Chapter 213 - 188: Building Momentum

Chapter 213: Chapter 188: Building Momentum

Xu Family Village.

It was the same familiar wooden benches, the same familiar 52-inch LCD color TV at Aunt Hong’s house, and the same familiar people of Xu Family Village. Today, everyone had gathered once again because Xu An was going to be on TV!

Although Xu An wouldn’t be appearing on screen this time, although it was a paid TV spot, and although the purpose was to advertise his newly opened shop, none of this dampened the spirits of the Xu Family villagers. In fact, it only made them more enthusiastic.

A braised food shop could actually film a commercial! And that commercial could be on TV! How rare! What a novelty!

Xu An, Granny Xu, and Second Grandpa sat at the very front. As he watched the time inch closer to seven o’clock, Xu An felt a baseless anxiety creep into his heart. Everyone knew he was opening a new braised food shop and that he had paid for an advertisement. But not even Granny Xu knew that he was running a special event for the grand opening...

Thinking about the ten-thousand-yuan prize for first place, Xu An could feel cold sweat starting to form on his forehead. ’Forget whether anyone can even complete the challenge,’ he thought. ’Just the mention of ten thousand yuan is probably going to earn me a couple of whacks from Granny’s cane.’

Regardless of Xu An’s complicated feelings, time marched steadily onward. Soon, it was time for the Xu’s Braised Shop commercial.

The sound of splashing water, SPLASH, came clearly through the TV’s built-in speakers, reaching the ears of everyone present. The crowd, which had been chatting in low voices just a moment ago, fell completely silent. All heads turned in unison toward the TV, their eyes glued to the commercial on the screen.

A table covered with a red velvet cloth took up a fifth of the screen. On it sat two exquisite glass vessels, into which an amber-colored braising liquid fell with perfect accuracy. Propelled by inertia, the stream of liquid did a graceful flip, sending up a brilliant spray of droplets before landing back in the vessel.

Plump duck feet, thick large intestines, soft and chewy tofu skin, crisp bamboo shoots, and other braised ingredients rained down from above, accompanied by all sorts of spices. One after another, they fell into the glass vessels filled with the amber liquid, sending up splashes again and again.

The crowd sitting in front of the TV collectively swallowed. A loud GULP echoed through the room, followed by a few soft chuckles.

The scene then switched rapidly. The table was the same, and the style, position, and size of the glass vessels remained unchanged, but the color of the braised food within them shifted continuously. First came the amber-colored ’five-spice’ flavor, then the dark brown ’savory soy’ flavor, followed by the reddish-brown ’fragrant spicy’ flavor, and finally the clear, slightly green ’Sichuan peppercorn’ flavor.

Just as everyone was anticipating what flavor would appear next, everything on the screen vanished, leaving only a bright red background. A line of large text appeared in the middle of the screen, accompanied by a steady male voice.

’The final flavor is—the ultimate spiciness!’

’Made with China’s number one hottest pepper, the Shuanshuang Spicy, our Hellish Braised Flavor possesses the purest essence of heat. Do you dare to try it?’

As the voice faded, the red background rapidly receded, revealing a wrinkled pepper with a deeply grooved skin. After freezing for half a second, the view zoomed out again, showing a bowl of braised food in a sauce so red it was almost black. Three large words burning with black flames appeared behind the bowl—Hellish Braised Flavor. Then, the entire screen erupted in roaring flames, consuming the image. The steady male voice returned, but this time, he spoke at the speed of a rapper, without a single pause.

’Xu’s Braised Shop grand opening celebration! Purchase one jin of braised food to enter our special event. Third prize is one hundred yuan in cash plus three jin of your choice of braised food! Second prize is three hundred yuan in cash plus five jin of your choice of braised food! And first prize is—one free jin of braised food every day in September, plus ten thousand yuan in cash!’

The last syllable of "cash" was still echoing in everyone’s ears as the commercial looped back to the initial scene of the braising liquid pouring down. But now, no one was paying attention to the once-appetizing visuals. Instead, they all turned to ask the people next to them if the ad had really said "ten thousand yuan in cash"...

Amid the buzzing discussion, the commercial entered its final phase again. The moment the steady male voice returned, the room fell so quiet you could hear a mosquito’s BUZZ. This time, they heard the advertisement’s words with perfect clarity. The first prize mentioned by the male voice really was ’ten thousand yuan’! As for the bonus of one free jin of braised food every day in September, it was completely overshadowed by the ten thousand yuan and thoroughly ignored.

From the crowd’s reaction, Xu An could feel the true impact of the ’ten thousand yuan’ gimmick. It was probably enough to give the people of Xu Family Village a sleepless night.

Xu An had been worried that Granny Xu would think he was just fooling around and scold him, but to his surprise, she remained perfectly calm from beginning to end. Her calmness was so absolute it was actually a little frightening to Xu An. ’It would be more reassuring if she just yelled at me or gave me a beating.’

"Granny, don’t you think I’m just wasting money?" Xu An asked tentatively, bracing himself for a scolding.