was no one buying them? Morris and his wife sighed.
Clara answered, I don't know what's going on. It's been like this the whole day. People
who pass by the restaurant run to the other side of the street when they see our sign, as
if they've seen a ghost.
Son, Morris pleaded, why don't we just sell chicken noodle soup again? Aiden frowned
and walked over to Boss Romano, who was munching on some cake. Aiden grabbed a
piece off of Romano's plate and shoved it into his mouth. Strange, he thought.
There's no problem with the taste. After getting to know Boss Romano, Aiden realized
that this big, bald man wasn't nearly as scary as you might guess from his appearance.
He was actually a really nice person to talk to.
Aiden felt very comfortable around him. Hey, you brat! Romano shouted jovially. I'm
going to make you pay for that piece! Hey, what do you think of this cake? Aiden asked
casually.
Boss Romano knew why Aiden was asking. He stayed silent for a moment and then said,
How should I put it? It's good, but I'm not much of a cake guy, you know? But it doesn't
make sense that you have so few customers, that's for sure. So Boss Romano had also
noticed that something was wrong.
I think I know how you could revive this place. Make it the way it was before. You want to
know how? Boss Romano raised his eyebrows and revealed a sly smile.
Tell me, how many bowls do you want? Aiden sighed helplessly. Boss Romano instantly
stretched out three fingers. Aiden shook his head and walked into the kitchen.
Soon, three bowls of fragrant chicken noodle soup made by Aiden were placed in front of
him. Boss Romano began to wolf down the soup as he said ambiguously, Don't you
worry, kid. Tomorrow, I'm going to help you investigate.
That night, Aiden signed into the newly created Facebook page for Midnight Snack
Corner. Puzzling, it looked like the number of followers had steadily increased from
yesterday morning until this morning. But in the afternoon, the number had suddenly
skyrocketed.
What happened this afternoon? He had no choice but to wait for news from Boss
Romano. The next day, Aiden was a little out of sorts. His mind was racing with different
possibilities.
It wasn't easy for him to wait until the end of the afternoon. After school let out, he
rushed back to the shop impatiently. Today, it wasn't Boss Romano himself who came to
the shop, but one of his lackeys.
It was the burly man who had come to Aiden's aid once before. He had heard Boss
Romano call him Frank. When Frank saw Aiden appear, he immediately handed over a
piece of paper.
Boss asked me to give this to you. Aiden's family came over to see what it was. As they
scanned the document, their faces dropped.
The paper was a printout of a post from the Bayside District's local forum. The subject of
the post was Midnight Snack Corner. The title was pretty eye-catching.
Midnight Snack Corner, a popular restaurant in Bayside District, puts opioids in their
chicken noodle soup. The article had been posted anonymously. It was very long, but it
could be summarized in a few sentences.
The author has seen with his own eyes that the cooks at Midnight Snack Corner add
opioids in their soup. When the owner started to worry that people might suspect him,
he stopped selling soup and started selling cake instead. Furthermore, the author has
discovered that the recipe for their cakes was stolen from the bakery across the street.
At the end of the post, the author called on all the people of Bayside District to boycott
the unscrupulous business. The article had already received a lot of attention, and
numerous comments had been posted. What? I just had chicken noodle soup two days
ago! Is there still time to go to the hospital? Damn it! No wonder it tastes so amazing!
There are drugs in it! I can't believe that there are people like this living in the Bayside
District.
I'm going to send this to all my friends so they can see what's really going on here. My
heart aches for the Vale Bakery. They were robbed by this piece of trash.
Hopefully their community will support them. Aiden turned on his computer and found
the article. It was posted yesterday afternoon.
That was the exact time that the restaurant had started losing customers. Aiden could
see that insults directed at the restaurant were still flooding in, one scathing comment
after another. Meanwhile, Vale Bakery had used this article to their advantage to garner
sympathy.
That's why they had had so many customers these last two days. It didn't take too much
detective work to guess this was all related to Rudy somehow. The person who had
published the article was either Rudy himself, or he had hired someone to do it.
Aiden, after our investigation, we found out that the kid who came to the restaurant the
other day to make trouble was sent by Rudy, Frank said. All signs pointed in the same
direction. Morris was trembling with anger.
He rolled up his sleeves and was about to cross the street. Aiden stopped him. Dad,
what's the use of rushing over now? We don't have any evidence yet.
If we confront them, how's that going to look? Who will people believe? Them or us?
But... Morris was too angry to think clearly. He paced back and forth in the hall. Morris,
Frank said fiercely.
What about you and me going over there and tearing that place to the ground, eh? What
do you say? Aiden rolled his eyes at this suggestion. Should we go to the police station?
Morris asked. Don't worry, Aiden said.
Leave this to me. I think it's about time that Rudy gets taught a lesson about what
happens to people who try to mess with me. Aiden's eyes were cold as he thought about
how he would take revenge.
Ding. Planning ability, plus one. Current progress, one out of ten.
