Chapter 80: Come Grab the Taste-testing Slots with Me

The stream had been live for over ten minutes. The homepage recommendation was still going strong. The dish she was making today seemed rather conventional, not as eye-catching as the blood curd from last time.

But with the boost from the recommendation, tens of millions of new users still poured into the stream.

Everyone was chattering noisily, talking about all sorts of things. Jiang Qiuqiu’s stream was always unavoidably chaotic in the beginning.

However, no matter how rowdy it got, the noise never carried over into the part after she heated the oil in the wok.

"We’ll place the cooked bean sprouts at the bottom of the bowl, then heat some oil in the wok—"

It was the same large wok. She ladled half a spoonful of clear, golden oil with an iron spoon, coating the bottom. As the temperature steadily rose, the oil began to spatter slightly. "The meat slices are boiled, but the spices need to be stir-fried to bring out their fragrance."

"Once the wok is hot, we’ll add the chili paste, scallions, and cilantro."

These three ingredients were all aromatic seasonings. The heat accelerated the movement of their molecules, mingling the numbing spice of the chili with the unique, fresh scent of the scallions. Puffs of fragrant smoke wafted from the wok.

The smell was a little pungent, but while it made you choke, the aroma was also doubly intense.

At this moment, the live comments were at their most peaceful.

The passersby coming and going, the dedicated fans camped out in the stream—at this moment, they were all like customers waiting in front of the same wok, looking at the fragrant, delicious, and incredibly tempting food and asking—

#Excuse me, what is she stir-frying? Is that edible?#

#It smells so good...#

"Once the fragrance is released, we’ll add a large ladleful of water."

She put the lid on, trapping the aroma inside. Jiang Qiuqiu glanced at the live comments. "Eat this? The seasonings alone would be very strong. It might smell good, but it probably wouldn’t taste very nice."

"You just want to try it?"

A flood of "Yeahs" and "Yeses" flashed across the screen; it seemed many people were curious.

Jiang Qiuqiu thought for a moment. After the water in the wok came to a boil, she first ladled out a spoonful of the broth and set it aside before sliding the meat slices into the wok.

Once the meat was in the wok, the next steps went by quickly.

The reddish slices of meat quickly turned white as they tumbled in the boiling water, then took on a different shade of red—the red of the chilies—distinct from their natural color.

The red chili oil coated their surface. Soon, the meat slices, along with the broth beneath, began to bubble and roll.

Jiang Qiuqiu knew what her audience liked to see, so she deliberately zoomed the camera in closer.

The bubbling dance of delicious food needed no artistic composition. Just this small screen, just this—

In their dorm room, Wanxing and Wei Mian were both pressed right up against the screen.

「The night had deepened.」

If this were the old Wanxing, she would have started studying by now, then gone to bed early to prepare for tomorrow’s monthly exam.

But ever since she’d accidentally watched one of Jiang Qiuqiu’s streams with Wei Mian, she hadn’t missed a single one since.

Wei Mian looked at the Academic God, who was completely engrossed in the stream, and felt a rare pang of guilt. "Xingxing, maybe I shouldn’t have called you over to watch. This is affecting your studies too much."

"You should be studying, that’s the only way to guarantee—"

"It’s nothing, you don’t have to feel guilty." Wanxing glanced at her. "Watching a stream isn’t going to stop me from getting first place and an ’excellent’ rating."

"Besides, I don’t even have to study all the time to get first place."

"???"

What the hell? "You can get first place without studying all the time? Then why were you always studying before?"

"Because there was nothing else important to do. If I wasn’t studying, I had nothing to do. Anyway, stop talking about irrelevant things. Hurry up, the food is almost ready. It’s time to fight for a spot."

"You need to keep your eyes glued to your terminal. There are two of us. If we both go all out, our chances of being chosen by the ’goddess’ will double. So hurry!"

She urged Wei Mian, who was standing beside her.

Wei Mian: ...

’My feelings are hurt! But we still have to fight for the food together!’

’If we don’t get it, that’ll be a double blow! Let’s go!’