Universe Infinite Canteen

About twenty minutes after Tang Rijie was dragged out of the restaurant by the photographer and the editor, the intense regret inside his heart finally subsided.

Only to be replaced by an even stronger sense of regret!

Tang Rijie collapsed into the back seat of the Maybach, what had he just done, publicly admitting in front of everyone that he was bribed to slander the Universe Infinite Canteen.

If news of this got out, his career would be over!

Seeing Tang Rijie with lifeless eyes and a deathly pale face, the photographer who had been pulling on him instead offered comfort.

"Teacher Tang, don't be too upset, it's not as bad as you think. The restaurant isn't big—there were only about sixty or seventy people there, so not many people actually heard what you said, so the damage is controllable."

"But I saw someone pulling out their phone to record!" Tang Rijie said in despair, "What if they post the video online…"

"There are many ways to explain a video. We can say you were food poisoned at the time and were talking nonsense, or we can say the video was AI-synthesized, which is so advanced nowadays that ordinary people can't tell what's real. This will just turn into a Rashomon, and over time everyone will forget about it."

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Hearing the photographer say this, Tang Rijie felt somewhat revitalized.

However, now Xiao Zhao remembered another issue and asked, "Teacher Tang, were you really not poisoned just now?"

"No." Tang Rijie said.

"Oh, then why did you suddenly…"

"I really did recall some memories from a past life," Tang Rijie said thoughtfully.

The photographer and Xiao Zhao looked at each other; Tang Rijie seemed to be back to normal now, and they hadn't expected him to stick to his previous statement.

After a long pause, Xiao Zhao was the first to break the silence, "Are there really dumplings in this world that can awaken memories of a past life?"

"Probably not, that would be too bizarre," the photographer replied instinctively, but thinking of Tang Rijie's actions in the restaurant, his tone faltered near the end.

The impact on Tang Rijie himself was even higher; before becoming a social media influencer, he was a chef—and a rather skilled one at that.

He had spent over a decade pondering how to make food delicious, never imagining that there was a higher level to reach beyond taste.

It was like a group of martial arts experts fighting on Mount Huashan, comparing whose Inner Strength was deeper and whose moves were more precise, when suddenly an immortal flew over their heads on a Flying Sword.

The shock within Tang Rijie's heart was indescribable.

At that moment, Xiao Zhao leaned in and asked, "Teacher Tang, that video, are we still editing it?"

"No longer cutting it," Tang Rijie replied without a second thought, "No more reviews of the Universe Infinite Canteen. We'll find another restaurant to visit tomorrow. It'll be a tight schedule, so it'll be tough on you, Xiao Zhao."

"No problem, Teacher Tang, if necessary, I'll just pull an all-nighter." Xiao Zhao had a great work ethic.

Tang Rijie still harbored a hope that the videos recorded by other diners in the restaurant hadn't been uploaded online.

However, the next day when he woke up, his phone was blowing up, and the photographer Old Bai had even ran directly to his residence.

"Bad news, Teacher Tang, have you been online yet?"

"Someone released the video from yesterday?" Tang Rijie saw Old Bai's panicked look and his heart sank with him.

"Then we should quickly release a statement, saying... saying it was AI synthesized." Tang Rijie remembered the method Old Bai had taught him yesterday.

However, Old Bai shook his head upon hearing this, "No use, this time it was a live stream, and it lasted for 40 minutes. AI can't take the blame for this."

"What? A live stream!" Tang Rijie's face changed upon hearing this, "Who started the live stream, and recorded it for so long? How did I not notice while I was eating?"

"Because the live stream was started by the restaurant owner, it seems he used the restaurant's surveillance system, but I don't know why, it had very high definition and the audio was really good.

"Not only did it capture the moment you confessed after finishing your dumplings, but it also caught you reviewing three other dishes!"

Tang Rejie was shocked, "What, that guy is so sneaky, secretly filming us, can we sue him?"

"That... on the way here I also consulted a lawyer; it's complicated."

Old Bai said, "He used the surveillance in his own restaurant, he appears in the frame too, and since it's a public place, it's hard to define it as secret filming, at most it's an invasion of portrait rights.

"But he didn't profit from it, he had turned off the tipping option during the live stream. Even if it truly infringes on your portrait rights, Teacher Tang, the court would at most order him to delete it. But the problem is, he didn't release the videos after the live stream ended, it was all screenshots recorded by the audience in the live room.

"Now the internet is spreading those clips..."

The photographer was halfway through speaking when he saw Tang Rijie collapse to the ground in front of him.

Old Bai was startled and quickly pulled out his phone to dial 120.

Although Teacher Tang was already overwhelmed by rage and anxiety to the point of needing an IV in an ambulance, the buzz about yesterday's live stream on the internet showed no signs of diminishing—on the contrary, it was climbing exponentially.

By midday, not only those interested in exploring restaurants and cuisine knew about this, even people outside these circles had heard.

The rapid spread of this incident was primarily due to Tang Rijie's tens of millions of followers. Additionally, around ten o'clock, Angie accidentally liked a related clip and then based on that dropped a proverbial nuclear bomb.

love&five itself was a top idol group, and since the "lip-syncing" incident, Angie's popularity had skyrocketed, to say it reached beyond the skies wouldn't be an overstatement. Every move she made was watched by countless eyes.

With her involvement, the news completely exploded.

At first, most of the backlash was directed at Tang Rijie, but as more and more bought-off hosts were dug up, like those small-time hosts smelling trouble who could delete their accounts and make a run for it, or even flip halfway to ride a wave of notorious popularity,

But for someone like Magic Seal, a host with millions of followers, it was painful.

They couldn't run, and they couldn't delete the previous videos; the more they deleted, the more others posted, eventually they were forced to turn on comment filtering, helplessly watching their account lose followers.

Of course, the main instigator behind all this, Meiping Website, couldn't escape either and even became the focal point of netizens' attacks.

Even though the PR department reacted quickly and took measures including but not limited to immediate announcements for clarification, lawyer's letters of warning, and controlling comments.

But alas, previously Teacher Tang had a moment of conscience and explicitly mentioned Meiping Website by name during his confession, which made Meiping quite passive now.

In the end, even the CEO and the board were alarmed. Meiping Website's growth had been strong in the past two years, dominating old rating software with their fair and strict rating system.

The incident with Tang Rijie had shaken the very foundation of Meiping.