"The only bad thing about living here is that there are too many irrelevant people." Shen Xunye crouched down alongside him.
Chi Li asked with a smile, "Who counts as irrelevant?"
Shen Xunye said, "Everyone except you and me."
Chi Li: "..."
He had to admit, this guy really knew how to sell it.
He had worried before that his flirting would fall on blind eyes, but now it seemed there was no need to worry.
"We've only been here two days." Chi Li wound a weed into a loop around his finger, unsure whether to laugh or cry. "How can you call everyone else irrelevant?"
"Being here longer doesn't prove anything."
"Fine." Chi Li had no intention of arguing the point. "Since we're going to live here, how about planting some vegetables here too?"
Living under cameras meant finding more different things to do.
Otherwise, repeating the same scenes every day would bore not only the audience, but themselves too.
"Sure." Shen Xunye nodded. "Do you know how to grow vegetables?"
"Does knowing how to grow vegetables in games count?" Chi Li asked back.
"Hmm..." After some serious thought, Shen Xunye replied, "I'd say you have plenty of theoretical knowledge and just need practice."
"Actually, I don't have much theoretical knowledge either."
Chi Li took out his phone and searched for "what vegetables are suitable for planting in the south this season."
Shen Xunye leaned his head over. "Plant what you want to eat."
"As if I needed you to tell me that." Chi Li saved a few vegetables that caught his eye, along with their planting instructions, in his notes. "We can't finish this in a day, so let's take our time. I'll go out and buy seeds tomorrow. While they're still dancing, I'll make dinner."
With that, he typed the name of a dish into the search bar.
Shen Xunye was amused. "Didn't you say you could cook?"
"What's wrong with that?" Chi Li stood and patted the dirt off the hem of his clothes. "I can understand a recipe. Doesn't that count as knowing how to cook?"
[Yes, of course it counts, because I can understand them too.]
[By that standard, hardly anyone in the country can't cook.]
[It's good that my wife is willing to try! [Hehe]]
[I really don't get why you're all licking the boots of someone with no manners... Has he done anything good since entering the Raising House? A bunch of shallow, looks-obsessed people.]
[Doing good deeds? He's not here to do charity.]
[Exactly, he's here to be himself.]
[So triggered. Did he insult your precious darling? Haha.]
While the bullet comments engaged in friendly exchanges, Xie Weishui left the dance studio and immediately turned into the bathroom.
Leaning against the locked door, he eagerly pulled his phone from his pocket to check his messages.
Then his expression rapidly soured.
There were no cameras here, so he had no need to pretend, making his expression look all the more frightening.
...He had worked so hard dancing in the studio for ages, yet his live viewer count couldn't even beat Chi Li and Shen Xunye chatting outside.
His gaze swept over a long list comparing his numbers with Chi Li's at different times, and his expression grew uglier.
This guy had only been here two days, yet he had not only broken multiple internal records, but the concurrent viewers on his personal livestream channel had already surpassed Xie Weishui's.
The only thing still lagging somewhat behind was his total number of paying viewers.
But at this rate, catching up was only a matter of time.
Xie Weishui kept scrolling, his gaze settling on the last message from his manager-
'My advice is to stay on friendly terms with Chi Li. There's no need to confront him head-on.'
Xie Weishui took several deep breaths before gripping his phone and typing: He's very hostile toward me.
He felt the same way about Chi Li.
His manager quickly replied: Then what do you want to do?
Xie Weishui clenched his teeth: Buy a water army. Steer public opinion.
With a guy who spoke so recklessly on the show, stirring things up would work every time.
Xie Weishui: You don't want to lose to his manager either, do you?
Manager: 1
"Wow, your cooking is really good." Gao Yuan put the meat from his chopsticks into his mouth and immediately praised him.
Holding a small bowl as he ladled himself some soup, Chi Li said modestly, "Just a little talent."
Shen Xunye said nothing, focusing only on eating.
He recalled the way Chi Li had muttered to himself while adding seasonings to the wok, and suddenly felt that the food in his mouth was more... interesting than anything he had eaten before.
This feeling of wanting another bite after taking one... really was amazing.
"I tried cooking for myself before too." Gao Yuan stuffed a large mouthful of rice into his mouth and said indistinctly, "I nearly burned the wok... After that, I didn't dare entertain the idea again and just stuck to takeout."
"It's actually very simple." Chi Li put away his smugness and began imparting his "talent" to Gao Yuan. "When you cook, the biggest taboo is getting a sudden flash of inspiration and rashly changing the recipe. As long as you stick to the steps and quantities in the recipe, you generally won't go wrong."
Gao Yuan thought back to what he had done. "I figured..."
"Hey-" Chi Li instantly caught the key word. "If you'd done a little less figuring, you'd have succeeded ages ago. It's best to save that 'power of figuring' until you've mastered a few recipes."
Gao Yuan nodded solemnly and seriously. "I have attained enlightenment, master."
[My wife is truly a teaching genius. [Thumbs up]]
[This reminds me of my bestie whose cooking tastes awful. She really does love getting sudden flashes of inspiration while cooking.]
[Thanks for the advice. I've already saved an entire cookbook and am ready to show off my skills over the next few days.]
Chi Li chatted with Gao Yuan a little more about the new song he had written that day.
Once again, Zhou Yang appeared beside their dining table like a lingering ghost.
His expression was neither bad nor good. "Chi Li, did you make all these dishes?"
Gao Yuan answered for Chi Li. "Yeah. What about it?"
"I've never even eaten anything you've made."
Zhou Yang no longer cared whether he might give anything away. Right now, he was just extremely annoyed and unhappy.
Chi Li found this utterly baffling. "And?"
They had previously spent all day in the practice room and lived in company dorms, with no facilities for cooking at all.
...Even if there had been, he couldn't have been bothered.
"So-" He slammed both hands heavily onto the table and declared aggressively, "I'm eating with you now. I'll get a bowl!"
Xie Weishui had already warned him several times today anyway. One more wouldn't matter.
"Hey, wait." Chi Li called him back.
"What?" Zhou Yang raised his chin slightly. "Going to feed me?"
Chi Li picked up one of the dishes and unhurriedly divided it among Shen Xunye, Gao Yuan, and himself.
Once he finished, he held the empty plate out toward Zhou Yang. "Here."
Zhou Yang didn't understand. "What are you giving me this for?"
Chi Li smiled brilliantly. "Take it and lick it. You can get a taste."
"Pfft-" Gao Yuan nearly sprayed out the rice in his mouth.
Chi Li really did have an endless supply of ways to humiliate Zhou Yang...
"Chi Li-" Zhou Yang gritted his teeth, his entire face nearly twisting out of shape with anger.
Chi Li said, "Do you want it or not?"
Zhou Yang took a deep breath, stepped forward, and snatched the empty plate. "I'll wash it for you."