IUILBRC Chapter 40: Kelp Rib Soup

Chapter 40: Kelp Rib Soup

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo anticipates the Arctic Fox’s appearance!

 

Capital Star’s Upper Urban District was not as densely populated as the Lower and Middle Urban Districts, but its technology and economy were far more developed than them. Even the waiting room after the gate was a private space isolated from the outside world; it was said that after the people in the waiting room left, the space would be reshaped automatically.

This space was not big. Outside the windowsill was the snowy view of the Upper Urban District. There was a clean and soft small bed with just the right temperature in the room. It even had a simple small kitchen. Gu YuMian asked the children to rest, arranged and prepared for the live broadcast.

——With the previous popularity accumulation and the publicity from the Academy of Sciences, his popularity hit a new high.

In a few minutes, the number of viewers was over one million.

[White Pear Blossom, Lili: WTF, Upper Urban District!! After living for so many years, I haven’t been to the Upper Urban District once. I can’t imagine it. Are there really many nobles and rich people? What about the Royal Family? Is there a palace?]

[Vivian: Aaaaah! MianMian is finally on air!! PS: I’ve been to the Upper Urban District on business before. The atmosphere there is really serious and dignified. Maybe it’s because His Majesty has a bad temper? Isn’t it near His Majesty’s birthday?]

[Soda Robot One: The sisters up there are crazy. It’s not like it’s a new planet? It’s okay to mention it directly to His Majesty.]

[afhvuix: Wishing the anchor a smooth journey in the Upper Urban District.]

[There’s a family in the mine: What are we eating today? I would rather you comb hair! I want to do it all of the time!!! I can’t forget the feeling of being brushed by Mian Mian recently.]

Gu YuMian could only catch a few words from the numerous barrages rolling by.

Gu YuMian was able to come to the Upper Urban District this time and get the visitor pass because it was specially approved by the Academy of Sciences. He could only stay for one week, which was very rare. Before he came, he did his homework… His Majesty was still in the Lower Urban District now. He didn’t think that he would come back any time soon.

He also didn’t hear about his birthday.

On the other side, the little snow leopard stared at the screen.

Who’s the fool that’s making the rumor?

…Who has a bad temper?

“Why is TuanTuan angry again?” Gu YuMian glanced at the little brat and quickly took the snow leopard down to brush his hair and head. The little snow leopard was not happy at first, but soon his tail softened and he lay lazily in Gu YuMian’s arms, dozing off with his chin raised.

In a few seconds, he was able to coax the ‘someone’ who was said to have a bad temper.

One paw of the baby panda was pressing against his bottle, and one paw was placed in Gu YuMian’s palm, whining two times.

“Sorry, today’s live broadcast may be short,” Gu YuMian pinched the soft paw pad of little Tangyuan, looked at the rapidly growing audience, and couldn’t help bending his eyes, “Because the journey was made in a hurry, I’m now waiting for the formalities to be through with. I’ll make TuanTuan and YuanYuan some food and rest… I won’t talk much, let’s start.”

Gu YuMian decided to make a soup out of kelp and spareribs, ¹ half for drinking and half to be used for small wontons.  ²

There were not many masters of cooking in the interstellar era, but the Upper Urban District was full of rich and powerful merchants. It was normal to take a few servants and cooks when traveling. Therefore, there were kitchens and limited ingredients in the temporary waiting rooms mainly for these people. Today, kelp and synthetic ribs were available.

He couldn’t make anything complicated, so home cooking would have to be okay.

“It’s easy to make kelp and sparerib soup, and the taste is more suitable for drinking in winter. It’s summer over there, right?”

The audience immediately said it didn’t matter.

[What’s the season where Mian Mian is?] 

[I’ve turned on the air conditioner to the lowest level, I can be with you!] 

[It’s okay. I’ve set the holographic parameters to the highest level. Now I’m also in winter.]

Gu YuMian, “…” Okay?

Kelp needed to be soaked before it could be cut into pieces to make the soup. Gu YuMian first soaked the kelp and steamed it, then, while he waited, he prepared the ribs.

“Follow the directions to thaw the spareribs, cut them open first, and then cut them into several small sections,” Gu YuMian quickly cut them with a knife. The whole sparerib was divided into several centimeter long sections in a blink of an eye. “After washing, blanch them in the pot, but don’t leave them in the boiling water.”

Gu YuMian blanched the spareribs in the pot, which would be more conducive to the flow of blood, making it more tender. After blanching, he took out the spareribs and washed off the scum, which halted the meat from cooking, with cold water.

The kelp, steamed by the special device and soaked in water, was beginning to foam at this time. Gu YuMian took the kelp out, cleaned and boiled the water, and cut the kelp into long strips one by one before placing it on standby.

“Now we can make soup.”

