Show Your Skills

Si You took such good care of Jiang Tingxu and Xue Boyu not only because the show was being filmed, but also because of an indescribable sense of responsibility. It was a habit the Si family had instilled in him since childhood: once you entered a group, you had to take on the role of leader, do everything perfectly, and leave no room for criticism.

Si You had done exactly that, but later he realized people were not objects. Since you had taken on the role of leader, you had to shoulder the corresponding responsibilities.

Si You had grown used to it too.

Before the other two could recover, Si You said, "Let's go."

The NPC had just given him directions. They only needed to follow this street straight down.

The livestream was split-screen, with several pairs of guests proceeding at the same time. Viewers could click whichever pair they wanted to watch, but at that moment, the livestream room for Jiang Tingxu, Si You, and the others was nearly full.

And after that little scene, the barrage comments strangely slowed down.

Nothing but ellipses filled the screen.

Finally, someone could not hold back anymore: [I think... Si You's pretty good.]

They were probably a newcomer. The moment those words appeared, they were immediately swarmed.

[Si You is good?! That's the funniest joke I've heard all day!]

[It's just a persona. After all, his new agency is New Victory Media. I advise everyone not to take it too seriously.]

The moment comments praising Si You appeared, they were attacked, making some viewers feel rather put off. They simply turned off the barrage.

Jiang Tingxu's longtime fans, however, frowned slightly. Seriously, Si You was currently their Movie Emperor's CP. At least since this season began, he had not done anything wrong. These haters and rival fans had turned their recording room into a complete mess. Did they take Jiang Tingxu's fans for air?

Si You knew nothing about any of this. He quickly found the second clue.

More precisely, the other party exposed herself.

She was a young woman in her early twenties, dressed in local traditional clothing with a white headscarf. Her cheeks were flushed, and when she saw Jiang Tingxu, she looked as if she could barely stop herself from jumping up.

"Jiang, the Movie Emperor," Si You said. "Go."

Jiang Tingxu's mouth still carried the fresh scent of cucumber. The moment he stepped forward, the young woman ducked into the convenience store, shy beyond measure.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Tingxu tested the waters. "Ginger Powder? I can give you an autograph."

Jiang Tingxu's fans called themselves Ginger Powder.

It was obvious the young woman desperately wanted one, but she clenched her teeth and said nothing.

Right, unless they gave the code phrase, NPCs could not communicate with the guests.

Jiang Tingxu said softly, "Pegasus Meteor Fist."

The young woman immediately shouted, "I'll give you a bag of salt!"

Jiang Tingxu smiled, then stepped forward to exchange for ingredients.

The closer they got to the finish line, the better the ingredients became. Jiang Tingxu first asked for two bottles of water, then hesitated. Then he heard Si You say, "Take a bag of river shrimp."

Jiang Tingxu looked up. "I can't cook."

"I can," Si You said.

"Okay." Jiang Tingxu did not hesitate at all. It was too hot to carry them around, so they had the production team redeem them at the end.

[What a scam! Si You can cook? Huh? He can cook? Last season, when he entered the kitchen, even making him scramble tomatoes and eggs had him screaming like he'd seen a ghost!]

[This is going to screw Jiang Tingxu over.]

[If I were a Jiang Tingxu fan, I'd assassinate this bastard Si You tonight.]

Some of Jiang Tingxu's fans jumped out: [Oh, then you're really impressive. Go ahead, I'll give you a 666.]

[Is the person above really a Jiang Tingxu fan?]

The barrage instantly erupted--

[Yeah, I'm a Jiang Tingxu fan. Do you need me to verify it for you? It's fine if you hate Si You, but stop trying to drag us into your rhythm! Can't you watch your own idol's split screen? Why are you all crowded in here?]

[I've wanted to say this for ages. You can tear Si You apart however you want, but you expect Ginger Powder to charge into battle for you? Sorry, little brother, who the hell are you?]

When Jiang Tingxu exploded in popularity with his first drama, there had been countless haters, and no shortage of troublemakers mixed among them. The longtime Ginger Powder fans had long developed sharp eyes. With this little skill, they still wanted to play tricks with them? Were they bored out of their minds?

Once Ginger Powder spoke up, the provocative comments noticeably decreased. After all, some IDs still had their own idols' badges displayed in front of them. Their attempts to stir up hate were far too obvious.

Over here, Jiang Tingxu stood and gave one of the two exchanged bottles of water to Xue Boyu, then handed the other to Si You.

Si You paused. "I don't need it."

"Your lips are peeling," Jiang Tingxu said.

The camera zoomed in. Si You considered it for a moment before taking it. "Thank you."

A breeze swept past, ruffling faint creases into their clothes, and the barrage began filling with mysterious ellipses again.

"Bro." Xue Boyu looked a little embarrassed. "I didn't do anything. One cucumber and two bottles of water... isn't that a little too much?"

"What do you want to do?" Jiang Tingxu gave him a faint smile, one that brought an inexplicable sense of stability and reassurance. Then he joked, "Until He Qing gets here, just stick with us."

