A dream collaboration between two superstar influencers

Two black minivans finally stopped outside the gate of Chen Lin's courtyard.

The doors opened, and several assistants carrying cameras and livestreaming equipment were the first to get out.

Then a slightly plump man with an honest, good-natured face stepped out of the first vehicle.

The moment he appeared, some of the online followers who had come that day cried out from the gate.

"Holy shit! Two Hundred Is Also! It's Second Brother!"

"Second Brother, in the flesh! He really came!"

Almost at the same time, another man stepped out of the rear vehicle. He was built much like Two Hundred Is Also, but his eyes carried an air of critical scrutiny.

"Tang Renjie! It's the real Tang Renjie, the food investigator!"

"Oh my god! The two biggest stars in Douyin's food scene! What's so special about today that they both came?"

The crowd erupted.

Standing in the courtyard, Chen Lin watched the scene at the gate, which looked more like a fan meet-and-greet, and his mind reeled.

Two Hundred Is Also. Tang Renjie.

Those two names were legendary to him.

They were truly top-tier food influencers on Douyin, each with more than twenty million followers. Their every move could send enormous waves crashing across the internet.

Why had both of them shown up here at once?

Chen Lin silently feared the worst.

With these two superstar influencers visiting, the farm restaurant would only get more and more customers from today onward. Construction on the Water Restaurant hadn't even started!

The place was far too small!

If he failed to handle things properly today and a safety incident occurred, he would be finished.

By then, Two Hundred Is Also and Tang Renjie had also noticed each other. Both froze, clearly not expecting to run into their old rival here.

"Head Chef Tang, long time no see. You're here to join the fun too?" Two Hundred Is Also spoke first, an affable smile on his face, though his words carried a probing edge.

Tang Renjie remained composed. "Likewise. I was just curious what heavenly dishes could get the viewers to summon you out of Hangcheng's culinary desert."

Invisible sparks seemed to crackle in the air between them.

Chen Lin had no time to watch them trade barbs. Making a snap decision, he grabbed his second uncle, Chen Guofu, who was still standing beside him in a daze.

He spoke rapidly, his words firing out like bullets.

"Uncle, go into the village this afternoon and find another six or seven women who are quick with their hands. Have them come help tonight! Anyone who works efficiently can start tomorrow on the same terms as Aunt Zhang and the other two!"

Chen Guofu was dumbfounded. "What do you need that many people for? And you're paying them all so much..."

"Even that might not be enough!" Chen Lin said firmly. "Just trust me! Also, contact the guy in town who puts up steel-sheet shelters. Tell him I'll pay triple! He has to bring his crew over this afternoon and put up the biggest shelter possible on the empty ground outside our gate. It must be finished by tomorrow morning!"

"What? Triple?" Chen Guofu's heart bled.

Chen Lin pulled his phone from his pocket and quickly found a number. "I'll contact the furniture factory too and have them deliver thirty large round tables with matching chairs right now! Money isn't an issue!"

Seeing Chen Lin's unquestionable resolve, Chen Guofu still had plenty of doubts, but everything that had happened recently had taught him that his nephew never acted without confidence.

"All right! I'll go now!" Gritting his teeth, Chen Guofu turned and ran toward the village.

Only after making all those arrangements did Chen Lin let out a long breath. He put a warm smile back on his face and went to welcome the two celebrity influencers at the gate.

"What an honor to have you both here! Sorry I wasn't out here to greet you! Please, come in! Come in!"

After exchanging pleasantries, Chen Lin seated the two men and their assistants at the only empty table left in the living room.

Two Hundred Is Also's assistant, a sharp woman in her thirties, looked at Tang Renjie and suggested with a smile, "Brother Tang, Second Brother, since you've happened to run into each other, why not... share a table and stream together?"

Two Hundred Is Also's eyes lit up.

Tang Renjie nodded too.

This would bring incredible traffic! A dream collaboration between two superstar influencers-the buzz would be off the charts!

Soon, two phones on two stands were set up on opposite sides of the table.

When both livestreams went live at the same time, something staggering happened.

"He's live! He's live! Is Second Brother checking out that farm restaurant in Yicheng from yesterday?"

"What? Brother Jie's there too? Holy shit! The crossover of the century!"

