Zhao Mengru had been in Gan Lan’s livestream since the moment it started. Watching Gan Lan joke around with her viewers, seeing their endless flattery, and witnessing the virtual Space Warships they gifted, she was driven mad with jealousy. She smashed everything in her room that could be smashed!
Those useless trash! She had spent a fortune to push this garbage onto the trending searches, yet her popularity hadn’t dropped at all—it was actually skyrocketing.
Her account couldn’t even post comments. The second she entered the livestream, she had wanted to mock and curse at her! But right after typing out a message filled with insults, she was instantly muted and nearly kicked out. Because her account level was relatively high, she was only muted, but this only made Zhao Mengru even more furious.
She had spent a massive sum to hire a hundred million internet trolls, and an even bigger sum to hire Wei Donghe. Yet, Wei Donghe merely published a single article before getting sued. Didn’t he confidently vow that he wasn’t afraid of being sued because he had "connections"? She had thought he was so capable, but now he was rotting in prison with a five-year sentence.
And those over a hundred million trolls? They had barely made a splash before fifty million of them were instantly wiped out. What an absolute bunch of useless, useless trash! Zhao Mengru slammed her hand fiercely onto the table, her eyes bloodshot.
She wished she could drag Gan Lan right out of the livestream and torture her mercilessly! She wanted to make her life a living hell and make her regret ever crossing her!
After thinking for a moment, she placed a call to her suitor. "Yu, can you help me one more time? This whole thing is ruined. I don’t know who’s backing this peasant from the shadows, but I have to ruin her! Please?" Zhao Mengru pleaded, her tone turning aggrieved and coquettish.
The man on the other end of the call fell silent for a moment before speaking. "I’ll think of something." With that, he hung up immediately.
Zhao Mengru stared at her Light Brain, feeling ready to explode with anger again. He actually dared to hang up on her first! Back when he was trying to woo her, he would have loved nothing more than to stay on a call with her all day long!
Still, having received a positive answer, Zhao Mengru felt a little more at ease and decided not to hold it against him.
Meanwhile, after hanging up, the man lowered his head in deep thought for a moment before making another call. "Zhao Mengru is utterly useless. She couldn’t even handle a single minor task. Should we abandon this brainless woman for now?"
"Keep her around for now. She might still be useful later," the voice on the other end replied.
Mingzong University, the Principal’s Office.
"The one who published the article has already been sent to prison. Those internet trolls online have been practically annihilated, and public opinion has shifted. Is it really necessary to do all this for a single student?" a young man dressed in casual clothes asked, sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed.
An elderly man scoffed. "You actually have the nerve to ask if it’s worth it? Haven’t you seen the data? Haven’t you eaten the food? Do you have no idea how much value she holds?"
The casually dressed man curled his lips. He was just making an offhand comment; there was no need for this old geezer to take it so seriously.
At the desk, an elegant man who had been processing documents stopped his pen upon hearing this. "Lan Yu, I heard... this student brings you a portion every time she cooks? How does the taste of her dishes compare to the finished products made by the professors in your Culinary Department?"
"There’s quite a significant difference in taste; it still needs improvement. If you want to try it, Principal, you can open Gan Lan’s livestream and take a look right now." She sounded a bit disappointed as she continued, "It’s getting late today. I don’t know if she’ll deliver anything." Ye Lanyu certainly couldn’t swallow her pride enough to ask a student for food directly.
"I’ll go take a look." The casually dressed man opened Gan Lan’s livestream, anticipation in his voice.
The moment he opened the livestream, a sweet fragrance wafted toward him. "HISS... This student is quite impressive! This aroma is absolutely phenomenal!"
The other three also opened the livestream.
The principal was drawn by the rather ordinary-looking but richly fragrant flower pastries. He couldn’t resist picking one up, but his hand flinched and he dropped it right back. It was hot. Even though it was virtual data, the sensation of heat was still present.
"This pastry is delicious! Paired with the bowl of Chinese Herbal Jelly sitting next to it, the taste is out of this world!" the casually dressed man exclaimed. "I really wonder just how many recipes are stored inside this student’s head."
