Night fell.
The four groups returned to the villa one after another.
Sheng Qianyu went to the bathroom first. Even though she had only applied sunscreen, she still needed to remove it. Afterward, she washed away the sweat under the shower.
When she came out and sat in front of the mirror, seeing her flushed face and burning limbs, she began applying a soothing aloe vera gel.
By the time she went downstairs, most of the guests had returned. However, except for the two slackers, everyone else was exhausted and resting in their rooms.
Although she lost the competition with Zuo Shanming, not a single comment in the bullet chat criticized her. Instead, they were encouraging and comforting her.
[What does “inspiring” mean? This is what it means! Unlike someone next door who spent half an hour wiping a table and got praised to the skies by her fans.]
[Hey, watch your words! Is that something you can say?]
[As an observer, seeing Lu Wanwan and Jingxuan having a conflict, she still managed to suppress her emotions and continue working. That’s truly admirable. But only if there’s no competition from our girl! Earlier in the room, our girl’s face was flushed red from the sun! All day long, except for lunch and a half-hour nap, she never stopped. That’s what you call inspiring! Lu Wanwan’s fans can praise her all they want, but they shouldn’t try to build an “inspiring” persona for her!]
[Shut up already! Lu Wanwan’s fans are about to attack, casual viewers better run!]
[Why do you have to compare two completely unrelated people?]
[Why? Because the only conflict among the female guests right now is between Lu Wanwan and Sheng Qianyu. This is just stirring up drama for attention, a common tactic in the entertainment industry. Get used to it.]
[I don’t know about stirring up drama, but if Lu Wanwan’s fans dare to attack our girl, I’ll turn into a warrior! Protecting our most beautiful and hardworking girl!]
[Impressive, even an 18th-tier celebrity has fans now.]
Seeing only Lu Wanwan in the kitchen, Sheng Qianyu asked, “Where are the others?”
“They all went upstairs to rest, Senior.”
She glanced at Lu Wanwan. “Aren’t you tired?”
Lu Wanwan looked troubled. “I had an unpleasant time with Jingxuan today, so I was distracted during the tasks and didn’t exert much effort.”
“Oh, I see… Do you need my help?”
Lu Wanwan finally smiled. “Everyone is quite tired. Besides Jingxuan and Brother Zuo’s meals, I’ll take care of the others’ dinners.”
Hearing this, Sheng Qianyu didn’t offer further assistance. Instead, she used another gas stove to prepare dinner for herself.
Since Jingxuan and Lu Wanwan were at odds, and Zuo Shanming had specifically asked to partner with her, it worked out perfectly. She was a bit tired herself, so cooking for just three people was ideal.
Sheng Qianyu opened the refrigerator to check the ingredients… The only meat left was three pounds of fatty pork and some chicken pieces.
She glanced at the ingredients Lu Wanwan was organizing, which included seafood, beef, and lean pork.
However, since Lu Wanwan was responsible for preparing meals for five people, Sheng Qianyu didn’t say anything.
[This Lu Wanwan is too much! Who said she’s the innocent flower of the entertainment industry? I spit on that! How many people in the entertainment industry are truly clean? Stop pretending! Playing the good girl while hogging the best ingredients prepared by the production team, just to leave a good impression on the guests and viewers! She doesn’t even consider whether her cooking skills are up to par!]
[Does Lu Wanwan have no self-awareness about her cooking skills? Jingxuan outright said her food was bad, and Zuo Shanming subtly hinted it wasn’t good either. Is she hogging the good ingredients just to waste food on purpose?][“Are you all insane? Wasn’t it Wanwan who took on the heavy responsibility of cooking because she understood everyone was tired? She has to prepare meals for five people—shouldn’t she choose better ingredients? It’s not just for her to eat; everyone will be eating! How is that wasting food?”]
[“Looks like Jingxuan’s whitewashing fans are out in force, grabbing any little thing to spin the narrative.”]
[“Right, right, it’s all our little brother Jingxuan’s fault. Your Wanwan is trying to build a hardworking persona, taking half an hour just to wipe a small square table! And she still didn’t finish the task, so she’ll go hungry tomorrow! No wonder she’s using up all the ingredients tonight!”]
