"Eat more if it’s delicious. We can talk after you’re full." Gan Lan smiled, her eyes curving into crescents. Her expression was incredibly gentle. For a chef, the happiest moment was seeing the food they made being loved and praised by others.
Gao Haiyang shot Yan Yifei a smug look and nodded at Gan Lan. "Mhm, I purposely skipped meals all day just for this feast."
Gan Lan served Gao Haiyang a bowl of rice. "Then eat some carbs to line your stomach. Don’t just eat the dishes."
"I also haven’t eaten all day..." Yan Yifei stared at the bowl of rice in front of Gao Haiyang, his voice sounding a bit aggrieved.
"Then you should have some rice too," Gan Lan said, serving Yan Yifei a bowl as well. "You can drizzle your favorite sauce over it. The rice will taste even better!"
Yan Yifei was satisfied and decided not to bicker with an idiot like Gao Haiyang.
"Which sauce is your favorite?" Yan Yifei set his sights on the meat and crab stew sauce. He used the serving spoon to scoop a generous amount over his rice, then stuffed a mouthful of the sauce-soaked rice into his mouth, his face filled with happiness and satisfaction.
Gan Lan felt that Yan Yifei was a bit strange today. He usually kept his head down and focused solely on eating. How come the all-shrimp feast didn’t capture his complete attention today? He actually had time to talk to her. Although puzzled, she answered, "I also like pouring the meat and crab stew sauce over rice, as well as the sweet and sour sauce!" After answering, she glanced at her other friends at the table. All of them were completely engrossed in the shrimp, which reassured her that there was nothing wrong with her cooking skills.
Hearing that Gan Lan also liked the meat and crab stew sauce on rice, Yan Yifei instantly felt fulfilled. "Then I’ll try the sweet and sour one later. The sweet and sour pork tenderloin over rice from last time was also super delicious!"
My Life is Too Hard: [So did my goddess forget that she’s still live streaming? Did she forget about us adorable viewers? I’m so jealous of the people who get to eat the all-shrimp feast with the streamer! Even though their faces are automatically censored, I’m still shedding tears of jealousy! Why, oh why?!]
Flower Pastry is True Love: [Yeah... she really seems to have forgotten. Even though this fact is hard to accept, I think I see a familiar figure among them. The one whose face is hidden but who is dressed the most flamboyantly looks like someone from our school!]
Immortal Barbecue: [I already know who they are! Even though they aren’t wearing uniforms! I just know! Wuwuwu, I’m seriously so jealous that they got to skip class and travel thousands of miles just to eat an all-shrimp feast. It’d be totally worth it even if they got a demerit! The shrimp today are all immortal-level shrimp!]
The World is Not Worth It: [If I am guilty, please let the law punish me instead of making me watch a live stream late at night, listening to chewing noises without hearing any conversation, and watching a group of people eat an all-shrimp feast! Meanwhile, I have to gnaw on digital data with zero sense of fullness in my stomach. I feel incredibly empty right now...]
After introducing the dishes to her friends, Gan Lan had asked the system to mute the voices of everyone present and censor all faces except her own. She deliberately left the chewing sounds on. It had to be said that this move was truly wicked.
"Yan Yifei, I set aside a portion for Aunt Yan earlier. Do you think she’ll mind where these shrimp came from? Or should I just wait until next time when I buy fresh shrimp to cook for her?" Gan Lan whispered to Yan Yifei, who was currently eating a Golden Phoenix Tail Shrimp.
Yan Yifei’s chopsticks paused. He turned to look at Gan Lan, feeling a bit puzzled. He wondered if Gan Lan was already planning to win over his mother. Actually, there was no need for that. His family believed in freedom of marriage. His mother’s opinion wasn’t important; what mattered was that he liked her.
However, the fact that Gan Lan was thinking about his family—didn’t that mean she also liked him? At this thought, a radiant smile bloomed on Yan Yifei’s face.
Gan Lan was speechless. She wondered why he was suddenly smiling so brightly and dazzlingly.
"She won’t. It’s good enough that she gets to eat it at all. How could she mind?" The corners of Yan Yifei’s lips never dropped. He really wanted to confess his feelings to her right then and there, but it felt too sudden and the occasion wasn’t quite right. It would be better to wait until after her competition. Feeling deeply pleased with himself, he thought the table full of shrimp tasted even sweeter.
Fortunately, Gan Lan had no idea what Yan Yifei was thinking. Otherwise, she probably would have roasted him for overthinking. Setting aside a portion for Aunt Yan was merely fulfilling a promise.
Wu Mingyu’s eating speed finally slowed down. Seeing the beaming Yan Yifei chatting so harmoniously with Gan Lan across the table, he felt displeased and wanted to stir up some trouble.
"Junior! Do you remember what I told you on the comms earlier?!" Wu Mingyu loudly complained to Gan Lan while tossing fried shrimp into his mouth one after another. "You have no idea how shameless this Princess Yan is! He’s absolutely shameless to the core!"
This piqued Gan Lan’s interest. "What did he do?"
"Nothing, I just played a joke on him," Yan Yifei explained to Gan Lan. He then looked at Wu Mingyu with a meaningful gaze. "If you spill it now, you might never see your precious treasures ever again."
"Are you threatening me?! Let me tell you, I’m not scared! I’ve already relocated my precious treasures. Not even my mom knows where they are!" Wu Mingyu spoke with agitation. If he wasn’t afraid of startling the shrimp in his hands, he would have slammed the table and stood up.
"Oh? Is that so? You moved them to Starlight Villa District 1... I don’t need to say the rest, do I?" Yan Yifei raised an eyebrow and flashed a smile at Wu Mingyu.
The fried shrimp in Wu Mingyu’s hand was so "startled" that it dropped into his bowl. He slumped back into his chair with a lifeless expression. He had moved them so covertly—who on earth had sold him out?!
"If he doesn’t dare to say it, I will! The worst that can happen is a beating. I’m going to let Junior see your ugly true colors!" Gao Haiyang slammed the table and stood up, his expression thoroughly righteous.
"Who do you think you relied on to sit here and eat this all-shrimp feast? You’d better think carefully." Yan Yifei leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed, calmly watching Gao Haiyang with a smirk.
Upon hearing this, Gao Haiyang instantly deflated. He drooped his head and sat back down, feeling exceptionally powerless. He could only channel his grief and indignation into his appetite, continuing his battle with the shrimp and pretending he knew nothing.
Gao Haiyang’s silence left Gan Lan a bit disappointed. She looked at Lu Ziyu expectantly, hoping to hear about Yan Yifei’s shameless deeds from his mouth. She was truly too curious.
It wasn’t that Lu Ziyu didn’t see Gan Lan’s expectant gaze; he almost blurted it out, but he was promptly warned by a glare. He could only shake his head and silently focus on peeling his shrimp. He didn’t know anything either.
"What about you? Senior Wen, how did you guys get here?" Seeing that she couldn’t get anything out of those cowards, Gan Lan shifted her target.
"Me? I received a comms call from Boss Yan saying that a starship was already parked at our instant noodle factory construction site. He asked if I wanted to come eat an all-shrimp feast. No, wait, he asked if I wanted to come see you. Of course I would definitely, absolutely come even if it meant skipping class! As for what happened before that, I have no idea..." Wen Ningyue paused her shrimp-peeling hands, her eyes filled with confusion.
"I don’t know either! I was in the same situation as Ning Yue..." Wang Bin quickly chimed in.
Gan Lan had no choice but to turn back to Yan Yifei, her face brimming with a thirst for knowledge.