Starlet Taotie Chapter 24 (Part 2)
Chapter 24.2 Today’s Another Day
The tasting banquet was held at Velaris Sky.
The paparazzi and fans who received the news all rushed over, but because Velaris Sky did not allow outsiders to enter, they could only wait outside.
Long and short lenses were all aimed at the entrance of Velaris Sky.
There were even streamers who directly started livestreams.
It had turned into a small-scale red carpet event.
“The person who just walked past was the Best Actress Aiang. In recent years, aside from acting, Best Actress Aiang has rarely appeared in front of the public. She barely even attends events anymore. I never expected this tasting banquet would manage to secure her presence.”
“That’s Director Lou. Hasn’t he been developing his career overseas these past few years? Could it be that he came back specifically for this tasting banquet?”
“No wonder people say this tasting banquet is extraordinary. This is even more outrageous than a film festival!”
After the streamer finished commenting for a while, he was just about to take a sip of water before continuing when his eyes suddenly widened.
At the end of the road, two young women had just stepped out of a luxury car.
The one in front was wearing a black, figure-hugging gown from V’s. Her long hair cascaded down in large waves, and the jewelry she wore was from A’s newly released Mythical Beast series, both unique and sharp in design.
The outfit completely accentuated her beauty and figure. The moment she stepped out of the car, she became the center of attention.
It was none other than Jiang Tao.
The bullet comments instantly exploded.
【Holy crap!!! She’s gorgeous!!!】
【That’s Jiang Tao?! Jiang Tao was actually this beautiful?】
【Wife, come here!!!!】
【I always thought she was the pure and cute type. I’m sorry, I was wrong. Turns out my waifu can be sweet or cool, beautiful or fierce. Wuwuwu, today is another day where I love my waifu even more.】
【The person above, wake up. Why do you keep confessing to my wife? Don’t you have your own wife?】
【Today is another day where mom fans have fallen in love!!】
【Is the person beside her He RanRan? She’s so beautiful too! One fierce and wild, the other elegant and graceful. They look absolutely perfect together!!】
【Beautiful girls should stick together.】
【Ahhh!!! Jiang Tao just took He RanRan’s hand! The way He RanRan hurried to keep up with her, omg!! I can write a webnovel on this!!】
【The friend above! Here, take my pen! Write it quickly!!】
【My inspiration is exploding. My editing hands are already itching. I’m going to make some clips first!!】
【The creator above, leave your handle before you go!!】
…
In an instant, #JiangTao×HeRanRan# shot straight onto the trending searches.
However, He RanRan had no idea.
Actually, her manager had originally suggested that she dress more grandly. After all, the tasting banquet was receiving so much attention, and there were so many paparazzi who had come today. As long as she could stand out and attract attention, she would gain popularity, and with popularity would come resources.
But He RanRan had refused.
She knew very clearly that if it were not for Jiang Tao, she would not even have had the chance to come here.
A person should know how to be grateful.
Jiang Tao had reached out and helped her, and if she refused to repay that kindness, that would already be bad enough. But if she went as far as betraying that kindness, even she herself would look down on who she had become.
So when choosing her dress, she had first asked Tong Tong what Jiang Tao would be wearing, then specially coordinated her own outfit to match.
Even if she still failed to obtain that female lead role in the end, she would have a clear conscience.
It was only after entering the banquet hall that she finally had time to take out her phone. The moment she did, she saw more than a dozen WeChat messages from her manager.
【RanRan!! You’re trending!!】
He RanRan was dumbfounded.
…
At this moment, Chu Ruoyu and her younger cousin Li Siwan were also on their way to the tasting banquet.
Li Siwan was only twelve years old.
She was a fan of Shen Zhiyan, and a particularly devoted one at that. After learning that Shen Zhiyan would be attending the tasting banquet, she had begged her cousin to bring her along.
On the way, Li Siwan looked worried. “Our Zhiyan has an eating disorder. I wonder if he’ll be able to adapt to a place like this…”
Chu Ruoyu’s brows furrowed so tightly it looked like they could trap a fly.
Without any hesitation, she said, “Wake up. He’s an adult. He doesn’t need a twelve-year-old girl acting like his mother.”
Li Siwan snorted. “You simply don’t understand how fans feel. We all wish we could give our idols the best things in the world. We don’t want them to suffer even the slightest bit of grievance.”
Chu Ruoyu: “……”
For the first time, she didn’t know how to retort.
After entering the banquet hall, Chu Ruoyu brought Li Siwan over to greet Shi Wenqing.
Her grandfather had studied cooking under the Shi family when he was young. Although he later switched careers and started making snacks, he and Shi Wenqing had remained close friends all this time.
However, as Chu Ruoyu drew near, she caught sight of the very person she loathed beside Shi Wenqing: Jiang Tao!
Actually, Chu Ruoyu and Jiang Tao did not have any personal grudge against each other.
It was just that Chu Ruoyu was extremely protective of her own people. Su Yingxue was her good friend, so naturally, she would stand on Su Yingxue’s side.
She had heard from her grandfather that Shi Wenqing had recently found a very young gourmet connoisseur who had given him new inspiration, which was why this tasting banquet had been held.
But she never expected that person to be Jiang Tao!
Shi Wenqing smiled warmly as he introduced her. “Xiao Yu, this is my young friend, Jiang Tao.”
“Her tongue is incredibly impressive. She can taste all the flavors in the world. I heard from your grandfather that the new product line you’re in charge of has hit a bottleneck recently, hasn’t it? You can ask Xiao Jiang to help you taste them.”
