She heated oil in a wok, placed the marinated stinky fish into the pan, fried it for three minutes, flipped it over, fried the other side of the fish skin until it was golden brown, then set it aside for later.
She stir-fried scallions, ginger, garlic, and dried chili peppers, added broad bean paste and white sugar, stir-fried everything evenly until the red oil emerged, added minced meat and tofu, put in the seasonings, added water, and finally placed the fried stinky fish into the wok, simmering it for six or seven minutes…
A delicious, homely little dish—stinky fish—was done.
When Bai Baozhu lifted the lid, the entire kitchen was filled with a smell that was both foul and fragrant. Yet this contradictory aroma stimulated everyone’s taste buds, giving them an inexplicable, intense desire to eat it.
After she served this stinky fish, which looked incredibly appetizing, everyone reached out their chopsticks to try the dish they had been anticipating for so long.
Upon tasting it, the fish meat was tender, smooth, and incredibly rich. Paired with the other ingredients, the fish had a flavor that was somehow both stinky and not, fragrant and not—a taste that was utterly addictive!
“Wow, Zhu Zhu, the stinky fish you made is really delicious!”
“Even though the name is a bit hard to accept, the taste is honestly better than any salted fish I’ve ever had!”
“I can’t really describe the specific flavor, but it’s truly delicious!”
“I don’t like stinky tofu, but Zhu Zhu, I absolutely love the stinky fish you made.”
…
Watching all the dating guests praise the stinky fish Bai Baozhu had made, Su Han pursed her lips in disdain.
She didn’t think this stinky fish, which smelled so strange, could be any good.
Especially when Bai Baozhu first brought out the freshly marinated stinky fish—it really stank, like something that had gone bad. It didn’t look like something edible at all.
“Sister Hanhan, why aren’t you eating?”
Bai Baozhu saw that everyone had tried the stinky fish, but only Su Han, with a stiff expression, hadn’t touched the dish at all. She asked curiously.
She thought the stinky fish dish was really, really delicious.
After making it according to the original host’s memories, she felt as if she had been assimilated by the original host and had also developed a particular fondness for this dish.
Especially after finishing the stinky fish she made herself, she really wanted to try the stinky fish made by the original host’s mother. She always felt that although her own version was quite tasty, it seemed to be missing a certain something.
“Heh, I really… can’t stomach this kind of thing.”
Su Han gave a dry laugh and politely declined.
Seeing this, Bai Baozhu didn’t press the issue. She nodded lightly and didn’t say anything more.
Their interactions over the past few days had made Bai Baozhu realize that Su Han seemed somewhat afraid of her and also somewhat disliked her, which truly left Bai Baozhu baffled.
She completely didn’t understand why Su Han felt this way towards her. It wasn’t like she had done anything to her, right?
However, since she couldn’t figure it out, Bai Baozhu stopped thinking about it and happily started eating her current favorite dish, the stinky fish.
After finishing the stinky fish, Bai Baozhu was ruthlessly taken away by the production team to film an interstitial advertisement for Glory of Kings, intending to complete and insert it into the program as quickly as possible.
When it came time to film the ad, Bai Baozhu discovered… she actually quite enjoyed filming advertisements!
Because there were many professional makeup artists and stylists dressing her up, making her wear several sets of clothing in different styles!
She didn’t need to do much—just kept applying and removing makeup, changing into different looks, putting on different beautiful outfits, and getting prettied up to complete the task!
“Ah, Bai Baozhu’s face is so versatile! I’ve never seen anyone cosplay the female heroes from Glory of Kings more realistically or more beautifully than Bai Baozhu!”
After seeing Bai Baozhu cosplay three different female heroes she was once very skilled with—Diao Chan, Da Qiao, and Wang Zhaojun—everyone was astonished by Bai Baozhu’s different appearances!
The styles of these three female heroes were each distinct.
