Another culinary disaster.

As she spoke, Qiao Shishi logged onto the StarNet and began searching for popular live-streaming platforms.

She first clicked on a site called Bika Live. Countless broadcast rooms instantly flooded the screen, featuring everything from singing and dancing, holographic games, and "mukbang" food shows, to even military training drills. For a moment, Wen Jiu and Qiao Shishi were left feeling quite dazzled.

Wen Jiu eventually navigated to the food section and selected a few of the highest-ranking culinary channels. It was hard to tell if the viewership numbers were genuine, but the most popular room boasted an online audience of several hundred million. Given the rapid technological advancements of the Interstellar Era, the holographic imagery made it feel as though the streamer were cooking right in front of the viewer, and one could even smell the aromas. If the streamer enabled the virtual tasting feature, viewers could even pay a small fee to sample the food being prepared.

Wen Jiu randomly clicked into a food channel. As soon as she entered, the light screen from Qiao Shishi’s smart ring suddenly expanded. They felt as if they were physically present, watching a young male streamer, full of enthusiasm, holding a prickly fish in one hand and half a rack of lamb in the other. He was stout and wore a beaming, energetic smile.

"Welcome, my esteemed viewers, to the 'Ancient Chinese Cuisine King' Old Pig’s broadcast room!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a dense tide of comments began scrolling rapidly behind him.

["One-Leaf Autumn Blade": What’s Old Pig making today? I’ve already got my snacks ready.]
["Coco Candy": Hurry up and cook! I’m starving, I’m starving, I’m starving!]
["Old Pig’s Piglet Da Nan": Pig-brother is live again! Come on, piglets! Let’s fill up the chat!]

The slightly chubby youth known as "Old Pig" placed the fish and the lamb on the cutting board and began to explain with a smile, "Today, we are making 'Crucian Carp Stewed with Lamb Soup.' This is a very famous dish from the *Ancient Chinese Cookbook*. I believe anyone who has seen this cookbook in the library knows it."

"However, due to species mutation, the crucian carp of the past has long since evolved into today’s 'Spiny Fish.' Not only has it grown in size, but it’s covered in sharp spikes from head to tail. I had to look up a lot of information myself to realize that this Spiny Fish is the same as the crucian carp mentioned in the cookbook."

Wen Jiu watched the holographic projection intently. Old Pig was holding up the Spiny Fish and using a kitchen knife to nimbly hack off its spikes. She wasn’t very familiar with the mutated species of this world and made a mental note to visit the 3047 Academy library to check the biological reference books later.

After dealing with the spikes, Old Pig chopped the lamb rack into small pieces and tossed them into boiling water to blanch. Everything seemed to be going so smoothly that even Wen Jiu began to think that perhaps there were still people who knew how to cook Chinese cuisine.

That was until she saw Old Pig drop the Spiny Fish directly into the boiling water with the lamb, without removing the internal organs or even scaling the fish. Yet, the audience—including Qiao Shishi—didn't seem to think anything was wrong, as if this crude handling of ingredients was the norm.

"Alright, now comes the boring simmering time. Everyone can chat with me, Old Pig, to pass the time."

["Old Pig’s Piglet Brother": Pig-brother, are you opening the tasting session later? I’m so greedy!]
["One-Leaf Autumn Blade": Same question. Just watching Old Pig prepare the ingredients made me hungry; I’ve already finished several bags of dried vegetables.]
["Seed Big Baby": Open the tasting! Open the tasting! Open the tasting!]

Old Pig wiped down the cutting board and laughed, "Of course I’ll open it, rest assured, my esteemed viewers! Today, I’ve specifically used my largest pot to stew this soup, so I can let as many people as possible taste the Chinese cuisine I’ve made!"

The declaration was quite impassioned, but coupled with his cooking methods, it gave Wen Jiu a headache. Was there really no one left in the Interstellar Era who knew how to cook? Or had everyone simply grown accustomed to these crude, simple "dark dishes"?

Qiao Shishi used to watch these food streams to help her get through her meals. She had seen this "Old Pig" streamer a few times before, as he frequently made dishes he claimed were authentic ancient Chinese cuisine. She had only managed to win a tasting slot once, and at the time, she thought the taste was quite good, never imagining there could be other ways to prepare these dishes.

Because of the passage of time, many techniques for preparing Ancient Blue Star food had gradually vanished. This was especially true for ancient Chinese cuisine; due to its complex techniques and numerous steps, very few recipes survived. The few remaining methods were mostly incomplete, yet they had been compiled into that *Ancient Chinese Cookbook*, leading many interstellar citizens to believe that ancient Chinese cooking was just as simple and crude as what they saw on screen.

It wasn't until she tasted Wen Jiu’s cooking that Qiao Shishi realized the food she had eaten before didn't deserve to be called cuisine at all. This was why she encouraged Wen Jiu to start her own food channel; she believed that with Wen Jiu’s skills, becoming a world-renowned food streamer would be effortless.

Not long after, Old Pig lifted the pot lid. Wen Jiu gazed into the large pot where the Spiny Fish and lamb were stewing. She found it hard to call the contents "soup." Red, bloody froth floated atop the pale, thin liquid. As Old Pig stirred the pot with an iron ladle, Wen Jiu could see fish scale residue mixed in with the disintegrated fish meat.

On top of that, the smell drifted through the air, reaching Wen Jiu and Qiao Shishi. It was a foul, fishy stench that made them both gag. Yet, the screen was still flooded with comments praising this liquid, which looked like swill.

["Old Pig’s Piglet Da Nan": Wow, is this the legendary Crucian Carp Stewed with Lamb Soup?]

Wen Jiu desperately wanted to shout, "No, it is not!"

["One-Leaf Autumn Blade": I can’t wait anymore, this aroma is so unique!]

Well, of course it was—it was the smell of blood mixed with the rank odor of mutton.

["Coco Candy": When are you opening the tasting? When are you opening the tasting?]

Old Pig stirred the pot again, then dumped in a massive heap of salt and a large spoonful of MSG, leaving Wen Jiu speechless.

"It’ll be ready to serve in a moment! Everyone, get ready to grab your tasting slots! I’ve prepared three hundred spots this time!" As he spoke, he signaled for his assistant to bring over stacks of small bowls.

["Old Pig’s Piglet Brother": Still so few spots? When will you open up five hundred?]

Old Pig just chuckled, carefully scooping a ladle of the soup to show the camera. The stench became even more intense, with the bloody froth and the mushy, boiled fish meat clearly visible. Wen Jiu and Qiao Shishi couldn't stop dry-heaving.

*Our Chinese cuisine is truly doomed.*

"Alright, preparing to open the tasting slots!" After the display, Old Pig began ladling the soup into the small bowls one by one.

On their end, they saw a notification at the bottom right of the screen: *The streamer is about to open the tasting slots; viewers, please be ready!*

Neither of them had any intention of grabbing a slot. If it weren't for the need to see how these streamers ran their shows, Wen Jiu would have turned off the stream and run to the restroom long ago.