After My Rebirth Chapter 33: #FallenRichSecondGenSuspectedOfPlagiarizingRestaurantRecipes

Chapter 33: #FallenRichSecondGenSuspectedOfPlagiarizingRestaurantRecipes

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

 

Just like the overwhelming negative news flood before — all about “Internet celebrity ‘Nian Nian You Today’ suspected of plagiarizing a restaurant’s secret recipes” — Li Sinian opened every social media platform. The feed was filled with headlines about him:

#FallenRichSecondGenSuspectedOfPlagiarizingRestaurantRecipes
#YearAfterYearTodayRichSecondGen
#LiSinian
#LiFamilyHomeStockMarketToday
#WhatCanARichSecondGenDoAfterLeavingTheWealthyFamily
#CapitalistsExclusiveAppropriation

He didn’t even need to click on any of the articles — just by skimming these titles, he could guess what had happened.

His true identity had been exposed.

No — not “exposed” by accident. With Jiang Rongxuan involved, it was impossible for anyone to uncover his real identity online. This had to be a deliberate leak.

If it had been before, he might have tried to guess who was behind it.

But now, he felt there was no need to doubt.

Someone who knew both his internet celebrity identity and his real-life background — and didn’t want him to succeed — was almost certainly Li Wenxing.

Although he had a rough idea of what was going on, Li Sinian still read the entire scandal unfold online.

Various gossip and marketing accounts pieced together a timeline of his alleged plagiarism.

It started with him being kicked out of his home for unknown reasons. A pampered rich second-generation without family protection, forced to make a living as a relatively easy internet celebrity.

Why did they say he was kicked out? Because he hadn’t come for business trips to Suzhou, but moved into a small, poor rural village — and hadn’t returned home even for the New Year. These details came from insiders.

After becoming an influencer, he realized that although it seemed effortless to earn millions per livestream, it wasn’t easy to maintain popularity.

If he didn’t create edgy content, his video quality had to be extremely high. To keep the heat and create novelty, he needed to innovate.

But how could a rich second-gen understand culinary innovation? After much thought and failure to create original recipes, he resorted to plagiarizing others’ innovations.

This brought the focus to the then-unknown small restaurant that later became a trending chain.

According to a well-known food review blogger, Yueyue Food Review, before the chain started, the restaurant was just a small roadside eatery with barely any tables or customers.

Without that blog post catching the attention of HaiCheng Jiang Family’s vice president, the restaurant would have remained obscure — maybe even closed for poor business.

Li Sinian began uploading cooking tutorials long before the restaurant became a chain.

So these marketing accounts spun a story:

Li Sinian took advantage of the small, unknown eatery with no backing or fame, plagiarized the owner’s original recipes, and posted them online as his own creations to maintain his internet fame!

The strongest evidence: After the restaurant chain started, Li Sinian deleted his pinned cooking tutorial videos, which were then quickly locked by the bloggers.

Isn’t that proof of guilt?

Of course, some doubted the accusations: If Li Sinian plagiarized exclusive restaurant recipes, how could outsiders even tell? Only the restaurant staff would know the secret recipes.

At this point, many jumped in saying they had watched Li Sinian’s videos on pirate sites, noting key details matched what the restaurant’s chefs said, and the dishes tasted exactly like those from the restaurant.

Although flimsy, internet users were swayed by the viral public opinion. The keyword “rich second-gen plagiarist” in the headline was enough to bias many.

The articles’ provocative language and paid commenters flooded the comment sections, quickly twisting the narrative.

Someone even found a screenshot of Li Sinian from a livestream over a year ago.

The photo only showed him inside a restaurant — which restaurant was unclear — but immediately “netizens” claimed the background matched that of the restaurant chain’s original location.

This supposedly proved Li Sinian had indeed dined at the restaurant.

Nobody even considered the possibility the small restaurant belonged to Li Sinian himself.

Why would a viral influencer bother running a low-profit eatery?

“Again, your brother behind all this?” Jiang Rongxuan’s voice came from behind.

He didn’t know when he woke up, nor when Jiang Rongxuan had moved closer — but now they were extremely close, and Li Sinian could clearly feel the warmth of his breath against his neck.

Li Sinian shivered slightly and sat up. “Probably him.”

Jiang Rongxuan rested his arm behind his head, looking at him. “Why? What benefit could there be for your brother to ruin your reputation? I saw your family’s company stock dropped too — hurt the enemy a thousand, but hurt himself twelve hundred?”

“Don’t know,” Li Sinian said. “He’s different from how I used to see him.”

He had always thought Li Wenxing knew nothing. It was because Li Wenxing knew nothing yet could effortlessly take everything from him that he had been so jealous.

After he was reborn, learning Li Wenxing was a charmer who captivated everyone, he never doubted Li Wenxing’s nature.

If Jiang Rongxuan hadn’t found out it was Lin Yuan who bought the online trolls, he wouldn’t have doubted Li Wenxing at all.

“So, what are you planning to do now? Need my help?” Jiang Rongxuan asked.

Li Sinian shook his head. “No need. I’ll just do a live broadcast in the restaurant’s kitchen and clear everything up.”

