Chapter 499: Chapter 518: Are you learning to cook for me? That... that’s not quite right, is it? (It’s wonderful!)

[That’s a good question! I was wondering the same thing!]

[That’s not even as big as my fist! It should be called a baby-fist meatball, sob sob sob!]

Everyone was complaining that the meatballs were too small.

Jiang Qiuqiu glanced at the stream comments and didn’t argue. "You’re all right," she said. "These meatballs are a bit on the small side. I should make them bigger."

She sighed. "But if I make them bigger, there won’t be enough filling, so I’d have to make fewer of them. What do you all prefer? Should I make them small so most people can have one, or make fewer but bigger meatballs?"

"I’m fine with either, really."

As she spoke, she casually rolled a meatball the size of a bowl and set it on the plate.

The amount of meat filling in the bowl visibly shrank. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

The resident math whiz in the chat immediately made their debut: [Okay, so if one large meatball uses that much filling, the rest can only make about 15 small ones. Right now, Juju’s stream has 9.1 billion viewers. We know each portion of meatballs gives 100 million tasting slots. With only 15 portions available... that means around 6 billion of us will be out of luck—]

[No way! We can’t have that!]

[You know, on second thought, that small meatball was actually really cute. It kinda looked like a little lion, so calling it a Lion’s Head doesn’t seem so wrong after all, right?]

[You can get a whole two bites out of it! And even if you don’t get one, just drinking the soup would be great too!]

Meanwhile, Changbei and Qiudao, who had just returned from the Pole, were all for it.

[That’s the way! Big meatballs!]

[Make them even bigger, streamer!]

[Make them even bigger, streamer!]

In the past, Mo Si rarely took breaks during his patrols. Even when his presence wasn’t required, he always preferred to handle things personally.

This year, however, he insisted on resting or meditating to cultivate his spiritual power every evening. This left the night shift to his adjutant, Qiudao. As a result, Qiudao almost always missed Jiang Jiujiu’s livestreams. It was always Changbei back at the base who would scramble to get the food first. Then, when Qiudao returned, Changbei would hand over his terminal and share half of the food with him.

The two big men were both huge eaters, but they could only get a half-portion each time—and the portions weren’t even that big to begin with. Changbei had had enough of this stingy, scraping-by lifestyle.

So, the moment he saw Jiang Qiuqiu making large meatballs, he was all for it, body and soul.

After all—

He and Qiudao had quick reflexes. They’d be able to snag one.

[Big meatballs! Big meatballs! Big meatballs! A real lion’s head is much bigger!]

He spammed the chat excitedly, but alas, the unlucky masses were the majority. His comments were quickly drowned out without making a splash.

Onscreen, Jiang Qiuqiu smiled, broke apart the large meatball, and divided it back into smaller ones.

At this size, pretty much everyone would be able to get one.

But Changbei was deflated. "You promised you’d make big meatballs."

"Forget it." Qiudao patted him on the back. "Even if she made them big, they wouldn’t be as good. The smaller ones absorb more flavor."

"You’ve been working hard lately. That’s probably why you’re so ravenous."

"It was nothing," Changbei said dismissively. "It’s just a matter of clicking fast, that’s all. And I’m not ravenous!"

"I just need to replenish my energy!"

Who wouldn’t want a bite of something hot in the dead of winter?

"You need to replenish your energy, huh..." Qiudao watched the livestream, thinking for a moment. Then he looked up at Changbei. "I’m thinking of learning how to cook. What do you think?"

!

"N-no way." ’Are you going to learn to cook just for me?’ Changbei licked his lips. "That... that would be too much trouble for you, wouldn’t it?"

...

"I’m learning for myself."

"That’s fine! It’s all the same! I’ll get to eat what you make anyway!"

He was so happy he was practically floating. Qiudao thought to himself, ’Alright, I’ll learn. If I study hard, I should be able to pick some of it up.’

When the two of them turned their gazes back to the screen, Jiang Qiuqiu had already started preparing the soup base for the crab roe meatballs.