Translator: Sy
Editor: SipsTea
Chapter 7: You’ve Gone Viral
Lin Ning had way too much fun yesterday. He woke up late today, so he decided to go straight to making lunch instead of breakfast. After scraping off yesterday’s leftovers, he started preparing.
The kitty followed him around like a sunflower to the sun. Wherever he went, it followed. That weird amount of curiosity the kitty had towards him was beginning to bug him. Good thing it never tried following him to the bathroom. That would’ve been awkward.
He started the stream after finding an angle the kitty couldn’t get itself into. The chat room was already crowded by then, with fifty thousand viewers flooding in. His heart swelled with pride watching the numbers rise.
If his father ever found out about what he was doing now, he would’ve killed him for not doing honest work. Compared to his gentle mother, Lin Ning’s dad was very strict. He couldn’t count the number of times his dad had whacked him back when he was still a kid for fighting with the other little boys he used to play with. But his dad’s blows never truly hurt — he’d act as if his hand was about to come flying down, but would soften the impact of the hit just before landing — the slaps themselves were lighter than a fly. When it came to his father, Lin Ning had nothing but respect.
When Lin Ning’s hands appeared before the familiar kitchen backdrop, the bullet screen was quickly flooded with comments. Majority asked about the food delivery services, since virtual tasting was, at the end of the day, just a simulation and not something that could fill their stomachs. Some viewers were already giving Rewards.
Before, there were lots of Grenades and Torpedoes. This time, it was a combination of Torpedoes and Aircraft Carriers, sometimes even Spacecrafts. Considering how all these Rewards were bought with real money, the enthusiasm the Interstellar people had for Lin Ning was mind blowing. And as he watched the Rewards gradually pile up, he felt completely spoiled and flattered.
“Thank you everybody for all of your support. I’m really grateful.” There were many questions popping up on the stream, so he decided to answer them. “Please type all your questions on the bullet screen. I’ll answer them in a moment. You don’t have to repost any questions that’s already been asked, though. Thank you.”
[When are you planning to get your food registered by the Food Safety Bureau to prove that your food’s harmless?]
“If my food wasn’t legal, I wouldn’t have enabled the taste feature. The food shared through virtual tasting is already pre-evaluated. For formality, I’ve already applied for a permit, which should be approved in no time.”
[Many perfume livestreams start charging viewers once their exposure period’s over. Do you plan on charging your viewers for access to the virtual tasting function soon?]
“No. I promise that the virtual tasting function will be kept free.”
It was obvious that this excited the fans — the bullet screen rolled by faster.
[Mr. Lemon Kitchen, when will you put your food up for sale? Will you consider setting up a physical shop or an online one?]
“I’ve been a little busy lately, so this will be something to think about later.”
[Why won’t you show your face? We bet that you’re hot.]
“Thanks for the compliment. You’re all handsome and beautiful, too. I might do a face reveal if I have the chance, but that won’t be now.”
[Where do you get your ingredients from?]
“I’ll tell you next time. Alright, let’s get down to business. Welcome, everyone, to my cooking livestream. I’m Lemon Kitchen.”
These topics were all problems. Cold sweat formed on Lin Ning’s forehead as he finished the last question. He turned around to look at the kitty. It stared judgingly back at him as if he were an alien.
???
The kitty was watching him do his livestream? That’s… interesting, Lin Ning thought.
He started presenting as soon as he retrieved the ingredients from the fridge.
“Today, we’ll be making something special. It is called Crystal Shrimp Dumplings.”
He peeled off the shrimp’s shells and sand veins, then soaked them in a bowl of soda water momentarily before removing them. He rinsed the shrimp thoroughly and marinated them in seasoning. After that, the shrimp meat was minced and mixed with a little pork. He then added ground ginger, salt, and cooking wine, then combined the ingredients carefully.
“What I’m making now is the filling. We’ll set this aside and start preparing the dumpling wrapper.”
