Ruan Qiao didn’t take Ah Qi’s words too seriously; she thought the reason he spoke that way was just a different way of complimenting her, which actually made her a little happy.
After all, Ruan Qiao knew in her heart that the delicious flavor of the chicken soup had little to do with her, it was simply that the chicken she had bought was already good.
To be precise, because she was considering the children would eat it too, she hadn’t dared to add any seasonings. Of course, she hadn’t found any suitable spices in this kitchen either, so she had just cooked it in plain water.
That such a simple method could produce a pot of fragrant, rich chicken soup was something Ruan Qiao didn’t expect.
When she arrived, Ah Qi had already washed the perilla leaves, and the fish had been prepared as well.
Ruan Qiao sent him and the little ones off to take a bath, then busied herself.
Although she called it busy work, it was actually simple.
She arranged the sliced pork belly on a baking tray, put it in the oven at 200°C for top and bottom heat, and then steamed the fish in a pot.
The only thing left after that was waiting.
During this waiting time, Ruan Qiao first followed Jian’s previous instructions and applied for a live stream room on the Xuntong Network.
Since it had been prearranged, the approval was very quick, less than ten minutes and it was cleared.
After that, Ruan Qiao sat down to edit the videos she had filmed in the morning.
Having once wanted to become an agri-forestry and gardening content creator, she had formally studied video editing, making her something of a semi-professional in this area.
Plus, she hadn’t planned anything complicated, so it didn’t take long. By the time the fish wasn’t even finished steaming, her video had been edited and uploaded to her personal space.
The video wasn’t long; it only showed the little ones exercising in the mountains.
It included Lin Shan and Gungun jumping and playing in the trees, Xiao Wang and Huihui chasing each other and weaving nimbly through obstacles.
Even Jin Ge, being tossed around by Ah Qi, looked a bit pitiful, but paired with upbeat music, it only highlighted his toughness and adorable clumsiness while downplaying his awkwardness.
The video ended with Ruan Qiao looking at the patch of green leaves and exclaiming in surprise, “Oh my gosh!”
Then, with a “mischievous” addition, she said: “Want to know what we discovered? Want to see if the little ones got to eat meat today? Follow the xxxx live stream room, don’t miss us at noon!”
After finishing, she turned off the light-brain, switched off the stove, plated the dishes, and prepared the seasonings for herself and Ah Qi, getting busy again.
What Ruan Qiao didn’t know was that this short video had already sparked a new small peak of attention online.
The topic of “buying meat for the little ones” had already been extremely popular, and Ruan Qiao’s space was constantly under everyone’s attention.
Many people had even set special notifications for it.
So the moment Ruan Qiao’s short video went live, it immediately drew everyone’s focus.
Viewers saw her online and excitedly prepared to leave comments asking for her contact info. Many even wanted to organize a group to visit and comfort the little ones.
But in the blink of an eye, the video wasn’t even finished playing, and she had already gone offline!
It was maddening, people couldn’t reach her, and it made them anxious!
Fortunately, Ruan Qiao had left the live stream room number. Once it was confirmed that she would go live, that anxiety turned into excitement.
Word spread quickly, and everyone wanted to see the little ones in real life as soon as possible.
Although they knew the video was freshly recorded, they still couldn’t interact with it, right?
Ruan Qiao didn’t realize that the sentence she left had almost caused a traffic jam online.
By 11:30, nearly ten thousand people had already entered the live stream room, an unexpected number even for the platform.
Planet 0813 was vast but sparsely populated. Even when a famous celebrity on the planet held a live stream, having over ten thousand viewers was considered a great result.
And that was only with prior promotion.
For someone like Ruan Qiao to casually mention something, without even showing her face, and gather such a huge crowd, this had never happened before.
Moreover, this was just the beginning. Watching the numbers continue to change, it was clear more people were streaming in nonstop.
Ruan Qiao had no idea about the live stream room’s situation.
She simply checked the time and opened the live stream promptly.
“Hi everyone, I’m Ruan Qiao, director of the Starlight Orphanage. Welcome to our live stream room.”
She waved at the phone fixed beside her, then pointed to the table.
“We just came down from the mountain, and the little ones have gone to take a bath. They’ll be here in a while. For now, let me show you our lunch today.”
With that, she picked up the phone, panned over the table, and introduced, “This is the steamed fish. I’m very sorry that yesterday’s video made everyone feel sad. I wasn’t careful and didn’t film the whole process.
We really didn’t mean to make things difficult for the children; it’s just that… we’re still a bit inexperienced in taking care of them properly.
I’ll work hard to learn from now on.