This series of fluent and skillful movements from Gu YuMian was almost dazzling. Most of the audience clearly did not understand, but inexplicably relished in the feeling. Of course, a small part of the audience found that Gu YuMian did not hide his movements like any other food anchor. Watching his live broadcast, they could really learn something.

He had put water in the pot first, and put the prepared ribs into the pot one by one. Gu YuMian didn’t find cooking wine in the kitchen, but he found a bottle of yellow rice wine in the wine cabinet. It tasted soft, sweet and refreshing.

Wine was not only used for drinking, but also for cooking as a seasoning.

“Even if it’s soup for the children, it will evaporate if the heat is not well controlled and boiled, but it isn’t much of a problem otherwise.” Gu YuMian held the sleeping snow leopard and pet his fur, while the baby panda made two simple and innocent noises on one side.

The audience was now following from the perspective of the baby panda. Gu YuMian sniffed the yellow rice wine, which was made from glutinous rice in the south of Ancient Earth. He couldn’t help pouring a small glass and covered the sight of the baby panda as he tasted it first.

[There’s a family in the mine: Hahaha, I’m reporting that Mian Mian drinks!! It’s cute to cover little Tangyuan’s eyes and drink secretly, isn’t it?]

“…” Gu YuMian smiled helplessly, “I’m sorry, don’t learn from me. I’m greedy.”

The curtain of bullets crossed a large area of, 

[Aaah! I’m dead]

[That dimple and his eye! It’s a foul! Aaah!] 

[Don’t die, I’ll find a blood transfusion bag before you die!]

However, the yellow rice wine left a thick taste in his mouth. It left a warm feeling after drinking but was sweet after a long journey in winter. The snow leopard glanced at him lazily, and suddenly came to Gu YuMian’s lips to lick and taste a small part of the wine. Gu YuMian scolded him and rubbed his ears helplessly.

It was really sweet. The little snow leopard nodded contentedly, and the tip of his ears were a little hot.

At this time, the number of spectators had exceeded 10 million. Once the half-hour period had passed, his broadcast immediately rushed into the top three real-time popular spot in the living area.

The atmosphere inside and outside the bullet screen was very relaxed and warm, and the rhythm had been firmly held by Gu YuMian. His palms closed gently, drawing the audience’s attention, “Well, let’s make soup and rest after dinner. Let’s hurry up.”

Gu YuMian didn’t make the pork rib soup directly, but stir fried ginger in the wine until it was half cooked, so that the subsequent soup had a milky white and fragrant scent.

Then, after the water and spareribs were put into the pot, Gu YuMian added a proper amount of yellow rice wine and added washed scallions and ginger slices into the pot, and boiled them in the hot fire. He held the spoon to skim off the floating scum on the surface.

“This one will boil for a while. Let’s wrap the wontons first.”

Gu YuMian intended to speed up this time. He kneaded the dough, rolled the skin thin and sliced it in one step. He chopped the synthetic meat, mixed in the cooking wine and salt evenly, squeezed out the juice of an onion and ginger to make a watery filling, so that the final taste would have more flavor. Then he gently squeezed his palms together to form a small wonton, and orderly and delicately arranged them in the bowl.

He had made about twenty in a minute. The audience was stunned.

[Like lollipops: My God. Am I watching a performance? What fucking great speed!]

The baby panda sucked his claws and looked on attentively, holding the bottle and clapping from time to time. The sight of Gu YuMian working also attracted the attention of the snow leopard.

After that, the ribs soup was almost done.

At this time, Gu YuMian turned the fire to low and slowly boiled it. He also added the kelp that had been cut into rectangular strips. When the soup became slightly viscous, he turned the fire to boil it. He picked out the ginger slices and scallions with a spoon.

At this time, the soup in the pot made a gurgling sound. Once it was done cooking, the soup was thicker and slightly milky than an ordinary soup. The delicious and mellow scent of kelp and bone soup escaped from the edge of the pot lid.

The second Gu YuMian opened the pot, it was full of fragrance!

Audience: “!!!”

The little snow leopard moved his nose, and the baby panda’s round eyes turned, holding Gu YuMian’s hand, making a quick whimper.

The audience and children’s thoughts were synchronized again: good smell, want to try it!

Due to the short live broadcast time, Gu YuMian had not climbed to the top ten of the day, but the ranking of Gu YuMian’s live room in real-time had continued to rise — which showed that his audience’s growth was very amazing, and it did not take long for his live room to firmly occupy the first spot in the living area.

The audience was at 15 million.

“Wait, it needs salt.” Gu YuMian took a spoonful of soup with a big spoon, sipped it on his own, added a half spoon of salt and sesame oil, and then gave the snow leopard a taste, “Does TuanTuan think this tastes okay?”

