Before Si Yi had the chance to even start making his point, some colorful curses sounded from cooking station number fifty-five. The staff members, contestants, and judges all couldn’t help but turn around to look at the person in question.

The ninjas of the Si clan weren’t surprised. The person in question was none other than Si Shi Qi and his expression didn’t look good. Well, it never did when it was about his sister. Which really wasn’t a wonder considering that she usually made trouble for him.

Seeing as Si Shi Qi was Fan Mei’s brother, Si Yi held back what he had wanted to say, even going so far as to take back his hand and not opening the next file he had prepared. Clearly, Si Shi Qi had a plan of his own. He would let him make his move first and then adjust his own points based on the result.

Either way, if he wasn’t the only one arguing against Fan Mei, it would be more convincing. Just look at how people had reacted to Chu Yu An’s comparison of the channels! Even he hadn’t been able to come up with doing that because of his lacking knowledge in regard to cooking. He really had to up his game if the relationship between their master and young master Xiao was to work out long-term.

Si Shi Qi was naturally happy when he saw that Si Yi was giving him a chance. This while disaster with his sister … even though he couldn’t control her and this was as much his father’s fault as it was his own, he still felt guilty.

His ranking in the clan already showed that he wasn’t as valuable as others. Now, his family member was also constantly making trouble for their master and young master Xiao. How could he not feel uncomfortable with that? Tao Jin had helped him smooth things over the other day but that wasn’t enough. He needed to do something himself. And now, he finally had the chance.

He furrowed his brows and then pointed at Fan Mei’s nose. “Ah Mei, for fuck’s sake, why are you still doing this? Are you just trying to deliberately stir the pot here?!”

The other contestants had a row of question marks above their heads while Yang Shu Na tried to remember who exactly these people were. This man, she believed his name was Fan Ming? Actually, looking at him and this Fan Mei, there was a faint resemblance there. It seemed that there was more to this.

Si Shi Qi naturally wouldn’t give his sister the opportunity to try and shut him up and took advantage of everyone’s confusion. “I know you’ve always been a bit of a conspiracy theorist but do you honestly need to drag your own brother like this? If anybody was trying to bribe the judges here, wouldn’t that be me? You also know that I was the one who told Tao Jin about Bright Yellow Water with me, not Mister Si.”

Some of the contestants who had been looking through the articles online had already seen Si Shi Qi’s photo so they had a rough guess of what was going on. This wasn’t the case for everyone though.

Huyan Xia leaned over to the man she had spoken to before and couldn’t help but ask to see if he knew more. “Who’s that? And what does he have to do with Judge Xiao? Do you have any idea?”

Si Shi Yi gave her a difficult look, not quite sure what to do. He faintly furrowed his brows and then shook his head. “Well, it seems like he knows her.” In any case, in the back story that the Si clan had devised for the outside world, his relationship with Si Shi Qi could at most be described as shallow. How would he know who his wife was?

Si Shi Liu on the other side of Huyan Xia’s working station naturally heard their exchange and really wanted to insert himself again but then he also didn’t want to look like a creepy uncle so he finally held back and just stared at Si Shi Qi at the end of the room, hoping that he would get to explaining things fast.

Fan Mei naturally didn’t want her brother to say anything. “I can’t see how any of this concerns you at all.”

Si Shi Qi raised his brows. “You don’t see how this concerns me? Excuse me, but if I remember correctly, then just last week, you, I, my wife, Mister Si, and his assistant, all went out to eat dinner together after the casting. And I believe that I told you even before we went there that he was a business partner of mine.

“So you slandering him here naturally has an influence on me, especially if you’re pulling your accusations from who knows where. You really should know better!” He shook his head, not needing to act out his anger. He really would have liked to drag her out of her and back home so their father could deal with this unruly child of his!

Si Shi Qi took a deep breath as if to calm down before he continued to scold her with a slightly better expression. “If you really want to insist on somebody admitting to attempted bribery, then sure, I’ll admit it. I’m indeed not above trying to cultivate some good feelings with a business partner. And yes, I will absolutely make use of it if they tell me something about their private life.

“Mister Si, for example, mentioned one day that he likes Bright Yellow Water because a previous meeting was running late and he didn’t want to start our talk later and miss the stream so he asked to reschedule instead. This kind of thing, it’s out of the ordinary for sure so, of course, I kept it in mind and took a glance a few times to see what the channel was about.

“When I heard about Mister Xiao being a judge on ”Golden Spoon”, you bet that the first thing I did was to go to Xiao Jin and ask her if she could help spread the word. Mister Si didn’t need to ask me to do it, I came up with that myself because I was hoping he’d realize that this was coming from me and see it as a sign of me being attentive, detail-oriented, and invested even past the usual boundaries of my job. Because surely, that is the type of person you’d love to do business with, right? Why should he sign a contract with anyone but me and my company if clearly care so much about my customers?”

Having said that, he threw up his hands in the air. “Well, it was the perfect plan until my own sister came along, and used the opportunity to not just pour dirty water on my business partner’s favorite streamer but also on said business partner himself. Then I even got dragged into it myself because you failed to protect your own identity.

