Part 4
The next morning, Ning Yunyi told the Ning family in advance about what he planned to do during the noon broadcast.
Big Brother Ning and Professor Ning knew about his other identity. Hearing his decision, they thought about it and decided to respect Ning Yunyi’s choice. Although it was risky, if it really succeeded… the cub wouldn’t have to hide when appearing in public anymore.
Although Mrs. Ning didn’t know the specifics, she agreed with both hands raised. She didn’t understand the rest, but she understood this would benefit the shifters’ situation.
With the family’s unanimous agreement, Ning Yunyi began preparing for the noon broadcast. First, he used pure plant-based dye to change the Big Cat’s hair color. It had no side effects, except that it lasted a short timeāwashing off in a few hours.
Fortunately, the live stream would only be an hour or two, so it didn’t need to last long.
Zong Hao looked at Ning Yunyi with complex feelings, while the cub watched curiously. Seeing his father take the black stuff and start brushing the cat’s fur, the cub’s eyes went round.
Before long, he saw that the cat fur, which was originally dusty gray except for the black tail, now had half the cat head, ears, back, the front half of the limbs, and the tail dyed black. The rest remained gray.
But the overall feeling was completely different. Because a gradient technique was used, the Big Cat looked like he was wearing a black half-mask and a majestic black cape.
Ning Little Meow opened his mouth wide, staring eagerly at his father.
Ning Yunyi coughed lightly. “Cub, be good. I only have black dye. You are already black, so we can’t change you.”
Although the little guy was regretful, he obediently went up and touched the Big Cat’s head. “Cat-Cat, you look so good.”
Zong Hao felt complicated. He couldn’t see himself, but looking down, he saw his limbs were half black and half gray. The connection wasn’t a straight line but irregular, giving it a surprisingly natural look.
Ning Little Meow’s attention was on the Big Cat, but when Ning Yunyi modified two small suits according to their body shapes, his eyes widened instantly.
When the two put on bow ties and appropriate suitsāone black, one mixed; one aloof, one cuteāthey looked quite like brothers.
The cub originally used a virtual cartoon avatar and didn’t need clothes, but thinking of the two of them, how could the little one not have what the other had? So he prepared everything together.
Before the broadcast started, Ning Yunyi processed the ingredients to be used today. When it was about time, he opened Star Stream and set up the virtual cartoon form for the cub first.
Because the Big Cat needed to appear on camera, no settings were applied for him. When the time was right, Ning Yunyi told the two and clicked [Start Broadcast].
As the camera view changed, the originally black screen revealed a familiar figure. Fans who had been camping in the stream immediately sat up like hungry hatchlings.
[Hehehe, I don’t know what today’s dish is. I got lucky yesterday and grabbed some. Even though it was food made before, I hadn’t tasted it. It was heavenly!]
[Boohoo, am I the only unlucky one? Never grabbed a single dish.]
[It’s been so long, can the Star Stream research team figure out how to make more portions?]
[Do you see them daring to show their faces?]
[Is it still previous dishes today? Rubbing hands, hehe, expecting new dishes.]
Seeing this comment, Ning Yunyi replied, “I was busy a while ago. Today I’m free, so I’ll make a few dishes I haven’t done before.”
[Wow! Looking forward to it!]
Ning Yunyi: “Now, let’s make the first dish of the day: Sunflower Chopped Meat.”
Ning Yunyi took out a piece of pork belly and began dicing it. The knife in his hand was sharp and fast; one could almost see afterimages. The audience in the livestream couldn’t bear to type comments, staring straight at those slender hands wondering how they could be so fast.
Before they could recover, the anchor began cutting round, white, bulb-like objects.
[Eh, Anchor, what is this?]
Ning Yunyi looked up and replied, “This is water chestnut, a perennial herbaceous plant. It tastes sweet and crisp. I’ll add it to the meat dice to enhance the texture.”
As Ning Yunyi finished speaking, before they could see clearly, he had already diced them. Although he was cooking, it felt like a visual feast of ultimate beauty.
Ning Yunyi put all the diced ingredients into a basin, added seasoning, and stirred until the mixture became sticky. Finally, moving quickly, he formed them into balls. Placed in a porcelain basin, each ball was exceptionally round and beautiful, finally garnished with chopped green onions.
While they steamed in the pot, Ning Yunyi started making chicken broth on the side. Once the Sunflower Chopped Meatāalso known as Lion’s Headāwas steamed, he added the simmered chicken broth and garnished with green vegetables. The dish was complete.
