Mike had hit a wall with Chef Wang and couldn't make a scene.
He wasn't familiar with Chef Wang, having only t her once at a company event, and his connection this ti was through a colleague from another departnt.
Furthermore, Chef Wang was a state banquet chef and a kitchen consultant for a major hotel group, and as she had said herself, she and the iping Website were rely partners, so Mike couldn't force her to do anything she didn't want to do.
The Chef Wei who went with him this ti happened to be her senior brother, and like Mike, he had little interaction with her.
As for the third observer, it seed they had to go abroad on short notice, and the review departnt was considering replacing the observer, with no outco yet determined.
Mike didn't know how long he would have to wait and wasn't sure if a replacent would be soone with a good relationship with him, so he planned to prepare a backup plan.
Due to his job, Mike had interviewed many impressive professionals over the years, so of whom he had even collaborated with and beca friends with.
So, he opened his contacts list on his phone.
It's just a matter of putting a little pressure on a small restaurant, it doesn't even require the power of the iping Website. Find a few influential food bloggers to check out the place, point out a few flaws, and most restaurant owners wouldn't be able to withstand that.
It's best to find soone really critical, so that there wouldn't even be a need for any underhanded tactics; the blogger would just have to perform as usual.
Mike scrolled through his contacts—ah, Magic Seal would do, he had a good relationship with him.
Last ti his family, of over ten people, visited City B, it was Mike who had arranged their reception, and he would likely agree to visit the restaurant.
Next up was Alpaca Cuisine—no, too slick. Every ti they reviewed a restaurant, even if they encountered bad food, they were too diplomatic, with no real bite.
Shen Bo... Mike's eyes lit up, this one would do, this one was perfect!
Shen Bo was born in the 1930s and was now in his eighties, a renowned composer, host, producer, and also a gourmand.
And the older he got, the pickier he beca.
In recent years, his comnts had beco increasingly outrageous, claiming that the old flavors had vanished and that not a single restaurant nowadays was worth eating in, saying that his dog cooked better than them...
He had been a judge at a food competition recently, and it was the final round no less.
In the end, he had barely taken fewer than ten bites throughout the contest; he encountered a lion's head atball dish, sniffed it, and without even picking up his chopsticks, tossed it into the trash can with the plate.
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The first-class chef who cooked the dish had a breakdown on the spot, and if it weren't for other contestants holding him back, he might have charged at Shen Bo for a fight.
Afterward, when Shen Bo was interviewed and asked for his impression of the cooking contest, most people would have said sothing polite, especially since the organizers were standing right next to him.
But he answered that question with two words, "Pig feed."
The reporter, probably unprepared for such a scathing response, followed up with, "Mr. Shen, are you saying the staple dishes of this event left a deep impression on you?"
Shen Bo glanced at her, "It's all pig feed fit for swine, why bother going through so much trouble to rank them, to distinguish high from low, isn't it a waste of life? I'm just an old man now, and don't have many days left. Don't involve in such contests in the future."
After finishing his statent, he left the eting under the stunned gazes of the crowd.
Mike actually didn't like Shen Bo, mainly because the old guy was a bit too pretentious. Every ti he was invited to an event, Mike had to be on tenterhooks, constantly worried that Shen Bo would suddenly lash out with so controversial remark, embarrassing everyone present.
But his fa was so great that often you couldn't not invite him, so whenever there was an event involving Shen Bo, Mike would generally make a point of dealing with it personally, taking great care to avoid any mishaps.
After a while, Mike had managed to beco sowhat acquainted with Shen Bo, but since Shen Bo was haughty and had a nasty temper, directly inviting him to critically review a small establishnt was out of the question; Shen Bo would surely not co, and would likely thoroughly berate him.
However, this didn't an the task was impossible. Inviting the great Buddha Shen Bo was difficult, true, but not entirely out of the question; it just required a bit of strategy.
Mike already had an idea in mind, but he needed to reflect on the specifics a bit more.
As he continued browsing, another na caught his eye—Tang Rijie.
This na brought a gleam to Mike's eyes. Tang Rijie was another leading figure in the cutthroat world of food criticism, known as 'Little Shen Bo.'
Having been a chef before switching careers to beco a food blogger, his basic skills were solid. As compared to other food bloggers who had switched paths midway, his restaurant exploration videos were more substantial and aningful, and he was unsparingly critical when it ca to forr peers, often hitting the nail on the head.
His fan base grew rapidly as a result; in less than a year, he gained a million followers and was now marching towards three million.
Most importantly, Mike had a good relationship with Tang Rijie. The two had t during an East-West gastronomy cultural exchange event where iping Website was the biggest sponsor.
Back then, Tang Rijie had just started in social dia, and his account wasn't that big, but Mike, a seasoned dia professional, imdiately saw the huge potential in him, and so made an early investnt.
Using his industry connections, he recomnded Tang Rijie for a docuntary, effectively gifting him a wave of traffic. After the docuntary beca popular, Tang Rijie's account 'Spicy Detective Critic' also rode the wave, breaking through the 300,000-follower mark, thus accumulating an initial fan base.
Furthermore, unlike Shen Bo, Tang Rijie was known for his loyalty, particularly for people like Mike who had helped him early in his career, and he always rembered this favor.
When Tang Rijie received a call from Mike, he agreed without hesitation to visit the restaurant, promising to produce a video to fiercely critique Universe Infinite Canteen.
Mike had also reached out to Magic Seal, who agreed just as readily. However, Magic Seal later sent Mike the na of a spicy hotpot restaurant, saying it was a new venture of his own and hoping Mike would help promote it.
Mike frowned upon reading this. Of course, iping Website took comrcial orders, but they weren't cheap; fees varied depending on the location, and even a small promotional post on a third-tier page started at 100,000 yuan.
Magic Seal was essentially angling for a freebie worth 100,000 yuan. But the problem wasn't too significant; proceeding with a comrcial order was out of the question—Mike wouldn't put up his own money—but he could ntion it in passing in another article, thus giving Magic Seal what he was due.
These were all major food bloggers. In addition, there were smaller bloggers with tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of followers. Mike didn't need to be polite with these people because they were the ones who needed him. A few subtle hints would be enough to see their performance.
After hanging up the phone, Mike felt much more relaxed. With these maneuvers, he was confident that Universe Infinite Canteen would soon feel the pressure and that so overly audacious fools would learn who they couldn't afford to offend.
By the ti he made his entrance, everything would fall into place nicely, and he might even kill two birds with one stone by having Yu Yitong co to him for help.
However, this would also inadvertently confirm the complicated relationship between the two. Thinking of this, Mike started to feel irritated again. After that incident with the altered article, Yu Yitong had approached him several tis, which made him suspect that there might be sothing going on between her and Ma Lu, making him view Ma Lu with increasing aversion.
This was the perfect opportunity to teach that shaless couple a lesson.
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