Chapter 2 — The Sweet Taste After Criticism

The next morning, the Sunny Cake shop was more deserted than usual. Mai stood behind the counter, counting and re-counting the three customers over the course of two hours, a pathetic number compared to the usual number of customers during the morning rush hour.

“That review is truly devastating,” Linh said, wiping the counter while glancing at the door in the faint hope of someone coming in. "I just saw that three of my friends have confirmed that they have postponed their birthday party and ordered a cake at my place, moving to another store."

Mai didn't answer, just sighed, her eyes still glued to the phone. She stayed up until two o'clock in the morning to dig, and finally found an important clue - the account that often checked in, after a while of pleading via text message, revealed that "True Taste" often goes to a working coffee shop near the office area, at a fixed time every Tuesday and Thursday morning to "edit articles before posting".

Today is Thursday.

"I'm going to do something," Mai said, taking off her apron and hanging it on the hook, "you can help me look after the shop."

“Where are you going with your face as tense as a guitar string?” Linh asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Finding justice,” Mai replied, her voice trying to sound serious but sounding strangely humorous as she uttered it amidst the smell of buttermilk lingering on the apron she had just taken off.

The coffee shop is located about fifteen minutes by motorbike from the bakery. It has a modern space and many private working corners for office workers with laptops. Mai walked in, glanced around the shop, trying to find the silhouette of the man wearing a white shirt yesterday in her limited memory.

She almost gave up after ten minutes of looking at each table, until her eyes stopped at the innermost corner - a man sitting with his back to the door, an open laptop in front of him, next to a leather-bound notebook and, most notably, a small silver spoon placed neatly next to a cup of coffee, exactly like the representative image of the "True Taste" account.

Mai's heart beat faster. She came closer, stood right behind him, glanced at the laptop screen - and was dumbfounded when she saw the words being typed: "...the small bakery in the alley has many shortcomings in the process, but the basic formula shows potential..."

“It's you,” Mai blurted out, her voice loud enough to make several people at a nearby table turn to look.

The man turned around in surprise, and Mai immediately recognized that it was the customer who bought the cream puffs yesterday. He looked at her for a moment, seemingly trying to remember where he had seen her before, before recognition dawned in his eyes.

“You are…”

“Owner of Sun Cake Shop,” Mai interrupted, crossing her arms over her chest, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible even though she was seething inside. “The store that you just wrote a merciless review about.”

He closed his laptop, somewhat confused but quickly regained his usual composure. "I just wrote exactly what I tasted. The cake's filling is thick, one cake with burnt edges is still on sale - that's the truth, not a misrepresentation."

“True or not, you don't need to take close-ups of the burned cake like you're doing a crime investigation report,” Mai retorted, her voice getting louder and louder. “Do you know how many customers my store lost because of that article?”

“If the quality is not stable, customers will lose sooner or later,” he said, his voice still steady and unflinching, which made Mai even angrier. “I'm just speeding it up a bit.”

That saying is like add more fuel to the fire. Mai opened her mouth to respond more harshly, but at that moment, another man from the next table quickly ran over, seemingly a friend or colleague of "Vic Giac Tru", trying to calm the situation.

“Sorry, let me explain,” this person said, his voice urgent, “Mr. Kien is just…”

“Kien,” Mai repeated, as if she had grasped an important piece of the puzzle. “So Vi Giac Tru's real name is Kien.”

The man named Kien looked at his friend with "what did you just do" eyes, while the other friend - Mai later learned his name was Tung - laughed guiltily.

"Er... I missed my words," Tung scratched his head, "but okay, calm down, let us explain better? Let's find a place to sit and talk properly."

Mai hesitated for a moment, but thinking of the empty shop this morning, she decided to sit down, even though her eyes still couldn't hide her frustration and directed towards Kien.

“I have no intention of apologizing for the content of the article,” Kien said first, getting straight to the point in the no-nonsense style that has made him famous. “But I admit, the presentation may have been a bit more… harsh than necessary.”

“Just a little?” Mai raised her eyebrows.

