Chapter 134 - 132: Causing Controversy

Chapter 134: Chapter 132: Causing Controversy

Tang Yushu’s mukbang video and review quickly spread online, making even more people curious about the food at the Lin Xian Village Restaurant. Just how delicious could it be?

A group of food critics, eager for a taste, began rushing over to Lin Xian Village.

At the same time, the incident also caught the attention of some well-known restaurants, mainly because Tang Yushu’s review was so glowing.

Some restaurants that had previously paid for collaborations even contacted Tang Yushu to ask what was going on. Why had he given such a high rating?

Such a high rating made the other establishments Tang Yushu had reviewed seem inferior to the Lin Xian Village Restaurant.

Rivalries always seemed to pop up out of nowhere. It was the same in any industry—subjective fields like this always bred competition.

When a group of foodies managed to enter Lin Xian Village through special channels, ate at the Restaurant, and posted their own reviews online, the impact grew even larger.

Huang Yi and Geng Changxin had actually seen Tang Yushu’s video online. Neither of them was particularly bothered by it; they knew their culinary skills hadn’t yet reached the pinnacle.

Huang Yi, in particular, was already trying to achieve a breakthrough and had come up with a few new ideas in the past two days.

He discovered that cooking in the Lin Xian Village Restaurant felt incredibly natural and smooth; even the kitchen assistants were making noticeable progress.

Geng Changxin felt the same way. His culinary skills were a bit weaker than Huang Yi’s, and the two of them noticed a pattern: the chefs with higher Talent but lower skill seemed to improve the fastest.

Of course, two days wasn’t enough time to be certain of this conclusion. They would have to wait a while and observe the changes in the kitchen assistants.

If this was indeed the case, it would mean the Restaurant in Lin Xian Village was magical, just like the Arrow Towers and the Land God Temple.

During their time living in Lin Xian Village, they had also discovered that the houses they lived in were very special.

No matter how the temperature outside changed, the temperature inside the rooms always remained at a comfortable level, which was quite remarkable.

In addition, the two had also found that the water quality in Lin Xian Village was better than any water they had ever encountered outside.

That evening, Huang Yi received a call from his master, Wan Tiejun.

"Master, is something wrong?"

"Are the ingredients you’re using at the Restaurant really that good?"

"Master, they’re absolutely top-tier ingredients. You can’t find anything like them on the outside. If my skills were more refined, the dishes I make would be even more delicious."

"Then is there any chance of them being sold to outsiders?"

Huang Yi understood what his master was getting at, but unfortunately, it was impossible. Lin Xian Village didn’t even have enough for its own use.

"Master, don’t even think about it. There’s no way they’ll be sold to the public."

"That’s a real shame. Next time I visit, I’ll have to give them a proper taste."

"Then come over whenever you have time. I feel like it won’t be long before I have a breakthrough in my cooking."

"Alright, I’ll come over to see you after your breakthrough."

"By the way, be careful lately. Some restaurants are very unhappy about the online reviews."

Huang Yi said dismissively, "What does their dissatisfaction have to do with us? We’re not the ones posting those reviews online."

"They don’t care whether you posted them or not. I’m just reminding you, someone might show up at your door looking for trouble."

Huang Yi was speechless. ’These people are so petty,’ he thought. ’What’s the point of arguing about something like this?’

’If they have what it takes, they should focus on improving their skills and let the diners be the judge. What’s the point of coming here to cause trouble?’

...

After seeing the online reviews for Lin Xian Village’s food, Zhou Jun immediately called Lin Feng, saying he wanted to bring some people over for a taste.

He brought quite a few people with him this time. One reason was that he genuinely wanted to try the food. The other was to worship the Earth God and see if there were any bad apples among his friends.

Last time, he had purged a group of "friends" who made excuses and were unwilling to come.

He heard that because of his actions, some other people had started to think the same way, and their parents were even very supportive.

Of course, those who did shady things behind the scenes wouldn’t dare come to worship.

