Chapter 339 - 338: Wang Henli Actually Has Some Talent

"Nope." Jiang Qiuqiu looked up as she washed the cauliflower. "We’re not having skewers today."

"It’s a different kind of delicacy than skewers."

"It’s barbecue." Because she was on a time limit, Jiang Qiuqiu moved extremely fast—the fastest she had ever been on any of her livestreams.

She used a powerful stream of water to rinse the vegetables that had nooks and crannies, piling them to one side. Then she took out the leafy greens, washed them carefully, and set them aside as well.

After preparing the vegetables, she started slicing the meat. Barbecue would be incomplete without pork belly. The perfectly marbled slices would be grilled over charcoal until the fat rendered, the outside turning golden-brown and crispy without being greasy. You could never have too many skewers of that.

She barely needed to look at the cutting board. With a knife in one hand and her other hand guiding the meat, she pushed forward at a steady, swift pace. Uniformly thin slices were arranged neatly on the board. A perfect presentation!

Besides pork belly, there was also tender beef. She cut the slightly reddish beef into small cubes. They couldn’t be too big, or it would be hard to control the cooking time—the outside would get tough while the inside was still raw. But they couldn’t be too small, either, or they would shrivel into little balls on the grill, losing the beef’s tender, juicy texture.

’They have to be just the right size. They’ll curl up slightly in the high heat, turning a delicate white. Brush them with some barbecue sauce, and they’re done just as the juices start to seep out. That first bite—’

’The unique aroma of the beef would mingle with the barbecue sauce, bursting with flavor. No one could resist a second skewer.’

In addition to beef, there was also beef fat. This was a rare ingredient that Jiang Qiuqiu had stumbled upon at the agricultural research institute. When she bought it, it was called "white adipose tissue," which sounded a bit intimidating, but to eat it...

’Delicious!’

’It’s like crispy rendered pork lard, but even more flavorful. The melted exterior of the grilled beef fat holds something akin to a rich, savory meat juice...’

Whenever Jiang Qiuqiu sliced an ingredient, an image of the finished, grilled dish would immediately pop into her head.

So much so that, even with just the raw ingredients in front of her, she was starting to get hungry herself.

Only being able to hear the sound without seeing the video was unnerving. Wang Henli had someone project the feed from Jiang Qiuqiu’s livestream onto the back of his own camera robot.

He felt a flicker of fear when he saw that Jiang Qiuqiu was preparing the exact same ingredients as him, but he breathed a sigh of relief when he heard her switch to barbecue.

’As long as it’s not the same, it’s fine.’

’If it’s not the same, then among a hundred different foods and a hundred different people, surely someone would prefer his.’

But before he could fully relax, the way Jiang Qiuqiu prepped her ingredients became a thorn in Wang Henli’s side.

’...Why is she so fast?’

’How can she cut everything so quickly and so neatly?’

’I’m number one. I can’t fall behind right from the start.’ Wang Henli gritted his teeth and sped up his own knife work. He had never moved like this before, however, and his sudden haste made his slices a little uneven.

But soon, as his spiritual power became more focused, sweat dripped from his brow, and his gaze grew more intense. Wang Henli actually started to pick up speed. Although he still couldn’t match Jiang Qiuqiu, it was already an improvement compared to his usual self.

Wang Tuantuan’s mother, Fanghua, was also watching him from the side...

’This was what Wang Henli used to be like, long ago.’

’He was a talented chef.’

’He also did it for Wang Tuantuan... It’s just that later...’

A strange look appeared in her mother’s eyes again. Wang Tuantuan’s heart tightened. She hugged her doll and bumped into her mother, though it was unclear if the child was being careless or if her mother’s injuries covered too large an area.

The impact caused the pain she was already in to suddenly intensify. Fanghua almost cried out.