Dinner officially began.
Stir-fried Bamboo Shoots with Pork, Sour Fish, Stir-fried Potato Shreds, and a steaming pot of mushroom soup.
The aroma filled the small Mushroom House, brimming with the most unadorned flavor of everyday life.
Huang Yulei was the first to pick up a piece of the Stir-fried Bamboo Shoots with Pork with his chopsticks; he had watched Jiang Ci slice the at himself.
He put it into his mouth with a mixture of skepticism and hope.
The next second, his eyes instantly lit up.
"Wow!"
Huang Yulei couldn't help but exclaim, his chewing noticeably speeding up.
"This skill! Xiao Jiang, your skill is incredible!" he praised repeatedly.
He Jiongjiong also smiled and picked up a piece with his chopsticks. After savoring it carefully, he revealed his signature warm smile.
Facing the cara, he began his professional food comntary.
"This bamboo shoot, because it's fresh enough, retains its most original, clean sweetness. One bite, and you can feel the essence of the mountain forest."
The bullet comnts in the live stream room were completely ignited by the two seniors' praise.
"I'm hungry, I'm hungry! Teacher Huang, Teacher He, save a bite for !"
"Darn it! Why is this a variety show you can only watch but not eat!"
"What other hidden skills does Jiang Ci have that we don't know about? From being a farming expert to cooking like a pro?"
The resident younger sister Zhang Zilan and younger brother Peng Yanchang also eagerly joined the praise squad.
Their reviews were much more straightforward.
"Delicious!"
"So delicious, bro!"
The two buried themselves in eating, using the most direct action to express the highest praise for the head chef's skill.
Right at that mont, He Jiongjiong smiled and put down his chopsticks.
He pulled out that pink mission card from the bag beside him.
"Alright, alright, we were so focused on eating, we almost forgot we have serious business."
He raised the card, and everyone's movents subconsciously slowed down.
"Now, the 'Character Evaluation' segnt officially begins!"
The cara, very understandingly, panned to Luo Yu, Su Qingying, and Jiang Ci in turn.
The originally lively dining table atmosphere instantly beca sowhat delicate.
The live stream bullet comnts imdiately switched gears.
"It's here, it's here! This is what I've been waiting for!"
"High-energy warning ahead! Non-combat personnel, evacuate quickly! This al is about to turn sour!"
Everyone's gaze first fell on Luo Yu.
They saw Luo Yu slowly put down his bowl and chopsticks.
He used a napkin to wipe the corner of his mouth with extre elegance.
Leaning back slightly, his chair back made a soft sound.
The eyes looking through the lenses,
The previously polite, quiet, even sowhat introverted young actor was gone.
The aura of Chi Jie, the Demon King who looked down upon all beings within the Demonic Array, appeared.
He extended his chopsticks, picked up a piece of bamboo shoot from the plate of Stir-fried Bamboo Shoots with Pork, put it into his mouth, and chewed gently.
An extrely soft, derisive snort escaped his nostrils.
"Mortal food."
"Tainted with a hint of vegetation's essence, it's passable."
He paused, then delivered his final verdict.
"Better than nothing."
Four words. They perfectly fit Chi Jie's identity of scorning everything, yet cleverly avoided directly disparaging the dish itself. The sense of restraint was masterfully handled.
Huang Yulei and He Jiongjiong exchanged a glance, both seeing astonishnt in the other's reaction.
This line delivery skill, this speed of getting into character, was too strong.
The bullet comnts erupted in cheers.
"Holy crap! Luo Yu is amazing! This aura, I feel crushed through the screen!"
"As expected of a professional actor! This is real acting skill!"
"'Better than nothing'—the way he uttered that 'nothing' with such disdain, absolutely brilliant!"
Under the powerful pressure created by Luo Yu, it was Su Qingying's turn next.
She just sat there quietly, but everyone felt her transformation.
At this mont, the cool, aloof sense of distance belonging to "Su Qingying" disappeared from her person.
Her sitting posture was no longer upright.
Her body leaned forward slightly, her eyes holding a trace of a young girl's curiosity and restraint.
She imitated Huang Yulei's manner, picking up a small piece of bamboo shoot.
She blew on it, then tentatively took a bite.
Just one bite.
Her eyes lit up, filled with an innocence untouched by the world.
"It..."
She spoke, carefully organizing her words.
"It has the taste of sunshine and soil."
She thought for a mont, then added another sentence.
"Like springti, just waking up."
This spirited, imaginative evaluation instantly dispelled the oppressive feeling brought by Chi Jie.
"Good!"
Huang Yulei was the first to lead the applause.
"What a great taphor! So vivid!" He Jiongjiong also praised profusely.
The live stream bullet comnts were flooded once again.
"Best Actress is amazing! What a godly taphor!"
"I declare, the na of this dish shall be 'Springti Just Waking Up'!"
Amidst the joyful atmosphere, everyone's focus naturally fell on the last person.
The head chef himself, Jiang Ci.
From the beginning until now, he had been very quiet.
Not elated by the praise, nor nervous because of the task.
He just ate silently, seemingly indifferent to everything around him.
Now, it was his turn.
Under the gaze of everyone present, and hundreds of thousands of viewers online.
Jiang Ci finally put down the bowl of plain white rice in his hand.
He picked up a piece of bamboo shoot that he had personally dug up and personally stir-fried, slowly putting it into his mouth.
Chewing slowly.
He didn't look at the cara.
His gaze drifted towards the pitch-black night outside the window, piercing through the warm lights of the Mushroom House, landing sowhere distant and intangible.
At this mont, he was no longer the Jiang Ci who could sharpen knives, dig bamboo shoots, and cook.
He was that half-demon sealed for a thousand years, holding onto obsessions and misunderstandings, standing alone beneath the Divine Tree, Ye Chen.
Under everyone's expectant gaze, Jiang Ci finally spoke.
Jiang Ci, using Ye Chen's voice—a voice weathered by a millennium of vicissitudes, proud yet broken—whispered, "The taste... is very good." He paused, then added the second half of the sentence. "A pity... there is no one left to share it with."
As his words fell.
The hearty smile on Huang Yulei's face completely froze.
The prepared, smoothing-over words He Jiongjiong had ready got stuck in his throat, not a single one coming out.
Su Qingying looked at Jiang Ci, her movents halting.
That sentence instantly sent her back into the drama, back to being A Li, who personally shot the arrow at Ye Chen, filled with guilt and pain.
The bullet comnts in the live stream room also experienced a bizarre three-second-long blank.
Then.
Comnts completely flooded the screen.
"????????"
"HOLY SHIT!!!!!!"
"Stop with the knives! Stop! I'm eating my al with this dish right now, bro!"
"Grass (a type of plant)! What happened to the promised everyday life? You're shoving knife blades into my mouth!"
"Jiang Ci, as expected of you!"
Right in the midst of this suffocating silence.
Jiang Ci, having just "knifed" everyone, lifted his head with a completely bewildered expression.
He looked at the entire table of people who had suddenly stopped moving and sincerely voiced his confusion.
"What's wrong?"
He looked around the circle, finally fixing his gaze on the plate of Sour Fish in front of Huang Yulei that was almost untouched, his face full of confusion about his culinary skills.
"Is it not to your taste?"
"Mom said putting too much Sour Long Beans would affect the original flavor. Did I really put in too much?"
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