Universe Infinite Canteen

The photographer thought Tang Rijie had choked again, so he gaped beside him, gesturing with his mouth shape, reminding him to hurry up and speak.

But Tang Rijie acted as if he saw nothing, his eyes were fixed, his whole body stiff.

The next moment, the chopsticks in his hand dropped on the table with a clatter, startling Xiao Zhao, who was nearby.

"Teacher Tang, are you... are you alright?"

Tang Rijie seemed not to hear, staying in that posture for several seconds. His facial expression kept changing, from excitement to disappointment, then to fear and regret, and finally, all turned into guilt as he muttered, "I... I just seemed to have seen my past life."

"Ah?"

"It's over, Teacher Tang seems to have been poisoned, I've seen someone who got poisoned by mushrooms before, and Teacher Tang's symptoms are exactly the same."

The photographer was very experienced; he took out his phone to dial 120.

But Tang Rijie shook his head and said, "I'm not poisoned."

After saying that, he took advantage of their distraction and picked up another dumpling to eat. As he ate, his tears began to fall, and he sobbed,

"These dumplings are so delicious, they are the best dumplings I have ever eaten, wuwuwu..."

The photographer and Xiao Zhao exchanged glances, seeing a look of shocked uncertainty on each other's faces.

Xiao Zhao even stretched out two fingers and waved them in front of Tang Rijie's face, "Teacher Tang, how many fingers are these?"

"Put away your fingers," said Tang Rijie faintly, "I told you, I'm not poisoned. In fact, I am very clear-headed right now, I should say, I have never been so clear-headed in my life."

However, the photographer opposite didn't believe him and took out a notebook, quickly sketching something on it.

Moments later, he stood the notebook up, pointing to a newly doodled chicken and basketball, and said, "Guess a former friend."

"Don't start with that," Tang Rijie pushed away the notebook and picked up another dumpling.

"You can't eat it, Teacher Tang, it's poisonous!" Xiao Zhao pleaded anxiously, "There's poison in it, we should go to the hospital quickly."

"I told you I'm not poisoned," Tang Rijie replied energetically, "No, that's incorrect, I indeed have been poisoned, but it was before I ate these dumplings, I shouldn't have lied for the sake of my friend's loyalty."

"What do you mean by that, Teacher Tang?" Xiao Zhao asked, puzzled.

"A friend from Meiping Website approached me before this restaurant review, asking me to badmouth Universe Infinite Canteen. He was kind to me in the past, I couldn't refuse, but after tasting the dishes here, I realized they are so perfect, there are no flaws at all.

"But to fulfill my friend's request, I could only stiffen my neck and say that these dishes had no soul, sigh, I was really deluded."

"Ah?" The photographer and Xiao Zhao were shocked again, and the photographer instinctively reached out to cover Tang Rijie's mouth.

Even if it was true, he couldn't just say anything recklessly, and there were people all around, it would be terrible if others heard.

But Tang Rijie seemed to have no awareness of the impropriety; his eyes were now filled with guilt.

As the photographer moved to cover his mouth, he miraculously dodged, and then climbed onto the stool, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Everyone, hold on, look at me. I need a moment of your time because I have some things on my mind that I can't keep to myself."

The photographer was panicking and said to Xiao Zhao, who was standing dumbfounded, "What are you waiting for? Help me get Teacher Tang down from there."

Only then did Xiao Zhao snap out of it, and together with the photographer, each grabbed one of Tang Rijie's legs and tried to pull him down from the chair.

But Tang Rijie clung fiercely to the backrest of the chair, struggling as he said, "I'm sorry, I've let everyone down. I need to apologize; I previously disparaged Universe Infinite Canteen, saying its dishes lacked soul.

"But in fact, the food here is amazing, the best I've ever had at any restaurant, and compared to the taste and quality, the price isn't expensive at all. I'd happily eat here every day."

"Stop it, Teacher Tang, please stop," the photographer was almost in tears.

He noticed that some of the diners, faced with this explosive news, had already excitedly started to record with their phones.

However, by this time, Tang Rijie had fully opened up like a floodgate. "In my past life, because of greedy actions and a guilty conscience, I ended up causing the death of an entire village. In this life, I will absolutely not repeat such a mistake..."

Continue your saga on My Virtual Library Empire

"What's going on?" Ma Youyou poked Ma Lu's back with her hand. The latter was relaxed, cracking sunflower seeds, with his legs crossed, enjoying the spectacle with the other diners.

"Did you secretly pack physalis caramel cream pudding that makes people tell the truth into the dumplings? But that's not right. I thought that eating physalis caramel cream pudding would make you sing, right?"

Ma Lu passed some seeds to Ma Youyou for her to take a handful. "It's not physalis pudding; it's a soul. Since he wanted a soul, I had Old Wang pick one filled with remorse to pack inside.

"That way, he could experience the strong emotions of regret contained in that soul. Honestly speaking, I'm also curious about what he saw after eating the dumplings."

Meanwhile, in the live-streaming room, things had exploded.

"Holy shit, big news! Someone from Meiping Website is actually targeting Universe Infinite Canteen?! Why, did Black Boss offend Meiping Website or something?"

"Heh, since when do these big companies need a reason? Haven't they always been this overbearing?"

"No wonder so many food bloggers went to rate Universe Infinite Canteen recently, and they all gave negative reviews that were almost identical."

"I really didn't expect even Tang Rijie, a star with millions of followers, could be bought. It's terrifying. Who can we even trust among the food bloggers now?"

"You can trust me! I may have less than 100 followers, but I guarantee I'm genuine," someone volunteered.

"Has Teacher Tang had a change of heart? Is he so brave to spill such secrets? Or does he plan to quit being a broadcaster?"

"We wronged Fatty Tang and others. Turns out they were the ones who didn't take the money. The previous blacklist must now be seen as a whitelist."

"Damn, it was Magic Seal stirring things up; he looks so honest, damn, he was feigning stupidity! I'm unfollowing him, not enough, I have to let more people know his true face!"

"Count me in, I made a clip!"

The photographer and editor spent a great deal of effort to finally subdue the remorseful Tang Rijie, but it was already somewhat pointless.

Because by now, Tang Rijie had confessed almost everything and cried his eyes out, swearing to turn over a new leaf and start anew.

Based on Ma Lu's own experience, these symptoms would probably last about half an hour, after which the intense effect would fade until it was gone, becoming a treasured memory.