Chapter 2: The Living Death King of the Entertainment Industry! The Dish Is Poisoned, I Need to Get My Stomach Pumped! 【Please Vote】

“Wow, this table is absolutely overflowing with dishes!”
“Just smelling the aroma, I can’t help but salivate.”
“It smells incredible!”
“I’m going to eat three bowls of plain rice straight away!”

As everyone welcomed Teacher Huang to his seat, they all put on excited expressions, practically wishing they could praise Teacher Huang’s ancestors for preparing such a feast.

“Hey, guys, just so you know!” Lü Ming, already a little tipsy, saw his credit for the delicious spread being stolen by the idle Teacher Huang and decided to confess his contribution to the meal.

But everyone seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement. Although they noticed Lü Ming’s attempt to speak, they all pretended not to hear him. Li Changfeng even raised his voice:
“Putting together such a lavish dinner at this hour, Teacher Huang, you’ve really worked hard!”
“Yeah, my mom never made such a sumptuous meal for me; Teacher Huang, you’re even better than my mom!” a popular young idol chimed in, shamelessly flattering him without a hint of embarrassment.

Teacher Huang beamed with pride.

Lü Ming, however, retorted coldly, “Well, that’s truly unfilial of you.”

The idol blinked in confusion.

“What does that have to do with you, nobody?”

“How am I unfilial?” the trainee glared.

Lü Ming said, “Your mom usually cooks to make sure you’re well fed and taken care of. Teacher Huang made this entire table of dishes, and you’re very likely to be on the road tonight!”

“Not only are you not considering whether you’ll even see the sun tomorrow, but you’re also slandering your own mother’s contributions to your life. If that’s not unfilial, what is?”

The delicate idol was left speechless, then looked to Teacher Huang, who was sitting with a stern expression.

“What are you looking at? You’ve heard of the saying ‘a tiger won’t eat its cub,’ but have you ever heard of cattle or sheep refusing to eat grass? Just pray Teacher Huang is in a good mood today and doesn’t use this as an excuse to stew us a pot of undercooked green beans!”

The trainee was speechless.

Teacher Huang shot Lü Ming a fierce glare. “If you don’t speak, no one will think you’re mute.”

The others looked at Lü Ming with irritation but visibly sighed with relief after scanning the table and finding no green beans anywhere.

The trainee, a bit embarrassed after Lü Ming’s scolding, picked up his chopsticks and took a piece of the sweet and sour pork.

No sooner had he placed the meat in his mouth than his body shuddered violently, almost causing him to lose control on the spot!

Almost instinctively, he wanted to spit out the poisonous taste, but seeing everyone’s eyes fixed on him, especially Teacher Huang’s angry glare after Lü Ming’s comment, he imagined the consequences of rejecting the meal painstakingly prepared by Teacher Huang.

Reason won over instinct.

With multiple close-up shots capturing his twisted expression, the young man swallowed the food.

Then, as if drained of all strength, he reclined on his chair with a complex look in his eyes, staring at Lü Ming blankly.

Suddenly, inexplicably, tears welled up and streamed down his cheeks.

Teacher Huang’s face instantly stiffened.

Li Changfeng and Wu Qian exchanged bewildered looks.

What kind of reaction was that?

If you didn’t know better, you’d think he had swallowed poison rather than just a bite of food!

Mr. He, who knew Teacher Huang’s cooking best in the entertainment industry, was puzzled. He had anticipated that the old friend might pull some tricks today, but he never imagined that merely tasting his dish would cause the young man to burst into tears.

Sweet and sour pork is such a common dish!

No matter how badly the seasoning was controlled, it shouldn’t be so terrible as to bring someone to tears.

Everyone realized things might be about to go downhill.

Lü Ming suddenly leaned close and gently wiped the tears from the pale trainee’s face, then kindly offered him another piece of pork. “Eat up! This is all Teacher Huang’s selfless affection for you!”

The young man was about to calm down, but seeing the extra piece on his plate, the tears flowed again uncontrollably.

Damn it, nobody asked you to feed me!

Earlier, when Lü Ming mentioned he might be “on the road” tonight, the trainee didn’t believe it. But after one bite of that dish, he felt as if he had seen his deceased grandmother waving at him…

Teacher Huang frowned. “Not to your taste?”

“No, it’s very much to my taste! Absolutely delicious!” The trainee snapped back to reality, sitting upright and quickly saying, “The flavor of this sweet and sour pork is just like my mom’s cooking—no, it’s ten times better than my mom’s! I just haven’t been home for so long that this familiar taste suddenly reminded me of her!”

Teacher Huang’s expression softened, a hint of pride flickering in his eyes.

Seeing this, everyone realized their earlier doubts were misplaced. Compared to the idea of food so bad it would make someone cry, they could all accept that the trainee was simply emotionally moved by the taste.

