Deadly at Midnight
Late-night food shows are the most lethal, especially when they focus on close-ups of dishes.

The presenter’s pleasant voice provides detailed descriptions of each dish’s difficulty and background, as if worried the audience wouldn’t know how delicious they are.

That evening in Linjiang, many people at home were rummaging through their cabinets for instant noodles.

The number of takeaway orders also surged.

Young people working away from home even received calls from their elderly relatives:

“There’s a new restaurant called Yin Yan in Linjiang. When will you come back? Let’s go try it together.”

Older people typically don’t follow news about new restaurant openings, but the cameraman for the evening news had done such a tempting job filming that in just a few seconds of footage, they left a deeper impression on the audience than many bizarre social news stories.

That night, many people who had broken their diet to snack began to complain online about this inhumane act—though it was all in jest.

Jiang Sen, who was working overtime, shut down his computer.

He remembered that he hadn’t confirmed the email he sent to Shen Qiming that afternoon.

So, before leaving, he decided to stop by Shen Qiming’s office.

He didn’t call ahead, knowing that Shen Qiming would definitely be in the office.

Shen, as usual, finished his work before 6 PM and would go home to the Mingzhu Mountain villa.

But now, he hadn’t moved, and it seemed like he was living in the office too, often with the lights on until 1 or 2 AM.

When Jiang Sen entered the room today, he immediately noticed something unusual.

The TV in the reception area of Shen Qiming’s office was actually on.

Shen Qiming was a bit of a clean freak, and his office wasn’t often used for meetings. Even the assistants avoided going in unless absolutely necessary.

This TV had essentially been a decoration since it was installed.

Shen Qiming had three computer monitors on his desk and didn’t need the TV to check stocks.

But today, the TV was on?

Jiang Sen looked at it in disbelief.

The time was 10:30 PM.

The screen wasn’t showing the U.S. stock market, but instead… a Evening News replay?

It was Linjiang’s local evening news, not international affairs, but trivial stories like a young man being scammed while getting a haircut or a young woman’s failed cosmetic surgery.

Jiang Sen stared at the screen for almost a minute, then realized that Shen Qiming, sitting behind his desk, was waiting for him to speak.

The lights were on in the office, but Shen wasn’t watching the TV.

He lowered the documents in his hands. “What’s up?”

“…” After giving the email, Jiang Sen couldn’t help but glance at Shen Qiming’s face. “…You still watch Evening News?”

Shen Qiming called up the email to review and quickly responded, frowning. He glanced at the TV and then relaxed. “Mm.”

Jiang Sen was a bit confused. “…Then why don’t you sit over there and watch?”

Shen Qiming glanced at the TV, then turned his attention back to the screen without interest. “I like listening to the sound.”

The sound…

On the TV, the anchor was reporting on a story about an elderly woman riding a bicycle against traffic and cursing at the traffic police.

The loudspeaker blared her insults, making it almost impossible to catch a break from the noise.

Jiang Sen was stunned.

He liked listening to the old woman cursing?! What kind of person is Shen Qiming?!

The elderly woman’s screaming was endless, and Jiang Sen’s face twitched. After a while, he could only laugh awkwardly. “Haha, well, that’s… special.”

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After the news ended, the production team at the broadcasting building received a lot of feedback.

The leaders at the station were quite surprised.

While the evening news had a high viewership due to the prime time slot on the provincial station, the news itself was usually quickly forgotten by the audience.

But this time, the footage they had brought back under the leadership’s instructions had unexpectedly caught the public’s attention.

During the meeting, the leader brought this up, praising the cameramen for their good work.

The senior leader hadn’t expected the evening news to make even the investors’ requests so vivid and engaging, nodding in approval. “Good job. We are in the news business, after all. We need to catch the audience’s interest and enhance interaction with them.”

The team that had brought back unused interview scripts felt uneasy and didn’t dare take credit.

They only said, “No, no, it was all thanks to Teacher Lei, who guided us at Yin Yan.”

At Yin Yan, Lei Qiu was the first to suggest filming the dishes.

Hearing this, the senior leader praised Lei Qiu. “Lei, the evening news isn’t even your section, but you found the perfect angle. Your ability is impressive.”

