Chapter 5: Jealousy! You’re an Old Dog!
As the Star Stream official, the latest message displayed by Loren was a prominent one highlighted in red.
[Loren: The conditions can still be negotiated! The tips can all go to the host!!]
Ning Yunyi raised an eyebrow at that “can all go”, thinking about the over 100,000 star coins in tips, his mouth curling up, his mood even better.
However, he felt that the manager making such a promise might mean there were other conditions that required his cooperation.
Sure enough, as Ning Yunyi scrolled up, Loren’s entire private messages were revealed.
There were about a dozen, the first few were still very official invitations for him to sign with [Star Stream].
The time intervals were not long, until he had not received Ning Yunyi’s response, then they became anxious, the latest ones even more panicked, afraid he would just disappear.
[Loren: Mr. Knife, are you on the main planet? You must have heard of the Research Institute. The Director of the Ancient Institute himself came to our Star Stream headquarters, hoping to meet Mr. Knife to discuss the several Ancient Blue Star species that appeared in this live stream.]
[Loren: Mr. Knife, you can propose any conditions, if you don’t want to meet in person, you can sign the contract first.]
[Loren: Mr. Knife? Have you seen the private messages? Please reply immediately.]
…
[Loren: As long as Mr. Knife signs the contract, Star Stream can offer the highest standard contract, a 70/30 tipping split, plus an annual base salary of 5 million star coins.]
[Loren: Mr. Knife, if you’re not satisfied with the 70/30 split, we can do 80/20, we just hope Mr. Knife can provide some Ancient Blue Star species for us to research.]
[Loren: The conditions can still be negotiated! The tips can all go to the host!!]
Ning Yunyi wasn’t in a hurry after reading this, but he couldn’t conveniently give out those Ancient Blue Star ingredients, after all, he still hadn’t fully understood this place, and with the Ning family incident, the enemy’s situation was uncertain.
Recklessly giving them out could bring trouble, and if it ended up being used as a scapegoat…
Ning Yunyi was well aware of the principle of “no gain without loss”, so he replied to Loren.
[The No.1 Knife of the Sect: I’ll sign the contract, but the tips don’t need to all go to me, just a 70/30 split is fine. As for the 5 million star coin base salary, that’s not necessary either, I want a free contract clause, meaning I can leave anytime without restriction, but I’ll stay here for at least three months. If you agree, we can sign now, if not, I can just be an unaffiliated streamer.]
Even as an unaffiliated streamer, he can still withdraw 20% of the tipping star coins.
Over 100,000 in tips, even 20% would be enough for him to rent a better house again.
Loren seemed to have been waiting the whole time, almost instantly replying.
[Loren: Mr. Knife, are you really not considering it again? The conditions can still be negotiated, we’ll go with whatever Mr. Knife wants.]
[The No.1 Knife of the Sect: No need to consider. Whether you agree or not, please give me a response as soon as possible.]
[Loren: Then the Ancient Blue Star species…]
[The No.1 Knife of the Sect: The Director of the Ancient Institute must have seen it wrong, the ingredients I have are all imitation.]
Loren naturally didn’t believe it, but seeing the other’s decisive answer, it was clear he wasn’t going to admit it.
They had also tried to track the IP, wanting to go see the person themselves, but couldn’t trace it at all.
This left the headquarters stunned, their [Star Stream] network was already very powerful, if they couldn’t track it, it could only be an even higher level, maybe royalty or high-tech confidential personnel.
The officials at Loren’s side had discussed it while waiting for a reply, if they could get a species that even the Ancient Director didn’t have, it could only be someone more capable than the Ancient Director, they couldn’t afford to offend.
Loren quickly agreed and sent over the contract.
Ning Yunyi saw no problem and signed it, using a virtual ID, not afraid of being discovered.
On Loren’s side, when they checked the ID, other than the name, all the information was encrypted.
This further confirmed their previous guess.
Loren reported everything he knew to his superior.
The superior finally looked at the little old man who had been stubbornly refusing to leave his office: “Ancient Director, you see for yourself, it’s not that I don’t want to help you, but this Mr. Knife is too mysterious, his ID is completely encrypted. We only know a name, no age, gender, nothing. This level of encrypted identity, it’s either royalty or a high-tech confidential research unit, or even higher, with a hundred hearts I wouldn’t dare override them.”
The superior was also anxious, he had watched the live stream replay too, those ingredients had him coveting them, but the problem was, if the other could produce these rare and precious things, how could they be an ordinary person?
The Ancient Director sighed: “It’s the old man being too impatient, since Mr. Knife doesn’t want to, then so be it.”
The superior breathed a sigh of relief, but as soon as the Ancient Director left, the old man was on the verge of tears again, his eyes covetous. But unable to contact him, also afraid of offending this mysterious Mr. Knife, in case he stopped live streaming altogether, and he wouldn’t even have a chance to watch.
On Ning Yunyi’s side, he sent the signed contract back, the signing took effect immediately, and the [Star Stream] background interface refreshed, his name now having a signed contract star mark.
At the same time, a new option [Flavor Shelving Setup] appeared on the interface.
Ning Yunyi clicked into it, there was the number of people who could buy the flavor on the first shelving auction, a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 10.
The price started at 1 star coin minimum, with no upper limit.
Ning Yunyi thought about it, the strawberry-flavored nutritional supplement was 1000 star coins per bottle, setting it at 100 star coins wouldn’t be excessive, right?
After all, moo-moo meat is 100 star coins per Jin.
After setting it up, Ning Yunyi exited, clicking [Start Live Stream].
Starting from last night, people had been lurking in the live stream one after another, just because of Ning Yunyi’s “see you tomorrow”, also wanting to rewatch the previous live stream replay.