Watching Teacher Huang laugh heartily, the other idols eyed the “mom-guilt” trainee with envy.

With that kind of acting and emotional control, no wonder Teacher Huang favored him!

Mr. He sighed in relief. “Judging by this, Teacher Huang’s cooking has clearly improved. Everyone’s in for a treat tonight, so dig in!”

Everyone was ravenous by then and eagerly picked up their chopsticks.

Li Changfeng, truly hungry, grabbed a piece of the sweet and sour pork and popped it into his mouth without chewing, swallowing it whole.

Immediately, his eyes went wide in shock. He instinctively glanced at Teacher Huang, then at Mr. He, who was eating his rice, wondering if his taste buds had betrayed him.

Li Changfeng nervously picked up another piece of pork and put it in his mouth.

The overwhelming saltiness, mixed with a heavy soy sauce flavor, assaulted his tongue relentlessly. The bizarre taste was so intense it felt as if his already sensitive stomach was on fire!

“Ugh… ptooey, ptooey!”

He spat the pork onto the floor and fixed his gaze on the mama’s boy who had cautiously watched him.

Thinking of his mom?

Damn it, I was trying to figure out how this guy, with zero acting skills, could cry on cue so perfectly—it wasn’t acting at all. Turns out, he was genuinely brought to tears by this toxic dish!

What a beast, he’s killing us all!

Li Changfeng’s bloodshot eyes darted to the side as he gagged repeatedly.

“Ugh!!!”
“What is this taste?”
“It’s like swallowing pounds of salt mixed with soy sauce—so salty! Was this dish made with sulfuric acid? No way, I might have to get my stomach pumped!”

Everyone was startled by Li Changfeng’s reaction.

Mr. He, who had just picked up a piece of pork, trembled and hastily put it back, as did Wu Qian and the other guests.

The live comments exploded:
[???]
[Is this for real?!]
[Someone poisoned the food! Teacher Huang poisoned the food!]
[Another dark cuisine? Teacher Huang never disappoints!]
[Sweet and sour pork with no sugar or vinegar, replaced by salt and soy sauce—who could come up with such a combo?]
[Living demon!]
[What word describes a dish with pounds of salt? I recognize the characters but stringing them together makes my brain fry...]
[That poor guy was really giving Teacher Huang face, crying about missing his mom rather than exposing the food disaster!]
[Is this show always this explosive?!]
[New entertainment scandal: #SweetSourPorkIncident#]
[This episode is going viral for sure!]
[The Mushroom House doesn’t believe in tears—turns out “missing mom” guy wasn’t just nostalgic, he was scared he wouldn’t live through another bite to see his mom tomorrow... Anyone would crack under this.]
[Sweet and innocent trainee: Please speak for me!]
[...]

Fans behind their screens were going wild:
“Changfeng is a singer—his voice is his life! That damn Teacher Huang must be trying to poison him. If anything happens to his voice, we’ll make the entire production team pay!”

Li Changfeng, face flushed, croaked, “Water… water!”

Lü Ming, holding a jug of old village liquor, ignored whether the stream was live and, seeing Li Changfeng reaching out, handed it over without hesitation. Li Changfeng, stomach churning, didn’t even notice what he was given and gulped the liquor down—then immediately spat it out!

“Cough, cough!”
“Help… help!”

Everyone scrambled as Li Changfeng jumped around, clearly burned by the alcohol, prompting even the crew to rush over.

Wu Qian pointed at Lü Ming, yelling, “Are you crazy?!”
“Changfeng asked for water, why give him liquor?!”

The other idols, except the “missing mom” guy already poisoned, all scolded:
“You’re trying to kill Changfeng!”
“Drinking alcohol during filming, have some decency!”
“If something happens to Changfeng, you’re dead meat!”

Lü Ming looked innocent. “Why are you yelling at me? He asked for it himself! If I hadn’t given it, would that have been better? It’s so hard to work with you guys—what do you want me to do to please you?”
“Maybe just kill me!”

Li Changfeng, nearly choking on the liquor, guzzled some spring water handed over by the PD. Once better, he cursed loudly:
“Ming! *cough* *cough* Damn it, you tried to poison me, don’t you have any shame?!”

Lü Ming was speechless.

...

The good news was that the sweet and sour pork only had a seasoning problem; the ingredients were safe and edible. Li Changfeng didn’t have to rush to the hospital for stomach pumping. With the teachers’ reassurance, he soon returned to his seat.

But everyone felt inexplicably dry-mouthed just looking at the dish.

Teacher Huang glared fiercely at Lü Ming. He felt betrayed, but since everyone kept praising him sincerely, he couldn’t bring himself to say the dish wasn’t his handiwork and had to swallow that bitter pill.

Mr. He took a piece of braised pork with preserved vegetables, wrapped it in a pancake, and bit into it. The next moment, he kicked out his legs and stood up on the spot!

