“The Day of Mutation is approaching. We can’t wait any longer.”
“Sir, it seems the Yu family has an illegitimate daughter as well.”
“Miss Yu’s bloodline is useful because of her mother, not because of Yu Tiancheng.”
The Yu family was not only making outrageous demands but also trying to push all sorts of people onto him. Naturally, he couldn’t allow that.
Having stolen tomatoes from her neighbor’s garden, Yu Nianqing was still shaken when she returned home. The very first thing she had managed to do after arriving in this unfamiliar place was… steal vegetables.
As someone who had been taught the core socialist values since childhood, Yu Nianqing was overwhelmed with guilt.
“It’s fine… I’ll bring them something later to make up for it.” Her smart terminal issued a warning that her hunger level had risen again.
Yu Nianqing had already bought cooking utensils when she first started livestreaming. She had specifically commissioned someone to make them based on photographs of ancient humans.
She knew that she couldn’t always count on having food for her next meal. She couldn’t keep stealing vegetables from other people’s gardens every day, could she? Yu Nianqing began fiddling with the intelligent camera robot in her house. It was only about the size of a compact camera, but it had a pair of tiny wings on either side.
After a series of operations, the camera suddenly took off. Yu Nianqing froze for a moment, then waved at it.
【Little Expert in Ancient Human Care Tips: Yu Nianqing Is Going Live~ Come Watch Now~】
A new post suddenly appeared on the Star Network, instantly setting the entire network ablaze.
“Yu Nianqing actually dares to livestream again?”
“Federation medical care really is advanced. She recovered so quickly.”
“Is she going live to issue a public apology?”
“I won’t accept her apology.”
“Seconding this!”
One after another, people clicked into Yu Nianqing’s livestream room. Through her smart terminal, Yu Nianqing could see the viewer count, and the number was skyrocketing at an astonishing rate.
“Why is she waving?”
“She seems strangely different today.”
Yu Nianqing had no livestreaming experience. When she saw that people were already watching her, she quietly began preparing the food.
First, she set the rice to cook. Then she used a small pot to distill the seawater.
Yu Nianqing had a potted plant at home that she had identified as scallions. She set out a cutting board, then chopped the washed scallions and tomatoes, setting them aside for later use.
“What is she doing?”
“She’s really putting on quite a convincing act~”
“Putting everything else aside, Yu Nianqing really is gorgeous.”
“You can get plastic surgery for a little money or edit your genes if you have the big bucks. Who can still trust a pretty face these days?”
“The technical term for that is chopping vegetables. What’s that green plant she’s cutting? It looks like the small intestine of a mutant snail.”
“That’s a scallion. Apparently, there are larger varieties too. It used to be one of the foods eaten by ancient humans, but nowadays, it’s mainly used for ornamental purposes. (P.S. One pot costs 10,000 star coins.)”
“As expected of Yu Nianqing. She’s really sparing no expense.”
“The Yu family is one of the Star Network’s shareholders. Would this little bit of money even count as sparing no expense?”
“Poverty has really limited my imagination.”
After chopping the scallions into fine pieces and cutting the tomatoes into chunks, Yu Nianqing checked the seawater. It had almost finished distilling, and crystals had already begun to form inside the transparent container.
Carefully, she scraped off the thin layer of crystals and placed them on a small plate before beginning a second round of distillation.
Yu Nianqing took out a pan and turned on the natural gas.
“High-risk alert! Everyone, cover your ears!”
“Run!!”
But to everyone’s surprise, after a crisp clicking sound, a small flame ignited and gradually grew into a roaring fire.
Yu Nianqing poured some animal fat into the pan. Although she had no idea what animal it came from, she figured it was probably similar to lard.
“Today’s dish is tomato and scrambled eggs.”
Yu Nianqing cracked the eggs into a bowl first and whisked them together. Then she slowly poured the egg mixture into the pan. The pan had heated up over the high flame, and the eggs quickly began to set.
The comments section was filled with the same questions. What exactly were tomatoes? And were these eggs from a Blazing Flame Dragon?
Her smart terminal automatically extracted the comments and displayed them on the screen. While marveling at the advanced technology of interstellar society, Yu Nianqing answered, “No, these are chicken eggs that cost one star coin per jin.”
