Chapter 22: He Used a Sick Pig!

In the end, Bai Ye didn't find an opportunity.

Today was just too busy. He needed to sell all the braised meat at the market first, then rush over to the employer's house. Even though the banquet wouldn't start until the evening, a lot of preparations needed to be done in advance — they hadn't even finalized the menu yet.

Bai Ye loaded two big pots onto his cart: one filled with braised meat and braised pork ribs, the other with braised chicken frames.

There wasn't much braised pork, but a mountain of chicken frames piled high.

Today, he switched to a new location. As soon as he set up his stall, people began to gather around.

They were locals from nearby villages. Thanks to the great taste of their braised meat, word had spread quickly in just a few days.

As soon as he set up, the system issued a random task:

[Ding! Random Task (6): Serve 20 returning customers. Complete the task to receive a large monetary reward and a random rare item drop. Failure will result in a random deduction of current funds. Difficulty: ★★★]

A counter appeared above Bai Ye's head.

Twenty returning customers shouldn't be too hard, but it was still rated three stars.

Yesterday, he had a three-and-a-half-star task; today, a three-star one. Quite a lot of tasks these past few days.

This task depended entirely on luck — no amount of effort could guarantee it. Still, if it was rated three stars, it probably wouldn't be completely smooth sailing.

But as the counter steadily increased, Bai Ye felt relieved.

In just half an hour, seven or eight returning customers had already shown up — it seemed the task wouldn't be too difficult to complete.

Just as Bai Ye was feeling pleased, someone suddenly shouted loudly from the side,"Everyone, don't buy his braised meat! His meat is dirty — it's made from pigs that died of illness!"

The shout was so loud that not only Bai Ye and Jiang Hao heard it, but also all the customers around the stall.

Everyone looked up to find the source of the voice. Bai Ye and Jiang Hao frowned.Who was spouting such nonsense?

When they looked over, they were even more confused — it was a young man who looked vaguely familiar. But they were certain they didn't know him — yet it was obvious he was here to cause trouble.

They had been working away from home for years, and this kid looked even younger than them. Considering those three years away, this guy had to be just a teenager.How could they possibly have offended a kid?

Could it be an unhappy customer?

Even less likely.

They knew exactly what they sold — high-quality pork, cooked with a secret braising recipe from the system.Not only was the flavor excellent, but the quality was also top-notch.The system had even banned the use of chemical additives like saltpeter!

"What are you saying? What, you think they throw live pigs straight into the pot without slaughtering them first?"A middle-aged man in the crowd said gruffly.

Everyone laughed.

But Bai Ye didn't relax. He wanted to know where exactly this troublemaker came from.

"N-no, I said it wrong!"The young man stammered and quickly corrected himself."I meant their pork comes from sick pigs! That's why it's cheap!"

The crowd looked at each other.

"Really?"

"Is it really from sick pigs?"

"I've bought from them before — the meat was delicious, no problems at all."

"Still, maybe we should be cautious. Where there's smoke, there's fire."

"True enough."

"Wait a second — is the meat even that cheap?"

"Not really. It's fairly priced. Considering pork prices went up today, their prices are actually pretty reasonable — definitely not dirt-cheap like sick pig meat would be."

"Hey, kid, do you have any proof?"

Rural folks might seem simple, but they weren't that easy to fool.You couldn't just randomly slander someone and expect to ruin their business.

Bai Ye quickly clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"Everyone, everyone, since someone's questioning my meat, I'll prove it to you personally!" Bai Ye said.

Everyone turned toward him."How will you prove it?"

Bai Ye smiled slightly.

At that moment, the system had issued another random task — a simple one-star task:As long as he clearly explained that his meat was healthy and gained everyone's trust, he would complete it.

An easy win.

Bai Ye scooped a piece of braised pork from the pot and placed it on the cutting board covered with cling film.

"I'll cut it open right here and teach everyone how to tell if pork comes from a sick pig!"

The crowd leaned in, curious.

"Everyone, I may be young, but I've worked as a chef for years. Today, let me show you how to spot bad pork."

Bai Ye placed the pork skin-side up and pointed to it.

"First, check the skin. Sick pigs often have rashes, blotches, hemorrhages, or even dark red patches on the skin.Look at my pork — even though it's coated in braising sauce, you can still see that the skin underneath is clean and smooth."

Everyone nodded.

If there had been blotches or hemorrhages, no amount of braising would have covered it up.

"Maybe you just cut off the problematic skin!"The troublemaker muttered.

Bai Ye smiled lightly."My braised pork always comes with the skin. No skin, no fun, right?"

The crowd chuckled.

Exactly — braised pork was all about that tender, fatty meat with skin attached.Just lean meat wouldn't be nearly as satisfying.

"Even if someone cut off bad skin, you can still tell by looking at the fat."Bai Ye sliced the pork in half."Sick pigs' fat often looks pink, light rose, or red — abnormal colors.But healthy pigs' fat is pure white."

Everyone leaned closer.Despite the braised exterior, the cross-section showed pure white fat and rich, dark red lean meat — mouthwatering at a glance.

"Third, check the elasticity and smell. Sick pig meat is mushy and has a bloody or sour odor. Even heavy spices can't fully mask it."

Seeing everyone nod, Bai Ye swiftly sliced the pork into even pieces."Everyone's welcome to taste for themselves."

"No need! We believe you, young man!"

"Same here! I've eaten pork all my life — I know good meat from bad."

"Kid, you must've offended someone. That punk was obviously here to cause trouble."

"Where is that little brat? I'll beat the crap out of him until he can't even poop properly!"

"He already ran off. No idea whose kid he is. You better watch your back, young man."

"Yeah, don't worry — I've bought this meat before. It's delicious!"

"Honestly, people nowadays have no conscience."

"Exactly! Here, give me two jin (about a kilogram)!"

"I'll take some too!"