Since the audience was watching from the perspective of the baby panda, they could only watch the little snow leopard drink soup from little Tangyuan’s perspective. The little snow leopard raised his chin a little arrogantly and cheerfully, and rubbed his head against Gu YuMian’s palm, as if he was saying that it was very good and he was very satisfied.

Audience and the silly baby Panda: “…” The ‘lovey dovey’ aura was making them jealous.

Fortunately, Gu YuMian treated everyone equally without discrimination. After letting TuanTuan taste it, he changed to a small porcelain spoon and let YuanYuan try it. “Is it too light? Or just right?”

A moment later, the baby panda couldn’t help but cuddle his little belly and roll around, “Chii!”

It was fragrant bone soup and the taste was light and suitable. The essence of the bone was completely extracted. The mellow flavor was not oily and spread along the taste buds at the tip of one’s tongue. After a spoon was drunk, it was extremely comfortable and warm from the throat to the stomach.

The ribs were stewed in the soup until they were soft and falling off the bone. Gu YuMian also added some Chinese dates and wolfberry, which was a little light and sweet. With the fresh and rich meat flavor of the ribs, the soup overflowed between the lips and teeth. It was nourishing and had endless aftertaste.

The little snow leopard and baby panda couldn’t wait to drink more.

Gu YuMian smiled and touched their small heads. First, he put out the soup and let it cool a little. The soup was not enough. Gu YuMian divided the soup into small parts to cook the wontons.

It was very easy to cook wontons. He added two pieces of green leaves to the soup and wontons. When it was done, he put the soup into a small bowl, sprinkled it with scallions, a little salt and sesame oil. He then put the wontons and hot greens into the bowl, sprinkled it with dried seaweed, making the flavor overflow!

Gu YuMian also brought a small piece of kelp and a small wonton to the baby panda.

The taste of kelp was very delicious with the soup. The small wontons were another kind of flavor, and were full of the taste of fresh and mellow soup. With the splashing warm and thick soup in his tongue after biting it down, it was followed by the minced meat, fresh and elastic wonton skin, and crispy seaweed which was the simplest and most touching delicacy in the world.

The audience was lost in the sensation.

The bullet screen had exploded many times while they were drinking soup, but at this time, they were not tired at all, and still swarmed out as they came out one after another!

[Junior B: It’s delicious, and the soup was delicious!!! Aaaah!!! I want to spend the winter there. In winter, I will drink this soup three times a day!!]

[Cat’s Meow: Kelp and wontons are delicious. It’s so comfortable in the stomach. Thank you, MianMian! Three fireworks for you!!!]

[There’s a Cloud: I can’t say it’s too fancy. It’s mellow, tender and delicious. Sending five fireworks.]

[Pink Envelope: A bowl of hot soup in the cold winter, and then this small wonton? Aaaaah! I’m looking forward to spending Christmas and New Year’s with Mian Mian.]

The special effects of gifts were bursting one by one on the screen, and the heat of the live studio was pushed to a peak again, and countless audiences rushed in every second. The audience soon exceeded 20 million, and the live studio was now ranking in the top 10 of the total real-time popularity list. But the ranking still continued to climb.

Although there was an automatic temperature control system in the room, Gu YuMian lit the small stove, and the crackling sound of the firewood made the winter especially warm. Outside the first window was the snow falling that looked like goose feathers. It was a little late and the frozen lake of the Upper Urban District reflected the sunset.

Gu YuMian held the children and sat on the padded quilt provided by the waiting room. The floor was also warm, with a bowl of soup and wontons for one person. As they chatted, they ate this afternoon meal after a long time of running about and feeling tired.

The soup and small wontons could fill a hungry stomach but didn’t upset their stomachs. After eating, they could go to sleep for a while. It was amazing that he could attract so many people to watch a live broadcast in winter, while it was the midsummer in the Lower Urban District, but Gu YuMian did it.

At the end of a meal, Gu YuMian helped the two cubs comb their hair with a little comb. The long fingers were comfortable. The fire was warm on the body, which made people’s mood gradually transition from happily eating to drowsy relaxation.

After a warm peak, the atmosphere and rhythm was easily recovered by Gu YuMian, and the mood of more than 20 million people was brought to a successful end.

“It’s an hour before the formalities will be finished,” Gu YuMian looked at the time and bent his eyes. “After this meal, let’s sleep. Then I’ll see you tomorrow. “

He waved goodbye to the audience and the picture faded out.

It was a pity that the live broadcast was too short, and the audience was a little reluctant.

However, the next trip to the Upper Urban District was more and more anticipated — even 67% of the audience had set an alarm for tomorrow and were ready to get up early and wait for Gu YuMian to start broadcasting.

Maybe it was because the audience recommended it to each other and his popularity continued to rise.