At first, he didn’t want to appear online to clarify things because he didn’t want the online chaos to spill over into real life or expose his private life.

But now that his online and real lives were connected, hiding it any longer would seem cowardly.

Jiang Rongxuan didn’t object — he trusted any decision Li Sinian made.

After washing up, Jiang Rongxuan drove Li Sinian to a nearby branch.

It was still early; the front and back kitchens were prepping.

Li Sinian wasn’t in a rush. He just greeted the store manager first.

Then, he posted a simple message on “C-Platform”: “I will go live at 11 a.m. tomorrow. Welcome to watch.”

His private messages exploded. Besides a few loyal fans who expressed support, about eighty percent were angry netizens.

The comment section below his video was flooded — almost a new comment every two seconds, and eight out of ten demanded his apology.

[“Honestly, I thought something was off about this blogger from the start. Other bloggers take years to build their style. How did he explode overnight? Probably used some unfair tricks.”]

[“I strongly suspect he rigged votes himself. Poor Piggy, couldn’t beat the capitalists after all.”]

[“Rigged votes? This blogger rigged votes? Someone please fill me in.”]

[“Just search ‘Piggy.’ This blogger’s really toxic, using ties with Bai Yusheng to push ordinary people out of the scene.”]

Li Sinian glanced through a few comments, then exited the video and returned to his homepage — his post already had over a thousand comments.

That kind of traffic was usually reserved for major celebrities opening an account on C-Platform.

[“Last time he cleared the rigging rumors, he posted a live stream announcement. Is this live stream also for clearing the air?”]

[“I want to see what this blogger will say this time — more capitalist conspiracies?”]

[“Not taking sides, just want to see his explanation. I think it’s ridiculous to say the exclusive recipe was plagiarized.”]

[“Ridiculous? Before the restaurant became a chain, the recipe wasn’t exclusive. Anyone could steal it.”]

[“Everyone who tried said the taste was the same as the restaurant. You can find many KFC mashed potato recipes online. Sure, they taste similar but can never be exactly the same.”]

[“Exactly! You might know the general method or one or two secrets, but no one outside can make the exact KFC mashed potatoes — that’s what exclusive recipes mean. The chef said the restaurant’s pig trotters are colored with red yeast rice, and that matches the tutorial videos from ‘Year After Year Today’ exactly. Same details, same taste. Hmm.”]

[“We don’t know the exact restaurant recipe, but there’s a good way to prove whether this fallen rich kid plagiarized — take it to court.”]

[“Support the restaurant’s rights! I hate rich kids bullying others.”]

Comments kept pouring in. Li Sinian didn’t look further and logged out of C-Platform.

Li Cheng messaged on WeChat again — the company’s shares were taking a hit from the scandal. He sent a few angry messages, repeating the same complaints: Li Sinian was a disgrace, causing trouble for the family.

Li Sinian’s suspicion returned. Was he really Li Cheng’s biological son?

He had pondered this question many times in his past life. After discovering Li Wenxing’s true nature as a charmer, he had stopped doubting it — but now, the thought crept back.

Internet users could be swayed by public opinion, but Li Cheng was not only the chairman of the company but also his father. Shouldn’t he investigate?

He was a shareholder of the restaurant — all the info was online with just a few clicks. Why wouldn’t Li Cheng consider maybe it wasn’t plagiarism but entrepreneurship?

Or maybe, it wasn’t that he couldn’t think of it, but that he simply didn’t want to.

Li Sinian ignored Li Cheng’s messages. Seeing that it was almost time, he went to put on his apron.

At eleven sharp, Li Sinian started his live stream.

There were probably quite a few watchers waiting — the moment the stream went live, the viewer count shot past a thousand, and kept climbing steeply. In less than ten minutes, it hit five thousand.

Li Sinian tapped his appearance, then rotated the camera to show the restaurant. “Hello everyone, I’m Li Sinian, also known as the C-Platform blogger ‘Nian Nian You Today.’ Right now, I’m at the fifteenth branch of our restaurant, located in the Aegean Mall, Dongling District, Suzhou.”

“Today I’ll be live-streaming the cooking of a pretty controversial dish — spicy pig trotters. Come with me into the kitchen and check out our clean and safe kitchen environment.”

The restaurant had put up a “Closed for Business Today” sign early on, so aside from Li Sinian, only the staff were inside.

When the camera panned to a staff member, someone cheekily greeted the camera.

[“Whoa? I’m right here in Suzhou Dongling. I wanted to come eat after work but saw it was closed — so Li Sinian is live-streaming?”]

[“Just heard the blogger say ‘our restaurant’… suddenly I have a thought…”]

[“Friends earlier, same here. I just heard the auntie wiping the floor call the blogger ‘boss’.”]

Li Sinian held up the phone and walked into the kitchen. He asked an employee to hold the phone while he washed his hands.

The ingredients were already prepped on the cutting board. Li Sinian showed them one by one to the camera, then began cooking.

If anyone still didn’t get it by now, they were truly clueless.

