Amateur talent show? Top mentors are my students.

Cooking lunch together was the first task assigned to the six participants by the production team, and it is also one of the most classic activities in dating variety shows.

He Xu leaned back on the sofa, put his water glass on the coffee table, and watched as Wu Jiayuan stood up, clapped her hands, and looked around the living room like a team leader.

"Let's divide the work," Wu Jiayuan said decisively. "Who can cook?"

Jiang Yining raised her hand: "I can cook a little bit, I can make home-style dishes."

"I can make a cold dish," Lin Zhen said, adjusting his glasses.

"So it's just the two of us as head chefs?" Wu Jiayuan asked Jiang Yining.

"Okay." Jiang Yining stood up from the sofa and adjusted her skirt. "But I cook slowly, so please don't mind my dawdling."

"Slow and steady wins the race, no rush." ​​Wu Jiayuan turned to Zhuang Wenmin, "Teacher Zhuang, what about you? Can you cook?"

Zhuang Wenmin leaned back on the sofa armrest, her tone indifferent: "I wouldn't say I'm good at it, but I can prepare ingredients without any problem. My knife skills are alright."

"Then it's settled." Wu Jiayuan clapped her hands. "Teacher Jiang and I will be the head chefs, Teacher Zhuang will prepare the ingredients, and Lawyer Lin—you just said you can make cold dishes?"

"Um."

"Then you'll be in charge of the cold dishes. Sun Zhuohang and He Xu—"

She turned her head to look at Sun Zhuohang sitting at the dining table and He Xu leaning against the sofa: "Can you two take care of washing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen?"

"Okay," He Xu said.

"Okay." Sun Zhuohang nodded in agreement, his voice not loud, but very decisive.

"Wait a minute." Lin Zhen raised his hand as he stood up. "Before we begin, I need to confirm one thing—that all the seasonings in the kitchen are ready. Last time I cooked at my friend's house, we were halfway through when we realized we were out of salt, and that meal tasted like cardboard."

Wu Jiayuan chuckled at his serious expression, turned and went into the kitchen, opened the cupboard and rummaged through it, then poked her head out: "Salt, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, cooking wine, oyster sauce, and sesame oil are all here. There are also Sichuan peppercorns and dried chilies."

"No problem." Lin Zhen nodded, picked up his coat from the sofa and draped it over his arm. "I'll go in and make cucumber salad first."

Jiang Yining followed Wu Jiayuan into the kitchen. After putting on an apron, she turned around and glanced at He Xu and Sun Zhuohang, who were still sitting on the sofa: "You two come back later. There's no room for so many people in the kitchen right now."

He Xu waved his hand at her, indicating that he was not in a hurry.

Sun Zhuohang stood up, walked to the kitchen door, peeked inside, and observed the interior intently.

"What are you looking at?" He Xu asked, leaning back on the sofa.

"...I'm learning, just in case I don't want to just cook instant noodles anymore in the future."

In the kitchen, Wu Jiayuan stood in front of the stove cracking eggs, her chopsticks moving rapidly in the bowl, the egg mixture swirling in a vortex.

She has a habit when cracking eggs: she rotates her wrist very wide, making circles with the chopsticks in the bowl.

Jiang Yining was cutting tomatoes on the side, her knife moving swiftly and precisely, each piece being roughly the same size.

But after she finished cutting, she put the knife on the cutting board, glanced at the pile of tomatoes she had cut, and her expression suddenly became serious.

"What's wrong?" Wu Jiayuan glanced at her.

"I don't think I cut it very evenly," Jiang Yining said.

"Didn't you just say you cut it pretty well?"

"That was just now, and now is now. I'm a very fickle person."

"Do you want me to cut it again now?"

"...Never mind, they'll all look the same after cooking."

"You're so fickle!"

Wu Jiayuan chuckled, poured the egg mixture into the hot oil, and stirred it quickly with chopsticks. The egg flowers rose up fluffily, and she set them aside.

Zhuang Wenmin stood in front of the sink washing cucumbers. The water was turned on very slowly as she rubbed the thorns off the cucumber skin with her fingers.

