If I ask you to set up a stall, why do you always run to deserted places?

"Someone from down the mountain was just taken to the hospital."

Su Yun paused, holding the clip in her hand. "What's going on?"

"He said he ate your pancake." Song Haifeng handed over his phone.

The screen displayed a news article just posted by a local news account. It started with a two-minute video that showed the hospital's emergency room lobby. A man in his thirties was lying in the infusion area, his face pale. Next to him, a woman was holding an opened box of pastries and crying uncontrollably at the camera.

The video was messy, and the woman's speech was intermittent, but everything that should be shown was there: the styrofoam box was printed with "Taishan Yunding Crispy Cake," and the individual packaging inside had a photo of Su Yun standing behind the stall.

The woman said that they saw Master Su's shop while browsing short videos last night. Thinking that the elderly and children couldn't climb Mount Tai, they spent 198 yuan to buy a box of medicine. It was delivered to the hotel this morning. Her husband ate two of the medicines and started vomiting and having diarrhea in less than an hour. In the end, he was in so much pain that he couldn't even straighten his back.

There was also a preliminary diagnosis from the hospital.

[Acute gastroenteritis, suspected foodborne illness; further investigation is needed to determine the specific cause.]

The man ate frozen food bought online and had never been to the mountaintop, yet the account that posted the news had an extremely eye-catching headline.

[A man was hospitalized after eating a famous Taishan pastry! Is it still safe to eat Master Su's pastries?]

The title deliberately omitted the words "frozen food purchased online," and the accompanying image was a screenshot directly from Tang Guo's live stream, with Su Yun's face placed right in the center.

The video had received over 30,000 likes in less than 40 minutes, and the comments section was overflowing.

[I told you so! How clean can the stalls in tourist areas be? A bunch of people rushed in like they hadn't eaten yet, now they feel good!]

【One hundred and ninety-eight yuan a box? Selling it for such an exorbitant price and using rotten meat, shouldn't these people be arrested and kept around for the New Year?】

[Exactly! While the other person is in the hospital, that guy surnamed Su is still livestreaming from the mountaintop counting his money. He's so cold-blooded.]

[Old Feng at home must have passed away!]

Occasionally, someone would point out that the packaging in the video was frozen and might not be related to the stall on the mountaintop, but the reply would quickly be surrounded by a crowd.

[How much money did they get paid to wash this?]

[There's such a big face on the packaging, and you're telling me it's okay?]

[Disgusting!]

At the very bottom, someone even claimed that a tourist on the mountaintop had a stomachache yesterday, but the scenic area suppressed the news. This is obviously fabricated, but it's still very effective at fooling netizens who love gossip.

Anyway, everyone here is just looking for fun. They like to create gods, and after creating a god, they like to drag him down hard. Obviously, Su Yun is a god they created. In their minds, they can drag him down and stomp on him whenever they want.

Su Yun flipped through the entire book and felt that it was outrageous, absolutely outrageous!

The person selling counterfeit goods wasn't scolded, but the person whose photo was misused was the first to be severely criticized. Where can he go to seek justice?

"Did I break a divine law?" Su Yun couldn't help but ask himself.

"Isn't this blatant nonsense?" Zhou Ye leaned closer, and after watching the video, his voice suddenly rose. "They bought counterfeit goods online, what does that have to do with our boss?"

He pointed to the styrofoam box on the ground, "The counterfeit goods are still here! Don't they know to verify them? Besides, our boss has been making all the cakes in front of everyone since this morning. Where is he going to send frozen goods to someone else?"

Zhou Ye was genuinely angry. Although he had only been following Su Yunqian for a short time, he had seen firsthand the quality of the meat Su Yunqian used. Now, someone had stolen the photos to make dirty money, and when things went wrong, they were even trying to shift the blame back onto him! This was outrageous! It was utterly outrageous!

The tourists queuing nearby understood what was going on, and they were all furious. They could curse anyone, but they couldn't curse Chef Su! If they made Chef Su depressed, who would make pancakes for them in the future?

These netizens have no heart!

"The people in the video didn't even go up the mountain, so what does this have to do with Master Su?"

"Exactly! Don't these people even read the content of their insults anymore?"

"What are you even looking at? You got excited the moment you saw 'eating it and ending up in the hospital' in the title!"

