Chapter 187: He Decides All the Menus

The next day—perhaps the day to sound the horn for the counterattack—Jiang Qiuqiu’s editor, Meimei, sent a message to check on her.

"Don’t be nervous—"

"I’m not nervous."

"Okay, well, even though he’s a major streamer, his fanbase is quite complex. He’s not purely a food vlogger. And while your follower count isn’t higher than his yet—"

But her fan loyalty was beyond imagination.

"Sister Mingmei, don’t worry. It’s no big deal. We’re just going to have a little culinary showdown, not get into a physical brawl. You need to have faith in me."

"Alright, I have faith in you." Meimei sighed. "I guess I’m the one who can’t stay calm. You and Little President Qian are both so composed."

"Haha, I’m confident in my cooking, and Little President Qian is confident in his taste. So, Sister Mingmei, you can rest easy. We won’t lose."

Her confidence was contagious, but—

"Did something happen yesterday? You seem a little happy."

"Nothing much. I just achieved a small milestone."

"What kind of milestone?"

"Hmm... It’s a secret!"

’It’s hard to say if the happiness is from reaching a goal or just a few words, so I’d rather not say.’

Seeing that Jiang Qiuqiu didn’t want to talk about it, Meimei didn’t press the issue. Instead, she asked about the menu for the evening. "What are you planning to make tonight?"

"Our ’number one streamer’ has already picked the menu for me."

"You’re going to make pumpkin?"

"That’s right."

It wasn’t just this menu. Wang Henli had picked out the menus for her next stream, and the one after that, too.

After all, only when the same dish is presented can people tell the difference most quickly, right?

-

「That night.」

The live stream started right on time.

Jiang Qiuqiu adjusted the camera bot and greeted everyone with a smile. "Welcome, everyone, to my food stream. I’m Jiang Jiujiu, and today we’re going to make a sweet treat."

[SWEET! IS IT SWEET AGAIN! A LITTLE CAKE?!]

"It’s not a cake. We’re making pumpkin cakes."

Following Jiang Qiuqiu’s gesture, the camera bot zoomed in, giving a close-up of the large pumpkin on her worktable.

[...This thing? Sweet?]

[I had it at a restaurant once. It was a little sweet, but making a cake out of it—]

To be honest, no one had eaten cakes made from this before, so there was a lot of chatter.

Jiang Qiuqiu smiled, took out a kitchen knife, and quickly peeled the pumpkin. Soon, its orange-yellow flesh was exposed.

After she finished prepping several pumpkins, a faint, sweet scent of the vegetable filled the air.

Jiang Qiuqiu picked up her knife. "Next, we’re going to steam the pumpkin into a mash. Since the steamer here in my kitchen is pretty big, I don’t need to cut it into very small chunks."

"If any of you fans are making this at home, you can cut the pumpkin smaller so it cooks faster."

[Juju is really overthinking this. Who’s gonna make this at home?]

[The commenter above is wrong. It’s not a question of who *wants* to make it at home, but who *can* make it at home.]

[The commenter above is wrong again. Anyone can cook a dish at home. The real question is, who can make it taste *this good* at home?]

[...]

"Looks like everyone’s a bit unsure about their own cooking skills," Jiang Qiuqiu said as she placed the pumpkin into the steamer.

[Hard to be confident in skills you don’t have.]

[+1]

[+2]

[+10000001]

The comment quickly got a chorus of agreement. Amidst the chatter, Jiang Qiuqiu had already turned on the heat. Soon, the slightly firm pumpkin would transform into a sweet, soft, and moist pumpkin mash.