["Huh? Is this really a streamer from the gourmet section?"]
["Did they buy promoted traffic? What is going on with dy? What kind of garbage are they pushing onto my feed???"]
["Don't be like that, the last thing the streamer made was actually pretty delicious."]
As soon as this comment—clearly taking Ling Miao's side—was posted, it was cursed into oblivion by everyone in the live broadcast room.
["With just this little traffic, they're already hiring water army???"]
Ding Yien angrily typed out this line of text, staring at the broadcast page. Such a pretty girl could totally be a streamer in the beauty section, yet she insisted on coming to the gourmet section just to grab attention!
There were quite a few people who thought just like him. The fierce debates in the live room attracted numerous onlookers, and for a moment, the traffic was growing at an encouraging rate.
Ling Miao looked at the bickering barrage on the screen and said nothing. Most of them were attacking her for attention-seeking behavior, while only a tiny fraction of people were still speaking up for her.
Even more of them were just onlookers watching secretly and not understanding what was going on.
Xiong Yichen and his younger sister Xiong Yixi were precisely that batch of people hiding in the live room and watching secretly.
"Brother, can this really work?"
Xiong Yixi curled up on the sofa, looking at her brother's translucent live broadcast panel in front of him, where the streamer was introducing the ingredients in front of her one by one.
The most eye-catching thing was the bamboo shoots placed right in the center!
A bear's absolute favorite!
She never expected that after so many years, people in the Interstellar would actually start trying bamboo shoots!
*You really have an eye for this.jpg*
Regardless of what anyone else in the live room was saying, the Xiong siblings decided to hunker down in this live room and not leave.
Ling Miao was still unaware of what the viewers in the live room were thinking.
She picked up the kitchen knife, skillfully slicing the spring bamboo shoots diagonally, and then processed the other ingredients she bought from the System one by one. She trimmed the roots of the seafood mushrooms.
Plump and fair, the seafood mushrooms were chubby and uniform in thickness, exuding the faint, unique fragrance characteristic of fungi. Ling Miao raised the kitchen knife and chopped down in one clean stroke.
As the blade hit the chopping board, the suffocating frustration in her chest seemed to dissipate a little bit.
Fine, whatever; it wasn't the first time she had experienced the System's stinginess!
Aside from the fresh spring bamboo shoots and some ingredients and seasonings she already possessed,
the rest of the ingredients and seasonings had been purchased from the System mall. Thinking of her wallet, which had shrunk by more than half, Ling Miao gritted her teeth and brought her knife down onto the tofu once more.
Fortunately, she had reined in her strength when she landed it, otherwise this entire block of white-jade tender tofu would have directly turned into mush.
Pulling herself together, she continued processing the other ingredients, putting the river prawns in scallion and ginger to remove the fishy smell and marinate, while the water prepared in the pot had already come close to a boil.
Ling Miao had no time to spare for anything else. She put the prepared spring bamboo shoots into the boiling water to blanch, her hands moving without pause as she explained along: "This step is to get rid of the bitter taste in the spring bamboo shoots."
Bamboo shoots have an extremely high fiber content, and correspondingly, the oil required during the cooking process is also indispensable; otherwise, it will bring a great astringent sensation to people, greatly compromising the taste and flavor.
Spring Bamboo and Seafood Mushroom Soup—just hearing the name makes it clear that this won't be a dish containing a huge amount of oil. Its flavor is fresh, mellow, and rich, restoring the flavor of the most primitive ingredients.
Ling Miao kept her head down and didn't see that the barrage had already exploded.
["Is that a crustacean?"]
["That's right, it's shrimp!"]
["This streamer is actually eating shrimp, and river shrimp that nobody across the entire Interstellar eats at that????"]
["I've lived for so many years and this is the first time I've seen anyone eat something like this that isn't even enough to get stuck between your teeth, plus it's fishy???"]
["So, are large lobsters not delicious anymore?"]
["Large lobster: Listen to me, thank you. Don't compare me to this thing."]