Sitting at the meeting table, Lei Qiu was momentarily taken aback by the praise.

The senior leader continued, “By the way, our station has an opening position. I thought you’d be a good fit. Now, seeing your capabilities, I’m confident you can take on more responsibilities.”

Lei Qiu was stunned.

The senior leader’s words caused a tense silence.

The infamous competitor, the well-known “mad dog” surnamed Nian, who had been vying for the position for over half a month, now found it slipping quietly into Lei Qiu’s hands.

What had happened?

Lei Qiu calmly accepted the promotion, and, through her bag, hesitated over whether to send a red envelope to her best friend Jin Yaotiao.

“By the way,” the leader added, “The Beijing TV station has formed a food documentary team. It’s highly valued, and the finished product will be broadcast worldwide.

They’re heading south to film. You guys should prepare to host them. There’s one spot available to join their team, so we’ll see who gets chosen.”

The leader smirked and shook his head. “Don’t get your hopes too high. This team… is tricky.”
Leiqiu stepped out of the office and immediately called Jin Yaotiao.

When she had just heard that she might be recommended to join the documentary project in the capital, the person on the other end of the line, like a mad dog, got so excited it was almost unbearable.

It made sense though.

Linjiang was a local TV station, and having the opportunity to collaborate with a capital city station was undoubtedly a huge deal for them.

However, Leiqiu was always practical, and fighting for opportunities wasn’t a time-sensitive issue for her.

What she cared about most at the moment was the theme and scale of the documentary.

If they were chosen as the filming location, it would certainly be a big help to Jin Yaotiao’s family business.

“Food documentary?” Jin Yaotiao wedged the phone between her shoulder and cheek, raised her hand to take the dried Sichuan pepper that Wang Sheng handed her.

Different varieties of dried Sichuan pepper were in different containers, and she sniffed each one, picking two of her preferred kinds.

The beauty of food lies in the fact that behind the ingredients presented to the diner, there are seasonings that are just as meticulous, even if they can’t be seen.

Even slight changes in these “supporting characters” can directly affect whether the dish tonight feels high-end or rustic.

Even tiny Sichuan peppercorns, depending on their variety and origin, have distinct flavors.

Blending varieties focused on fragrance and those emphasizing numbing spiciness creates a new product altogether.

The table was covered with the other spices she had chosen.

There were six types of dried chili alone. Jin Yaotiao asked someone to grind what she had picked, and after hanging up, she thoughtfully began blending them together.

Leiqiu had passed along the first-hand news to her, clearly treating her like one of her own people. After all, Jin Yaotiao had never done anything to directly benefit Leiqiu.

However, when it came to the documentary…

Jin Yaotiao racked her memory and did recall something about this name, but…

It seemed like it wasn’t good news.

Back then, she hadn’t gone abroad and occasionally followed the gossip online.

The topic of this production team was once very hot, and all the discussions revolved around internal conflicts. In short, there were two factions in the team.

The more powerful one pushed out the weaker faction, which led to a split and the formation of a new group. In the end, both sides parted ways unhappily.

As for the final product…

Jin Yaotiao remembered watching it briefly before turning it off.

The visuals were nice, but she didn’t find it memorable.

The viewership ratings were reportedly average, but the breakaway faction went on to make a documentary on another topic that generated some buzz a year later.

That’s when fans dug up the old grudges, fueling the drama.

She hadn’t been involved in the drama, but the reason she still remembered the program’s name was because the conflict was so large at the time, and because it had involved a number of familiar names.

For example, the Cheng family.

They had appeared on this documentary and crafted a strong public image, packaging the Cheng family as a renowned family of chefs with deep roots in Linjiang.

After the show aired, they used this image to market themselves.

The documentary itself wasn’t popular, but the Cheng family’s advertisements were everywhere, plastered across banners with the Beijing TV station’s logo.

Their marketing was so strong that many people started believing it, and the true renowned chef family in Linjiang, the Mingde Jin family, seemed to be more about seeking fame.

Jin’s father had once seen a newspaper where they were stepping on the Jin family’s promotion to tout the Cheng family. He was furious and cursed at them for being shameless.

