Gourmet: The Master Chef Just Wants to Leisurely Set Up a Stall - Chapter 69

As the group grew larger, things quickly spiraled out of control. Every time Li Donglai saw the sheer number of orders coming in, he felt a sense of dread. And when he went to pick up supplies, he noticed that the boss was sporting dark circles under her eyes.

He bought his skewers every day with growing anxiety, terrified that the boss might blame him for all this. After all, the boss had never intended to sell in the first place—it was his persistent pestering that led to this entire situation.

That’s why he put so much effort into managing the group—updating announcements, creating a fried skewer schedule, and outlining various guidelines. It was all driven by his desire to survive!

He was simply worried that if the boss couldn’t keep up with everything and didn’t respond to messages in time, the group members would get frustrated, and the boss would stop selling skewers altogether.

Despite all his precautions, there were still people causing trouble!

And now the group argument had escalated into a full-on brawl. What if Boss Zhao saw this and got upset, deciding not to sell anymore?

Messages continued flooding in as a few trolls kept fanning the flames.

Li Donglai scanned through the chat and noticed that Zhao Xiaojing hadn’t said anything. That gave him a bit of relief.

In a fluster, he quickly added a few of the most aggressive trolls as friends before kicking them out of the group. He left only the person who had claimed their skewers had maggots in the meat.

He then addressed the group: **@everyone**, but after typing it out, he realized Zhao Xiaojing would also get a notification, so he hurriedly deleted it. Instead, he tagged a few of the more familiar regular members.

“I’ve kicked a few people out already. Everyone, please don’t say anything for now—let me handle this.”

“@LittleWaist: Hi, about the issue you mentioned with maggots in the meat, could you tell me which day you ordered the skewers? What type of meat was it? Do you have any pictures? If it’s proven that it came from us, we’ll compensate you according to our policy.”

Li Jingying had been feeling quite pleased until she saw the sudden silence in the group. The admin had tagged her specifically, asking questions. When she checked the member list, she realized that the other trolls had already been kicked out.

Panic momentarily flashed across her face, but she quickly regained her composure. After all, she was using an alternate account, so she boldly responded.

“Why are you asking me? Your meat had maggots, and now you’re blaming me? Of course, I threw away something that disgusting right away! You expect me to take pictures? How convenient for you to demand proof now!”

The parents, itching to jump back into the argument, held themselves back, remembering that Li Donglai had said he would take care of it.

“@LittleWaist: Ma’am, can you at least tell us what day you placed your order? Did you use this WeChat account? I’ve just checked our ordering system, and I couldn’t find any record of an order from this account.” Li Donglai calmly pressed on.

“I used my husband’s phone to place the order. What, do we need real-name registration to buy skewers now? Do we need to give you our full names for a simple purchase? Do you even realize how ridiculous you sound?”

“@LittleWaist: We’re just trying to clarify the facts. It’s okay if you used your husband’s phone. We have a rotating menu, and it changes daily. Just let us know which skewer you bought, and I’ll do the rest. Most people here are regulars, so I can use the process of elimination to figure it out.”

The truth was, with the sheer number of orders they received each day, there was no way Li Donglai could actually check all of them. But after eating the skewers for so long, he simply didn’t believe that the meat had maggots. He suspected this person was spreading lies.

“@LittleWaist: By the way, I checked your joining date—it was three days ago when you added me as a friend to join the group. When I transferred money to you, I saw the last character of your name. If you don’t provide any solid evidence soon, we’ll be filing a defamation claim against you.”

Li Jingying clenched her jaw, leaning forward as she stared at the group chat with burning eyes. Her fingers flew across her phone screen as she typed and retyped responses, sweat beading on her forehead.

After some time passed without a reply from “Little Waist,” the other group members started catching on.

“Wait, are you just here to cause trouble? Weren’t you the one spreading rumors before? Back when Boss was running her stall, she used to get jealous competitors trying to slander her. Now we’re doing group orders, and you’re still at it?”

“She’s gone quiet again. Looks like we’re dealing with another hater. Seriously, what do you gain from ruining someone else’s business? What good does this do for you?”

Parents who had been watching everything unfold vented their frustrations in the chat. They shared stories with newer members about how Boss Zhao had faced similar slander when she used to run her street food stall.

Hearing the full story, the newcomers were stunned. They had no idea the skewer stall had attracted so much hate! The chat quickly shifted in tone as people began expressing their sympathy.

Li Donglai sighed in relief. As long as she chickened out, that was enough. As for suing her for defamation or enforcing real-name registration… those were just scare tactics. It wasn’t worth the time or effort to pursue such claims. At most, they’d end up with a small compensation of a few hundred yuan—not worth the hassle! Besides, the boss still had a business to run.

Li Donglai recorded the heated exchange with Li Jingying and saved it before sending it out to the trolls he’d kicked earlier.

Naturally, these people couldn’t stay in the group, but he had to defend the boss’s reputation!

Afterward, he promptly kicked out Li Jingying and sent another announcement to the group.

“Alright, the issue has been resolved, and I’ve removed Little Waist from the group. Now, everyone, listen up—I need to say something important.

Some of you joined later and may not know how this group got started. But have you ever wondered why *I* set up this fried skewer group in the first place?”

With that, Li Donglai launched into a detailed explanation of what had happened on the night the group was formed.

“Brothers and sisters, sure, those trolls had their fun cursing us out, but they’re gone now. However, we still want to buy our skewers! If Boss sees all this drama and decides she can’t handle it anymore and stops selling—where are we going to find her again?”

“You’ve all tasted Boss’s skewers over the past few days. Sure, we have to fry them ourselves, but the price is fair, and the ingredients are fresh. If she stops selling because of this nonsense, aren’t we just playing right into the trolls’ hands?”

Li Donglai’s anxious message hit home, and the regulars in the group snapped back to reality.

“Ughhh, damn those trolls! If I’d known earlier, I would’ve called you and told you to kick them out sooner. What do we do now?”

“Oh my god, Boss cannot stop selling! These skewers are my life now—I can’t go without them!”

“@Zi Qi Dong Lai, I’m sorry, group leader. I was the first one to start arguing back—I didn’t realize how serious this could get. I apologize to everyone for acting impulsively.”

“@Zi Qi Dong Lai, Dong Ge, I cursed them out too—I’m sorry.”

“Forget about apologies—we need to figure out whether Boss has seen any of this and how we can make sure she doesn’t see it.”

Once again, the group burst into a flurry of frenzied messages.

“I’ve got it! I have an idea—how about we kick the boss out of the group?”

“…Don’t even say that.”

“As crazy as it sounds… it might work! But does WeChat delete previous messages when someone gets kicked out?”

“Don’t be stupid! I just tested it with my husband’s and kid’s accounts—it doesn’t work! Even if you kick someone out, they can still see all the previous messages. Not only that, but if you add them back, they’ll see they were kicked!”

“…”