There were many descendants in the Chu family, but Old Master Chu did not favor sons over daughters. He only cared about who was more capable.
Right after returning to the country, Chu Ruoyu had been entrusted with an important responsibility and taken over the new product development for the following year.
However, the recent development process had not been going smoothly, and Chu Ruoyu was under a great deal of pressure.
Even so, she still politely declined Shi Wenqing’s suggestion.
At the same time, she became even more wary of Jiang Tao.
She knew what a true gourmet connoisseur was; possessing a palate capable of discerning every nuance of flavor wasn't enough on its own. One had to have tasted a vast array of the world's finest delicacies to pinpoint flaws in a dish with precision.
This required not only talent, but also experience and years of accumulation.
And Jiang Tao…with a figure even more slender and graceful than that of an ordinary female celebrity, along with her young age… she might possess some talent, but when it came to experience and time, she was definitely lacking.
She had no idea what method Jiang Tao had used to deceive Grandpa Shi, but she absolutely would not fall for it!
(TLN: Master Chef Shi is not her real grandpa, this grandpa is just a name for an elderly family friend.)
Shi Wenqing introduced Jiang Tao to her. “Xiao Jiang, this is Chu Ruoyu, the granddaughter of an old friend of mine. She’s a very capable young woman. The famous Ruoxian Tea-Infused Candy from some time ago was created by her team.”
Jiang Tao’s eyes immediately lit up. “I’ve eaten it before. I tried the entire series! The Longjing Tea flavor was the best!”
Chu Ruoyu sneered inwardly.
At the time, their main selling point had been Longjing tea. Everyone knew that flavor was the best.
Trying to win her over with words like that? She was underestimating her far too much.
But Jiang Tao continued. “The sweetness was just right, and the adjustment of the tea fragrance was perfect as well. There was a slight bitterness when it first entered your mouth, but after holding it there for a while, the sweetness slowly returned…”
“So I’m guessing you changed the traditional roasting method, and during the sugar-making process…”
The more Chu Ruoyu listened, the more shocked she became.
These were all core details of their production process. Aside from their own research and development department, it was impossible for any outsider to know about them.
How could Jiang Tao know?
Could it be that she had actually tasted all of this?
Although she was shocked, every compliment Jiang Tao gave landed exactly on the key points.
Each of these improvements was something they had created through countless sleepless nights and endless experiments. The amount of effort they had poured into these tiny pieces of tea-infused candy was no less than what went into developing high-tech products.
This was all the fruit of their hard work; a source of quiet, private pride.
Now that someone was praising them with such precision, Chu Ruoyu felt like a cat being scratched at every right spot. Her scalp tingled with satisfaction, and she could not suppress the smile at the corners of her lips.
She almost wished Jiang Tao would continue.
Just a little more. Say a little more.
“As for the newly released black tea series—”
Jiang Tao suddenly stopped.
She remembered what Tong Tong had told her before: when commenting on other people’s food in the future, she had to be careful. Compliments were fine, but when it came to criticism, it was better to leave it unsaid.
It was fine if she ran into someone like Chef Master Shi.
But what if she encountered someone like Si Muze again? If they refused to let things go and kept making trouble, wouldn’t that just create unnecessary problems?
Jiang Tao felt Tong Tong had a point. After all, she still had to eat Master Shi’s new dishes later.
What if Chu Ruoyu caused a scene and affected her meal?
Chu Ruoyu felt as if she had been getting a massage in all the right places, only for it to suddenly stop.
Her entire body was left hanging in the middle, and the discomfort was indescribable.
Jiang Tao’s expression especially made it obvious that she was not as satisfied with the black tea series as she had been with the green tea series.
And coincidentally, their bottleneck had appeared right after the release of the black tea series. That only made her even more eager to know exactly what problems the black tea series had!
She almost wanted to grab Jiang Tao by the shoulders and shake her.
Tell me! Hurry up and tell me already!
But then she suddenly came to a realization.
So this was Jiang Tao’s scheme!
She was deliberately keeping her in suspense, using this method to stir up her curiosity.
As long as she took the initiative to ask, she would fall right into Jiang Tao’s trap.
How devious!
Anyone involved in making food would probably be unable to resist such a tactic!
No wonder Grandpa Shi had fallen for it.
Fortunately, she had been prepared in advance, so she had not been fooled!
Chu Ruoyu silently praised herself for her vigilance.
She calmly remarked, “Thank you for your guidance, Miss Jiang. I’ll take my leave first.”
There was not the slightest hint of hesitation or reluctance. She did not give Jiang Tao any chance to continue the conversation, and her rejection was made extremely clear.
In any case, she would not be seeing Jiang Tao again after today.
Even if Jiang Tao wanted to psychologically manipulate her, she would not have the chance!
She turned to Li Siwan. “Let’s go.”
However, Li Siwan suddenly looked toward the entrance and gasped.
“Zhi–Zhi–Zhiyan ge ge!!”
Shen Zhiyan walked over with a smile. After exchanging greetings with Chef Master Shi, he casually took a seat beside Jiang Tao.
At this moment, Li Siwan displayed an astonishing burst of strength. She grabbed Chu Ruoyu and pushed her down onto the chair, then quickly dashed around to the other side of Shen Zhiyan and sat down.
Chu Ruoyu looked at Jiang Tao, who was sitting beside her.
“???”
TL Note: The Best Actress’s surname is 江, which is spelt Jiang, but it’s a different character from the mc's, which is written as 姜. To avoid confusion, I changed Best Actress Jiang to Best Actress Aiang
