In this era, humanity was thriving, and the Federation stood as the sole superpower. The entire Federation had a population of around four hundred billion, all sharing a single Star Network. With so many people surfing the web, the Federation's livestreaming industry was exceptionally prosperous.
With a sudden burst of energy, she switched her screen to the livestreaming section of the Star Network and found a category its previous owner had never visited—the Food section.
Countless streams appeared. She picked a few from the leaderboards to check out. Their popularity was incredibly high; the most-watched stream had hundreds of millions of viewers! Hundreds of millions of actual, live people!
She also discovered that livestreaming in this era even had a virtual tasting feature (during a stream, the host could activate a fully immersive virtual kitchen, allowing viewers to smell the aromas. They could also enable a paid virtual tasting service, where fans paid a fee to sample the streamer's dishes).
Jiang Qiuqiu couldn't see the specific number of virtual tasters, but judging by the dense barrage of bullet comments, the off-the-charts viewer count, and the crowd that was practically begging to be fed—
'This is a river of interstellar coins just waiting to flow in!'
Jiang Qiuqiu decided right then and there. She would use her nimble hands and exquisite skills to support herself in this new era! She was going to be a streamer!
From the moment she decided to start streaming, Jiang Qiuqiu was rubbing her hands in eager anticipation.
To stream, first she needed equipment. She opened the Interstellar Taotao Net...
Then she discovered that even the worst-quality food streaming setup cost nearly five figures. This was far beyond what the current Jiang Qiuqiu could afford.
But there was more than one way to go about it. If she couldn't buy one, she could rent one on the Star Network.
After comparing her options, Jiang Qiuqiu rented a low-end food streaming setup for 300 Star Coins a month.
With the equipment secured, she decided to first research the various types of interstellar vegetables available so she could plan a menu.
When she searched for the vegetable category, Jiang Qiuqiu's soft, adorable face froze.
She was speechless.
'Never mind how few varieties there were—they were also absurdly expensive. All the vegetables were sold by the piece. Just putting together a single dish would bankrupt me on the spot. It's over! Is my livestreaming career going to die before it even begins because I'm broke?!'
Her small, round eyes widened as she glanced at other types of ingredients. 'Expensive. Everything is so expensive! Anything that grows from the ground is expensive!'
'Wait! It looks like I've found an anomaly! The meat and eggs here seem really cheap.'
'Is it because farming is more difficult than raising livestock?'
'Whatever. Since meat is cheaper—'
Then the first dish for her stream would be a fried cutlet.
Every product on Taotao Fresh came with clear pictures and videos.
Jiang Qiuqiu carefully studied the pictures, textures, and taste descriptions of the meats, then purchased a few types that looked the most similar to pork.
It couldn't be helped. She was in a different era, and the names of these meats had all changed. Jiang Qiuqiu wasn't sure if her old cooking methods would work on these new ingredients, or if she could make them burst with flavor.
But it didn't matter. She had faith in her skills.
After tinkering in the kitchen for over an hour, Jiang Qiuqiu tentatively settled on the first item for her stream's menu: Fried Gugu Cutlets. Now, with everything ready, all she had to do was wait for the streaming equipment to arrive.
Waiting was always anxiety-inducing. Jiang Qiuqiu forced herself to calm down and continued browsing the Star Network, trying to absorb more information about this world.
Luckily, interstellar delivery was incredibly fast. That very evening, Jiang Qiuqiu received her low-end streaming equipment and ingredients.
The year was 5355 of the Federation Calendar. A food streamer by the name of Jiang Juju had just burst onto the scene on the Federation's livestreaming network!