The elderly man looked rather smug upon hearing this. "You’re so easily amazed!"
Ye Lanyu was speechless.
Meanwhile, the elegant principal was slowly savoring a flower pastry. The crispy outer crust, carrying the rich and sweet fragrance of roses, followed by a spoonful of mildly sweet, ice-cold Chinese Herbal Jelly, made him nod in approval. Even he, someone who usually disliked sweets, found it delicious; for someone with a sweet tooth, this would be an absolute critical hit.
One only had to look at the casually dressed man’s expression to know. He looked as if he were eating some divine elixir, savoring the aftertaste with every bite while letting out vocal sighs of admiration!
"Lan Yu, why don’t you call your student and have her send some over? Or I can pay Credit Points! I’ve got plenty of money!" The casually dressed man felt that eating data wasn’t satisfying enough; he wanted to try the real thing.
"Vice Principal, is that really a good idea?" Ye Lanyu hesitated. She knew full well that with just one call, Gan Lan would definitely deliver the food, but doing so felt rather embarrassing.
When the elderly man heard this, he had also just been thinking that eating data wasn’t satisfying. The young man’s suggestion was exactly what he wanted, and he couldn’t help but nod in agreement.
Ye Lanyu then looked over at the principal sitting upright, signaling for him to voice a refusal.
But the principal merely looked back at her in silence.
Ye Lanyu pursed her lips. She understood. With a sigh of resignation, she called Gan Lan.
While Gan Lan was eating flower pastries on her livestream, she suddenly received a call from Professor Ye. Professor Ye sounded a bit awkward. "Gan Lan, could you pack up a few portions of flower pastries and Chinese Herbal Jelly and send them to the Principal’s Office? Having a robot deliver them is fine." Ye Lanyu paused, then transferred fifty thousand Credit Points to Gan Lan. "Take this money. It’s from the Vice Principal. Don’t refuse it; he’s rich."
Hearing this, Gan Lan smiled faintly. "Alright, I’ll pack up a few portions and send them over right away."
She had thought something was wrong, but it turned out the school leaders were just craving her food.
Returning to the livestream, Gan Lan began packing the food: fifty flower pastries and twenty servings of Chinese Herbal Jelly. Seeing that it looked a little sparse, she thought for a moment and decided to grill a few skewers of squid as well.
I Am Too Stressed: [Junior, what are you packing up real food for? And so much of it? Are you planning to give it away? I want some too!!]
Sky Blue: [Junior is sending them to me! She must be! You know the address, Junior!]
Feiran: [...You know my address too.]
Expert Death-Seeker: [Me too, me too!]
Gan Lan was speechless. What should she do now? If she had known this would happen, she would have packed the food secretly, away from the camera.
"These are for some elders to taste, you guys..." Gan Lan was a bit helpless.
"How about this? I won’t set up my physical stall today. I’ll just set it up in the livestream as a perk. We’ll do it in the form of a raffle, and we’ll see whose luck is the best." Gan Lan could only come up with this idea. It wouldn’t be good to give food to one person but not another; this method was the fairest.
Immortal Barbecue: [I agree, I agree, I agree! This method is brilliant!]
Sky Blue: [Fine... pouting.]
Cutie: [Newbie here with a question. Why does the streamer know these people’s addresses? Do they have some kind of unspeakable secret or something?]
Feiran: [There are no unspeakable secrets. We knew the streamer before she started broadcasting.]
Sky Blue: [Exactly, what kind of dirty mind do you have?]
Immortal Barbecue: [Before the streamer started broadcasting, she held a raffle on the school forum. The winners got to eat with her! That’s when she got the addresses, right?]
Blooming Beauty, Moonlit Grace: [The person above analyzed it perfectly! What a clever little ghost!]
"Then let’s start by grilling the squid. We can’t let my elders wait too long. After I finish grilling their portion, I’ll start grilling the raffle portions." Gan Lan lit the charcoal stove and laid out the skewered squid.
"Grill it slightly, then brush on some cooking oil."
...