She’s a Passerby, But Can See the Protagonist’s Halo

The timeline rewinds to an hour earlier.

Brother Xiong, a live streamer, reluctantly walked out of Chu's small restaurant, once again showing his viewers the long, persistent queue outside.

Despite the advice from experienced regulars ahead of him, "Don't bother lining up anymore. They only open for two hours. We’ve already calculated our numbers. Even if you line up until 1:30, you won’t get to eat before they close!"

"No matter how many people line up, they won’t extend the hours. They only prepare a limited amount of ingredients each day."

"I ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‍traveled during the National Day holiday, and they weren’t open yesterday. If I don’t get to eat today, it’ll be two weeks since I last had it. I can’t take it anymore—it’s driving me crazy. I’m craving it so badly!"

"Me too. I dream about it every day," another person said, their expression almost intoxicated.

"Thankfully, I came early, Brother Xiong, or I really wouldn’t have gotten to eat," Brother Xiong remarked, clicking his tongue in amazement.

"Brother Xiong, though he might not want to admit it, I think this fried rice is truly worth the price."

As he spoke, he finally had a moment to glance at the live chat, and what he saw left him stunned.

[Brother Xiong, are you sure you’re not high? You sound normal, but the way you’re eating is completely different from usual!]

[I’m suspicious too. Did you get paid to promote this place? I’ve never seen you rave about a restaurant like this before.]

[If you’re doing an ad, just say so.]

[No, no, it can’t be an ad. I’ve been wanting to say this for a while—the people in that restaurant look like they’re high. I don’t believe any food could be that good!]

[There’s definitely something in that fried rice. Otherwise, why would it be so expensive and still attract so many people?]

Brother Xiong’s mouth hung open as these comments swirled in his mind.

Right, he’s eaten at plenty of high-end restaurants. What makes this little hole-in-the-wall so special?

The chef-owner is just a young guy. How could someone so young have such incredible cooking skills?

As he recalled his own state earlier, Brother Xiong began to tremble.

"Guys, Brother Xiong… Brother Xiong might have actually ingested something."

He remembered the state of the people in the restaurant—they all seemed addicted, devouring their fried rice in silence, completely "high."

Now, even the hand holding his selfie stick started to shake.

The chat exploded with comments.

[Brother Xiong is high! Damn, we should call the police!]

[Should we call the police? Will Brother Xiong get arrested?]

[Brother Xiong is shaking! Isn’t that what happens when people overdo it with ice?]

"Guys, calm down, calm down," Brother Xiong said hurriedly, seeing that his viewers were about to dial 911.

"I’m shaking because you all scared me, but my mind is completely clear."

A comment floated across the screen:

[People with mental illnesses always say they’re not mentally ill.]

"No, I…" Brother Xiong was at a loss for words.

He felt clear-headed, but his viewers clearly didn’t believe him. And deep down, Brother Xiong was starting to doubt himself too, wondering if he had indeed consumed something illegal.

If he didn’t report this himself, someone in the chat would probably call the police soon.

"I need to report this. Don’t worry, everyone. I’m local, so it’s easier for me." Brother Xiong tried to calm his audience.

"Think about it. When I came here, you all saw the location. It’s in the heart of Bin City, right next to the riverfront apartments where the wealthy live."

"I think some of the people eating here might actually be rich locals."

"Logically, the police shouldn’t be unaware of this place. I’m not being conspiratorial, but I think it’s better to have police from another district come and investigate. What do you all think?"

Brother Xiong spoke in a tone that implied, "You know what I mean," and the chat immediately agreed.

[Brother Xiong makes sense. Who knows if there’s some kind of cover-up?]

[Good idea. Brother Xiong, go turn yourself in at another district.]

[Don’t rush to call the police. We don’t want to tip them off.]

Seeing the comments urging him to "turn himself in," Brother Xiong stayed silent. He hadn’t killed anyone! The idea of turning himself in made him nervous.

