Chapter 17
The Weibo news included a small video of Qiu Jin apologizing to Xiang Xi at the airport, and there was a lively and realistic explanation that said a certain staff member at Qiu Jin’s side had already admitted that Qiu Jin was indeed pursuing Ji Shenxiao at the moment. There was some strange ‘I can’t get you, so I will get your alpha’ conjecture going about.
“If this is the case,” the staff member showed an envious expression, “I think that our program may be in flames*.”
[*T/N: may be in flames = widely viewed/talked about]
The other person also nodded: “I wonder if the project bonus will be bigger!”
“Four Seasons Food” was a countryside food variety show. Although it was a good program with a high public reputation, its audience was relatively fixed. The average age of fans was 20+. And because of the slow pace and lack of hot spots, it was actually at a disadvantage on social platforms such as Weibo.
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But this time it was different. There was the love triangle between Qiu Jin, Xiang Xi, and Ji Shenxiao. And reported, a little fresh meat* named Geng Leyue also came on this show after Ji Shenxiao. This was simply Ji Shenxiao’s harem show.
[*T/N: colloquial term for a teen idol (usually male)]
The deputy director glared at them: “Get back to work.”
The two youngsters fell silent immediately.
Qiu Jin’s tears kept streaming, and his face was blushing red from the heat of the fire.
Both his hair and skin was white, which made the flush on his face that much more prominent, furthermore, his lips were reflective with water.
Ji Shenxiao retracted his gaze and silently placed the vegetable basket by the washbasin.
Seeing a few young whiskers in the basket, Qiu Jin was taken aback and asked, “You guys broke off the corn?”
Ji Shenxiao nodded.
Xiang Xi was a little proud: “I broke off four!”
He had never done this kind of work before. The corn leaves ended up scratching his arms, making his whole body feel itchy.
“These aren’t ripe yet, how are we going to eat them?” Qiu Jin looked at the row of staff members totting around cameras. He was a bit dissatisfied. “Why didn’t you stop them?”
Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.
The camera people looked at each other, waved their hands, and pushed the blame away: “We’re just recording, don’t look at us!”
Qiu Jin was speechless. Maybe the program team was looking forward to their situation. He peeled the corn one by one. All of them were still small and they were very watery when he pinched them.
“We can’t eat these. Let’s cook something else.” Qiu Jin clapped his hands and stood up.
“Who said you can’t eat them?” Xiang Xi was the one most at odds with Qiu Jin, and he rushed in carrying a few ears of corn. “I want to eat corn.”
Qiu Jin was too lazy to fight with him. If he wanted to cook the corn, then just let him.
He moved the washed vegetables into the kitchen. There were tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, and the like.
Geng Leyue followed him inside and rolled up his sleeves: “I will cook.”
He heard that Ji Shenxiao had stomach problems. This was the perfect time for him to take the initiative and show off.
Qiu Jin: “Do you want me to help?”
Geng Leyue waved his hand: “No need, you go tend to the fire!”
The fire was burning strongly, so Qiu Jin took a basin and went to the chicken coop to collect eggs. The chicken coop was near the vegetable field. The chickens were confined inside a lawn. The ducks were comparatively more blessed. They could occasionally go to the coast for some exercise.
Perhaps because no one came by for too long, Qiu Jin was able to gather a total of twelve eggs. In addition to using it for one dish tonight, he could also use the eggs for breakfast tomorrow.
When he came back, there was already the sound of vegetables being cut in the kitchen.
Geng Leyue did not wear an apron, and the tomato juice quickly stained his limited edition T-shirt.
Qiu Jin: “Do you want to use the apron to cover up?”
“I don’t want to, that thing is so dirty!”
So Qiu Jin stopped trying to persuade the other.
When a person was cooking, the most annoying thing was to have someone on the side giving out instructions, saying things like you peeled the potato too thickly, you put the salt in too early, the heat was set too high, etc.
Translations by Vanilla Muse.
From beginning to end, Qiu Jin conscientiously tended to the fire. He only gave him a mild suggestion when the vegetables were about to be turned into paste. Geng Leyue glared at him and Qiu Jin stopped talking.
When the last rays of the setting sun disappeared, they finally sat down to dinner.
The dining table was placed on a grassy lawn behind the kitchen. There were two towering trees and a cluster of rose flowers. Dining in the cool sea breeze in the evening was sure to increase one’s appetite.
It was just that the food… it was hard to explain in just a few words.
Qiu Jin picked up a piece of tomato with scrambled eggs with his chopsticks. He barely managed to swallow down the bite of food with wrinkled brows.
Ji Shenxiao tried a dish in front of him. After that he didn’t touch the dishes any more and just ate a small bowl of rice in silence.
Xiang Xi took a bite of corn. The corn kernels were too small, and they were practically like little pouches of water. There was no flavor at all.
Geng Leyue enthusiastically asked: “How is it?”
Qiu Jin: “Not bad.”
Geng Leyue didn’t even look at him at all. The one he was asking was Ji Shenxiao.
“What do you think of it, Ji-ge?”
[T/N: -ge: suffix for older brother, not necessarily blood related.]
Qiu Jin: “…”