Chapter 4: Skyrocketing Popularity+++
Ning Yunyi was unaware of the uproar he had caused after ending his live stream. He was having dinner with Ning Xiao-miao.
Ning Xiao-miao’s thin little face was almost completely buried in the bowl, eating without lifting his head.
He thought the tomato scrambled eggs and rice from lunch was fragrant enough, but the dinner was even more delectable, making him want to swallow his tongue.
Ning Yunyi watched as the little guy diligently scraped up the rice soaked in the beef and tomato sauce, the beautiful color and the impact on his taste buds leaving Ning Xiao-miao in a daze, wishing his stomach could hold more so he could have another bite.
Ning Yunyi had portioned out the food specifically for him, worried that the little guy, who had only eaten nutritional supplements before, would overeat on his first time. A single dose of the supplements could only maintain his basic bodily functions, not give him a sense of fullness.
Suddenly having a big appetite was not good for the little guy, especially since his physical condition wasn’t great.
Ning Yunyi spooned some minced eggplant for him, and when Ning Xiao-miao tasted it, his eyes instantly brightened, the jade-green orbs looking at his father longingly before being drawn back to the tempting food, burying his head to continue eating.
Ning Yunyi had also finished his own dinner. When he looked up, he saw Ning Xiao-miao had licked his bowl completely clean, not even leaving a drop of sauce, sitting upright with his little hands neatly on his knees, staring intently at… the remaining sauce in Ning Yunyi’s bowl.
Ning Xiao-miao swallowed with difficulty, looking up with shining eyes.
Ning Yunyi’s mouth twitched, he’s obedient, but this greediness is real: “No licking the bowls.”
It’s fine if he licks his own, but even Ning Yunyi’s leftovers?
But considering the little kitten had never tasted these foods before, and now that he’s just gotten a taste, he can’t help being greedy. Later, when he’s used to eating them, he might not even want to eat.
Ning Xiao-miao reluctantly turned his gaze away, jumping off the stool to snuggle up to Ning Yunyi, small hands clutching his waist, nodding obediently.
Ning Yunyi patted his little head, conjuring up half an apple: “Eat.”
Ning Xiao-miao’s eyes immediately brightened again, perhaps due to being full, the sickly little cub was now full of energy, the large green eyes shining.
He looked up at Ning Yunyi eagerly, as if asking: What is this? Can he really have it?
Ning Yunyi nodded: “Eat.”
Ning Xiao-miao cupped the apple in his small hands, struggling to lift it up towards Ning Yunyi, shaking his head when Ning Yunyi refused: “Father still has some, you eat it.”
Ning Xiao-miao shook his head, still stubbornly holding it up, obviously wanting Ning Yunyi to take the first bite.
Ning Yunyi looked down at the little cub, a complex emotion welling up in his heart, unsure if it was the remnant of the original host or just pity for this little one. He leaned in and took a small bite, patting the little head that looked too big for his thin body: “Eat.” His voice softened considerably, making Ning Xiao-miao grin, revealing his small teeth, cherishing and carefully taking small bites.
When Ning Yunyi went to wash the dishes, the little guy didn’t want to leave his side, clinging to his leg and nibbling on the apple he had never tasted before.
Ning Yunyi wasn’t quite used to the clingy little one, but since Ning Xiao-miao’s physique was still weak despite his good spirits earlier, Ning Yunyi took him to wash up and back to the bed, where he soon changed back to his kitten form and curled up in Ning Yunyi’s embrace, falling asleep.
Ning Yunyi then brought up his wrist device, searching for the meaning of “flavor to be put on the shelves” mentioned in the dinner live stream comments.
But just as he was about to voice-input the question, a news headline popped up first.
[#Exposing the Host Who Used Precious Ancient Blue Star Ingredients for Cooking#]
Recalling the gold-lit barrage from earlier, this host who used precious Ancient Blue Star ingredients for cooking, could it be referring to him?
He clicked on it, which directly took him to a forum-like Star Network page.
The most prominent top-left entry on the homepage, ranked first and marked with a prominent [Hot], was this post.
The second one was [#Ancient Research Institute Director Passes Out Crying#(Fire)].
The third was [#Turns Out Tomato is Also Called Wolf Peach#].
Ning Yunyi had already guessed some of this when he saw Luke’s barrage during the live stream, and while this was surprising, it was also within his expectations.
But now he was a penniless man, wanting to live stream to raise the cub, and could only use the ingredients from his space, which he couldn’t afford to buy.
Of course, what didn’t worry him too much was that the account ID he was using on his wrist device was virtual, so no one could trace his identity.
This virtual identity was carefully set up by Ning Yunyi’s parents three years ago when Ning Xiao-miao was born as a half-beast, as a precaution.
Ning Yunyi’s father was a high-ranking official in the Federal Research Institute, with access to advanced interstellar technology, so setting up a virtual account was a breeze for him.
Ning Yunyi clicked on the first web page, which brought up a forum-like interface similar to the early days of the Ancient Blue Star.
[OP: Shocked my whole family! Who would have thought that one day I would actually see my cold and aloof idol break character, seeing the idol’s frantic attempts to keep him [at Master Luke of the Ancient Research Institute, idol, blink if your account has been hijacked (picture)].]
The attached picture was a screenshot of Luke’s frantic barrage in the live stream, and anyone could see that this had nothing to do with his usual cold and aloof persona.
[1F: ??? Are you sure you’re talking about that Luke who only speaks minimally even when popularizing science?]