Under the watchful eyes of tens of thousands of viewers, even the usually stingy viewers started tipping him, urging him to take a taxi to the police station immediately.

After all this, the suspicion in the chat only grew heavier. With heavy steps, Brother Xiong had no choice but to head to the police station.

What if… he really tested positive? He might end up in rehab!

Brother Xiong had seen videos online before—anyone caught using drugs would be randomly checked by the police and taken for a urine test.

And once word got out, his reputation would be ruined forever! Even if it was accidental, people would look at him differently, whispering behind his back.

Brother Xiong comforted himself internally. His fans had seen that this was a mistake. There was a big difference between intentionally using drugs and accidentally ingesting something.

He could still redeem himself and come out of this as a hero!

Plus, going to the police station might actually boost his popularity!

At this point, there was no other way.

With a heavy heart, Brother Xiong, the righteous streamer, headed to the police station in the neighboring district, tears in his eyes as he bid farewell to his viewers. The chat was flooded with tips.

Brother Xiong, the righteous streamer, voluntarily went to the police station to report the incident, anxiously awaiting the drug test results. He was filled with hatred for the restaurant.

Once inside the station, he couldn’t continue streaming. His face was ashen. "My life is ruined because of one meal."

After receiving Brother Xiong’s report and detailed description, the narcotics squad quickly mobilized.

And so—

On this Sunday, Yan, Yi Zhi, Zhu Jue, and Chu Bingbing experienced an extremely unusual "first" in their lives.

They were drug-tested and urine-tested at the police station.

Even the large pots of beef stew with potatoes and chicken stew with potatoes from the restaurant were taken away for testing.

While undergoing the tests, the group couldn’t help but mourn their meal.

"I barely got to eat. I didn’t even finish one plate," Chu Bingbing said, tears in her eyes.

"At least Yi Zhi finished a plate."

"We’re upstanding members of society, and we got accused of using drugs!"

"I only had five pieces of beef, four pieces of potato, half a plate of rice, two pieces of chicken, and a bit of pickled celery," Yan counted on her fingers.

She felt cheated!

No one ate as fast as Yi Zhi. Now that the two pots of stew had been sent for testing, there was nothing left to eat.

Tomorrow was Monday, and they’d have to wait until next weekend to eat again.

Five whole days. It was going to be unbearable.

Yan leaned on Zhu Jue as the group sighed one after another.

What a mess!

When Yi Zhi was taken into the police car, she had to suppress the urge to lash out.

"At least it’s just the four of us today," Chu Bingbing said, trying to find some silver lining.

Today, not all of them had come, otherwise, a few more people would have ended up with a day trip to the police station.

The few of them had already developed a bond of shared hardships and camaraderie.

Only Chu Shen remained as calm as ever, his face carrying a trace of well-honed numbness.

"You'll get used to it."

Hearing his words, Yan and the others turned their heads to look at him. Chu Shen's motion of raising his hand was so practiced,

"How many times have you been reported?"

"Is it just because your fried rice is a little too good? You’ve been reported again!"

Yan wasn’t sure if this counted as an unjust disaster, but in any case… it was a brand-new life experience.

A urine drug test takes two hours, but the five of them weren’t detained. Instead, they sat in a row under the watchful eyes of the police officers, waiting for the results.

Two hours later, everyone’s results came back negative—no traces of drugs were found.

The police officer who had first rushed into Chu Shen’s small restaurant had a complicated look on his face. He had thought it was an easy KPI grab, even crossing districts to get it, but it turned out to be a huge misunderstanding!

In the past, there had been cases where a restaurant’s food was so delicious that someone reported it, and it turned out they had actually added poppy seeds.

This time, after receiving a report that a plate of fried rice was being sold for 288 yuan, and that the customers were absolutely raving about it, Officer Sun immediately led his team over.

These days, drug dealers are being wiped out left and right. How could he pass up such an easy KPI?

