**Chapter 79: The Prize for the Weibo Lottery Was Actually Cabbage**
1140 Words
Jiang Tingyun shook her head. "Not selling. Don't let the small quantity fool you — I can barely keep the restaurant supplied as it is."
Zeng Fubai stroked the beautiful cabbage affectionately and continued pleading. "Boss, I don't need much — just sell me ten cabbages!"
"......Really not selling."
This guy was kind of weird. It was just a few cabbages. The moment she said no, he was clutching them like he'd just been dumped. Tingyun was getting a little freaked out.
"Eight. Eight is fine too. I'll pay top dollar!"
"Not even eight? How about five? Boss — kind soul — please. I just crave this."
Zeng Fubai bargained shamelessly, abandoning all dignity for a few cabbages.
Tingyun sighed. "Oh my god. Can you act normal? Fine — I'll sell you three. I'm not being cheap — this is all I can spare for the restaurant. If you like them that much, just come eat here more often."
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When Zeng Fubai happily carried the cabbages back to the car, even Zeng Haiguo was surprised.
"What the hell? You came here for a meal and you walked off with their ingredients?"
Then he remembered the sweet, amazing cabbage from the clay pot and quickly changed his tune.
"Good job. Save two for me."
Zeng Fubai carefully placed the three cabbages in the passenger seat and even buckled the seatbelt around them.
"No way. I barely got these. At most, I'll let you have a bite when I eat them."
"Hmph, so stingy. Fine — next time I'll just come to Qionghua Eatery myself. I'm sure Boss Jiang's cooking tastes even better." Old Zeng was old but childish — he tsk-tsked and climbed into the back seat, letting out a satisfied burp. Today's meal was truly satisfying.
As Zeng Fubai drove home, rave reviews for the cabbage kept flooding his mind.
The moment he got home, he couldn't wait to post on his food account.
"Fubai Eats Everything: Took my grandpa to a countryside farmhouse for some goat today. The goat was already delicious, but what really blew me away was the cabbage in their goat, cabbage, and vermicelli clay pot. Absolutely incredible! I didn't know cabbage could taste this good.... [photo][photo]"
He went on for several hundred words, all about how amazing the cabbage in that clay pot was.
He ended with photos of the clay pot dish, plus one shot of the cabbage patch at Qionghua Eatery.
With several million followers, the post got tons of replies in no time.
"Everyone watch out — Fubai's losing it again."
"Too many words, haven't read. The photos are goat — did Fubai eat goat today?"
"Above comment is half right. The blogger got schooled by cabbage today."
"Cabbage? Doesn't cabbage always taste the same? You're exaggerating, blogger."
"The goat in the photos looks so good. But the cabbage doesn't look special. Bet it's not tasty — unless you send some to my mouth."
"I believe you, blogger. Really good winter cabbage is incredibly sweet. So freaking delicious!"
"So where did you eat, blogger? Why do you never name the restaurant? Just tease us."
Zeng Fubai happily scrolled through the comments, replying to a few.
After a while, he yawned. He'd driven over an hour and was feeling tired. He tossed his phone aside and took a nap.
When he woke up and checked his phone again, his frown deepened.
The new comments on his post had gone completely off the rails.
"Is this the difference between food bloggers and normal people? You write a whole essay just for cabbage?"
"Food bloggers these days are so over the top — 'amazing,' 'best ever,' all the same lines."
"It's just cabbage. You wrote that much? The bar for food blogging is low."
Seriously? Who was trying to troll him?
Ever since his follower count grew, every few days the comments would be full of people trolling him.
He used to be more restrained. He'd carefully edit every post.
But the cabbage today was so good that he'd gotten carried away and had written passionately. And now the comments were attacking him again.
Zeng Fubai gritted his teeth. Normally, he'd just ignore it. But after a moment, he couldn't let it go. He grabbed his phone again.
He really wasn't exaggerating this time. The cabbage at Qionghua Eatery was genuinely amazing.
Still pissed, he thought for a moment, then posted again.
"Fubai Eats Everything: Not lying, not exaggerating, no gimmicks. Good is good. To give back to my followers, I'm giving away two of my precious cabbages in a lottery. Repost this and tag three people for a chance to win the amazing cabbage I wrote about. If you win and eat it, you have to vouch for me!"
This post blew up the comments again.
"Blogger, are you that cheap? A cabbage lottery? And only two?"
"Hahaha the blogger got desperate."
"Everyone stop attacking — the blogger's figured out the engagement hack."
"Haha, if someone wins the cabbage, please post about it. I want to know what happens next."
"LOL. You think I want cabbage? No. I'm just retweeting for fun."
"Retweeting. Not for the cabbage. I just want to win so I can expose this fraud blogger!"
Who knows what happened — everyone said they didn't want it, but their actions said otherwise.
By the time the lottery closed that afternoon, the number of reposts was insane.
Even higher than when he'd given away phones as a celebration for hitting a million followers.
"Freaks. Hmph. Once they taste this cabbage, they'll know I wasn't exaggerating." Zeng Fubai reluctantly stroked the cabbage stalks one last time.
His heart ached. He'd barely had them for five minutes, and already they were gone.
Ah, whatever. At least he still had one left. Plus, he was only an hour from Qionghua Eatery. Worst case, he'd just go eat there in a few days.
While his posts slowly gained traction, some comments got buried in the noise.
"Does anyone else think this cabbage patch looks familiar? Kind of like the one from that video of Cheng Yuanqi pushing the millstone."
"Above comment — city boy? All cabbage patches look the same."
The comments scrolled by quickly. No one paid much attention.
Meanwhile, at a rehabilitation center in another country, Zhang Xinzi was sitting in the sun, frail. She was scrolling through her phone, using a VPN, when she saw the lottery post for cabbages. She couldn't help laughing.
People were giving away all kinds of weird stuff these days. Curious, she clicked into the blogger's page.
"Oh, a food blogger?"
Scrolling down a few posts — hundreds of words just praising cabbage. Intrigued, she opened the attached photos. When she saw the cabbage patch, she unconsciously sat up straight.
This patch of land... looked really familiar.
- Writer