"The person who posted the video is no good either. They knew it was from an online purchase, but they still deliberately wrote that in the title."

"x......"

Tourists who had just witnessed Li Xiaoxiao unpacking the box rushed to the comments section of the video to explain, but shortly after they posted it, the comments were filled with mockery.

Some people said they were actors hired by Su Yun, while others insisted that the online store was owned by that bastard Su Yun. In short, they didn't believe it at all, and they mocked Su Yun in every way, wishing they could stab his whole family in the back. Their efforts were truly immense.

Tang Guo temporarily turned down the volume of the live stream and quickly glanced at the comments section. After the news spread, a large number of unfamiliar accounts suddenly flooded in, and the number of online viewers had risen to 370,000, which even several moderators couldn't keep up with.

What's even stranger is that many accounts posted almost identical messages, with the same phrase, "The heartless stall owner is a disregard for human life," appearing on the screen dozens of times in the blink of an eye. Nobody would believe there was no one guiding them behind this.

Su Yun took the phone, backed up the evidence that Li Xiaoxiao had taken, and submitted it to the platform as Song Haifeng had reminded her.

After doing all that, he didn't feel much better.

All he could do was preserve the evidence and report everything that needed to be reported. But the current public opinion was not something that could be stopped by simply submitting a form. He didn't even have his own live streaming account, and suddenly he was being attacked by hundreds of thousands of people. There really wasn't any way to do it immediately.

Besides, he's currently on the top of Mount Tai, and there are still over two hundred numbers to process on the chopping board. He can't possibly abandon everyone and chase after each account that's cursing him to explain, can he? There's no need for that. Since some netizens are willing to play the fool, let them be.

Even if he did try to explain, whether the other party would be willing to listen was another matter. Some people aren't unable to distinguish between truth and falsehood; they're just too lazy to figure it out. What could Su Yun do when he encountered such a person?

He was staring at his phone, lost in thought, when a frail voice suddenly came from behind the crowd, "Show me that video from earlier."

Su Yun turned around and saw that Old Qin had arrived at some point.

The old man was still wearing his sportswear today, leaning on his hiking stick, with his granddaughter supporting him. He was breathing a little heavier than usual, probably because he had walked a bit too fast, and his face was much more serious than yesterday.

Old Qin had only wanted to have another bowl of millet pudding today, but he overheard the discussions around him first.

Song Haifeng handed over the phone and briefly explained the situation he knew. Old Qin didn't speak immediately. He first watched the hospital video and then opened the online store's page. Sure enough, the name on the page had changed again. It was Taishan Flavor Food Hall just now, but now it had become Qilu Traditional Pastry Selection. However, none of the products inside had been removed from the shelves. The so-called Taishan Cloud Top Crispy Cake had even increased its sales by more than two hundred orders.

Old Qin stared at Su Yun's photo on the packaging, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper. "Someone has already been hospitalized after consuming it, and they're still selling it?"

"The platform has only downloaded one link for now," Song Haifeng said. "The other redirect addresses are still changing, and our people have already contacted our colleagues down the mountain."

Old Qin returned the phone to him without asking any further questions. He then took out his old-fashioned mobile phone from his pocket. Su Yun originally thought he was going to contact the pastry association, but the call was answered in less than three seconds.

"Uncle Qin?" A middle-aged man's voice came from the other end of the phone, his tone clearly surprised. "Why did you suddenly decide to call me? How have you been lately?"

"Don't ask me about my health yet," Old Qin said with a stern face. "Someone here in Taishan is using other people's names to sell substandard food products, and they've already sent people to the hospital after eating them."

The other end of the phone immediately fell silent. He didn't understand why Old Qin was telling him this out of the blue, but he felt that Old Qin's tone was very unpleasant.

Nonsense! How could this matter be resolved? Someone is slandering Master Su right under his nose! Even if Uncle can tolerate it, Auntie can't!

"There are still people online deliberately spreading misinformation and shifting the blame onto the person whose identity was stolen." Old Qin suppressed his anger and said quickly, "The online store's payment recipient is called Huifengyuan Trading Co., Ltd. A white van was present at the scene, and we have the license plate and order evidence."

"Send me the information." The man's voice became much more serious. "I'll have someone verify it immediately."

