The Movie Queen’s Private Little Chef - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was April, and the roses on the low wall were lush and dense, blooming brilliantly with wild abandon.

Returning from a shopping trip, Yun Yun walked into the courtyard and stood before the misty, cloud-like pink flower wall, lingering for a long time. She squinted her eyes and leaned in close to a cluster of roses. Under the sunlight, her skin was so pale it appeared translucent.

Her nose twitched, greedily catching the flower scent molecules drifting in the air. Wisps of clear, sweet fragrance entered her nasal cavity, filling her senses. Only then did she begin to feel a little better.

To avoid encountering too many issues, she had given up on the crowded wet markets and only shopped at supermarkets now. Yet, she still frequently ran into “unexpected” people.

For instance, the thief the supermarket security guard had just caught. She had only spared him a single glance, and immediately, an indescribable stench surged into her mouth.

The checkout line had been long and slow. She immediately shifted her gaze to a cute little girl, and a heap of sickly sweet flavor appeared in her mouth, as if a cream cake that had been sitting out for days had been shoved in all at once. Mixed with that sewer-like stench from before, she nearly gagged.

After two consecutive errors in judgment, she could only close her eyes and breathe deeply, suppressing the discomfort wracking her body. After a while, someone behind her tapped her: “Miss, are you alright?”

Only then did she open her eyes and smile at the person behind her, relieved to find that this person smelled of fresh cucumber: “I’m fine.”

On the way home carrying her groceries, she focused her attention on shop signs and advertising banners, artificially filtering out passersby from her field of vision. Returning home, she had to rely on this wall of rose fragrance to thoroughly wash away the lingering tastes in her mouth.

Vision and taste were linked; this synesthesia was truly a troublesome thing.

Having had her fill of the floral scent, the taste in her mouth gradually faded. Yun Yun carried her things into the house. This was a second-hand apartment she had bought—two bedrooms and one living room. At the time, she had chosen it specifically for the large courtyard. The interior had been completely renovated in a minimalist, practical style, with great care put into the lighting, colors, and displays to facilitate her live streaming.

Upon entering, there was a living room; to the left was the bathroom, and to the right was a storage room. Additionally, there was one bedroom and one streaming room. The streaming room shared a massive floor-to-ceiling window with the living room. Outside, the lush roses bloomed passionately, perfect for the camera lens—they were her best supporting characters for these few days of streaming.

Her scheduled streaming time was approaching. Yun Yun stood before the bedroom mirror and drank a large glass of water. To match today’s theme, she wore a floral mini-skirt, tied her straight hair into a ponytail, and applied fresh, “naked” style makeup. Finally, she touched up her lips with a bit of watery, nude lip gloss, took a deep breath, and walked toward the streaming room.

The streaming room was a bright, spacious kitchen, fully equipped. On the black countertop sat various “aesthetic” seasoning bottles, Lock & Lock containers, and wide-mouthed jars. A variety of cookware hung on the side wall. Yun Yun connected her phone to the tripod-mounted camera, entered the streaming room, and began the broadcast.

Many people were already waiting in the room, chatting in the comments. Seeing the start, they began to spam excitedly:

“She’s here, she’s here!”

“Yun Yun, what are we making today?”

“Why did I click in again when I’m on a diet?”

“Save me! Yun Yun, I want ice cream, ice cream, ice cream!”

Seeing familiar IDs popping up, Yun Yun felt as if she were sitting in a room with old acquaintances. She smiled gently at the screen, nodded to everyone, and spoke softly: “Thank you all for coming to see me. I’ve been a bit busy the past few days so I didn’t stream. Sorry for the wait.”

Comments scrolled up rapidly. In a short time, the viewer count exceeded a thousand.

“Hmph, Little Yun Yun, at least you know! I won’t forgive you unless you give me a kiss!”

“What delicious food is my Yun making today?”

“Teacher Yun, I bought a lot of ribs and froze them. Teach me how to make them!”

Yun Yun used her real name in the streaming room. Everyone was too lazy to type it out and called her “Yun Yun,” while others called her “Teacher Yun.” Many of the viewers were girls, as were most of her followers on Weibo, so the comments she saw daily were very friendly.

Starting a stream, posting videos, and replying to comments were the most diverse forms of entertainment and social interaction in her homebody life. Yun Yun liked this lifestyle; she found it comfortable and relaxing. She was willing to show the greatest sincerity to the fans and viewers who supported her livelihood.

“Today we are making fondant cookies. These are very cute little snacks. If you give them as gifts, they preserve well. You can learn to make them—they’re a great tool for confessions of love.”

After smiling at the camera, she began to work. Before starting the stream, she had already placed a block of supermarket butter in a bowl to soften at room temperature. Now, she took out the powdered sugar and weighed it on the kitchen scale, talking as she worked: “The amount of sugar is the same as when we usually make cookies. It depends on the total volume you’re making, but the ratio to butter is about 1 to 1.5. I have 75g of butter, so now we weigh 50g of sugar…”

Her voice was clear and bright, ringing out alone in the quiet room, accompanied only by the sounds of kitchenware. Cracking an egg, she held the shell, pouring it back and forth to easily separate the yolk from the white. She set the yolk aside and poured the white into another small white bowl.

