That evening, Nin Sha made the news. Well, maybe it sounded a little too impressive if put like this. Actually, he merely made it onto the blogs of some people that had been at the event, as well as into the articles of a few of the journalists from the smaller journals that had been there.

In most of those posts, he was an amusing side note in one of the paragraphs, usually including the information that he was a contestant in ‘Golden Spoon’ and how had aced the cutting and frying contest but had had his trouble with the decorating one.

There were only two bloggers who gave Si Jin more space on their blog: the two who had been chosen from among the audience to judge the last contest. Naturally, they wanted to write as much as possible about this experience to make their post more interesting. Thus, they went into much greater detail than the other bloggers.

They started by describing who exactly the judges were, then added everything they had been able to find out about the participants of the contest they judged themselves, and then focused on Si Jin because he was the most interesting one among them. They actually went into great detail describing his process, but also didn’t forget to include some references to the earlier contests even though they hadn’t been there to actually watch them.

Still, they had asked around because people seemed to have been incredibly stunned that Si Jin would struggle this much. It had just been too obvious so they had wanted to get a better impression of what had been going on beforehand. Well, they both felt that it had been worth it.

Naturally, those posts were shared on Weibo. The female blogger had dug especially deep into Si Jin’s story so she also found out about his being a fan of Xiao Ming’s. She did know about Xiao Ming but wasn’t a viewer of his stream so she wasn’t completely up-to-date. When she saw the kind of reach that Bright Yellow Water currently had, she figured that it couldn’t hurt to make use of that.

Cooking with a Thousand Spices: [Today, I got a glimpse of Xiao Ming’s life. At the very least, I also got the chance to judge one of the contestants of ‘Golden Spoon’. Have to say though, how did this guy make it into the first episode?]

Qian Huang was trying to stay on top of everything that was happening with ‘Golden Spoon’ and naturally, he would look at everything that had to do with their channel so he immediately noticed the post.

He raised his brows, and then clicked on the link that she had attached, reading through the blog post. When he got to the end, he turned to look over to where Xiao Ming was still cooking. “Do you want to know what Nin Sha was doing with the rest of his day?”

Xiao Ming looked over his shoulder, raising his brows. “Didn’t we just try to not have to do as much with them? How come you want to tell me about him now? Or did Mister Ai tell you anything?”

Qian Huang felt awkward when that was Xiao Ming’s first reaction and could only smile wryly. “Nothing from him yet. But I guess he also wouldn’t have seen him yet. It seems like Nin Sha was pretty busy today.”

Xiao Ming sighed and then waved for him to go ahead. Anyway, Qian Huang was clearly bursting with eagerness to tell him all about it. How could he ruin his fun?

Qian Huang happily rushed over and leaned against the cupboard next to him, waving his phone. “A blogger shared something on Weibo, saying they felt like you having to judge one of the contestants from ‘Golden Spoon’. Turns out it was Nin Sha. There is some event in town right now that also had some small cooking contests as a fun side note. Nin Sha actually went there and tried everything and it turns out he sucks at decorating.”

Xiao Ming looked up at that, a little surprised. The rice cake soup that Si Jin had made had been really good. It had actually made him wonder if this man had really only started cooking a couple weeks ago. It certainly hadn’t seemed like it. But then, that dish didn’t need much decorating, did it? He couldn’t judge his skill in that regard.

Although to be honest, Si Jin had shaped the rice cakes really beautifully so he would’ve figured that he was good at decorating. After all, to first have that kind of idea and then manage to make his rice cakes so that the shape would hold up, that wasn’t something a lot of people could do as beginners. So he would’ve thought that Si Jin’s skill was much higher. “Well, what exactly did he do?”

Qian Huang beamed when Xiao Ming finally wanted to know after all and turned his phone, showing him the pictures the blogger had taken.

Si Jin hadn’t cared whether anybody took a photo or not so he had let the two of them do so while he left to go and spectate again. As such, there were very clear pictures attached of what he had done, and thanks to the fact that the other contestants had been nice enough as well, it was beautifully contrasted with what the others had done.

Xiao Ming looked on as Qian Huang flipped through the photos and finally gave a hum. “Ah, looks like he really had a bit of trouble there. But then I guess it isn’t a wonder if he really only started cooking on the day of the press conference. It’s amazing that he has learned so much. To be perfect in all regards, that would be a feat that I don’t think anybody could pull off. Even with a Michelin-starred chef at their side.”

Qian Huang pursed his lips when Xiao Ming kept so calm and put his phone away. “This is a prime opportunity to make some fun of him. How can you just ignore that? Especially after the day we had today?”

