Chapter 68: The Center of the Fish Pond (3)
Upon hearing “cooking” as a specialty, the contestants below the stage showed expressions of surprise and bewilderment. For a moment, they didn’t know how to react respectfully to this contestant.
Su Mingxiu, however, remained calm. Regardless of her performance in this initial evaluation, the first elimination wouldn’t happen until after the theme song learning phase. This meant—
She could at least receive three episodes’ worth of salary.
Having already secured 60,000 yuan in future earnings, she wasn’t worried at all, even when she saw a few people in traditional Chinese attire walking towards the stage, carrying instruments like the hulusi and the bamboo flute. As she glanced at them, Su Mingxiu vaguely felt like she knew how to play these instruments, but she simply walked past without a second glance.
Just before stepping onto the stage, a staff member handed her a sword. She took it, drew the blade, and, seeing that it wasn’t sharpened, frowned slightly, giving the staff member a questioning look.
The staff member chuckled nervously. “The director said that for the safety of the mentors, you can’t use a real sword.”
That’s ridiculous.
Su Mingxiu looked at him with an incredulous expression. “Have you ever seen a chef use a dull knife to cut vegetables?”
To cooperate with the show, the original owner had already compromised and agreed to replace her kitchen knife with a martial arts broadsword, which was later changed to a longsword for aesthetic purposes. Now, discovering that the sword wasn’t even sharpened, a mere prop, Su Mingxiu was completely baffled.
After a moment of thought, she asked: “Have you ever seen a sushi chef accidentally swing their knife and hit a customer while cutting sushi?”
The staff member couldn’t answer.
Perhaps afraid of delaying the show and affecting the schedule, another staff member quickly brought her a new sword. But Su Mingxiu still didn’t rush onto the stage.
Instead, she meticulously wiped the sword with alcohol, tissues, and wet wipes before reluctantly walking to the front.
Yuchi Xiao’s finger ring, holding the microphone, sparkled along with his black diamond earrings. He was the first to ask Su Mingxiu: “Why are you here?”
Su Mingxiu didn’t hesitate to throw the casting director under the bus. “Because I wanted to find a job that could pay my mortgage, and the director suggested I try this. I’ll do my best to meet your standards.”
The four mentors below the stage had different expressions. They noticed that the staff had brought a few fruit baskets and vegetable baskets to the back of the stage. Although they looked presentable, in the context of a talent show, it felt out of place.
As the mentors were speechless, Yuchi Xiao continued: “Then show us your talent.”
[Is she really going to cook on the spot? Is Produce 101 planning to make us watch both a talent show and a cooking competition with just one stream’s bandwidth?]
[Whether she’s a culinary god is still uncertain, lol, she’s even using a sword, who cooks with that?]
[This young lady has such a beautiful face, as long as she’s not tone-deaf, just sing a song, how can the mentors score her cooking? Sigh!]
Some viewers in the live stream chat even started criticizing the directors for their nonsense, questioning if Produce 101 was trying to become a hodgepodge of different shows.
But no one responded—
The backdrop on the stage slowly unfolded, accompanied by a soft dripping sound.
“Drip.”
Everything before their eyes blurred.
It was the light reflecting off the sword, flashing into their eyes. No one knew how Su Mingxiu was wielding the sword, or how she knew the number and frequency of the spotlights above her.
In an instant, countless dazzling, colorful shards of light rushed towards them, not only the contestants below the stage but also the viewers watching the live stream.
Even in TV dramas, they had never seen such sharp sword light, as if it would pierce through the screen and stab their throats in the next second.
The sword dance was dazzling and mesmerizing, making it impossible to see her movements or footwork clearly. But when the staff members controlled the camera to zoom in, they could see her cold, sharp gaze under the white light, even the tear mole at the corner of her eye seemed to carry a hint of killing intent.
Bamboo leaves fell in the background, a random animated image chosen by the director and the program staff.
But amidst this sharp sword dance, those falling bamboo leaves were pierced, scattered, and shredded by her sword light—
Not only were the mentors stunned by her sword dance, but even the live stream chat was silent.
Then, it was filled with question marks.
—
[Is this even allowed??]
Su Mingxiu’s sword dance was so captivating that it seemed to stop time. When she finally sheathed her sword, no one reacted, including the bamboo leaves still falling in the background.
No.
It wasn’t bamboo leaves.
One of the mentors sniffed the air and said softly: “I seem to smell… oranges.”
Then, they finally saw what was falling from the sky. It was thinly sliced orange peels and white pith. Su Mingxiu sheathed her sword with one hand, then revealed her other hand from behind her back. In her palm was a clean porcelain plate with shredded red cabbage, lettuce, and oranges. She placed the sword in a nearby basket and, seemingly out of nowhere, took out a small bottle and sprinkled a fine, milky white substance over the plate, like salad dressing.
The new viewers in the live stream chat were still confused, their screens filled with question marks.
Su Mingxiu, seemingly unaware of the shock she had caused, placed the plate of homemade fruit and vegetable salad on the table in front of the mentors. “That sword dance was a gift for you all—and this salad as well. The dressing is homemade, and the calories of the entire dish have been calculated. You can enjoy it without worry. I’ve already disinfected the utensils.”
Yuchi Xiao stared at the salad in front of him.
For the first time, he felt like his agent had booked him for the wrong job.
