Chapter 137: A Show of Force?

Although Bai Rinzong's live broadcast engagement far surpassed all other streamers of the same tier during his meal times, he could not stream himself eating all day long, or the audience would soon grow tired of it. Therefore, doing a mukbang session during lunch at Han Jiayi's restaurant every day was sufficient, and perhaps he could occasionally do a live stream at Yang Hua's place.

However, relying solely on mukbang was not enough; he needed to build his own dedicated fan base in the gaming category as well.

Moreover, his style still needed to be centered around evaluation and appreciation in order to harvest the extra traffic boost from the Connoisseur App.

During the seven-day National Day holiday, both he and Han Jiayi were extremely busy. National Day was the peak tourism season, and restaurant business was at its best time of the year, keeping Han Jiayi swamped at the restaurant from morning till night.

As for Bai Rinzong, because he had just entered the live streaming industry, he needed to stream for as long as possible these days to stabilize his popularity and follower count.

The results were indeed promising. After five days of streaming, he had already cultivated a loyal group of "stream fans" on Cat House. They came over at noon to watch his mukbang while having their meals, and in the evening to watch him and Han Jiayi affectionately banter with each other.

The footage from his live streams could also be used to create edited videos, which saved him time on video production in a roundabout way. Under the bidirectional influence of both live streaming and D Station, the follower counts on his live stream and D Station entered a period of steady growth. Furthermore, his live stream fans were constantly converting into D Station fans, and vice versa.

At present, Bai Rinzong could be said to be in a fantastic position, and moving forward, he just needed to manage things properly.

As the seventh day of the National Day holiday arrived, the two of them finally had some free time.

The seventh day was the peak return period for tourists, so after the noon dining rush, the pressure at the restaurant dropped significantly in the afternoon. Bai Rinzong deliberately did his live stream during the daytime so that he could spend quality time with Han Jiayi in the evening.

By this time, the plan for their first out-of-town restaurant exploration trip had been finalized. The destination was Chengdu, and the local cuisine was Sichuan cuisine, one of the eight major culinary traditions of China.

There were several reasons for choosing a business trip to Chengdu. First, the fans all wanted to see Bai Rinzong review Sichuan cuisine, as this culinary style had the highest demand; second, Chengdu was a tier-two city just like Beichang, meaning lower living and consumer expenses; and third, and most crucially, a content creator based there had sent them an invitation, hoping to collaborate on a "dream crossover" video.

This content creator went by the online moniker "Gray Wolf" and was formerly a chef at the famous Sichuan restaurant "Yuchuan Ke." Later, he started making videos out of hobby and became a content creator. As his channel grew increasingly successful, he simply quit his job as a chef and dedicated himself entirely to making restaurant review videos.

What his audience loved most was watching him visit Sichuan restaurants in other regions and ruthlessly criticizing how inauthentic their dishes were.

The final schedule was set: they would depart on the morning of October 9th and return on the afternoon of October 12th.

On October 8th, Han Jiayi made the follow-up arrangements for the restaurant, and Bai Rinzong informed his fans that he would be traveling out of town for restaurant reviews and would conduct impromptu outdoor live streams.

On the daytime of October 9th, they packed their luggage and arrived at the high-speed railway station promptly at eight in the morning.

Taking the high-speed train to Chengdu took three hours, while taking a plane would take a little over two hours, but the ticket prices differed by several fold. Most importantly... the studio's funds were currently limited, so spending less on travel expenses meant they could spend more on food.

"Hehehe..." Although it was drizzling outside, Han Jiayi's mood was exceptionally bright as she chatted with Xiaobei: "When was the last time we went on a trip? It must have been over a year ago, right?"

"Yeah, it was right after you were frozen out by your agency last year, Sister Jiayi, when you dropped all your chores and went on a spontaneous trip," Wang Bei teased. Han Jiayi's face turned slightly red as she muttered softly, "Because... I was in a really bad mood back then."

Saying this, Han Jiayi cast a stealthy glance at Bai Rinzong, who was checking the luggage nearby, feeling a sudden surge of secret joy: This time is going to be different...

"Sister Jiayi," Wang Bei said with a mischievous and knowing smile at that moment, "I only booked one twin room and one single room this time, you know?"

"You! You—!" Han Jiayi's face flushed crimson instantly. "Why would you do that?! Lao Bai and I, we—we haven't reached that stage yet! Isn't it still a bit too early to sleep in the same room?!"

Wang Bei blinked her eyes in feigned puzzlement and looked at her: "You can sleep in the twin room with me, you know."

Han Jiayi's face turned red all the way to the root of her neck in a single second. She cleared her throat and said with a pretense of composure, "I—of course I knew that! I was just warning you not to let your imagination run wild with weird thoughts. Lao Bai and I haven't reached that point yet..."

"Pfft..." Wang Bei tried desperately to hold back her laughter, preventing herself from laughing out loud. "I got it..."

"Mumu, your face is so red. Are you alright?" Bai Rinzong cupped Han Jiayi's face in his hands at that moment and asked.

"I'm fine!" Han Jiayi replied nervously, "We were just discussing the details of the restaurant reviews!"

It wasn't until they boarded the high-speed train that Han Jiayi finally regained her composure.

Because it was right after the National Day peak travel period, there were almost no other passengers in the train carriage. Bai Rinzong sat opposite Han Jiayi and Wang Bei, editing videos on his laptop, while Wang Bei was busy replying to private messages. Only Han Jiayi had nothing to do.

How hateful, neither of them is paying any attention to me... Han Jiayi thought to herself, playing with her phone while casting furtive glances at Bai Rinzong.

Hesitating for a moment, she lifted her foot from under the table and gently nudged Bai Rinzong's leg, but he still didn't react.

