Amidst Losi's exaggerated exclamations, Cheng Qing couldn't help but squat down beside her and glance at the basket containing about ten blue crabs. No wonder Losi hadn't dared to catch a single one, given that their claws weren't restrained with rope.
Sensing someone beside her, Luo Xi turned around and saw Cheng Qing. She immediately looked aggrieved.
Cheng Qing found it even more amusing, and indeed smiled with amusement: "You don't dare to arrest me?"
Losi: "They tried to pinch me."
Cheng Qing smiled and said, "Don't you like to eat this?"
Losi: "Eating and cooking are two different things." Her long, curly black hair looked a little messy, as if she was troubled by this.
Cheng Qing reached out to smooth her hair, but Luo Xi immediately grabbed her hair and glared at her, saying, "Don't touch me like that."
Cheng Qing was taken aback: "...touching hands?" Several times, she felt that Luo Xi had confused her with men. Was she the kind of person who would act like a hooligan?
But Cheng Qing didn't think much of it and stood up, saying, "Move aside! I'll handle this."
Luo Xi quickly stepped aside, and Cheng Qing carried a basket of crabs to the sink. Luo Xi rushed over and stood beside her to look, but Cheng Qing looked at her amusedly: "What are you looking at? Go and prepare the other dishes! I'll take care of the crabs. What kind of crabs do you want?"
Losi looked at her with admiration and said with a smile, "Spicy, spicy crab."
"Okay." Cheng Qing picked up the chopsticks and brush from the side: "I'll cook for you, you go and help wash the other vegetables."
Losi immediately nodded happily: "Okay, okay."
But she couldn't help but peek out to see how Cheng Qing caught crabs, and Cheng Qing didn't chase her away, letting her slack off.
Luo Xi saw Cheng Qing reach out and grab a crab by the butt, then pick it up and start brushing it.
Losi was utterly impressed: "Aren't you afraid it will pinch you?"
As Cheng Qing washed the crabs, she said, "If you want to eat them, you have to resist the urge."
Losi: "...You can't stand it, can you?" I've heard that getting pinched by a crab is extremely painful.
Cheng Qing looked up at her with a smile: "So, we need to be quick."
She always spoke so gently, always had such a beautiful smile. Losi, naturally, couldn't argue. She turned her head away, went to get the vegetables from the counter, and asked, "What vegetables do I need to wash?"
Cheng Qing continued washing the crabs, replying to her, "Wash whatever you want to eat."
Lossie paused, then looked down to search, and pouted, "Why didn't you buy eggplants?"
Cheng Qing felt a warmth in her heart upon hearing this, and turned to look at Luo Xi with a smile in her eyes: "Thank you."
Losi lowered her head and whispered, "I can't just cook what I like to eat, so I found this for you."
From the living room, you can see the two of them standing together at the kitchen counter. Occasionally they're busy with their tasks, and occasionally they exchange smiles, creating a warm and cozy atmosphere, perhaps tinged with the sweetness of newlyweds.
***
Kong Mingyan looked at the camera and asked, "I remember when someone got married, the footage looked like this?"
The assistant laughed and said, "There are plenty of options. I didn't expect Teacher Cheng to actually go and help."
Kong Mingyan stroked his chin: "Back then, she really only participated in the show because of Luo Xi, right?"
Although Kong Mingyan had met Cheng Qing, she wasn't one of the interviewers during the initial auditions. One of the interviewers mentioned that she had said during her interview: "I don't like the atmosphere in variety shows, especially the collective rejection of a female celebrity. Therefore, I hope to participate in this variety show, even if it's just to change things a little."
Thinking of all this, Kong Mingyan became somewhat certain: "The person she was referring to as being ostracized was Losi!"
"yes!"
"Since when did Losi go from being disliked to becoming the proud and aloof princess that everyone loves?"
The assistant thought for a moment and said, "It seems to have started when Cheng Qing always spoiled her, right?"
Kong Mingyan chuckled at his own thoughts: "So, princesses are meant to be pampered? Was our approach to filming Losi wrong from the start?"
***
Although Luo Xi was said to have cooked lunch, Cheng Qing did almost all the cooking. Everyone was touched to find that lunch was another sumptuous meal.
The main dishes included Dongpo pork, spicy crab, braised chicken with chestnuts, and a bowl of yellow croaker soup with pickled mustard greens. The side dishes included stir-fried Shanghai bok choy and hot and sour shredded potatoes. In addition, Losi fried a plate of chicken and squid rolls to add variety to the meal.
After a long morning of work, everyone sat down and looked at the Manchu Han Imperial Feast, exclaiming "Ah~!" in admiration.
Those who come here are all well-off. When they travel, what delicious food haven't they tried? Even if they're on this show, and the production team is ruthless, they shouldn't be forced to eat nothing but bland food for months.
Occasionally, when the show involves competitions, adventures, or travel that go on late, the production team directly approves the plan to have everyone eat at the hotel or order takeout to treat them.
However, in most cases, they still had to stay at the villa for meals. Because the two of them had to take turns cooking each week, the one who wasn't good at cooking had to figure things out on their own. So, being a group of people who weren't good at cooking, they rarely got to eat such a sumptuous meal while the guests were cooking.
Cheng Qing came out of the kitchen, took off her apron, and looked at these people with amusement, saying, "What are you looking at? Eat!"
Everyone picked up their chopsticks, but the hotel food was just too formal and didn't have the comforting feel of home cooking.
Kong Mingyan shamelessly went to get a bowl and chopsticks, picked up a piece of Dongpo pork, gave Cheng Qing a thumbs up, and then turned to say, "Luo Xi, you've worked hard, thank you!"
