Packed with food science and chemical wizardry!

In the kitchen, the three of them stared at one another.

"You two can cook?" Yan Yi looked at the brothers in front of him.

Shen Rui shook his head, and so did Shen Ting.

"Then what are the three of us doing here? Dreaming?"

"Don't worry. I can't cook, but I have a cheat." Shen Ting suddenly raised his hand.

"A cheat?" Yan Yi and Shen Rui looked at Shen Ting curiously.

"At a time like this, we have to bring out the legendary Ninth Great Cuisine." With great ceremony, Shen Ting presented his treasure chest.

"Since when was there a Ninth Great Cuisine?"

"I've got shredded pork in garlic sauce, kung pao chicken, sweet-and-sour pork, steamed pork belly with preserved mustard greens... beef in sauce!" Shen Ting rattled off more than a dozen different dishes in one breath.

"Are these... ready-made meals?" Yan Yi's expression grew grave as he looked at the familiar packaging in front of him.

"Bingo! With these, you don't even need to turn on the stove. Put them in the pot at eight, and dinner's served at ten past, right on time. Look at all these dishes. Buying them elsewhere would cost you hundreds, if not thousands. But here, you don't need 999, or 199, or even 99. Just give me 89.9 and take it all home." Shen Ting looked every bit the star salesman.

"I'm seriously afraid that if I eat your food, I'll be ruling the toilet tomorrow." Yan Yi wore a complicated expression.

"It's not that scary. Relax. If you rule the toilet tomorrow, all your toilet paper is on me." Shen Ting patted Yan Yi's shoulder.

"I knew going on a variety show would mean suffering, but I didn't expect to suffer at the hands of food science." Yan Yi was starting to admire the way Shen Ting's mind worked. You never knew what he would pull out next.

"How about we just boil some eggs?" Shen Rui looked gravely at the bags of dark meat in front of him.

"Big brother, I've got tea eggs and quail eggs too. Which eggs do you want?" Shen Ting pulled two more little bags of liquid from his treasure chest.

"What's this broth?" Shen Rui looked conflicted.

"Oh, it's just broth that keeps things fresh. Of course, you can also call it by its other name: ST preservative." The corners of Shen Ting's mouth lifted, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth.

Shen Rui went pale. He hadn't eaten anything yet, so why did it feel like his stomach was already starting to churn?

Shen Ting plugged in the pot and brought some water to a boil, then placed the ready-made meals into it one by one.

Shen Rui set the plates on the table, listening to the bubbling water beside him. Who could have imagined that all that bubbling was producing a Manchu-Han Imperial Feast?

Yan Yi watched the large pot of tea eggs, a ladle in his hand, looking like a witch concocting some sinister dish.

Shen Ting turned off the heat and picked up a pair of scissors. "One pair of scissors is all I need to dominate this entire kitchen."

"But there aren't any staple foods?" Looking at the tableful of dishes, Shen Rui's throat went dry at the thought of the complicated ingredient lists behind those ready-made meals. They were packed with food science and chemical wizardry.

"Almost forgot. Big brother, what do you want? I've got fried rice, ramen, spicy noodles, flat noodles..."

For the first time, Shen Rui was left numb by his little brother's antics.

"Don't you have anything normal people eat?"

"Brother, you can't look at them through a biased lens. Change the packaging, and I guarantee you'd wolf them down. You just happen to be behind the scenes in my kitchen. If you weren't, how would you know they spent their former lives in bags?" Shen Ting waved a hand and started making today's staple, ramen. Mix up the broth, boil the noodles, put the two together-perfect!

Shen Rui and Yan Yi numbly carried the dishes to the table.

"Dinner's ready!" Shen Ting called everyone over as he brought out the cucumber he had just sliced.

"That fast!" Meng Yun looked astonished. Had they even been in there half an hour?

"Oh my goodness, what a spread for dinner!" Bai Yuanyuan looked surprised at the table laden with dishes that looked, smelled, and tasted delicious.

"You're amazing, Shen Ting!" Su Yu had a bandage wrapped around his already-healed finger.

Si Chen sat down and tasted the braised pork in front of him. "Mm, not bad!"

"It's delicious! Exactly like what I eat when I go out!" Su Yu covered his slightly open mouth in delighted surprise.

"Right? I think so too. If I can't make a living in this business someday, I could open a fast-food place." Smiling, Shen Ting took a bite of cucumber.

"Pretty good, yeah. Meals ready in ten seconds at the press of a button. No other restaurant could serve food faster than yours. They win on quality; you win on speed." Yan Yi picked up a cucumber strip too.

"Mr. Shen? Aren't you eating?" Su Yu picked up a piece of pork rib to offer Shen Rui.

"No, thanks. I'm watching my figure lately." Shen Rui quickly pulled back his plate, then looked at Su Weiwang beside him, who hadn't touched his chopsticks either, hesitating to speak.

Su Weiwang looked at the meat in front of him. The pieces were small and dark, yet they smelled like dishes that had everything going for them. He silently took a sip of water. Why did they look so much like the food served at the fast-food place where he used to work?

"I'm not hungry either."

[Ready-made meals! I actually saw ready-made meals on a variety show!]

[I'm begging the entertainment industry not to let this guy loose. The restaurant industry refuses to take him, thank you.]

[I won't hide it from you all anymore. I'm coming clean: I'm eating Guochao takeout right now, and it's even the lowest spoon tier.]

[The person above has an iron stomach!]

[Hahaha, Yan Yi's tongue is dipped in poison too. Now I'm curious who'll rule the toilet tomorrow.]

[Yan Yi: I hereby declare this plate of cucumber the MVP of the table. Anyone who disagrees can fight me.]

[Su Yu and Si Chen would cry if they saw the livestream, wouldn't they?]

[I don't know whether those two would cry, but I do know Bai Yuanyuan and Meng Yun might fight him to the death if they found out.]

[Si Chen and Su Yu clearly just have high emotional intelligence. How could they outright say someone else's cooking tastes bad?]

[Our little hamster baby Weiwang wasn't hungry and luckily dodged a bullet!]

[By the way, what brand is Shen Ting's suitcase?]

A gloomy atmosphere hung over the director's tent.

The chief director switched on the large screen behind him, which showed a recording of that morning's livestream.

"Take a look, everyone. What are we going to do?"

"They're both impossible to handle, senior." The assistant director scratched his ever-thinning hair.

"Exactly." The others quickly chimed in.

"So we just sit here and wait for disaster? No, we absolutely cannot let that happen." The chief director slammed a fist on the table in anger.

"Then what do you suggest, senior?" The assistant director sighed.

"If they're so good at stirring things up, we'll give them something to feel threatened by."

"Threatened?"

"Tomorrow, I'll invite two guest stars. I'm sure adding those two will give them a sense of crisis."

The next morning, Shen Ting stretched and went downstairs to the kitchen for some water.

He had only just entered the kitchen and hadn't even reached the table when a glass of water was placed in his hand.

"Here, have some water, big brother." A baby-faced young man smiled at Shen Ting.

"Big brother, I made toast. Want some?" A young woman held a plate of fragrant, browned toast and winked playfully.