Nine-turn intestines is a famous dish that requires premium ingredients and an incredibly complex cooking process. Its explosively delicious taste draws food lovers from across the country. The plate in front of them held less than ten pieces - barely enough for everyone to get one bite.
This dish was truly Lu Ming's specialty!
The sauce drizzled over the intestines glistened under the lights, looking absolutely mouthwatering just from appearance alone.
The director controlling the livestream from backstage saw how gorgeous this famous dish looked and switched to a close-up shot with the fixed cameras. Viewers watching their screens couldn't help but drool at the sight of this appetizing food.
Li Changfeng watched He Laoshi, who was still scheming to trick him into being a taste-tester, grab a piece of the delicious intestines from the plate and pop it into his mouth.
Everyone was starving. Faced with the only substantial dish on the table, and with so many people competing for so little food, they all got greedy. Except for 'Miss-Mom Bro' who felt unwell and didn't move, everyone else picked up their chopsticks and dug in. Even the dejected Huang Laoshi grabbed a piece and started chewing slowly.
In the blink of an eye, what had been a full plate of nine-turn intestines was reduced to just a few scattered pieces.
Since he'd made it himself, Lu Ming also picked up his chopsticks and grabbed a small piece to taste...
"PFFT!!!"
"PFFFFT!!!"
The people who had just eaten the nine-turn intestines suddenly turned into human pea shooters, the spraying sounds erupting like fireworks going off one after another across the dining table, ruthlessly blasting each other in the face!
"Holy shit, did the pea shooters come to life?!"
Lu Ming dropped his chopsticks and instinctively backed away from the table, retreating behind everyone else.
The sudden disaster left He Laoshi, who'd been standing nearby promoting the food, along with the PDs monitoring the livestream and carrying cameras nearby, all wearing expressions of pure shock.
"This... does it really have to be this dramatic?" He Laoshi was stunned.
Even if Huang Laoshi's cooking was terrible, it wouldn't cause people to literally spray it out, right? And... his old buddy Huang Laoshi had eaten his own delicious creation and sprayed it out too?
Dude, you're the head chef!
At this moment, everyone's faces and bodies were more or less splattered with food debris. Huang Laoshi especially looked like he'd been turned into paste, his glasses completely clogged up and looking absolutely disgusting.
Wu Qian collapsed to the ground in agony, retching with a twisted expression of pain:
"Ugh—"
"What is this taste? What did I eat?!"
Wu Qian's reaction triggered a chain effect as everyone else started dry heaving, including Huang Laoshi...
"It stinks!"
"Even stinky tofu doesn't smell this bad, and that stuff only smells bad but tastes fine. This nine-turn intestines smelled pretty good, so how does it taste so awful? I can't swallow it at all!"
"No joke, I feel like I just ate a mouthful of... that..."
"Ugh... don't say it, something in my stomach is coming back up... ugh..."
"What the hell did Huang Laoshi put in this stuff?!"
While everyone was puking, they all looked at Huang Laoshi with pained expressions.
But what they didn't expect was that Huang Laoshi, who'd been sprayed into a paste by them, couldn't hear what they were saying at all.
At this moment, Huang Laoshi was actually puking the hardest...
Everyone was confused!
He Laoshi quickly handed out bottled water to everyone while several PDs rushed over to help.
Only Lu Ming, smelling the strange odor in the air and seeing their condition, had a bold guess forming in his mind. Gradually, Lu Ming's expression grew serious.
He might have screwed up big time!
Thinking of a certain terrible consequence, Lu Ming - who had been heavily drunk - suddenly sobered up considerably. He carefully grabbed a bottle of Old Village Chief liquor from the table, trying to control his trembling hands as he opened it and, ignoring everyone's stares, poured a big gulp into his mouth.
"Hiss..."
The burning, scalding alcohol finally calmed him down a bit.
[Ding, detected host drinking alcohol, "Basic Singing Skills" +15!]
[Detected host entering moderate intoxication state, triggering ability lottery—]
[Ability acquired: [Teacher Wu's Eye Acting Comprehension] (Liangkun Version)!]
Lu Ming was amazed that he'd hit the jackpot twice at this critical moment, triggering the ability lottery again. But right now he didn't care about any eye acting comprehension. Even with a bunch of new understanding flooding his brain, Lu Ming paid it no attention. His gaze was fixed tightly on Huang Laoshi, vaguely sensing something was very wrong.
