After bidding farewell to the dean, Gan Lan headed back. She was quite curious, her mind constantly turning over what the competition format might be.
She didn’t feel the slightest bit of panic about the grand finale. In fact, she was supremely confident. She had already figured out how she wanted to prepare the two main ingredients—the Red Demon Ugly Shrimp and the Deceit Fish—so she was completely free of the usual pre-finals jitters.
She hadn’t been gone for long, yet upon her return, the plates on the dining table had already been licked clean. Everyone was uniformly slumped in their chairs, Yan Yifei included.
Seeing Gan Lan return, they merely stared at her in silence. They were so stuffed to the gills that they feared they might burst if they so much as uttered a word.
Finding the scene incredibly amusing, Gan Lan teased, "Are you all finally full? If anyone is still hungry, I’ll go cook for you right now. I guarantee you’ll eat to your heart’s content and have to walk out of here holding the walls for support."
Gan Lan looked at them one by one. They all shook their heads and waved their hands in silence—except for one.
"Bestie, although I got full earlier, I sat out during their last round of eating. I feel like I’ve digested a bit now. I think I could manage a little more." Wang Bin rubbed his still-bulging belly and chuckled.
"Are you sure you can really, truly still eat, and that you actually want more!?" Gan Lan asked in disbelief, staring at the grinning Wang Bin.
Wang Bin patted his belly and nodded. "Bestie, if you’re the one cooking, I can definitely make room for a little more."
"Alright, since you insist, I’ll go make you a little something." Gan Lan turned to leave, but then remembered something and looked back to caution him. "Really, don’t force yourself. It’s not worth making yourself sick from overeating. It’s not like I’m never going to cook for you guys again."
"I’m not uncomfortable; all I feel right now is pure bliss. But wait, you’ve cooked so much today. Are you too tired? If so, then never mind." Wang Bin had been so caught up in the feast that he’d forgotten Gan Lan had been busy all day. Now that he was sufficiently full, he felt a bit embarrassed.
Gan Lan didn’t say anything, merely waving a hand dismissively as she walked into the kitchen.
Whipping up some seafood fried rice and a tomato tofu soup wouldn’t take much time—just a few minutes. Besides, she still had plenty of ingredients and condiments leftover from today’s meals.
She diced the cooked shrimp and carrots, then blanched the peas in boiling water and drained them.
Cracking a few eggs into a bowl, she added a pinch of salt and beat them evenly. She heated some oil in a wok, poured in the egg wash, and scrambled them until fully set before transferring them to a plate.
Adding a little more oil to the wok, she tossed in the diced carrots once it was hot, stir-frying them until the oil took on their color and the carrots softened. She added the peas and continued tossing. After a dash of salt, she threw in the diced shrimp and some green garlic, stir-frying until the garlic released its fragrance, then scooped the mixture onto a plate to set aside.
Using the remaining oil in the wok, she dumped in the cold rice, breaking it apart over low heat. Once seasoned with salt and mixed evenly, she returned the scrambled eggs, shrimp, and vegetable mix to the wok. She tossed everything together until perfectly blended, then plated it up.
A massive portion of vibrant seafood fried rice—speckled with green, yellow, red, and white—was ready. The aroma was incredibly tempting, but unfortunately, Gan Lan couldn’t eat another bite herself.
She had deliberately cooked a huge batch, anticipating that the others would suddenly decide they wanted some once she brought it out.
Starting another pot, she tossed in peeled, diced tomatoes, sautéing them until their red juices flowed. She added salt and a splash of light soy sauce for color, rendering the tomato juice even brighter. Finally, she slid in small cubes of tofu and the leftover bone broth from earlier, bringing it all to a rolling boil before removing it from the heat.
The bright, ruby-red tomato tofu soup was complete. Gan Lan opted not to add shrimp to this dish, worried that her friends might develop a phobia of them after today’s crustacean feast.
She portioned out a small bowl of each dish, placed the rest into a temperature-controlled box, and carried it all out to the dining room.
As soon as Gan Lan stepped out, she was greeted by six pairs of sparkling eyes. The absolute disaster zone on the dining table had already been thoroughly cleaned by the assistant robot.
"Serve yourselves," Gan Lan said. She had known this would happen, so it was a good thing she came prepared.
Setting down the temperature-controlled box, Gan Lan watched in exasperation as everyone immediately grabbed bowls and chopsticks, eagerly scooping up the fried rice. The same people who had been paralyzed with fullness moments ago were now moving with startling agility. She felt like she’d been conned into cooking. "I’m going to wash up and go to bed. Take your time eating. There are plenty of empty cabins on the spaceship; make yourselves at home."
"Alright. Get some good rest," Yan Yifei said softly to the visibly exhausted Gan Lan. She hadn’t stopped moving from dawn to dusk; she must be exhausted.
Gan Lan was indeed wiped out. Her mind was singular in its desire for sleep. As for her friends, they could do whatever they pleased.
She slept like a log that night, dreamless and heavy. When her biological clock chimed, Gan Lan opened her eyes naturally.
The spaceship would arrive at the Red Demon Star tonight. Gan Lan suddenly found herself eager to get there and meet the Red Demon Ugly Shrimp in person. She wanted to eat them...
She got up, washed her face, and headed to the dining room. To her surprise, everyone except Wen Ningyue was still sitting around the table, deep in animated conversation.
Gan Lan was completely baffled. Did they sleep at all? Or had they already woken up?
"Junior, you’re finally up! We stayed up all night, but we’re not tired at all!" Lu Ziyu announced to a dumbfounded Gan Lan.
"Aren’t you guys going back to class? Are you planning to tag along to the Red Demon Star with me?" Gan Lan asked, pulling out a chair and taking a seat.
"We’re going back, but only after we safely escort you to the Red Demon Star. We’ve already skipped class anyway, so what’s one more day?" Gao Haiyang chuckled. "Junior, did you come to the dining room to make breakfast?"
"I thought you guys had already gone back. I was originally just going to scrounge up something quick for myself, but it looks like that’s off the table now." Gan Lan mirrored their posture, slumping into her chair. "Our instant noodle factory is almost finished. I don’t know the first thing about management or planning. Do any of you have experience with that?"
"Let Wu Mingyu manage it. He has the most free time, and since his family is in business, he’s learned it through osmosis since childhood." The moment Gan Lan mentioned management, Yan Yifei thought of Wu Mingyu. With Wu Mingyu at the helm, leveraging his family’s resources, their instant noodle factory would undoubtedly boom. Though, of course, the primary driving force would still be the immense market appeal of Gan Lan’s noodles.
"How do I have the most free time? I’m incredibly busy every single day! Besides, management is exhausting. I’m not doing it!" Wu Mingyu retorted indignantly. If Gan Lan had asked, he might have considered it, but what right did Princess Yan have to volunteer him? They were sworn enemies right now!
Gan Lan then looked at Wang Bin, who shook his head vigorously. "Not me, definitely not me. I’m a history major; I don’t know the first thing about management."
Gao Haiyang and Lu Ziyu also shook their heads, and even Boss Yan suddenly found the ceiling and floor incredibly interesting, completely avoiding her gaze. Was this any way to treat someone he liked?
"Well, what if we ask Senior Wen to do it?" Gan Lan asked Wang Bin, seeing that they were all quite averse to the idea.
"Her...?" Wang Bin hastily waved his hands. "No, no, no! If you don’t want our first factory to go bankrupt before it even opens, don’t let her anywhere near it!" As if waving his hands wasn’t enough, he began shaking his head vehemently.
Gan Lan was speechless. It looked like she had no choice but to resort to her ultimate move.