28: Chapter 28 Defying Heaven! The King of Votes is Born

Director Zhou waited for the applause to subside and continued to announce.

"Third place……"

He dragged out his tone again, this time casting his gaze on Xu Hao and Lin Yu.

Why are you looking at the two of us???

Xu Hao subconsciously felt a trace of an ominous premonition.

"Xu Hao and Lin Yu's combination wins third place!"

Xu Hao's expression froze instantly.

He opened his mouth, looking incredulous.

"Th-Third? No, Director Zhou, did you make a mistake? No matter what, our braised beef with potatoes should be better than Zhou Yichen and the others', right?"

Lin Yu beside him was also stunned, the smile on her face not yet having time to fade away.

The netizens in the live broadcast room instantly exploded.

[Xu Hao, a puny nobody like you, how dare you talk about our big brother???]

[From where on earth can you tell that you are better than Yichen?]

[Xu Hao, do you think you're hot stuff just because we let you off easy?]

[Brothers, run fast, they are... here again!!]

[However, to be fair, if Xu Hao and Lin Yu are third, then who is second?]

[Indeed, that dish of Zhou Yichen's... wasn't that made entirely by Su Qing alone? Zhou Yichen only cut the onion twice and even cut his own hand.]

[Ahhhhh! I'm so pissed off, you guys still dare to slander Big Brother, I'm going to report you!!!]

At the scene.

Xu Hao was still struggling with it.

"No, Director Zhou, can I see the vote count? My dish... my dish shouldn't be as low as third place, right?"

Lin Yu also came back to her senses, wearing a somewhat stiff smile on her face as she chimed in.

"Yeah, Director Zhou, did the tallying go wrong?"

Director Zhou glanced at them, his expression a bit subtle.

"There's no problem with the vote count. You guys are indeed in third place."

Xu Hao wanted to say something else, but he was tugged by the sleeve by Lin Yu, prompting him to shut his mouth, though the unwillingness on his face could not be concealed no matter what.

Zhou Yichen sat to the side, crossing his legs, the conspicuous band-aid on his index finger swaying in front of the camera from time to time.

His expression looked light and breezy, but the slightly upturned arc at the corner of his mouth could not be suppressed no matter what.

The bullet comments in the live broadcast room were already arguing in a chaotic mess.

[I have an ominous premonition.]

[No way, no way, no way... Could Zhou Yichen and Su Qing be second?]

[The person above, you are too naive.]

[??? What do you mean?]

[Just wait and see.]

[What do you guys know! Big Brother was able to persist in cooking even with an injured finger, isn't this spirit worth voting for?!]

[Exactly! You guys are just jealous of Big Brother!]

[So funny, jealous of him cutting his hand while cutting an onion? What's there to be jealous of about that?]

[Ahhhhhhh! I must report you guys today!!!]

The bullet comments were arguing fiercely, and the atmosphere at the scene was becoming more and more subtle.

Director Zhou cleared his throat and raised the megaphone.

"Next, announcing the winner of second place. Second place is……"

"Lu Li and Shen Qingxue!"

The moment the voice fell, the entire dining room fell silent.

Wait, second place?

Lu Li was slightly stunned, but his mood was alright. He had come here simply to slack off anyway, so how good his results were didn't matter.

However, when he subconsciously looked at Shen Qingxue, Shen Qingxue was tightly furrowing her brows, her expression clearly displeased.

Lu Li shook his head.

Their two dishes were complete in terms of color, aroma, and taste, completely not on the same level as the other groups; even taking first place would be more than enough.

And yet they got second?

Meanwhile, upon hearing this result, Zhou Yichen's expression instantly turned dumbfounded.

In other words, he and Su Qing ranked first???

If things are pulled off like this, won't Shen Qingxue despise him to death? Which legendary fan led the charge to rack up votes anyway?!

The netizens in the live broadcast room completely exploded at this moment.

[Second? Lu Li and Shen Qingxue are second??? Then Zhou Yichen is first?!]

[Wait, wait, wait, let me process this. Is this result serious?]

[Zhou Yichen is first? No way, right?]

[Hahaha, didn't I tell you guys? You are too naive.]