So as soon as Ning Yunyi went live, the originally sparse barrage suddenly went wild.
[Ah the host is finally here!! Waaah, were those really rare Ancient Blue Star species?]
[Where did the host get those species? I heard the Ancient Director even passed out, is it true?]
[@Ancient Research Institute Director, @Chief Disciple Luke of the Ancient Research Institute]
Ning Yunyi expanded the transparent interface to float in mid-air, looking up at this barrage while putting the pot on the stove, replying: “Rare Ancient Blue Star species? Is that so? My ingredients are all imitation.”
Ning Yunyi lied shamelessly, not at all guilty.
Almost as soon as he said it, a barrage was posted, filled with accusations and righteous indignation.
[Host using false gimmicks, deceiving consumers, obtaining tips through fraud, his heart deserves to be executed, how could a small host possibly have rare Ancient Blue Star species? Apologize! Refund the money! This is just imitation, it has no flavor, everything is to cheat for star coins! Don’t be fooled by him!]
The viewers in the live stream had just heard Ning Yunyi say it was imitation and felt regretful, not even reacting yet, when they saw this barrage.
Because the barrage had paused for a moment due to Ning Yunyi’s words, this one remained at the top.
A few seconds later, the barrage flooded in.
[Who is this? An idiot? Got their star coins cheated? You old dog, when did the host ever say these were rare Ancient Blue Star species?]
[Tsk tsk tsk luckily the host said they were imitation, otherwise wouldn’t this old dog still be clawing at it? Jealousy! Blatant jealousy!]
[Which internet celebrity’s dog is this, coming to suppress the new host again?]
[Isn’t this not the first time? I’m already familiar with this high-level VIP account.]
Ning Yunyi didn’t even see his own words making the would-be mud-slinger choke, obviously not expecting the host to just admit it himself.
But if he wanted a gimmick to get famous, why admit it?
Ning Yunyi only briefly glanced at the barrage at the beginning, then focused on cooking.
He had pre-processed the ingredients, so it went quite quickly.
Yesterday he just ate a little casually, today he planned to make it more sumptuous, properly making up for his body.
Ning Yunyi waited for the flat pan to heat up with a layer of oil, then carefully placed the sliced tofu in the bottom of the pan.
With a sizzle, the previously noisy and lively live stream suddenly fell silent, the barrage also pausing, afraid to disturb the wonderful scene.
The smoky aroma sizzling, the pale, tender slices of white being placed one after another, soon Ning Yunyi deftly flipped the pan, and those slices that were just white and raw a moment ago were now golden.
The white and gold intertwined, seductively tempting, as if one could feel the visual impact, especially the oil sizzling and popping faintly…
Ning Yunyi skillfully plated the crispy golden tofu, then poured in the prepared sauce broth to boil, adding the tofu back in to stir-fry, finally thickening the sauce. He then sprinkled green onions on top.
The impact of the color and aroma, he could smell the fragrance of the fried tofu, his mood extremely good.
But the live stream viewers were dumbfounded, when they saw the complete dish with its color, aroma, and taste, they swallowed hard.
[This, this is way too beautiful.]
[First time feeling that food can look so good.]
[Even if it’s imitation without flavor, but this steam and color alone are enough to tempt me waaah, what a pity it’s just imitation.]
But they still knew it was imitation, yet were still drooling.
[Waaah I originally bought a lot of nutritional supplement bottles, even the new strawberry flavor, just wanting to watch the host live stream to satisfy my craving, but… damn it’s so undrinkable! Pity my 1000 star coins.]
[No way? Didn’t Nick next door say it was good? At 1000 star coins, if it’s not good, isn’t that just being a fool?]
[Yeah, if it tastes the same as the nutritional supplements, why bother spending so much, after all regular nutritional supplements are only 1 star coin.]
[Tastes are diverse, how can you slander my Nini like that?!]
The live stream got noisy again, with just the Nini fans refusing to allow anyone to slander him, but soon they were drowned out by the overwhelming slurping barrages.
Ning Yunyi ignored the barrage, the fragrant fried tofu was done, so he started preparing the second dish, garlic spare ribs, sautéed twice-cooked pork, and a purple seaweed egg drop soup.
As the rich egg drop soup emerged, the live stream was completely stunned.
[Ah I thought I finally had affordable ingredients, just about to say I know the eggs of the gosling, but the next moment I’m confused, what’s that black but not quite black and a bit green thing?]
[I want to know more what the green thing in many dishes is? Who can popularize what species this is?]
[Isn’t the key point the block-shaped thing that the Ancient Director said was both tomato and wolf peach? Just what kind of person is this host, that he can even imitate it so realistically? Especially the smoky aroma and color, it looks just like the real thing.]
Ning Yunyi waited until the three dishes and one soup were done, then glanced at the barrage, selecting one to answer: “This is a purple seaweed egg drop soup, and the green one is cilantro.”
Since they’re all saying it’s imitation, he’ll just acknowledge it as imitation.
[… I’m illiterate, who knows how to pronounce those two words?]
[Cilantro (yansui), a Chinese herbal name, a herbaceous plant.]
[Haha seeing that gold, I know it’s Luke, Chief Disciple, have you broken your persona today?]
The barrage cheerfully resumed, only to be stunned again as the host turned and lifted the lid of another pot, revealing two bowls of white, granular contents.
The grains were distinct, each clinging together, steaming hot, the pure white appearance making the live stream freeze: ?? What, what is this?
Recommended Reads
![Enemies on a Narrow Road [Esports]](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/enemies-on-a-narrow-road-214x300.jpg)