Feng Wan and her new neighbor walked home in silence, not exchanging a single word before quietly entering their respective apartments.
The moment she got back, Feng Wan collapsed into a lazy sprawl on the sofa like a slouching cat. Just one outing had completely drained her energy.
Still, she had to admit—life in this world was so comfortable that she wasn't the least bit worried about completing her mission.
After all, with her looks and charm, finding a man to marry wouldn't be difficult. The key was making sure he truly loved her.
She was going to complete the task, of course, but there was no time limit for missioners. So, Feng Wan decided to go with the flow and at least take her time picking someone she could stomach kissing.
As she lay sprawled out on the couch, lost in thought, a strong burnt smell suddenly reached her nose—it was coming from the apartment next door.
It turned out that Nie Shuyuan was trying to cook the crispy peanuts he'd seen in a video. Unfortunately, he'd overheated the oil, and the peanuts had turned into blackened, smoking bits the moment they hit the pan, emitting an awful charred stench.
He'd only recently moved in. The previous tenant hadn't been into cooking, so the kitchen didn't have a range hood, which made it easy for Feng Wan to catch the full strength of the burnt smell.
She used her mental-type ability to peek inside—and instantly burst out laughing. She hadn't expected anyone to be this hopeless. How could someone turn frying peanuts into a disaster zone?
Nie Shuyuan was at his wit's end. He had followed the video exactly… He glanced at his hands—hands that had once held a scalpel with precision—and then looked back at the unidentifiable mess in his pan. In the end, he resigned himself to cleaning up the kitchen.
Due to personal reasons, Nie Shuyuan had a severe cleanliness obsession. He couldn't even stand stray hairs on the floor, let alone the "culinary bomb" he had just created.
Pulling back her powers, Feng Wan suddenly remembered what she was supposed to be doing—her food vlog! She jumped up from the couch in a single bound.
Hmm… it was late at night, so fried chicken and cola sounded perfect. It was a simple and easy comfort food, just right for binge-watching shows. And tonight happened to be the premiere of Here Comes the Food.
By the time Feng Wan finished frying up a plate of crispy golden chicken, more than an hour had passed. It wasn't that she was slow—most of the time had gone into adjusting the camera's angle, distance, resolution, and so on.
Feng Wan preferred natural airflow over air conditioning, so she opened the floor-to-ceiling balcony doors and sat down on the floor cushions by the coffee table.
Two plates of fried chicken were accompanied by a glass of iced cola. One sip was pure bliss—cool and refreshing, lifting both body and spirit. It was miles better than lukewarm drinks.
Meanwhile, Nie Shuyuan was working out in the gym when a faint but enticing smell of fried chicken wafted through the air. His empty stomach let out a pitiful gurgle in protest.
He'd been living here for a week, but this was the first time he'd smelled food this late at night.
If he had to guess, this must be the handiwork of his elusive neighbor—the one who was as mysterious as a dragon that showed neither head nor tail.
Nie Shuyuan opened his nearly empty fridge. All he had were bottled water and some fruit. Nothing else had been unpacked or put away.
He grabbed an apple and started crunching into it while watching a food vlog by "Wan in the Moonlit Waters."
It wasn't that he didn't want to order takeout. He had chronic gastritis and couldn't eat anything with artificial coloring or flavoring. So for years, he'd avoided all takeout and junk food.
As he was enjoying the video, his phone suddenly lit up with a video call from his mother. He quickly swiped to answer.
"Shuyuan, turn the camera around a bit—I want to see where you are. Sigh… You're already 28 and still so clueless. I let you move out to help you find a girlfriend, but what are you doing instead…"
As expected, his mother had called to nag. Nie Shuyuan just listened quietly with a "Yes, I'm paying attention" expression, which somewhat pacified her and stopped her from lecturing further.
Her son was impossibly stubborn. He'd turned down the family business to become a doctor. Their household was fairly democratic, so they had no choice but to support his decision. For now, her soon-to-retire husband was still running things back home.
She looked over at her younger son, who was teasing a cat and playing with a dog, and sighed again—this one wasn't promising either.
"Shuyuan, I'm not trying to pressure you, but you're almost thirty and you haven't had a single girlfriend. It's just me now. Be honest with Mom… You don't happen to like men, do you?"
Usually quiet and reserved, Nie Shuyuan immediately jumped in to defend himself: "Mom, your son is straight. I just haven't met the right person yet. By the way, I heard Shuhang's grades have been slipping lately…"
His mother could tell he was changing the subject, but she let it slide and went along with it.
Back in her apartment, Feng Wan was happily binging the variety show. She had to admit—the director from the fruit channel really knew what he was doing.
The camera work was well thought out, and her on-screen image came across as a bold and straightforward woman, which Feng Wan found very satisfying.
She laughed uncontrollably when she saw Yuan Huihui looking miserable, forced to work in a dress on the first day. The moment Yuan bonked her forehead and ended up with a big bump, Feng Wan nearly wheezed from laughing too hard.
The live comments were hilarious too. Especially when Yuan Huihui tried to show off her "uniqueness," netizens had a field day.
"Didn't her fans claim she was the ultimate delicate beauty? Without makeup and with that bump, she looks so average."
"Right? And judging by her performance earlier, she's basically dead weight."
"Careful, you might get mobbed by D-list stans."
"Whatever. I thrive on arguments. Seriously, showing up late and then slacking off? Only fans would baby a lazy queen like that."
And just like that, "lazy queen" started trending in the live chat. A trending topic soon appeared: Actress Yuan Caught Slacking on Variety Show, and it made the hot search list that night.
Yuan Huihui went into a rage when her agent called to inform her. She immediately paid the platform to suppress the trending topic, furious at how things had turned out.
She had joined the variety show hoping to gain fans. Who knew the other two female guests would totally ignore the script and make her look lazy in comparison?
That night, Yuan Huihui was so upset that her chest hurt and she couldn't sleep. The next day, due to being in poor condition, she even lost an endorsement deal. Now truly panicked, she decided she'd have to visit a temple for blessings.
Feng Wan, on the other hand, gained a million followers overnight thanks to the show. She took it in stride—after all, in her previous world, she had been a top-tier celebrity with tens of millions of fans.