But everyone, don’t worry, once we realized the little ones didn’t want to eat the fish raw, we took the fish back and steamed it for them. They all really liked it.
Rest assured, the children weren’t treated unfairly at all.
If you still feel uneasy, just wait a little, they’ll be here soon, and then you can ask them yourselves.”
Seeing that Ruan Qiao had actually started the live stream on time, the people who had been waiting in the room early cheered with joy.
After the excitement, the surprised and questioning comments began flooding the screen.
“This is the director of the orphanage, not a hired caretaker? Am I out of the loop? Minors can run businesses and manage orphanages now?”
“Yeah, this director looks so young! Is she even an adult?”
“She just looks young, right? I don’t believe she’s under eighteen, but isn’t there an age requirement to be a legal representative?”
“Agree, young +1. We have to trust the law.”
…
Although they had plenty of theoretical knowledge, none of them had actual experience.
Even though Ruan Qiao appeared calm, she was actually quite nervous.
After delivering her prepared words, she immediately turned the camera toward the table, not realizing that she should have interacted with the viewers in the live stream, at least answered a few questions.
So even as comments discussing her flooded the screen, she didn’t pay attention. She simply focused the phone on the dining table and began introducing today’s lunch to the viewers one by one.
“This fish was just caught from the river by my friend a little while ago. Oh, you probably saw that friend before, the one who fed the fish to the children. Don’t blame him; he meant well. It’s just that we really lack experience taking care of the kids. We’ll work hard to learn in the future.
This is roasted pork belly. Actually, we owe this to all of you, because you’ve given our orphanage so much attention, I was able to sell the rights to the previous photos. The money from that allowed us to buy this meat and chicken.
On behalf of the little ones, thank you all!”
At this, Ruan Qiao turned the camera to fix it on a stand and gave a deep bow to the camera.
The viewers in the live stream realized that today’s meat and chicken were bought with money earned from selling photo rights, and the rights could be sold because the content had drawn so much attention. In other words, they could essentially say they had bought these treats for the little ones themselves.
Everyone was immediately satisfied.
And just like that, the live stream exploded with activity.
One donation notification after another appeared, as everyone finally found a way to show their affection for the little ones.
At that moment, a comment caught everyone’s attention.
“I now believe the director is an adult! The cooking skills here, this level doesn’t come without years of practice. Looking at this roasted meat and chicken soup, I feel like I can just throw away my nutritional supplement…”
That comment seemed to open a floodgate, immediately resonating with many viewers.
“Yeah, what kind of godlike skill does the director have? Is that chicken soup? Can I ask where she bought the chicken? Why does her soup look so delicious while mine ends up looking like plain water?”
“Plain water is fine; mine looks like dishwater.”
“Haha, dishwater +1. The chicken I bought can only be roasted whole, I’ve never dared to cook it like this. Just thinking about it makes me imagine a gamey, bland mess that’s definitely inedible. How on earth do you make chicken soup like that?”
Seeing the steamed fish, the roasted meat glistening with oil as if still sizzling, and the chicken soup with a layer of floating fat…
The live stream comments flooded the screen again.
“Where did you buy the chicken?”
“Miss, do you have any tips for cooking soup? Why does your soup look so good?”
“Director, director, do you sell this chicken soup?”
…
After thanking everyone, Ruan Qiao glanced at the screen to see what people were thinking.
What she saw was basically everyone asking her to sell chicken soup.
She blinked in confusion. “I didn’t add anything, just cut the chicken into pieces and boiled it in plain water. As everyone knows, the little ones haven’t entered their transformation stage yet, so they can’t eat seasoned food. I didn’t even dare to add salt.
As for why the chicken soup smells so good… well, it really does.”
She took a deep, blissful breath, eyes narrowing in delight, then asked back, “Isn’t it just that the chicken from the online store is high quality?”
“Which store did you buy it from? Why have I never seen chicken this good?”
“Was it expensive? If it’s a price we can’t afford, then… maybe you shouldn’t say…”
Ruan Qiao frowned in even greater confusion. “I bought it from the online store under Xuntong. I just ordered it here for convenience. As for the price…”
She rubbed her nose, smiling a little sheepishly. “If it were expensive, I couldn’t afford it either!”
The live stream went quiet for a moment.
Apparently, everyone suddenly realized, she had a point.
After all, just yesterday she was going into the river to catch fish so the kids could eat meat. Even if she earned a little money, there was no way she could have bought any rare or fancy ingredients.
“But… why is it that I also bought chicken from Xuntong but couldn’t make soup like this?”
“Same here!”
“Me too!”
