Chapter 261: Taking the Stage

Chapter 261: Chapter 261: Taking the Stage

Qi Pei’er smiled faintly.

She had once studied the guqin for a few months to help with her songwriting, but she wouldn’t say she was proficient.

But that was fine. Nan Zhi’s request wasn’t demanding. She just gave her a piece of sheet music and asked her to play a simple tune to set the mood.

After all, the guqin wasn’t the main character, the food was—

"Whoa!!"

Amidst gasps of amazement, Fu Chao and Xie Yu appeared, one from the left and one from the right, each carrying a vessel.

Both men had narrow waists, long legs, and an exceptional air about them. Dressed in simple cyan robes, they didn’t look like assistants, but more like dapper young noblemen from a bygone era.

[HOLY CRAP!!! Brother Fu in historical costume after so long! I never thought I’d see it on a kids’ variety show!]

[Xie Yu looks killer, too, okay? Why is he a director? He should just debut as an actor on the spot!]

[So handsome, so handsome, I’m taking a million screenshots and drooling over my screen!]

[This lineup is insane. Who was just saying the other side had stolen the show with their opening?]

[I’m suddenly getting emotional, remembering the days from last season when everyone worked together to open Nan Family’s Small Restaurant...]

[Why hasn’t Nan Zhi appeared yet? I’m so excited!]

...

CLINK.

It was the sound of jade striking jade.

Her sound arrived before she did.

Everyone’s gaze snapped in another direction...

Nan Zhi appeared, dressed in a simple, cyan hemp robe.

Her waterfall of long hair was coiled behind her head with a wooden hairpin, leaving just a few strands to fall alongside her full, moon-like cheeks.

The style of her clothes wasn’t much different from Qi Pei’er’s and the others’, yet she wore them with a completely different flair.

It was a graceful bearing, as if she had stepped right out of an ancient painting. With every sweep of her sleeves, it was as if cyan lotuses bloomed in her wake, becoming mere scenery to accompany her stroll.

Most striking of all was the long string of Jade Bells hanging from her waist. They swayed gently with her movements as she walked. Whether by coincidence or design, their chiming perfectly harmonized with the guqin music played by Qi Pei’er. The two sounds intertwined, complementing each other to weave a new melody.

Nearly everyone held their breath.

It was as if Nan Zhi were an ethereal goddess descending from a celestial mountain; the slightest disturbance might cause her to ascend into the heavens and vanish.

Even the boisterous stream of live comments went blank for a few seconds.

Then, like an exploding pressure cooker, they flooded the screen:

[AHHHHHH!!!]

[So beautiful! I feel like my eyes have been purified!]

[Say what you will, but Nan Zhi’s face is absolutely heavenly!]

[Who the hell said Nan Zhi wasn’t suited to be an actress? Losing a great beauty like her is a huge loss for the entertainment industry!]

[Whose idea was it for Sister Zhi to wear bells on her waist? It’s brilliant! They just happen to go perfectly with the guqin music.]

[I’m a music teacher, and I can tell you this is no coincidence. It’s part of the performance! The bells correspond to the *zhong*, a type of ancient bell instrument!]

[Hehe, is it just me, or did all those people online who were hyping up Lai Liang’s looks a while back just get totally shown up by Nan Zhi and her crew? Bwahahaha!]

[What’s there to be smug about! Does all this flashy nonsense make the food taste better? And with those huge sleeves, sweeping all over the place, she’d better be careful not to set them on fire!]

[Oh, listen to you. That’s not what some people were saying when they were praising that toad earlier: ’Visuals are part of the flavor,’ wasn’t it? What’s wrong, eating your own words now?]

...

The viewers on Nan Zhi’s side felt completely vindicated.

Lai Liang’s whole performance had made them think there was a high chance Nan Zhi would lose, leaving them all dejected and trying to console themselves.

But now, a simple entrance had swept away all their gloom. They were filled with anticipation for Nan Zhi’s performance, feeling that this entrance wasn’t the end, but merely the beginning!

And they were right.

After Nan Zhi reached her cooking station, the real performance began—

The station had been arranged in advance with a simple tablecloth and a plum vase holding fresh flowers.

Fresh vegetables were laid out in a scattered yet artful arrangement. It looked casual, but the positioning and color combinations were deliberate.

The entire scene was as breathtaking as a painted scroll.

Nan Zhi, the figure within the painting, shed her approachable demeanor from the previous cooking class. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, her eyes downcast, as cold and imposing as the snows of the Tianshan Mountains.

Even the way she held her kitchen knife was filled with a fierce intent, like a divine weapon being unsheathed.

With a flash of her hand, the knife rose and fell, and the vegetables and fruits scattered beneath her blade.

The wide sleeves that might have hindered others were no problem for her at all.

On the contrary, the sleeves became part of her graceful movements. The gleaming blade moved so fast that it was only a blur, and in the blink of an eye, the ingredients were sliced into all sorts of different shapes.

JINGLE, JANGLE. The Jade Bells at her waist chimed ceaselessly, yet the sound wasn’t jarring. Instead, it was quite pleasant, harmonizing with the tune of the guqin—a clear, melodious sound that served as the perfect finishing touch to this beautiful painted scroll...

But some people just didn’t get it.

In their eyes, all they saw was Nan Zhi dicing the ingredients into a chaotic mess.

Sure, she wielded the kitchen knife with effortless grace, and even the sound of her chopping formed its own melody.

But what did that have to do with cooking?

’Is she just showing off her knife skills?’

Seizing the opportunity, some people immediately started mocking her in the live stream chat:

[Teacher Lai focuses on appearance to enhance the experience. What about Nan Zhi? Is this purely for show?]

[I’ve been watching her go chop-chop-chop for ages, and I still can’t tell what the hell she’s making.]

[Can you eat a pretty face? I knew she’d expose herself sooner or later!]

[Teacher Lai really shouldn’t be competing with a show-off celebrity like her. It’s beneath him!]

[I know you’re all eager to jump to conclusions, but maybe calm down a bit first.]

[Exactly. It’s only been a few minutes. Are you in a hurry to get reincarnated or something?]

[The vibe in this stream has been terrible lately. I suspect there are paid shills stirring up drama.]

[You’re just noticing? I saw it a long time ago. The way some people hype up a certain someone is just shameless.]

...

The noisy live comments ruined the mood for many viewers.

But it was a different story at the venue.

It was quiet all around, with only the sounds of Qi Pei’er’s guqin, Nan Zhi’s Jade Bells, and Nan Zhi’s chopping... These sounds mixed together, rising and falling, weaving a unique symphony.

The children’s eyes all went wide.

Although they didn’t quite understand what was happening, it didn’t stop them from vaguely perceiving the beauty in it.

Moreover, Nan Zhi soon reached out and cleared the fog of their confusion—

The ingredients didn’t just need to be cut; they also had to be processed.

Blanching, deep-frying, mixing with seasonings, simmering...

She multitasked with extreme efficiency.

She quickly finished processing most of the ingredients and began to plate them.

At first, it didn’t look like anything special. It just seemed like Nan Zhi was randomly piling slices of fish, cured meat, vegetables, and fruits onto a huge, shallow, flat-bottomed white porcelain plate. It looked a bit messy and disorganized.

Gradually, however, the shapes of pavilions and towers began to emerge. The once chaotic colors, as if sorted by a master’s hand, suddenly became neat and orderly.

Someone well-versed in the subject immediately realized:

[It’s the Wangchuan Map Sample!]