Regardless, this was something Old Qin had called him to handle, so he had to put in his utmost effort to get it done.

"Just verifying isn't enough." Old Qin gripped his hiking stick tightly; he was already furious. "If people are getting sick from the food, then we need to follow the proper procedures, trace the payment back to the recipient, and also keep an eye out for those who are deliberately spreading rumors online."

"clear."

"And another thing," Old Qin glanced at Su Yun, "the young man selling pancakes is currently on the mountaintop. His credentials and daily ingredient records can be checked. Don't let him be impersonated while also having to take the blame for these people."

The person on the other end of the phone paused for a moment, then said, "Uncle Qin, don't worry, I'll personally oversee this matter."

Old Qin grunted in agreement and hung up the phone immediately. There wasn't a single wasted word in the entire process, leaving Su Yun standing beside him, completely stunned.

Good heavens! One phone call and he's already tracing the payment recipient's line of inquiry—just who is this old man? And judging by his attitude, he's not even going to let those netizens who were secretly stirring things up get away with it? What kind of power does he have?

All Su Yun knew about Old Qin was that everyone called him Teacher Qin; no one had ever mentioned what the old man had done in the past! He had a feeling that this old man was extraordinary! Could he really be some kind of Dragon King or something?

But Su Yun thought it was unlikely. With such a powerful background, would someone climb Mount Tai for several days in a row just to eat a pancake from him? It couldn't be that serious.

"Young man," Old Qin put away his phone, "you continue with your business as usual."

Su Yun looked at him, "Is that all?"

"Within two days," Old Qin said in a low voice, but his tone was anything but joking, "the criminals who committed this crime will definitely be brought to justice."

The people around were stunned. They didn't even know where the person selling counterfeit goods was, yet he dared to set a delivery time of less than two days with just one phone call? Had this old man watched too many crime dramas?

But after Old Qin finished speaking, he didn't offer any explanation. He simply asked his granddaughter to forward the evidence he had just received, then took a number plate and sat down in the rest pavilion to wait for the pancakes.

This matter-of-fact attitude made Song Haifeng look at him several more times. Others might not know who Qin Lao was calling, but he felt that the voice sounded familiar, though he couldn't be sure for a moment.

Su Yun didn't press the matter further. Since Old Qin wasn't going to tell him, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to pry. As for the significance of this phone call, he'd find out later. Su Yun himself was actually quite looking forward to it. Could he be playing the role of the Dragon King for a while?

The most important thing right now is to take good care of the customers who have already received their numbers. The indicator light on the three-tiered grill has started flashing. Su Yun put her gloves back on and then opened the grill door. The salty and savory aroma of pickled mustard greens mixed with the oily fragrance of pork quickly drowned out the surrounding chatter.

"Numbers 621 to 640, you can come and pick up your meals now!" Zhou Ye picked up the megaphone again.

The line moved forward a bit. The tourists who had been pleading for Su Yun's innocence just moments before immediately moved forward after hearing the number. No matter how fierce the online criticism was, it didn't affect their ability to make a living.

Tang Guo also turned the sound back on in the live stream.

"We are aware of what happened at the hospital."

She turned the camera to the sealed styrofoam box, saying, "The people in the video are eating frozen pancakes bought online, not from the mountaintop. That store wasn't authorized, and the packaging photos were stolen. We've already preserved the evidence."

"The people in the hospital are still receiving treatment. The specific cause needs to be determined through testing. Please do not harass the patients, and do not start cursing just because you see a headline."

After he finished speaking, the long-time viewers in the live stream immediately started sending messages of support.

But they completely ignored the accounts that had just flooded in.

[When something goes wrong, you accuse them of selling counterfeit goods, but when they were making money, why didn't you step in to do anything about it?]

[Keep acting, keep acting. Maybe you even prepared those boxes beforehand.]

[They used your photo on the packaging, and you think you didn't know? You're kidding me!]

Tang Guo had just mentioned changing the name of her online store when the same barrage of insults flooded the screen again. She finally realized that these people weren't there to hear her explanation at all.

"Never mind." Su Yun put the two sesame seed cakes into a paper bag, shook her head at her, and said, "Let's make the cakes first."

