CH 51

After returning to the villa, Lu Jingqian roughly glanced through the comments. Almost all of them were accusations and insults, sarcastic remarks towards him. Even the more moderate ones were considered mild forms of insults. Many people directly used foul language and even threatened his life. Lu Jingqian could actually report those who threatened others’ safety, but there were too many people insulting him, and they knew he couldn’t report everyone. That’s why they were so audacious in their insults.

Many people expressed that they would continue to enjoy his miserable life and see how miserable he could become. The more miserable he became, the happier they would be. If anyone felt sympathy for him, they considered themselves losers. Lu Jingqian closed the comment section and casually tossed aside the camera, thinking to himself, I was worried you wouldn’t continue watching. If they didn’t watch, he wouldn’t have high viewership, and the more views he had, the higher he would rank, and the more people would see him.

Lu Jingqian got up and went outside to the yard, The latest model of the camera he ordered had arrived, and he received a notification on his phone.

If he lived in the city, he would definitely receive it within two hours, but because he was in the deep mountains, he placed the order early in the morning, and it was only delivered around noon. The delivery method was an aerial drop, and the package accurately landed in the designated receiving box in the yard.

Lu Jingqian already had a plan in mind. Live streaming was the best way for him to turn the tables, so he needed a camera that could help him execute his plan. Although the world was technologically advanced, there wasn’t a camera that met Lu Jingqian’s ideal specifications yet. So he ended up buying several different cameras and dismantling them all, then reassembling and modifying them himself.

In Lu Jingqian’s plan, he intended to prove his strong culinary skills through kung fu cuisine. After all, the viewers couldn’t taste the food through the screen, so no matter how delicious he cooked, it wouldn’t matter. But if they saw the cooking process and knew it would definitely taste good, it would at least pique the viewers’ strong curiosity.

He drew inspiration from the kung fu dishes in the Lan Family’s recipes. Although the term “kung fu cuisine” didn’t refer to actually using martial arts in cooking, it meant that the dish required solid culinary skills as the foundation. But in Lu Jingqian’s view, adding some visual and performance-oriented kung fu elements would increase the appeal and attract more viewers.

The next morning, Lu Jingqian took out the modified camera to test its effectiveness. After his modifications, this brand new camera could automatically slow down and zoom in during flight, and it had no issues with a night or underwater shooting. The controller was integrated into a beaded bracelet he made, with each bead controlling a different program. He could control it by simply rotating his wrist.

Of course, Lu Jingqian didn’t start live streaming immediately. He had spent the whole night modifying this device and was already tired. After testing and finding no dissatisfaction, he washed up and went to sleep. He planned to try out the night shooting effects when he woke up in the evening, and once he confirmed there were no issues, he could start preparing for the live stream.

Lu Jingqian had already announced on his personal page that he would be doing the second live stream of his miserable life tomorrow. The comments were filled with insults and people added that they would definitely watch to see how miserable he could be in the end.

After preparing all the things needed for the live stream, Lu Jingqian went to the largest bamboo grove in the mountains. He loved this bamboo grove very much. The bamboo here grew exceptionally well, elegant and tall, creating a picturesque scene. The original host’s grandfather also loved this bamboo grove so he had paved stone paths for easy walking and built a bamboo platform near a mountain spring. Occasionally, he would sit on the platform and brew tea with the spring water.

But today, Lu Jingqian didn’t feel like brewing tea. He wanted to eat Spring Water Chicken, so he brought a large hen with him to the bamboo grove.

Lu Jingqian had announced the start time of the live stream on his personal page, so many people were already waiting for his live stream to appear, ready to start insulting him.

When the live stream began, the screen showed the swaying bamboo grove gently stirred by the wind. It was obviously filmed with aerial equipment using a wide-angle lens. Although the scene looked beautiful and artistic, the viewers watching the live stream didn’t have the mood to appreciate it. Immediately after the live stream started, they began insulting him in the comments.

The camera focused on the chicken’s head, which was shaking incessantly, and then turned towards Lu Jingqian holding a shiny kitchen knife. Lu Jingqian walked toward the chicken, it startled, then it immediately started running away. When Lu Jingqian quickened his pace, the chicken let out a loud cry, flapped its wings, and leaped into the air.

