A Challenge from a Peer

Liu Qian had long since eaten herself into oblivion, completely forgetting about the livestream.

Strangely, not only had the viewers not left, they were spamming the chat even more fiercely. The scrolling comments filled the screen, creating the illusion that this was a popular streamer's channel.

"Sexy streamer, annoying people online."

"Look at your phone, please! Annoying Streamer, I'm begging you, look at your phone!"

"Annoying Streamer, followed. Followed."

"What the hell? Wasn't this supposed to be Spicy Stir-fried Rice Cakes? Why is the screen black?"

"Trash streamer, ptooey!"

There were around three thousand people in Liu Qian's stream at the moment, and the viewer count was still rising. It was impossible to tell how many were actual people, but judging from the quantity and density of the comments, there were probably quite a few.

Although the screen was black, there was still sound.

The voices of club members who had come over with bowls and chopsticks to mooch off the rice cakes, the clinking of dishes and utensils, and the dense patter of footsteps all blended together. Yet the clearest sound was still the sizzling of the rice cakes on the grilling paper.

After all, Liu Qian had placed her phone right beside the grill.

With a black screen and only the sounds to hear, people's imaginations could run wild.

"I actually got hungry just listening to this (°ω°｀)"

As soon as that comment appeared, many of the people who had been steadfastly spamming "Annoying Streamer" also said they were hungry. For a while, "I'm starving" and "Annoying Streamer" nearly split the screen evenly between them.

With more than thirty people each taking some rice cakes and cabbage, the grill was almost empty. Ji Yue was about to grill more chicken wings when she happened to notice that Liu Qian's phone screen was black even as comments kept scrolling across it, so she reminded her.

"Qianqian, did you forget to turn off your livestream?" Ji Yue asked.

Liu Qian was dipping a spring roll into the leftover spicy sauce on the grilling paper. Only after Ji Yue reminded her did she recall that she had completely forgotten about the stream. Liu Qian hurriedly set down her chopsticks and picked up her phone, only to see the screen filled with "Annoying Streamer" and "I'm starving."

She switched to the front camera and aimed it at herself, then apologized to the viewers with a guilty expression. "Sorry, everyone. I only remembered to eat just now and didn't pay attention to the stream. The Spicy Stir-fried Rice Cakes are already gone, so let me show you the grill!"

The next second, an utterly empty grill appeared on the screen. Even the spicy sauce on the grilling paper was nearly gone.

"Annoying Streamer."

"Annoying Streamer ( )"

"Annoying Streamer, I strongly demand that you make another batch!"

"Damn it, seeing this empty grill somehow made me even hungrier!"

Liu Qian looked toward Jiang Feng, who was getting ready to make a small hot pot. He added quite a few seasonings to the pot, then put in meatballs, staple foods, and vegetables one after another.

Turning the camera back toward herself, Liu Qian said, "Our club president needs to eat too, so he doesn't have time to make another batch. I saw someone say they were hungry, so everyone should go eat first. That's it for today's stream. Bye-bye!"

Liu Qian waved at the camera and ended the stream.

Before the livestream truly turned into a black screen, everyone heard Liu Qian's unfinished sentence—

"President, the seasonings you added to the pot are..."

The comments in the livestream paused briefly, then erupted even more wildly.

"Annoying Streamer, you've really pissed me off! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻"

"Sexy streamer, annoying people offline."

"Annoying Streamer, annoying people offline."

"Three minutes. I want all the information on this streamer."

"Annoying people for two hours, streaming for five minutes."

After venting by spamming comments for a while, the viewers begrudgingly hit follow and left the stream.

Liu Qian had no idea that her irritating behavior had caused her follower count to surge. She had only started streaming for fun after seeing her roommate do it and thinking it looked interesting. It did not even count as a hobby, so she was extremely laid-back about followers.

After getting the seasoning combination from Jiang Feng, Liu Qian focused entirely on eating hot pot.