Tang Guo's cheeks puffed up with anger, but if she continued arguing, it would only make the live stream more chaotic. So she handed a few keywords to the moderators and then turned the camera back to the cutting board.

Su Yun didn't read the comments anymore.

His popularity has been ridiculously high lately, and this incident might actually calm down some people who were planning to jump on the bandwagon. He can't just give up his business because of a few harsh words.

Let people say whatever they want online.

The evidence has been preserved, and the relevant authorities have reported it. Falsehoods can't remain true forever.

With that in mind, Su Yun put the rested dough back on the cutting board, and her hands quickly returned to their original rhythm.

The pickled mustard green pancakes continued to be quickly cooked, and the payment notification sound rang out again.

The queue on the platform continued to move forward, and no one who got a number left. After getting their food, some people even walked in front of the camera holding up freshly baked sesame cakes to prove to Su Yun that there was nothing wrong with the food on site. The accounts that were cursing were still active, but they had quieted down a lot.

Su Yun was oblivious to all of this; he was busy finishing a purple sweet potato cake, and the noise outside no longer bothered him.

Meanwhile, a dozen kilometers away at the foot of Mount Tai, in an old office building.

The office near the end of the corridor had its curtains drawn, and there wasn't even a company sign hanging at the door. Inside, there were six computers, with the hospital's video feed and Tang Guo's live stream running simultaneously.

A man in a black short-sleeved shirt leaned back in his chair and slowly smiled as he saw Tang Guo turn the camera back to the cutting board.

His name is Du Xingchang, the person who actually makes the decisions for Huifengyuan Trading Co., Ltd. As for the legal representative on the business license, he is just a fellow villager whom he found for three thousand yuan.

From the very first day Su Yun became famous atop Mount Tai, he had his eye on this business. With such suddenly popular internet-famous food, by the time the licensing agreement was finalized, people online had already moved on to the next hot trend.

So Du Xingchang never waits; he just prints the photo of whoever is popular, finds a small factory to make a batch of similar-looking products, and if someone complains, he just changes the store name.

Su Yun's popularity this time is greater than all the previous people he's tried to piggyback on combined; he's practically a walking popularity generator! If he doesn't take advantage of it, he'll be betraying his professional ethics.

This time, the cost of more than 6,000 boxes of frozen cakes was less than 35 yuan per box, but they were sold for 198 yuan each. The profit was enough to make him smile even in his sleep!

Of course, it wasn't all good news. The only unexpected thing was that one of its small factories, in order to meet the deadline, mixed in a batch of minced meat that had been stored in the cold storage for too long.

When they heard that someone was hospitalized in the morning, the people in charge of shipping panicked, but Du Xingchang thought of a solution in less than five minutes.

That is, they had someone save the video posted by the patient's family in the group, and then they specifically asked someone to change the title. Since Su Yun's face was printed on the packaging, if there was a problem, Su Yun should be the first to take the lead.

Du Xingchang thought, "Su Yun must be furious right now, right? He must be incredibly anxious inside. But don't worry, you can't do anything to me anyway!"

"Brother Chang." A young man with dyed yellow hair next to him was watching the live stream, his shoulders shaking with laughter. "That kid really has no choice. Look, he told the streamer not to explain anymore."

Du Xingchang crossed his legs. "Tch, what tricks could he possibly have up his sleeve?"

"Call the police," said the blond-haired guy. Isn't that the only solution for this kind of situation? But they weren't really afraid.

"Let him report it." Du Xingchang didn't care at all. "The shop and the payment company are all shell companies. He's up on the top of Mount Tai, he doesn't even know where the delivery truck is. How can he find us?"

Du Xingchang wasn't afraid. Huang Mao suddenly felt a little uneasy when he thought of the license plate that had been captured in the live stream. "That van truck has been photographed."

"The car was rented," Du Xingchang said. "The person picking up the goods only knows the warehouse contact person; he doesn't even know where this office is. What can we do even if we trace it back to him?"

To conduct this kind of business, he had long ago separated each floor. The people outside were only responsible for picking up the goods, and the accounts that actually managed the money would not fall directly into his hands.

Du Xingchang had already figured out Su Yun very well. This person was so famous, yet he was too lazy to even update his WeChat Moments, and he was still using someone else's account for live streaming.

