Chapter 27: 27

Chapter 27: The Barbecue Livestream

“Darling? I heard something good happened at the company.” It was lunchtime. The woman arranged an array of flavoured Nutrient Doses on the dining table. Her voice was gentle, soft and thin like a drizzle of rain. 

“Oh! The risks that come with it take the joy out of the deal,” the bald man sighed.

“Hmm? I heard that ever since Lemon Kitchen joined Shine Livestreams, the frequency of our app’s installations, Rewards purchases, publicity, and popularity have been on the rise. There’re so many livestream companies eyeing him,” the woman continued. “All my friends ever talk about is how heavenly his food is. Why aren’t you happy with the company’s rise?”

Wang Zhi opened up the tube with his favourite flavour. It was tasteless. Lately, he’d been spending a lot of time watching Lemon Kitchen’s livestreams and had the privilege to try out all kinds of unearthly flavours. Now he was having a hard time getting back in touch with reality’s food. Every gulp of Nutrient Doses was a pain. It was like drinking from a puddle of mud.

“The company has a lot to thank Lemon Kitchen for. He saved us from bankruptcy!Lots of big companies throughout the galaxy want to work with us now! Investments, contracts — everyone wants a piece of him.” Wang Zhi chewed on his lip, his appetite gone. “He’s so popular now, just the name of a product coming out his mouth is enough to get sales skyrocketing. You can’t even begin to imagine what his commercial value’s like.”

“And none of this is happening because you haven’t gotten him to sign any contracts yet?”

Wang Zhi nodded. “Lemon Kitchen said to wait, but my liver would’ve shirlvelled up by the time he gives an answer. The longer we wait, the higher the risk of someone getting their hands on him. You have no idea how many companies are out there waiting to climb this wall of ours, and I’m guessing most of them have already tried reaching out to him behind our backs. If they manage to get in touch with him, I don’t think we’d be able to keep him.”

“What’re you offering him?”

“That’s what we want to talk to him about! But he won’t respond.”

The woman flicked a finger against the man’s forehead. “Oh, you! If he still hasn’t signed a contract with you, doesn’t he get only fifty percent of his Rewards? Rules are meant to be broken! You get what I’m saying?”

Wnag Zhi paused, then exclaimed, “You’re right! If he doesn’t sign a contract now, he won’t get ad revenues or any other kind of income other than from his Rewards. His Rewarder’s list has been heating up lately, but half of that goes to us. Imagine how much of a pain in the neck that must be!”

The lady smiled warmly. “Why don’t we take a little less of the shares, build a nice, trusting relationship with him, and get a contract signed? Everyone will have everything they need by then. Better that than losing him”

Wang Zhi gave her a large thumbs up. “I married the wisest womanin the world. Any other advice, wise one?”

The woman continued, “That HuaLuHua’s not going to stay loyal for long. Don’t lose a treasure trove over a coin, sweetheart. Who stays, who’s replaced, who goes — it’s time to make some decisions.”

“That’s true… Lu Xinghua has been holding us back. We can’t let him get in Lemon Kitchen’s way, or he’ll shoo our cash cow away. I’ll cry if that happens… We’ve got to show him our sincerity. I’ll talk to Lu Xinghua. If we can keep him, we’ll keep him. If he tries anything weird, I’ll sack him.”

*

Lin Ning was flopped over the bed, thinking about Xizai, when he received Shine Livestream’s private message. 

Life was boring without Xizai around. He couldn’t pet the cat, take pictures of the cat, or talk to the cat — he could feel the wrinkles creeping up his face.

The phone rang. Lin Ning shot up like a carp. It was a call from Zhang Zhining, though. Lin Ning couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that it wasn’t one of Li Chengyan’s men.

“Hello?” Lin Ning picked up the call.

“Lin Ning? Can I hide out at your place for a few days?” The voice from the other end of the line wavered pitifully.

“What happened?”

“Oh… It’s nothing much. I got into an argument with my family, so, y’know… now everyone’s after me.” Zhang Zhining’s voice was dull. “That old man went too far! All I did was… Haah, he knows where my friends live, so I can’t stay with them. You’re the safest person I know, so… Can I stay with you for two days? If that’s okay, I mean. I’ll leave once he’s calmed down.” 

