CHAPTER 92: SPICE EATING COMPETITION II

Just as the tension reached its boiling point, a clear, unwavering voice rose from the crowd.

"Enough."

Everyone turned to see Wang Zhenhua stepping forward, with fire in his eyes.

Despite his youthful face, the weight behind his words made the crowd fall silent.

"I’m Wang Zhenhua," he announced, lifting his chin. "Son of Wang Jian, the chairman of the Lianwu Street Commerce Association."

The Golden Earth punks froze.

Some of the crowd whispered, recognizing his name. Others leaned forward, sensing something juicy was about to happen.

Zhenhua didn’t flinch as he faced the group. "These men, these so-called victims, aren’t here to shop, and they definitely didn’t come for noodles."

One of the thugs laughed nervously. "What’re you saying, kid? We just wanted to check the place out. This whole crowd thing? We had no idea!"

Zhenhua ignored him. His voice was calm but full of conviction.

"They’re thugs. They came here in the past pretending to be businessmen, but all they did was blackmail, threaten, and beat up our tenants."

"They drove away customers with their violent tactics, trashed stores, and then offered to buy the shops at dirt-cheap prices. They called it business. We called it what it really was extortion."

Gasps and murmurs filled the air.

The main Golden Earth lackey snarled. "That’s a damn lie! We never did anything illegal! You can’t just throw around accusations like that with no proof!"

Zhenhua’s lips curled into a smile. "Oh, I brought proof."

He reached into his bag and pulled out a tablet. With a few swipes, he turned the screen toward the crowd and tapped play. A video began.

It was grainy as it CCTV video but unmistakable.

Golden Earth men barging into a small herbal medicine shop, knocking down shelves and threatening an elderly store owner.

"Sign the damn contract, old man! Or next time, we won’t be so nice!"

The voice on the recording matched the punk now standing red-faced by the archway.

The crowd erupted in gasps and shouts.

Even the influencer, still live-streaming, let out an audible, "Whoa..."

Zhenhua stepped up to her, showed the tablet directly to her camera, and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, "This is what Golden Earth has done to us for months. This is what they’re trying to hide."

The livestream chat exploded with comments.

"Wtf these guys are real gangsters???"

"Bro got caught in 4K lmaoo"

"Never shopping at any place tied to Golden Earth ever again."

"They should be arrested!"

The Golden Earth goons were pale now, their swagger gone. One of them tried to mumble something, but it was drowned out by a wave of boos and curse from the crowd.

Someone in the back shouted, "GET LOST, YOU LOWLIFE SCAMMERS!"

Another threw a half-eaten bun at one of the thugs, hitting him square in the chest.

Red-faced, the Golden Earth men turned to leave.

But before they could retreat fully, Zhao Yiming stepped beside Wang Zhenhua, arms folded, his voice slicing the air.

"One more thing," Zhao said, casually pulling out a document folder.

"As I told you before and over and over again, I am the official owner of Lianwu street."

Zhao Yiming took out something from his pocket, it was a name card with big name of him and his company and throw it at them.

"If you tried to do something stupid like this again, I will report all of this to the police."

He let his sentence hang, then turned to the now-filming influencer and smiled. "and you’ll be going viral for all the wrong reasons."

The crowd cheered.

Luo Yanyu gave Zhao a thumbs up and clapped her hands slowly as Ruan Lihua who watching from far away nodded in proud.

Golden Earth had no comeback, no power, no place here anymore.

With their heads down, they slunk away like roaches in daylight.

As the crowd returned to shopping, eating, and laughing, the once-chaotic square now buzzed with relief and victory.

Zhao Yiming sighed, stretching his arms. "Well, that was fun."

Wang Zhenhua grinned. "Think that’ll go on the news?"

"Hope so," Zhao smirked. "We can get free advertisement from it, you know?"

And with that, the celebration continued.

Zhao Yiming and Luo Yanyu made their way toward the center of the eating competition, weaving through the crowd until they spotted Su Meilin already there—standing near the front, her eyes gleaming with excitement and a camera in hand.

She kept snapping pictures nonstop like a professional photographer on caffeine.

"Ah, Meilin!" Zhao Yiming called out.

She turned and waved cheerfully, then immediately raised her camera and took a picture of him and Yanyu. Click!

"Sister Meilin finally found a new hobby besides knitting, huh?" Yanyu said with a teasing smile.

The two women had grown surprisingly close in a short amount of time. Zhao Yiming often caught them laughing together in whispers, only to fall silent the moment he entered the room—as if they’d just been gossiping about him.

And honestly, he preferred it that way. It meant they were bonding.

Meilin laughed without missing a beat. "Well, since Yanyu’s on security duty today, I thought I’d help out as the official documentation staff!" She beamed, lifting her camera with pride and snapping another photo of the crowd.

"Just don’t forget to get my good side," Zhao Yiming chuckled.

"Oh, don’t worry. I’ve got plenty of those already," Meilin winked.

The host suddenly shouted into the mic with dramatic flair, "And next up... Officer Han Queying!"

The crowd erupted in surprise and amusement.

Zhao Yiming blinked. "Wait, she joined?! As expected... That woman spice tolerance is crazy." he shake his head.

After all, anyone who could eat his ex-wife Wen Qiao’s spicy noodles was basically superhuman in his book. That stuff was lethal.

And for this competition, he had taken Wen Qiao’s original recipe and doubled the spice—turning it into a true trial by fire. All part of a clever little scheme to advertise their noodle shop, of course.

Banners featuring Wen Qiao and their daughter’s shop were plastered all over the venue, swaying proudly in the spring breeze.

Luo Yanyu whistled, clearly impressed. "Damn, she’s braver than I thought."

Su Meilin nudged Zhao’s side with a playful grin. "You sure you want to keep flirting with a woman who can eat lava without blinking?"

He just laughed in awkwardness as they focused on the competition again.

The spotlight hit Han Queying as she casually walked up to the table, her long hair tied up with a calm expression on her face—as if she were about to handle paperwork instead of ten bowls of the spiciest noodles in the province.

The timer started and Han Queying dug in.

She didn’t blink, she didn’t sweat, and she didn’t even reach for her water.

One bowl down, two, three.

By the time she finished the tenth, the crowd had gathered around in stunned silence, many holding their mouths and fanning themselves just from the smell of the spices.

Han Queying stood up, gave a crisp military-style thumbs-up to the crowd, and calmly dabbed her lips with a tissue.

"Justice burns hotter," she said coolly.

The audience went wild.

Zhao Yiming clapped the loudest, laughing in disbelief. "Okay, okay, I officially respect her now. That was terrifying and majestic at the same time."

"She could probably torture someone with just her cooking," Luo Yanyu snorted.

"You mean her appetite," Meilin added with a giggle.