Everyone was shocked by Mr. He’s sudden move.

Given his past praise for Teacher Huang’s masterpieces, their minds raced with words like “fantastic,” “amazing,” and “incredible.”

Viewers at home wore knowing expressions, bracing themselves to see how Mr. He would act next.

Mr. He, attracting countless gazes, was struggling to swallow the food, looking like a woman in labor.

With tremendous effort, he finally swallowed the bite.

Everyone stared at him with strange expressions. Teacher Huang watched him carefully.

In that brief moment, Mr. He seemed to have thought of every happiest moment in his life. Then he narrowed his eyes, his pupils sparkling as if he’d just tasted a divine delicacy, and grinned:

“Who says Teacher Huang’s cooking is bad?”
“Maya! This braised pork with preserved vegetables is absolutely fantastic!”
“Honestly, I’ve never tasted braised pork like this before. Everyone, try it—it’s so delicious it makes you want to... ugh!”
“Delicious... ugh... to the extreme... ugh!”
“I’m not lying, it’s really... ugh! Don’t believe me? Try it yourselves... ugh!”

Mr. He fought back his nausea, trying several times to defend Teacher Huang’s honor, but finally couldn’t hold back, laughing with tears as he rushed to the trash can to vomit.

Teacher Huang was stunned.

“Lao He, are you kidding me?!”

Netizens: We’ve never seen this kind of thing on previous episodes!

Lü Ming watched in disbelief. “What do you mean by ‘veteran actor’? This is the real veteran actor! Others earn money over time, but Mr. He here is earning it with his life! His dedication in every aspect—he deserves the title of the strongest in the entertainment industry!”

“Just one word!”
“Greatness! No further explanation needed—”

Lü Ming’s words fired up the audience’s enthusiasm.

[Hahaha hiccup!]
[This is killing me!]
[Hu Ming, are you trying to kill me?]
[Earning money with your life—I can’t hold it anymore.]
[Mr. He loves Teacher Huang so much, he even vomited his bile.]
[Teacher Huang is lucky to have a brother like this in his life!]
[This episode has so many classic moments, the show is explosive. I laughed so hard I sounded like a goose. My mom looked at me like I was an idiot...]
[Drunken Hu Ming is a different person—before he was all disguise, now his true nature is unleashed!]
[Shows endorsing liquor are common, but Hu Ming drinking on camera is a first in the industry. Old Village Liquor must sponsor this!]
[...]

The barrage of comments almost had netizens laughing themselves unconscious in front of their screens.

Everyone present, except Teacher Huang who looked pale, struggled to suppress their laughter.

Feeling the odd gazes, Mr. He teared up, looking at his old friend. “Teacher Huang, how did you make this?”

Teacher Huang was dumbfounded.

The old friend had survived the “toxic green beans incident” and countless obedience tests over the years, but now couldn’t even handle this minor fiasco?

Mr. He looked like a wronged little wife:
“I feel like there are ten pounds of sugar in this! No, more precisely, Teacher Huang probably boiled and compressed a ton of saccharin, then shaped it into meat slices and pickles. Gotta admit, this idea... is actually quite innovative!”
“Sounds fancy, doesn’t it?”

Teacher Huang said nothing.

He looked at Lü Ming, gritting his teeth, almost ready to speak but holding back.

At that moment, he deeply regretted entrusting Lü Ming with the cooking duties.

Damn it, the reputation I’ve built over half a lifetime got completely wrecked by this useless guy’s cooking!

“Everyone, don’t look so grim. Because of my unique palate, I can’t handle Teacher Huang’s bold innovation this time, but for those who love sweets, this dish is truly a rare delicacy!”

Seeing the mood falter, Mr. He quickly picked up a piece of the meat, wrapped it thoughtfully, and offered it to Li Changfeng:
“Changfeng, don’t you love sweet and sour pork? This dish is the sweet and sour pork that looks like braised pork with preserved vegetables!”
“Try it—you’ll find it explosively delicious!”

Li Changfeng was speechless.

Did I look like a fool?

Staring at the meat stuck to Mr. He’s teeth, Li Changfeng couldn’t imagine just how cloying this dark cuisine could be. Although honoring the elder’s face was important for their relationship, facing the pancake in front of him, he hesitated to take a bite.

Just thinking about it made his teeth shiver.

“Mr. He, I suddenly don’t want anything sweet!”

Mr. He looked embarrassed.

He had no choice but to pass the wrapped pancake to Wu Qian. “Xiao Wu, trust me, Teacher Huang’s cooking is really great. This dish just sounds sweet, but it actually tastes wonderful!”

“Mr. He, I ordered the braised intestines. I’m eating that!” Wu Qian quickly grabbed a piece of intestine drenched in sauce and stuffed it into his mouth.

...