"Huang Laoshi, are you using us as guinea pigs or what?!" Li Changfeng fought back his physical discomfort to demand answers.
Wu Qian's eyes were bloodshot with visible red veins: "You're serving us stuff that made you puke when you ate it? Are you trying to poison us to death?!"
The two of them didn't care about Huang Laoshi's status anymore. Even clay figures have some fire in them - even if you're an industry veteran, you can't just treat them like lab rats!
Being accused by his juniors, Huang Laoshi felt incredibly wronged:
"I didn't make this. All this food was actually made by Lu Ming alone. He used my name to make this whole table of stuff - he's trying to ruin this old man!"
Hearing this, everyone's eyes immediately turned to Lu Ming.
Lu Ming took a sip of alcohol, looking aggrieved: "Can you please not look at me with that disbelieving expression? Huang Laoshi threw in the towel and forced me to be a conscript. He's such a big shot - how could a nobody like me dare to resist? Faced with bullying from a senior, I could only grin and bear it, wuu..."
"I worked so hard to give everyone a good meal. This is too difficult for me!"
As he spoke, he even wiped at the completely non-existent tears in the corners of his eyes.
Li Changfeng: "?!"
Wu Qian: "?!"
Huang Laoshi: "??!"
All three stared at Lu Ming's pitiful complaints, completely dumbfounded.
Holy shit, you caused all this damage, poisoned everyone here, and now you're fake crying about being wronged?
Cry about it!
Li Changfeng grabbed Lu Ming's arm and dragged him to the table, demanding loudly: "Look at this whole table of stuff you made! You call this giving everyone a good meal? You call this good food? Don't tell me you weren't settling a personal grudge!"
"You definitely wanted to poison us, didn't you?"
"Why didn't you tell everyone before that you made all this?"
"Look me in the eyes!"
"Yo! Baby, yo!"
Seeing him so agitated that spit was flying everywhere, Lu Ming explained:
"I was going to tell you guys before, but you all ignored me and didn't give me a chance to speak. Plus you were all fawning over Huang Laoshi, so even if I had said something, it wouldn't have mattered."
Li Changfeng froze.
He looked at Wu Qian with a questioning expression.
Wu Qian thought back - this kid had indeed seemed like he wanted to say something before, but they'd cut him off. But if this whole table of food had been made by Huang Laoshi, that would be one thing, but it was made by this damn nobody, and they'd already eaten it. What was the point of talking about it now?
"Is this your excuse for poisoning us?!" Wu Qian accused angrily: "Do you dare try the stuff you made yourself?"
Lu Ming backed up two steps. He really didn't dare!
"Huang Laoshi, you made me cook this. When they were all praising how fragrant and amazing it smelled, saying they wanted to eat three bowls of rice, you looked pretty pleased with yourself. You can't take all the credit and leave me with all the blame, right?"
"Huang Laoshi, look how they're scolding me! I'm so wronged! Say something!"
Huang Laoshi: "..."
Old Huang looked at Lu Ming with murderous intent. If he weren't considering that they were currently livestreaming, he would have dug a hole right there to bury this damn nobody alive!
"I'm asking you - what ingredients did you put in this!" Huang Laoshi smacked his lips, tasting the off-flavor, already having a terrible suspicion that he didn't dare think about.
Lu Ming swore earnestly: "All the ingredients are in the kitchen - absolutely clean and healthy!"
That left only the worst possibility...
Huang Laoshi asked the question he least wanted to think about: "When you were washing the ingredients, are you sure you cleaned them properly? Or rather, did you turn them inside out and wash the inside too?"
Lu Ming fell silent.
"Ha... haha—" Huang Laoshi's finger pointing at Lu Ming began to tremble. Gradually, his anger turned to manic laughter, his voice getting louder and his expression twisting:
"Hahahahaha!"
Huang Laoshi's laughter filled the air above Mushroom House. Seeing this, everyone felt their spines chill - they'd never seen someone's laughter become 'hysterical' before.
[Why does Huang Laoshi's expression look so creepy?]
[Is there something wrong with his mental state?]
[Understandable. Anyone who gets sprayed in the face with food debris and has their embarrassing moment seen by the whole country would probably want to move to another planet. This isn't just regular social death.]
