Life is So Hard: [Since the streamer has said so, I’m a little swayed. How about I take back what I just said? We must believe in our goddess!]
Immortal Barbecue: [Upstairs, can you take back words you’ve already spoken? Hmph! But since the junior has said so, I’ll reluctantly eat a chicken claw later. But forget about the cow’s stomach... If we don’t eat anything, I’d feel too sorry for the delicious food our junior worked so hard to make.]
Feiran: [I’m not a picky eater. ^^]
Princess Yan is the cutest: [Since when are you not a picky eater? How come I didn’t know?]
Sky Blue: [HAHAHAHAHA, Captain, you’ve finally met your match!? Speechless now? Too scared to speak? Not a picky eater? You have the nerve to say that. ^^]
...
"Our cow stomach is done steaming. It seems ’cow stomach’ doesn’t sound very appetizing, so its actual name is Money Belly. Doesn’t that sound quite nice?" Gan Lan opened the lid of the steamed Money Belly. The smell that hit her face wasn’t very fragrant... Feeling a bit embarrassed, she hurriedly changed the subject. "Look, it’s golden!"
Seeing the color of the Money Belly, Gan Lan was very satisfied. She turned off the heat, took it out, and let it cool.
Next, she brought out a small jar of marinade; this was a bit of the marinade she had asked her little apprentice to fetch from her dorm and send over.
She started a new pot, pouring in an appropriate amount of the marinade, a spice bag, broth, rice wine, fish sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, salt, rock sugar, brown sugar, red dates, longans, scallions, ginger, and garlic. Once it boiled, she put the steamed Money Belly in to braise and absorb the flavors.
She cut a white radish into strips and spread them on a plate for later use.
The aroma of the marinade in the pot began to permeate the air. Once the flavors were fully boiling, she turned off the heat, scooped out the Money Belly, and quickly let it cool. She sliced it into small strips, laid them over the white radish strips, and placed them in the steamer for about twenty minutes.
She arranged the fully marinated spare ribs neatly on a plate, poured the remaining juices and seasonings over them, placed them in a steamer with cold water, and started steaming.
Then, she went to check if the chicken claws had swelled and softened from soaking. Seeing that they didn’t seem quite ready yet, Gan Lan had no choice but to use some futuristic black technology. She originally thought that after nearly an hour, they would be done. She had miscalculated.
Have You Eaten Today: [Holy crap! It’s starting to smell good, what do we do? Actually, that cow stomach looks pretty nice too. The streamer washed it so many times and added so many ingredients, it’s probably really delicious, right? Suddenly, I want to try it...]
Binbin: [Oh? That’s not what you said just now. You said you absolutely wouldn’t eat anything this time! You said a cow’s stomach is too disgusting to eat! Now you’ve changed your tune? Can you have a little bit of principle!?]
Flame Phoenix: [What the hell is a principle? Can you eat it? I want to eat, I want to eat, I want to eat! Can you gag my mouth and block my sense of taste!? Fine, although the smell is making me want to eat a tiny bit right now, but... the moment I think about it being a cow’s stomach and chicken claws, I just...]
...
Just as the aroma began to waft out, the stream viewers who had vehemently refused earlier suddenly started changing their tunes, though a portion of them were naturally still resisting.
"I’m definitely not eating that. Gan Lan, just how down and out are you right now? To think you’d even eat such filthy things! I remember you still had some Credit Points left, it shouldn’t be this bad, right? Or else, how about I lend you some?" Gulu walked up to Gan Lan wearing double face masks, mocking her out loud, though his tone carried a tiny sliver of concern.
Gan Lan looked up at Gulu in slight surprise. Although his words weren’t pleasant, she still heard the underlying concern. Gulu was such a tsundere.
"I couldn’t tell, Gulu! I didn’t expect you to actually have Credit Points. You really make people see you in a new light!" Gan Lan chatted along with Gulu’s topic while chopping the ingredients she would need later.
