When they got home, Bai Qiuchen used the excuse of calling Bai Qiu downstairs to return to his room.
He transformed into Bai Qiu and brought several cameras to the kitchen.
He brought down the lights and tripods at the same time.
Thanks to Magic, carrying everything was easy.
Everyone had already transformed into Magical Girls.
There was no script and no rehearsal.
They’d shoot it once, film whatever came to mind, and cut together whatever they got.
After starting the recording, Bai Qiu went over to Zhen Hong.
The others stood by the kitchen island or somewhere the cameras could see them.
Bai Qiu and Zhen Hong stood like that for a full minute.
“Um… Senior?” He Xi finally spoke up.
How much longer were they supposed to stand there?
“Say an opening line, Zhen Hong.”
Zhen Hong, smiling at the camera, froze for a moment.
“You mean me?”
She’d thought they were waiting for Bai Qiu to say the opening line before they started.
That was how it went on the variety shows she’d watched: the host delivered the opening line and introduced a topic, then she’d respond.
Without a doubt, Bai Qiu was the one who seemed most like a host.
But Bai Qiu said, “Yeah. I’m not the main character.”
“Um… Then—Senior, don’t move.”
Zhen Hong immediately put her little idea into action.
She lifted Bai Qiu’s right hand above her head and bent it to the left.
Then she returned to her original spot, raised her own left hand above her head, and bent it to the right, forming a heart.
“Senior, please do that pose again.”
‘This pose… Whatever. If she’s happy, that’s fine. I was the one who told her to say the opening line, after all.’
“Oh.”
They returned to position and raised their hands above their heads, bending them toward each other to form a big heart.
“Senior, say this with me.”
“Say what?”
“‘Zhen Hong’s Heart Kitchen is open for business today.'”
“…”
For some reason, Bai Qiu suddenly felt several gazes fixed on her.
Her face felt a little hot, too.
‘How strange.’
“Senior?”
“……I understand.”
‘This is going to take a lot of courage. I think I have enough courage to say it now.’
Bai Qiu took a deep breath.
At Zhen Hong’s cue, she smiled and said the line with her.
“‘Zhen Hong’s ♡ Heart Kitchen is open for business today.'”
Bai Qiu’s courage had increased.
Her face felt even hotter.
Zhen Hong said quietly, “Senior, now it’s your turn to say your line.”
“What do I say?”
“‘What’s Zhen Hong making today?'”
“…”
‘Can I still take it back?’
Four pairs of eyes stared at Bai Qiu.
She wanted to find a hole in the floor to crawl into.
“What’s Zhen Hong making today~?” she said, doing her best to raise her pitch and sound more upbeat.
The effect of her courage boost kicked in right away.
Without that courage boost, she probably wouldn’t have dared to say it.
The heart split into two, and Zhen Hong began introducing the dishes she’d make that day.
“Today, I’ll be teaching everyone how to make Kung Pao chicken, mapo tofu, cumin potatoes, spicy boiled beef, blanched broccoli, and cream of mushroom soup.”
Bai Qiu only had to peel a few potatoes, so she’d suggested washing the vegetables beforehand, too.
It gave her more to do, and they could include a little more of it in the video to make her look diligent.
“Then, first, Senior, please peel the potatoes. And please wash the rice and put it in the rice cooker☆.”
Zhen Hong winked at her.
If this were a livestream, the chat would be full of insults and envy.
Bai Qiu couldn’t cook at all, but peeling potatoes and washing rice were no problem.
At home, only her younger sister could cook.
After their mom drove the housekeeper away, the two of them didn’t want to eat takeout, so they had to rely on her younger sister.
They’d divided the work like this back then: Bai Qiuchen cooked the rice, peeled vegetables, and cleaned up afterward, while Bai Qiumu chopped and cooked.
Watching her younger sister’s cooking improve from barely edible to the level it was now had been a truly heartwarming experience.
Returning to the present, Bai Qiu finished washing the peeled potatoes, put them in a bowl, and turned around—
The other four were staring at her with fierce expressions.
The moment she turned around, they all put away their gazes, which had looked like hungry wolves staring at a lamb.
‘…What happened?’ Bai Qiu tilted her head in confusion.
All she’d seen was the four of them simultaneously looking away.
“Thanks, Senior.”
Zhen Hong came over to Bai Qiu, took one of her hands, and gently stroked her silver-white hair with the other.
“Good job, good job.”
Bai Qiu blushed.
She wouldn’t have reacted like this normally, but just thinking about being filmed made her face turn red.
‘Cut this part, cut this part.’
Even if Zhen Hong’s fans were among the most well-behaved Magical Girl fans, they still had to cut this part.
She wanted to keep this kind of treat all to herself.
Zhen Hong’s fans would let her off, but her own fans wouldn’t.
“I’ll take it from here. Senior, go rest over there.”
