I'm in Wuha, and the whole internet is shipping me and Song Yuqi as a couple.

The moment the stinky tofu hits the pot, the red oil boils and the strong fermented aroma rises to the top.

Chen He was the first to run.

Without even saying a word, he sprang up from the stool, covered his mouth and nose, and retreated towards the door at three times the speed he used when playing games.

Wang Mian followed closely behind, looking back as he ran: "This isn't a hot pot, it's clearly a biological weapon."

Deng Chao didn't run away, but his whole face was scrunched up.

"Wu Zheng! Does your production team have a grudge against me?!" he yelled into the walkie-talkie. "You might as well just use poison for the houttuynia cordata, pig brains, and stinky tofu!"

Wu Zheng's laughter came from the other end of the walkie-talkie, but he didn't reply.

Lu Han stood at the door, caught in a dilemma. She peeked at the pot, then withdrew.

"I think this distance is just right for me."

The stinky tofu in the pot turned over in the red oil, its golden-brown fried skin turning dark red from the broth, and bubbles rose up from the bottom.

Song Yuqi picked up a strainer and scooped out a piece.

I put it in a bowl and blew on it.

took a bite.

"Actually, it smells quite good."

Deng Chao's eyes widened: "What did you say?"

"Fried stinky tofu is cooked in a spicy hot pot broth. The outer skin soaks up all the broth, while the inside is tender."

She took another bite. "It tastes better than the dried one."

Jiang Che stood next to her, looking down at the half-eaten stinky tofu in her bowl, and his lips twitched.

The live stream chat has split into two camps.

【Qiqi really eats everything!】

[People from Chongqing were blown away by this!]

[I can't even stand the smell, and she actually says it smells good??]

[She eats houttuynia cordata, pig brains, and stinky tofu; her stomach must be made of iron!]

Lu Han peeked halfway in from the doorway: "Jiang Che, you should try some too."

"I won't eat it."

"You said you wouldn't eat the houttuynia cordata, but you ended up eating it anyway, didn't you?"

"That's different."

"How is it different?" Lu Han grinned mischievously. "She fed you the houttuynia cordata, and you ate it. What if she fed you stinky tofu too?"

"Lu Han!" Jiang Che interrupted him.

"Um?"

"Shut up."

Song Yuqi ignored their conversation and continued eating with her head down.

Her hair was loose today, and it kept falling forward while she was chopping vegetables.

I'm eating hotpot while simultaneously using my left hand to tuck my hair behind my ear; I'm finding it a bit overwhelming.

A strand of hair slipped down and brushed against the rim of the bowl.

She raised her hand to try and lift it, but failed.

The tips of her hair were smeared with a little red oil.

Jiang Che saw it.

He turned and glanced at the staff member by the control panel. "Do you have any rubber bands?"

The staff member took a small black rubber band out of his pocket and was about to hand it over.

Wu Zheng's voice came through the walkie-talkie: "Don't give it to them."

The staff member's hand froze in mid-air.

Jiang Che looked at the walkie-talkie and rolled his eyes.

He didn't say anything more, turned around and picked up a clean, long bamboo chopstick from the worktable.

He walked back behind Song Yuqi.

Song Yuqi was looking down and biting into stinky tofu, unaware of his actions.

Jiang Che used his left hand to gather her hair, which was scattered on both sides of her shoulders, behind her head, and used his right hand to wrap bamboo chopsticks around the ends of her hair twice.

One twist, one separation.

Bun hairstyle.

Completed in three seconds.

The technique was too smooth.

No one would believe it was his first time doing this.

Song Yuqi, with half a piece of stinky tofu still in her mouth, stopped completely.

The chopsticks hovered above the bowl, not falling down.

The entire room fell silent.

Deng Chao chewed on his chopsticks, his eyes moving from Jiang Che to Song Yuqi's face, then back again.

Chen He had slipped back through the door at some point and was standing in the corner, holding a cup in one hand and touching his chin with the other, a smile playing on his lips.

Lu Han's mouth was open, and she forgot to bite the sausage in her hand.

Wang Mian lowered his head and chuckled softly.

The live stream chat was silent for a full two seconds.

The live chat exploded with comments.

【Aa ...

He used chopsticks to tie her hair!! With chopsticks!!!

[That move was so practiced! He's definitely a scumbag!]

[Oh no, oh no, oh no, I'm doomed!]

[Song Yuqi's ears! Look at her ears! They're bright red!!]

I'm going to record this and study it frame by frame!

Song Yuqi's ears did indeed turn red.

The red color spread from the earlobe all the way to the ear tip, and even the side of the neck was dyed.

It took her three seconds to swallow the stinky tofu in her mouth.

"……you."

"What's wrong?"

When did you learn to tie your hair?

Jiang Che had already returned to his seat, picked up his chopsticks again, and dipped a slice of lotus root into the clear broth.

"I used to braid my sister's hair when she was little."

Song Yuqi raised her hand and touched the bamboo chopstick bun on the back of her head; it was still quite secure.

"Your sister?"

"cousin."

"oh."

She lowered her hand, looked down, and continued eating her hot pot, reaching for potato slices in the pot.

But Jiang Che noticed out of the corner of his eye that her fingers holding the chopsticks trembled slightly.

Deng Chao and Chen He moved almost simultaneously.

Deng Chao turned to pour water, while Chen He reached out and turned off the microphone on his collar.

The two faced each other. Deng Chao's lips moved, but he didn't make a sound. However, his lip movements were very clear.

"It's safe."

Chen He picked up his cup, took a sip of water, and remained silent, only nodding to Deng Chao.

This set of moves is very familiar; only an old partner could react like this.

Lu Han wasn't so subtle.

He moved right up to Jiang Che, his voice low enough for everyone to hear: "Dude, you're this gentle even when you're styling your cousin's hair?"

"roll."

"You're blushing, do you know that?"

"It's hot."

"Oh~"

Jiang Che stopped talking and buried his head in rinsing the lotus root slices.

Song Yuqi didn't say anything more.

The two people sat across a hot pot with two separate compartments, one dipping lotus root slices in the broth and the other picking up potatoes, neither looking at the other.

But the atmosphere had changed.

Everyone present felt it.

The number of viewers in the live stream increased by another 800,000 within those 30 seconds.

The barrage of comments was so fast that the individual messages were completely obscured; the screen was filled with densely packed, colorful text.

[The official channels are forcing me to ship this couple, so I guess I'll just go along with it.]

This man says he has no feelings for anyone, but his actions speak louder than words.

[I have a question: Is the cousin real, or did he make her up on the spot?]

Even if it's true, is styling your cousin's hair the same as styling the hair of a girl who has a crush on you?!

Jiang Che's lotus root slices have been in the broth for almost a minute.

He stared at the lotus root in the pot, his mind racing.

That movement was so natural.

So naturally that he didn't even realize it himself.

When he stood behind her, his hands moved faster than his brain.

Gather your hair up, wrap chopsticks around it twice, and secure it.

The entire process was completely unthinking.

"It was just... something I did on the spur of the moment."

Jiang Che himself didn't even know who he was talking to.

No one asked; everyone was secretly watching the two of them while eating.

Everyone except Jiang Che was chatting and occasionally responding to the trending comments and bullet screen messages.

Near the end.

Just when everyone thought the show was over, Wu Zheng's cheeky voice came through the walkie-talkie.

"Let's add a short activity after dinner."

Backstage, Wu Zheng looked at the data that was increasing instead of decreasing, as well as the constant stream of messages from GG merchants, and a maternal smile appeared on his face.