“The egg white will be whisked later. We’ll set the yolk aside; we don’t need it today. I’ll fry it and eat it myself later…”

She was busy cooking, only leaning closer to the phone screen every so often to read the comments and select a few questions to answer. While talking, her hands never stopped. She added the sugar to the butter, turned on the electric whisk, and mixed until combined, then slowly added the egg liquid in three separate batches.

“Remember to add the egg liquid in three parts. The first part must be fully incorporated before adding the second, otherwise, it will clump.”

After whisking the butter until fluffy, she poured the pre-weighed low-gluten flour into a sieve, tapping it to sift the flour in bit by bit while gently stirring with a spatula until no dry powder remained. Gradually, as more flour was added, it formed a small ball of dough.

“At this point, we just put it in the refrigerator to chill for thirty minutes to an hour. To save everyone’s time, I already made a batch earlier and chilled it for about an hour.”

Yun Yun opened the fridge, put the new batch in, and took the previous one out. She smiled as she brought it to the counter, wrapped the dough in plastic wrap, and flattened it with a rolling pin.

Her fingers, as slender as jade, picked up a slice of the dough to show the camera: “Roll it to about this thickness. If it’s any thicker, once the fondant is added later, it will be too high.”

Though it was a one-woman show, she enjoyed it thoroughly and performed without any awkwardness, smiling at the camera again. When she smiled, she only showed four teeth—always a reserved and sincere look.

The oven preheated. She used metal molds to cut the cookies into various shapes: trees, flowers, kittens, as well as simple triangles and squares. She placed them all on a baking tray and put them in to bake.

“These need to bake for twenty minutes. Now we can start preparing the fondant. Since we aren’t doing 3D modeling, we only need sugar paste and food coloring. Those with an artistic flair can start getting creative now.”

She added different pigments to the sugar paste, adjusting the concentration until several colors appeared. She rolled these red, yellow, blue, and green blocks into thin sheets and cut them into shapes using the same metal molds.

She was working a bit fast, and the cookies weren’t done yet, so she stood idly by the counter for a moment, smiling as she picked up her phone.

The comments were already discussing heatedly. Most were talking about the cookie recipe, some were marveling at Yun Yun’s skill, and a small portion said, “I’m just here to worship Yun Yun’s ethereal beauty.”

“I don’t have any ‘ethereal beauty,’ but thank you to these friends for the compliments,” Yun Yun said, pressing her lips together with a smile. The comments were flooded with “Teacher Yun is so beautiful” again.

“Yun, are you making these to give away or for yourself? Can you eat that many on your own?”

Seeing this question, Yun Yun’s heart skipped a beat. She gave a mysterious smile and replied: “They are a gift.”

“Wow! Teacher Yun has a situation, report immediately!”

“Is Teacher Yun going to leave the single life? Why isn’t it me, I don’t believe it!”

“Don’t talk nonsense, Teacher Yun was in my bed yesterday.”

The comments instantly exploded. Yun Yun only smiled and stopped replying. Just then, the oven “dinged.” She turned, put on heat-resistant gloves, and took out the tray. The small cookies were golden and dainty, emitting an inviting, sweet aroma.

“Last step: place the fondant over the cookies and wait for them to dry. This is delicate work, though; I believe you can do it better than me. Remember to turn in your ‘homework’ once you’re done.”

After demonstrating with a few cookies, Yun Yun held them up to the lens, showing them off from several angles.

“Alright, that’s all for today’s fondant cookie tutorial. I’ll organize the video and post it to my Weibo later. I wish you all a happy life, goodbye~”

With a smile on her lips, Yun Yun ignored the constantly refreshing comments and turned off the broadcast. The counter was covered with an array of colorful cookies. She couldn’t rest yet; there was still a block of dough in the fridge that needed to be finished.

As she was processing the remaining dough and putting it in the oven, she noticed a new WeChat message on her phone. It was from her manager: “April 2nd Hardcore Live Anniversary Event List and Process.”

Opening the full image, the first thing she saw was that shining name.

Yun Yun stared at the name, and the corners of her mouth curled up in a shy smile. Her manager’s instructions followed: Perform well. They actually managed to invite Qi Ziling this time. Qi Ziling!

Yun Yun tapped her fingers and replied: No problem.

As she continued making cookies, she opened Qi Ziling’s recent Cannes award video. In this globally-watched ceremony, the only Chinese actress, Qi Ziling, was radiant, shocking the audience as she won Best Actress.

That person was at the peak of her fame; it was impossible for her to still remember Yun Yun. Yet, Yun Yun involuntarily replayed in her head twenty times exactly how she should take her first step through the door that day.

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