Chapter 21: Simple Desserts
“Xiang Chuan sis, are there more episodes of the TV series later… huh, what’s this? New food?”
After discussing the latest two episodes’ plot with the comment section, Xiang Xue ran to the kitchen to ask Xiang Chuan about the next episodes, but unexpectedly found that Xiang Chuan had moved a chair to the kitchen at some point, sitting on the chair in a daze, with a plate on the nearby counter holding something that smelled scorchingly fragrant like an egg pancake, and next to it another plate of fried meat. At first she thought it was the previous steak, but upon closer inspection, the texture seemed a bit different.
[Beep——Miss Xiang Xue, good afternoon. The serving plate on the left is the “flatbread” registered five minutes ago. The serving plate on the right has not yet been registered with a name.]
“This meat looks pretty solid. What was it made with?”
Xiang Xue poked it with the nearby fork and found a cut cross-section on the left. No need to think, it must have been cut by Xiang Chuan, which means in this current state the meat is edible. Why didn’t she register it?
“Xiang Chuan sis, can I try it?”
“Ah?” Xiang Chuan came back to her senses, nodded, “Yeah, give it a try…”
“What’s going on?”
Xiang Xue cut off a small piece of meat and put it in her mouth. First to rush into her nasal cavity was the familiar pepper flavor.
Immediately after, she rushed straight to the sink and spat it out.
What a terrifying taste!
Xiang Xue nearly spat out even the snacks she had just eaten. Seeing this, Xiang Chuan quickly handed her a cup of warm water——which she had asked the kitchen AI for after tasting the meat herself earlier.
“Sis, sister… what thing did you make? Why does it taste so…?”
Her voice was trembling a bit. After eating gourmet food continuously for four days, suddenly being hit defenselessly by a bite of disgusting-tasting meat—how could her tongue, already tamed by 21st-century food, handle it?
“Um… it’s just a piece of pork…”
Seeing her sister’s pale face, Xiang Chuan felt a bit guilty, her voice much softer.
“Pork?!”
Xiang Xue was stunned.
The viewers across from the live stream room camera on her forgotten terminal screen were also stunned.
How could anyone want to cook with pork?
“I saw some pork in our warehouse, so I thought I’d make pork chops or something…”
The more she spoke, the softer Xiang Chuan’s voice got, because she saw Xiang Xue looking at her with an expression of “Do you have some serious illness?” This expression from her sister was all too familiar. Back when they were kids, every time she dragged her sister to do silly things by the fields in the countryside, her three-years-younger sister would look at her like this. After so many times, by the time Xiang Chuan was in middle school, she had lost all authority as the older sister in Xiang Xue’s mind.
Now seeing this familiar expression from her sister, Xiang Chuan only felt: her big sister status was in danger!
Who knew pork in this era would have such a strong fishy smell!
It was completely different from the pork she usually ate!
Moreover, without soy sauce, oyster sauce, or other seasonings to marinate away the fishy smell, just simply frying it in oil and adding some salt and pepper—originally thinking to preserve the maximum meat flavor, but the result was it disgusted her to the point of questioning life, and disgusted her sister to the point of questioning her.
“I won’t make it anymore. I’ll stay away from pork for now, okay?” Xiang Chuan raised her hands in surrender. Seeing Xiang Xue still with that look, she began brainstorming in her head, searching for things to coax a kid with that didn’t need an oven or microwave or such.
Upgraded french fries, curly fries? No, she didn’t know the recipe for that thing.
Rice flour cake? She should be tired of it after these days. No.
Wait… cake?
“Xiao Xue, wait a bit. I’ll make you something delicious. Don’t be mad.”
Hearing this, Xiang Xue was thrilled inside, but for the sake of her face, she kept an unhappy expression.
Xiang Chuan had her sit on the nearby chair, took eggs and the remaining milk from the refrigerator, picked up a big bowl, stood at the prep counter, and started messing around with something.
Bored, Xiang Xue opened her terminal and found the live stream room camera was still on. The live stream room’s comment section was discussing the pork Xiang Xue had just eaten and the “delicious thing” Xiang Chuan mentioned. Xiang Xue got a scare and quickly switched the camera back to her front.