Lin Zhen walked over, stood next to her, picked up another cucumber, and smashed it with a kitchen knife.

"How much vinegar should I pour?" Zhuang Wenmin tilted her head and glanced at him.

"Two spoonfuls," Lin Zhen said. "If you find it too sour, you can reduce it by half a spoonful."

"No need, just leave it as is."

Lin Zhen nodded and handed over the vinegar bottle.

Zhuang Wenmin took the vinegar bottle, flipped her wrist, and poured two spoonfuls into the bowl cleanly and efficiently, without spilling a single drop.

"You just said you can't cook," Lin Zhen said.

"You don't need to learn how to pour vinegar."

Lin Zhen adjusted his glasses, nodded, and didn't ask any further questions.

But a very slight smile curved the corners of his mouth, as if he was amused by the answer.

Jiang Yining's side has already opened fire.

The oil is hot, the tomatoes are poured into the pan, and with a sizzle, the red juice begins to seep out.

She turned the heat down a bit, stirred the eggs a couple of times with a spatula, then turned her head and called out, "Jiayuan, are the eggs ready?"

"Okay." Wu Jiayuan handed over the bowl of egg drop soup, which Jiang Yining took and poured into the pan, quickly stir-frying it.

"Where's the salt?" Jiang Yining asked.

"The second cabinet on your right, the white jar." Wu Jiayuan didn't even turn her head, she was processing shrimp on another stove.

Jiang Yining opened the cabinet, reached for the salt shaker, pinched off a small amount and sprinkled it into the pot, then turned off the heat and took it out on a plate.

As she plated her dish, she glanced down at her creation, a slight smile playing on her lips, before carrying the plate out of the kitchen.

"The first dish is scrambled eggs with tomatoes." She announced it in a tone as if she were announcing exam answers in class.

"It smells so good!" Wu Jiayuan peeked out from the kitchen. "It would be even better if the tomatoes looked a little nicer."

Jiang Yining patted her on the shoulder in a pretentious manner.

Wu Jiayuan laughed and dodged to the side, almost causing the shrimp in the pot to spill out.

When Lin Zhen brought the cucumber salad to the table, he casually took six pairs of chopsticks from the sterilizer and arranged them around the edge of the table.

Jiang Yining counted them, then turned to look at him: "Lin Lu, you set out the chopsticks so neatly? Are you like this at home too?"

"Not really, but my mom says I've had OCD since I was little."

"Do you also organize your clothes in your closet by color?"

"...It's divided by season and occasion." Lin Zhen's tone remained calm, but the movement of pushing up his glasses was a beat faster than before.

Jiang Yining chuckled and didn't press the matter further, but she exchanged a glance with Wu Jiayuan as she turned around.

The last dish in the kitchen was Wu Jiayuan's garlic-flavored greens.

When the food was done cooking, she called out, "He Xu, Zhuo Hang, get the bowls ready," and then carried the plates out and placed them on the table.

He Xu stood up from the sofa, walked to the dining table, and glanced at the tabletop: "Where are the bowls?"

"It's in the sterilizer." Wu Jiayuan was already sitting down at the table. "Go get it, Zhuo Hang will come with you."

He Xu went into the kitchen, opened the sterilizer, and took out six bowls. Sun Zhuohang followed behind and took out six bone plates.

When the two of them walked out of the kitchen, He Xu walked in front, carrying the stacked bowls in one hand and supporting them with the other.

Sun Zhuohang followed beside him, holding a plate in both hands. He walked a little too fast and almost stepped on He Xu's heel.

"Don't step on my shoes." He Xu said without turning his head.

"I'm sorry." Sun Zhuohang took a half step back. The stack of plates in his hand didn't tilt, but he almost tripped over the kitchen threshold.

He Xu glanced at him, sighed, and reached out his free hand to support his elbow.

Sun Zhuohang's ears turned red: "...Thank you, Brother He Xu."

He Xu didn't reply, and let go of her hand as he continued walking towards the dining table.