Diao Chan’s Golden Midsummer Night skin, radiating a holy golden light, soft and elegant like a white elf; Da Qiao’s Cat and Dog Diary: Cloud Angel look, incredibly cute with a halo atop her head; and Wang Zhaojun’s Phoenix Flying Together skin, full of goddess-like aura, noble and elegant…
Three completely different styles, but the one thing they had in common was… Bai Baozhu cosplayed them all stunningly beautifully!
She was even more beautiful than the cartoon female heroes in the game! The exaggerated, somewhat dreamlike costumes didn’t diminish Bai Baozhu’s beauty at all. Instead, they made her so beautiful she seemed unreal, stunning people into a daze.
The mobile game Glory of Kings was arguably the most popular mobile game in the country, with countless players. Therefore, there were also many players who cosplayed the heroes from this game.
Among these cosplayers, there were quite a few famous internet celebrities, and even several female celebrities had cosplayed some of the highly popular, beautifully designed female heroes from Glory of Kings.
But no one had ever cosplayed as realistically or as beautifully as Bai Baozhu.
She perfectly surpassed the two-dimensional female heroes, stunning people with her beauty.
So, every time Bai Baozhu changed into a new look, everyone would be stunned for a long time, then sigh with admiration for a long time.
And they all felt! With such beauty and such versatile looks, the terrifying ability to look like whoever she dressed up as—Bai Baozhu was simply born with a silver spoon, destined to be a big star who attracted countless attention!
What was she doing being a cook!
Although Bai Baozhu’s cooking was truly delicious, looking at such an unbelievably beautiful face, they were more willing to slight their stomachs a bit to satisfy their eyes!
After an afternoon, during which Bai Baozhu changed into four different looks, merely struck a few poses of the female heroes from the game, held a phone to play the game and recited a few lines, her endorsement advertisement was finished.
The filming went so smoothly that Bai Baozhu felt the money for filming ads was just too easy to earn!
And she had ‘worked’ very happily too!
“OK! Zhu Zhu, your performance today was simply fantastic!”
The director and photographers responsible for shooting this Glory of Kings advertisement all looked at Bai Baozhu with excitement, praising her endlessly.
Not just the ad director and photographers, but all the staff on set couldn’t wait to finish the post-production special effects for this interstitial ad and see the final product!
Amid everyone’s praise, Bai Baozhu finished her first advertisement. After being helped to remove her makeup, she happily returned to Love Cottage.
However, after returning to Love Cottage, her happy, cheerful mood was ruined!
Because… the production team began stipulating that, in the time ahead, the female guests’ special privilege, the moon date, had to be used promptly.
And the target of the date had to be a [male guest]! It was not allowed to be a [female guest]!
If a female guest did not use her moon date by the final deadline, the production team would randomly assign a date partner to her.
“Zhu Zhu, this rule is practically tailor-made for you.”
Looking at Bai Baozhu, who had wilted completely like a frostbitten eggplant, Xia Tiantian spoke to her with both sympathy and amusement.
“Sigh…”
Bai Baozhu let out a light sigh, scratched her head somewhat vexedly, and muttered quietly.
“I was originally planning to invite you for the moon date, but then the production team pulled this move. They’re just too cunning.”
Hearing Bai Baozhu’s quiet muttering, Xia Tiantian was overjoyed and immediately stopped feeling jealous of Su Han.
The other two male guests who held favorable impressions of Bai Baozhu felt quite sour upon hearing this!
They even began to suspect…
Could it be that Bai Baozhu’s love text messages were all sent to Su Han and Xia Tiantian?!
In this dating show, did they not only have to guard against love rivals of the opposite sex, but also love rivals of the same sex?
Fortunately, after inquiring with the production team staff and being told it was absolutely impossible to send love text messages to same-sex guests, the two of them finally relaxed.
Because the production team had stipulated that the moon dates had to begin, the female guests all started preparing to take action.
However, what no one expected was that the first female guest to take action and use her moon date would be Ye Jingyu.
Moreover, the person she invited was Bo Shenyu, with whom her previous date had not gone well.
