[Group Monkeys Meeting: What the heck, how did you guess that???]
[White Crane's Wings: Is this year's competition that difficult? In previous years, it was mainly focused on felines and canines.]
[Tiger Third: Nope, I just came from another livestream. At first glance, they were all of the same order, not interesting.]
[Kingfisher: Caw caw caw caw, after so many years, birds are finally being recognized. I declare I'm living in this streamer's livestream!]
"Are you sure?"
The staff member doubted whether Lu Mingming's answer was a random guess, as it was simply too outrageous.
Xing Fu Xing was merely a small qualification threshold; passing it granted entry tickets. As such, there would be no deliberately difficult species to stump the competing streamers.
Species like parrots, hamsters, and snakes would only appear with similar difficulty during the selection for the main planetary stage.
Lu Mingming nodded: "I'm sure."
When she lived on Earth, her grandparents kept two parrots with blue and white gradient feathers. They had behavioral habits similar to young boys and were particularly sensitive to sounds.
Whatever others said, it would repeat it, mimicking them with uncanny accuracy.
Lu Mingming guessed that the reason the little boy was eliminated as a substitute was twofold: his extremely rare species, and a genetic defect that made him unable to control his tendency to repeat others' words.
For this question, Lu Mingming considered it a stroke of luck that she managed to guess the correct answer.
If it were another streamer, they might have found the little boy's habit of constantly repeating their words irritating.
The one-minute guessing time ended. The staff member glanced at Lu Mingming without saying anything and submitted her answer for her.
Having had her identity revealed through trickery, the little boy puffed out his cheeks and turned his small head away, refusing to look at Lu Mingming, displaying a stubbornly angry demeanor.
Now it was difficult to appease him.
Lu Mingming pinched the little boy's soft, bouncy cheek. He responded with an angry glare, his eyes clearly conveying "You're so mean," which made Lu Mingming unable to help but cover her mouth and chuckle.
Overwhelmed by the cuteness of her "cub," Lu Mingming quickly walked over and reached out to take his hand.
"Baby, do you still want milk candy? Tell me your name, okay?"
The little boy's ears twitched. He hesitated and then looked up at Lu Mingming's eyes, with a hint of naive obedience.
The child hesitated for a few seconds but couldn't resist the temptation of the milk candy. He tightly gripped Lu Mingming's hand, signaling their reconciliation.
"I am... Hua Hua."
The child's voice was soft and drawn-out as he tried hard not to repeat Lu Mingming's words.
His hand was warm and soft. Each of his fingers felt boneless, small and delicate, like a piece of mochi melting in her palm.
Lu Mingming looked down at Hua Hua's profile. His cheeks were perfectly plump with baby fat, like sweet little steamed buns.
It seemed that few people held him, as he was shy, with his face and ears blushing a deep red.
I really want to take a few more bites!
Lu Mingming suppressed her urge to tease and gave him the milk candy from her bag as a reward.
Since she had made a promise, she had to keep it.
Hua Hua took the candy but didn't open it to eat. Instead, he carefully placed it in his pocket, cherishing this precious gift.
When he looked back at Lu Mingming, his eyes were fixed on her face, unwilling to move.
What should I do next?
Lu Mingming surveyed her surroundings:
The cubs in other livestreams were playing happily with their streamers or being fed corn porridge and milk by them.
There were no toys suitable for a small parrot in this area. Places that offered high perches were too dangerous for the little fellow.
However, there were still twenty-nine minutes left. She couldn't rely on milk candy to get closer indefinitely.
This method was also very detrimental to the child's teeth.
Milk candy...
An idea struck Lu Mingming.
For a little foodie, nothing couldn't be solved with food!
"Wait for me, sister. I'll make something delicious for our Hua Hua."
Lu Mingming gently stroked Hua Hua's soft hair with her fingertips, speaking patiently.
This action was akin to birds affectionately preening their feathers, and it was the best way to make a parrot feel her friendliness.
Hua Hua gave a low hum and obediently lowered his head, accepting Lu Mingming's affectionate gesture.
As this was a global livestream, Lu Mingming easily requested a bag of small orange-yellow millet and three eggs from the staff.
Parrots belonged to the avian class, and their food was completely different from that of cats and dogs.
This was Lu Mingming's first attempt at making bird food, and she was inevitably nervous, her palms sweating. She did her best to recall memories to complete this competition.
Based on Lu Mingming's observation, the little boy was about half a head larger than the bear cub belonging to Cheng Shiqin. She surmised he was still in the weaning stage, which was why she had taken a bag of millet.
In fact, most viewers were also unclear on how to raise birds. Only a few vaguely knew that they might need to be fed food like rice.
"Wow, I saw the comments and found out that a streamer today has won a big prize. Xing Fu Xing has a little contestant who is a bird for the first time."
The host and commentator of the event feigned surprise. Without stopping, they moved from another streamer's livestream to the central area.
The comments immediately exploded, with viewers incredulously asking which streamer it was. Uncolored comments scrolled densely across the main screen.