After all, drug busts don’t follow jurisdictional rules—they can happen anywhere, across provinces or even districts. So, crossing districts was nothing unusual.

He had thought this was a case that slipped through the cracks of another unit, but he never expected…

Just now, Officer Sun had received a call from the head of the anti-drug task force in the district where Chu Shen’s restaurant was located. The man on the other end couldn’t suppress his laughter.

"Chu Shen’s restaurant has been reported eleven times in the last three months. We’ve been doing weekly surprise inspections. Did you really think you could swoop in and grab this one?"

"It’s just that his fried rice is too good. The public’s awareness of reporting is very strong."

Officer Sun didn’t want to say anything more.

"Is it really that good? When we went today, it wasn’t the fried rice you mentioned, but potato stew with meat. But the tests showed nothing." He grumbled.

"Wait, potato stew with meat? Damn, Chu Shen came up with a new dish and didn’t even tell us?" His friend on the other end exclaimed, then shouted to his colleagues.

"Chu Shen’s got a new dish on the menu."

Hearing the commotion on the other end of the line, Officer Sun: …

"Have you all been there to eat?"

"Yeah, it’s already a legendary spot in our bureau. But I can’t even go once a month—no days off. My wife and kids have been there, though. I’ll save my appetite." The officer on the other end said.

"It’s mostly the younger guys in the team, no family or kids, who manage to go twice a month on their days off."

After a few more words, Officer Sun hung up. As the lead officer in charge of this reported case, he approached the group of young people who had been "misunderstood."

"Thank you for your cooperation. We’re sorry for the trouble. You’re free to go now."

"No problem, it’s our civic duty. We understand the importance of fighting drugs," Chu Shen said, as if he had an automatic response system. His words left Officer Sun speechless.

After a moment of thought, Officer Sun spoke again, with a bitter smile: "The pots and bowls we took for testing will be cleaned and returned to you. As for the food… well, there’s nothing we can do about that."

The five of them had spent three hours at the police station. By the time they walked out, it was already 5 p.m.

"Time for dinner," Yi Zhi said, looking at the sky.

"Do we have any ingredients left?" Chu Bingbing asked.

"The meat’s gone, and now we don’t even have the pots. We can’t cook. The stew takes a while to prepare. Yi Zhi brought some fruit, potatoes, and sweet potatoes, though," Chu Shen said.

After the drug test, their phones were returned to them.

Now, Chu Shen looked at the restaurant’s customer group chat he had been added to. The messages had already surpassed 999+.

"@Chu Shen, did you get busted again?"

"Was it our district again? Haven’t they come enough times already?"

"It was that guy who was live-streaming at noon who reported you! He was live-streaming, calling himself ‘Brother Xiong the Righteous.’ What a jerk. Rolling my eyes."

"@Chu Shen, please tell me the free fruit today will be a regular thing! Can you share the fruit supplier’s info?"

The mentions of Chu Shen were endless. Clearly, the officers’ raid had caused quite a stir, but some regular customers were already familiar with this scene.

"At least they closed the shop this time before making the arrest. I still remember the first time they came for a drug bust—everyone in the restaurant had to take a urine test. Let’s not even talk about that."

Chu Shen quietly popped into the chat.

[Chu Shen]: We’re out. The fruit is from a friend’s farm, just a trial. You can add the WeChat and online store, but it’s not cheap.

Chu Shen shared [Contact Card].

He sent over Yi Zhi’s WeChat ID, then disappeared from the group again after confirming he was alive, ignoring the rest of the messages.

"Yi Zhi, let your relatives know. There’ll probably be a lot of people adding them," Chu Shen said to Yi Zhi.

Yi Zhi was already overwhelmed by the flood of new friend requests on his WeChat.

So many people, so many new adds.

Chu Shen had to go back to the restaurant to clean up the mess. He politely declined his friends’ offers to help.

