Right after logging off her livestream, Gan Lan thought of Dean Chu, and almost immediately, she received an incoming call from him.
"Congratulations on taking first place in the Top 100 qualifiers. Your two upperclassmen also made it into the top hundred. The sweet rice balls and steamed sponge cakes were delicious. You’ve worked hard," Dean Chu’s cheerful voice came through the communication channel.
"It wasn’t hard at all. I’m just glad you liked them, Dean. Actually, I have something I want to ask your opinion on," Gan Lan replied, her own voice brightening. "Have you tried the instant noodles I gave you earlier? What did you think of them?"
"Not yet. I’ve been busy the past two days and almost forgot about it. Is that what you wanted to talk about?" Dean Chu sounded curious. "I’ll go brew a bowl right now. It’ll make a perfect dinner."
Gan Lan shared all her thoughts and plans with the dean. "Yes, I want to set up a factory dedicated to producing instant noodles. Right now, there’s only one flavor since I don’t have much time to develop new ones during the competition, but I’ll try my best to come up with another. That way, having two flavors won’t seem too shabby.
"So, I wanted to ask if I could apply for a patent first, keeping the ingredient proportions and production methods a secret when it goes public. It’s no secret that I want to buy Star 1888, and relying purely on livestreams and my food stall won’t be enough to buy a planet before I graduate. Even after buying it, the construction will require a massive amount of Credit Points..."
After rattling off a whole bunch of details, she finally finished. Noticing dead silence on the other end, she asked cautiously, "Dean, are you still there?"
"Yes, yes, I’m listening. These instant noodles smell incredible!" Chu Yuanyi loudly slurped another mouthful of braised beef noodles, completely unable to stop.
Chu Yuanyi agreed, "You can absolutely set up this factory. Even if there’s only one flavor, it’s still amazing—delicious and convenient. If I’m not mistaken, the production cost for these instant noodles is quite low, isn’t it? Tasty, convenient, and cheap. I can already imagine how explosive the sales will be.
"Tell you what, I’ll go discuss this with the Principal and carve out a piece of land for you in the suburbs near the school. I’ll negotiate a good price with him. To start out, we can also keep you under Mingzong’s protection."
Hearing how much the dean was taking care of her left Gan Lan deeply moved and delighted. She had specifically told him about this because she hoped the school would offer some protection. Otherwise, a student with no background like her wouldn’t be able to run a factory at all.
Even if she managed to set it up, she wouldn’t know how to defend against people trying to steal her recipes. In a world practically overflowing with unpredictable technology, it was impossible to guard against everything.
Gan Lan expressed her gratitude to the dean once more. After hanging up, since he had mentioned the Principal, she immediately mailed over a dozen bags of instant noodles to the dean, along with her remaining stock of pastries and snacks. She figured she might as well treat it as a bribe; these were the only presentable things she had left anyway.
Today was truly her lucky day. First, she took first place in the Top 100 qualifiers, and now, she had secured a rough location for her factory. Gan Lan could already imagine earning a massive fortune just from instant noodles alone—and it would be long-term income, too.
The Top 10 qualifiers were scheduled for two days later, so Gan Lan planned to use this time to research another flavor of instant noodles.
At this thought, an even safer idea suddenly popped into her head. Besides having the school as a massive backer, she could also rope her friends into the business.
With this in mind, she opened her Light Brain and entered the Foodie Group. The group was quite lively; everyone was competing to see whose fruit-flavored sweet rice balls looked the best, posting photos taken from every possible angle to compare.
Gan Lan felt quite proud. After all, she was the one who had made these sweet rice balls. Seeing them so well-loved deeply satisfied her vanity. Could anything produced by Huaxia ever be bad?
Come and have some barbecue!: [Do you guys think the instant noodles taste good?]
Sky Blue: [Absolutely! They’re my daily life-sustaining food now. I can’t even imagine how I’d survive a day without them and without you!]
Handsome Mingyu: [I’m eating them right now. The whole room is filled with their aroma. It’s so addictive; this is awesome! But I’m almost finished eating, which sucks T^T]
Feiran: [Everything you make is delicious ^^]
Seeing her friends being so supportive, the corners of Gan Lan’s lips curled up slightly. She was very confident in her instant noodles. After all, even the people of the Foodie Country hadn’t been able to resist their charm.
Come and have some barbecue!: [I plan to use the gifts you tipped me as your investment in my factory’s assets. You’ll all be shareholders in my future instant noodle factory. Only you guys are getting this special treatment~ What do you think? Are you in?]
Feiran: [The gifts were just gifts. I can invest separately. If I invest, do I get endless instant noodles to eat every day?]
Handsome Mingyu: [I can invest too! Just thinking about having endless instant noodles to eat every day makes me feel so happy! Can the factory start production tomorrow? I’m so excited that I went and brewed another pack of instant noodles~]
Binbin: [I still have my secret stash of money! I want endless instant noodles every day too!]
Come and have some barbecue!: [Tomorrow probably won’t work since I’m still in the middle of the competition, but if you’re interested, you can go check out the location with the Principal. You all own a piece of my factory! Eating instant noodles every day is absolutely no problem; I’m just afraid you’ll eat so much that you’ll develop psychological trauma just from looking at them later on...]
Hot Pot Balls: [How could I ever get traumatized! I don’t believe it! They’re so delicious, I could eat them every day~ I absolutely love this flavor!]
Sky Blue: [Me too, me too, don’t forget about me! I want endless instant noodles every day too! Even though I know I might get beaten up again for saying this, I still have to say it: Junior, I want to marry you! Even if I can’t be your official wife, I’m perfectly fine being your favored concubine as long as I get delicious food every day. I’m very easy to raise, sending hearts~]
Binbin: [I also...]
Hot Pot Balls: [The Captain is currently on his way to the laboratory... Good luck to you.]
Gan Lan let out a light chuckle as she looked at the joyful and harmonious—well, mostly harmonious—Foodie Group. It felt truly wonderful to know she would have these friends by her side in the future.
Gan Lan had just been about to properly research another flavor for her instant noodles when she received a call from the Principal.
"There is indeed a piece of wasteland within the school’s administrative zone that can be allocated to you for a factory. The price is also something you can currently afford. If you are truly interested, I can approve it for you right now. These instant noodles have a lot of potential, and your other delicacies are delicious too—so I’ll give you a twenty percent discount."
Hearing this, she was so thrilled she could have jumped into the air. Dean Chu’s efficiency was truly off the charts; she hadn’t expected to get a response this quickly!
"Thank you, thank you, Principal! Thank you so much!" Gan Lan was so excited she was becoming incoherent, completely at a loss for words beyond repeating her thanks.
"Actually, renting would be even cheaper," Dean Chu’s voice chimed in through the communication, offering his advice. "Do you want to buy or rent? If you are planning for long-term development, however, I suggest you buy it. I can submit the application on your behalf."
Gan Lan had intended to buy it from the very beginning, provided she could afford the Credit Points. Renting involved far too much uncertainty; once she bought it, it would belong entirely to her!
"I want to buy it. It doesn’t need to be too big. I’ll buy a smaller plot first, and once I earn more Credit Points, I’ll expand," Gan Lan explained her reasoning.
"Then I will send the documents over to you a little later," the Principal said. "Once you sign them, you can start building the factory. I can also help introduce a construction team to you."
Gan Lan happily agreed. "Thank you for going through so much trouble for me, Principal."
Gulu watched Gan Lan, who had just hung up the call and was sitting on the sofa. Whatever she was thinking about caused her to let out silly giggles every so often, making her look a bit foolish.
Gulu thought, "Humans are so complicated."