“Okay, quite harsh,” Kien corrected, although his voice still had no real remorse in it.

Tung, sitting between the two people like a reluctant referee, quickly stepped in. "Actually, we are preparing to make a new series on the channel, called 'Reviving Small Restaurant' - choosing restaurants and bakeries that have potential but are having difficulty, helping them improve their processes and recipes, then come back to evaluate after a while. We are thinking about choosing a location for the first episode..."

"Don't tell me," Mai squinted her eyes, having a bad feeling.

"That's right," Tung nodded vigorously, "we think Banh Nang would be the perfect choice. The original recipe has a lot of potential, just needs a few operational tweaks."

Mai looked from Tung to Kien, feeling like she was being pushed into a game that she didn't want to participate in. “You mean, after trashing my shop, you now want me to agree to let you make a public 'correction' video?”

"In other words, that's right," Kien replied bluntly, making Mai want to throw the glass of water she was holding in his face.

"I don't need it," Mai stood up, about to leave, but Tung quickly pulled her sleeve back.

“Miss Mai, listen to what we have to say first,” Tung said, his voice pleading. “This is an opportunity for your shop to be known in a more positive way. Our channel has a large following, and a successful 'revival' video can bring back many times the lost number of customers.”

Mai stopped and considered. She glanced at Kien, who still kept his cold, unpredictable expression, then thought of the empty shop this morning, of her mother's recipe book, of the pressure of the month-end rent hanging in the balance.

“I need to think,” she said, her voice softening somewhat, although the wariness in her eyes still remained intact when looking at Kien. “But first of all, if I agree, I will closely monitor every word in the script, not letting you guys cut and paste and turn my shop into a laughing stock again.”

"Fair," Kien nodded. For the first time since the beginning of the conversation, the corner of his mouth slightly raised - not exactly a smile, but enough for Mai to realize that perhaps this unpleasant man was not as completely emotionless as she thought.

On the way back to the shop, Mai still hasn't gotten over her resentment, but in her head she has begun to calculate - if this cooperation really helps save the business situation, perhaps she should swallow her anger and seriously consider it, even though having to work with someone who has just "put down" her mercilessly does not sound pleasant at all.

Returning to the shop, Linh was sitting behind the counter with her knees bent, her face sad because she had only sold a few loaves of bread all morning. Seeing Mai walk in with a complicated expression — both frowning and pensive — Linh immediately stood up.

"What's wrong? Have you found it yet? Was there a fight?" Linh asked quickly, her eyes bright and full of genuine gossip-like curiosity.

"Found it," Mai replied, sitting down on the chair, recounting the entire dramatic encounter at the coffee shop, from the discovery of the silver spoon, to Tung's accidentally revealed Kien's name, to the offer to film the show "Hoi Sinh Quan Nho".

After listening, Linh was silent for a moment and then burst out laughing. "Oh my god, it sounds like a cheap romance movie - the female lead is being dragged down by the male lead, then the male lead offers to help to make up for his mistake. Didn't you read the script before taking on the role?"

"I don't have any role," Mai snapped, although the corner of her mouth slightly curled up because she realized the situation was as ridiculous as Linh said. "The problem is that I'm wondering whether or not I should accept the offer. On the one hand, I'm angry, on the other hand... this month's sales are really bad."

Linh stopped smiling and her face became more serious. "Honestly, I think you should consider carefully. That guy's channel is really big, if you do it right, you can save your shop. But you also have to be careful, don't let him make you a laughing stock again."

“I think so too,” Mai nodded, took her mother's recipe book off the shelf, and flipped through a few yellowed pages. “But if I accept, I will set clear conditions from the beginning, not letting him act on his own like last time.”

In the evening, after closing, Mai sat down to compile a long list of terms that she wanted to make if she decided to cooperate — from being able to pre-approve all posted content, to keeping her mother's original recipe intact, not being able to arbitrarily change it without consulting. She typed each line with the seriousness of a lawyer drafting a contract, even though she was still nervous about what this decision would ultimately lead to - an opportunity to save the bakery, or just the beginning of a new set of problems even bigger than the last disastrous review.