Gan Lan hung up the call, a brilliant smile breaking across her face. Even the colorful Gulu looked especially handsome to her right now!
She opened the Foodies Group to share the good news with her friends.
*Come and have some barbecue!:* [Future shareholders, who’s free tomorrow to check out what our future factory looks like? You can offer some suggestions and even supervise when construction begins~]
*Blooming Beauty, Moonlit Grace:* [Me, me, me! I’ll go tomorrow. Send me the address! I’m so happy I could spin in circles. I suddenly feel so lucky~ to be good friends with you.]
*Handsome Mingyu:* [I’m going too! Send the address. I’ve got nothing to do every day~ Is the instant noodle factory I’m building with my junior about to be born? I can’t wait! It would be even better if we could kick the Yan trio out. Junior, kick them out and I’ll fund it all!]
*Feiran:* [Are you dreaming?]
*Sky Blue:* [Junior, kick him out, I’ll fund it!]
*Hot Pot Balls:* [What are you thinking?]
Watching the four of them bicker and challenge each other to a fight at the drop of a hat, Gan Lan found it both amusing and childish. She couldn’t help but sigh—this must be the friendship of youth.
After chatting with her friends for a while, Gan Lan went off to research other instant noodle flavors.
She bought the necessary supplies from the Star Network Ingredient Store and specifically hired two temporary assistant robots to help out. Then, she turned on the recording function and began pickling mustard greens. She hadn’t found regular mustard greens on the Star Network, only an upgraded version. The taste was similar to her original world, but they were three times the size. That was exactly why she had hired the assistant robots to help wash and chop the vegetables; she definitely couldn’t handle it alone. She also bought a few large, antique-style earthen jars specifically for the pickling process.
She boiled water in a pot, let it cool, and added an appropriate amount of salt, Sichuan peppercorns, white rock sugar, bird’s eye chilies, ginger, and sorghum liquor. Gan Lan had searched for sorghum liquor for a long time without success, eventually settling for a future-era liquor that tasted similar. It didn’t really matter as long as the alcohol served its sterilizing purpose. She stirred the mixture evenly.
After drying the freshly washed jars, she placed the washed, dried, and chopped mustard greens inside and poured in the seasoned water. She sealed the lid and moved on to the next jar.
Gan Lan intentionally made many jars. The leftover brine from the pickled mustard greens could be reused indefinitely. Each time, she just needed to add a suitable amount of cooled boiled water, salt, and liquor. The older the brine, the better the pickles would taste.
She sent the recorded video to her two apprentices, transferring a sum of Credit Points to them at the same time. She instructed them to make some as well and store the finished products in the large warehouse she had rented.
Next, she contacted the pickled goods shop owner on Star 2122 and sent them a copy of the video as an order. She paid the deposit upfront and arranged to collect the goods when the time came. They would likely need a massive amount of pickled greens for the pickled mustard green beef noodles later on, so starting the pickling process now ensured they wouldn’t instantly sell out.
Since she had already created the braised beef noodle flavor, simply adding the pickled greens would yield pickled mustard green beef noodles. That technically counted as two flavors, right? However, the pickles wouldn’t be ready to eat for at least a month, so she needed to brainstorm something else to make in the meantime.
Fire noodles seemed like a good idea. It was time to give the people of the future a little thrill!
Gan Lan chuckled aloud just imagining them crying while unable to stop eating the fire noodles. She felt a little twisted for enjoying the thought, but she had made her decision. She would add fire noodles to the lineup!
In her original world, Gan Lan’s absolute favorite had been Teacher Kang’s fire noodles. The noodle cake was thicker than traditional instant noodles, giving it a much chewier and highly satisfying texture. Especially when the extreme spicy sauce was added, it felt like her whole body was going to catch fire, yet she couldn’t bear to stop eating.
After buying the necessary ingredients, Gan Lan began experimenting with the fire noodle cake and seasoning packets. Although fire noodles originally came from a certain country in her past life, they had become even more delicious after Teacher Kang’s modifications, so they could practically be considered a Huaxia creation, right? If anything, she could just change the name once they were done!
Whatever. She was making fire noodles. The noodle cake itself was easy enough, but she had tried multiple recipes for the seasoning packet and still felt it was lacking a certain flavor.
“Ah! I can’t eat anymore, I really can’t! If I eat any more, I’m literally going to become a trash can!” Gulu collapsed onto the sofa in despair as he saw Gan Lan bringing over yet another bowl of modified fire noodles.
“This is the very last time! Trust me! It’s genuinely delicious this time!” Gan Lan looked a bit sheepish. Gulu really was turning into a trash can.
She absolutely couldn’t stomach another bite herself, but she didn’t want to waste so much food. Thus, she had Gulu taste-test it. He was a robot, after all; his artificial stomach only needed to be emptied periodically, so he could eat endlessly without any issues. Furthermore, his taste system was modeled entirely after a human’s, making him the perfect taste tester.
Gulu hugged the bowl pitifully, looking on the verge of tears. Even as a robot, he couldn’t withstand such torment from Gan Lan. She was completely treating him like a garbage disposal. He wanted to cry, but he silently picked up his chopsticks and grabbed a bite of what was supposedly the “last time” for the umpteenth time. From evening until midnight, he had already tasted twenty-three bowls of fire noodles. This one made it twenty-four.
He bitterly took a bite of the noodles. Wow! Compared to the previous ones, this batch was much tastier and far spicier. It was a good thing he didn’t have human tear ducts, or else he would undoubtedly be a sobbing, sniffling mess right now.
“How is it?!” Gan Lan looked at Gulu expectantly. She was extremely satisfied with her work this time and planned to use this exact recipe for the fire noodles. Seeing Gulu’s resistant yet adorable expression put her in a great mood, and she couldn’t help but tease him.
Gulu nodded. After finishing this final bowl of fire noodles, he patted his belly in imitation of a human and even let out a convincing BURP.
Gan Lan was speechless.
Checking the time, Gan Lan saw it was exactly midnight. She wasn’t sure if her friends were asleep yet, but she decided to courier the finished fire noodles over to them anyway. Naturally, good things had to be shared with friends!
After shipping the fire noodles, she specifically logged into the Foodies Group.
*Come and have some barbecue!:* [Treating you guys to a late-night snack! This is a noodle I developed today. Letting you try the new flavor. Hopefully, you’re not asleep yet. Anyway, I’m off to bed~]
With that sent, Gan Lan went to take a shower. She really wanted to see the expressions on her friends’ faces when they ate the insanely spicy fire noodles. It would be absolutely hilarious. What a shame she couldn’t witness it with her own eyes.
*Feiran:* [You’re still not asleep this late? Nothing you make is ever bad. Looking forward to it ^^]
*Sky Blue:* [Ah! Junior, you are so considerate. You knew I just got out of the lab and haven’t eaten yet. Love you~]
*Feiran:* [Don’t flatter yourself!]
*Hot Pot Balls:* [Exactly! Shameless. Junior obviously knew I was exhausted from training today and made this specifically for me! Good thing I haven’t gone to sleep yet. Love you~]
*Blooming Beauty, Moonlit Grace:* [I’ll speak on behalf of Boss Yan: … But Junior, I love you too~ I’m rushing a manuscript and my stomach happens to be growling. Say no more, my midnight snack is here! Love you, love you!]