Gulu crossed his arms and lifted his chin, his tone smug and boastful. "Of course. Miss Xu gave those to me to buy clothes and High-level Energy Boxes! You pauper! It’s not like I could count on you to buy me High-level Energy Boxes!"
"High-level Energy Box? How many Credit Points?" Gan Lan turned to look at Gulu, her eyes filled with confusion. A regular energy box already cost ten thousand Credit Points. With the prefix "high-level," it was probably around a hundred thousand. She could still afford a hundred thousand.
"You pauper, are you thinking in your heart that it’s at most a hundred thousand or so, and that you can afford it?" Gulu’s eyes curved slightly as he shook his leg. "It’s not much, just five million, that’s all."
Hearing this, Gan Lan’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "Five million!?" she said in disbelief. "A single High-level Energy Box actually costs five million? Is this a robbery!?"
"Ignorance is bliss!" Gulu rolled his eyes dramatically at Gan Lan, the country bumpkin, and turned away.
Feiran: [I’m sorry, I couldn’t hold it in...]
Sky Blue: [HAHAHAHAHA, our junior’s expression is too hilarious, isn’t it? Come back to earth! Your pot is about to boil dry!]
Grilled Crabs are True Love: [Forgive me, but when I heard the price of a High-level Energy Box, I also made the exact same expression as the streamer. Five million!? Poverty has limited my imagination, boohoo~]
Immortal Barbecue: [Five million is actually a normal price. High-level Energy Boxes on the market range from five to ten million. Gulu seems to be a very high level, maybe the High-level Energy Box he uses was bought at an insider price!?]
...
The topic shifted back to High-level Energy Boxes.
After Gan Lan finished chopping the necessary ingredients, the chicken claws had also finished soaking.
She scooped the chicken claws out and drained the water. She poured a suitable amount of oil into a pan, and once the oil was eighty percent hot, she added dried chilies, ginger slices, and fermented black beans to stir-fry until fragrant. Then, she poured the mixture over the chicken claws, added appropriate amounts of white pepper powder, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, and white sugar, and mixed everything evenly.
She poured the mixed tiger-skin chicken claws onto a plate, arranged them neatly, and drizzled the remaining sauce over them. She placed them into a boiling steamer to steam over medium-low heat for twenty minutes. Because she was using a futuristic steamer for the chicken claws, the required time was cut in half.
Gan Lan scooped up the cooked glass noodles, poured in the prepared sauce and ingredients, gave it a stir, and set it aside. It would be ready to eat very soon, as the Money Belly and black bean sauce spare ribs were almost done.
First, she took out the completely steamed Money Belly, then put the uncooked portions in to continue steaming.
This wasn’t considered finished yet. She poured a proper amount of marinade, cooking wine, sugar, water starch, vinegar, and MSG into the pot and boiled it until it thickened. She drizzled the sauce over the steamed Money Belly, then garnished it with shredded green and red peppers on top.
Radiating an enchanting aroma, the golden and glistening Money Belly was finally done.
Gan Lan couldn’t wait to pick up a strip of Money Belly thoroughly coated in the marinade and pop it into her mouth. She chewed slowly. As soon as it entered her mouth, her taste buds were overwhelmed by the rich, savory fragrance. The honeycomb texture on the Money Belly seemed to have soaked up the marinade completely; with one bite, the juices exploded out. Chewing further, it was tender yet pleasantly chewy, yet very easy to break down. It truly left a lingering fragrance in her mouth. Gan Lan’s expression was one of absolute happiness and satisfaction.
After swallowing, she picked up three or four more strips. With a larger mouthful, the fragrance grew even richer. The texture of this Money Belly was simply divine.
Carrying the plates, she walked out of the kitchen and set the two large plates of Money Belly in front of her. She slurped a mouthful of hot and sour sweet potato noodles, then took a couple of bites of the Money Belly. Life was so wonderful!
Watching Gan Lan eat with such relish and occasionally letting out gasps of admiration, the viewers in the live stream who had been watching from the sidelines began to itch with temptation...