Lin Ning didn’t mind. “Sure. Xizai’s not around, too, so I’ve been really bored. Come over whenever you’re ready! I’ll meet you downstairs. Lemme clean out the guest room.”

“Yay!” Zhang Zhining’s cheer was instantaneous. “I’ll be ready in a jiffy. But I’ll have to take a really long route to get to your place to throw them off. If that old man finds me, I’m screwed. So yeah, don’t bother meeting me – I’ll just knock on your door.”

“That works, too. Stay safe,” Lin Ning nagged.

“Gotcha.” Zhang Zhining hung up in a rush.

Since this was the first time he’d ever had a human friend over to stay the night, Lin Ning decided to prepare a delicacy to celebrate and livestream it along the way.

He’d been planning on doing a barbecue for a while now, but barbecues were kind of similar to hotpots in the sense that they’d be a shame to enjoy alone. Lin Ning used to daydream about a barbecue with two – make that three – friends. Maybe they’d share it over some good beer, too.

Slight problem though: Lin Ning didn’t have three friends.

The kitchen looked alright with his redecoration: the new range hood was nifty, and he had a little grill prepared on the side. Charcoal didn’t exist in Interstellar society, but he found some substitutes after a little research. After setting out the brush, dipping sauce, pepper, chilli, and salt, he started the stream.

The audience started pouring in the second the notification appeared on their photon tablets. Within moments, Lin Ning was at a million views. The bullet screen howled with anticipation.

[blur_pumpkin]: Aaaaa I’ve made a special notification just for your streams, so I’ll always be on-site in seconds!!! I’m your loyal fan!

[Chowhound]: Me, too. At first I had a bunch of special notifs, but I started getting disappointed every time one rang and it wasn’t Lemon Kitchen’s, so I rid of all of them except his!

[aTonOfHotPot]: I’m still stuck in the office working overtime. Every time Lemon Kitchen’s livestream comes on, I’m in the middle of work and can’t come over to try the food. I rush back home the moment my work’s done, but I don’t like being late to the party…

[I_love_holo]: Heyheyhey, this looks like a different eating method, like the kind that doesn’t need a big pot. What’s he making? How are you going to cook without a wok?

Lin Ning answered, “I’ve invited a friend over today, and whenever I have a friend over I try to make more unique food. Just like a hot po, the barbecue I’m making now is great for sharing with your family and friends because it requires lots of teamwork to make it taste good. Everyone has to participate in preparing it. The more the merrier, y’know!”

He degan cutting his ingredients into chunks and then skewered them.

“As you can see, we’re using a slightly different preparation method this time around. I’m using these bamboo skewers to skewer the ingredients and then placing them on the grill. These ingredients are no different from a hot pot’s, though.”

“You can see here that I have some enoki mushrooms, green peppers, diced chicken, chicken wings, corn cobs, lamb, fish, and tofu slices. They need to be skewered because after barbecuing them, they’ll be too hot to eat with your hands.”

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“There are a few more ingredients here that are trickier to prepare, so I won’t be using them for now. You’ll be able to pick them up as we go, though.”

Lin Ning’s hands were nimble. He had a pile of skewers ready in minutes.

[Aaaaa his hands are so quick and nimble! Do you make this regularly?]

[Yeah! How does Lemon Kitchen think up stuff like this? It’s so amazing, it’s kinda pissing me off.]

[Are you selling this? I’ll pay anything. The hunger’s killing me!]

[If only he’d sell his food. Even though I can’t afford to a full meal set, I can afford maybe 1/20 of a portion. I heard one of the viewers who won a meal set split their meal into twenty portions, and hey sold at a pretty reasonable price. It won’t be filling, but trying something new is good.]

As Lin Ning read the bullet screen. “Don’t worry, guys. These things might be sold on markets someday, so you’ll be able to buy them.”

The doorbell rang just as he finished his sentence. Lin Ning rinsed his hands and left the screen.

The bullet screen started flying by.

[Oh my god, are you thinking what I’m thinking? Is it that wristwatch guy with the hot voice?!!]

[I’ll bet a slice of milk pudding (tho I don’t have one) that it’s wristwatch guy! Oh wow, first Lemon Kitchen and the Film King, now this new guy, too???]

[New viewer here. Who’s wristwatch guy?]

[Wristwatch guy’s the person who came to help Lemon Kitchen back during the hotpot episode. That guy has this sort of super dominant but also really puppy-ish vibes, and he wore a really expensive watch, so we just call him wristwatch guy.]

