Call Me Daddy

Zhang Lang stared at the steadily rising popularity of the Su Family’s Snack Shop live stream, his eyes red with jealousy.

So much customer traffic! If he were the one running the store, he definitely wouldn’t set the prices so low. Vegetarian dishes ranged from 6 to 12 yuan, and meat dishes varied according to the cost of the ingredients, most of which were under 20 yuan. Only a few seasonal, plump seafood dishes might be priced slightly higher. Although the portion sizes of each dish weren’t large, just the same as an ordinary fast-food restaurant, considering the current popularity of this viral eatery, the prices were still too low.

In Zhang Lang’s opinion, a set meal with one meat and two vegetables should cost at least 120 yuan, and two meats and two vegetables should be 150.

If there was seafood, it could be named a premium seafood set meal, and the price would surely be over 200 yuan. Even then, he would still think it was cheap. Other viral restaurants, aren’t their average spending per person 2 or 300 yuan?

How much could the cost of cooking be? With the current popularity of the Su Family’s Snack Shop, earning a million yuan a month would be a sure thing.

He hadn’t been to the store to taste the food, but he believed that such a small shop couldn’t have an amazing chef. At most, it would be a bit better than the average street-side shop, still not comparable to the skills of a proper chef. The reason this viral eatery was so popular was because of Su Tianyuan’s face. He didn’t talk, just performed cutting vegetables on camera, and that was the path to his fame.

So, Zhang Lang thought, as long as he could poach Su Tianyuan, and then use his current fame to open another viral restaurant, inviting a few decent chefs, he could replicate the current dining frenzy of the Su Family’s Snack Shop.

As for those live streamers who loved to dig deep, how could they not have received promotional fees from the Su Family? He himself had a bunch of small influencers under his name and had arranged quite a few promotional collaborations. Only a fool would rave about his store without getting paid. Seeing those ravenous eating displays, the acting was too much.

As for the other passersby captured on camera, they could either be hired actors or simply brainless fans.

Some young people chase stars without any reason. You could put a bowl of plain white rice in front of them, and they would eat it like it was a gourmet feast.

So Zhang Lang firmly believed that the things seen on camera were untrustworthy. He only trusted his own common sense.

And as for the Su Family, Su Tianyuan’s father actually created a persona of someone who had never been in the kitchen but became a culinary god once he started. Wasn’t he afraid of being exposed? How could such a person exist in this world? Unless he was cheating.

“Humph!”

Zhang Lang looked at the live stream, where the rewards had already exceeded 15,000, and his eyes grew even redder.

He thought about Su Tianyuan, who had come to his office yesterday, saying he didn’t plan to join their organization anymore. That brat even wanted to take back some of the money he had handed over to me.

Wishful thinking! How could he possibly return the money that had come into his hands? He didn’t want to return the money and still wanted the person, so he had to ruin this live stream account and make Su Tianyuan realize that only he could make him famous.

Countless sinister ideas flashed through Zhang Lang’s mind, and he quickly made several phone calls, issuing his orders.

***

That afternoon, not long after the live stream ended, some relatively well-known influencers and public figures shared a clipped video. The video’s content began with Su Aobai saying he couldn’t cook and then showed his smooth, practiced movements during his first time in the kitchen.

The person who edited the video was also an expert, using a lot of suggestive techniques to make people think the main content of the live stream was the host bragging about his extraordinary talent and skills, focusing on the person rather than the delicious food shown in the live stream.

At first, these people praised the protagonist of the video to the skies, calling him a culinary god and a natural genius. But those watching the video for the first time, combined with these comments, found it a bit strange. Some even had a reverse reaction, feeling that the blatant praise was annoying. It was obvious in the video that he was a culinary expert. How could someone cooking for the first time have such clean and sharp cooking techniques?

Before long, some influencers known for their critical and sarcastic style started sharing these videos.

[Have streamers abandoned basic common sense to build their personas these days? Cooking at this level the first time? The veteran chefs who have practiced for decades and still can’t cook at state banquets must be turning in their graves.]

[So disgusting. Has the trend of creating personas in the entertainment industry spread to the live-streaming world? Cooking better than lifelong chefs on the first try is no different from those female celebrities who claim to eat a lot but never gain weight.]

[Some people just don’t gain weight no matter how much they eat; it’s related to their constitution. But I don’t believe that someone who’s never been in the kitchen can cook so well.]

Similar comments quickly appeared. Maybe the previous group had praised too much, leading to even harsher backlash.

[And some people are throwing gifts at this streamer. Are you brainless? Can’t you see they’re playing you? You’re giving them money, and they’re probably laughing at how stupid you are behind your back.]

[Hahaha, it’s so easy to fool people nowadays. I’ve been playing the piano for over 20 years. Maybe I should start a live stream claiming I’ve never learned to play and then perform a piece by Liszt. Would you call me a piano god then?]

Such comments exploded almost instantly. Many onlookers, not knowing the full story, saw the ‘concerned netizens’ explanation and believed that a wannabe influencer had hired a few big names for false promotion, exaggerated their skills, and faced a backlash as a result.

Since they only saw the edited video, many passers-by sided with those criticizing the Su Family’s Snack Shop’s live stream account, thinking the shop had gone too far with its self-promotion and disrespected the audience’s intelligence.

By now, the Su Family’s Snack Shop’s live stream account had gained some popularity and its own fans. When they saw such insults, they naturally couldn’t hold back and started to argue online.

[The video is too out of context. We fans of this small shop don’t follow it for the streamer’s persona. Not at all. He only started cooking today. Before this, we loved the warm atmosphere of the small eatery, the stern yet doting Grandpa Su, the chatty but gentle grandma who reminds me of my own, the cute Young Master Su who’s at the bottom of the family food chain but always wants to overthrow his father, and the novice streamer who only showed his hands. It’s not about the so-called persona you’re talking about.]

[Exactly. So what if it’s a persona? Is it illegal? We viewers didn’t think much of it. We just laughed and moved on. We love Grandpa and the delicious food he and the streamer cook. As for the streamer initially saying he couldn’t cook but later showing great skills, we just see it as a fun twist. Maybe he just wanted to impress us and get our praises. If you don’t want to believe it, fine. But I don’t think it’s a big deal. As long as the food they cook looks appetizing, I’ll keep watching. Besides, there really are geniuses in this world. Just because you can’t do it doesn’t mean others can’t.]

[That’s right. True fans who have watched the live stream know that although the streamer didn’t appear on camera before, he often added various seasonings while Grandpa was cooking, indicating he was very familiar with these spices. As someone who grew up watching his father cook, he should be well-acquainted with every step of the cooking process. Plus, if he had natural talent, it wouldn’t be surprising if his food turned out delicious. The first time I cooked, I made some of my Mom’s best dishes. Although I wasn’t as smooth as the streamer, the final taste was still good. After all, I knew the steps and what to add and when, so it would be hard to make it taste bad.]

There were a few netizens who spoke up for Su Aobai, but they couldn’t match the relentless tide of trolls and misled passers-by. Their comments either got overwhelmed by insults or were buried under new ones, and few people saw them.