Yesterday, Xiang Qi had specifically told her not to live stream scenes of Xiang Chuan and their home kitchen AI making food. Besides protecting Xiang Chuan’s privacy, it was also for their father Yue Xiang’s Yue Xiang Group—after all, who knows when a new food made by Xiang Chuan would become Yue Xiang’s new product.
The folks in the live stream room saw Xiang Xue switch the camera back and all clamored to keep watching.
After all, this might be the moment a new food is born!
[Xiao Xue Xiao Xue, switch the screen back. We want to see Xiang Chuan sis cooking.]
[Streamer sister, show us the kitchen situation.]
[Little miss Xiang Xue, switch the lens back.]
Xiang Xue raised an eyebrow and directly ignored them. Though she liked excitement, she would obediently follow her brother and sister’s instructions, especially Xiang Qi’s. If he said not to show outsiders, she absolutely wouldn’t.
“Wait a bit. Later I’ll directly take finished product pics for you… huh? Wow, what’s this?”
The viewers in the live stream room saw Xiang Xue on screen turn her head to look at something, her eyes widening, body involuntarily leaning forward—this look even more piqued the viewers’ curiosity.
“Sister, why is it so white? Could it be solid cloud?”
On screen, Xiang Xue couldn’t help walking forward with the camera. The viewers couldn’t see what Xiang Xue saw, but from her shoulder movements, they could tell she was reaching out to poke something.
“Solid cloud isn’t edible.” Xiang Chuan’s tone off-screen couldn’t hide her amusement. “This is whipped cream. Don’t eat it directly. Wait a bit, spread it on the rice flour cake once it’s done.”
Whipped cream? White? Spread on rice flour cake?
Indeed new food!
In an instant, the comment section was full of discussion about the new food. Just before the screen switched back, everyone had seen Xiang Chuan take eggs and milk from the refrigerator—these two things, one viscous and one liquid, could they make cloud-like food?
[Beep——Miss Xiang Chuan, Miss Xiang Xue, rice flour cake completed.]
“Little chef, thanks for the hard work.” With that, off-screen came a clatter of pots, pans, and utensils colliding. “Right, Xiao Xue, help me get some fruit from the fruit layer in the refrigerator. Pick the ones you like.”
Xiang Xue unhesitatingly handed her an orange.
After that, they saw Xiang Xue on screen exclaiming loudly, making the people in the comment section even feel real hunger.
Finally, Xiang Xue switched the live stream camera back to her front.
When they saw what was on the plate, everyone was stunned.
On the serving plate sat a slightly flat cylindrical object about the size of a palm in diameter, its surface coated with a layer of snow-white topping. Probably because the chef herself wasn’t very used to it, the coating wasn’t very even, but Xiang Chuan, scrutinizing her hard-earned result, felt it had a handmade beauty. The cylindrical object was edged with variously sized teardrop-shaped white droplets that, from texture, were the same as the white coating on the base but looked somewhat light and fluffy. In the center was diced, peeled orange, its vibrant orange-yellow forming a stark color contrast with the white decorations.
Xiang Chuan gave the knife and fork to her sister, then turned around to busy herself with something. Xiang Xue held the plate with the cylindrical object, turned her back to Xiang Chuan, and hesitated on how to cut into it.
[This color is really pretty.]
[Is this edible?]
[What is that white stuff on top?]
The comment section was full of exclamations or curiosity, but Xiang Xue’s attention was all on this food. She used the knife and fork to split the cylinder in half, looked inside left and right—it was a thick layer of rice flour cake. Perhaps because it was wrapped in this snow-white layer, Xiang Xue felt it even more fluffy and smooth when cutting with the butter knife.
She cut a piece with fruit and cake, put it in her mouth, and instantly her eyes lit up: this pretty white coating was sweet! And very sweet and fragrant!
The softness of the white coating, the sweet-and-sour of the orange, the fragrant sweetness of the rice flour cake—all combined into such layered deliciousness!
Seeing Xiang Xue not speaking, the viewers all got anxious: Say something about your thoughts!
“…It’s really too delicious.”
After holding it in for a long time, Xiang Xue could only give this impression.
“As long as you like it.”
Xiang Chuan behind her smiled.
Xiang Xue secretly glanced back—she was smiling like a child.
