"Holy crap, no way!"

"Is that the streamer who was standing next to the bucket?" The person’s voice was full of disbelief. "She’s so pretty, why would she use such a weird photo!"

"Why do you care so much? Even with the bucket picture, she still looks better than you."

The sound of whispering rustled around her, but Jiang Qiuqiu automatically filtered it all out. Soon, they arrived at the designated area for the Food Channel. Jiang Qiuqiu was a huge celebrity in the Food Channel, so the people chatting over there swarmed them the moment they saw her and Meimei.

A few editors also walked over.

The Food Channel actually didn’t get too many spots for the annual meeting this time. There were supposed to be ten, but Wang Henli was still "singing the jailhouse blues," so including Jiang Qiuqiu, only nine people showed up today.

Now, the other eight were all standing next to Jiang Qiuqiu.

They all seemed to have pretty good personalities.

"The big boss is finally here!" Langlibaitiao was quite the comedian. "We’ve been talking about you for ages."

"Talking about me?" Jiang Qiuqiu smiled and pointed to her own chin. "What were you saying?"

"That you’re amazing!" a slightly chubby guy chimed in. "I always thought you were young from watching your streams, but seeing you today, I just realized—"

"You’re not just young, you’re also beautiful." The chubby guy sighed wistfully. "Heaven is so unfair. It’s one thing to be a great cook, but to be this good-looking too..."

He was laying the praise on thick. Jiang Qiuqiu said, "Oh, please don’t say that. You’re making me blush."

Everyone was friendly, and after a bit of casual chatter, the atmosphere was great. They started exchanging their IDs and names.

"Hi, I’m Langlibaitiao. You can call me Tiaozi or A-Lang."

Jiang Qiuqiu recognized the name. She extended her hand. "I remember you. Thank you for supporting me on your personal Star Network page during the PK battle."

Langlibaitiao couldn’t possibly take credit for that.

Jiang Qiuqiu had fought her way to first place in the PK battle, and their support... well, it really didn’t have much to do with it.

He tried to deflect the thanks a few times but couldn’t, so he dragged everyone else into it. "It wasn’t just me. Everyone shared it."

The topic of the PK battle soon passed, and the conversation gradually shifted to food-related matters.

Basically everyone standing there had watched Jiang Qiuqiu’s streams, and a few had not only watched but also competed against her in a PK battle.

When a diner tasted Jiang Qiuqiu’s food, the first thought that came to mind was how delicious it was.

But when a chef tasted that same food, the first thought that flashed through their mind was—’How did she make this? It’s so delicious.’

And the next thought would be: ’I want to try making it and see if it turns out just as good.’

Langlibaitiao was one of those who had tried to learn. He absolutely loved the aroma of Jiang Qiuqiu’s Braised Gugu Bird. The smell made his mouth water, and he practically wanted to dive into the projection screen.

However, Jiang Qiuqiu hadn’t made Braised Gugu Bird recently. And with her busy schedule, there had been no Food Showcases, which naturally meant no encores. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

So Langlibaitiao could only be one of the poor souls who could see it and smell it, but never taste it.

He had waited too long and the craving was killing him, so he decided to make it himself.

Of course, he didn’t plan on streaming it; he just wanted to make it for himself to satisfy his craving.

But Jiang Qiuqiu’s stream for this dish wasn’t entirely complete. Some of the steps used words like... "approximately," "a small amount," "for a little while," which made it impossible for Langlibaitiao to get the timing right. The Braised Gugu Bird he made always seemed to be missing that one alluring aroma.