The live stream was winding down. Jiang Qiuqiuâs voice was tinged with a smile as she said her goodbyes. "Thatâs all for todayâs Red Braised Gugu Meat with Rice. I... oh, thatâs right. Itâs time to announce tomorrowâs menu."
Someone asked if it was going to be another red braised dish.
"No. The recent streams have all been meat dishes. Tomorrowâs dish is a bit special."
#Terry: How special?#
"Hmm..." She said playfully, scooping up a handful of snow-white rice. "The star of tomorrowâs menu is this."
With that, Jiang Qiuqiu ended the stream.
The crowd erupted in discussion. A dish where rice was the star? What could that be? Red Braised Rice? Deep-fried Rice? Or perhaps Boiled Rice?
Culinary knowledge had been severely fractured over time, so no one could offer a concrete guess. That is, until the recording of Jiang Qiuqiuâs stream finished uploading with a bonus clip at the endâ
The streamerâs soft, gentle voice, full of warmth, said, "I only mentioned the main ingredient before, I forgot to say the name of the dish. Tomorrow night at eight, Iâll be in my stream room to enjoy some âchangfenâ with all of you."
Changfen?
On the Federation Star Networkâs streaming forums, a thread about Jiang Qiuqiuâs menu for tomorrow instantly blew up.
People didnât know what "changfen" was, but they certainly knew what "chang" was!
#Topic: Is âchangfenâ a form of dark cuisine?#
-In the community, just left the stream. Iâm dying to know how you can take âintestinesâ and âriceâ as ingredients and possibly end up with something called âchangfenâ (intestine powder/noodles).
-Uhm, what?
-Thanks for asking. I feel like itâs probably just intestines stuffed with ground rice powder, right?
-???
-Holy crap, @ a couple posts up, what kind of guess is that? I feel like I can already smell the dish just from the name.
-BLECH, spit spit spit. I refuse to believe my precious, adorable streamer would make something so weird. Spit spit spit.
-Okay, letâs try another angle. Maybe you grind the intestines into powder, mix it with steamed rice, and knead it into strips? And thatâs âchangfenâ?
-...You can turn meat into powder?
-Maybe you have to freeze-dry it with liquid nitrogen first?
-What if the final product comes out a little... yellow?
-There arenât any yellow ingredients, so how could it be... wait???
From there, the thread spiraled down a path of unbelievably gross speculation.
By the time the thread reached over eight hundred posts, almost everyone was just commenting: âI trust theyâll be washed clean.â
-I trust âem too.
-Praying theyâre washed clean.
-+1
-+100001
...
Meimei forwarded this thread to Jiang Qiuqiu and asked, "Are you planning to make some kind of gross-out dish? Youâre still on the rise; Iâd advise against doing something like this."
Meimei was deeply worried. "Youâre a food streamer with real potential. You donât need this... stuff to grab attention. Juju, Juju, are you there?"
Jiang Qiuqiu: ?
She didnât quite understand what Meimei meant. âHang on, let me read the thread first.â
So, Jiang Qiuqiu navigated to that little corner of the fan community, and then she burst out laughing.
Lying on her bed, she almost laughed herself out of breath.
âSeriously, officer? How could anyoneâs mind even go in that direction? So weird.â
âNo wonder Meimei was so scared.â
Jiang Qiuqiu: Changfen is completely different from what theyâre saying in the thread. Itâs just a relatively light dish.
Meimei: Thatâs good. Youâre the streamer I have the highest hopes for, and Iâll do everything in my power to push you to the top. If youâre going to make any big decisions, you have to tell me.
Jiang Qiuqiu: I will.
Meimei: Keep it up! Take another step forward tomorrow.
After the passionate conversation with her editor, Jiang Qiuqiu checked her account balance. She withdrew some Star Coins to pay this monthâs bills, and then she thought, âOnce I sign the contract, Iâll move to a new place.â
âThis place is just... too cramped.â
âIt would be nice to have a place like before, with a front and back yard, a flower garden, and a vegetable patch.â