novelraw Chapter 184: Perhaps This Is Heartache
Chapter 184: Perhaps This Is Heartache
After ending the call, Jiang Qiuqiu thought for a moment before opening her account and searching for Wang Henli.
Soon, an avatar with a golden crown appeared before her, with the title: "Number One Host in the Federation’s Food Livestreaming Category."
He certainly looked impressive.
She clicked on his profile and saw that his follower count exceeded 2.5 billion. Even in the interstellar era, with its population in the tens of billions, that number of followers was remarkable.
Scrolling down, she saw his past livestreams. The thumbnails were uniform, with large, prominent titles. Based on first impressions alone, this Wang Henli was certainly a very polished host.
To get a better sense of him, Jiang Qiuqiu watched one of his past broadcasts for a while.
The moment she pressed play, Jiang Qiuqiu understood what Meimei meant when she said he had his own unique livestreaming format.
He didn’t just cook by himself; he used a "doting dad and adorable kid" combo.
She randomly clicked on a few of his past broadcasts, and they all started the same way: a tall, muscular, well-built man would squat down in front of a little girl who looked like a doll, with curly chestnut hair and light brown eyes, and ask gently, "Tuantuan, what would you like to eat today?"
The little doll would ask for something sour, sweet, bitter, or spicy, and then the host, Wang Henli, would start cooking a dish with a title centered around his "daughter."
A tough guy’s tender heart, the immediate contrast, plus the fact that the little girl was genuinely adorable... Even Jiang Qiuqiu, who was on somewhat unfriendly terms with Wang Henli, couldn’t help but think, ’How cute,’ the moment she saw her.
Casual viewers were even more smitten.
Sure enough, the comment barrage was full of people gushing over the father-daughter dynamic.
After the father-daughter interaction came the cooking segment. Wang Henli’s knife skills were quite impressive, befitting the title of a master chef. As for his cooking—
Heat control, presentation, and composition.
In an era where culinary traditions were all but lost, the skills he displayed were truly impressive.
The cooking segment lasted about 50 minutes. The little girl would also appear on screen for five to ten minutes, either hovering around the man’s legs or leaning over the counter by the pots and pans, watching the food as it was plated.
It certainly made the food look delicious and left one eager to have a taste.
However, this was a recording, so it didn’t include the taste-along data. To get a taste, you’d have to catch one of the host’s live broadcasts.
’I’ll leave that to chance for next time. For now, I’ll just check out what he’s been making lately.’
He also streamed every other day. Qiuqiu herself streamed on the evenings of odd-numbered dates, while Wang Henli’s schedule happened to be staggered with hers—he streamed on the mornings of even-numbered dates.
His livestream for the day had just ended. He had made a dish with a new ingredient recently released by the Agricultural Research Institute: pumpkin.
’Pumpkin, huh.’
Jiang Qiuqiu decided she would also make something with pumpkin for her livestream tomorrow.
-
That afternoon, after preparing the food for her shop’s evening menu, Jiang Qiuqiu kept her appointment and went to Mo Chengyu’s house to train her spiritual power.
Mo Si was waiting for her.
"You’re here."
"Were you waiting for me?" When she pushed the door open and saw the look of anticipation on the young man’s face, the unpleasantness of the past few days suddenly seemed to dissipate. ’I guess I’m a sucker for a handsome face after all,’ Jiang Qiuqiu realized for the first time.
"Yeah, I was waiting for you. You’re a little late today."
"Sorry, I was just cooking. I—"
"Don’t apologize." Mo Si shook his head, his gaze serious. He had been observing everything that had been happening recently with Jiang Qiuqiu’s stream and in her community.
He used to think corruption only existed in the dark corners of bureaucracy and that injustice was confined to the political arena.
He never expected that so much drama could be stirred up within a tiny livestreaming company, or even a single channel.
She was so young. She should be in school, enjoying a carefree life, but instead, she was forced to deal with all of this. On top of that, she still pushed herself to come and train, all while needing to earn money just to support herself.
At this thought, Mo Si’s expression couldn’t help but soften. He reached out, intending to pat Jiang Qiuqiu’s head comfortingly, but then he seemed to reconsider and patted her shoulder instead. "If you’re too tired, you can come later."
"You’re already working so hard."