"It’s fine, I’m used to it. You guys wouldn’t know where things go anyway. It’s already 5 p.m., and it’ll take a while to get back to school. You’ve been through enough today because of me. Go rest," he said, his eyes filled with apology.

"I’ll bring fried rice for everyone tomorrow morning."

Chu Bingbing thought for a moment. "I’m not going back to the dorm tonight. I’ll come back tomorrow morning. I need to sort out some clothes."

Since her personal space in the dorm was limited, she had brought not only the freebies from the comic convention but also some seasonal clothes she no longer planned to wear. She had intended to sort through them slowly in the afternoon, but the trip to the police station had disrupted her plans.

"I’m not going back with you guys either. I’ve got some things to take care of," Yi Zhi said without elaborating.

In the end, only Yan and Zhu Jue boarded the subway back to Bin City University.

It was Sunday, and the roads were starting to get congested. The subway, with its billions of passengers, was the more cost-effective and traffic-free option.

"Jue Jue, what a dramatic day," Yan said, leaning her head against Zhu Jue’s on the subway. They held hands, both looking a bit worn out.

"I really want that potato stew with meat," Yan murmured. The more she couldn’t have it, the more she craved it.

Having been interrupted mid-meal, the memory of the potato and beef stew seemed even more delicious, making her mouth water.

"We’ll go again next week. By then, Chu Shen will have perfected it," Zhu Jue said, gently smoothing Yan’s messy hair.

"Yeah, I wonder what new dishes Chu Shen will come up with next," Yan said, resting her head on Zhu Jue’s shoulder.

"At least today’s meal was free. I wonder how much Chu Shen will charge for it later."

Zhu Jue thought for a moment and said, "We might make it into a combo with fried rice, or we could just remove the fried rice and only offer plain rice."

Although the braised pork with potatoes could be prepared in large batches and kept warm over low heat, if someone had to fry rice at the same time, Chu Shen would be the only one working in the entire shop. It would be way too busy, and even a culinary god like him didn’t have an apprentice to help out.

Yan leaned on Zhu Jue's shoulder and dozed off for a while. Zhu Jue tilted his head slightly, keeping his gaze fixed on her, holding her hand without moving, occasionally glancing up at the upcoming station.

To ensure she slept comfortably, he maintained the same posture the entire time.

As they approached a station, he gently shook her hand. Yan, still half-asleep, looked up at him.

"Jue Jue."

"We’re almost at the school," Zhu Jue said softly.

Since their right hands were intertwined and Yan was leaning on his right shoulder, Zhu Jue shifted slightly and extended his left arm, his strong hand supporting the back of her head and neck to prevent her from bumping it.

After napping for a while, the two of them walked from the subway station into the campus, feeling much more awake.

They had dinner at the cafeteria, but after having the fried rice and braised pork with potatoes at lunch, the usually satisfying cafeteria food now seemed bland and unappetizing.

Having their taste buds hit with such a double whammy in a single day, Yan couldn’t help but sigh while eating.

"What are we going to do after graduation? We won’t be able to eat Chu Shen’s cooking anymore." They were likely to return to Ning City after graduation, and by then, Chu Shen might not even be running his small restaurant anymore.

By that time, their taste buds, spoiled by four years of university, would probably become unbearably picky.

"Given Chu Shen’s personality, he might become so successful that he’d leave Bin City and open a shop somewhere no one knows him," Zhu Jue remarked.

Hearing Zhu Jue’s words, Yan rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

Right now, Chu Shen was a rising star in the culinary world, but by then, he might have retired as a fully accomplished master chef. If he were to open another shop in seclusion, it might just start the cycle all over again!

She also thought about her other roommates and realized she couldn’t even imagine what they’d all be like four years from now.

After all, compared to their classmates who were following the usual paths—grad school, studying abroad, joining big companies, or becoming civil servants—the extraordinary lives of the people around her were completely unpredictable, destined to be anything but ordinary.

