Rebirth of the Cannon Fodder in the Entertainment Circle-Chapter 16 - The First Reversal
Chapter 16: Chapter 16: The First Reversal
Chapter 16 -16: The First Reversal
Tong Jia helplessly said, “I can only eat, but I can help wash the vegetables or something.”
The other gentlemen also shook their heads one after the other, “Me too.”
Xiangxiang raised her hand and said, “I can make some simple home-cooked dishes.”
She hadn’t transferred here yet, and was just a lesser-known actress; she didn’t earn much and had big expenses, so she had to cook for herself. Unexpectedly, that skill came in handy now.
Su Qinglan didn’t expect to have to cook; she had been the type who’d “never touched spring water” since she was young.
So she too, helplessly said, “I can’t cook either, I’ll help with picking and washing vegetables.”
In the end, only Luo Ning hadn’t spoken up, so everyone turned to look at her.
Ji Xinghang knew her cooking was particularly delicious, and selfishly hoped she’d only cook for him. But it had been so long since he had tasted her cooking, and suddenly he really wanted to eat it.
Since he hoped she wouldn’t cook for everyone but also hoped she would, he felt a bit conflicted and complicated.
Luo Ning smiled and said, “I can cook.”
“That’s great, then Teacher Luo and Teacher Bao will cook, and the rest of us will help.”
Wei Yao was the eldest, so it was natural for him to take charge, and no one else objected, “Okay!”
Everyone went into the kitchen together, only to discover that it was an old-fashioned clay stove for cooking, completely lacking any electrical appliances.
To boil rice and stir-fry, they had to make a fire, without a rice cooker they’d have to cook with a pot, and for stir-frying, they had a large, deep cast iron wok; everyone was stupefied.
Xiangxiang, seeing all this, was speechless. She had hoped to perform in front of the camera, Lu Xun, and Ji Xinghang.
But how was she supposed to cook rice? She had never cooked with a pot before, and with such a huge iron wok and burning wood, it was not easy to control the heat.
She quickly thought it over and asked Luo Ning with a smile, “Teacher Luo, how do you think we should divide the cooking tasks?”
She had heard from Yan Qiuping before that Luo Ning often cooked for Ji Xinghang, which proved her cooking couldn’t be too bad, but she didn’t believe this woman could cook with these tools.
She took the initiative to ask Luo Ning, seemingly out of respect, but actually, she was throwing the challenge to her.
If the food didn’t turn out well in the end, it would be Luo Ning who got blamed by the netizens.
Luo Ning saw right through her little trick, curling her lips and saying, “I’m fine with anything, you pick first, and I’ll take care of the rest.”
She had previously been transported to ancient times and the worlds of the fifties and sixties, so of course, she knew how to use such kitchenware.
Xiangxiang’s smile froze for a moment; she wanted to belittle Luo Ning, leaving everything else to her, making it sound so confident, she wondered how Luo Ning would manage to step down later.
Since that was the case, she wouldn’t be polite.
She looked at the ingredients in the kitchen, “I see there’s enough here to make about seven dishes; how about you cook the rice and make three dishes, and I’ll do four dishes.”
It looked fair, but if you didn’t control the water and heat well when boiling rice in a pot, it was sure to burn.
Luo Ning nodded indifferently, “That’s fine.”
Seeing the two had divided their tasks, Wei Yao smiled and said, “Then we’ll trouble you two to cook. Teacher Su will help pick the vegetables, and we gentlemen will go chop wood and light the fire.”
Once everyone had their tasks, they all got to work, whether it was Lu Xun the film emperor, or Ji Xinghang the top influencer, no one objected.
The live comments started coming in fast.
[Xiangxiang really is a little angel, hard-working and willing, I’m sure the dishes she makes will be delicious.]
[I really want to ask, Luo Huaping really knows how to cook?]
[One look at Luo Huaping and it’s clear she isn’t someone who does housework, especially cooking with such primitive methods. If she burns the rice later, no one will have anything to eat.]
[I’m not a hater, but I can’t help saying, I’ve cooked this kind of rice before in my rural hometown, if you don’t control the water and heat well, the food really will burn and be inedible. I don’t know if Luo Ning is just showing off.]
[I’m very skeptical that the food she makes will be edible, now I can’t help but feel sorry for the other guests.]
[If she volunteers without knowing how, then she’s really just showing off.]