This gave them a perfect opportunity. Su Yun was only focused on setting up his stall every day, so how could he have the energy to keep an eye on his online store? By the time he realized something was wrong, he had already sold thousands of boxes of goods. Now that the public outcry was rising, he could only stand behind the counter and make pancakes. If he didn't make them, thousands of people on the mountaintop would protest. If he continued to make them, people online would say that he was still counting money even after something bad happened. No matter which option he chose, he would look guilty.

Moreover, Su Yun doesn't even have a dedicated account to speak for him. How could Tang Guo's one-person live stream possibly compete with the hundreds of accounts they have?

Du Xingchang saw the old man on the phone just now, and he almost burst out laughing after hearing what he heard. What did the old man in the cabinet say? He said he would arrest them within two days. Who did he think he was? Yan Shuangying? That's fucking hilarious!

Du Xingchang, being a lawless outlaw, was not afraid of this kind of thing at all.

"Brother Chang, that old man's talk was pretty intimidating," said the blond-haired guy. "Could he actually know someone?"

"Who could an old man on the street possibly know?" Du Xingchang scoffed. "These days, old people love to act mysterious in front of young people. They make a phone call as if they've solved a major case."

"So what do we do next?"

"Don't stop commenting yet." Du Xingchang picked up the cigarette pack on the table and slowly lit one. "Before the hospital's test results come out, this is the best time to use it. Keep pushing the phrase 'eating your way into the hospital' forward. Don't mention online shopping, and don't let frozen packaging appear on the cover."

The blond-haired man nodded immediately, "Understood."

Another man sitting in front of the computer turned around. "Brother Chang, how about we take this opportunity to expand our business even further?"

"How do we do it?"

"Didn't he serve two new types of cakes today?"

The man paused the live stream, which showed Su Yun breaking open a purple sweet potato mochi cake. The cake appeared purple on the screen, revealing snow-white mochi inside. Viewers in the live stream had asked thousands of times when it would be available for online purchase. Du Xingchang's eyes were practically blazing with anger; this was all money! And Su Yun, that idiot, didn't even know how to use it.

"We have ready-made purple sweet potato glutinous rice cakes in our factory. We can sell them just by changing the packaging." The man became more and more excited as he spoke. "We also have pickled mustard green and pork cakes. We just need to change the packaging picture, and we can put the link up tonight."

The blond-haired guy's eyes lit up too. "That's right! Before, we had to find our own hit products. Now he's interviewing new products in front of hundreds of thousands of people every day. Can't we just copy him?"

As Du Xingchang pondered, he saw Su Yun adjusting the temperature of the three-layer oven in the video, with the names of two new types of cakes clearly displayed on the small blackboard next to her.

After a few seconds, he chuckled, "Selling only pancakes is still too small."

Several people in the office looked at him at the same time.

Du Xingchang flicked his cigarette ash. "Master Su is so popular now. How much can he earn just by selling a few boxes of frozen goods? Make a recruitment page and recruit agents in various places. Collect a deposit of 50,000 yuan for each city."

"Someone asked about authorization?"

"Just say there are limited slots, and the headquarters will review them before issuing the authorization letters," Du Xingchang said. "Once the money comes in, we can print as many authorization letters as we want."

Huang Mao's breathing quickened. "Then wouldn't we be able to expand nationwide?"

"Of course." Du Xingchang looked at Su Yun, who was still making pancakes with her head down on the screen, without the slightest worry in his eyes. In his opinion, this was no opponent he needed to be wary of.

This is clearly a living advertisement that doesn't cost any money and will proactively research new products for them every day. As for Old Qin's phone call just now, he had long forgotten about it.

Within two days? Let alone two days, even if you gave Su Yun two weeks, could he find this place from the top of Mount Tai?

"Send the screenshots of the live stream to the designer." Du Xingchang stubbed out his cigarette. "Before noon, put up the pre-sale link for the purple sweet potato mochi cakes."

Huang Mao agreed and immediately dragged the screenshot into the work group. In less than five minutes, a new packaging design was sent back.

In the very center of the purple bag, Su Yun's face was still printed, and below the photo, there was a line of small print that had just been written.

[Master Su's new Taishan product will be launched live today.]

Du Xingchang glanced at it, nodded in satisfaction, and exclaimed, "We're going to make a fortune! Hahahaha!"