[Oh my god, I can feel my heart breaking for the Film King. He gave so many Rewards but never got to appear onstream. But the wristwatch guy’s always here whenever there’s a dinner party special… Hey, I can hear him!]

Lin Ning led Zhang Zhining to the guest room. “You can sleep here. I’ve already gotten the robot to dustthis place out, so let me know if there’s anything you…”

Zhang Zhining didn’t take off his cap and sunglasses until after he entered the room. He hoisted his luggage onto the bed. “I’m finally safe. Don’t worry about me needing anything — I’ll be out of your hair in two days. Besides, nothing’s better than the food you’ve got over here!”

Lin Ning laughed. “Guess what we’re eating today.”

Zhang Zhining rinsed his hands, walking towards the kitchen lightly. “Dunno… What’s this? Where are the woks? I’ll help you. After all, I can’t just eat for free…”

The viewers listened to their voices behind the camera for what seemed like forever before the two finally came back into frame.

Zhang Zhining had a business-like mindset. It felt wrong for him to eat and drink without doing anything in return. He waved to the audience politely.

“The frame over here’s called a grill… Skewer these for me, will you? Just follow the order of ingredients like I’ve done over here. Everything’s already been diced,” Lin Ning explained. 

“Sure, easy!” Zhang Zhining answered, taking up the lamb meat and skewering them. “Right… What’re we doing today?”

“Barbecue! You’ll love it.” Lin Ning smiled mysteriously as he used the charcoal substitutes to start a fire. “I don’t think there’s a single person in this world who hates barbecue. It’s the best.” 

“Really…?”

Laughter drifted through the apartment. The stream suddenly became a lot livelier. Lin Ning wasn’t as cool and quiet as he was before.

Some of the viewers raised a few questions:

[Eeeee I remember the last time wristwatch guy was here, there was also a big fat cat. It only showed half its face, though…]

[Oh, yeah. Is that cat Lemon Kitchen’s or wristwatch guy’s? Or are they both taking care of it?]

Zhang Zhining almost burst out laughing as he read the comments. He called Lin Ning over. “Check out the bullet screen. They’re asking where the fat cat’s gone off to.”

Lin Ning didn’t expect the audience to be so attentive. “It’s over at someone else’s house, but he’ll be back soon. Also, Xizai isn’t faaaaat! If Xizai ever finds out about this, he’ll throw a fit…”

His tone was gentle and affectionate, his demeanor getting even more lively as he spoke. The glimmer in his eyes surprised Zhang Zhining.

The fire was starting to get brighter. Lin Ning took a few enoki and lamb skewers and brushed some barbecue sauce over them, then placed them over the grill. The barbecue carried a scent of smoke that blended into the soft hissing sounds fizzling rom the grill. Lin Ning added a few more skewers of quail eggs as he spoke.

Anyone who watched the stream, Zhang Zhining included, was completely hypnotised by the scent wafting into their noses. How could they have lived their whole lives without ever smelling something as godly as this?

For a moment, even the bullet screen was silent. It didn’t matter if they were male or female, old or young — everyone’s eyes were as wide as pennies.

Lin Ning was preparing more rub. “The pepper’s not spicy, so can try those out. The chilli, though — the red one here — is spicy, so inhaling them too forcefully might make you choke. If you can’t take your spice, watch out for that… Some people prefer stronger flavours, so add the rub a little more liberally if you’re up for it. What’s great about virtual tasting is that you can keep experimenting over and over again, and …”

After rubbing the skewers, Lin Ning added more of Zhang Zhining’s skewers to the grill. Juice seeped out the savoury meat. They were lightly charred and crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. Rows and rows of skewers, both meat and vegetarian, soon lined along the dining table.

Lin Ning retrieved two bottles of chilled beer. Now the meal was complete.

“Barbecue and beer are a match made in heaven. Don’t worry, its alcohol percentage isn’t high enough to get you drunk.”

The smell of barbecue pounced on the audience’s noses. Each skewer had a different, distinct taste — the lamb was fat and juicy, while the vegetables were smoky and sweet. Pair them with a mouthful of cold beer, and it didn’t matter if this was just a simulation of numbers — the viewers were practically floating in the air with happiness.

Was it even possible to describe the indescribable in a sentence? 

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