[Xiangxiang said she’s going to stir-fry, surely what she cooks will be delicious, if Ningbao cooks, it’ll burn, don’t be too funny, you hypocrites.]
“Right, how would you know my Ningbao can’t cook if you’ve never seen her do it?”
“Ning Fans, just keep defending her here. I don’t believe a vase like her can be good at cooking, especially using such primitive kitchen tools.”
In fact, it wasn’t just the Star Fans and Black who were disputing Luo Ning’s cooking; bystanders and other fans also didn’t think she looked like someone who could cook.
Soon, everyone’s attention shifted to Lu Xun and Ji Xinghang, who were busy working.
Lu Xun, looking every bit the graceful gentleman, was surprisingly adept at chopping firewood.
Even the rebellious Ji Xinghang seemed to chop quite proficiently.
Their fans were all cheering wildly.
Tong Jia appeared more clumsy and awkward, much to the amusement of his fans watching below.
After they had chopped some firewood, Wei Yao and Chai Jing went ahead to start the fire in the kitchen.
But try as he might, Chai Jing couldn’t get the fire started, and it wasn’t until Wei Yao brought some dry straw that they managed to light it.
However, neither of them knew how to manage the traditional stove, so it quickly went out again, filling the kitchen with smoke and leaving both of them looking somewhat dejected.
“Haha, Teacher Wei looks so disheartened; it’s hilarious.”
“Mr. Chai’s face has gone black.”
“With how things are going, I doubt they’ll even get lunch; the production team is so mean.”
Bo Xiangxiang couldn’t stand the smoke and ran out holding her nose. Luo Ning, on the other hand, squatted down and said, “Let me try.”
The two men, also struggling with the smoke, gave up their spot to her.
Then, they watched as Luo Ning easily lit the fire, continually adding more wood, until it was burning normally, and the smoke in the kitchen slowly dissipated.
“Teacher Luo is amazing!” Chai Jing and the other man, having experienced failure firsthand, truly meant it when they said it.
Luo Ning stood up and smiled, “Thank you both for the compliment.”
Then she began to wash the rice for cooking, her movements skillful and graceful, a real pleasure to watch.
“I’m sold on Luo Ning’s beauty, even cooking rice looks so beautiful.”
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“Ningbao is so great, she even knows how to do this kind of thing.”
“Did Luo Ning do that on purpose? She clearly knew how to start a fire, so why let Teacher Wei and the others embarrass themselves?”
Then many people began to post similar comments to lead the discussion, implying that Luo Ning had intentionally let the others embarrass themselves in order to show off and hog the camera.
“Are you sick upstairs? Luo Bao didn’t know at the start that they couldn’t start a fire. And if she had volunteered to do the fire from the beginning, she would’ve not only taken away the two teachers’ camera time but also come off as very impolite, okay?”
“Right, where would have been the fun in that? The teachers’ attempts to start the fire were hilarious, we enjoyed watching them, and it didn’t look like they were embarrassed at all!”
“As a bystander, I support Luo Ning this time. I think she’s been very polite from the beginning.”
“Just now, both teachers filled the kitchen with smoke, and Bo Xiang ran out covering her nose, but Luo Ning, undisturbed, volunteered to help the teachers with the fire. I think Luo Ning’s performance was quite good too.”
“Thank you, Luo Ning, for helping our Teacher Wei with the fire.”
“Thank you, Luo Ning, for helping our Chai Chai with the fire.”
The fans of Wei Yao and Chai Jing didn’t think Luo Ning had done anything wrong before, they could see she was just kindly helping out.
If the two teachers hadn’t even started the fire and Luo Ning had jumped in right away, that would have been true camera-hogging and very unlikable.
“I’ve changed my view on Luo Ning, suddenly looking forward to her cooking.”
As this was a live broadcast, all the fans and onlookers had their own perceptions. Initially, they might have been influenced by paid trolls and Black, but seeing is believing, and they make judgments based on what they witness.
And with the Star Fans and Black furiously attacking in the comments, the more they saw, the more their attention unconsciously increased towards Luo Ning. Bystanders, after reading too much of the hate, would also develop a sense of indignation at the excessive criticism.
Therefore, seeing Luo Ning’s polite demeanor, the audience came to realize she wasn’t as bad as described in the comments, and they began to change their opinions, watching her with increased curiosity.
This was why Luo Ning didn’t bother dealing with those trolls and Blacks; controversy brought more attention, which then could be leveraged for a better turnaround.
