Gan Lan was originally just smiling, but now she revealed her bright white teeth in a radiant grin. It turned out that crying poor was highly effective! Just like that, sponsorships rolled in without her even having to ask. She was already looking forward to the newly renovated storefront.
"Um, I’m still short a comfortable bed. How about one of you sponsor me for that too?"
The entire table stared at her in shock. How could someone be so shamelessly thick-skinned? She even wanted a bed sponsored?!
Seeing their looks of disgust, Gan Lan didn’t feel embarrassed at all. She gave a cheeky laugh, intending to fight for it a bit more. "Look, I have to make a lot of Ugly Shrimp today and tomorrow. If I don’t sleep well and lack energy, it will affect the taste of my cooking." She then rubbed her hands together. "Or how about you lend me some Credit Points first, and I’ll pay you back once I make some money?"
Everyone was speechless. How could she say such things without changing her expression? So shameless!
"I still have a few bottles of recovery agent on hand that you can use today and tomorrow. A bed is such a private thing, so it’s better if you wait until they pay their bills and buy it yourself." Mr. Guo looked at Gan Lan in amusement. He found her demeanor quite interesting. She was especially lively; even the way she begged for things was so animated.
If only his own children were this fun. Thinking this, he opened his Space Ring and handed Gan Lan a few bottles of recovery agent he had made for practice.
When the other five saw the recovery agents in Boss Guo’s hands, their eyes sparkled with desire. Boss Guo pretended not to notice. He had given them some before. Besides, these kids just goofed off together all day—what did they need recovery agents for? Giving it to them would be a total waste.
Blushing slightly, Gan Lan took them. She really did need this. Ever since she arrived here, her mental state hadn’t been great. She immediately opened a bottle and drank it. In an instant, she was brimming with energy. It felt just like drinking an Advanced Recovery Agent.
"Uncle... Uncle Guo... Is this an Ad-Advanced Recovery Agent?" Gan Lan was so shocked she stuttered. She had just swallowed a million Credit Points in one gulp! She only had a thousand Credit Points right now—how was she supposed to pay off this debt? The only way was to wait until the competition ended and her funds were unfrozen.
She hurriedly returned the remaining three bottles to Mr. Guo and explained, "I didn’t know it was an Advanced Recovery Agent! I thought it was a normal one, so I drank it all at once. I’ll work hard to earn Credit Points to pay you back, Uncle Guo. Don’t worry, I won’t run away from this debt!"
"I didn’t expect you to have actually drunk an Advanced Recovery Agent before. So why are you so down and out that your balance is only a thousand Credit Points?" Guo Dacheng was full of confusion, delivering a soul-piercing question.
Gan Lan choked slightly and shot Guo Dacheng a look. Why did he have to talk so much? Her mind spun rapidly as she tried to come up with a perfect excuse to stop their questioning. If they kept asking, she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to answer.
Lowering her head, she pretended to be depressed and said, "I went astray, which is why I ended up so destitute..."
Jiang Zizhen asked, his face full of gossip, "How did you go astray?"
Gan Lan kept her head down, twiddling her fingers as she feigned sadness. "I don’t want to talk about it. It’s a sad memory for me..."
"Alright, alright, stop asking. Everyone has their moments of youthful ignorance. As long as she learns her lesson and doesn’t repeat it, that’s enough." Mr. Guo pushed the Advanced Recovery Agents back to Gan Lan, his tone brooking no refusal. "I gave them to you, so take them. Consider it advance payment for my future meals. Don’t push them back again."
He then addressed the large table of people, "Now, eat up. Once you’re done, hurry and contact the contractors—get the renovations and interior decorating sorted out. Go to bed early. Have them start work tomorrow while we’re out running the promotion, and by the time we return, we’ll see a brand-new storefront."
Since the eldest had spoken, the others fell silent and hurriedly devoured all the Ugly Shrimp on the table. They ate until they were dripping with sweat, feeling as if their whole bodies were on fire. The miserable, messy expressions on their faces made it look as though they had all just had a good cry.
After the meal, Gan Lan received a hundred thousand Credit Points from Jiang Zizhen as payment for today’s food. Furthermore, the items they had promised to sponsor began arriving one after another.
Gan Lan looked at these new items in satisfaction. After taking a shower, she lay down in her sleeping bag. She couldn’t bear to spend money on a bed; her hundred thousand Credit Points had to be spent where it mattered most.
Closing her eyes, she looked forward to tomorrow. If things went well, she would buy a bed to celebrate. She had a premonition that her business was going to take off tomorrow. The era of the Spicy Ugly Shrimp was about to arrive!
At the crack of dawn, Gan Lan got up.
She needed to start preparing today’s main ingredients, and the more she made, the better. To this end, she had bought several pots yesterday. She only bought the pots without their matching stoves, as the stoves were simply too expensive.
The entire street was littered with discarded wood and similar scrap. It would be a waste not to use it. Gan Lan planned to go the most primitive route and cook with firewood. She had never tried cooking with firewood before, but she guessed it would probably taste delicious as well.
First, she would try building a simple stove out of rocks, just enough to ensure the pot wouldn’t tip over when placed on top. This was easy; it only took Gan Lan a few minutes to build one. She had already sent Shrimp to catch more Ugly Shrimp, so now she was the only one left working.
Once the stove was built, Gan Lan started a fire. It had been a long time since she last built one, so her skills were quite rusty. She choked on the smoke several times before successfully getting a fire going. As a result, her face was covered in ash and dirt, making her look like a disaster victim.
When Guo Daixuan came over, the first thing she saw was Gan Lan’s soot-covered appearance. She found it rather amusing. Didn’t Culinary Masters usually try their best to stay as clean as possible? Why was it the exact opposite with this person? Wasn’t she afraid that people would see her like this and be disgusted by the food she made?
Guo Daixuan bypassed Gan Lan, quietly sneaked up behind her, and patted her shoulder with a bit of force. "What are you doing?"
Gan Lan was right in the middle of pouring beer into the pot of spicy shrimp when she was slapped hard from behind. She nearly fell headfirst into the boiling pot.
Guo Daixuan hurriedly steadied Gan Lan, grumbling inwardly. She thought, "I just patted her lightly. Can’t she even withstand this much force? What a weakling."
"Holy crap! Are you trying to murder me?!" Gan Lan patted her chest. Just now, she thought she was really going to plunge in. It scared her to death; she had almost been disfigured!
Guo Daixuan let go of Gan Lan, her face the picture of innocence. "I didn’t do it on purpose. Who knew you’d be so fragile?"
"You slap me, and now you’re blaming me for being a weakling?!" Gan Lan poured an appropriate amount of salt, sugar, and pepper into the pot, then covered it with a lid. After letting it simmer for a while, she would be able to taste how the spicy shrimp turned out when cooked over firewood.
"You need to eat more and grow taller. You’re too short and skinny right now. In a few years, even Yuanyuan will be taller than you," Guo Daixuan said, seemingly comforting her but actually twisting the knife.
Gan Lan looked at this obnoxious woman blankly. She was infuriated; her perfectly good mood was on the verge of being ruined by this person.
Not intending to bicker with her anymore, as time was tight, she said, "Hurry up and help me build more stoves." She pointed to the ugly stove she had just finished and was currently using.
As soon as she finished speaking, the rest of the group arrived. In an instant, Gan Lan had assigned everyone their tasks clearly. She even put Old Guo and Yuanyuan to work—after all, one must make the most of all available resources!
The people around her cast condemning glances. Putting Boss Guo to work was one thing, but she wasn’t even letting five-year-old Yuanyuan off the hook?!