Neither of them ate much for dinner. Sitting on the cafeteria’s sofa chairs, Yan and Zhu Jue scrolled through their phones.

#Bin City Restaurant Reported by Streamer for Having Too Delicious Fried Rice#

"It really was him who reported it!" Yan exclaimed, her whole body jolting as she saw the trending topic.

She clicked into the post, which contained a recording of a livestream.

The person in the livestream was none other than the overly critical "Brother Xiong" who had been at Chu Shen’s restaurant earlier that day.

Yan and Zhu Jue watched the half-hour-long livestream recording together, witnessing how Brother Xiong and his viewers had concocted an elaborate conspiracy theory, even going so far as to livestream his trip to the police station to "report" the restaurant.

"People’s awareness of scams is really strong," Yan concluded.

To be honest, when she first entered Chu Shen’s restaurant, if it weren’t for the golden characters above his head, she might have also called the police right away.

Under the livestream recording on Weibo, excited netizens were commenting.

"Is this real? So, was there actually any D*ug involved?"

"LOL, this is the first time I’ve seen someone suspect they were drugged and then report themselves to the police."

"What happened next? What happened next?"

After finishing the recording, Yan tapped to exit and scrolled down, finding another highly popular post under the same trending topic, this time with a new hashtag.

【Hahaha】: #Bin City Restaurant Reported by Male Streamer for Having Too Delicious Fried Rice# I’m dying of laughter, friends! Hurry up and watch the latest livestream recording before it gets deleted! The restaurant wasn’t involved with D*ugs, but this streamer got arrested twice—first for reporting the restaurant, then for extortion! #Streamer Who Reported Fried Rice Arrested for Extortion#

Wait, what?

Yan and Zhu Jue were both stunned. Extortion? But Chu Shen didn’t seem to have been extorted, did he?

Yan quickly clicked into the latest livestream recording, where Brother Xiong was greeting his viewers with a "survivor’s smile."

"Folks, Brother Xiong is back! The urine test is done, and I’m clean, haha! It was all a misunderstanding—no poisoning here!"

"You guys scared me for nothing. I heard the restaurant got shut down, but hey, no harm done, right? All’s well that ends well."

Just as Brother Xiong was rambling on about how calm and collected he was, how he voluntarily turned himself in, and how he underwent the urine test, several officers suddenly surrounded him outside the police station gates.

Brother Xiong froze. Had his test results come back wrong? Was he being arrested?

"Officer, there’s no mistake with my test results, right? Are you here to arrest me?" he stammered.

"Are you Li Xiong? Do you know Jia Xiaoping, He Wei, and Qian Wei?"

"I—I’m Li Xiong, but I don’t know those names. I’m a law-abiding citizen! It’s that restaurant’s fault!" He clearly thought this was about the test results and that the names mentioned were others who had eaten the "drugged" fried rice.

"What restaurant? You didn’t forget about extorting He’s Dumplings, Xiaoping’s Braised Dishes, and Uncle Wei’s Barbecue, did you?"

"The victims have collectively filed a report. You’ve got some nerve, extorting multiple businesses for large sums. Take him away."

The livestream ended with the sound of "Take him away," followed by a blur of noise.

Yan and Zhu Jue: !!!

Yan immediately forwarded the video to their group chat.

【Yan】: ! Did this guy try to use the report about the restaurant being drugged to extort money?

On the trending list, two hashtags were now side by side, forming a sentence that hinted at a whole saga, capturing everyone’s attention.

The topic climbed the trending charts on three platforms. Brother Xiong, a streamer with millions of followers, quickly began losing fans, with many turning against him.

Some people only saw the simplified trending headlines and didn’t dive into the details, naturally assuming the story was:

"Because the fried rice was too delicious, a male streamer thought it was drugged and tried to extort the restaurant. When that failed, he angrily reported it. But while the fried rice didn’t land anyone in jail, the streamer did."