This blockhead! Even that got no reaction from him?! Han Jiayi bit her fingernails in frustration: Come on, talk to me!

"Um..." Wang Bei smiled faintly from the side. "Sister Jiayi, that's my leg."

Han Jiayi looked down and only then realized that because Wang Bei had her legs crossed, her leg was angled and blocking the space right in front of Bai Rinzong's leg. Her previous nudge had naturally landed against Wang Bei's leg instead.

"Ugh..." Han Jiayi looked like she wanted to bang her head against the table and knock herself out unconscious: No wonder he didn't react!

"Oh, um, I need to use the restroom!" Wang Bei quickly offered Han Jiayi a graceful way out.

After Wang Bei left, Bai Rinzong glanced sideways in the direction she had departed, then lifted Han Jiayi's chin, leaned over, and gently kissed her lips. He smiled and said, "Why don't you come sit on my side? Let's watch a movie together."

Han Jiayi felt a mix of vexation and happiness in her heart: This dense blockhead, why didn't you say so earlier!

"Well, alright then." Wearing an expression that said "I really don't know what to do with you," Han Jiayi moved over to sit on Bai Rinzong's side, rested her head against his shoulder, and nodded with satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Wang Bei was awkwardly playing with her phone inside the train restroom, sighing inwardly: I should have just taken a plane for this business trip. This is sheer torture for a third wheel like me. Or perhaps...

Next time, I should just let Lao Bai and Sister Jiayi go on the business trip alone!

Wang Bei's eyes rolled around in a flash of inspiration: Hehe, that's what I'll do next time...

After a three-hour journey, once they stepped off the high-speed train, "Gray Wolf" was already waiting for them at the station.

He was a man in his thirties with a somewhat "round" figure and a height close to one meter eighty. He was the renowned D Station content creator "Gray Wolf," with a follower count nearing two million. His real name was Zhang Yunhui, and back when he first entered the content creation industry, he was also a handsome young man. However, because he did restaurant reviews too frequently, looking at him now, one could no longer see any trace of his past appearance.

"Ah, hello, hello!" Bai Rinzong stepped forward to shake his hand, and the two exchanged a round of polite professional flattery.

"Let's get this straight first, don't say I'm trying to intimidate you right off the bat," Zhang Yunhui said with a half-joking smile. "Didn't you boast about having an exceptionally sharp sense of taste? What a coincidence, today I'm going to take you to a restaurant that is so deceptive it feels unreal. If you can figure out what ingredients they use to make their food, then I, Gray Wolf, will completely yield to you."

"A deceptive restaurant?" Bai Rinzong asked with growing interest. "Alright, let's go then. It's just about mealtime anyway, and I'm getting hungry."

Thus, without even dropping off their luggage, they followed him to the entrance of a restaurant named "Yunmengze."

"A vegetarian restaurant..." Bai Rinzong muttered in slight surprise as he looked at the restaurant before him: Opening a vegetarian restaurant in Chengdu, the heartland of Sichuan cuisine? That certainly takes courage...

"You got it!" Zhang Yunhui crossed his arms and smiled. "Let me make it clear first, this is not a sponsored business collaboration. This restaurant is very famous even around here. Think about it: this is the representative home of Sichuan cuisine, yet a vegetarian restaurant is able to stand its ground here and still have business this good. They definitely have some genuine skills, right?"

"Yes, yes, I'm quite curious about this myself," Bai Rinzong nodded repeatedly. "However, what do you mean by 'deceptive'..."

"Hey!" Zhang Yunhui smiled mysteriously. "Once we go in and eat, you'll find out. Let's move!"

"Filming and live streaming are allowed here, right?" Wang Bei asked tentatively.

"Yes! Their strength speaks for itself, and they are quite confident. Shoot away!" Zhang Yunhui laughed, then led the three of them into the restaurant and found a table to sit down.

Wang Bei started filming first. They weren't turning on the live stream just yet because the process of ordering and waiting for dishes was relatively tedious and boring; they planned to start the live stream only after the dishes were served.

Bai Rinzong clipped his microphone to his collar, and everyone made their preparations for filming and live streaming as they began ordering dishes.

However, the ordering phase alone left Bai Rinzong thoroughly bewildered.

"We'll take an order of... Mapo Tofu, Saliva Chicken, Husband and Wife Lung Slice (Sliced Beef and Ox Tongue in Chili Sauce), Boiling Water Cabbage, Boiled Fish, Braised Pork, and Stir-fried Eel Segments. Let's start with these for now." Zhang Yunhui nodded at the waiter, leaving everyone at the table with question marks floating over their heads: Wasn't this supposed to be a vegetarian restaurant?! Every single dish they just ordered was a meat dish!

Even that Boiling Water Cabbage used chicken broth as its soup base, hardly qualifying as purely vegetarian...

It wasn't until the dishes were actually served that Bai Rinzong finally understood the trick behind it all: these were not Husband and Wife Lung Slice or Saliva Chicken at all; they were entirely vegetarian dishes crafted from mushrooms, soy products, and fungi, executed so skillfully that they were practically indistinguishable from the real thing!

With all the dishes laid out on the table, Zhang Yunhui smiled at Bai Rinzong and said, "Remember our deal: if you can correctly identify every single ingredient used in these dishes today, I'll admit defeat."

"Well..." Bai Rinzong chuckled, teasing, "Hehe, I thought Big Brother Gray Wolf was treating us to a welcoming meal to wash away our travel fatigue, but listening to all this at the end, isn't this clearly meant to give us a hard time?"

"Nah, not to that extent, not to that extent," Zhang Yunhui said modestly, handing over the bowls and chopsticks. "My younger brother, please help yourself!"