Lu Jingqian threw the knife in his hand. As the knife quickly spun and flew out, a burst of blood splattered, and as the knife flew back into Lu Jingqian’s hand, the chicken fell to the ground.

At that moment, all the netizens who saw this scene froze. Not a single one continued typing. They stared at the screen as if someone had pressed the pause button. They wondered, did they just have a hallucination? Or did they misinterpret the scene? This must be a movie clip, not a live stream, right?

Lu Jingqian walked over and picked up the chicken. Next to the bamboo platform, he had set up a temporary stove with stones, and the hot water was already boiling. He threw the chicken into a wooden barrel filled with scalding hot water, then walked to the nearby solid wood table and began preparing the ingredients.

After washing his hands and wiping the knife clean, Lu Jingqian started preparing the condiments like scallions, ginger, and garlic. The chicken was quite large, so he planned to make three dishes out of it.

The netizens hadn’t fully recovered from the scene where he threw the knife and killed a chicken, only for the knife to return to his hand. They saw Lu Jingqian using the blade of the knife to slap garlic, and the garlic peel fell off on its own. They couldn’t help but think, was it really that simple to handle garlic? But why didn’t he buy pre-peeled garlic? Wouldn’t that be more convenient? So, he’s actually planning to cook by himself?

After a series of questions popped up in their minds, the netizens suddenly snapped back to reality. They realized it wasn’t the time to wonder about these things. They were here to insult him, not to care about what he was doing. Although they were genuinely curious about how he managed to throw the knife and have it return to his hand, they would discuss it with others after the live stream ended. For now, they couldn’t delay the main task, so they started insulting him again.

Thus, the comments section, as if being unpaused, began filling up with various unrelenting sarcastic comments about Lu Jingqian.

After feeling that the chicken should be blanched enough, Lu Jingqian walked over to the wooden barrel and squatted down to handle the chicken feathers. His movements were swift, and the feathers quickly fell off, revealing the light yellow chicken skin.

The comment section paused once again. Almost everyone who saw this scene witnessed the manual process of handling chicken meat for the first time. They thought to themselves, Is handling chicken feathers really that easy? They all fell off with just a grab?

In this era, all ingredients were mechanically processed, and supermarkets sold pre-processed ingredients and various pre-packaged dishes. For an average household, as long as they bought pre-packaged dishes and poured them into an automatic cooker, pressed a button, and took it out when it was cooked, it would be considered cooking at home. If they didn’t want to cook themselves, they could go to a restaurant or have food delivered, which was very convenient.

Even when chefs streamed their cooking, they would present all the pre-prepared ingredients and add them to the pot one by one for stir-frying or steaming. It had probably been hundreds of years since anyone started cooking by handling the ingredients.

Lu Jingqian quickly finished handling the chicken, opening its stomach to remove the internal organs. After repeatedly washing them with clean water, he placed the chicken on a cutting board and cut it in half through the middle.

After chopping one half into roughly equal pieces and placing them in a bowl, he took out a smaller knife and began deboning the other half of the chicken.

The viewers saw Lu Jingqian holding a knife in one hand and flipping the chicken meat with the other. The chicken bones were taken out piece by piece, neatly arranged to the side, while the chicken meat remained in one intact piece without turning into small chunks. They once again wondered in their minds, How did he manage to do that?! Isn’t it supposed to be difficult to debone the meat without breaking it? Just think, it can’t be that easy!

After deboning and skinning half of the chicken, Lu Jingqian put it in another bowl for later use and began making Spring Water Chicken. He started by stir-frying the ingredients with simple seasonings to remove the fishy smell. Then he transferred them to a clay pot, placed them under the spring water outlet, and put them on the charcoal stove to simmer for several tens of minutes. While waiting for it to cook, he could prepare the other two dishes.

Next, Lu Jingqian prepared Spicy and Sour Chicken Offal Stir-Fry. He walked over to the stone stove, heated the oil in the wok, and stir-fried the ingredients over high heat. After adding cooking wine, a flame half a person’s height suddenly burst out from the pot, startling the viewers. They thought Lu Jingqian would drop the iron pot and run away, but instead, they saw him calmly standing in front of the stone stove, flipping and stir-frying with a serene expression.

