engaging in work without a work permit is illegal. In serious cases, you could be directly deported to your home country and be barred from ever applying for a visa again.
"Additionally, anyone working in the food and beverage industry must have a health certificate.
"Working without a health certificate is equally illegal.
"Didn’t your boss tell you this?"
Ikegawa Yoshihiko looked bewildered. He and the boss of Red Bird Grilled Chicken Shop were technically partners, not in a subordinate relationship. The boss of Red Bird wanted to use his name to rake in cash, and Ikegawa Yoshihiko himself also wanted to come to Xia Country to make a quick fortune. The two had hit it off immediately, opening Red Bird Grilled Chicken Shop under Ikegawa Yoshihiko’s name.
However, since he still needed to manage his flagship store in Japan, the original agreement was that he would only work in Xia Country for a month before returning to Japan.
Considering the complicated process for applying for a permit, and the fact that Ikegawa Yoshihiko had gang affiliations back in Japan, he likely wouldn’t pass the application anyway. Thus, the boss of Red Bird had completely skipped this procedure. In his view, Ikegawa Yoshihiko was only working in Xia Country for a month; no one would ever notice whether he had a permit or not.
As for a health certificate, that was even more impossible. It was indeed simple for Xia Country People to get a health certificate—they only needed a basic physical exam—but Ikegawa Yoshihiko was a foreigner. Without a work permit, he couldn’t apply for a health certificate at all.
Therefore, strictly speaking, he was working entirely without documentation.
Soon, the two inspectors on the other side returned once more. Holding several rapid test samples, they looked anxious.
"Sister Wen, the rapid tests we just ran on the random food samples from the kitchen have yielded results.
"The levels of mold and E. coli both exceed the standard limits. Furthermore, we even found aflatoxin in one of the sakes."
Zhuang Wen’s face turned extremely ugly. This Red Bird shop was truly atrocious, with each problem proving more severe than the last.
Aflatoxin was typically only found in grains and legume products. It posed a severe threat to human and animal health, as it was recognized as one of the most potent carcinogens. Long-term exposure to food containing aflatoxin could lead to chronic toxicity and severe liver damage.
Earlier, she had merely felt on a gut level that the kitchen environment was poor and asked her two colleagues to run a quick chemical test on the food. She hadn’t expected them to actually find such glaring issues.
Hearing their report, the shift manager couldn’t hold on any longer and slumped heavily onto the floor. He, too, knew exactly what aflatoxin was. Now, both he and Red Bird were definitely finished.
Zhuang Wen shot the paralyzed manager a look of pure disgust before immediately issuing orders. "Call the bureau for backup right now. The violations at this shop are far too egregious. It must be shut down and sealed immediately! Allowing a place like this to keep operating is simply harming consumers!"
Half an hour later, a large squad of inspectors from the Food Supervision Bureau arrived and sealed up Red Bird.
Watching the two red-stamped paper seals being pasted over Red Bird’s rolling shutter doors, Li Xiao felt a sudden, refreshing sense of satisfaction.
Things had gone even smoother than he had anticipated. Originally, he had only intended to expose this scam of a shady restaurant. However, to his surprise, the shop’s problems were far more extensive than he had imagined, resulting in it being shut down on the spot.
After this incident, their reputation would inevitably be dragged through the mud. Even if they managed to open another shop in the future, they probably wouldn’t be able to fleece clueless customers anymore.