Further Talking is Useless

On the left, in a deep iron pot with a diameter of one meter, pork belly with skin from a black mountain pig was sizzling and being stir-fried over a blazing fire.

The rendered pork fat was completely rendered out, and a large bowl of chopped pickled mustard greens was inverted into the pot and stir-fried until it released a strong, caramelized aroma. Then, a rich bone broth was poured in, and a large amount of sweet potato starch flakes were added to the bottom of the pot. The wooden lid was then placed on top, and steam billowed out.

On the right-hand side stove, the fish bones were fried until charred, then boiling water was poured in, and within ten seconds they emulsified into a milky white broth.

Hundreds of thin, battered blackfish slices, as thin as cicada wings, slide into the boiling golden broth like snowflakes. They are cooked through and turn white in twenty seconds. Then, oil is poured over them, and the sounds of sizzling dried chili peppers and caramelized garlic fill the air.

Su Xiaoxiao moved swiftly at the window, serving rice, noodles, meat, soup, and handing out chopsticks.

Aunt Wang helped distribute sticky notes and pens:

"Everyone, grab your pens! After you finish eating, write a couple of honest comments on a sticky note to give Boss Lin some feedback!"

"Auntie, what's there to complain about? This tastes amazing! Absolutely flawless!"

"That's right! The glass noodles are chewy, the meat is so fragrant and juicy, the fish slices are so tender they slide down your throat, and after drinking this soup you'll be sweating all over—even a god couldn't find fault with it!"

Dozens of people were scattered on both sides of the street.

Some people were sitting on the back of electric scooters, some were squatting on the curb, and some were leaning against the wall, all holding paper bowls in their hands.

The cold wind along the entire Phoenix Golden Street was filled with loud slurping sounds of rice noodles, chewing meat, and drinking soup.

The two young livestreamers who were originally standing behind the transformer stood to the side with their necks hunched, watching the neighbors eat with sweat pouring down their faces, their bodies frozen in place.

Just then, the cell phone in the pocket of the young man wearing the wool hat started vibrating wildly.

Those were private messages from his social media account and notifications from several local creator groups.

The young man took out his phone and turned on the screen. Seven or eight colleagues in the group were still sending messages with schadenfreude:

"@Xiao Wu, has that overpriced, rip-off shop on Jin Street closed down and is pretending to be dead yet?"

"Dapeng's video has surpassed one million views! Weren't you there on-site? Quickly take some pictures of them being boycotted by the entire internet and forced to close down miserably, and post them to grab a few more views while the hype is going strong!"

"Yeah, those shady restaurants deserve to be shut down. Let's start a live stream and stir things up!"

Looking at the chat logs on the screen, filled with hostility and scheming, and then looking up at the scene before me.

On the screen was a group of keyboard warriors hiding in a heated room, distorting the truth and clamoring to destroy a restaurant.

Before you is Boss Lin, who is using a large iron pot and high-quality ingredients to save people's stomachs in the wind and snow.

I almost became an accomplice because I followed these people and stirred things up.

He turned his head, glanced at his companion beside him, gritted his teeth, and whispered:

"The online narrative was started by us... We can't let them keep making up stories like this."

The young man finally stopped hesitating, swiped his finger across the screen, and directly opened his live streaming app.

He pointed the camera at the large pot of steaming white liquid in the window facing the street, and at the Lin family's shop.

"Brothers, look carefully."

The young man pointed to the window: "This is the outrageously expensive restaurant that some big online streamers keep talking about."

"In temperatures of minus sixteen degrees Celsius, the boss set up a large iron pot in the kitchen and distributed free food to the neighbors, sanitation workers, and delivery drivers along the street."

The young man sniffed his bright red nose and looked directly at the camera:

"My friend and I just ate inside. I swear on my honor that Lin's Shop uses top-quality rice, hand-cut meat, and freshly killed fish."

"I was blind to blindly follow the online attacks and hype before, and I apologize to Boss Lin."

Because the live stream included the words "Lin Family Shop" in its title, a large number of netizens immediately flocked in to watch the drama unfold.

"Holy crap... is this portion for real? The pork belly is cut wider than my palm!"

