"Dean Chu, Mr. Liang, what brings you here?" Gan Lan poured them each a glass of Dreamy Drink and plated two types of sticky rice dumplings, placing them on the table. "I made these today. Please, have a taste."
Chu Yuanyi waved his hand. "We already ate the ones you had the assistant robot deliver earlier. They were very delicious. I especially liked the meat ones."
"Yes, they were all delicious, and the sweet bean jelly was very beautiful." Liang Cong nodded in agreement.
"We came today primarily to see if you needed a psychological counselor, but it seems those incidents haven’t bothered you much at all." Chu Yuanyi couldn’t help but nod. This student had an excellent mindset.
"A counselor won’t be necessary, right? I’m completely fine." Gan Lan quickly waved her hands in refusal.
She knew her teachers were just worried about her mental well-being, but she wasn’t that fragile. In fact, she was rather thick-skinned. She hadn’t taken those events to heart; after a good night’s sleep, she had almost completely forgotten about them.
While being boycotted stung a little, she had even more people supporting her, and that was enough. She wasn’t a Credit Point; it was impossible to be loved by everyone.
"It’s good that you’re fine. Keep up this attitude. Sometimes, haggling over every little thing just makes life exhausting." Chu Yuanyi was very satisfied with this version of Gan Lan. She didn’t need to worry about anything else; it was perfectly fine for her to just focus on making food every day. He could see it clearly now—this student’s true passion was cooking. Nothing else could truly trouble her.
Liang Cong glanced at the Dean, who was taking a sip of his drink after finishing his sentence.
He picked up where the Dean left off. "The Silver Team’s Order Captain who tried to take you away, Liu Yuanlong, has been disciplined. He was demoted from Captain to Vice-Captain. This punishment might seem light, but rest assured, Principal Yang has interfered. His future career prospects will be quite bleak. Barring any surprises, he will be stuck in that position for the rest of his life, unable to climb the ranks."
Gan Lan nodded to show she understood. The Silver Team captain hadn’t succeeded anyway, though she still had no idea what he had wanted with her.
If she were to assume the worst, did they want to break her hands or slice her up for research? After all, she had been keeping a high profile lately. Anyone who dug deeply into her background would notice she seemed different now.
To go from a total failure in practical cooking to possessing hands that could perform magic in just a few months... combined with the vast variety of recipes she streamed, anyone could guess she harbored some secret. So, perhaps she really had attracted the curiosity of some shady research organization?
She felt helpless about this too. She simply couldn’t control her hands; she just wanted to make good food. Her teachers had initially warned her to keep a low profile and not reveal so much at once. She really did try to hold back, but cooking was truly addictive for her, and she would unconsciously forget the warnings.
She also thought of the restriction within her body: she could only write down or transcribe a recipe from memory after she had personally cooked that dish in this world.
Even if she could live to be six hundred years old, how could she possibly cook all of Huaxia’s culinary delights in six centuries? It wouldn’t even be enough time to cook them all in a millennium. She was simply too impatient.
"Those who cornered you were also punished, though it was just a verbal reprimand. You can’t penalize a whole crowd, and we were on someone else’s turf, so this was the most we could do," Chu Yuanyi sighed.
"Dean Chu, Mr. Liang, this is already more than enough. They didn’t cause me any substantial harm anyway." Gan Lan smiled and shook her head, indicating she didn’t mind.
"As for the Ge Family, this whole incident was instigated by Ge Feng’s mother. However, we couldn’t do anything about that shrew. Liu Yuanlong only admitted to a dereliction of duty, claiming he just wanted to ask you a few questions, so..."
"Dean Chu, I understand. It’s okay. It’s just that I... I’ve caused trouble for you all again. If I hadn’t argued with Ge Feng in the beginning and instead chose to avoid him and defeat him with pure skill, none of these awful things would have happened." Gan Lan felt a bit down. She had been too impulsive, relying on Mingzong’s protection to completely refuse to swallow her pride. She had forgotten that without Mingzong shielding her, a powerless nobody like her would have been crushed to death long ago.
Fortunately, she had value.
"What nonsense are you talking about? There’s no need to hold back. You did great! Our Mingzong isn’t some trash that anyone can just insult. Next time you encounter something like this, do whatever you want! If anything happens, we’ll cover for you. Mingzong will always be your strongest backer!" Chu Yuanyi’s imposing aura flared completely. Would a school that had stood unwavering on Capital Star be such a soft target?
"Then, Dean Chu, does this mean I can walk around like I own the place from now on?" Gan Lan’s eyes crinkled in a smile. Though she knew the school protected her because of her value, what did it matter? The scariest thing for a person was to have no value at all!
Liang Cong shook his head and chuckled lightly. "You can walk around like you own the place, just be careful not to bump into any walls."
Gan Lan let out a cheeky laugh. "Right, there’s one more thing I need to trouble you with, Dean." She ran to her room and brought out the handwritten recipes and video recordings for the Spicy Beef Noodles and Flaming Noodles, handing them to him. "These are the instant noodle recipes. I wrote down the exact ingredient measurements on paper and recorded the practical operations."
Chu Yuanyi took the recipes but didn’t flip through them, directly storing them into his Space Ring. "Understood. I will have someone apply for patents for these two. The ingredient ratios will be kept confidential for you. Also, rest assured, for every recipe you create on your livestream, the school has dedicated personnel to file the patents for you."
"That boycott thread about you on Banan Star’s Star Network has also been deleted. There will inevitably still be some lingering effects, but it doesn’t matter. That Super V account, ’Midnight Dream Return,’ was very helpful, so your current voting rank hasn’t been heavily impacted. You’re actually ranked first right now, winning a lot of face for Mingzong." Liang Cong’s smile reached his eyes. He had finally breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Yesterday was full of annoyances, but today brought nothing but good news. Gan Lan’s mood instantly brightened even more!
And when she was in a good mood, she wanted to cook. "Then, Dean Chu, Mr. Liang, do you want to stay for a casual dinner? I’ll go cook right now! It’ll be quick!" After saying that, Gan Lan turned and darted into the kitchen.
"This child," Chu Yuanyi shook his head and laughed, finding it truly impossible to refuse.
"You didn’t come last time, Dean. I ate the entire dinner Gan Lan made all by myself. I’m still savoring the memory." Liang Cong licked his lips, looking blissful. "I wonder what delicious food we’ll have for dinner today. I heard the braised pork is amazing, along with the fish and tofu soup she made before. I didn’t get to taste any of those—what a pity."
"We’ll eat whatever she makes. I haven’t seen a single dish from her hands turn out anything less than delicious." Chu Yuanyi looked at Gan Lan’s back as she entered the kitchen, his face full of gratification. He was constantly thankful that Mingzong had produced such a genius student.
As for why she had changed so drastically, he had no desire to dig into it. Everyone had their secrets, didn’t they?
However, he had already instructed someone to slightly alter Gan Lan’s information on the Star Network. As long as no one deliberately dug too deep, they wouldn’t discover the sudden changes in her either.