Sadly, in this day and age, people were easily swayed by information, and the era where good wine didn’t fear a deep alley was long gone.

Jin Yaotiao furrowed her brows.

She hated messy disputes and preferred to let her abilities speak for themselves, but there were always people who sought trouble.

Leiqiu had given her the news quickly, but since Leiqiu knew, others in Linjiang TV would surely have heard rumors. Based on Cheng Chen’s personality, she suspected he had already begun strategizing on how to get involved in the program.

It was a pity that she didn’t intend to follow the Cheng family’s example, spending such a high price to be involved in a show that would end up with plummeting ratings.

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She lowered her gaze and began mixing the various chili powders sent back to her according to her preferences.

The different-colored dried chili powders, each carrying its own fragrance and suitable spiciness, gathered together at the bottom of the bowl.

After being pre-roasted, they were slightly moist.

She added star anise, bay leaves, Sichuan pepper, and other materials, then added some toasted sesame seeds and crushed peanuts.

Finally, she retrieved the spices fried in oil, pouring the hot oil into the mixture, stirring to combine.

The hot oil made a tempting sizzling sound as it came into contact with the ingredients, and the mixture started to bubble eagerly in the bowl.

The boiling oil quickly reacted with the spices, and the aroma became stronger with each pour.

Master Tu, who had been busy with his tasks, stopped to watch.

He tilted his head like a sugarcane that hadn’t fully grown.

“Wow,” he said. “This chili oil is really fragrant. It’s even more intense than what your grandfather made.”

Jin Yaotiao didn’t intend to be modest. “My grandfather made Linjiang cuisine. How could he have researched chili peppers?”

Linjiang’s flavors had always leaned towards sweetness, and the neighboring cities also emphasized fresh ingredients.

Spices like chili, which have a strong flavor, were rarely used in their culinary traditions.

It was only in recent decades, with economic development and an increasingly diverse population, that people’s tastes had gradually broken free from their restrictions, growing wildly.

But many of the older chefs in Linjiang still looked down on chili, thinking that such overpowering ingredients, which could drown out the subtle flavors of dishes, were unworthy of being used in high-class cuisine.

Jin Yaotiao, however, found chili quite interesting. After all, as long as food tasted good, who cared about the distinction between high or low class?

Even ingredients as expensive as abalone and shark fin were considered costly because they were rare, but once served at the table, did braised shark fin really taste better than braised pork?

She liked to experiment with bold ingredients.

In fact, even something as unconventional as chili could be used well without stealing the limelight from the dish. Often, it could even serve as a perfect finishing touch.

The sizzling chili oil smelled so good that Master Tu, watching, took a piece of the pork belly he had prepared earlier, which had only been boiled in water and lacked flavor.

He chopped it into slices and added some garlic, which looked quite plain.

He poured a generous amount of the freshly made chili oil over the top.

The chili oil was still hot, but without waiting for it to cool, Master Tu took a slice of fatty pork belly, wrapped it in the seasoning, and ate it.

The pork was undercooked, not the ideal texture for a white-cut pork dish, but it didn’t affect the deliciousness of the dish.

When the tender pork mixed with the sauce, the rich chili oil became the soul of the dish. No other elements were needed, even if the only accompaniments were raw garlic and a bit of rough soy sauce and cooking wine.

As the slight spiciness of the chili oil hit his tongue, Master Tu couldn’t help but hiss, yet he still took a piece of the chili to taste by itself.

The chili was not ground into powder; it was in small pieces, which retained their integrity when chewed. Thanks to Jin Yaotiao’s prior roasting, every chili seed had reached perfect maturity.

As the seeds burst open and mixed with roasted sesame, they created an irresistible, mouthwatering combination.

Master Tu sniffed, “It’s delicious, but too spicy.”

He didn’t eat spicy food and avoided chili. For him, the spiciness was hard to bear.

His apprentice, seeing this, immediately came forward to take the plate away.

But Master Tu, holding his chopsticks, turned his face like a walnut shell and said, “Get me a bottle of milk.”

This dish was too spicy to eat without something to cool it down, and milk would be better.

“Or maybe another bowl of rice, it’s really good with rice.”