At first, the fans followed the anchor to record the steps. Although they didn’t know what meat the anchor was using, they believed everything could be replaced with exotic beast meat, and maybe they could make it themselves.
But at some point, they couldn’t keep up at all and just stared eagerly at the second dish.
The second dish Ning Yunyi started making was Steamed Pork with Rice Flour in Lotus Leaf.
The third was Pan-Fried Stuffed Three Treasures.
The so-called Three Treasures consisted of stuffed bitter melon, stuffed tofu, and stuffed eggplant. Soon, as the colorful and unique combination came out of the pot, steaming hot, the audience was dumbfounded. I… I really want a bite.
[Boohoo, is Star Stream useless? When can they let us each have a taste, instead of just watching and not eating or smelling?]
[Exactly. That steamed pork just now… boohoo, I’ve never seen such tender meat. My bought exotic beast meat is unworthy.]
Ning Yunyi started making the fourth dish, a soup. Since he said he would do something different today, it was naturally something unseen before: Flying Dragon Soup. Though called Flying Dragon, it was actually Hazel Grouse. It focused on authentic flavor, delicious and very nourishing.
The dishes he made today were mostly light, as Mrs. Ning had just recovered and couldn’t eat heavy flavors.
But although these dishes were light, they made everyone in the livestream howl with hunger. Suddenly, as the aroma grew richer, the ears of the people staring at the screen pricked up.
[Eh, did I just hear something? Sounded like a meow?]
[Illusion, right? The anchor has been alone for so long, he never said he raised an exotic beast.]
[What is the person above thinking? The anchor made so many dishes for one meal, surely he isn’t alone.]
Almost as soon as this comment was posted, they saw the anchor in the lens, who was about to lift the lid of the Sunflower Chopped Meat, suddenly smile. He bent down and scooped something into his arms, rubbed his forehead lightly against it, and placed it on his shoulder.
Everyone in the livestream was instantly dumbfounded: ??
They stared wide-eyed at the cartoon cat avatar on the anchor’s shoulder. The small creature lay perfectly there. Especially when those fair, slender fingers gently scratched the cartoon cat’s chin, and the cat purred comfortably… for a moment, the scene was picturesque, making people forget to react.
But…
[Is… is this real or fake?]
[An exotic beast?]
[What are you thinking upstairs? How could an exotic beast be this tiny? This is clearly…]
[It should be a virtual cartoon, right? Why would the anchor keep a shifter as a pet?]
Soon, the comments section erupted into an argument over whether the cartoon cat was real. But the subsequent scene left everyone stunned.
Before the debate about the cartoon cat on the anchor’s shoulder could conclude, something seemed to flash across the screen.
In the next moment, in the corner of the shot, a gray-and-black majestic long-tailed cat jumped to the top of the shelf. He squatted there, looking down from above, a bow tie around his neck. His gray beast eyes quietly surveyed below, and the fitted vest on his body made him look as aloof and disdainful of the masses as a human.
But then, the cartoon cat on the anchor’s shoulder seemed to notice him and jumped down. Soon, another cartoon cat appeared on the shelf, snuggling close to the first cat. Its small head rubbed against the other. Although it was a cartoon avatar, it was obviously… real.
The previously aloof cat extended a paw and patted the little cub’s head, eliciting a soft meow from the little guy that made everyone unconsciously hold their breath.
The comments stopped instantly. The millions of online viewers stared at this scene, jaw-dropped. Looking at the size of these two… they don’t look like exotic beasts, do they?
But for a moment, no one dared to speak. The anchor, on the other hand, was exceptionally calm. He plated the food, set aside a small portion of the three dishes and one soup, and began uploading the taste data.
Almost simultaneously, the viewers snapped back to reality, and a barrage of comments flooded in.
[Ahhh Anchor! Are these two raised by you? So cute! I’ll say it first, but… these aren’t exotic beasts, right?]
Ning Yunyi looked back. Just when the livestream audience thought he wouldn’t answer, he faced the camera calmly and said, “No. The gray-and-black one is my nephew, and the cartoon one is my son, Star Cub. They are both… shifters.”
At the same time, the taste upload was successful. Ning Yunyi left a final sentence: “Bon appĆ©tit.”
Then he exited the livestream directly, leaving behind only the shocked crowd: [???]
On the other side, Ichi, who hadn’t slept all night, finally waited until noon to watch the entire broadcast. When he saw the aloof cat appear in the lens and look over, Ichi felt a wave of familiarity hit him in the face: ??
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thank you for the chapter!