Li Xiao wore an apologetic smile.
"I was just sharing my personal feelings. I didn’t mean to deliberately smear you."
"Also, I stream purely as a hobby. I’ve never relied on the internet for a living."
Hearing Li Xiao’s words, the young girl didn’t believe him in the slightest. She rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"An internet beggar? Who’s going to admit they’re a beggar?"
"If you don’t do this for a living, why even stream?"
"Every one of you claims it’s a hobby, yet you all make money more ruthlessly than anyone else."
Seeing that the girl didn’t believe him, Li Xiao didn’t bother explaining further. He turned his phone and showed the livestream interface to her.
"I have over 10,000 viewers online right now. You can see for yourself, I always have the gift and donation functions turned off."
"Just in the short time I’ve been eating here, I’ve already given away nearly 1,000,000 yuan in gifts."
"So, do you still think I’m an internet beggar trying to make money by smearing you???"
The young girl was clearly familiar with streaming. Seeing the 10,000+ viewer count, she was stunned.
It wasn’t that she had never seen streamers do store reviews, but those food streams were considered very good if they had one or two hundred viewers.
Yet, the man in front of her had a full 10,000 people in his stream.
She had only ever seen numbers like that on the streams of top-tier broadcasters.
At this point, she was starting to feel some regret.
She could already see countless bullet comments in the stream cursing her out.
"This woman really doesn’t know what’s good for her. The streamer has reviewed so many dessert places before, and he’s always given more praise than criticism!"
"If I were the owner, this woman would drive me insane!"
"Hasn’t the streamer been talking about how delicious this shop’s desserts are? Why did she suddenly jump out and start yelling at him?"
"The streamer is too honest. If something doesn’t taste good, can’t he be a little more tactful in his review?"
"Why should he? I’m asking, why? If it’s bad, it’s bad. Why does he need to be tactful???"
"My heart aches for him. That so-called ’Tang Bu Shuai’ was so tough, and the streamer worked so hard to chew it. He even praised the seasoning and peanuts, and he still got yelled at by this woman."
Seeing these comments, the young girl completely panicked.
She may have been emotional, but she wasn’t an idiot. If she still didn’t realize she had berated the wrong person after seeing these bullet comments, she would be utterly foolish.
She spoke, her eyes welling up with tears.
"Th-this... I... I’m sorry..."
"I’m so sorry, I didn’t know..."
"I’m sorry, I was too impulsive. I was just worried your negative review would affect our store’s business, so..."
Seeing her on the verge of tears, most of Li Xiao’s anger dissipated. He hadn’t intended to blame her in the first place.
’If anyone saw this, they’d think I was bullying a little girl,’ he thought.
Seeing her apologize so frantically, he quickly waved his hand.
"It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll forgive you this time, but don’t be so impulsive next time."
Seeing Li Xiao let her off so easily, a flicker of astonishment crossed the girl’s face, but she immediately sighed in relief. She bowed several more times before hurrying back to the kitchen.
Watching her clumsy, rash retreat, Li Xiao was a bit speechless.
’If I were the owner, an employee like that would probably be the death of me.’
He had already seen many people express great interest in the shop, with several viewers saying they would visit their nearest location to try it when they had time.
However, Li Xiao guessed that the girl’s confrontational outburst had probably extinguished the desire to visit for at least half of his audience.
There was nothing Li Xiao could do about it. After all, his original goal was simply to promote delicious food.
He couldn’t have prevented such an unexpected incident.
This was a windfall of traffic that had fallen from the sky. If they couldn’t seize it, you could only say it wasn’t meant to be.
The conflict between them had started and ended quickly.
But the interior of Manji Dessert wasn’t large, and their dispute had been noticed by the store manager.
After learning the whole story, the young girl from the kitchen was thoroughly scolded by the manager.
Soon, the manager appeared at the table, carrying the desserts Li Xiao had ordered.
"Sir, I am terribly sorry. Our employee was too rash just now. Did she disrupt your livestream?"
"I offer my sincerest apologies. Also, this meal is on the house."
"We know that this small amount of money is nothing to a major streamer like yourself, but we hope it can express a fraction of our apology."
Li Xiao waved his hand.
"That won’t be necessary."
"I’ll pay for my meal. And you don’t need to worry about me deliberately smearing you."
"I’m the type of person who says what’s on his mind."
"If it’s good, I’ll praise it. If it’s bad, I’ll criticize it."
"Let’s drop the matter here. Don’t mention it again."
Seeing Li Xiao’s decisive attitude, the manager didn’t dare press the issue, fearing it would be counterproductive.
He could only respectfully place the desserts on the table and quickly retreat.
As for their belated apologies, he felt a bit helpless.
He shook his head:
"A restaurant, besides serving food that is perfect in color, aroma, and taste, should also provide its customers with adequate service."
"If we were talking about a bowl of dessert that costs just a few yuan, it would be unreasonable for me to demand great service, since the cost is so low."
"But here, a bowl of dessert costs at least 20 yuan, and many are over 30. For that price, you could have a decent lunch elsewhere."
"Failing to provide good service at this price point is, in itself, a serious dereliction of duty."
"Of course, they’ve already apologized, so let’s all stop talking about what just happened."
"Let’s see how these last two desserts taste."
The last two desserts to arrive were the Coconut Purple Potato Mochi and the "White Snow Black Glutinous Rice."
In front of Li Xiao were three mochi balls. They were uniform in size, with a translucent glutinous rice exterior coated in a layer of fine coconut flakes. The deep purple and snow-white created a warm and inviting color palette.
Li Xiao picked up a mochi with his fork and observed it closely.
He noticed that each one was meticulously wrapped, the coconut flakes adhering evenly to the outside, giving it a coarse yet pleasant texture.
He took a gentle bite, and the purple potato filling slowly oozed out. Its vibrant color stood in stark contrast to the white glutinous rice.
The texture of the purple potato filling was delicate, perfectly complementing the soft chewiness of the mochi.
The natural sweetness of the purple potato blended perfectly with the fragrant sweetness of the coconut, creating a unique and delightful flavor experience.
The addition of the coconut flakes added a subtle roughness to the overall mouthfeel, creating a rich textural contrast with the smooth purple potato.
Li Xiao savored the mochi, appreciating its layers and details.
The fragrant sweetness of the coconut milk and the natural flavor of the purple potato intertwined, presenting both the traditional deliciousness of mochi and an innovative flavor combination.
Swallowing the mochi, Li Xiao nodded in satisfaction.
At the same time, a system notification chimed.
[Congratulations, you have unlocked the 39th entry in the Food Guide.]
[The food entry you have unlocked is: Mochi]
[Food Rating: 87/100 [Good]]
[Due to the ’Good’ rating, rewards are tripled.]
[Congratulations, you have received a cash reward: 400,000]
[Congratulations, you have received a recipe reward: Mochi Recipe]