Chapter 72

The VJ, who was just solemnly gnawing on a roast goose leg, suddenly dropped the half-eaten leg into the sand.

He stared at the increasingly thick, greenish smoke rising from the kitchen, his face as white as paper. His stomach churned, whether from fear or from the strange, mixed odor, he couldn't tell.

"Director! Director!" His voice was hoarse and trembling with tears, "This...this live broadcast has gone wrong, hasn't it?! Should we call the fire department?! Or...the biological warfare unit?!"

He instinctively covered the still-redden burn on his neck from the oil, feeling as if the green smoke was corrosive.

The directing team was in complete chaos. The head director was babbling incoherently into the walkie-talkie: "Quick! Cut the camera! Cut it! Cut to Actress Chen's face! What? Actress Chen's face turned green too?... Cut to a wide shot! The sea! Look at the sea! The sea is calm and beautiful!"

The live stream instantly switched from the kitchen entrance filled with green smoke to the dark, churning sea in the distance, but the chat had already exploded with comments:

[Green smoke! It really is green smoke! Resident Evil confirmed!]

[Miss Zhuohua proves with her skills: A beautiful woman who can't cook is the biggest weapon in the kitchen!]

[Calling for Lu Xiao! Your wife is turning this slow-paced variety show into a Breaking Bad live show! @LuXiao, it's urgent!]

[The production team: This year's guests are too difficult to manage! I want to go home!]

In this chaotic and fearful moment, Zhuohua finally put down her coconut juice. She rose gracefully, the hem of her linen dress tracing a beautiful arc. Under the horrified, bewildered, and desperate gazes of everyone, she slowly strolled to the source of the "poisonous gas."

She had no protective suit, no gas mask, and didn't even use a spatula as a shield. She just stood there in front of the stove, where green smoke billowed, tilting her head slightly, as if examining some rare treasure.

"Hmm..." she murmured, then extended the spotless finger that had just been touched by the frost feathers and flicked it casually at the thickest wisp of green smoke above the pot lid.

The movement was as light as brushing away a speck of dust.

"Pop".

A faint, almost inaudible crackling sound, like a bubble bursting.

A miracle happened!

The wisp of pale green smoke that rose up as if it possessed a tenacious vitality was severed from the root by an invisible force the moment it was flicked by Zhuo Hua's fingertips, and then crushed by an invisible hand!

The emerald green color faded, paled, and vanished at a speed visible to the naked eye! The strange smell, a mixture of burnt, fishy, ​​and exotic spices, was also instantly sucked away as if by a giant vacuum cleaner, leaving only the salty sea breeze and the aroma of food wafting from other groups in the distance.

The whole process was so fast it felt like an illusion.

One second it was a "biological crisis" about to erupt, the next it was all calm. Only the large, dark iron pot and the tightly sealed wooden lid remained, sitting quietly on the stove, as if the terrifying green smoke had never appeared.

Everyone: "???"

The assistant director's phone, which he was just about to dial 119, fell to the ground with a "thud." The VJ stared with his mouth agape, still clutching his neck, like a comical statue.

Actress Chen Yue nearly dropped the plate of seafood stir-fry in her hands. Taking advantage of the moment, Shuang Ling retrieved the goose leg that had fallen into the sand and dusted it off with her little wings in disgust.

Zhuohua nodded in satisfaction, as if she had only solved a trivial problem. She turned around, sat back down on her small stool, and gave the main camera a nonchalant smile: "Alright. The problem is solved. Everyone can eat in peace now."

After a brief, stunned silence, the live stream chat erupted with a tsunami of comments:

[Extinguishing poisonous smoke with a flick of the finger?! What kind of fantasy drama special effect is this?!]

Am I seeing things? I must be seeing things!

[Director! I'm reporting someone! Someone is cheating using superstitious methods!]

[Zhuohua: The laws of physics? What are those? Do they taste good?]

Sister! I bow down in reverence! From this day forward, you are my one and only goddess!

The directors exchanged bewildered glances, their eyes reflecting the same lingering shock and profound helplessness. The head director wiped the cold sweat from his brow and weakly spoke into the walkie-talkie, "Cut...cut back...look, give that pot a close-up! Show its innocence!"

The atmosphere in the courtyard became extremely eerie under the shock of Zhuohua's "finger flicking supernatural power." Everyone silently and cautiously ate the food on their plates, but their eyes would occasionally glance at the iron pot that was as quiet as a chicken at the kitchen door, and at the person next to the pot who had started to look at the stars again, as if all the troubles had nothing to do with her.

Frostfeather squatted in the space, clutching its recovered roast goose leg (though it was covered in sand), gnawing on it while patting its chest with its little wings to calm itself: "Chirp chirp chirp..." (That scared the bird to death... I'll never let my owner come within ten meters of the stove again!)

Zhuohua was oblivious to her surroundings, or rather, completely indifferent. She gazed up at the brilliant starry sky in the clear night sky of the southern coast, her thoughts seemingly drifting far away. Until—

"Ding-dong! You have a new food delivery order. Please check it!"

