"What is she making? It smells so spicy." Lu Ziyu rubbed his slightly itchy nose and nudged Gao Haiyang, who was sitting next to him.
Gao Haiyang scooted away from him and rolled his eyes. "Why do you care so much? A freeloader has no right to ask questions!"
Lu Ziyu dropped his hand and said disdainfully, "Tch! Look at you acting all high and mighty. Am I not even allowed to ask?" But still a bit curious, he turned to Yan Yifei. "Captain, do you know?"
Yan Yifei didn’t even spare him a glance, staring intently at his Light Brain and pretending not to hear.
"Hmph! Fine, don’t tell me. Maybe even you guys don’t know and are just putting on an act!" Saying that, Lu Ziyu turned away, ignored them, and started scrolling through the Star Network.
Seeing Lu Ziyu finally quiet down, Gao Haiyang nodded in satisfaction.
Dealing with someone like Lu Ziyu, ignoring him was the best solution. The more you engaged, the more energetic he got!
Although Gao Haiyang didn’t know what their junior was making today either, it didn’t matter. Anything produced by her was guaranteed to be a masterpiece! All he had to do was wait!
The pungent, spicy aroma in the room grew thicker, causing the three of them to sneeze every now and then.
At that moment, a loud KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK sounded at the dorm door again.
Yan Yifei sat completely still and cast a sideways glance at Lu Ziyu, signaling him to go open it.
Although Lu Ziyu wanted to pretend he didn’t see the signal, Gao Haiyang also turned to stare at him. Left with no choice, he dawdled to his feet and went to open the door. After all, he was an uninvited freeloader.
Opening the door, he took a look. "Oh, isn’t this our great school heartthrob? How do you have the time to grace our humble abode?" Seeing Wu Mingyu standing there, Lu Ziyu teased loudly.
Wu Mingyu retracted his hand and rolled his eyes. "Who are you talking to? Although I am the number one heartthrob of Mingzong, I don’t seem to recall knowing you." He wondered, "Why is this gossip monger Lu Ziyu here too? Does my junior actually know him?"
But on second thought, knowing Yan Yifei and Gao Haiyang meant knowing Lu Ziyu sooner or later; they all hung out together anyway.
Thinking this, he cast a disdainful glance at Lu Ziyu and walked past him into the room.
Lu Ziyu held the door, shaking his head in disappointment. "Of course we know each other. After all, we were brothers in distress back in kindergarten. This is a long-awaited reunion. Even if we aren’t shedding tears of joy, shouldn’t there at least be a friendly greeting? To actually pretend not to know me... it breaks my heart." Finishing his speech, he clutched his chest and lowered his head, feigning pity.
Wu Mingyu paused his steps into the room, then continued to pretend he couldn’t see or hear anything. Checking out what delicious food his junior was making tonight was the only thing that mattered.
"Junior, Junior! What delicious food are you making today? It smells so good and spicy!" Wu Mingyu leaned over the kitchen window, craning his neck toward Gan Lan inside.
Gan Lan turned to look at him helplessly. "You’ll know in a bit. Go wait for a moment, it’ll be ready soon."
"Okay, Junior!" Wu Mingyu nodded, walking toward the living room with slight disappointment.
"Oh, what’s wrong, my heartthrob? You look a bit down. Do you need your bro to comfort you?" Catching Wu Mingyu’s disappointed expression from the corner of his eye, Lu Ziyu started seeking attention again.
"Lu Ziyu! Don’t think just because I can’t beat you in a fight that you can act so smug! And don’t you mock me! Weren’t you also chasing after Princess Yan back in kindergarten?"
Lu Ziyu’s tone grew agitated. "Bah! That’s slander! I just wanted to be good friends with the Captain! My intentions were pure! Unlike you, directly asking the Captain to be your girlfriend! Despicable!"
Wu Mingyu sneered in disdain and continued, "I wonder who it was that risked getting beaten every day to steal cookies from home and give them to Princess Yan? In the end, Princess Yan felt so bad that she told you she was actually a little prince. After that, you never brought cookies again. Is that what you call wanting to be good friends?"
Recalling the scene, Wu Mingyu burst into laughter. "After hearing the truth, I wonder who squatted in the corner and cried so miserably. Oh, it was truly tragic. Even a snot bubble came out. It would make listeners sad and watchers weep!"
Remembering how the Captain had fooled him back when he was a kid, Lu Ziyu felt a surge of shame and indignation. He raised his fist and waved it at Wu Mingyu. "Do you want to fight, Wu Mingyu? Say one more word, and believe it or not, I’ll bash your head in!"
Wu Mingyu wasn’t afraid in the slightest. He crossed his arms and tilted his head toward Lu Ziyu’s fist. "Hit me! Hit me then! Do you dare? Hmph!"
Lu Ziyu clenched his fist, then lowered it in frustration. Of course he didn’t dare. After all, Wu Mingyu had a great older sister who happened to be Lu Ziyu’s training instructor.
If this punch landed, he would have endless training sessions waiting for him in the future.
He had brought this upon himself; why couldn’t he keep his mouth shut?
Hearing the topic of their argument, Gao Haiyang sat up incredibly straight, quiet as a mouse.
He occasionally stole glances at Yan Yifei, whose expression was growing increasingly foul.
The Captain was quite pitiful too, having his dark history dug up time and time again. Gao Haiyang couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh.
Yan Yifei was completely speechless. He thought, "Are we really never going to get past this?"
He closed his Light Brain, stood up, and walked toward the two bickering men. He patted Lu Ziyu on the shoulder. "Am I invisible to you two, or am I dead? You sure are talking enthusiastically. You’ve got a lot of nerve. How about we spar a bit after dinner?" Yan Yifei scoffed coldly.
