Xiang Xincai ate the bowl of glutinous rice fruit tangyuan clean. Staring at the empty bowl, she licked her lips, her expression showing she still hadn’t had enough.
It was truly too delicious. She wondered what kind of rice it was made of to taste this good. It felt as if it had sucked her soul away.
Meanwhile, Yan Yongchang stared at the two exquisite desserts and frowned. Both dishes were clearly sweet, and he disliked sweet food.
Compared to such delicate pastries, he preferred something like golden fried rice—salty and spicy. Because of this, he was torn about whether he should try them.
Although they were both made of rice, looked highly appealing, and showed great creativity, he figured his wife’s soul had probably been deeply captivated by them by now.
Yan Yongchang stared closely at the two desserts, his frown deepening. He had a natural resistance to sweets.
Closing his eyes, he ultimately chose to give up. It wasn’t entirely necessary for him to try them anyway; Xincai tasting them was enough. Having mentally prepared himself, he logged out of the tasting room.
Looking to his side after exiting, he saw that Xincai was indeed still in her tasting room, so he had no choice but to sit nearby and wait patiently.
Gan Lan walked out of the arena carrying a temperature-controlled box. She had specifically borrowed it from the robot assistant to hold the extra desserts she made, intending to return it later.
Only upon stepping out did she realize she was the last one to finish in the arena. If the organizers had provided glutinous rice flour and regular rice flour, she could have finished in just over half an hour.
But last was last—as long as she hadn’t exceeded the time limit, it was fine.
"The competition for the top one hundred is really intense. Not a single person ran out of time. They’re all highly capable," Gan Lan mused as she walked.
Arriving at the audience seating area, she saw Gulu sitting with his legs crossed, idly looking around. Upon seeing Gan Lan, he immediately stood up and swiftly moved to her side.
He complained, "What took you so long? I thought you were never coming out."
"I saved this especially for you. This is my latest creation. I’m sure you’ll love how it looks," Gan Lan said with a bright smile, lifting the temperature-controlled box and shaking it lightly at Gulu.
After all, Gulu’s current appearance matched the eight-colored glutinous rice fruit tangyuan perfectly.
"That’s more like it. I didn’t wait this long for nothing." Gulu stuffed his hands into his pockets, his tone pleased yet haughty.
Gan Lan chuckled lightly. Aside from being narcissistic and having terrible taste in clothes, Gulu’s personality was quite easy to coax.
Passing by the audience area, Gan Lan noticed Yan Yongchang resting his chin on his hand, frowning in deep thought. Beside him, Xiang Xincai was immersed in the Star Network.
Gan Lan was about to go over and say hello before heading back, but on second thought, Uncle Yan had helped stop Ge Feng last time, and she had only thanked him verbally. Since she happened to have quite a few extra desserts left, she figured she would give them two portions to express her gratitude.
"Gulu, go help me borrow another temperature-controlled box from the robot assistant," Gan Lan said, handing Gulu a number plate. It was her contestant number plate; the robot assistant would only lend items with this proof.
Gulu reluctantly took the number plate and sprinted rapidly toward the nearby robot assistant.
In less than a minute, he returned carrying a temperature-controlled box. It was the first time Gan Lan had seen a robot run so fast; Gulu was quite impressive.
Gan Lan took the temperature-controlled box from Gulu, thanked him, and walked over to a nearby corner. She took out two portions each of the glutinous rice fruit tangyuan and the rice sponge cake from the dessert-filled temperature-controlled box, and placed them into the new one.
"What is this? So pretty! It perfectly suits my taste! Tell me, have you fallen in love with a handsome man like me?" Gulu was instantly captivated when he saw Gan Lan take out the eight-colored tangyuan. He was certain this new partner must have fallen for him; otherwise, how would she know he loved all sorts of bright, gorgeous colors?
Gan Lan’s face darkened with exasperation. This narcissist! It was merely a coincidence.