[2F: I don’t believe it! This can’t possibly be Luke, he’s the Chief Disciple of the Ancient Research Institute, how will he face his junior disciples and peers from now on?]
[12F: 2F is overthinking, have you not seen the hot topic #Ancient Research Institute Director Passes Out Crying# where not just him, but many lost their aloof personas?]
[122F: Shocked after watching the live stream replay, is that really not imitation moo-moo meat? Why does it look so tender, completely different from the old, tough and hard moo-moo meat I usually buy? Are you sure that was tomato? I searched the ancient pictures, it’s round with a green stem, not blocks.]
[233F: The above, is it possible the host just cut it up?]
[666F: Haha, am I the only one curious about the Director’s fainting appearance? Imagining the stern-faced little old man I saw at the Federal conference, I can’t imagine it at all.]
[699F: The Director is a victim of slander.]
Ning Yunyi quickly flipped through a few pages, fortunately the later discussions had veered off, mostly doubting if it was just Luke exaggerating, or that Luke had seen it wrong, because how could it be rare Ancient Blue Star ingredients when the Ancient Research Institute had only successfully grown one tomato fruit?
Later it had circled back, curious about the new host “The No.1 Knife of the Sect”, wondering if it was a high-ranking figure from the Ancient Research Institute trying to expand the influence of the Ancient Blue Star species.
[1222F: Have you ever seen a big shot who cooks? Moreover, that braised beef and potato looked so delicious, it really looked so fragrant, waaah.]
Ning Yunyi looked around but didn’t see any information about his own identity, guessing that even if someone investigated, they probably wouldn’t find anything, so he relaxed and searched for the meaning of “flavor to be put on the shelves”.
He soon found the answer – it was a high-tech feature authorized by [Star Stream] to all signed-on hosts a year ago.
It was originally designed specifically for perfume, tourist planet, and wilderness exploration hosts to let them share the experience of new fragrance varieties and the rare natural flavors of different planets.
Later it was utilized by the food area, especially for sharing the flavors of new nutritional supplement varieties.
In simple terms, hosts can use this high-tech feature in the background to analyze the molecular composition of a flavor they present, then synchronize a recreated version of that flavor to the viewers on the other end of the Star Network.
However, only ten units can be sold at a time, with the price set by the host themselves.
Except for the first person, who can smell the flavor at 100%, each subsequent person will be reduced by one-tenth.
The last person can only smell one-tenth of the original flavor, a huge discount.
Ning Yunyi stroked his chin, it was quite interesting. After researching it and confirming there were no other effects, he decided to try putting it on the shelves during his live stream tomorrow.
After all, he only had three days to earn the rent for the next month so he could move out with the little Xiao-miao.
Ning Yunyi got the information he wanted and went to sleep, but tonight, thousands of star systems across the entire Star Network who saw the live stream or watched the edited cooking video were all stunned by the aroma. Who could sleep?
Ning Yunyi woke up very early the next day, having a simple breakfast with Xiao-miao, then meditating to restore his body after the little one fell back asleep.
Until almost noon, he had the ingredients prepared in advance.
Yesterday he was just getting used to it and had a simple meal, but for today’s lunch… he’ll make it a little more sumptuous.
Since it was just the two of them, Ning Yunyi planned to make three dishes, one soup, and one rice for lunch.
After getting all the necessary ingredients ready, Ning Yunyi opened the Star Stream, and as soon as he logged in, a deluge of unread messages flooded the background.
He opened them, the first one highlighted in red was from a Star Stream official staff.
The second folded one was from other Star Stream hosts.
The third was fan private messages.
Ning Yunyi looked at the hundreds of fan private messages, then lifted his head to check his follower count, and was unexpectedly surprised when he saw the number.
Wow, he knew it might attract attention, but he didn’t expect to gain over 100,000 new followers overnight?
Not only that, the long string of numbers after… should be star coins, right?
Ning Yunyi held his breath and carefully counted the digits, ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands…
Unsure, he counted it again.
After counting it three times in a row, he confirmed it was indeed over 100,000 star coins in tips.
He clicked in, and at the top of the tipping list was that Luke, tipping a full 50,000 star coins.
The second was a newly registered account similar to Luke’s, [Ancient Research Institute Ancient Someone], tipping 20,000 star coins.
The rest were scattered tips from many fans.
Ning Yunyi pressed his lips together, glancing at the tipping amounts again, the former patriarch whose manor was filled with treasures, he never thought he’d stoop for star coins, but he couldn’t help laughing, his brows and eyes shining brightly, making his exquisite and handsome features even more dazzling.
Ning Xiao-miao woke up and came stumbling over, just seeing this scene, staring up at his father blankly, momentarily stunned.
Ning Yunyi lowered his head and couldn’t resist scooping up the little kitten, nuzzling a big kiss on the furry little forehead.
The little kitten’s round, jade-green beast eyes widened, his whole body’s fur standing on end, obviously excited, his claws trembling, then shyly raising a paw to cover his face.
Ning Yunyi couldn’t resist giving him another kiss, and the little kitten finally let out a “meow”, shaking his tail and scurrying back to the room in a flash.
Responding to him was Ning Yunyi’s delighted laughter.
The little kitten buried his head in the pillow, only his fluffy tail swishing wildly.
Ning Yunyi then opened the message from the Star Stream official, which was from Loren, the head of the food area on the main planet.
As he read the latest automatically displayed message, his hand paused as he scrolled up.
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