Xue Boyu was simple-minded and did not think twice. "Thanks, bro!"

[Wuwuwu, thank you, Movie Emperor, for letting our kid tag along.]

By contrast, Shao Ancheng and Song Yalin had not found a single NPC, and they had already wasted three opportunities. Song Yalin was also wearing high heels and could no longer walk. Hot and thirsty, neither of them said anything.

Meanwhile, Zhang Jianlin and Xu Ke's group had already split up.

The reason was that Zhang Jianlin was too underhanded. Twice, Xu Ke had spotted an NPC first, only for Zhang Jianlin to cut in before Fei Chang could speak. Xu Ke was clearly unhappy, so he left with Fei Chang along another route. Zhang Jianlin merely told the camera it was just a joke, then comforted his CP, Jiang Yao. "Don't worry. I'm here."

Jiang Yao smiled, but it was a very fake smile.

[Honestly, although Zhang Jianlin is trying hard, he and Jiang Yao have zero CP chemistry.]

[True. I've always felt like Jiang Yao really dislikes Zhang Jianlin...]

From morning until afternoon, the first to reach the finish line were Xu Ke and Fei Chang. They successfully received the biggest gift pack--three jin of beef, two marrow bones, and a huge bundle of vegetables. They sat on the steps, exhausted and panting.

Fei Chang patted the gift pack and said happily, "I'll make you something delicious tonight."

Xu Ke brightened too. "You know how?"

"I'll look up a tutorial," Fei Chang said.

Jiang Tingxu's group arrived next.

Seeing the beef and marrow bones, envy flickered through Si You's eyes, but it was fine. They had only wasted one chance to give the code phrase, and they had found the most NPCs.

Besides, the three of them looked refreshed, as though they had gotten a free tour of the long street and ancient town. They had kept themselves well supplied with drinking water the whole time.

Then came Zhang Jianlin and Jiang Yao. Without clever Xu Ke, no matter how much Zhang Jianlin assured her, he only found two NPCs. The ingredients they exchanged were barely enough for the two of them.

Last were Shao Ancheng and Song Yalin. This young couple received about the same amount of ingredients as Zhang Jianlin's group, but Song Yalin could cook.

The staff helped the guests take stock and found that although Jiang Tingxu's group had not received the final grand gift pack, their scattered ingredients were quite complete.

By the time they finished with all that, the sky had begun to darken. Everyone was starving beyond recognition, yet they still had to cook.

The director's team had prepared several open-air kitchens, with tables and chairs set up in the clearing at the center.

Just as Jiang Tingxu rolled up his sleeves, Si You grabbed the ingredients from him. "You only ate one cucumber all day. Sit over there and rest."

"You didn't eat anything," Jiang Tingxu said.

"I'm not hungry," Si You said.

He was hungry too, really, but the solid bowl of noodles he had eaten that morning had held him over better.

Jiang Tingxu wanted to say something else, but Si You had already picked up the cleaver and deftly smashed the fish before gutting it.

He removed the scales and innards, cleaned the gills, coated it in starch, and poured oil into the pan. Once the oil was seventy percent hot, he deep-fried the fish. Golden bubbles roiled in the pot as Si You peeled garlic, chopped scallions and ginger, and prepared the aromatics. Every step was orderly. He took out the fish to drain, left some oil in the pan to stir-fry the aromatics, added chili bean paste until it released red oil, and finally put the fish back in. The aroma hooked Xu Ke's gaze so hard he could barely look away.

After letting the river shrimp spit out some sand, he quickly fried them once before stir-frying them with chives. The fragrance was intoxicating.

The pork tenderloin was even better. With tomato sauce, he made sweet-and-sour pork tenderloin.

"Do you want shredded potatoes or fried potatoes?" Si You asked Xue Boyu.

Xue Boyu swallowed. "Shredded potatoes."

"Then I'll make them vinegary. It's simple too." As soon as Si You finished speaking, he began chopping with rapid thuds. Next door, Fei Chang had just set up the potato grater, while Si You had already finished shredding one potato.

Everyone who had just said in the barrage that Si You could not cook fell silent.

This was called not knowing how to cook? This was called not knowing how to cook?!

When Si You had been a Movie Emperor, he had grown sick of restaurant food and takeout. The day he finally ate boiled pork slices with a waxy, greasy texture, he threw down his chopsticks and started cooking for himself.

With Si You's determination to never give up until he achieved his goal, learning to cook well had only been a matter of time.

Si You tossed the wok. In the darkness, flames leaped around its rim. He tilted his head back slightly and narrowed his eyes, as though he were handling an obedient captive.

Six dishes and one soup, made on two stoves. Not a single ingredient was wasted. Fifty minutes later, he brought over the rice cooker and called to Jiang Tingxu and Xue Boyu, "Dinner's ready."

He sat there with complete calm, but in Xue Boyu's eyes, he was practically glowing.