As soon as Li Sinian started chopping, the chat went from scattered comments to a synchronized flood of “WTF” messages, filling the screen until the pig trotters went into the pressure cooker.

While waiting for the dish to cook, Li Sinian took off his rubber gloves and addressed the camera.

“Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Li Sinian. Strictly speaking, I’m the founder of this restaurant and currently one of its shareholders. You can look all this up online.”

“I haven’t spoken out before because I don’t like mixing my online life with real life. But since everyone already knows my name, I have to come forward and make this dish today.”

“Spicy pig trotters were my innovation before the restaurant became a nationwide chain, so the recipe wasn’t a secret. After the chain started, I locked the tutorial videos.”

“But since the recipe’s been leaked online anyway, it’s no longer a secret. Today, I’ll make it again and share the method as a thank you for everyone’s support. Please, keep supporting the restaurant in the future.”

“Oh, and one more thing: I really dislike mixing my online and real worlds, so… this professional term is called ‘going offline.’ I’m going to quit the internet after this. Thanks to everyone who’s supported me all this time.”

Before the viewers could even digest that Li Sinian had basically admitted to plagiarizing himself, he announced quitting the internet, and the chat exploded into chaos.

[“WTF, this is the biggest face slap I’ve ever seen! The founder of the restaurant plagiarizing himself?!?”]

[“What? Quitting the internet?? No, Nian Nian, I can’t eat without your videos every day!”]

[“So who leaked the news that Li Sinian plagiarized? And there’s a recording?! Disgusting!”]

[“Quitting? I just started following you, and now you quit?!”]

[“I checked — he’s the restaurant’s second largest shareholder. OMG, he really never cared about the internet!”]

As the comments blew up, Li Wenxing, holding his phone, was livid.

He stared at the screen, and if the phone were black, it would reflect his twisted expression.

He never in a million years expected Li Sinian to be a shareholder in the restaurant!

Li Wenxing had no real power or money — his father gave him money monthly, and he had no ability to investigate Li Sinian. He only learned Li Sinian was a food influencer because Lin Yuan’s company hired an influencer for advertising. He had no idea Li Sinian had opened a restaurant in Suzhou.

Lin Yuan avoided Li Sinian due to their complicated past and wouldn’t pay attention to him.

Also, Li Sinian’s restaurant was an obscure small place — no one would find it unless they looked hard. By the time it became well-known, it was already closely linked to HaiCheng Jiang Family’s Little Jiang.

Li Sinian’s ruined deal was related to Jiang Family’s subsidiary ChuanHe Construction. Logically, Little Jiang shouldn’t have cooperated with Li Sinian.

Because he believed Li Sinian could never beat the restaurant, Li Wenxing risked his family’s stock price plunge by exposing him.

No wonder Lin Yuan’s help to Li Wenxing couldn’t generate negative news about Li Sinian — Little Jiang was backing Li Sinian behind the scenes.

After almost an hour cooking spicy pig trotters, Li Sinian’s livestream lasted nearly that long — enough time for the public opinion to shift.

The “fallen rich kid forced to plagiarize after being kicked out” narrative quickly flipped to “an outstanding person succeeding without relying on his family.”

Thanks to Li Wenxing’s relentless efforts to blow this up, everyone got served a massive, epic face slap.

#RestaurantFounderPlagiarizesHimself#

That hashtag topped social media trends everywhere.

Just then, the foodie blogger Yueyue Food Review posted a statement:

[“OMG, I just took an exam and caused such a huge misunderstanding??? The internet celebrity ‘Nian Nian You Today’ is the restaurant owner! I didn’t mention this in my article because I hate putting unnecessary stuff in my food reviews. If I’d known everyone would misunderstand, I definitely would have!”]

At first, Li Sinian had assumed that the person who posted screenshots of his livestream online was Yueyue Food Review, since those two girls who came over had said they found out about the restaurant through his stream.

But now he learned that Yueyue Food Review was actually hired by Bai Yusheng to help promote his little restaurant — Bai Yusheng had felt sorry for how obscure the place was, so he brought in a big-name influencer to boost its popularity.

Yueyue was very well-known in the culinary world, and her statement sent the heat around the Li Sinian plagiarism incident soaring even higher.

The plagiarism controversy had reached a conclusion, but now netizens grew curious: who was the one that had recklessly smeared Li Sinian with baseless accusations?

Someone who was truly determined to ruin his reputation — that was downright malicious!

Soon, the restaurant officially released a statement.

Based on the timestamp mentioned by the chef in the recorded audio, they reviewed the surveillance footage from that day, then clipped and published a video identifying the person who deliberately tried to trap the chef into the incriminating recording.

It turned out that Hong Yunquan — himself a former influencer for three years — was recognized by former fans as the C-Platform “Piggy”.

Before netizens could start hating on him, Hong Yunquan logged into his Weibo account — which he hadn’t used for over a year — and posted a statement.

It began with a lengthy apology, admitting he was wrong. At the end, he revealed the truth: he had no money to buy trending searches or hire online trolls, and the real mastermind behind the viral smear campaign was none other than Li Sinian’s own younger brother, Li Wenxing.