"The fish slices were so thin they were translucent, and the soup was milky white! If this were served in a high-end restaurant, it would cost at least two hundred yuan!"

"The streamer dared to show his face and publicly betray the platform? It seems the previous videos were just a ploy by paid trolls!"

"Boss Lin is so generous! Giving away free hot soup and meat dishes to the working class on a snowy day—that's true conscience!"

The young man wearing a woolen hat, holding his phone, walked over to Boss Zhang, who was squatting on the steps of the electrical box, eating meat heartily.

The young man lowered the camera slightly, pointing at the overflowing bowl of pork belly and vermicelli in Boss Zhang's bowl, and casually asked:

"Uncle, how's the braised pork belly with glass noodles?"

Boss Zhang was chewing on a large piece of pork belly with skin on, his face glistening with oil, and beads of sweat were dripping from his forehead.

Caught off guard by the question, Boss Zhang looked up, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand while chewing, and said in a loud, straightforward voice, "What? Can't you see for yourself?"

"This black mountain pork is fried until golden brown and curled at the edges; the fat melts in your mouth, and the lean meat is incredibly tender!"

"The pickled mustard greens are sour and refreshing; I slurped them down, soup and all, and my back was covered in sweat on this cold day. It's more satisfying than any fancy dish in a fancy restaurant!"

Boss Zhang pointed to the thick paper bowl in his hand, the bottom of which had been scraped clean:

"I've lived on this street for almost twenty years, and I've never eaten such hearty rice noodles before. Even giving them full marks wouldn't be enough!"

The young man nodded, then took his phone and walked to the electric scooter parked by the roadside.

The delivery guy was sitting on his bike, slurping up wide rice noodles from a big bowl, his helmet visor covered in a layer of white condensation.

The young man pointed the camera at the blackfish slices in the waiter's bowl and asked, "Brother, how's the taste of this pickled cabbage and blackfish vermicelli?"

The delivery guy swallowed the fish in his mouth, wiped his chapped hands on his knees, and pointed at the fish in the bowl, laughing, "Perfect! Perfect!"

"The fish slices are cut very thinly, smooth and without a single bone. The soup is milky white, with the spiciness of white pepper mixed with the sourness of pickled cabbage. One sip warms you right up to your stomach."

"I've been driving around since six in the morning, and my hands and feet are already numb from the cold. But after drinking this hot soup, all the blood in my body has come back to life."

The young man then walked over to the two elderly sanitation workers next to him.

Old Zhou, with his gray hair, held a large bowl in his hands and was drinking the thick soup spoonful by spoonful, his face flushed with the satisfaction of a full meal.

The young man asked softly, "Grandpa, are the glass noodles soft? Are they easy to chew?"

Old Zhou looked up, his eyes narrowing into slits with a smile, and nodded repeatedly:

"So soft! Smooth and tender, yet chewy, not tough at all! The soup was piping hot, and even though my teeth aren't good, I ate a whole bowl. My stomach feels so warm and cozy. It's just perfect!"

In the live stream chat, the initially chaotic comments were gradually replaced by a flood of genuine feedback:

"It makes me hungry... those pork belly slices are so thick and glistening with oil."

"That delivery guy had such a genuine smile. On such a cold day, being able to eat a bowl of piping hot, hearty food by the roadside is really something."

"The fish soup was so white, the fish slices were rolled up one by one, and the glass kitchen was bright and clean. This is nothing like the illegal workshops that people talk about online."

"Boss Lin is really generous. He provides such hearty meals to the workers and neighbors for free on such a cold day. Anyone would be happy about that."

The young man looked at the comments on the screen, took a deep breath, and whispered into his phone:

"Alright, family, there's no point in saying more. You'll see for yourselves what this place is like when you get there. I'm going to help Boss Lin clear the dishes."

After speaking, the young man fixed his phone to a simple tripod next to the roadside electrical box, pointing the camera at the food pick-up window facing the street and the entire steaming queue.

He rolled up his sleeves and ran quickly back to the front of the shop, helping Su Xiaoxiao to neatly stack the empty cardboard boxes and paper bowls that had been collected.