“Well, I guess that wouldn’t have mattered because I could have apologized and explained, and maybe he would have forgiven me. But now we’re both here and you still have the guts to accuse him of trying to bribe a judge right to his face while I’m standing here, supposed to listen to all your bullshit. Seriously, Ah Mei, I’m starting to feel like you are just trying to deliberately mess with me. What are you trying to do? Cause me to go out of work? Bankrupt me?!”

The contestants looked from one person to the other, slowly figuring out the inside story. It seemed to be a bit convoluted, but apparently, this whole thing was just a vendetta that this Fan Mei had against her brother. She was actually going this far to get back at him. Really poisonous!

Fan Mei could also see that the public opinion was currently against her and gnashed her teeth. It was still alright to argue against what Si Yi was saying, but she could hardly do the same when it came to her own brother. That dinner, it had really happened, and there were several people that could attest to that, not to mention that her brother might even be carrying proof around. Also, it wasn’t like the relationship between her brother and Tao Jin hadn’t already been exposed online after her article. People would never believe her no matter what she said now.

She clenched her hands but since she had already come this far, she naturally couldn’t give up. Especially so since if she really didn’t manage to convince anyone that there was something unsavory going on, then she would look like a complete idiot.

“Even if that is the story behind Tao Jin’s post, what about that Mister Ai? Would a Michelin-starred chef really go around to review a small online channel? And also, if he indeed took an interest in this streaming scene, why did he stop after just looking at Bright Yellow Water? If he had a general interest, then surely, he would’ve done more streams after that. But no, after looking at their channel, he immediately stopped. Isn’t that strange?”

At this, Si Yi shook his head and couldn’t help but give a low chuckle. “Ms. Fan, I don’t mean to be rude, but have you considered that your actions might’ve been why he stopped doing the streams?

“In fact, originally, he really had some interest in this scene and was thinking of making it a series and maybe even starting a stream of his own. But seeing the trouble he caused for Mister Xiao and ‘Golden Spoon’, he felt like it wouldn’t be a good idea to continue with that. In fact, even the video itself was taken down after a short while.

“He told me privately that he figured that he hadn’t thought about it well enough when he started out. He should have first reached out and cleared his idea with the show and Bright Yellow Water, as well as any other channels that he might’ve wanted to review. Then, something like that wouldn’t happen have happened.

“Since the damage was already done though, he instead tried to compensate. So for ‘Golden Spoon’, he went to help out as a chef in the casting, and then, the matter was put to rest. Really, the reason things played out like this is mostly on your head.”

Fan Mei stared at him, but there really wasn’t much she could say other than trying to throw some doubt on his words. “You say that it happened this way so it really went like this? Do you take me for a fool?”

Si Yi pulled out his phone and held it up. “Do you want me to call him?” He tilted his head and then shook his head at him himself before she could answer. “No, if I did that, you would probably accuse me of trying to influence him.” He turned to the producer’s assistant instead and smiled faintly. “Ms. Yang, I believe you should still have Mister Ai’s number saved. Could you give him a call?

“Seeing as he cooperated with you on the matter of the casting, I’m sure that he would be willing to give a statement and nobody could say that he is being biased if the one asking is from the show, right?”

Si Yi was sure that Si Shi Wu had already been informed about what was going on by Si Er, but Fan Mei definitely didn’t need to know that. Also, it was true that this was the excuse that they had wanted to use.

Yan Shu Na glanced from Si Yi to Fan Mei, slowly losing her patience. They had booked the venue for the whole weekend so it wasn’t like they needed to leave soon, but she still wasn’t happy that they were wasting so much time. Everyone would need to stay overtime because of this Fan Mei. How could she be happy with that?

If she could have, she would have told her to pound sand and just continued with the second task. But if she did that, then maybe some people would start having doubts after all. How could she let that happen? This was the first season and even the first full-fledged episode. She had to make sure that everything went smoothly.

Making up her mind, Yang Shu Na really pulled out her phone and looked for the number. “Yes, it is still here. I really hope that we are not inconveniencing him with contacting him on the weekend though.” At that, she gave Fan Mei a not-so-kind look and then called.

Si Shi Wu had indeed been forewarned already took a moment before he answered. “Hello?” From his side, the sizzling of a pan could be heard.

Yang Shu Na had put him on speaker so that everyone would be able to hear, and couldn’t help but sweatdrop a bit when she heard the sound. “Mister Ai, I hope I’m not disturbing you at work.”

Si Shi Wu raised his brows. “Thank you for your concern, Ms. Yang, but it’s not necessary. I’m just at home, cooking for a few friends. It’s not inconvenient to talk. So please, go ahead, what may I do for you?”

Yang Shu Na wasn’t quite sure how to go about it and hesitated for a moment. “Actually … Currently, we are filming the first episode for ‘Golden Spoon’.”

“Oh? Well, I hope things are going well. The casting was really interesting. Thank you for giving me the chance to have a part and make up for the trouble I caused before.”