Xiao Ming shook his head at him but still gave a chuckle. “So that’s what this is about. I remember somebody telling me before that he might be date-able. How come you suddenly changed your tune so much?”

Qian Huang pursed his lips. “I had no idea about his family and friends when I said that. Also, I’m sure there are better prospects around. You can definitely find somebody. Also, since he is a contestant, he isn’t a dating prospect anymore for the foreseeable future. So we shouldn’t even think about it.”

“I don’t think we should think about mocking him either or we might get into trouble if that comes out. Well, there isn’t anything to mock anyway. This is … expected actually. And seeing what he did so far, I’m pretty sure that he will run straight home after this and start practicing more.

“If there was to be a decorating task in the first episode, I’m sure that he would excel. I don’t know, that’s just the kind of impression he gave me so far. And, well, maybe what Mister Shi said has made more of an impression on me than I would like. It feels like, even though I haven’t really spent any time with him at all, I do know him a lot better than I should.”

Qian Huang kept quiet for a moment, not sure what to make of it. In the end, he could only ask further. “Not looking at the show, how does that feel?”

Xiao Ming raised his brows at him, not quite sure what he meant.

“I mean, if you didn’t have to think about the show, if this was really just about you and him and possibly dating, would you mind that it is this way?”

“Ah.” Xiao Ming took a moment to consider that and then shook his head. “Probably not that much. I mean it’s kind of as if you or Li Shui were to come up to me and tell me that you found somebody you think I might like and then you would tell me all about them. Then I would go into things with that image I have of him just based on your words. I would have to slowly revise that after all to how that person actually is toward me.

“In that kind of situation, I don’t think it would be a problem. But that might also be because I do know the two of you. I know you only want my best and that you also know what I like and dislike. You would probably be pretty good at choosing somebody for me.”

Qian Huang shrugged his shoulders. “Can’t deny that. Although right now, I would’ve gone for that Ai Gui Jin instead.”

Xiao Ming chuckled. “I thought so. Anyway, the problem right now is that it isn’t you and Li Shui who are telling me to give this a try. It’s Si Jin’s friends. And while I think it’s beautiful that they care about him so much, it’s not quite the same for me, you know?

“So I’m a bit careful. I don’t know how much I should trust what they say about him. I mean it’s strange because what Mister Shi said wasn’t necessarily all flattering. In fact, I think he was pretty blunt. Which makes me believe that most of it should have been the truth.

“But I haven’t seen that for myself. I really can’t know and that is a bit unsettling. Which … it shouldn’t be because it’s not like we are trying to date.” He furrowed his brows, honestly not quite sure why he was even thinking about this. But it was difficult not to when Si Jin’s name came up all the time.

Really, even though he should be completely focused on preparing for the show and not making a mess of things in front of the camera, his life mostly seemed to revolve around what was happening with Si Jin right now.

He wasn’t sure if he should be angry at that or thankful for the distraction so that he wouldn’t get as nervous about ‘Golden Spoon’. Anyway, things were strange. That was the one thing he was sure about.

Next to him, Qian Huang nodded. That was really something that he could somewhat understand even though he wasn’t even the one who this concerned the most. “Well, things will probably get easier with time. I guess his friends might also be a bit anxious because you’ve just met and I bet Nin Sha isn’t the best at leaving people with a good first impression of him.”

Xiao Ming chuckled. “Well, he certainly isn’t but then I’m not sure if his friends are. The way they walked into the venue for the casting …” He shook his head and laughed.

At the moment, it had been terrifying but thinking back now, it was actually funny. It also made a lot of sense now that he knew about Si Jin’s family and the kind of connection he had with his friends.

“Anyway, I guess there is nothing to worry about for the time being. Things will … probably get better with time. I just hope that Mister Ai is able to do something. Do you think they had time to have a talk already?”

Qian Huang looked at the post that had just gone up and tilted his head. “Hard to say. Anyway, they will have needed some time to write the post so the event should have been over for some time.

“Knowing Nin Sha, he probably couldn’t be bothered to stay around if he wasn’t interested anymore. So in that case, he likely went back home right after he finished. In that case, it might be that he is already back. So even if he didn’t manage to talk with that other guy, at least Nin Sha should have been informed. I guess we will hear from Ai Gui Jin pretty soon.”

Xiao Ming nodded, feeling a little relieved at that thought. Even though he didn’t have anything against Si Jin, this matter still had him worried and he would’ve loved if it had been taken care of. That would take a burden off his shoulders. Because right now, he was afraid that one misstep — even if it wasn’t in front of the camera — would make trouble for him and the other two that they wouldn’t be able to get out of just by relying on themselves. And that was something that he didn’t want to let happen.