“So it really is the director’s cooking skills. By the way, miss, how old are you? Are you an adult?”
“Of course I’m an adult! I’m twenty this year.” Seeing this comment, Ruan Qiao’s eyes widened in surprise.
She quietly glanced at herself.
Although she wasn’t curvy in the extreme sense, there was still a figure—
There was no way anyone could mistake her for a minor, right?!
Maybe it was because…
She anxiously grabbed her loosely tied ponytail and explained, a little embarrassed, “Is it because I’m not wearing makeup? Mainly, I just didn’t have time earlier.”
Then she picked up a cleaned perilla leaf and waved it at the camera. “This is what I mentioned in the short video we posted earlier. Do you recognize it? This is perilla.”
She aimed the camera at the large plate of water-dropped perilla leaves on the table and introduced them: “I’m not sure if you’ve ever eaten this before. If not, I’d like to recommend you try it.
It’s really delicious, cold dishes, fish, roasted meat, even boiled in water, it tastes great.
It also helps cool the body and aids digestion. Eating it with roasted meat can cut the greasiness, which is perfect for this season.”
She smiled and continued, “Today, when we took the kids to the mountain to exercise, we found a whole patch of perilla.
Besides picking some to eat, I also dug up quite a few with the roots to try transplanting. I was busy with that just now, so I didn’t manage my time well, sorry for rushing and making you laugh.”
“No laughing, no laughing, it actually looks great!”
“Miss, you’re so cute! You even have dimples when you smile, and your personality is amazing!”
“So… am I the only one interested in that perilla? The miss has been talking for a while, but why have I never heard of this before? It looks really nice. Do markets sell it? Does anyone know if it’s super expensive?”
“I’ve never seen it either. Perilla… the name sounds so nice. If I’d heard it before, I’d definitely remember. So what kind of vegetable is it exactly? Could it have been brought from the capital star?”
“The miss said she picked it from the mountain, so that means it should grow around here!”
“Is it for sale? Is it for sale? I’m dying of curiosity! It looks so delicious, I want to try it!”
“Want to try +1.”
“Want to try +2.”
“Miss, where did you pick it? If there’s more, sell some to us!”
Ruan Qiao had indeed thought about selling vegetables through the live stream, but she didn’t expect to start this early. Her home garden wasn’t even ready yet!
This progress was unusually smooth.
After thinking it over, she decided she could sell a little perilla.
Right now is the perfect time to eat it; later, after the season passes, any leftovers would be wasted.
But the amount of perilla she had found on the mountain wasn’t much. Her family couldn’t even eat it all, and even if she tried selling it, she wouldn’t get many orders.
She decided to go back up the mountain tomorrow to check the surrounding area. If it grows there, maybe it grows nearby too.
Perilla spreads by seed, so its growth areas are usually clustered together.
With that in mind, Ruan Qiao picked a perfectly shaped, unblemished leaf and held it up to the camera.
She told everyone, “Actually, perilla isn’t a particularly rare plant. It usually grows in patches on mountain slopes, in fields, or even in wastelands. People don’t recognize it or know about it simply because no one has ever really gone looking for it before.
So, I’ll hold the leaf closer for you to see, or you can take a screenshot first and try to find it using the picture. I think most people should be able to find it.
There is indeed a patch on the back hill of my home, but it’s not very big. If you’re curious and just want to see what it looks like, I can pick some and share it with everyone.
But at most, I can only pick a few pounds at a time; any more than that, and there won’t be any left. If anyone really wants some, you can leave me a message in the backend. Once I figure out how to open a purchasing channel on the site, I’ll contact everyone.”
Ruan Qiao’s words were immediately met with approval from everyone.
Especially her gesture of holding the perilla up to the camera so people could screenshot it, it earned her even more praise.
After all, fresh vegetables in this world are expensive, and some rare varieties are definitely not something ordinary households can afford.
Even though the chat was full of people shouting that they wanted some, not everyone could actually pay for it.
Ruan Qiao made everything very clear, even explaining where the plant grows, which earned her even more respect.
Whether people could find it or not, at least it gave them hope.
And her comment that she could pick a few pounds to share with everyone satisfied those who genuinely wanted to buy some.
For a while, praise flooded the chat again, and gifts poured in as if money were no object.
Just as Ruan Qiao was dazzled by the flood of comments and gifts, the sound of the little ones moving outside reached her ears.
She quickly stood up and smiled at the live audience: “The little ones are coming to eat. Let’s go see them together.”
With that, she grabbed her phone and walked out of the kitchen, waving at the little ones: “Come on over, say hi to everyone first.”