Both river prawns and lobsters belong to crustaceans, but compared to its famous relatives, river shrimp had virtually no audience in the Interstellar.
Even fish—a creature just as fishy, smelly, and slimy—still had a tiny niche following, but river shrimp?
Their bodies were too small, not even enough to get stuck between teeth. In the same amount of time, going to catch a fish was far more cost-effective.
The comments on the barrage were noisy and rowdy. The Xiong siblings exchanged glances and saw capital letters of shock in each other's eyes.
*We aren't doing this for the steamed bun, we're doing it out of pride! Bamboo-shoot-kun, for your sake, we've really sacrificed too much!*
*Little bear crying.jpg*
Ling Miao had no time to check the comments. She scooped up the blanched spring bamboo shoots and placed them on a plate, heated oil in another wok, and stir-fried minced ginger and garlic until fragrant.
The oil in the wok sizzled, rushing straight into people's nasal cavities mixed with a strange scent they had never smelled before. For a moment, someone buried their head and took a massive sniff.
["What is this smell?"]
["It also seems a bit... strangely pleasant to smell?"]
Ding Yien sneezed several times in a row. He rubbed his nose, his fingers sluggish, feeling somewhat puzzled by his own actions.
It was clearly pungent? But why was he still somewhat reluctant to let it go?
The spring bamboo shoots and seafood mushrooms were put into the wok together. The rich *wok hei* gradually spilled over with the up-and-down tossing motions, drifting bit by bit through the half-closed kitchen door into the front hall.
Keli, sitting at his seat, was the first to catch this pleasant scent.
He sniffed left and right, his gaze falling upon the kitchen.
It seemed the scent was drifting from there.
"It smells so good, did you guys smell it?"
Ellis and Avril exchanged glances, bright lights bursting within the latter's azure eyes: "Judging by the smell, it definitely won't be bad at all!"
Ellis nodded in agreement, a faint rumbling sound coming from his abdomen. Smelling this light, lingering fragrance, he grew rather impatient.
"Hmph."
"Who knows if it's real or fake—"
Keli drew out his tone, seeming to recall something, and the expression on his face turned ugly.
Avril turned her head and pouted at Ellis.
The other person didn't speak, only raising a finger to press against his lips.
*I know!*
She rolled her eyes, and the resentment in her heart dissipated quite a bit.
Keli's younger brother was a thorough little foodie. The little fellow wasn't old, but he was particularly picky about food. Yet as the youngest child in the family, everyone spoiled him to no end. Keli cherished his younger brother the most, constantly going out to search for new ingredients and dishes.
Yet precisely because of this, he ran into a major food safety accident.
To reap profits, the merchant had actually added in inductants and addictive agents. His brother's life was saved, but his body was ruined.
The tiny person lay in a hospital bed, tubes sticking out all over his body, and even after his body recovered, he was never as strong as before.
Ever since then, Keli only consumed nutrient supplements and never touched natural food again.
Avril sighed inwardly and didn't move again.
Inside the kitchen.
Ling Miao added light soy sauce and oyster sauce, continuing to stir-fry. The jade-white seafood mushrooms and bamboo shoot slices were stained with a pale soy color, making people's breathing stall for a moment and the saliva in their mouths vaguely overflow.
["No, why is it that she just added seasoning, and the moment the color changed I couldn't help swallowing my saliva, family members?"]
["I thought I was the only one experiencing this???"]
["So, is there something unique about that seasoning?"]
["I just went to search for it, and major Star Supermarkets all have it. It seems to be called soy sauce? That black, viscous thing is oyster sauce."]
["So, adding these things makes food taste good?"]
......
The direction of the barrage gradually went off-rails. Ling Miao added hot water to submerge the stir-fried spring bamboo shoots and seafood mushrooms, put the lid on, and simmered them on low heat.
Wisps of pale white mist spilled out from the small hole on the black lid. Ling Miao lifted the lid, and the heat laden with rich, fresh fragrance rushed up and hit her full in the face.