Chapter 11: Considering opening a store?
Pei Song was no stranger to this kind of crisis.
Having been in the food industry for many years, he has long learned to deal with various emergencies.
He immediately posted a video on social media, showing in detail how he integrated Chinese and German food cultures and innovated and improved traditional dishes.
At the same time, he invited diners present to express their true feelings after tasting the food.
This professional and rational response not only calmed the doubts, but also won him more praise.
"I said that photo was photoshopped!"
"The blogger's innovation is great, it totally suits the taste of the people of Country D!"
"This is someone who truly understands gourmet food!"
The next day, the revelation was proven false.
The chef next door has also restrained himself a lot, but the crisis is far from over.
On the afternoon of the third day, a well-dressed middle-aged man accompanied by his assistant appeared in front of Pei Song's stall.
"Hello, I'm Hans, a critic for the food magazine Gourmet.
Müller. "He introduced himself in fluent English and handed over a gold-stamped business card.
Pei Song took the business card and greeted politely. He was very familiar with this magazine, which was quite influential in the food circle of Country D.
But the look in this critic's eyes made him somewhat uneasy.
His eyes scanned his operating table, as if looking for some flaws.
Hans ordered several signature dishes and specifically asked to see the preparation process.
He was taking photos all the time and talking to his assistant in a low voice from time to time.
After the dishes were served, he commented on each one in an exaggerated manner, with a deliberate tone in his demeanor.
Pei Song secretly felt something was wrong, but he had no choice but to cooperate.
When tasting the third dish, Hans suddenly turned pale, and fell into a chair, holding his stomach: "Oh my God... What is this... I feel very uncomfortable..."
His assistant immediately shouted for help: "Call an ambulance! There's something wrong with this dish!"
There was chaos all around, and several guests who had just finished their meals began to complain of stomachaches.
Among the crowd that came after hearing the news, someone shouted, "His food is poisonous!" This sentence was like a fuse, triggering even greater panic.
Within ten minutes, seven or eight media outlets gathered at the scene.
The flash lights were dazzling, and microphones were stretched in front of Pei Song one after another.
"Do you know the source of the ingredients?"
"Does your booth have a certificate of conformity?"
"Why are so many people poisoned?"
Pei Song suppressed his anger and explained the sources of the ingredients and the production process one by one, but the doubts grew louder.
"Who knows if what you said is true?"
"Internet celebrities are indeed Internet celebrities, they only know how to attract attention!"
"How can such a stall with no quality, no reputation and no reputation be allowed to participate in the exhibition?"
As the customers in the queue dispersed, some even asked for a refund.
Staff from the health department arrived quickly.
But they said full food inspection would take 48 hours.
Until the results come out, business must be suspended.
Pei Song felt heartbroken as he looked at the sealed stall.
This stall has condensed so much of his efforts. If it ends like this...
At this moment, he caught a glimpse of several Chinese food stall owners whispering to each other in front of them, with a gloating look in their eyes.
There was one person among them who left a particularly deep impression on him. He was the owner of the largest Chinese restaurant near M University.
A few days ago, he said arrogantly: "Young people nowadays only know how to be internet celebrities, and they don't know how to cook."
Looking at those inexplicably familiar faces, a thought suddenly flashed through Pei Song's mind.
He took out his cell phone and carefully looked through the photos of Hans entering the store.
Sure enough, in the background of the photo, the Chinese restaurant owners were having a pleasant conversation with Hans.
What's even more suspicious is that Hans' assistant looks very similar to a clerk in one of the stores.
Just as Pei Song was about to report his discovery to law enforcement officers, a tall figure walked through the crowd and approached him.
After listening to Pei Song's analysis, Shi Yanchen looked solemn: "This matter is not that simple. Since they dare to cause trouble at such a large exhibition, they must have made sufficient preparations."
"What should we do?" Pei Song looked at the sealed stall, anxious.
"Don't act rashly." Shi Yanchen looked around, "Continue your explanation and try to delay the time. I'll go check out the situation."
Shi Yanchen walked around the food festival, focusing on several suspicious Chinese food stalls.
He noticed that the "helper" was frequently in and out of the employee lounge area instead of helping out in the exhibit area.
Normally, at such a large exhibition, all the booths are very busy and no one should always run to the rest area.
He waited outside the rest area for a while, and sure enough, he saw several Chinese food stall owners taking turns coming in and out.
Each time he went in and out, the time was very short, as if he was handing over something.
The most suspicious thing is that Hans would appear at regular intervals, and each time he would go through the back door to avoid the exhibition area's surveillance.
Shi Yanchen noticed that although Hans and the "assistant" pretended not to know each other, their watches stopped at the same inaccurate time, fifteen minutes slower than normal time, which was obviously some kind of secret code.
More importantly, he found a van parked not far from the back door of the rest area.
The license plate number was the same as that of a Chinese restaurant's delivery truck, but the model was obviously different.
All these details point to a carefully planned frame-up.
Shi Yanchen quietly followed the food delivery truck to a Chinese restaurant.
Through the kitchen air vent, he heard the conversation inside.
It turned out that these bosses had long disliked Pei Song, thinking that this "Internet celebrity" had stolen their business.
They planned this "poisoning" incident. Not only did they hire professional actors to play the critics, they also arranged several people before the exhibition, ready to "fall ill" together at the critical moment.
Shi Yanchen immediately returned to the exhibition site, found the organizer directly, and asked for the retrieval of all surveillance videos.
After careful investigation, he discovered several suspicious people's abnormal behavior before and after the incident.
At the same time, the real Gourmet magazine called and said that they did not have Hans at all.
Müller the critic.
The police intervened in the investigation and soon found a large amount of evidence from the suspicious van.
It turned out that the owners of these old Chinese restaurants were dissatisfied with the fact that Pei Song had made several times more business than them in just a few days, so they conspired to bring him down.
That evening, several people involved in the case were taken away for investigation.
The police and health departments jointly held a press conference to clear Pei Song's name.
This crisis not only failed to defeat Pei Song, but instead earned him more support.
After his stall reopened, business was better than before.
On the last day of the food festival, Shi Yanchen helped pack up and asked, "Have you considered opening a store? I know a few good stores in good locations."
Pei Song looked at the neon lights in the distance and shook his head gently: "Thank you, but... I will graduate soon, and I plan to return to China directly after graduation."
Shi Yanchen paused: "Family matters"
"Yeah." Pei Song stopped packing his things. "This incident made me realize that the family situation may be worse than I thought. My parents need me."
Shi Yanchen was silent for a while before saying, "You have proven your ability."
"Yes." Pei Song smiled, "So I have to go back. Isn't everything I learned in Country D for the purpose of helping my family in the future?"
The night wind blew, and Pei Song took a deep breath: "Here... let's wait until later."
Shi Yanchen looked at his slightly hesitant profile, thoughtfully.