"If either of these two sharp-tongued critics says the food's bad today, this restaurant is finished!"

Less than five minutes after they went live, both streams had passed a hundred thousand viewers, and the numbers were still soaring at an unbelievable rate.

The barrage of comments was so dense it almost covered the entire screen.

Twenty minutes later, Uncle Qin and Aunt Zhang began serving the food.

A large steamed sharp-snout fish, a large braised carp, Chopped Chili Fish Head, fish with pickled mustard greens...

One steaming, irresistibly fragrant main dish after another arrived at the table in a steady stream.

When the large braised carp, with its gleaming red sauce and thick, plump flesh, was placed in the middle of the table, some of the two hundred thousand-plus viewers across the two livestreams were already drooling.

Its appearance alone was tantalizing!

As a former head chef at a five-star hotel, Tang Renjie had extremely exacting standards for ingredients.

He didn't pick up his chopsticks. Just looking at the fish left him stunned.

The texture of the flesh and the sheen of the skin were completely beyond anything he knew.

Two Hundred Is Also was much less restrained. Unable to wait any longer, he had already served himself a heaping bowl of rice, grabbed his chopsticks, and picked up a large piece of fish.

The instant the fish entered his mouth...

Every movement Two Hundred Is Also made came to a halt.

A strange expression appeared on his good-natured face, mingling confusion, shock, and wild delight.

Then, as if completely possessed, he stopped speaking and began shoveling rice into his mouth. A bite of food, a huge mouthful of rice-he ate with grease coating his lips and his eyes shining, seemingly forgetting entirely that he was still livestreaming.

Meanwhile, after a moment of silence, Tang Renjie finally picked up a small piece of ordinary belly meat and carefully put it into his mouth.

The next second...

His whole body went rigid, as though a spell had frozen him in place.

He slowly closed his eyes and savored it. He looked less like a man eating a meal than someone undertaking an utterly sacred pilgrimage.

Across the livestreams, more than six hundred thousand viewers were dumbfounded.

"What's going on? Why aren't either of them talking?"

"Why is Second Brother doing nothing but stuffing his face? Just tell us whether it's good!"

"Did Brother Jie... fall asleep eating?"

"I've followed them both for three years, and I've never seen anything like this! One's eating like a reincarnated starving ghost, and the other's eaten his soul right out of his body!"

Tang Renjie said nothing either, but his gaze was intensely focused.

He took a bite of every dish, savoring each one!

Only after their assistants secretly kicked them several times under the table did they snap out of their trances.

Tang Renjie let out a long sigh and slowly shook his head.

The livestream instantly filled with question marks.

"??? What does shaking his head mean? It's bad?"

"I told you, it had to be hype! Brother Jie's about to tear into them!"

Watching the comments scroll across his phone screen, Tang Renjie gave a wry smile filled with conflicting emotions.

"I'm not shaking my head because it tastes bad."

He paused, then spoke slowly and clearly, emphasizing every word.

"It's because I don't think I'm qualified to judge these dishes!"

As he spoke, he looked at Two Hundred Is Also.

Two Hundred Is Also scratched his head, his expression one of complete agreement. "Why are you looking at me, Brother Tang? All I know is that this is the best food I've ever eaten in my life! I can't describe it. Really, you have to taste it yourself to understand!"

Tang Renjie nodded emphatically!

"Exactly! Two Hundred, you put it perfectly! How do I explain this... it's not even a matter of cooking skills anymore!"

"The quality of the ingredients used in these dishes is unlike anything I've encountered in my life."

"Let me put it this way: even the finest ingredients specially supplied for state banquets fall far short!"

Boom!

Those words detonated like a nuclear bomb in the two livestreams, whose combined audience had already surpassed six hundred thousand!

"Holy shit! What did I just hear? Better than ingredients for a state banquet?"

"Has Brother Jie lost his mind? Does he know what he's saying? How can he throw out a claim like that?"

"I'm done for. My stomach's staging a rebellion, and I've already drooled all over the floor!"

"The address! I'm begging for the address! Is it too late to buy a plane ticket right now?"

"@everyone! Stop sleeping! Come watch these titans clash!"

An overwhelming flood of comments instantly swallowed the entire livestream image.

And the live viewer count continued to climb at a terrifying pace.