Zhen Hong gave Bai Qiu’s cheek one last gentle stroke.
Bai Qiu covered her warm cheeks and stepped aside.
Her work was done for now.
The next time they’d need her was when it was time to taste the food.
She was moving behind the scenes for the time being.
Zhen Hong had finished chopping the vegetables while Bai Qiu peeled the potatoes.
The others had said they’d help, but they seemed to be doing nothing but watching.
Standing on a little stool, Zhen Hong held the beef tenderloin steady with her left hand and a knife in her right.
She divided the large piece of meat into even portions, then sliced across the grain with a flat cut.
Her hand was steady, and every slice of beef came out evenly thick.
Next, she cut the chicken breast.
She first sliced the whole breast in half, then cut it into strips, and finally diced it quickly.
This was the first time Bai Qiu had watched Zhen Hong chop vegetables.
She was only thirteen, yet her knife skills were this good, and she was a great cook, too.
Even if she didn’t become a Magical Girl, she could make a fine career as a chef.
To someone like Bai Qiu, who knew nothing about cooking, Zhen Hong’s knife work was nothing short of a miracle.
Zhen Hong didn’t explain the steps as she cooked, since they planned to add narration later.
After about an hour, a whole table of dishes had been brought out.
Bai Qiu moved the cameras and lights into the dining room.
If the table were a little longer, they could have done a full cosplay of The Last Supper.
“It’s so good, meow~ I want to eat Zhen Hong’s cooking for the rest of my life, meow~”
“Mm… As expected of Zhen Hong. It’s delicious.”
“I have to admit, Zhen Hong’s a really good cook.”
“I hate to admit it, but none of us can beat you at cooking.”
After tasting the food, everyone shared their opinions.
As expected, the praise was unanimous.
To keep things fair, Bai Qiu also brought in Bai Qiumu to taste the food.
She’d appear in the finished video with her face blurred.
After tasting it, Bai Qiumu gave this review:
“Mm, it’s better than mine. The Kung Pao chicken has a strong sweet-and-sour flavor with a little heat. The cream of mushroom soup is good, too. It’s smooth, and the mushroom pieces add a nice texture. I can’t find anything wrong with the cumin potatoes or mapo tofu. If I had to nitpick, it’s a shame there’s no ground meat in the mapo tofu. The blanched broccoli helps cut through the richness. I like this spicy boiled beef. It’s numbing and spicy.”
For once, Bai Qiumu had a meal at the table with everyone else.
After seeing Bai Qiumu off, Bai Qiu used the excuse of calling her brother to return to her room and transform back.
Then Bai Qiuchen came downstairs and finished his portion.
After the delicious dinner, it was time for the long editing session.
‘What was I thinking back then? Why did I have to do it myself instead of using the Association’s editor?’
Bai Qiuchen dredged through his memories and actually managed to fish out that long-buried one.
It seemed he’d constantly nitpicked everything, never satisfied with this or that, and mocked the editors for working too slowly.
He’d driven away several editors assigned to him.
When the Chairperson called him in for a talk, he’d said, “It’s not like it’s complicated. Can’t I edit it better myself?”
‘So it was because of my own skillful work again. In that case, no problem.’
He grabbed a few cans of coffee from the drink cabinet, returned to his room, and prepared to fight the editing software to the bitter end.
At 3:00 AM, he’d edited until he couldn’t go on, and even coffee wasn’t helping anymore.
His back hurt from sitting, his eyes were painfully tired, and his heartbeat felt loud enough to burst his eardrums.
Normally, he could livestream for hours without a problem, but the moment he had to work, all sorts of issues cropped up.
‘My constitution really isn’t suited for work.’
He still had about half the footage left.
He hadn’t expected there to be so much to edit.
Given how much he liked slacking off, he’d thought he’d manage a fifth or maybe a quarter at most.
This time, he’d written the script faster than usual, too.
He’d finished the whole thing in one go.
Just as Bai Qiuchen was about to sleep and resume his battle with the editing software after waking up, an email arrived on his computer.
“……Why do they always pick times like this? Don’t they ever sleep?” He opened the email.
[Hello, Teacher Bai. I’m Weixili Fulangxis Bulawaciji, the leader of the group Ever Light, which includes Dongyue and Yang Deng.]
[I’ve already heard the reason from my girls. To be honest, this really is a problem.]
[I’m willing to respect the opinions of the girls in my group. I’m just not sure what you think, and I’ve heard that Dongyue hasn’t gotten along very well with the girls in your group. Would you be open to picking a time for a small get-together, bringing people from both sides so they can meet and talk things over?]
[Of course, you can choose the time, and I’ll find a place.]
[Please reply if you see this.]
[I’m very sorry if I’ve disturbed you.]
“That’s some businesslike wording.”
‘Why does that name sound familiar?’
Bai Qiuchen decided to leave the email for now and figure out what to do after he woke up.