The sky grew darker. Outside the venue, all-natural light had vanished.

In the pure white snow, the only lights came from nearby homes and patrolling mecha.

The fans waiting at home were also starting to get a little anxious.

’It’s almost seven-thirty! Why isn’t anything happening?!’

Inside Jiang Jiujiu’s fan group:

[Why hasn’t it started? I’m getting so antsy.]

[I’m looking forward to it too T_T Couldn’t they have started the stream a little earlier? I can’t wait to see my Juju in HD.]

[Insider info: I heard this year’s Most Popular Gold Award winner gets an extra performance!]

[!!!]

[The Most Popular Gold Award? Isn’t that our Juju? Whoa, we get to see Juju perform today?] 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The group chat instantly exploded with activity. Everyone jumped into a guessing game, trying to figure out what Jiang Jiujiu would perform tonight.

[@Wanxing What’s the point of us guessing! Ask the insider!]

[@Wanxing!]

Wanxing: ...

Wanxing: I’m not sure either, but rumor has it they’re setting up a massive pot at the venue. Qiuqiu is going to cook on the spot and stream it live! She’ll be making hundreds of servings, and it seems like everyone will have a chance to get some.

Wanxing saw that everyone was getting tired of waiting and decided to joke around with them, but unexpectedly—

[For real?!]

[!!? OMG, I’m dying! Juju didn’t mention this before. Was it meant to be a surprise for us?]

[The streaming company really gets it. They know what we want to see.]

[@Wanxing Do you have any other insider info? How big is the pot? Is it, like, ridiculously huge? And how many servings is "hundreds"? A hundred and what?]

[@Wanxing What’s on the menu tonight? Can you give us a hint?]

A flood of people piled on.

Wanxing: ...

Wanxing: ! Wait, I was joking! It’s not true.

[???]

[Fake news? We got excited for nothing?]

[That’s so mean! My mouth was already watering, and you’re telling me to swallow it back down.]

Wanxing was exasperated for a moment. "It’s the annual gala today. Everyone’s in formal wear. Juju will probably show up in a gown, too. There’s no way she’d be cooking."

Just as everyone was busy chatting, someone suddenly chimed in.

[Quiet! The stream’s starting!]

[The Federation stream is live!]

Under the watchful eyes of the public, the Federation’s official broadcast finally went live. The first thing that appeared on screen was a long red carpet and tonight’s host.

"Hello, everyone, and welcome to the official Federation live broadcast of the annual gala! I’m your host, Xixi. Tonight’s streamers will be making their entrance shortly. I wonder who you all at home are waiting for?"

"Oh, I see a lot of you are asking about Xiong Xin and Jiang Jiujiu. It looks like these two young streamers are very popular!"

"There’s the bell! Without further ado, let’s have the staff pull the camera robot back. The annual gala has officially begun!"

The camera robot instantly pulled back, giving the waiting crowd and fans a full view of the red carpet.

On one end of the red carpet stood the host in front of a giant poster. On the other, beautiful figures approached with graceful poise.

Music swelled as the entrance ceremony officially began. The host stood by the stage and announced, "And now, approaching the carpet, we have the streamers from our commentary division, You Yu and Qingcao—"

The organizers had arranged the order so that the less prominent streamers went first. The further back in the lineup, the larger the streamer’s fanbase. After all the streamers had walked the carpet, a few major guests and the editors-in-chief from branch companies would make their entrance together.

As one of this year’s major names, Jiang Qiuqiu’s spot was, therefore, near the end of the lineup.

Of course, the timing of her appearance wasn’t important, and Jiang Qiuqiu didn’t care about such things. What she did find surprising was that the officials had actually scheduled her to walk the red carpet with Chen Yu.