Meanwhile, more questions and searches began popping up on the trending list.

"So, how good is this fried rice? How could it make someone think it was drugged?"

"Where are the kind souls? I need to know where this fried rice is right now!"

"Wait, is this the golden fried rice from the convention that day?"

Netizens flocked to social media platforms to laugh at the drama, watching as the offending streamer got banned, while also frantically searching for the location of the legendary fried rice.

The power of the crowd is immense. Among the customers who visited the Chu Family Eatery, there were inevitably a few "attention-seekers." Soon, detailed information about the fried rice was dug up: the opening hours, the price of 288 yuan, the fried rice trending at the comic convention, the young chef who was still a student, and the daily suspicions and reports about the fried rice. Each detail was full of topics to discuss.

The Chu Family Eatery quickly gained a wave of bookmarks and check-ins on review websites, with food enthusiasts eagerly preparing to visit.

"Tomorrow is Monday! Weekend plans are set, full force ahead!"

"LOL, I just found out from my friend that this fried rice has been reported multiple times. She was even dragged in for a urine test, hahaha! The owner is so unlucky! I have to try it!"

Overnight, the Chu Family Eatery received immense exposure. Some even went to the closed shop that night to livestream in front of the shut door, while others shouted from downstairs.

In the large group chat hastily created by two dorms during the comic convention, everyone expressed collective concern for Chu Shen after learning about the situation. Even Yan couldn't help but feel sorry for Chu Shen, as it was truly an undeserved misfortune.

This was the kind of attention that was destined to stir up a storm. From Gu Jiasui to Chu Shen, the chef, no one was spared.

**[Ye Ping'an]:** Brother Shen, are you okay? Do you need us to pick you up tomorrow morning?

**[Lin Fan]:** I can drive over tonight to get you. You can hide at school for a while.

**[Yi Zhi]:** I can pick you up too.

**[Chu Shen]:** It's fine. I promised to bring everyone fried rice tomorrow.

Even at a time like this, Chu Shen was still thinking about his promise of fried rice. Yan was deeply moved when he saw the message.

**[Chu Bingbing]:** Fried rice can be eaten anytime. Your safety is more important right now.

**[Yan]:** +1

**[Zhu Jue]:** +2

**[Yi Zhi]:** +3

Upstairs in the small eatery, Chu Shen rubbed his nose as he read the messages on his phone. He hadn't added many customers, but now both the group chat and private messages were flooded with people asking about his safety and offering to pick him up.

He silently asked the system, "System, are you sure you can teleport me away tomorrow morning?"

"The system confirms. The heir of the Culinary God can rest assured."

"That's good." Chu Shen felt relieved. Although his Culinary God system could sometimes be unreliable and stingy, it was dependable in critical moments.

He replied to his friends, assuring them that he had a plan.

A promise is a promise. He said he would bring fried rice tomorrow, and he would definitely deliver.

"The heir of the Culinary God can enter the River of Culinary Dao. Would you like to enter tonight?" the system suddenly reminded him, startling Chu Shen.

"What? Didn't you say the favorability wasn't high enough before?"

He quickly checked the favorability of the couple. Surprisingly, it had suddenly increased to twenty points.

Chu Shen was puzzled. He had thought that causing the couple to be taken to the police station today would lower their favorability. At the time, he was relieved that it hadn't dropped, but now it had unexpectedly increased by ten points. This was too sudden.

On Monday morning, Chu Shen was greeted at the school gate by Brother Fan and Yi Zhi. Under the protection of his two bodyguards, he returned to the dorm without incident.

The fried rice was successfully delivered, and he heard another prompt from the system.

"The heir of the Culinary God currently has two opportunities to enter the River of Culinary Dao. They can be used at any time."

Chu Shen: Huh?

Why was his ancestral system suddenly so generous?

The couple's favorability had reached thirty points, gaining another ten points overnight. This happiness was too sudden!