In any case, a saying was now circulating in his social circle: "Anyone who doesn’t dare visit Lin Xian Village to worship the Earth God is not someone you should be friends with."

Some people who believed they were morally sound and had broken no laws all wanted to come and worship to prove themselves.

This situation began to form a sort of pecking order: those who dared to come looked down on those who didn’t.

Early the next morning, Zhou Jun arrived at Lin Xian Village with eight friends. Those visiting for the first time were stunned by the village’s environment.

"Brother Zhou, is this Lin Xian Village? It’s really amazing. The air is so fresh!"

"This is nothing. Wait until you go inside and see the buildings. Then you’ll understand what ’amazing’ really means."

Someone asked, "Zhou Jun, will we be able to buy any of those Jade Grapes?"

Zhou Jun glanced at the person and said, "That’ll depend on your own abilities. Let me tell you, ever since that pharmaceutical company came looking for trouble, a lot of people have started paying attention to the Jade Grapes."

"I’ve heard that even some foreign tycoons are trying to find ways to buy the Jade Grapes."

"Doesn’t that make them even harder to get!"

He said proudly, "Of course. Luckily, I got to know the owner here ahead of time, so I’m guaranteed a share in the future."

The others weren’t too happy to hear this. They hadn’t paid any attention last time.

Later, when they realized what a treasure it was and wanted to get in on it, they found it had already been divided up among many others.

The others weren’t willing to give up their shares, and there was nothing they could do about it. They couldn’t just resort to force; that was a major taboo.

Especially with so many eyes on the situation now, making a move like that would be no different from committing suicide.

Soon, the group met Lin Feng. They each observed him carefully but found nothing particularly special about him. He just seemed like an ordinary person.

"Lin Feng, I brought some people to support your Restaurant!"

"Hello, everyone. Welcome to Lin Xian Village."

After they introduced themselves, Lin Feng realized that they all came from families with similar backgrounds to Zhou Jun’s.

He showed them around Lin Xian Village, paying special attention to the Arrow Towers and the Land God Temple, which the group found incredible.

What they saw online was completely different from experiencing it in person. It was simply too magical.

Especially at the Land God Temple, they were incredibly solemn as they worshipped.

Lin Feng took a look and saw that none of them were recorded on the list. It seemed their characters were decent.

When they reached the Jade Grape Tree, many of them asked if they could buy some in the future, but Lin Feng turned them down, explaining that they could discuss it after his loan was repaid.

Although he had money now, the contract he signed for the twenty-million-yuan loan stipulated that it was to be repaid with Jade Grapes.

Therefore, even though he had the cash, the loan could only be handled according to the contract.

After the group had lunch at the Restaurant, they were completely won over by the food.

These people had eaten every delicacy imaginable, but they had never tasted food this delicious.

Afterward, they immediately started hyping up the deliciousness of the Restaurant’s food on their Friends Circles.

One person posted on their Friends Circle, saying that the flavor of the food at the Lin Xian Village Restaurant was incomparable to any other restaurant, not even those with state banquet chefs from the Imperial Capital.

This post was screenshotted and shared, quickly spreading through the social circles of the Imperial Capital. Everyone grew curious. Just how delicious was it?

For this group of young scions, who had tasted every delicacy under the sun, to express such sentiments had a direct consequence: a crowd of food lovers from the Imperial Capital prepared to come and have a taste for themselves.

Discovering that they needed to reserve a spot to enter Lin Xian Village, these people began pulling strings.

At the same time, this news also reached some of the well-known restaurants in the Imperial Capital. At first, they paid it no mind.

But as it turned out, that very evening, the famous food critic Ouyang Yu posted a review of the Lin Xian Village Restaurant, giving it a score of 98 points.

The two points that were deducted were because the chef’s skills still had room for improvement, which could make the food even more flavorful.

Furthermore, his review stated it plainly: "This is the best-tasting food I have ever had in any restaurant in Huaxia, bar none."

This sentence not only attracted a huge number of food lovers but also made the major restaurants, which had previously been unconcerned, completely unable to sit still.