Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Bai Xue Also Opened a Gourmet Shop

The next day, Bai Xue didn’t show up.

Without their free adult labor, the four little ones were busy again.

Strangely, Yan Xiaoliu didn’t come either.

Bai Su didn’t even notice someone was missing until she was done with the rush.

On the third day, those two still didn’t appear.

Bai Su found it strange, but before she could even ask, she heard that Bai Xue had opened a restaurant on the opposite mountain, called "Mountain Delicacies."

They said the food there could also cure illnesses and tasted even better than the food at Bai Su’s "Mountain Wild Game."

She had also made a huge splash, inviting numerous media outlets to build hype and extending a wide invitation to the nobles of the Imperial City to come and sample her food.

Upon hearing this, Bai Xiaolang’s expression turned thunderous. "That horrible woman! I knew she was up to no good!"

But Bai Su couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

Bai Xiaolang looked at her, confused. "Mom, what are you laughing at?"

Bai Su said with amusement, "Nothing. It’s just the first time I’ve ever seen someone in such a hurry to be the foil."

’If cooking were that easy to learn, all those culinary academies from my past life would have gone out of business.’

’And what would that make the apprentices who spent seven or eight years studying under a master chef?’

’If it were really that simple, the world would be crawling with god-tier chefs.’

Bai Xue had never eaten her food, nor had she ever deigned to. She was thinking far too simplistically.

On the first day of business, as if to deliberately go against Bai Su, she even planned a special promotion: everything was free.

A lot of people were indeed drawn over, but she forgot that she had invited wealthy people.

For many of the rich, free simply meant cheap. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

And the people who were tempted by the free offer to take advantage of it would feel discriminated against by the nobles in her shop, which wouldn’t make for a very good experience.

Most importantly, Bai Su was confident that there was no way Bai Xue’s food could be more delicious than hers.

Bai Xue had certainly spent a lot of money opening this restaurant; the Bai family had specifically funded it for her to go head-to-head with Bai Su.

All the ingredients were fresh, and all the tableware and decor were more high-end and grand.

She even hired a symphony orchestra to perform in the restaurant.

She turned dining into an indulgence.

This was the first time Bai Su’s restaurant had been so deserted since it opened.

Aside from a few loyal regulars, most of the transient customers had gone over to the other side.

Bai Xiaolang was clearly still anxious.

Bai Su watched him pace around the entrance with amusement. "Alright, stop pacing. It’s a rare slow day, so take a good rest."

Bai Xiaolang, afraid he would make her even more anxious, could only nod. "Okay..."

The next day, there were even fewer customers in her restaurant.

Even Xiao Mi, a regular, said she wanted to go to the opposite mountain to check things out.

Even the live-streaming influencers who usually frequented her shop had changed locations and gone over there.

They claimed they were just going to join the fun and see what was happening.

Of course, Bai Su couldn’t stop them from going.

The following day, "Mountain Delicacies" was trending. The trending topics list was flooded with influencers’ "shop exploration" videos.

Many influencers expressed endless praise after just one visit, saying the flavor had practically captured the true essence of Bai Su’s restaurant.

There were also many interviews with passersby who said the restaurant’s ingredients were fresher, the preparation more exquisite, the taste more delicious, and most importantly, the prices more reasonable.

The trending topics also included an interview with Bai Xue, apparently conducted by an entertainment reporter.

When asked why she had set the prices so low, Bai Xue gave the camera a cute smile. "I’m a little embarrassed, really. After all, fresh ingredients don’t have factory processing fees or require nutrient extraction procedures, so the cost isn’t actually that high."

"If the prices were too high, wouldn’t I be making money with a guilty conscience?"

"I opened this restaurant because I want everyone to enjoy even more delicious food at fair and reasonable prices, not to make money off of everyone."

What a helpful contemporary philanthropist.

When Bai Xiaolang saw the trending topics, he was furious. "Mom! Don’t be angry. The next time I see that Bai Xue here, I’ll teach her a lesson for you!"

Bai Su just calmly ruffled his little head. "Alright, now. It’s not worth getting angry over her."

’She wasn’t worried at all.’

Bai Xue’s current success might have something to do with a "protagonist halo," and besides, the Bai family had also waded in and bought a lot of marketing accounts to build hype for Bai Xue’s restaurant by praising it at the expense of hers.

But if public opinion shaped by marketing accounts could control everything, the world would have long since descended into chaos.

The more hype Bai Xue’s restaurant generated, the more people it would attract.

Bai Su was waiting—waiting for an opportunity for it all to blow up.

Sure enough, on the seventh day of Bai Xue’s new restaurant being open, a "Disgusting Food" topic shot up the trending list.

Clicking on it revealed a flood of angry netizens who had been silenced.

[What? Did Mountain Delicacies save your life? Or did Bai Xue save your life? How can anyone hype up something this disgusting?]

[No exaggeration, I went and ordered one dish, pineapple beef, and the beef they served me was fatally awful! The taste still makes me sick just thinking about it!]

[Seriously, isn’t this shop’s marketing way over the top? How much did the Bai Family pay you guys? Let me get in on it!]

[I went to Bai Su’s Mountain Wild Game first before going to Bai Xue’s Mountain Delicacies, and, how should I put it... it’s just gross. Can Bai Xue please learn to be her own person? Ripping off her shop is one thing, but she’s also copying her fashion style and mannerisms?]

[I’ve been wanting to say this for a while! Even if they’re sisters, copying someone’s fashion sense like this is really disgusting!]

[She basically copied everything but the name. And she hired a few cute Little Beastmen as child laborers. I’m pretty sure that’s illegal, right?]

[So what? It’s not illegal when Bai Su does it?]

[The user above must be one of Bai Xue’s paid shills, right? The kids at Bai Su’s shop are her own family. They’re just helping out, not deliberately hired to be exploited for their labor!]

[And the food is really bad. Like, really, really bad. The greens were boiled to mush in hot water and were bitter and astringent.]

[I can’t quite describe it. It feels like the food at Bai Su’s shop is perfect in color, aroma, and taste, while the food at Bai Xue’s shop is just a pile of crap.]

[Bai Xue is the one who’s truly wasting food, right?]

[There’s really no need for such malicious competition. Miss Bai Xue, if you have nothing better to do, maybe just go back to being a rich young lady? With all this money, why not donate it to the Little Beastmen in the mountains?]

[I don’t get it. Aren’t Bai Su and Bai Xue biological sisters? How can they be so different?]

As people kept cursing, the criticism gradually shifted from the restaurant’s food and service to the two sisters themselves.

The battlefront spread from the culinary world to the two sisters from a wealthy family.

Bai Xue was ruthlessly exposed, and even the previous incident where she almost caused the raid on a human trafficking case to fail was dug up and shamed all over again.

Thanks to Bai Xue’s marketing, Bai Su’s shop had another small surge in popularity.

She was having the time of her life watching the drama unfold. Seeing that her own live-streaming account was trending, she was in a great mood and posted an update.

The post was accompanied by a white image with only two large, black words on it: "Business War."

The caption read: [Beats me. The competition came out of the gate and immediately stabbed themselves twice.]

Beneath it was a sea of "hahahaha" from happy netizens enjoying the show.

When Bai Xue saw Bai Su’s post, she was so enraged that her eyes rolled back into her head, and she fainted in her bedroom.