Chapter 330 - 329: I Absolutely Cannot Let Xuexue Down

She hadn’t had a scallion pancake in a long time.

A savory pancake with a fragrant, crispy crust. Take a gentle bite, and your teeth sink into the outer layer with a CRUNCH. It’s like biting into a cracker, but once you chew past the crispiness, a soft, fragrant interior takes over your tongue. A single bite fills your mouth with the rich aroma of scallion and oil.

After a few more bites of the pancake, scoop up a spoonful of the hot scallion and tofu soup. The delicate, smooth silken tofu is the perfect palate cleanser. Just as the soup washes away some of the rich scallion flavor, you follow it with another bite of the pancake. The clear soup and the crispy pancake—they’re a perfect match.

As a food streamer, Jiang Qiuqiu didn’t say much. She wasn’t even looking at the camera. But her look of pure satisfaction was enough to stir up an insatiable appetite in anyone watching.

’It made you wonder, could this seemingly ordinary pancake (which smelled just a *little* bit divine) really be that good?’

Of course, only the fans of the streamer next door, It’s snowing today, would agonize over such a question. Jiang Qiuqiu’s fans wouldn’t waste time talking—they’d just dig right in!

-

Xue Zhongfei was a fan of the food channel streamer, It’s snowing today.

You could tell just from his name that he was a loyal fan of It’s snowing today. After all, you could only register one ID and choose one nickname per terminal with the Federation Live Broadcast Company, and once you set it, you couldn’t change it.

Considering that, anyone willing to tie their permanent username to a streamer was definitely a die-hard fan.

He didn’t just love her for her superb cooking skills (questionable), but also for her delicate, sweet voice (a little), and her cute, if not stunning, looks (a little). In short, he had been a fan of It’s snowing today for two or three years.

There were hundreds of other veteran fans just like him. They had even formed their own small group chat called "Snowflake’s Surprise," which served as a semi-official fan-run group, independent of the streamer herself.

The members of the group had been through the annual competition two or three times already, so they were quite familiar with the procedure.

Before today’s competition began, Xue Zhongfei and the others in the group chat made a pact. Even though they had to "buy" the food from the rival stream to cast their votes, they swore they absolutely would not eat it.

What was it they’d said again—

"We have to stand strong for Xuexue!"

"Shouldn’t die-hard fans have some backbone? We’re her most loyal supporters, how can we be so fickle?"

"The boiled meatballs Xuexue prepared are more than enough for us! We’ll eat a hundred of them! Who cares about the stream next door!"

"We need to have the swagger of fans whose streamer will one day rank in the top... er, well, rank high in the food channel! We only eat food made by our own streamer!"

As for why they made this decision, it was because this was the core fan group. As Xuexue’s core fans, they had to increase their core competency!

They wouldn’t eat food from any other streamer, regardless of whether it was good or not. That way, they could love Xuexue wholeheartedly. And in the future, when arguing with other fan groups, they could just mindlessly insist that Xuexue’s food was the best!

’After all, they wouldn’t have tried anything else.’

They might miss out on some other great food streamers this way, but—who cares?

—For the sake of love, one must always make sacrifices.

—Besides, it’s not like we’ve seen anyone *that* appealing, hahaha. And Xuexue’s cooking isn’t bad!

—It has that revolving restaurant vibe, and it’s super innovative!

That afternoon, when they made the pact, Xue Zhongfei had been right there laughing along with them.

But now—

Limited time, unlimited supply. He had already claimed his portion of the scallion pancake and tofu soup.

A white porcelain plate held the pancake, glistening lightly with oil. Beside it, the soup sent up wisps of steam, its aroma light but irresistibly tempting.

The data kept the meal perfectly preserved; it would never get cold. It just sat there, continuously emitting the fragrance of scallion oil. Because it was so close, the sensors were exceptionally sensitive.

...

’It smells too good! No! I have to get rid of this pancake and soup! Otherwise, I won’t be able to resist! I’ll be letting Xuexue down! I absolutely can’t do this!’