As he listened to Li Xiao’s eloquent critique, Zhao Long desperately wanted to come out from the kitchen and offer an explanation.
But he immediately suppressed the urge and listened as the other man continued.
"Actually, I can tell this fish is very fresh. It has a very faint fishy smell to begin with."
"If the chef was simply worried about the fish becoming smelly as it cooled, he could have just used a different serving dish."
"One of those common little burners. As long as you keep the dish warm and don’t let the fish get completely cold, you don’t have to worry about any fishiness developing at all."
"It’s a small yellow croaker, so the portion isn’t large. It wouldn’t take long to finish."
"And as for worrying about the sauce not being golden enough, he could have just used pumpkin."
Back in the kitchen, Zhao Long didn’t hesitate for another moment after hearing Li Xiao’s suggestions. He straightened his chef’s uniform and strode toward Li Xiao’s private room.
Li Xiao was completely baffled to see a chef appear at the door to his private room.
While a number of the dishes he’d had had minor flaws, they were generally outstanding despite them.
That’s why he had only made a few complaints on his stream, with no intention of actually alerting the restaurant staff.
However, after Zhao Long introduced himself and explained why he had come, Li Xiao instantly realized the man had been watching his livestream the whole time.
"Thank you, Mr. Li, for giving us so many opinions and suggestions for improvement."
"Many of your suggestions are a huge help to us!"
"I don’t know how to repay you. Please, you must let me cover this meal. I’d feel terrible otherwise."
Hearing the man wanted to treat him, Li Xiao quickly waved his hands in refusal.
"I’m sorry, but you probably know I’m a streamer. My channel’s homepage states that I don’t accept any form of compensation from businesses."
"I appreciate the kind gesture."
"But treating me really isn’t necessary. I’ll be happy enough just knowing you’ve made improvements and that more people will get to enjoy even better food."
Zhao Long was completely taken aback that his kind offer would be rejected.
"But..."
"We are being very sincere..."
Li Xiao could see the man’s predicament.
He had experience dealing with situations like this. After a moment’s thought, he offered a solution.
"This meal should be a little over 3,000 yuan."
"How about this? You can convert the cost of the meal into cash coupons. They can be for 100 yuan or 1,000 yuan, either is fine."
"And I’ll put up 300,000 yuan to buy 300,000 yuan worth of cash coupons from you. I’ll give them away to my viewers as a perk. What do you think of that arrangement?"
To be honest, as an executive chef, Zhao Long’s salary was quite high, but it was still only around 300,000 yuan a year.
Even though the average spending per person here was high and the clientele were all wealthy...
...he was still astonished to hear the young man in front of him offer to casually give away a sum equal to his entire annual salary as a perk for his audience.
Zhao Long said,
"I’m not sure that’s a good idea..."
Li Xiao replied,
"If you really want to be friends, then just do as I say this time!"
Seeing the sincerity in Li Xiao’s eyes, Zhao Long immediately conceded.
"Alright, alright. In that case, thank you, Mr. Li, for promoting our restaurant!"
Li Xiao waved his hand dismissively.
"Your restaurant’s food is genuinely good. While a few dishes have minor flaws, they don’t detract from the overall quality. If you can make those improvements, it’ll definitely be worth recommending to more of my viewers."
The two quickly added each other on WeChat.
Zhao Long called over the on-duty manager, and Li Xiao promptly scanned the QR code to pay.
The on-duty manager was a sharp man. He didn’t bring coupons with a large face value, but instead brought 100-yuan coupons.
After all, 300,000 yuan worth of 1,000-yuan coupons would only be 300 coupons. That meant even if they were all used, it would attract 300 customers at most.
But if the face value was 100 yuan, 300,000 yuan would make for 3,000 coupons.
While some viewers might not bother coming because the coupon’s value was too low, it would ultimately attract far more customers.
The viewers in the chat had no idea there would be a surprise giveaway at the end of the stream!
"Good thing I’m a loyal fan and didn’t leave right away, or I would’ve missed out on this coupon."
"Are these coupons a joke? Only 100 yuan? The average price per person here is almost 1,000. Even if you win, that’s just a 10% discount. If you bring a few people, it’s not even that!"
"Hey, you upstairs! If you want it, enter the drawing! If not, then get lost! Don’t compete with me for a spot!"
"Seriously? People are complaining that a 100-yuan coupon is too small? Are people’s expectations really that high these days?"
"It’s a free giveaway from the streamer, you don’t even need a fan badge or anything. How can anyone be unsatisfied?"
"To the guy who thinks it’s too little, how about you Venmo me 50 bucks to show me how rich you are?"
...
Li Xiao paid no mind to the haters’ comments. There would always be people who were impossible to satisfy.
He didn’t handle the giveaway himself, leaving it all to his assistant.
The next day, after finishing his morning major courses, Li Xiao blew off his two afternoon electives, got in his Mercedes, and headed for the mushroom farm he’d received as a system reward.
’Once you start skipping class, it becomes a habit.’
Lately, whenever he did a giveaway for his fans, he would have Zhou Sisi send an extra gift to his college counselor.
The saying goes, you can’t blame someone who comes bearing gifts. People are softer on those who feed them and are indebted to those who give them things.
’Real life is just like a video game. Once you give an NPC enough gifts, their affection meter shoots up, making it much easier to get quests or have them do things for you.’
Now, he didn’t even have to call to get an excused absence; he just had to send a message on WeChat, and his counselor would take care of everything.
Since it wasn’t rush hour, the black Mercedes quickly made its way out of the city.
Half an hour later, the Mercedes pulled up outside several large, plastic-covered greenhouses.
As he got out of the car, a real estate agent in a suit hurried over to greet him.
"Careful, Mr. Li. The ground is a bit slippery here."
The agent was in his early twenties, just a bit older than Li Xiao. He wore the standard-issue suit for his profession and had a very sharp, capable air about him.
Li Xiao glanced around. The area was well-developed, with a two-lane concrete road, power lines, and a proper sewage system. The infrastructure was quite comprehensive.
He pointed at the greenhouses before them.
"Agent Deng, are these my mushroom farms?"
Hearing Li Xiao’s question, Deng Jiajie couldn’t help but roast him internally.
’Are all rich people this impulsive these days?’
’He spent so much money to buy a farm without even knowing how big it is?’
Though he was griping internally, he wouldn’t dare say a word of it out loud.
After all, if he took good care of a client like this, it would surely lead to a steady stream of future business.
He had no intention of scaring off such a major client with a bad attitude.