Someone opened an encyclopedia of ancient Earth life forms and began providing information. “Tomatoes, also known as love apples, were common plants on ancient Earth. Only one remains on Kloss Star today, and it’s planted in the Regent’s garden…”
Halfway through cooking the eggs, Yu Nianqing hurriedly added the tomatoes, completely unaware of what the comments were saying. At just the right moment, she sprinkled in the salt she had made herself.
“Highlight this point!! Sodium chloride extracted from seawater is sprinkled into food.”
Tomato and scrambled eggs wasn’t a complicated dish. Before long, Yu Nianqing sprinkled the chopped scallions over the top, divided the dish between two plates, and then scooped some rice out of the pot.
By the time Yu Nianqing sat down with her chopsticks and tucked into a hearty meal, the Star Network had already exploded with the news.
“Yu Nianqing actually knows how to cook!” This trending topic had shot straight to the top of the Star Network’s rankings. When it first appeared, Xiao Xiao was so startled that she hurriedly entered Yu Nianqing’s livestream.
What greeted her wasn’t a disastrous scene, but Yu Nianqing sitting at the table and enjoying her meal.
Yu Nianqing chatted cheerfully with the viewers in the comments.
“Tomatoes are a little sour, but tomato and scrambled eggs go really well with rice~”
“Thank you all for the tips~ Have you learned how to make today’s dish?”
Xiao Xiao: …
From livestreaming herself cooking to livestreaming herself eating, barely an hour had passed. Meanwhile, the star coins in Yu Nianqing’s account had skyrocketed.
Yu Nianqing happily said goodbye to everyone and switched off the flying camera. She carefully checked her account balance before finally breathing a sigh of relief. At least she now had enough money to put food on the table tomorrow.
Carrying the other plate of tomato and scrambled eggs, Yu Nianqing went to her neighbor’s door. When it opened, the same butler from earlier stood there.
“I borrowed something earlier, so I’ve brought this over as a small token of appreciation.” The butler looked at the dish in Yu Nianqing’s hands, seeming to want to say something but hesitating. Yu Nianqing simply pressed it into his hands.
“Neighbors should help one another and return favors, after all.”
After Yu Nianqing finished speaking, the butler nodded and invited her inside. “Miss, our master would like to invite you in for a chat.”
Abiding by the principle that neighbors should get along like one big family, Yu Nianqing accepted the invitation.
The living room of her neighbor’s house was entirely white, and everything was so spotless that it seemed not a speck of dust could be found. Instead, the place felt rather lifeless to her.
A little boy dressed in a small suit walked over and offered Yu Nianqing a cup of coffee. He looked to be only twelve or thirteen years old.
“Pretty big sister, do you prefer coffee or fruit juice?”
“Fruit juice, please. Thank you, little one.”
The little boy looked as though he had expected that answer all along. Turning to the butler beside him, he said, “Grandpa Lin, did you hear that? Xiao Jiu told you pretty big sister would definitely prefer fruit juice!”
Butler Lin looked at Xiao Jiu helplessly. Meanwhile, Xiao Jiu was busy replacing Yu Nianqing’s coffee with fruit juice.
“Pretty big sister, would you like mutant orange juice or Snow Pool fruit juice?”
“Xiao Jiu. Go upstairs and switch the system.”
Just as Yu Nianqing was about to choose between the two, a cold voice shattered the harmonious scene.
“Butler Lin, who changed Xiao Jiu’s system again?”
Xiao Jiu suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon. In a dejected voice, he said, “But I like it this way.”
Xiao Jiu was a humanoid robot whose appearance was indistinguishable from that of a human. The only difference was that a robot’s personality could be configured through its system settings.
“Sir, Xiao Jiu prefers to be a little more lively.”
“Annoying.” Bo Chen frowned. He glanced at the woman sitting in the living room, then at the plate of food prepared using the fruit of the last remaining tomato plant on the entire planet of Kloss.
After a long while, he finally spoke in an icy tone. “Only low-level life forms would eat something that takes so much time and effort to prepare.” As he spoke, he even took out a bottle of nutrient solution.