[No, Shen Qingxue's two dishes had it all—color, aroma, and taste—and they were displayed right there for everyone to see. How could it possibly not be first?]

[What do you guys know! Big Brother was able to persist in cooking even with an injured finger, isn't this spirit worth voting for?!]

[So funny, calling cutting an onion to the finger 'persisting in cooking'? Wasn't Su Qing doing it the whole time? He just made two cuts and then got hurt.]

[Exactly, Su Qing handled it all by herself from start to finish, okay? What does it have to do with Zhou Yichen?]

[Ahhhhhhh! You bunch of haters! Big Brother Yichen standing to the side is also companionship! Isn't companionship a contribution!]

[Standing to the side is also companionship... I never expected this angle for defending him.]

[The fandom circle is truly awesome, I yield.]

The bullet comments were arguing incessantly.

The air at the scene became even more subtle.

Shen Qingxue looked at Director Zhou expressionlessly, every sentence full of questioning.

"Director Zhou, are you sure this result wasn't tallied incorrectly?"

Director Zhou's expression was somewhat complicated. He lowered his head to glance at the data in his hand, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"There's no problem with the tally; you guys are indeed in second place."

When he said this, was there a hint of a guilty conscience in his voice?

After all, one could tell at a glance that this result either involved shady behind-the-scenes manipulation or fans canvassing for votes.

He just didn't expect Zhou Yichen's fans to be so ruthless when canvassing for votes; in just three minutes, the vote count directly left everyone else behind by several times.

"Alright."

Shen Qingxue didn't say anything more and sat back down in her seat expressionlessly, though the icy aura radiating around her could be felt by anyone.

Lu Li glanced at her, then looked at Zhou Yichen across from them, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.

With such abstract fans who could summon a whole squad on their own, he truly admired Zhou Yichen.

"Alright, alright, the combination with the most votes is Su Qing and Zhou Yichen. The results are already out, so everyone shouldn't dwell on it too much."

Director Zhou tried to smooth things over from behind the camera, a hint of awkwardness in his voice.

"Next, we can start eating!"

The staff immediately began bustling about setting out bowls and chopsticks.

Eight people sat around the long table, with their respective dishes placed in front of them.

The atmosphere was a bit subtle.

To be precise, except for Zhou Yichen and Su Qing's group, everyone else felt a bit awkward.

After all, nobody would feel very comfortable having this happen to them.

But Shen Qingxue didn't fly into a rage; she just sat there quietly, picked up her chopsticks, picked up a piece of the tofu she had made, put it in her mouth, and chewed slowly.

Her movements were elegant and composed, as if nothing had happened just now.

Lu Li glanced at her, didn't say anything either, picked up his chopsticks, and also started eating.

He was indeed hungry.

After tossing and turning the whole day and only eating a bowl of instant noodles at noon, his stomach had long been completely empty.

Moreover, the dishes made by Shen Qingxue were truly delicious; whether it was the stir-fried yellow beef or Mapo Tofu, the flavors were quite authentic.

Lu Li picked up a mouthful of beef with his chopsticks, popped it into his mouth along with some rice, and slightly narrowed his eyes.

Mmh, truly not bad.

In a few clanging bites, a bowl of rice was completely finished.

Lu Li continued to refill his rice and kept devouring his meal, eating with such absolute relish.

What did rankings and the like have to do with him?

Were they as delicious as chowing down on food?

In the live broadcast room.

The netizens' attention gradually shifted from the voting results to the scene of them eating.

[So funny, Slacker Brother is genuinely eating seriously.]

[Everyone else is chatting in a pretentious manner, and he's the only one burying his head in his meal.]

[Look at Shen Qingxue, she's also eating seriously. These two are truly a match made in heaven.]

[No fighting, no competing, a Buddhist-style romance—the CP I ship is just different.]

[Come on, just ship them inside the show; once the show ends, they'll all go their separate ways.]

[I don't want this! Does ending the show mean breaking up right away?]

[To be fair, I have a premonition that Lu Li is on the verge of hitting it big.]

[Speaking of which, the dishes made by the goddess look really, really delicious.]

[Indeed, I'm getting drooled to death just watching.]