At this moment, the footage appeared in slow motion, showing the ingredients rolling in the flames, dropping into the pot, and then leaping high in the flames, repeating the process several times. From the close-up shots, the changes in the ingredients were clearly visible.

The viewers thought to themselves, Wait a minute! Slow-motion is one thing, but this is clearly a live broadcast. Why is there slow-motion footage?

After finishing the Spicy and Sour Chicken Offal Stir-Fry, Lu Jingqian began making Shredded Spicy Chicken, which was also one of his favorite dishes. Then the viewers once again witnessed what seemed like a miracle. The chicken was not torn apart by Lu Jingqian’s hands, but while simmering the chicken in vegetable broth, the meat spread evenly in the soup into fine shreds by itself. The reason was actually related to Lu Jingqian’s knife work in handling the chicken previously.

After adding seasoning and mixing the shredded chicken, Lu Jingqian first placed the two finished dishes on a low table on a bamboo platform. Then he walked over to the charcoal stove and uncovered the lid of the clay pot, immediately releasing a white smoke. When the smoke dissipated, a close-up shot showed the bubbling and simmering golden chicken soup, which looked particularly appetizing.

Lu Jingqian poured the chicken meat and soup from the clay pot into a large bamboo tube and placed it on the low table. He sat cross-legged, poured himself half a glass of wine, picked up his chopsticks, and started eating.

Bamboo plates, bamboo tubes, bamboo chopsticks, bamboo cups; every utensil used by Lu Jingqian was made of bamboo. At this moment, he sat on the bamboo platform in the bamboo grove, sipping wine and enjoying the mouthwatering dishes that made people unable to resist salivating. From the cooking process he just demonstrated, it was evident that even if these dishes weren’t exceptionally delicious, they certainly wouldn’t be unappetizing.

The camera zoomed out, capturing the swaying bamboo leaves in the gentle breeze. Occasionally, a few leaves drifted towards Lu Jingqian, and the sight made people involuntarily calm and filled with a sense of healing and tranquility.

The comment section in the live chat paused for a while, then resumed with a barrage of criticism. Those netizens who come to scold him had been mesmerized by Lu Jingqian’s cooking and forgot to leave comments. When Lu Jingqian started eating, the comments stopped for a long time because the footage was shot so well that they couldn’t help but appreciate it.

Lu Jingqian leisurely finished all the dishes and drank the entire pot of wine. Facing the camera, he said, “Today’s live broadcast of my miserable life ends here, but I will continue to live stream my miserable life. Please look forward to how miserable my next live stream will be.”

When the netizens heard the words “miserable life,” they suddenly snapped back to reality. They remembered they had come to criticize Lu Jingqian, but before they could start, the live stream had already ended. They began recalling the entire live stream process and thinking about where to begin with, their mockery and insults. After going through the entire process in their minds, they realized how strange this live stream was.

A frenzy of discussions erupted on the internet. Most people believed that Lu Jingqian had faked the live stream by playing pre-recorded footage with edited special effects. Otherwise, there were too many elements that couldn’t be explained.

Throwing a knife to kill a chicken wasn’t difficult with enough practice, but the part where the knife flew back into his hand was definitely accomplished through post-production effects. It was normal to have close-up shots in a live stream, but how could there be slow-motion shots during the live stream? Zooming in and zooming out were normal, but the fact that the camera could select its own shooting angles was too advanced for live stream cameras. Even if someone was operating the camera for him, the knife flying out and returning to his hand was definitely the result of special effects.

As a result, the live stream platform received the most complaints in its history. The platform’s technical team quickly conducted an analysis, and after multiple confirmations, their response was that they didn’t detect any inserted recorded footage during Lu Jingqian’s live stream. Moreover, their platform had been thoroughly perfected and couldn’t accommodate inserted recorded footage.

Lan Mingze’s fans were naturally dissatisfied with this response, so they continued to complain and also filed complaints with third-party internet regulatory agencies. This incident caused quite a stir, with major media outlets reporting on it. As a result, after watching the live stream videos, netizens from all walks of life also began to suspect that Lu Jingqian had faked it. They started using their own methods to find evidence of Lu Jingqian’s live stream deception but found nothing, leaving them even more perplexed.

Lu Jingqian had already anticipated these events, so he remained calm and continued doing what he needed to do. He casually thought about what dish he should cook for the next live stream.
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