Seeing Wen Ningyue’s Moments, Wang Bin’s eyes turned red with jealousy. He wished he could instantly turn into a woman and become best sisters with Gan Lan. Although he really wanted to knock on her door, it wouldn’t look good. If he showed up, he’d definitely get to eat. But he felt too embarrassed to bother Gan Lan. He could only sigh and rewatch her previous videos, comforting his wounded little heart by feeding on digital data.
After seeing Wen Ningyue off, Gan Lan read a book for a while before browsing the Star Network Ingredient Store. Not having to attend classes lately was truly wonderful. Earlier, while eating the hot oil noodles, she had thought of luosifen—river snail rice noodles. She decided to check out shops selling pickled products. She browsed through many stores but couldn’t find any satisfactory pickled bamboo shoots. If she made them herself, she would have to wait at least a month before she could eat them.
Dizzy from her search, she stumbled into a dilapidated, unvisited storefront. The moment she stepped inside, her eyes were drawn to a large, sealed transparent vat of pickled bamboo shoots. Filled with anticipation, she manually opened the lid.
A rich, pungent scent rushed her nose. Gan Lan stumbled, nearly dropping the lid. The smell was so overpowering that she could barely handle it.
Picking up the chopsticks set aside, she took a piece to taste. It was sour enough! It also carried that distinct aroma—this was definitely the soul of the luosifen she was looking for! She could tell the shop owner used high-quality water and bamboo shoots to pickle such authentic bamboo shoots.
Next, she inspected the glass jars around the bamboo shoots and found dried pickled radishes. They tasted crisp and sweet. To her surprise, she also discovered pickled mustard greens, kimchi, pickled long beans, garlic, and scallions. They all tasted fantastic!
Gan Lan wondered why no one was visiting this shop when its pickled goods were so delicious.
Seeing the shop owner was online, her eyes lit up, and she quickly sent a private message. She was ready to buy out the whole store. Seeing these familiar pickled goods, she thought she had met a fellow Earthling and decided to test the waters with a secret code.
Come and have some barbecue!: [The eagle flies at midnight!]
Gan Lan waited patiently for a reply. Meanwhile, she went on a shopping spree, placing orders for every pickled item she found delicious. She bought out the entire large vat of pickled bamboo shoots, pickled mustard greens, pickled long beans, and dried radishes.
Only after clearing out the inventory did she receive the owner’s reply.
Shop Owner: [What does "the eagle flies at midnight" mean? Friend, the goods you bought will take half an hour to prepare. Because this place is remote, they won’t arrive for another two hours. You’re not in a hurry, are you?]
Gan Lan was a little disappointed by the reply. She really thought she had met a fellow Earthling.
Come and have some barbecue!: [I’m not in a hurry. But what do you mean by preparing the goods? You didn’t make the food in this shop?]
Shop Owner: [No, these were made by the villagers. To gather the quantity you need, I have to collect them from several villages.]
Shop Owner: [It can’t be helped. This place is just too poor, so we can only make these things to sell. You’re the first customer since the shop opened! If no one buys anything soon, we’ll run out of food.]
Come and have some barbecue!: [Doesn’t the government provide a minimum living allowance? You won’t starve to death.]
Shop Owner: [Sigh, you don’t understand. The minimum allowance is barely enough to scrape by, and there are subsidies for schooling. But the children lack decent clothes and proper nutrition, not to mention those expensive study materials. It’s tough!]
Shop Owner: [We thought our pickled vegetables were delicious, so we decided to open a shop specifically to sell them. Unfortunately, they’re too hard to sell. No one wants them. Quite a few people have visited the shop, but they were all scared off by the unique smell. They weren’t even willing to give them a try.]
Gan Lan’s heart grew heavy when she read these words. Poverty existed everywhere. The original owner of her body was also from a poverty star. Although basic food and clothing weren’t a problem since her parents had left her some Credit Points, she hadn’t suffered much. However, the original owner had spent all those Credit Points on study materials, surviving purely on low-level nutrient solutions to fill her stomach, which led to chronic malnutrition.
Come and have some barbecue!: [I’ll need large quantities of pickled bamboo shoots, pickled mustard greens, dried radishes, and pickled long beans in the future. Please pickle more of these four. I’ll pay a deposit first.]
Gan Lan made this decision in an instant. Since she had stumbled upon them and needed the ingredients anyway, she would help out as much as she could. If interstellar citizens could accept luosifen, this shop would explode in popularity. The impoverished people relying on it would have a much better life in the future.
Shop Owner: [Thank you, thank you so much! I guarantee it will be done!]
Meanwhile, on poverty star 2122 at the edge of the Federation Star System.
Inside a small, single-story house, a young man with a buzz cut sat on a worn-out sofa. He was wearing faded but meticulously washed clothes, smiling foolishly at his Light Brain. Staring at the backend orders and the deposit sent by the customer, he jumped up in excitement, shouting and dancing around wildly.
He had only meant to complain a little, never expecting the second order to arrive just like that. With reddened eyes, he hurriedly ran out to notify the families who had the goods in stock. Riding a battered hoverboard Flying Car, he yelled door to door, "Everyone with pickled bamboo shoots, dried radishes, pickled long beans, and pickled mustard greens, pack them all up and bring them out! A customer bought them! It’s a massive order!"
An elderly man who was slowly walking home with a hoe dropped it immediately upon hearing this. He hurried toward the shouting youth, grabbed his arm, and asked excitedly, "Mo, is it true? Did someone really buy them?"
The old man’s eyes welled with tears. They had originally thought that such delicious pickled vegetables would easily find buyers, so their family had pickled six large vats. They even crowdfunded some Credit Points to help this young man open a shop on the Star Network. But a whole month had passed, and they hadn’t sold a single thing.
The villagers had gone from expectant to anxious, and finally resigned. They had stopped holding onto hope, but today... today, of all days...
Mo looked down at the emotional old man and the crowd gathering around him, continuously asking, "Is it true? Did they really sell? Are you sure, Mo?" His own eyes grew red. He completely understood how they felt. It was the disbelief of being hit with a sudden, wonderful surprise after thinking there was hope for a better life, only to face disappointment time and time again.
"Hurry! Go tell everyone who has these four items to bring them all here! Make sure they’re of good quality; don’t bring anything spoiled!" Mo urged. "Then, hurry up and start pickling the second batch. The customer has already paid the deposit for the next order!"
"Yes, yes, we know! We’ll definitely bring the best quality. We’re going right now!"
With that, the elderly men, women, and children surrounding him scattered in all directions. Watching the villagers rush about, Mo could see the joy radiating even from their retreating backs. He shook his head and flashed a bright smile, revealing his white teeth.
Finally, there was something to look forward to in life.
Back in her dorm room.
Gan Lan looked at the assortment of large and small jars and vats of pickled goods covering the floor. She felt a bit troubled—there was simply too much of it. However, she couldn’t just keep them in the temperature-controlled box indefinitely. Pickled goods tasted best when they underwent natural fermentation.
Left with no choice, she kept a few vats and rented a small warehouse at the school, having a robot transport the rest there for proper storage. Now that she had purchased all the ingredients for luosifen, she was reminded of grilled snail meat while looking for the river snails!
Today’s menu was finalized. The only question was whether the interstellar citizens would dare to try the finished product.
Regardless, Gan Lan felt that luosifen was a dish with great depth. It was fragrant but not rotten; smelling it stimulated the appetite, thinking about it made one drool, and eating it made one want to roll on the floor in delight. Of course, there were also those who would run for the hills at the mere scent of it.
All in all, it was a highly controversial delicacy.