Lin Ning mixed starch, salt, and tapioca flour with little water and kneaded it until a dough formed. His movements were skillful and swift — within seconds, the lump of powder turned into a ball of snow-white dough.
The bullet screen started to get excited again.
[I know, isn’t this really similar to the way he made the Mushroom Pork Bao?!]
[Yeah! I’ve seen it, too. I bet Crystal Shrimp Dumplings and Bao taste similar!]
[No way. This is shrimp, that was pork. It’s different, and this one looks more crystal-ish and transparent. I’m really looking forward to it.]
[Are you selling these? Please sell them!]
Even the kitty was mesmerized by his movements. Its tail swished back and forth, as if its mood lightened. Its eyes especially — they stared at Lin Ning, unblinking. Lin Ning was so engrossed in his work that he started to sweat. But, his eyes remained bright, shining. It only showed that he truly loved what he was doing.
As the audience commented on, Lin Ning went through the steps again and again, his movements folding over in cycles. Now he’d already moved on to filling the dumplings. The circular dumpling wrappers were shaped into sachets with pleated edges. They werea snowy shade of white, generously stuffed plump with filling.
The chat counted the number of dumplings to see if they could figure out whether Lin Ning was making any extras for gifting or selling.
Lin Ning pulled out a bamboo steamer, laid a cloth over the inner base, and placed the dumplings in one by one. Then, he poured water into the wok and balanced the steamer over it before lighting the stove.
“One thing to take note of is that dumplings are usually boiled in water. This is an exception, though, since the texture of today’s dumpling wrapper is similar to that of a Bao’s. Be careful not to oversteam them. If a shrimp dumpling was steamed just right, the wrapper will be semi-transparent, kind of like a crystal. You’ll see some pink from the shrimp peeking through, and it’ll feel slippery and tender in your mouth.”
“We’ll have to wait for a moment, so I’ll start working on something else. Oh, right. I’ve got a guest here today, so I won’t be giving out food. But I’ll leave the virtual tasting feature on, of course.”
Lin Ning was already making the cat food as he spoke. He wasn’t really sure what to do — all he knew was that kitties couldn’t eat human food.
So he tried making something with less seasoning to see if the kitty liked that.
The attention of the audience was diverted from the food.
[Did you guys hear that? Lemon said he has a guest?! I wanna be his guest too!!!]
[I wanna know his name!]
[I wanna be his plus one… My mom asked me to buy a meal set home, but if he isn’t selling, what can I do… QAQ]
[Maybe he doesn’t have enough ingredients, or he’s busy with something else… I think he wants to keep walking on this culinary path. Won’t that be really expensive?]
[Now that I think about it, you’re right.]
[I’ll work hard for the sake of eating, too. I’ll never turn my back on food!!!]
[Am I the only one who’s curious about his guest? Is it a boy or a girl? Are they good-looking? What’s their relationship like??? Do you think he has someone he’s interested in?! I just told my besties that I want to marry a gentleman who can cook. Have I been dumped already?!]
Lin Ning shifted his attention towards the bullet screen and was surprised by the viewers’ logic. The corners of his eyes curved upwards as he explained cheerfully.
“This guest of mine is actually a pet. It’s really cute. Don’t speculate, you guys.”
His hoarse voice was brimmed with adoration. Combine that with those graceful slender fingers, and you had the perfect combination to create a truckload of fans. A cool-headed man with the patience to look after a little pet — it stimulated the fangirls’ maternal instincts too much!
[My sisters!!! Do you feel those hormones?!]
[I do! You’re not alone!!!]
[My god, if only I had a son this handsome, gentle and great at cooking!!!]
[If you showed your face we’d be able to make you debut with a C position! Please sing a song!!! You’ll definitely sound amazing!]
[AGREED!!! Please sing a song! I’ll reward you like crazy!!!]
Lovely viewer [Fat_bunny] gave you an Aircraft Carrier.
Lovely viewer [Fat_bunny) gave you an Aircraft Carrier.
Lovely viewer [greeneyebrows) gave you a Torpedo.