Everyone agreed, feeling that Losi deserved a lot of credit for making this meal possible. Since Losi didn't go into the kitchen, Cheng Qing certainly wouldn't either.
Seeing everyone thanking her for her hard work, Losi asked curiously, "I didn't cook the food, so why are you all thanking me?"
Liu Suoyu laughed loudly: "We only got to eat because of you!"
Losi was taken aback: "Really?"
Cheng Qing covered her mouth with her fist while laughing, then nodded and said, "Yes, yes."
Losi's face immediately turned bright red as she looked at Cheng Qing: "You...?"
Cheng Qing looked back at her and said, "What did I do? I only went in because I saw you were having a hard time."
Liu Suoyu immediately invited her: "Teacher Cheng, I'll be cooking next week! Can you help me out?"
Cheng Qing bent down and placed a spicy crab on Luo Xi's plate, saying without even glancing at Liu Suoyu, "Then let's forget about it!"
Liu Suoyu covered his head with his hands: "Why!!! Am I not handsome enough?"
Cheng Qing was amused by him: "Because Losi is much cuter than you."
As soon as she said that, everyone burst into laughter. Losi blushed again, picked up her chopsticks, and lowered her head to eat the crab.
"Is it good?" Cheng Qing whispered in her ear.
Losi nodded: "Delicious."
Cheng Qing's voice, full of laughter and satisfaction, said, "As long as it tastes good and you like it."
Author's Note:
Chapter 29
Cheng Qing's culinary skills are undoubtedly superb, and everyone who ate there praised them highly.
Even the director couldn't help but say to her, "With your skills, you could open a private restaurant and it would definitely be a great business. At the very least, I would definitely be a regular customer."
Cheng Qing beamed: "I've thought about opening a restaurant if I can't make it in this business."
Hearing Cheng Qingzhen say this, Kong Mingyan choked: "..."
I really want to say, with so many skills, why do you have to open a restaurant?
However, Cheng Qing then turned her head and said, "But then I thought about how cooking would easily turn me into a haggard old woman, so I gave up."
Kong Mingyan: "..."
Everyone: "..."
Lossie also asked curiously, "Why does cooking make you look like a haggard old woman?"
Seeing her ethereal, otherworldly demeanor, Cheng Qing explained, "Cooking produces too much smoke." Needless to say, she only knew how to cook because she had always lived alone. When she had free time, she wanted to treat herself to something delicious.
But she was still far from qualified to be a chef in a kitchen. So, after transmigrating to this world and confirming that she had also inherited her physical constitution, she took her sword and went straight to the nearest fencing gym to look for work.
This was the first time Cheng Qing had talked about her own affairs, so everyone couldn't help but be curious. They wanted to ask her a few questions, but didn't know where to begin.
Liu Suoyu, who was the least reserved, asked directly, "Teacher, are you a local from Fanhe City?"
Cheng Qing nodded: "Mm."
Seeing that Cheng Qing was so easy to talk to today, Lin Shandie also asked, "Did the teacher practice fencing since he was a child?"
Cheng Qing shook her head again: "I only started practicing in recent years." After all, the original owner of this body had only recently transmigrated and was originally an unknown artist.
I often go to the night market to set up a stall and earn a couple hundred yuan a night, which is enough to make ends meet.
If someone says that a child trained in fencing, and the story is broadcast on television, it's inevitable that some people who know the person will see that the story is full of flaws.
Not wanting to get involved in these troubles, Cheng Qing changed the subject and asked Lin Shandie, "I heard you graduated from a prestigious university?"
Lin Shandie immediately smiled and waved: "It's a prestigious school, but I was really lucky to get in."
Cheng Qing said, "There's no such thing as that much good luck. Good luck is a skill in itself."
Lin Shandie wasn't stupid. When Cheng Qing turned the topic to her, she knew Cheng Qing didn't want to continue talking about her. After all, she was just an ordinary person, and probably didn't want any trouble when she left later.
Lin Shandie liked Cheng Qing quite a bit, so she went along with Cheng Qing's lead and shifted the topic to herself.
Seeing that Lin Shandie had taken over the conversation and was chatting with the others about interesting things that happened during the college entrance examination, Cheng Qing stopped interrupting and poured himself some ice water to quench his thirst.
Luo Xi sat next to Cheng Qing, but felt neglected, which made her slightly unhappy.
She reached out and tugged at Cheng Qing, causing Cheng Qing to lean slightly to her side, spilling some water from her hand onto the back of her hand, where it felt icy cold.
Cheng Qing wasn't angry. She turned to look at her and, seeing that she was also confused, raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile, "What's wrong?"
Losi hesitated for a moment, and finally could only utter two words: "Eat."
Cheng Qing smiled and said, "Okay."
Cheng Qing picked up her chopsticks and placed another crab on Luo Xi's plate.
Losi: "Thank you."
Cheng Qing: "You're welcome."
Standing behind them, Kong Mingyan couldn't help but tease Cheng Qing, seeing how much she was taking care of Luo Xi, "Cheng Qing, you can't do this! There are only a few crabs. How many did Luo Xi eat by herself? It's so unfair."
Losi: "..." Ughhhhh, this director is so outspoken! Doesn't this make me look like I can eat a lot?!
Cheng Qing didn't care at all, smiling warmly as if bathed in a spring breeze, her every gesture impeccable: "What do you mean by that? The extra portion she ate was mine, how is that unfair?"
Losi: "(#／。＼#)"