Chapter 21: The Small-Time Star and His Short-Tempered Sugar Daddy (Part XXI)
Outside the Lens:
【The awkwardness came truly out of nowhere.】
【Dying of laughter. You can tell the straight man, Cheng Nuo, has his guard up against Xiao Ji.】
【This Su Yu really knows how to stir things up. She’s bold. If she really had to choose, she absolutely wouldn’t choose to sleep alone; she’d definitely pick one of the two.】
【For real? Isn’t she afraid people will say she’s not reserved?】
【She doesn’t care about that. Besides, she knows her limits. She might choose someone to share a bed with, but she definitely won’t cross the line. She just lights the fire without taking responsibility. She looks like she likes you, but the moment you try to make it real, she’ll kick you away immediately.】
【What do you guys think? If she chooses Xiao Ji, how will Xiao Ji respond?】
…
“I’ll sleep on the floor,” Xiao Ji said.
He simply didn’t give Su Yu a chance to perform.
Su Yu raised her beautiful eyebrows, joking, “You’d rather sleep on the floor than sleep with me?”
Xiao Ji spoke bluntly, “I’m not willing to sleep with either of you.”
Su Yu: “???”
Cheng Nuo: “…”
The program team didn’t give the guests much time to organize their luggage. As soon as Xiao Ji finished speaking, the broadcast in the room sounded, requiring everyone to gather in the living room in twenty minutes to make lunch.
Xiao Ji stood where he was, quietly listening to the broadcast. Then he unzipped his suitcase, chose the outermost section of the four-sided wardrobe in the room, and began to arrange his things methodically.
From jackets to T-shirts to trousers, everything was folded into perfect, sharp-edged “tofu blocks,” stacked one on top of the other.
However, when he opened the other side of the suitcase and looked at his intimate apparel, he couldn’t help but fall into silence.
Underwear featuring various little ducks, little starfish, little camels, and little kittens, along with colorful, large floral socks, were exposed nakedly to the cameras in the room.
Xiao Ji looked at the pile of colorful items, sighed helplessly, and then resumed his expressionless demeanor as he folded them neatly and placed them in the wardrobe.
Su Yu had been watching Xiao Ji unpack. When she saw his unmentionable intimate wear, she laughed out loud.
“I couldn’t tell. That’s quite a contrast to your persona. Nice taste.”
Xiao Ji glanced at her. “If you have nothing to do, please don’t talk to me.”
After speaking, he thought for a moment and, for the sake of politeness, added, “Thank you.”
Su Yu, having been snubbed several times, didn’t get angry. She just curled her lips and went back to packing her own things, seemingly not taking it to heart.
Two minutes before they were due downstairs, Xiao Ji finished putting away all his items. Without greeting Su Yu or Cheng Nuo, he closed the wardrobe and suddenly opened the door to leave without any warning.
At the exact twentieth minute stipulated by the program team, he stood in the living room, not a second late.
Only then did the others trickle down one after another.
Li Yun looked through the ingredients placed on the table. “Who can cook? my culinary skills are limited; I can only make some post-meal desserts.”
Lie stood by the refrigerator door. “I can only make vegetable salad.”
“I can cook, I’ll do it.” Cheng Nuo came down from upstairs, rolling up his cuffs, looking at everyone. “Chinese food or Western food?”
Zhao Jiatong chimed in, “I’m not picky. I’ll be the assistant.”
“Is Chinese food okay? I want to eat sour and spicy potato strips and fish-flavored eggplant,” Gu Yao suggested softly.
While the group was still discussing and getting nowhere, the program’s broadcast suddenly sounded again:
“The warm, happy, and anticipated lunch time has arrived again. Today’s cuisine will focus on Chinese food. Everyone, please prepare one signature dish of your own~”
Cheng Nuo spread his hands helplessly. “It looks like everyone is required to get their hands dirty.”
The kitchen had one oven, one microwave, two stovetops, two induction cookers, and various pots and pans. The space was spacious enough to accommodate five or six people working together.
While the group was still discussing who would do what and in what order, Xiao Ji had already picked up his ingredients and walked to the kitchen. Without a word, he started working directly—washing and cutting vegetables. A kitchen knife practically danced in his hand.
The camera focused on the potato strips on the cutting board. Under the high-definition picture, to the naked eye, every single strip seemed to be of the exact same thickness.
His skilled movements surpassed even those of chefs who had been working for decades.
But after preparing the side dishes, Xiao Ji suddenly stood still.
A moment later, he took out his phone from his pocket and started searching for seasoning ratios.
However, looking at words like [appropriate amount] or [some] regarding seasoning requirements in all the recipes, he suddenly fell into confusion.
After several fruitless searches, he looked at Cheng Nuo, who was blanching chicken chunks nearby, and asked him:
“For potato strips, how do you add the seasoning?”
Cheng Nuo looked at Xiao Ji and smiled. “I really want to help you, but didn’t the broadcast just say to do our own dishes?”
Xiao Ji felt Cheng Nuo’s words were very high-sounding and hypocritical, so he exposed him on the spot:
“The broadcast only said everyone should prepare a signature dish; it didn’t say we couldn’t seek help. If you don’t want to help me, you can just say so.”
After speaking, watching the smile gradually freeze on Cheng Nuo’s face, he added:
“Your smile is too fake.”
With that, he didn’t care anymore. He heated the oil in the wok and threw the potato strips in.
Cheng Nuo previously only knew that Xiao Ji wasn’t good at talking, but he didn’t expect that now, with Fang Yinnian backing him, Xiao Ji wouldn’t even bother pretending in front of the camera.
Being called out by Xiao Ji like this, Cheng Nuo couldn’t keep his face straight for a moment, but for the sake of appearances, he forced a retort:
“What are you saying? Then I just misunderstood the meaning. Are you always this unforgiving when you speak?”
Xiao Ji gave an “Oh” and said, “Sorry. I thought when the program team said to ensure the authenticity of the show during filming, it meant we couldn’t tell lies.”
Cheng Nuo: “…”
Unable to communicate with Xiao Ji, he could only focus back on his own ingredients.
He was making curry chicken chunks.
Having stir-fried the chicken and added the curry and water, he needed to cover the pot and let it stew for a while.
Xiao Ji looked at the lid Cheng Nuo had covered the pot with, then thought about the broadcast’s words again.
It only said everyone should prepare a signature dish; it didn’t say one couldn’t mess with other people’s ingredients.
So, after plating his potato strips, he turned back and glanced at the stove fire Cheng Nuo had turned down low.
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