After witnessing Jiang Feng stir-fry rice cakes on grilling paper, quite a few people tried to imitate him. Without exception, they all failed. Watching everyone replace their grilling paper sheet after sheet, Jiang Feng smiled faintly, hiding his achievements and fame.

"President, are you going to participate in this year's Good Taste Culinary Competition?" After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they sat around chatting. Wu Minqi, who had been quiet and rarely spoke, suddenly asked.

"Good Taste? The one that sells soy sauce?" Liu Zixuan cut in.

A City had a rather famous soy sauce brand called Good Taste, though it was only known in the areas around A City. Once outside the province, it had little name recognition.

"Yes, it's sponsored by that brand. First prize is one hundred thousand yuan, and the restaurant can also receive cover promotion from Zhiwei Magazine. Only individuals under the age of twenty-eight may enter," Wu Minqi said. "I want to compete."

As a food magazine, Zhiwei was fairly well known in China.

"You can cook too?" Liu Zixuan asked in surprise.

What kind of heavenly club was this? More members could cook than play chess.

"Minqi's family runs a restaurant," Liu Qian said, raising her head to chime in. "Wu Family Restaurant. It has one Michelin star and is really famous where we're from."

Runs a restaurant...

Michelin One-Star...

Restaurant...

Jiang Feng felt that a glittering rich beauty had somehow slipped into their impoverished Chess Club.

"You want me to be your assistant?" Jiang Feng asked. Although the competition was limited to individual entrants, it should be fine for the chef to bring along a prep cook to help chop ingredients.

"I want you to compete too." Wu Minqi smiled. "I tasted the pastries you made during the club recruitment event. Ever since then, I've wanted to compete with you."

No wonder Wu Minqi had never used the club benefits to eat at Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant after joining the Chess Club. Her real interest lay elsewhere.

"Ding. An optional side quest has appeared. Please make your selection."

The game really loved stirring up trouble.

"Sure." Jiang Feng agreed.

The club gathering ended perfectly. By the time everyone returned to school, it was already past nine in the evening. Ji Yue went to help out at Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant, while Jiang Feng sent Comrade Wang Xiulian a WeChat message and headed straight back to his dorm.

The moment he entered the dorm, he saw Wang Hao sprawled on his bed.

"Business was good at the restaurant today?" Jiang Feng guessed.

"More than good. It was insanely busy. I'm exhausted." Wang Hao sounded utterly drained. "I almost passed out from delivering takeout."

Jiang Feng smiled. The smell of braised pork knuckle still clung to Wang Hao. It seemed he had more than made up for the exhaustion of delivering takeout during dinner.

He walked into the bathroom and opened his attribute panel.

Challenger on the Same Path: As the heir to Wu Family Restaurant, Wu Minqi had displayed exceptional culinary talent since childhood. She rarely found an opponent among people her age and was hailed as the most promising member of the Wu Family's younger generation. A piece of Mung Bean Cake at A University's club recruitment event had ignited her competitive spirit. As the most promising member of the Jiang Family's younger generation, please face Wu Minqi's challenge and defeat her in the Good Taste Culinary Competition. Choose: Yes/No

Jiang Feng: ...

To be honest, Jiang Jianguo had made all those Mung Bean Cakes that day.

He clicked yes.

Challenger on the Same Path: As the heir to Wu Family Restaurant, Wu Minqi had displayed exceptional culinary talent since childhood. She rarely found an opponent among people her age and was hailed as the most promising member of the Wu Family's younger generation. A piece of Mung Bean Cake at A University's club recruitment event had ignited her competitive spirit. As the most promising member of the Jiang Family's younger generation, please face Wu Minqi's challenge and defeat her in the Good Taste Culinary Competition. Quest Progress (0/1)

Quest Hint: There is a considerable gap in strength between the player and Wu Minqi. Please increase your strength as soon as possible.

Quest Reward: A kitchen knife.

That was way too realistic.

Jiang Feng was speechless.