The dance mentor stared at her for a long time, a confused expression on his face. He, who had been silent since the beginning, finally spoke: “Have you practiced martial arts?”
There had been contestants in previous girl groups who had practiced martial arts since childhood. These people were often flexible and had a high aptitude for dance. If that was the case, Su Mingxiu still had a chance.
“No,” she shook her head after thinking for a moment.
The live stream chat had already exploded.
[I thought she was in the wrong show, but she’s even more dedicated than the contestants on MasterChef, incorporating her passion even into her dance, but then again… holy shit, even acrobats and martial artists combined couldn’t compare to that sword dance! I’m still breaking out in cold sweat! ]
[She’s so pure and unpretentious, I want to pick her… am I crazy? I feel like I’m joining a cult in this talent show.]
[For some reason, I feel like she would look even more stunning in a flowing, ancient Chinese robe. I suddenly feel the urge to create some fanworks.]
[Am I the only one who wants to try that salad? I’m so curious, Teacher Yu has already reached for it several times while PD Yuchi wasn’t looking!]
[A legitimate martial arts family here… My elders were passing by when I was watching this show for fun, and they said they’re already trying to find out which sect she’s from. That sword dance looked a lot like a lost body tempering technique from an ancient text…]
The discussion exploded.
The contestants below the stage were also stunned.
Only Annie, who had met Su Mingxiu before, leaned her head on Pao Tong’s shoulder. “She must have been serious when she said she would treat us to dinner. I feel like the chefs at those Michelin-starred restaurants I’ve been to can’t compare to her knife skills. Did you see? The orange peels were so thin I could barely see them. Her cooking must be amazing.”
Pao Tong smiled faintly. “She will be a formidable opponent.”
These words were indeed true.
Talent shows had been around for years, and there had been contestants who specialized in acrobatics and martial arts. Su Mingxiu had the looks to debut, and with such a surprising talent, let alone debuting in a group, it would be hard for any viewer who had seen this episode of Produce 101 to forget her.
Moreover…
Her sword dance was so stunning, how much pressure would this put on the other contestants who were about to showcase similar talents to impress the audience?
Su Mingxiu didn’t know how much shock her culinary-infused performance had caused. After the mentors finished their discussion, she returned to her seat with an F rating.
Because she couldn’t sing and only had that one sword dance, such a lopsided skillset deserved an F.
But usually, it was the audience who complained about contestants getting overly high ratings. Now, seeing her get an F, remembering her sword dance, and after watching a few performances by normal groups, some viewers actually started defending her.
The small, dragonfly-like camera flew towards her, the comments behind the lens filled with words of comfort.
[Don’t cry, Xiuxiu! Trust me, after you’re eliminated from this show, we’ll sign you up for a cooking competition, your knife skills are championship material! The first prize there is also 200,000 yuan!]
[Actually, a national martial arts competition would work too… The first prize there is 500,000 yuan.]
[Damn, this is the first time I’ve seen someone get an F in a talent show, and the comments section thinks she’s too good for this place… It’s weird, but I like it. I’m staying in this live stream.]
…
Su Mingxiu didn’t know that she already had hundreds of fans, and the number was still growing.
She was only thinking about her sword dance earlier, which seemed instinctive, like something ingrained in her body. But she couldn’t remember when she had learned it, so she asked the system: “What was my original identity?”
The system knew the origin of that sword dance.
It was a modified version of the Sword Sect’s introductory sword technique from the world where she had been the Jade Elder, Lingyu.
It didn’t know if it was a side effect of erasing too many of Su Mingxiu’s memories, or if Su Mingxiu’s soul, after completing missions in multiple worlds, had become stronger, making it easier for her to retain memories.
But it was obvious that if Su Mingxiu had her memories, she wouldn’t have chosen to use the Sword Sect’s sword technique.
So the system played dumb, pretending nothing had happened, and used its usual line, “You were an ordinary person in the cultivation world with a shattered soul,” then said that she was lucky to have encountered the Culinary God System. As long as she completed the missions, she could restore her soul and return to her original world.
[Oh, if it’s the Culinary God System, why not have me participate in a cooking competition?]
The system had a sudden inspiration. “My full name is the Culinary God Strategy System.”
Su Mingxiu: “…”
Even stranger.
A Culinary God System, finding an ordinary cultivator with a shattered soul, transmigrating her into a talent show to use cooking to simultaneously woo multiple people?
Was this some kind of skill stacking? Weren’t there too many elements involved?
While Su Mingxiu was focused on communicating with the system, Suhui, with an S-rank sticker on her waist, couldn’t help but glance towards her again.
Earlier, she had been too preoccupied with whether this person had seen her in her merfolk form to pay attention to their appearance. Apart from her own kind, she had rarely seen anyone so beautiful.
—Not only beautiful, but also powerful.
Thinking about the killing intent in that sword dance, Suhui wasn’t sure if she would be a match for this person outside of the sea.
She licked her lips slightly. The lotus earrings by her ears, hidden by her silver hair, transformed for a moment, like translucent fins, then quickly returned to their original shape.
Even her slightly visible canine teeth sharpened momentarily before disappearing behind her rosy lips and tongue.
Suhui tapped her chin with her pale fingertip, thinking thoughtfully:
Since they’re so strong, the eggs they produce must have excellent aptitude, right?
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