This was the first time Lu Jingming found himself waiting for an answer he had no certainty of receiving.
Fortunately, Xu Yanxia answered him right away, "Not at all."
She smiled and said, "You're much cuter than your average boss."
Lu Jingming smiled as well. "Then I'll take that as a compliment."
"Mhm."
Xu Yanxia nodded, a relieved smile crossing her face. "I probably didn't realize all of that before, I'm sorry. But still, I want to say thank you."
"I'll accept that too."
He gave another slight smile.
Then he added, "If you haven't considered me a friend before this, you can start from now on, right?"
"Mhm."
Xu Yanxia nodded with another smile, her expression already much more relaxed than before.
Lu Jingming paused, about to say something else.
But unexpectedly, his sister Lu Jingxi's voice rang out from the hallway—
"Xiao Xia, where are you?"
Startled, Xu Yanxia hurried out and went into Lu Jingxi's room next door. "I'm right here," she said.
She saw Lu Jingxi sitting in front of her phone camera, currently live-streaming, waving her over enthusiastically. "Come here, quick!"
"My fans are super curious about the fat-loss meal you made for me. Come tell everyone yourself how you made it."
What? She wanted Xu Yanxia to appear on her live stream?
It was worth noting that Lu Jingxi was already incredibly popular, and with the added buzz from today's trending topics, there were millions of viewers tuning into her live stream at this very moment.
Before Xu Yanxia could respond, Lu Jingming followed her in and immediately told his sister, "You need to ask Xiao Xia what she thinks first. She has to be willing to appear on camera."
"Why wouldn't she be willing?"
Queen Xixi, a major star long accustomed to the spotlight, said, "Our Xiao Xia has got the looks and the talent. She deserves to be seen by the world!"
As she spoke, she specifically leaned out of the camera's frame and mouthed to Xu Yanxia, "I have a beauty filter on. Don't worry, it won't make you look bad."
Amused by her antics, Xu Yanxia smiled and said, "I don't mind. As long as it's fine with you."
"Then come on over!"
Lu Jingxi immediately stood up, pulled her into the frame, and grandly announced to the viewers in the live stream, "Babies, the beautiful genius scholar you've all been asking for is here!!!"
...
Lu Jingming paused for a moment before walking back to his own room. He took out his phone and opened a video platform to find his sister Lu Jingxi's live stream.
On screen, Xu Yanxia was already sitting next to his sister in front of the camera, introducing their dinner to the viewers—
"Today, Queen Xixi's nutritious meal consists of three dishes: steamed winter melon with shrimp, cold-tossed konjac knots, and mushroom chicken tofu. Because Queen Xixi had a rich French meal for lunch with plenty of meat, we slightly reduced the portion sizes for dinner."
"Let's start with the first dish. Shrimp provides high-quality protein, while winter melon helps clear away heat, relieve summer heat, and reduce water retention and swelling. Since Queen Xixi caught a heat-related cold a couple of days ago and needs to clear the damp-heat from her body, this dish serves as an excellent dietary therapy. The recipe is also very simple. Just slice the winter melon, top it with fresh shrimp, and steam it directly. For seasoning, all you need is a little salt and pepper."
"The cold-tossed konjac knots are mainly there to provide a sense of fullness. About eighty percent of konjac consists of soluble dietary fiber. It contains almost no fat or protein and is extremely low in calories, making it perfect for weight management. The key thing to remember is to use as little oil and salt as possible when preparing it. For example, Queen Xixi's portion today was seasoned with just light soy sauce, vinegar, a bit of minced bird's eye chili, and a dash of rattan pepper oil."
As she finished speaking, Lu Jingxi, who was happily munching on the konjac knots, nodded vigorously to back her up. "It's seriously super delicious! You guys should all give it a try."
Now that the first two dishes were covered, it was time to talk about the chicken tofu.
The massive audience in the live stream had already been completely won over by the dish's stunning appearance—as pure white as jade and as delicate as snow. The comment section was flooded with messages—
[Beautiful sister, please share the recipe for the chicken tofu!!!]
