Chapter 500: When a Good Person Turns Bad

The vendor took the business card, glanced at it twice, then looked up again with a fawning grin.

“Oh, so you’re the head chef! These oysters were just caught. If you’re taking the whole lot, I’ll give you a special price.”

As he spoke, the boss waved toward the woman beside him.

“That’s my wife. She’s got more over there. Prices are negotiable.”

The wife brought over another bucket, brimming with fresh shellfish.

Ying Yuezi raised a hand and declined politely.

“No need. Yours already look like good quality, but I can’t make the call on my own. I need to take some back for my team to evaluate. We are a three-star restaurant, after all. If we end up working together, it’ll be a long-term thing.”

Her words were full of implication.

The couple, honest folk by the looks of it, were eager for that long-term deal.

With a grand gesture, the man waved his hand.

“In that case, since you’re clearly sincere, take this whole bucket on the house. The head chef definitely has decision-making power. I trust that if you give the green light, we’ll be working together for a long time.”

His face was full of sincerity.

Ying Yuezi’s goal had been achieved. She grabbed the bucket of oysters without a hint of embarrassment.

“Alright, I’ll accept it then. No worries, we’re definitely likely to work together. Leave me your contact info. I’m in a rush and forgot my phone. Just jot it down for me.”

The vendor hurried to find a scrap of damp paper and scribbled down his phone number.

Once everything was settled, Ying Yuezi gave them both a warm handshake, then hefted the heavy bucket and walked off, somewhat awkwardly.

Even after her figure disappeared down the street, the boss could barely contain his excitement.

“If this partnership works out, you won’t have to run to the market every day!”

“Exactly! God bless us!”

And just like that, Ying Yuezi walked away with a full bucket of fat, glistening oysters, without spending a single cent.

They were so plump and tempting that just looking at them made your mouth water.

“Damn, this move! No wonder she used to be the inspection team captain!”

“I wanted to be a good person too, but alas, I chose the path of villainy!”

“When a good person goes bad… the bad guys don’t stand a chance!”

“This season is pure gold. BeiBei sweet-talked a simp into giving her food for the day. Hands-free, no effort!”

“And now Ying Yuezi goes even harder! This is the final boss of bluffing!”

The chat was far more lively than it had been in the last season.

New viewers, unable to contain their curiosity after seeing the barrage of comments, were already planning to binge the previous episodes as soon as the stream ended. But Ying Yuezi’s clever play left the production team in a tight spot.

With BeiBei, at least, they could just compensate the poor otaku and move on.

But Ying Yuezi? She’d spun an entire fantasy. Once the staff tracked down that elderly couple and tried to reimburse them, her cover would be blown. No more repeating the same trick.

“Production team, go ahead and pay the old couple,” Ying Yuezi said suddenly, just as the team was mulling over what to do.

“Huh? What about you?” someone asked.

“A trick only works once,” she replied coolly. “I have a brain. I don’t recycle cons.”

The moment her words dropped, the livestream exploded.

“Vision!”

“That’s what you call vision!”

“She’s not just scheming, she’s enlightening!”

She said it with such conviction, it was like she’d just done something truly noble. Even the production team took a few seconds to recover before replying:

“Understood.”

They went off to clean up the mess.

Meanwhile, Ying Yuezi carried her bucket straight to the largest market.

She found a decent spot, plunked the bucket down in front of her, and, using the oldest method in the book, cupped her hands around her mouth and started hawking to passersby at the top of her lungs.

Gone was the cool, authoritative air from earlier.

Now, she was just another street vendor, shouting over the crowd.

***

In another livestream…

The program inspectors were slowly closing in on Wang Yun and his group.

But just as the viewers had guessed, they didn’t spot him. They didn’t even consider the possibility that their fugitive was currently out at sea, fishing for seafood, wearing full work clothes, looking exactly like a real fisherman.

And of course, they had no idea that the A-level fugitive, Ying Yuezi, was standing in a crowded market.

Yelling at the top of her lungs, trying to sell oysters.

The viewers were dumbfounded.

If old man Fang were still part of this season’s cast, he’d probably be shaking his head and laughing by now.

The fugitives didn’t even look like fugitives anymore.

Meanwhile, the program inspectors, with their furtive movements and sketchy behavior, looked more like the criminals.

The world had turned upside down.

“Haha! Boss, look what I caught!”

Old Hu suddenly appeared, cradling something thicker than his forearm, shouting excitedly.

It was a sea fish—nearly four pounds of it—still flopping and twisting, desperately trying to escape.

But Old Hu’s grip was iron-tight.