[“I’m just worried Lu Wanwan might waste the ingredients.”]
Sheng Qianyu rendered lard from pork fat, borrowed a lidded steel basin from the production team to store it, and then prepared all the chicken breast meat to make cold shredded chicken.
The rice was already steaming.
Thinking of Zuo Shanming’s appetite and the amount of exercise they had done today, Sheng Qianyu peeled several potatoes, fried them in vegetable oil, and made spicy, sweet, and sour-flavored wolf tooth potatoes.
She stir-fried two vegetarian dishes: water spinach and fish-flavored eggplant. The water spinach was cooked using the freshly rendered lard.
According to healthy eating principles, dinner should ideally be light, but there was no choice—everyone was exhausted from the day. After eating, they’d just want to sleep, and who knew what awaited the guests tomorrow? So, she made the dishes rich and flavorful to replenish the energy they had expended during the day.
When the guests came downstairs and smelled the rich aroma filling the living room, Tang Xin couldn’t help but exclaim before even reaching the kitchen, “Wanwan, did you make fish-flavored shredded pork? It smells amazing! It must be delicious!”
But when she rushed into the kitchen and saw Lu Wanwan and Sheng Qianyu there, with the fish-flavored aroma coming from the latter, she was so embarrassed she could have dug a three-bedroom apartment with her toes.
[“Oh my god, I’m dying of laughter! Hahaha!”]
[“Tang Xin: The slap in the face came too fast; I want to go back to the countryside.”]
[“Does it really smell that good? Give me a bite too!”]
Lu Wanwan cursed inwardly but wore an expression of endless grievance on her face. “Sorry, Xinxin, maybe my cooking isn’t as good as my senior’s…”
Tang Xin didn’t want to be criticized by Lu Wanwan’s fans or become a stepping stone for this woman, so she quickly leaned over to take a look and then sighed in relief. “Oh, I was wondering why your cooking didn’t have much aroma—it turns out you’re steaming seafood. The fish-flavored aroma is stronger than steamed seafood, so it’s normal I smelled that first.” She cleverly avoided commenting on whose cooking looked more appetizing.
The fish-flavored aroma was intense and smelled delicious…
Tang Xin swallowed her saliva, clearly hungry.
[“Xinxinzi is awesome! She even drooled when she saw the delicious food our Wanwan made! Clearly, our Wanwan’s cooking isn’t bad either! Time to shut up those haters!”]
[“I’m getting hungry too. Wanwan’s food looks so appetizing!”]
[“Wanwan’s grand finale dish is tomato beef brisket! Go for it, Wanwan!”]
[“Wanwan, could you stir-fry some vegetables? It’s not good to just eat meat!”]
[“Vegetables stir-fried with lard are the most fragrant. Wanwan could borrow some lard from Sheng Qianyu! It’s too late to render it now, and there’s no pork fat left anyway.”]
As her fans had hoped, Lu Wanwan glanced at her own side and realized it wouldn’t do to have no green vegetables. Having only learned to cook for a few days, she knew that vegetables stir-fried with lard were the most fragrant, so she asked Sheng Qianyu to borrow some.
“Senior… could I borrow some lard? I want to stir-fry a vegetable dish, but there’s no pork left in the fridge.”
Sheng Qianyu paused for a moment, then nodded. “Sure.”Lu Wanwan was instantly overjoyed. “Really? Thank you, senior! I thought you didn’t like me…”
Sheng Qianyu looked at her suspiciously and said, “I just find it hard to accept overly enthusiastic people at first.” She was referring to this type of person in general.
[Wait, didn’t I just say Sheng Qianyu is nice for being willing to lend lard, and now I’m being proven wrong? You don’t like overly enthusiastic people? Who are you implying?]
[Can Lu Wanwan’s fans just watch the livestream properly and stop pushing their luck? Listen clearly—Sis doesn’t like overly enthusiastic people. She’s referring to this type of person in general, not just Lu Wanwan! It’s not targeted at Lu Wanwan! It’s just her personality!]
[Third-rate fans should stop trying to defend your idol.]