Current level, beginner. In an instant, his mind was filled with countless plans and
strategies. Each and every one would make Rudy wish he'd never set eyes on Aiden.
The aura that Aiden exuded made Frank's hair stand on end. He looked at the young
man in front of him and shivered. There seemed to be a deadly storm brewing in the
depths of Aiden's eyes.
He had never felt such a cold and strange aura even in Boss Romano. Frank made a note
to himself that he'd better never get on Aiden's bad side. Ding.
Intimidation. Aura, plus one. For the next few days, the Midnight Snack Corner
barely had any customers. Morris and Clara thought it would be best to close the
restaurant for a few days, but Aiden disagreed.
Wouldn't closing the restaurant now be the same as admitting we've done something
wrong? He pointed out, so they gave up on this idea. More posts appeared on Bayside
District's local forum, each one casting a different array of insults. What was even more
upsetting was that people were starting to leave nasty comments on the Facebook page
too.
Why hasn't this place been closed down yet? Get out of the Bayside District! Aiden didn't
tell his parents about this. It would just upset them unnecessarily. Meanwhile, Veil
Bakery was doing great business.
Rudy was suddenly somebody who people praised on the street. His father, Old Rudy,
was even more proud of himself. He bragged to his neighbors all day long about how
popular his son waswas Aiden, on the other hand, was now held up as a negative example by the neighbors as a
lesson for their children. The people who used to be regulars at Midnight Snack Corner
didn't even come in to say hi now. How quickly people were able to discard old
relationships and form new ones when it was convenient for them.
One night, Rudy walked up to the entrance of Midnight Snack Corner smelling of alcohol.
Look here! Where's the star of the street? Midnight Snack Corner! Rudy flung his arms
wide in mock awe. Not too many guests here today though, no sirree! Rudy smiled
arrogantly and almost lost his footing as he steadied himself in the doorframe.
Rudy! Admit it! You know who's behind this, don't you? Clara was beyond angry. I don't
understand what you're talking about! Rudy scratched his ear and sneered. The reason
your shop ended up like this is because you were drugging people! Bullshit! Morris
blurted.
He punched Rudy on the bridge of his nose. Morris wasn't a young man anymore, but he
knew how to throw a good punch. Rudy was knocked to the ground.
His nose was crooked and it was bleeding onto the front of his shirt. Rudy brought his
hand gingerly to his face and let out a delayed scream. This attracted the attention of
the neighbors.
My boy! Old Rudy came out of the bakery and helped his son up. He glared at Morris.
Why in the hell did you do that? A crowd started to form and they all seemed to be on
Rudy's side.
Is it because his bakery business is better than yours? One person yelled. Is that why you
hate him so much? Don't take it out on Rudy just because your son's a failure. It doesn't
matter what the circumstances are.
You can't just hit people like that. Morris looked around and tried to explain, but he didn't
know what to say. So many people were yelling at him at once.
Aiden, who was still upstairs, noticed the commotion outside the restaurant. He rushed
down the stairs. Within seconds, Aiden appeared in front of Morris.
He stood between his father and the crowd and looked around coldly. Do you really think
we would add something like that to the chicken noodle soup? Old Rudy didn't know
what had happened. He thought his son had been hit for no reason.
Your restaurant has been here for over ten years. Everyone knows what it used to be
like, he said accusingly. Your soup never would have started selling so well if you weren't
drugging it.
But even after everything you've done, you still can't stand to see our restaurant do well, can you? The other neighbors nodded their heads repeatedly, obviously in agreement
with Old Rudy. Hood, who was selling meat nearby, sighed loudly. Morris, Clara, Aiden,
you know we value honesty around here.
He began, clearly disappointed. You guys lied to your customers and secretly added
drugs to your food. That was a terrible thing to do, and you're lucky we didn't call the
police on you.
After Hood had finished speaking, the others took up the crusade. Many of them had
resented the Dales for a long time and now jumped at the opportunity to berate Aiden.
Others urged Aiden and his family to confess to their crimes, never even considering the
possibility they might be innocent.
At the moment, it seemed like the entire street was united against the Dale family.
Aiden's eyes grew cold as he watched the scene unfold. They always cut down the tallest
poppy first, as the expression went.
Business at the Midnight Snack Corner had been booming recently, and the neighboring
business owners had clearly become jealous. Although they hadn't said anything before,
now that they had the excuse of the drugged food, they didn't care whether it was true
or not. They were simply glad for the chance to slander Aiden and his family.
Although Rudy was still lying on the ground in pain, the shadow of an evil smile flirted
with the corners of his mouth. Morris and Clara, for their part, had never suffered such
injustice before. They were so angry they were almost shaking, and Morris' face had
turned bright red.
Aiden, however, remained perfectly calm. His cold eyes rested on the neighbors one by
one. It seemed like he was trying to memorize their faces.
The neighbors grew uneasy under Aiden's gaze. Many shook with nervousness, but they
were unable to say anything. The entire street fell silent.
Aura Plus One