Lovely viewer [sail_the_sea_of_books] gave you a Grenade.
……
After he was done cooking, Lin Ning plated the food while he reassured his fans.
“I can’t really sing at the moment since my throat’s not feeling well. Maybe next time, if we get the chance.”
He placed the tender, chewy crystal shrimp dumplings on a pale blue plate. The plate had koi fish carved intricately into it, matching the theme of his meal. The cat’s food was, on the other hand, placed in a large basin. Even so, it still looked appetizing.
[Why do I suddenly have the urge to fight an animal for food?]
[You aren’t the only one!]
[I’m begging you to send me a set of pet food. I’m not picky, really!]
Lin Ning uploaded the food’s data, and was done with today’s livestream. He smiled and waved goodbye to the camera.
This move had already frustrated the regular viewers. The speed at which Lin Ning ended his streams was ungodly — it was so fast! And he never ever filmed himself eating!
They really wanted to watch him stream himself eating. Just thinking about it was appetizing enough… Ugh, screw Nutrient Doses!
By the time Lin Ning ended his stream, he already had nearly 300,000 viewers. The numbers soared especially the moment the shrimp dumplings were completed, probably because the viewers called their friends and family over to try out the virtual tasting.
What Lin Ning didn’t know was that he, a rookie, had gone completely viral. And not just because he was on the trending page — there wasn’t a single streamer on Shine Livestreams who hadn’t heard of the rookie who rose to instant fame. More importantly, he accomplished this feat without relying on marketing, looks, a crew, or sponsors — this miracle was brought on on his own and within such a short time.
It wasn’t as if there weren’t people who went famous overnight, it was just that most of them had marketing or looks on their side, and people could often tell that their fame was just a flame that’d fade away within weeks. But, Lemon Kitchen showed no signs of stagnation at all by the time he hit a few hundred thousand viewers. There even came a vague prediction of how this achievement was going to be a regular event.
[Crystal Shrimp Dumplings — So Good I Wanna Cry] was trending in an instant, bringing in millions of views. It was still soaring, on the verge of exploding. The interstellar people, who’d never eaten actual food, couldn’t understand how something edible could make people cry. Groups and groups of curious netizens searched for answers, flooding Shine Livestreams with new users!
Food gave the Interstellar people a moment of distraction from their worries over the marshal, giving them consolation. It was a tough time now for the interstellar people. First a sudden attack from the Parasites, now the marshal’s injuries — it really was disaster after disaster.
***
In a luxurious room, a middle-aged man scratched his bald head, agitated. His furrowed eyebrows didn’t relax even when a knock came from the door.
“Boss! Boss!! Look at the trending page! Lemon Kitchen just keeps coming back — I think he’s about to explode!” The secretary of the director of Shine Livestreams exclaimed. “I just spoke to IT. Ever since Lemon Kitchen started streaming, the amount of installs of our Shine Livestreams app and Reward purchases escalated! Here’s the report on our statistics. Take a look!”
“Really?!” The middle-aged man shot up from his seat and excitedly flipped through the report. The report broke down the profits and exposure Lemon Kitchen’s arrival provided for their platform. His eyes flickered back and forth, hands shaking.
The company had been losing to other livestreaming apps all year round. Even though there were old fans keeping the app alive, things were just no longer at the level they used to be. If they couldn’t find a solution to this problem, they were screwed. And since he was the director of the company, he was under a lot of pressure trying to find a way to climb back on top.
How long has it been since Shine received such exposure?!
What kind of godly savior was this Lemon Kitchen guy, to be able to pull them out of this burning pit of flames?!
Lemon Kitchen was a savior sent from heaven! Their money tree! Their cash cow! If they signed a contract with him, they might even be able to cut down on sponsorships and ad campaigns, too! Lemon Kitchen was their exposure — he was the one who was going to make them explode!
The author has something to say:
Marshal: Shrimp dumplings are cute, but the person making them is cuter (stare)
Lin Ning: …… (blush)
Finally, people asked the questions that they should be asking.