In the last ten minutes, the number of people in Gu YuMian’s live studio unexpectedly exceeded everyone’s expectation. It soared to more than 30 million from 25 million, entering the top three of the homepage’s real-time popularity list!

 

When he woke up, the staff reminded him that the formalities had been completed.

Before the wontons were finished, they were packed by Gu YuMian and put in a fresh-keeping box. After thinking about it, he took the box with him to prevent Xue Tuan and little Tangyuan from starving on the way.

Gu YuMian got up and packed his bags first, then hugged the snow leopard and the baby panda, rubbed against them, put the cradle in his arms, and dragged his family out of the waiting room. As soon as he went out, the waiting room disappeared behind him.

The waiting room was similar to an airport lobby. There were few people in the Upper Urban District, and the occasional passengers were in a hurry.

Gu YuMian was thinking about whether to call a suspension device or how to get there as the Academy of Sciences had arranged a residence for him. He lowered his head carelessly and was suddenly stunned.

“Ji.” Hello. 

A white fluffy tail with silver ash sat in front of him with black eyes looking at him seriously. The little guy had a small tie on his neck and a small white coat. After catching up with Gu YuMian, the big fluffy tail froze, seemed a little embarrassed and unsure, and soon shook faster and more frequently. ³

The gifted youth chief, who had not yet grown up, had a bad habit of changing into his original shape when he could not control his mood.

Gu YuMian, “…?”

The snow leopard and baby panda woke up at the same time. The little snow leopard sat up warily with his ears up, glanced around, and then looked coldly at the newly emerged little arctic fox. The baby panda scratched his ears and went to hug Gu YuMian’s hand.

Gu YuMian looked left and right, pondered for a moment, and bent over to reach out. The eyes of the arctic fox kit ⁴ were bright. As he was about to jump into Gu YuMian’s arms, he was caught in the air by another hand.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Gu,” said the chief assistant, a young man, who arrived late and wiped his sweat, carefully picked up the arctic fox kit. “He is the lifeblood of our Academy of Sciences… Mn, I’m sorry he almost offended you.”

Lifeblood?? Gu YuMian thought the word was a little strange. He thought, was he a mascot or something?

“It’s nothing.” He shook his head unconcerned.

The little fox struggled in the mid air for a while. After a while, the whole fox withered, “I’m sorry.”

The little snow leopard and the baby panda were relieved at the same time. One was lazy and sovereignly laying down on Gu YuMian’s shoulder, and the long tail was around the side of his neck. The other was holding Gu YuMian’s palm and rubbed against it, whining twice coquettishly.

“Then let’s go.” The young man walked in front of him, Gu YuMian nodded and pushed up the bassinet.

It was a grand ceremony for the Academy of Sciences to pick up Gu YuMian. The chief and his assistant come to pick up Gu YuMian in person. There was also a professional suspension device outside that could directly reach the residence. However —

They had just walked two steps when the hall suddenly burst out in noise.

Gu YuMian followed the sound curiously. It was a very gorgeous and magnificent suspension device landing. The hatch was open, and more than ten servants moved down quickly and orderly.

“It seems that some nobleman is coming,” the chief assistant of the Academy of Sciences glanced at him and chatted with Gu YuMian. “Except for the workers who come to the Upper Urban District for work, most of them are nobles. Eh, but it’s also a very luxurious welcome. This one should be a noble who is related to the Royal Family, so they dare to… “

Gu YuMian, “So it is.”

The little snow leopard listened and his grey-blue eyes squinted lazily. The snow-white little arctic fox looked up and into the distance. The baby panda sucked his paws blankly.

The chief assistant and Gu YuMian both ended up a little bit in front of it.

——The long carpet spread from the private suspension device to Gu YuMian’s foot.

The servants in uniform and tidy clothes were arranged on both sides. The middle-aged deacon in a tuxedo who stepped out of the device held a bouquet in his hand as he walked step-by-step, before standing in front of Gu YuMian.

Everything was very different from the surrounding environment, with a strong sense of technology. The middle-aged deacon bowed in front of the ignorant Gu YuMian, the silly baby panda and the pale snow leopard

“Mr. Gu, My Lord, young man, we waited a long time. Welcome to the Upper Urban District.”

The little snow leopard nodded with satisfaction.

Gu YuMian and the Academy of Sciences: “….”

Gu YuMian, “????”

Wait.

When did he switch to acting in a screenplay where he was… in charge of the lifeblood of the entire interstellar economy and the boss of the highest superior?

 

 

Last interesting note: Two months before the end of winter, arctic foxes start to pair up for mating. The mating pair stay together throughout pregnancy and raising of young. An average litter of 11 pups is usually born in late May/early June. Arctic foxes reach maturity around 6 to 9 months, so this is why, during their first winter, it is really rare to see a winter coat Arctic fox kit. Most Arctic fox kits will look like this: