I’m No Longer Human After Being Blacklisted – CH22

Chapter 22 – Not a Kind Person

The people waiting outside the shop immediately pulled out their phones and cameras, surrounding Lin Jiu to record him.

One person started narrating as they filmed, “I’m here at Old Town West in A City, where we’ve just caught the owner of the infamous shop. It’s already past 10 AM, and the owner is just now arriving—such a laid-back attitude! Clearly, he’s confident he can keep scamming customers. Today, we’ll uncover the truth behind this so-called ‘black shop’ and find out what gives the owner such nerve!”

Lin Jiu got off his bicycle and glanced around at the group of people filming and talking among themselves. Many of them looked quite young, likely middle or high school students, holding their phones up, filming him right in the face.

“We can see that the owner seems pretty young. He’s been wearing a hat and mask the whole time. Is he afraid to show his face, or did he do something shady and is worried about getting beaten up? Who wants to see the owner’s real face?” one of the young men spoke to the camera and reached out to pull off Lin Jiu’s mask, but Lin Jiu quickly dodged him.

“Hahaha, he’s trying to hide? Expose him, expose him! Let’s see who gave him the nerve to run such a blatant scam of a store!”

The group surrounded him, trying to grab his hat and mask. Lin Jiu had nowhere to escape. Someone managed to snatch his hat, and as he tried to back away, someone kicked his bike.

With a loud crash, the bicycle fell to the ground along with the cooler, its lid cracking open, and the ice and seafood spilled all over the pavement.

“Quick, film it, film it! This is the kind of food this shady store uses! What even are these things? Ew, so gross, all slimy and mushy! Are they rotten? I’m going to report this to the food safety authorities. They need to investigate this place!”

The scene was chaotic. Some people filmed the seafood on the ground, while others grabbed at Lin Jiu, still trying to take off his mask.

Angered, Lin Jiu shoved a few of them away, his gaze icy. “These ingredients are worth tens of thousands of yuan. You might want to think about how you’re going to pay for that.”

His voice carried a strange rhythm, making the troublemakers feel dizzy and disoriented. Though the words seemed to drift hazily through their minds, they could clearly understand what Lin Jiu was saying.

Once they snapped out of this dazed state, one of them suddenly yelled, “What, are you going to hit us? Go ahead! If you do, we’ll have you trending on social media in no time!”

“What’s going on here?!” A stern voice called out from next door. Grandpa Xu quickly walked over. “Causing trouble in broad daylight? Don’t you know the law? Get out of here right now, or I’m calling the police!”

“Go ahead, call them! Let’s see who the police will arrest!” one person retorted defiantly, though others looked worried. They had already filmed the footage they wanted, and the only regret was not getting a clear shot of the owner’s face. With that in mind, many decided to leave, while the rest ran off, afraid the police might actually show up.

Lin Jiu stood silently in the street as Grandpa Xu asked, concerned, “Are you alright?”

Lin Jiu shook his head. “I’m fine.”

Grandpa Xu glanced at Lin Jiu’s face. “You should go to the clinic and get that cleaned up. You’re bleeding.”

Those people had tried repeatedly to pull off Lin Jiu’s mask, but he had managed to protect it. However, their nails had scratched his face, the corner of his eye, and his neck, leaving some of the wounds bleeding, needing to be cleaned and disinfected.

“What happened? What’s going on here?” Old Master Song approached slowly, leaning on a cane. Today, he wasn’t in a wheelchair. He felt energized, believing it was the seafood that had given him strength, which is why he had come again.

It had taken him some time to walk over from the parking lot, with his secretary Jin following closely, worried he might fall.

When Lin Jiu looked up and saw it was Si Xu’s grandfather, he felt embarrassed for the elderly man to see him in such a messy state. “I’m sorry, today’s lunch might be delayed a bit. Could you please wait a while?”

Lin Jiu unstrapped the cooler from his bike, picked it up, and began cleaning up the ice and seafood.

Old Master Song observed the overturned bicycle, the spilled cooler, and the seafood scattered on the ground. He also noticed the scratches on Lin Jiu’s face and neck, some of them bleeding. Furious, he immediately called his grandson.

Si Xu received the call while still in the car with Wen Qin. They were on their way to Hua Sheng to finalize some concert details when the phone rang from his grandfather.

Old Master Song started with, “A’Xu, you need to get to the Demon Fish Shop right now. The owner was attacked, and all the seafood has been thrown on the ground. Get here quickly.”

Si Xu was shocked. “Is he seriously hurt? Did you call an ambulance?”

Old Master Song huffed in frustration, “It’s not too serious, just some scratches on his face that are bleeding. He might be scarred. Those people surrounded him and claimed they were going to expose the Demon Fish Shop as a scam.”

“Okay, I’ll head there immediately.” Si Xu told the driver to turn the car around and head for West City Old Street.

Seeing his urgency, Wen Qin asked, “What happened?”

“Look up any news related to the Demon Fish Shop,” Si Xu replied, already searching on his phone.

Typing in “Demon Fish Shop,” several videos immediately popped up. The people who had surrounded Lin Jiu were quick to upload the footage they had captured, eager to be the first to post and get attention.

Si Xu clicked on a video. It showed Lin Jiu surrounded by a crowd, with the camera crew laughing as they tried to pull off his hat and mask. Several girls were attempting to grab his mask while someone kicked over his bike, causing the cooler to break and the seafood to spill. The people filming then zoomed in on the seafood, making derogatory comments about it being rotten and slimy.

Si Xu also heard a recording in the video, where one of Lin Jiu’s neighbors spoke up.

Neighbor: “Yeah, the Demon Fish Shop is kind of a rip-off. The prices are outrageous. A regular seafood dish can cost thousands or even tens of thousands of yuan, but he’s got rich friends, so I guess they don’t care about the money.”

Filmer: “What do you think about the shop owner’s character?”

Neighbor: “Honestly, not great. The whole thing annoys me. There was this elderly couple next door who needed to sell their house urgently because of some family problems. We’ve been neighbors for years, so I thought I’d buy the house to help them out. We had everything agreed on, but then the Demon Fish Shop owner swooped in out of nowhere and convinced them to sell it to him instead. And that’s not all. He’s super secretive about his business. He sneaks seafood into the shop every day, like he’s scared someone will see him. I’ve never seen anyone run a business like that…”

Si Xu’s expression darkened. “Take note of the video posters and investigate the cause of all this.”

Without a reason, it was impossible for the shop to suddenly be branded as a ‘black shop’ overnight.

“Got it,” Wen Qin responded. “Do you want us to handle the videos?”

“First, document them as evidence, then have them take them down.” Si Xu paused for a moment, “Also, find out which neighbor is speaking in the audio. It’s a good time to consider expanding Mo Fish Restaurant since the space is small.”

Wen Qin quickly traced it back to Mi Youyou, who had slandered Mo Fish Restaurant on her social media. Boldly, she continued her smear campaign.

After a data analysis, it turned out many of the accounts filming and surrounding Lin Jiu had previously left comments on Mi Youyou’s posts, participating in the slander. She hadn’t stopped them but instead played the victim, complaining about how much pain she was in from walking, gaining sympathy from fans and ultimately sparking today’s incident.

Si Xu made a call to Jiang Ge and told him about the situation.

Jiang Ge, who had many wealthy and influential friends, had promoted Lin Jiu’s shop to a certain extent, but it also brought trouble.

Jiang Ge called back quickly, likely after watching the video, angrily cursing Shao Yunxi for being incompetent and causing more problems than helping.

“Bro, don’t worry, I’ll get in touch with Shao Yunxi immediately. If he doesn’t resolve this, I’ll beat him up so bad his own mother won’t recognize him!”

Wen Qin was busy making calls to deal with the video situation. Most of the people involved, fearing a lawsuit, deleted their videos right away. However, a few refused, standing their ground defiantly.

As a top manager, Wen Qin had dealt with such situations before. Those who acted so brazenly usually had some kind of backing. He sent his professional team to investigate and dig into their connections.

Si Xu and Wen Qin rushed to the shop, where the ice and seafood had already been cleaned up.

Elder Song, Secretary Jin, and Old Man Xu had been invited inside, and a “Closed for Business” sign hung at the door.

The seafood that had fallen to the ground was no longer edible, and the Demon Hunter system had deducted 10 magic points from Lin Jiu for wasting food, leaving him both heartbroken and furious.

The shop’s fridge never stored leftover seafood. What was brought out for the day had to be used that same day, so there were no extra ingredients. Lin Jiu steamed the last of the jade grain rice, then made a trip home, returning with another insulated box. By the time he returned to the shop, Si Xu and Wen Qin had arrived.

Si Xu stood at the counter. “How are you? Are your injuries serious?”

Lin Jiu looked up, startled to see Si Xu suddenly appear.

Si Xu, too, froze upon seeing Lin Jiu with bandages on his face, around his eyes, and on his neck.

“Are the wounds deep? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“It’s fine, just some scratches. Nothing serious.” Lin Jiu had already treated them when he went home to get more seafood.

Wen Qin’s phone rang. He stepped outside to take the call and soon returned.

“How’s it going?” Si Xu asked, not hiding anything from Lin Jiu.

Wen Qin said, “We’ve found them. They’re small-time influencers with a moderate following. They were paid to do this.”

Lin Jiu caught on, his clear eyes watching them intently.

Si Xu explained the whole situation to Lin Jiu, who only nodded calmly in response, showing little reaction.

In Si Xu’s eyes, this seemed like Lin Jiu was quietly swallowing his grievances. Seeing Lin Jiu like this always tugged at Si Xu’s softest emotions. Just like in the past, watching little Lin Jiu silently endure while shedding tears, Si Xu felt an overwhelming desire to protect him.

But the truth was, Lin Jiu wasn’t that fragile, nor was he that magnanimous. His experiences growing up had taught him to endure when he couldn’t fight back, and when he could, there was no need to care about being merciful.

Besides, he had already taken his revenge.