The younger sister mistakenly identified her brother when visiting relatives and was kissed by the c

Standing behind the counter, Mrs. Bai smiled as she collected the money. She took a moment to wipe the sweat from her brow, then turned to Qiao Xinxin, who was busy at work, and whispered a compliment:

"Xin Xin, what's wrong with your brain? You just casually came up with three dishes and made our restaurant so lively. Look at all these people, my hands are getting sore from counting the money!"

Qiao Xinxin wiped her sweat, feeling a sweet warmth in her heart: "Mom, as long as everyone enjoys the meal, it's all worth it to be a little tired!"

However, as the saying goes, the tallest tree in the forest will be felled by the wind.

Bai's small restaurant was thriving, with its customer traffic increasing day by day, which naturally caught the attention of other restaurants in the neighborhood.

The Bai family wasn't the only restaurant on this street. Several other shops had secretly tried to imitate their fast-food model after seeing how much money the Bai family made, but because their taste couldn't compare and their prices weren't competitive, their businesses remained stagnant and lagged behind.

Now, the Bai family has launched new dishes, and their business has skyrocketed. This has caused jealousy and resentment to grow like poisonous weeds in the hearts of the owners of the neighboring shops.

The first to get restless was the owner of the noodle shop at the end of the street.

The boss's surname was Li, he was in his forties, and had a greasy mustache. He was usually mean and sarcastic, and when he encountered the Bai family on the street, he would always roll his eyes and not even say hello.

These days, he sees long queues forming outside the Bai family's small restaurant every day, while his own noodle shop is completely deserted, making him so angry that his face almost turns green.

Finally, he couldn't hold back any longer. Boss Li found Boss Sun, the owner of the dumpling restaurant next door whose business was also in dire straits. The two of them discussed it in the kitchen of the noodle shop and hit it off immediately, deciding to trip up the Bai family and completely ruin their reputation.

They spent a few dollars to bribe a middle-aged scoundrel who loafed around on the street and did nothing productive. They gave him a dead cockroach that they didn't know where he got it from and asked him to cause a big commotion at the Bai family's shop.

That noon was the busiest time at Bai's small restaurant.

All of the dozen or so tables in the shop were full of people, some sharing tables, some queuing, and the noise was constant.

The bribed middle-aged man, wearing a dirty cotton-padded jacket, sat hunched over in the corner. After all the dishes were served, he hastily ate a couple of bites, and seeing his opportunity, suddenly slammed his bamboo chopsticks heavily onto the table!

"Snapped!"

A sharp cracking sound rang out, particularly jarring in the noisy restaurant.

Immediately afterwards, the man, in a hoarse, hysterical voice, began to shout:

"Boss! What's wrong with your food?! There's a cockroach in it! A cockroach this big! You're trying to kill someone!"

That shout was like a bomb thrown into the crowd.

The entire store fell silent instantly. Everyone stopped what they were eating and turned to look at the corner.

When Bai's mother heard this, her face turned pale instantly, and she hurriedly ran out from behind the counter.

"Comrade, what's wrong? What happened?"

The man, with a fierce-looking face, used his chopsticks to pick up a dark brown dead cockroach from the plate, deliberately held it high, swung it around in mid-air, and shouted loudly:

"Everyone, come and take a look! Look at this shady restaurant! A huge dead cockroach is stir-fried in the dish! If someone ate this, what kind of illness would they get?! Tell me, how can anyone eat here?! Who would dare come to this restaurant again?!"

The diners around the restaurant were in an uproar when they saw the dark, dead cockroach.

"Oh my god, this is disgusting!"

"Oh my god, I just finished a plate, could it have been there too? Ugh..."

Several timid women were so frightened that they quickly put down their chopsticks and tried to leave.

At this moment, several "spies" who had been pre-arranged by Boss Li and were hidden in the crowd immediately began to loudly incite and fan the flames from a corner:

"This shop usually looks clean, but I never imagined it was so filthy behind the scenes! They even throw cockroaches into the pot!"

"Exactly! A restaurant should at least be hygienic, right? This is ripping people off! Give us our money back! We demand a refund!"

"Smash it! Keeping this kind of unscrupulous shop around is just harming people; everyone, don't let them get away with this!"

Several people shouted the loudest, and some even stood up and deliberately kicked their chairs loudly, pretending to push the table.

Mother Bai was sweating profusely, her face deathly pale, and tears were welling up in her eyes. She stood there, speechless, unable to utter a complete explanation:

"No... Listen to me, everyone, our shop is cleaned every day, the kitchen is spotless, there's absolutely no way such a thing could be there..."

Hearing the commotion, Mr. Bai rushed out of the kitchen. He was still holding a greasy spatula in his hand. Seeing the dead cockroach on the chopsticks, he was stunned and stammered:

"This...how is this possible? I kept my eyes wide open while I was cooking, I've never seen anything like this before!"

"You say it's impossible, and that's it? Everyone saw it with their own eyes, the physical evidence is right here, and you still want to deny it?!"

The man held up his chopsticks, a smug look on his face. Looking at the indignant crowd around him, he felt a surge of satisfaction, thinking his act was flawless and that he'd gotten those few dollars too easily.

Just as the store was in chaos and on the verge of being vandalized, Qiao Xinxin hurriedly pushed open the door and walked in, carrying a bag of seasonings she had just bought.

As soon as she stepped inside, she sensed that something was wrong.

Seeing the crowd gathered around and her mother wiping away tears, Qiao Xinxin took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. She quickly walked through the crowd and stood in front of the middle-aged man.

Her gaze immediately fell on the dead cockroach that the man was holding between his chopsticks.

The cockroach was entirely dark brown, with legs and feet, and it did look quite frightening.

But Qiao Xinxin only stared at it for two seconds before her tense brows twitched slightly, and a hint of coldness flashed in her eyes.

She didn't panic, nor did she rush to argue with people like her parents. Instead, she took two steps forward, carefully examined the cockroach, and then looked down at the half-eaten dish on her plate.

Then, she raised her head, her sweet and lovely face showing no fear whatsoever. Her tone was calm and her voice clear, unlike what one might expect when dealing with a crisis that could lead to the shop being smashed at any moment.

"Sir, you're saying this cockroach was picked out of this plate of braised eggplant?"

"Of course! Do you think I'd bring cockroaches to eat with me?!" The man spat fiercely, puffing out his chest, looking like a shameless scoundrel who wasn't afraid of boiling water.

Qiao Xinxin gave a cold laugh and didn't respond to him.

She calmly reached out, picked up another pair of clean chopsticks from the table, took a piece of braised eggplant from the plate, and held it in mid-air.