[Chicken tofu, chicken tofu!!! I want to know how to make this dish, how does it look so pretty!!!]
[Is the chicken tofu high in calories? Can I eat it while on a diet?!!]
Happy to oblige, Xu Yanxia began to explain—
"The traditional process of making chicken tofu is quite complex. First, you have to remove the tendons from fresh chicken breast, then repeatedly pound it with the back of a knife until it turns into a very fine paste. After that, you mix it with water to loosen it up, and add egg whites, wet starch, pepper, and a pinch of salt. Then, you continuously stir it in one direction until it thickens into a batter with the consistency of yogurt."
"Next, you dilute the batter with a clear broth, mix it well, and pour it into a pot of hot stock. Bring it to a slow boil, then turn the heat down to low. In about ten minutes, the chicken batter will coagulate into a tofu-like texture. At that point, you just scoop it out into a bowl, add some stock for flavor, and it's ready."
"However, traditional stock is quite high in calories, as well as purine and sodium. So, from a low-fat perspective, I made the broth using several types of mushrooms today. Doing it this way might slightly compromise the rich flavor, but the calories are significantly lower."
"Not at all, it's not compromised at all!"
Lu Jingxi, currently enjoying the chicken tofu, quickly assured her fans in the live stream, "Babies, I'm not lying, it's absolutely delicious this way too! It's so fresh and tender!!! It's incredibly satisfying to eat!!!"
But as soon as she said that, a collective wail erupted in the comment section—
[It sounds so complicated when the sister explains it, I can't try it myself, Xixi!!!]
[Who understands the helplessness of us clumsy people!!! I admit I just don't have the luck to taste this!!!]
Xu Yanxia quickly chimed back in, "Actually, there's a simpler version of this dish. You can just put chicken breast, egg whites, sweet potato starch, a little scallion-ginger water, and white pepper into a food processor and blend it into a batter. Then, just pour it into the soup and simmer it slowly. If you don't have homemade stock, you can use a bouillon cube instead. The most important thing is to turn the heat down to low right after it boils, and turn the stove off the moment it solidifies. Otherwise, it will break apart and lose its shape."
Hearing this, the viewers immediately regained their confidence—
[This version sounds much simpler. I can try making it some other day.]
[I have a food processor at home, I'll try it tomorrow.]
Others praised Xu Yanxia, [The sister seems to really know her way around the kitchen! And she explains the nutritional facts so clearly. A genius scholar is truly a genius scholar!!!]
[Yeah, thanks to the beautiful sister for the science lesson!!]
[I saw the sister's speech at Huanong University today! It was absolutely amazing! She's so compassionate!!!]
[Right, right! It's one thing for a genius scholar to be pretty, but she even knows how to cook so well! This is just too awesome!!!]
[Does the genius scholar sister have a Douyin account? I want to follow her!!!]
Viewers even started sending her virtual gifts, like love-heart roses, lollipops, balloon bears, and grand fireworks.
Xu Yanxia quickly thanked everyone. "Thank you all for your support. You're too kind."
Just then, another question popped up on the screen, [This beautiful genius scholar is Queen Xixi's sister-in-law, right? I saw pictures of her and the older brother before, they are an absolute perfect match!!!]
[Exactly! Right before the sister-in-law appeared on screen, I think I heard the older brother's voice asking if she was willing to be on camera. He spoils her so much!!!]
[Ahhhhh! Is she really the boss's girl?!! She looks so perfect with the Big Boss!!! I ship them so hard!!]
Xu Yanxia: "???"
You have to understand, the live stream was currently showing over six million viewers online. If a misunderstanding like this blew out of proportion, it would be no small matter.
She immediately clarified, "Everyone, you might have misunderstood. I am the chef for the Lu family, not Mr. Lu's girlfriend. I'm really not, please don't get the wrong idea."
To make herself perfectly clear, she deliberately emphasized it several times at the end.