[The good news is Huang Laoshi's persona as the entertainment industry's cooking god is safe since the food was made by Lu Ming.]
[That's about the only good news.]
Huang Laoshi laughed until tears came out!
Suddenly, he pounced on Lu Ming like a starving wolf, gripping his shoulders viciously: "Tell me - the ingredients weren't cleaned properly. Was this intentional or accidental?"
At this moment, he wanted nothing more than to kill this kid who had brought him such humiliation.
No matter which answer he gave, he'd have reason to make this kid pay a painful price for this deep hatred.
Lu Ming's face was flushed red - not from embarrassment, but from the alcohol taking effect, making his mental state increasingly hazy and his speech slurred: "I... did it intentionally by accident."
Huang Laoshi: "?!"
Oh, so you think you're being clever, huh!
"I'm warning you, don't pretend to be drunk. I know you're perfectly lucid!"
Lu Ming said proudly:
"To make sure everyone ate their fill and drank well, I deliberately preserved part of the intestines' natural flavor. Only this way could you all know you were eating intestines. This is my bold innovation in the culinary field, and a historic advancement for the classical dish of nine-turn intestines!"
Wu Qian: "???"
Li Changfeng: "???"
It sounded impressive, but thinking back to that overwhelmingly foul taste, they both felt something was seriously wrong!
Huang Laoshi took a deep breath: "Even if the ingredients weren't cleaned properly, the taste wouldn't be this... intense!"
"What else did you do?"
Lu Ming pondered for a moment, then suddenly slapped his forehead: "Oh, to ensure maximum freshness, I used the water from boiling the intestines to make this incredibly fresh sauce!"
Hearing this explanation, Huang Laoshi's vision went black and he collapsed to the ground as if all the strength had been drained from his body!
Looking around at the cameras used for livestreaming, he seemed to already hear the mocking voices of countless netizens. Then, Huang Laoshi closed his eyes in despair.
I'm tired. Let it all burn down!
Wu Qian, Li Changfeng, and the other young stars didn't understand what had happened.
They looked at He Laoshi in confusion, but saw him staring in horror as if he'd witnessed the most terrifying thing in the world.
They hurried over to ask.
He Laoshi said nothing, just stared blankly at the plate with the remaining pieces of nine-turn intestines.
They went to ask Huang Laoshi.
Huang Laoshi raised his voice, glaring furiously at the drunk Lu Ming.
Wu Qian: "?!"
Li Changfeng: "!!!"
Other young stars: "Huh?!"
Everyone's eyes widened, their brains crashing in that instant.
They couldn't believe what they'd heard, staring at Huang Laoshi for confirmation. Realizing the disturbing feedback from their taste buds, everyone's stomach acid churned as their mouths went dry.
Wu Qian stumbled to a nearby trash can and started projectile vomiting!
Perhaps the impact of what he'd just heard was too strong - he actually stuck his fingers down his throat trying to dig out the filthy stuff he'd swallowed. The young man's agonized expression was so intense he even vomited up bile!
Li Changfeng's vision went black and the world spun around him.
Who am I?
The future top idol, entertainment industry's biggest star!
The intense psychological trauma finally broke him. With a "bang," he collapsed to the ground, white foam pouring from his mouth...
The other young stars ran over to join Wu Qian in group formation.
"Ha! Ugh! Ha! Ugh! Ha! Ugh!"
"—"
The coveted Mushroom House was filled with wave after wave of dry heaving.
Lu Ming watched in amazement: "Truly musicians - even their sick dry heaving sounds like a beat, melodious and rhythmic!"
"This is what art is! This is real art!"
"Just based on this teamwork, I have every reason to believe you'll definitely claim a place in the Chinese music scene!"
Wu Qian: "&%¥@!!"
Young stars: "I *@#&%!"
Everyone shouted incomprehensibly from a distance. Though you couldn't make out what they were saying, their emotions were quite passionate.
He Laoshi quietly pulled him aside: "Kid, these are my car keys. While they don't have time to deal with you yet, hurry up and drive away!"
"He Laoshi, I drank about half a jin of liquor..." Lu Ming spread his hands helplessly.
"..." He Laoshi stared quietly at the honest young man in front of him.
"Hahahaha, you kid... you're amazing!" At this moment, He Laoshi suddenly understood why people laugh when they're speechless.