Seeing as he had brought the topic up himself, Yang Shu Na actually felt more reassured. “Ah, it really wasn’t that much trouble on our end. I think the one more troubled was Judge Xiao. Actually, that matter came up again just today. Somebody mentioned how you didn’t continue making your live streams and felt it was odd. I also couldn’t help but wonder … was there a special reason?”

For a moment, there was no response from the other side. The contestants couldn’t help but wonder why that was. Did he not know what to say? Most of them were familiar with Ai Gui Jin since they were all interested in cooking but there were also some who just focused on themselves and not so much on the bigshots in the circle, so those people were at a loss.

Finally, Si Shi Wu gave a sigh. “What can I say? Originally, I thought it was a good idea. The streaming circle, I think it is interesting. But clearly, I don’t understand it well enough.

“I thought doing a stream myself would be a good idea. It could teach me something new, give other people who also love cooking as much as me a new perspective, and maybe inspire something new. It seemed like … the perfect opportunity.” He sighed again at that. “But look at what I have done.

“Even if you weren’t inconvenienced, you said it yourself: Mister Xiao was. Even up until now, I still haven’t been able to make it up to the people from Bright Yellow Water. Actually, I am embarrassed to think about it.

“Right.” His tone suddenly changed as if he had just thought of something. “Mister Xiao and Mister Qian should be on the show right now, right? If you have a quiet minute with them and maybe get to talk and there’s something I can do for them, please tell me. I made a lot of trouble for them and I should compensate for that. I just … I don’t really know how to go about it. I don’t have the face to approach them myself.”

Yang Shu Na had no idea what to say to that. This matter, it was already more than complicated enough. Mister Ai saying something like this now in front of all the contestants … she wasn’t sure if it was a good thing.

Si Shi Wu kept quiet, his brows furrowing faintly. Had he said something wrong just now? He thought for a bit and then sighed, his voice turning apologetic. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t what you asked. It is just that this has been weighing on my conscience for a while, so I couldn’t help but mention it.

“Either way, you wanted to know why I stopped with the streams. That … I’m afraid the reason is really just that: I didn’t think it through before and then I made such a blunder, inconveniencing other people. In the end, thankfully, other people stepped out and made sure that the end result wasn’t too bad.

“But even now, I can’t help but think that if not for others making statements to clear Mister Xiao’s name, then what would have happened? Doing that to one person is already too much even if it wasn’t deliberately. If I were to continue now and got somebody else in trouble as well, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself. I’m not out to ruin the careers of promising young people. On the contrary!

“So, really, I won’t meddle in the streaming industry again. If I did it again, I’d only do so with somebody who has more experience and can guide me through the process so I won’t make another blunder.” At that, he couldn’t help but laugh. “Why are you asking? You wouldn’t want me to become a judge on your show as well, would you? I figured that by now, you would have all of them contracted already. Don’t tell me somebody had to call it off at the last minute?”

Yang Shu Na really didn’t know how to respond. “Ah, no, that’s not it. Although if that was the case, then Mister Ai is the first person I would think of. Anyway, I just wanted to make sure what was going on since I heard some rumors. Just doing my due diligence.”

Si Shi Wu sighed deeply before there was the sound of a pan being put to the side and a stove being turned off. “Yes, I had feared that some rumors might remain. I even deleted the video but I guess it didn’t help. Well, I hope this call was able to reassure Ms. Yang a little. I’m really sorry.”

Yang Shu Na once again assured him that it wasn’t his fault, and then hastily bid goodbye, mentioning how she didn’t want to keep him from being a good host for his friends.

As soon as she hung up, she turned a Fan Mei, her gaze even less friendly than before. “Well, Miss Fan, do you still have something to complain about?” By now, she really had it with her. This matter, she had to make such an embarrassing call. Asking about something that was really of no relevance at all, and still not being able to tell him why that was because Fan Mei would indeed make that into her being biased, she really was uncomfortable with it.

Fan Mei also realized that Yang Shu Na wasn’t on her side, but there was still one last thing she could cling to. “Well, since Mister Ai mentioned it, I can’t help but ask: What about those people who suddenly stepped out to clarify matters? Isn’t that also strange?”

Si Yi raised his brows and made a helpless gesture. “Ms. Fan, you make it sound as if there was a whole legion of people stepping up to clarify. It was two, two. And for one person, we don’t even know who it was because the person opened up both a new Weibo account and made a new website. What do you want me to say about that?”

Fan Mei naturally realized the important point in what he had said. “You might not know who one of those people is, but for sure, you know who the other one is.”

Si Yi couldn’t help but glance toward seat number twenty-two, having been acutely aware of that person’s presence the entire time. “That person, of course, I know who he is. Shi Ru Qiu is a well-known person after all.”

Actually, saying it like this, he couldn’t help but be a little proud. Clearly, he was not the only one who was able to see just how special this person was. And while he might not be able to show his feelings openly, there were millions of others who could. In a sense, maybe that was compensation.