When Bo Shenyu received this moon date invitation, his first instinct was to refuse.
But, unfortunately… the rule of the moon date was that once a female guest extended an invitation to a male guest, the male guest could not refuse.
Thus, Bo Shenyu could only somewhat helplessly accept the moon date invitation.
Jiang Boyan, who shared a room with Bo Shenyu, saw Bo Shenyu’s moon invitation and gleefully teased him.
“Tsk tsk tsk, Brother Shen is just so popular. Not like me, single-heartedly waiting for Zhu Zhu to send me a moon date invitation.”
Looking at Jiang Boyan’s smug expression, Bo Shenyu pursed his lips speechlessly. With a deadpan face and the most placid, non-aggressive tone, he uttered a sentence that struck right at the heart.
“Are you sure Zhu Zhu will send the moon date invitation to you and not someone else?”
“…”
That one sentence deflated Jiang Boyan, who had been feeling so pleased with himself, like a balloon with a hole poked in it.
Jiang Boyan suddenly realized that he wasn’t much better off than Bo Shenyu, and might even be worse!
At least Bo Shenyu had a female guest inviting him on a moon date, while he… might very well end up with zero votes again!
While the two male guests in the bedroom who had received the moon invitation—Bo Shenyu’s room—were ‘harming each other,’ the two female guests in the bedroom of Ye Jingyu, who had initiated the moon date with Bo Shenyu, were also probing each other, each with their own ulterior motives.
“Jingyu, did you just send the moon invitation to Brother Shen?”
“Hehe, that’s a secret. Xiao Han, who do you want to send your moon invitation to?”
“Hehe, I’ll keep it a secret for now too~”
Su Han looked at Ye Jingyu with a fake smile, but in her heart, she sneered. What secret? Even if she hadn’t read the novel’s plot, she knew the person Ye Jingyu invited for the moon date was definitely Bo Shenyu, no one else!
Especially since she had read the novel and knew the plot well.
Moreover, this date was an important turning point.
An important turning point for her.
In the novel, less than three weeks after this moon date with Ye Jingyu, Bo Shenyu would suddenly catch a cold and run a high fever. Immediately after, everyone in Love Cottage would be quarantined. Bo Shenyu, after having a low fever from the cold for five days without recovering, would be taken home by his family, completely withdrawing from the filming of Love Cottage. This also led to Bai Baozhu, who had clearly been mutually attracted to Bo Shenyu, ultimately becoming a couple with Jiang Boyan…
Of course, in this segment of the plot, there was an important point: during Bo Shenyu’s period of cold and low fever, it was Bai Baozhu who, disregarding the danger, took care of him, serving him three meals a day by his side.
Finally, with a bowl of fritillaria, rock sugar, and snow pear water, she completely won over Bo Shenyu’s heart—something that had remained untouched throughout the entire program.
Unfortunately, the day after he developed feelings for Bai Baozhu, before he could express anything, he was taken home by his family and hastily withdrew from the Love Cottage program.
It was also for this reason that Jiang Boyan seized the opportunity, successfully rose to the position, and ultimately succeeded in holding hands with Bai Baozhu.
Thinking of this, Su Han curled the corners of her lips slightly.
The opportunity she had been waiting for was finally coming.
When the time came, she just needed to initiate a moon date with Bo Shenyu a few days before he fell ill, then give him an unforgettable date and a deep confession.
After Bo Shenyu fell ill, she would beat Bai Baozhu to the punch, disregard the danger to care for him according to the plot, cook three meals a day for him, and finally, at just the right moment, brew him a bowl of sweet, and most crucial, fritillaria, rock sugar, and snow pear water. In the end, she could perfectly secure Bo Shenyu!
Of course, the most important point was that after she won Bo Shenyu’s heart, she absolutely could not be like that fickle woman, Bai Baozhu. She had to single-mindedly choose to reject everyone else, and then quietly wait for Bo Shenyu to recover from his illness and come to confess to her…
It was just… too perfect.