The crisp electronic notification sound from the smart doorbell hanging at the entrance of the courtyard broke the eerie silence.

Everyone, including Zhuohua, instinctively looked in the direction of the sound.

Outside the gate, instead of a deliveryman in uniform, stood a tall, upright man dressed in a simple white T-shirt and black casual pants.

He wore a baseball cap and a mask, the brim pulled low, obscuring most of his face, revealing only a pair of deep eyes that still shone brightly in the night, now filled with a smile. He carried a huge insulated bag with the logo of a local trendy bubble tea shop, his other hand casually in his pocket, his posture relaxed, as if he were just dropping by a neighbor's house.

However, when that familiar figure and those unique eyes appeared on camera, the entire courtyard, along with the millions of viewers in front of the screen, instantly erupted!

"Lu Xiao?!" Actress Chen Yue was the first to exclaim in surprise, her chopsticks falling to the table with a "clatter".

Lin Chen, a top star, suddenly stood up from his chair, his eyes wide open: "Brother Xiao?!"

Even the newly crowned heartthrob Su Yan couldn't hide his shock, blurting out, "Actor Lu?!"

A collective gasp and suppressed screams erupted from the production team! The director was so excited he nearly crushed his walkie-talkie: "Quick! All cameras! Shoot right up to their faces! Get them right there! Good heavens! A walking trending topic has been delivered to our doorstep!"

The live stream chat exploded like a nuclear bomb, causing the stream to freeze instantly.

[Holy crap!!! Lu Xiao?!]

【Ahhhhh, honey, what brings you here?!】

[Set visit! This is a blatant set visit! And he even brought milk tea! It's incredibly sweet!]

[Camera! Close-up! I want to see my husband's handsome face!]

[Brother Xiao! Take off your mask! Let me drool over the screen!]

[Miss Zhuohua! Your husband has come to the rescue (bring warmth)!]

Amidst a wave of gasps and screams that could have blown the roof off, Zhuohua paused slightly in her chin-resting motion.

She turned her head, her starlight-filled eyes meeting the tall figure at the courtyard gate. The distant, aloof coolness deep within her eyes rippled like gentle, bright waves in spring water after a pebble had been thrown in. A clear, involuntary smile curved her lips upwards, a hint of surprise, a touch of understanding, and the sweet sweetness of being completely pampered.

She didn't even get up; she just sat on the low stool, tilting her head towards the door, her voice languidly sweet as she clearly called out:

"Lu Xiao."

That single call of "Lu Xiao" seemed to press the pause button. The bustling noise in the courtyard, the director's excited commands, and even the frenzied flood of comments on the screen all seemed to freeze for a moment.

Lu Xiao chuckled softly, the sound carrying a magnetic resonance even through the mask, clearly reaching everyone's ears. He raised his hand and slowly removed his baseball cap and mask, revealing the handsome face that had captivated millions of fans.

Deep-set eyes, a high nose bridge, and slightly upturned thin lips—every feature seemed meticulously sculpted under the warm yellow light of the courtyard. His gaze pierced through the crowd, landing precisely on the slender figure sitting on a small stool, looking up at him with eyes so tender they could drown a person.

"Hmm," he replied, his voice deep and pleasant, filled with undisguised doting. "I heard that a certain genius turned the kitchen upside down, even making the pot lid so angry that it flew three meters away from home?"

As he spoke, he carried the enormous milk tea bag, ignoring all the petrified stares and frantically flashing cameras around him, and strode straight toward Zhuohua as if no one else was there.

Zhuohua's smile deepened, tinged with a hint of smugness and self-righteousness: "The fire was too fierce, it has nothing to do with me." She even slightly pursed her lips, her demeanor completely different from her decisive and ruthless manner on the battlefield between gods and demons.

Lu Xiao walked up to her, his tall figure looming over her, bringing a sense of reassurance. He bent down and gently placed the insulated bag, which exuded an enticing sweet fragrance, at Zhuo Hua's feet. Then, with remarkable ease, he reached out and lightly rubbed the tiny bit of roast goose sauce that had somehow gotten on her cheek with his fingertips, a gesture that was both intimate and familiar.

“Yeah, the fire was too fierce, and the pot lid was too temperamental, it’s all their fault.” He went along with her words, his tone indulgent and without any limits. “So, I brought a ‘fire extinguisher’.” He pointed to the bag of milk tea.

"Pfft!" Zhuohua was amused by him, her eyebrows and eyes curving, as if starlight had fallen into her eyes.

The onlookers, from the award-winning actors and actresses to the staff, all wore expressions of utter disbelief, as if they'd been force-fed ten tons of PDA and were rolling their eyes in exasperation. The live stream chat was completely flooded with exclamations of "Ahhhhh!" and "So sweet!"

Lu Xiao's arrival was like a drop of water falling into a boiling oil pan, instantly transforming the atmosphere in the courtyard from eerie and terrifying to one filled with pink bubbles. The bag of milk tea he brought was a timely rain, with everyone getting a cup, even the still-shaken VJ and the production team, instantly soothing everyone's battered mind and body (mainly their spirit).