Many streamers, discussing the topic in their own livestreams, naturally paid attention to this development.
A few people cast veiled glances in Lu Mingming's direction, their eyes filled with shock.
To be able to easily identify the species of a substitute cub, such skill would likely allow them to contend even if they participated in the top one hundred of the alliance!
Nine-Tailed Fox also noticed the situation at Lu Mingming's end and looked up at the viewership numbers above the livestream screen.
Due to her dignified and radiant appearance, she had once been crowned the goddess of otaku culture. At the start of the competition, she had a lead of three percentage points over all other streamers.
However, her audience was now rapidly decreasing, crowding around the central area with others to discuss: which big-shot streamer had unexpectedly drawn a bird cub.
Nine-Tailed Fox blamed all these changes on Lu Mingming and harbored even more hatred.
She habitually pinched the child in her arms. The child whimpered in pain, tears welling up in his eyes, his nose running and his face full of grievance.
Nine-Tailed Fox immediately suppressed her negative emotions, cursing silently in her heart, yet she had to put on a smiling face to comfort him.
On the other side.
Facing the questions from the viewers in the livestream, the host smiled mysteriously and did not answer.
He panned the camera around all the streamers and finally walked slowly towards Lu Mingming. The camera clearly captured Lu Mingming, who was beating eggs.
"What is Streamer Number Two doing?"
Lu Mingming skillfully separated the egg yolks from the whites of the three eggs. When asked, she calmly continued her task and replied:
"Making egg millet. It's simple and convenient. It's good for children in the weaning stage. If parents want to learn, the weaning and molting periods are the most suitable times."
She remembered how her grandfather used to do it. The little ones at home always ate it with gusto and grew up strong, with lush feathers and energetic spirits.
This move again left the viewers of the livestream confused.
Lu Mingming's old fans were bewildered. They couldn't understand why she wasn't playing or interacting more with the little cub during such an important competition today.
Shasha, who was watching Lu Mingming's livestream, also couldn't understand. She had eaten Lu Mingming's cooking and had watched a few livestreams.
Even if braised pork and shrimp pot were not allowed in the first round, wasn't a pre-prepared instant meal, rehydrated with water, better than this bowl of dry and unappetizing millet mixed with egg?
Doubts flashed through the comments.
[143: Is she not performing well today? Why does it feel like she's given up?]
[Jasmine: Pui pui pui, can you say something good?]
[Eating a Big Bowl of Spicy Strips: ...Is anyone going to manage this? This is cooking, it should be counted in the second round.]
In fact, the confusion of the livestream also reflected the general lack of understanding about bird-humanoids, who were rare.
Parrots needed spacious and free areas to play.
Clearly, this was not applicable in this competition where the appearance of a bird cub was unexpected.
Furthermore, regarding food, parrots had not evolved as thoroughly as cats and dogs. Although some could eat meat and oil, the digestive systems of many bird-humanoids still couldn't tolerate them.
Lu Mingming didn't know the current evolutionary level of birds, but she certainly didn't want to challenge more possibilities just to achieve an unsatisfactory outcome.
The host noticed the comments from the viewers, which were complaining about the humanoids. He followed up by asking Lu Mingming: "Is Streamer Number Two trying to increase affinity by cooking? Wouldn't that be a bit against the rules?"
"Does it count? But I didn't use fire."
Lu Mingming retorted softly, looking genuinely innocent.
This was a fact. According to interstellar regulations, using fire counted as cooking.
The host's mouth twitched subconsciously. He hadn't expected to be so neatly refuted.
Feeling embarrassed, he led the filming crew towards the next streamer's livestream.
However, Lu Mingming didn't mind. Having someone interviewing her constantly made her feel less comfortable.
Lu Mingming used chopsticks to thoroughly mix the millet and egg in the bowl. The fresh aroma of millet intertwined with the rich flavor of egg yolk, emitting a faint, unique腥味.
With a flick of her chopsticks, the egg yolk mixture lifted a string of crystal-clear, plump millet grains—barely reaching the standard her grandfather used for feeding.
Unaffected by the comments, she calmly sprinkled a layer of nutrients and placed the ceramic bowl filled with egg millet on the table in front of Hua Hua.
As things stood, preparations were almost complete.
Under Hua Hua's gaze, Lu Mingming abruptly pressed the application to end the competition.
The media personnel present heard the notification sound of the first streamer ending the competition. They straightened up from their seats, raised their cameras, and aimed to capture the first brave soul to finish.
Seeing Lu Mingming end the competition, the streamers who were still competing wasted no more time and accelerated their actions. Within a minute, one after another, the ending sound alerts rang out.
The host first arrived at Lu Mingming's livestream, seemingly in disbelief, and deliberately emphasized with an exaggerated expression: "Is Streamer Number Two certain about using... this bowl of rice for the intimacy evaluation?"
Lu Mingming blinked her bright, dark eyes and affirmed.
The scene became uncontrollably noisy, with everyone from staff members to contestants chattering amongst themselves.
Has this streamer gone mad?! Is she determined to lose??