Hearing his voice, the two shuddered in unison, deflating like defeated roosters.
Gao Haiyang was speechless. He thought, "The Captain is mighty after all."
Shortly after, Gan Lan and a robot walked out one after the other, each carrying a large pot of soup base—one spicy and numbing, the other a rich bone broth.
Wang Bin and Wen Ningyue arrived at exactly the right moment.
Gan Lan set down the soup pot and called out, "Dinner is ready! Come on, mix your own dipping sauces. You can customize whatever flavor you want. The seasonings are all right here."
Hearing this, everyone was delighted, but then shocked. They actually had to do it themselves? The clumsy-handed among them didn’t dare.
Recalling his own culinary disasters, Yan Yifei quickly spoke up, "Junior, I’ll just have the same as yours. I can’t even tell these seasonings apart."
"Me too, just give me the same flavor as yours," the other five chimed in unison.
"Alright," Gan Lan said. She thought, "It’s just mixing seasonings, is it really that big of a deal?" She didn’t argue with them and let them be. Eating without a dipping sauce wouldn’t be bad either.
The group noticed that Gan Lan had swapped out the furniture for a massive table. In the center sat two large, boiling pots emitting incredibly rich aromas. Surrounding the two pots were stacks of meat and vegetables, as well as some rather strange, unfamiliar ingredients.
Feeling a bit puzzled, Gao Haiyang asked first, "Junior, these are all raw. How do we eat them?"
Gan Lan pointed at the two boiling pots. "This one is a rich bone broth base, not spicy. The red one is spicy and numbing. If you want something spicy, just take the raw ingredients and swish them in the broth for a bit. Once they’re cooked, you can eat them directly. They taste even better with the dipping sauce!"
Everyone nodded in understanding and took their seats, looking exactly like kindergarteners waiting for their teacher to serve them their meals.
Gan Lan distributed the mixed dipping sauces one by one, looking at the seated crowd with sincere gratitude. "I invited you all today mainly to thank you. Thank you for defending me and trusting me so much. I also made you spend a lot of money. I don’t have much else to repay you with, so I can only do my best to make delicious food. I hope you eat and drink well."
Yan Yifei shook his head. "It was just a small effort, no need to be like this."
Gao Haiyang chimed in, "Yeah, yeah. No need to be so polite, Junior. We’re friends, aren’t we? Isn’t it only natural to help a friend?"
Wen Ningyue added, "We are friends, and I’m also your fan. Isn’t it perfectly normal to defend one’s idol?"
Wang Bin said, "Junior, you’re a good person. You’re worth defending."
Wu Mingyu declared, "Who can blame me when your cooking has completely conquered my stomach! Of course I have to protect you! Otherwise, where would I go for such delicious food in the future? That would be a massive loss!"
While scrolling through the Star Network earlier, Lu Ziyu had seen the trending topic on the front page and figured out what had happened. Even though he was an uninvited guest, he still felt the need to express his support.
"Junior, although I only just found out what happened, those people are just slinging mud at you. Don’t let it bother you. I believe in you!" Lu Ziyu said seriously.
Hearing these heartwarming words, Gan Lan’s eyes reddened. She wiped away the tears threatening to fall, picked up a slice of fatty beef with the serving chopsticks, and said with a smile, "Then let’s dig in. I’ll demonstrate for you first. Put this beef into the spicy soup base and swish it until it changes color, then immediately scoop it out. Then it’s ready to eat." She dipped it generously in the sauce, blew on it, and stuffed a massive bite into her mouth!
It was incredibly delicious. Perfectly marbled beef was the absolute best for hot pot. Coupled with the dipping sauce—aged vinegar, peanut and sesame paste, minced spicy peppers, chili oil, and cilantro—the flavor was absolutely divine. Her mood instantly lifted.
Seeing Gan Lan’s expression, everyone grew anxious, staring at her with eager eyes.
Gan Lan snapped out of her daze and smiled sheepishly. "It tasted so good I got a bit carried away. Anyway, put whatever you want to eat into the pot first. You can ask me if it’s cooked or not. Meat must be scooped out as soon as it changes color, otherwise it won’t be tender. You can also put it in the bone broth base, that’s very tasty too!"
Following Gan Lan’s example, Yan Yifei picked up a slice of beef, swished it in the spicy broth, and after it changed color, asked, "Junior, is this okay?"
Gan Lan paused her chopsticks, took a look, and shook her head. "Not yet. It’s still a bit red in the middle. Swish it until the whole thing changes color and then you can eat it."
Yan Yifei nodded humbly and complied. Imitating Gan Lan, he dipped it in the sauce and stuffed it into his mouth. As he chewed, his eyes lit up. It was delicious! He actually succeeded! He wasn’t a culinary disaster after all!
Wen Ningyue held up a meatball and asked, "Is this ready, Junior?"
"Junior, Junior, is this mutton done?"
"Junior, Junior, is this pork belly cooked?"
"Junior, Junior, what is this black patchy thing?" Wang Bin held up a piece of tripe, his eyes wide as he looked at Gan Lan.
Gan Lan looked over them one by one and answered, "The meatballs need a bit more time. The mutton is ready to eat, and the pork belly is fine too. Senior, that’s tripe, um... from a cow." She didn’t dare say straight out that it was a cow’s stomach, afraid they might be repulsed.
Gan Lan was incredibly busy. She had to cook and eat her own meat while constantly answering whether this or that was cooked. It was a hectic affair.
Fortunately, they were quite smart. As they grew more familiar with the process, they no longer needed to ask her if the food was cooked. Gan Lan let out a sigh of relief.
By the end of the hot pot meal, they had all managed to work up a sweat, even inside the air-conditioned room.