At 7 PM, the live stream started right on time.
Hundreds of millions of people flooded into the stream room right on the dot. After Jiang Qiuqiu greeted the camera as usual, the smart mainframe began to assign her an opponent.
Her opponentâs small, black window appeared on her stream, and Jiang Qiuqiu picked up her kitchen knife.
She smiled at the camera. "Today, weâre making red-braised bird."
She called it a bird, but it was actually a chickenâa flightless one with a pointed beak, partial plumage, and tender, snow-white meat.
The camera immediately panned to the cutting board. With a swift chop, Jiang Qiuqiu sent the chickenâs head rolling to the side. "This part is a bit graphic, so I went ahead and processed the bird before the stream started."
"Before cooking, you have to remove all the feathers and innards. Usually, we discard the head and tail as wellâ"
As she spoke, Jiang Qiuqiu chopped the large chicken into appropriately sized chunks, which would help them absorb the flavor.
Then, a comment suddenly popped up in the chat: [If you usually chop off the head and tail, what about the unusual cases?]
This person was a VIP, so their comment was colored. Jiang Qiuqiu happened to see it and replied, "If you like them, you donât have to remove them."
[...Does anyone actually like to eat the butt?!!]
[Eating the butt!?]
[But thatâs the ***?]
[Oh my god! Thatâs the *** that goes *poot poot poot*!]
[Why can the person above me send voice messages? Iâm gonna puke. Why are we talking about this?]
[You guys are so gross. I can almost smell it.]
Many new viewers happened to tune in at that exact moment.
âThe first thing they saw was a chat full of butts and smells? ...What kind of smell could a butt possibly have?!â
[? The stream for this yearâs top contender is so wild. Itâs nothing like last year.]
This wave of comments clearly indicated that new people had arrived. The moderators patrolling the stream room quickly cleared the previous messages and posted a formal [Welcome, newcomers].
[Are there newcomers? Donât miss out, step right up! Today weâre having delicious red-braised bird, and itâs our Jujuâs first time making this dish! Youâre all in for a treat!]
[...? Her first time? And theyâre calling it delicious?] But no one had even tasted it yet.
[Because Juju has never made a bad dish!]
Jiang Qiuqiu couldnât see the storm brewing in the comments for the time being.
Her entire focus was on the wok. Red-braised chicken was a very simple, home-style dish, but sometimes the simplest dishes were the easiest to mess up.
The blanching time had to be just right; too long and the chicken would become dry and tough.
The temperature for adding it to the wok also had to be perfect. Too high, and it would burn; too low, and it wouldnât be able to seal in the freshness and juices.
The pursuit of ultimate deliciousness came down to these split-second decisions.
A quick pass through boiling water made the chicken skin shrink automatically. The partially cooked meat turned a pale white. She heated the wok over high heat, added oil, and let the aromatics bloom. When the time was right, Jiang Qiuqiu poured the chicken into the wok.
This was the first layer of fragrance.
The chicken pieces tumbled in the wok. Jiang Qiuqiu held the handle with one hand and, with a slight flick of her wrist, sent the meat leaping into the air before falling back down.
She remembered asking her master, back when she was just starting to learn how to cook, why you had to toss the wok when a simple stir-fry would cook the food just fine.
Her master had jokingly told her, "Because after you toss the wok, the food gains âwok hei,â and thatâs what makes it delicious."
The memories of the past were distant, but they had never faded. As Jiang Qiuqiu thought of her master, a hint of nostalgia filled her eyes.
âHer master probably never imagined that the culinary skills she taught her would end up benefiting her across two lifetimes.â
-
It wasnât a busy day, so Little President Qian and Meimei were watching Jiang Qiuqiuâs stream together.
Little President Qian was practically drooling as he watched. "Itâs a critical hit every time," he said.
"The entire interstellar community should be watching this streamâ"
"The entire interstellar community will become Qiuqiuâs fans."