Seeing Gan Lan walk off on her own, pretending not to hear him, Gulu hurriedly leaned in closer. "Silence means consent! I allow you to be in love with me. After all, a handsome man like me is rare in this world! Also, what about me if you give this food away!?"
"I saved yours for you," Gan Lan said helplessly.
"That’s more like it! But can I have two portions of those eight-colored little balls? I want to eat one portion and collect the other," Gulu negotiated.
Gan Lan nodded without saying more. Gulu simply talked too much; if you didn’t respond to him, he would chatter endlessly by your ear.
Approaching Yan Yongchang’s seat, Gan Lan smiled and stuffed the temperature-controlled box into his arms. "Yan, this is for you and Sister Xiang to eat, as a token of my gratitude for helping me avoid getting beaten up last time. Don’t refuse! I’m heading back first. Please say thank you to Sister Xiang for me."
Gan Lan ran off before Yan Yongchang could even speak. What she feared most was the endless back-and-forth of politely refusing gifts.
Although Yan Yongchang appreciated the little girl’s personality, it still left him a bit speechless.
He looked down with a complicated expression at the temperature-controlled box in his arms, then looked up at Gan Lan’s retreating figure, the corners of his lips curling into a smile.
Those who didn’t know the situation might think Gan Lan had figured out their identities and had come specifically to curry favor.
But based on his observations and time spent interacting with her, even if she knew they belonged to the Open Faction, her personality meant she wouldn’t do something solely to kiss up to anyone.
She was a pure and kind-hearted little girl, which was rare and commendable. It was simply that old fogeys like him had overly complicated minds. No wonder their culinary skills had stagnated for so long.
However, an hour had already passed. Why wasn’t Xiang Xincai out yet? Surely it was impossible for her to be so mesmerized by Gan Lan’s desserts that she couldn’t tear herself away for an entire hour!
Yan Yongchang gently patted Xiang Xincai’s shoulder.
"What are you rushing me for? I haven’t eaten enough yet!" Xiang Xincai complained as soon as she logged out. "Did you come out without even trying it? Let me tell you, you will definitely regret not tasting it!"
Yan Yongchang simply placed the temperature-controlled box into Xiang Xincai’s arms and chuckled warmly. "Gan Lan brought this over. She said it’s to thank us for lending a helping hand."
"When you have real food to eat, why eat data?" Although Yan Yongchang had a resistance to sweets, Xiang Xincai loved them.
Xiang Xincai hugged the temperature-controlled box, her eyes sparkling. "Really?" Without waiting for his answer, she opened the box, peeked inside, and closed it. It really was!
"What an unexpected delight! Hurry, let’s head back first. I want to look at the scenery in the courtyard while I eat my desserts," she said. Standing up with the temperature-controlled box in hand, she headed out, turning back to urge Yan Yongchang to keep up.
On the way, she kept enthusiastically promoting to Yan Yongchang how incredibly delicious Gan Lan’s desserts were, insisting he would regret it if he didn’t eat them, and how they were completely different from other sweets. She looked exactly like a die-hard Gan Lan fangirl.
Yan Yongchang was rendered entirely speechless.
After returning to her residence, Gan Lan immediately took out Gulu’s portion from her temperature-controlled box. Unable to stand his noisy chattering any longer, she quickly handed him two portions of the glutinous rice fruit tangyuan to shoo him away to play elsewhere.
Then, she began packaging the rest of the glutinous rice fruit tangyuan to send to her friends, as well as Ms. Xu Yashu.
Since the portion of the rice sponge cake was small, Gan Lan didn’t plan on sending any. She was a fair person.
However, to Ms. Xu Yashu, who was also Mrs. Yan, she sent both the sponge cake and the tangyuan.
After all, she hadn’t sent Aunt Yan any delicious food for many days, which meant she had broken her promise. She would definitely make up for it once she returned.
There was also the Dean’s portion, Mr. Liang’s portion... It seemed there were quite a lot of people to send food to.