"Good afternoon, everyone! Have you eaten yet today?" Gan Lan greeted the viewers in her live stream with a bright smile.
Pork Knuckles Are Delicious: [You’re on so early today! No classes?]
Spicy Fried Crab is the Best: [I can’t wait! What are we eating today?]
Immortal Barbecue: [Junior, the Culinary Department definitely has classes today. I even sneaked a peek at your class schedule! So, what are we eating today?]
Looking at her enthusiastic audience, Gan Lan replied, "The school recently gave me some time off. I’m going to Banan Star to participate in a competition next month, so I’m completely free this whole month!"
My Life is So Hard: [Is it the annual Culinary Exchange Competition? That’s a super prestigious event! Junior is definitely the greatest!]
Love Ugly Shellfish, Love Kale: [Of course my goddess is the best!]
"So why don’t you guys have classes either? Are you all really that free?" Gan Lan asked in confusion.
Retreat: [Hehe, I am in class right now, but I’m sitting in the very back row in a highly concealed corner. The teacher won’t notice!]
The Slackers: [...Is class really more important than food?]
Gan Lan pondered for a moment before speaking up, a little guiltily, "Previously, we’ve always eaten dishes with overwhelmingly delicious aromas. Today... let’s try something with a more peculiar scent!"
Pig’s Trotters Are True Love: [Junior’s expression is making me a little nervous.]
Surprised Beggar Chicken: [Yeah... I’m getting a bad feeling about this too.]
Gan Lan thoroughly washed the river snails, which had already purged their sand. She stir-fried them with common spices like ginger, garlic, and star anise, then tossed in some dried mint. After adding salt to build the base flavor, she poured in a suitable amount of water, brought it to a boil, and then transferred it to simmer with a bone broth for several hours.
Her hands never stopped moving, and her mouth kept up a steady stream of explanations for the audience. "This is the soup base. We’ll need it later, so we’ll just let it simmer for now.
"Today’s stream will last for several hours. If you’re busy, go ahead and do your own thing. You won’t be able to buy all the ingredients for what I’m making today anyway. Once there’s a reliable channel to purchase them, I’ll post the links directly on my account. If you’re interested, you can download my video later and learn how to make it then."
I’m Here to Learn: [It’s a bit of a shame that we can’t get the ingredients right now, but I’m willing to wait!]
Flower Pastries Are True Love: [I feel like the streamer is holding back an ultimate move. A peculiar scent... I’m getting a little curious.]
My Life is So Hard: [It’s only a few hours, I’m willing to wait! I usually feel like Junior’s streams are way too short, but now I finally get to watch her for so long. I’m spinning in circles with joy~]
Gan Lan brought out a large basin, mixing rice flour, starch, and salt together until it formed a smooth dough.
"Place the kneaded dough into this specially made mold, press it down, and squeeze it directly into a pot of boiling water," she instructed as she worked. "Then add a bit of oil to the pot, boil it for a minute or two, and scoop it straight out to let the moisture dry from the rice noodles."
Because she was making such a massive batch of rice noodles, her hands began to tremble slightly from the effort. She let out a breath of relief. "This is our staple food, the rice noodles. They’re done now, but the soup is still simmering, so we’ll make some other things in the meantime."
Immortal Barbecue: [Junior’s hands are trembling. It breaks my heart.]
Gan Lan shook out her hands and smiled. "Next, we’ll make some char siu. Char siu is simply lean pork that has been specially prepared and roasted. Later, we’ll slice it up and eat it with the rice noodles."
She sprinkled salt over the prepared lean meat, added a suitable amount of spices, poured in some cooking wine, and massaged it all in to let the meat marinate. Then, she quickly set aside the snail meat she planned to roast today to marinate as well.
Pouring out a freshly blended batch of watermelon juice—and serving a virtual glass for the audience—she said, "While we wait, let’s all have a glass of watermelon juice, chat, and relax for a bit."
Love Ugly Shellfish, Love Kale: [Just took a sip, and it’s chilled straight to the bone! The watermelon flavor is so rich. It’s delicious!]
The green of the Qingtuan is really beautiful: [Streamer, aren’t you going to reveal what exactly you’re making? I’ve been watching for ages, and I still have no idea.]
Reading the comment, Gan Lan set down her watermelon juice with a mysterious smile. "That’s a secret. Just don’t run away when you smell it later. Trust me, it’s seriously delicious!"
One Roast Shrimp per Bite: [Junior, are you giving us a preemptive warning? I’m starting to panic.]
Gan Lan shook her head, standing up and feigning heartbreak. "What I’m making for you right now is one of my absolute favorites. As my loyal supporters, you shouldn’t doubt me like this."
My Life is So Hard: [Exactly! Watch your mouth, upstairs! Don’t be sad, Junior. I believe in you. Anything produced by Junior is guaranteed to be a masterpiece!]
The corners of Gan Lan’s mouth curled up, and she nodded approvingly. "That’s more like it. You absolutely have to eat it later; otherwise, you don’t count as true supporters."
System Notification: [The streamer ’Come and have some barbecue!’ has initiated a Must-Eat Signature Pledge. As a supporter, how can you not stand united with the streamer? If you sign the pledge but fail to fulfill it, the penalty is a 24-hour ban from this stream room. Please consider carefully!]
The very first and most eye-catching signature on the Must-Eat Pledge was ’Come and have some barbecue!’.
Out of their deep trust in Gan Lan, the viewers in the stream room immediately began to sign their names one after another.
Immortal Barbecue: [This has to be a conspiracy! Streamers are always trying to murder me. This punishment is a bit ruthless!]
The green of the Qingtuan is really beautiful: [I also... feel like this is a trap. But as a supporter of the streamer, I can’t *not* sign!]
Retreat: [The big spenders in the stream have all signed too, so it should be fine. Mostly, the aroma of the soup is so incredibly rich that it’s bound to be delicious! I’ve signed!]
Watching the number of signatures on the Must-Eat Pledge skyrocket, Gan Lan cheered inwardly. It seemed like the marginal poverty star 2122 was finally going to shake off its poverty. It hadn’t been a waste of her meticulous efforts to set this trap for her viewers!
Roast Meat Bibimbap: [Seeing that excited look on Junior’s face is making me uneasy. I must have forgotten something important.]
Spicy Fried Crab is the Most Fragrant: [We forgot that Junior is from the Culinary Department. What does the Culinary Department mean? Devils! I regret everything!]
Not Coming Tomorrow: [...No! I firmly believe that Junior is a different breed of Culinary Department student! I’ve already signed T.T]
Gan Lan flashed a triumphant smile. "Alright, now we’re going to deep-fry the char siu."
She scraped the excess marinade spices off the meat, drained the moisture, and gently lowered the pork into oil heated to about sixty percent. She let it fry slowly over low heat.
Lifting the lid of the snail soup pot revealed a vibrantly spicy broth with a shimmering layer of red oil floating on the surface. Gan Lan gave it a stir, and the savory aroma intensified exponentially, striking straight at the hearts of the audience in the stream room.
Spicy Fried Crab is the Most Fragrant: [I take back what I just said! I don’t regret this at all!]
Gan Lan fished out the fried char siu. After letting it cool down, she tossed it back into the wok for a second fry.
Next up was frying the yuba. She sliced the tofu skin into small squares and dropped them directly into oil heated to fifty percent. As soon as the pieces of tofu skin floated to the surface one by one, she immediately scooped them out. If she was even a second too late, the yuba would turn black and take on a bitter taste.
Afraid she might accidentally spit while talking, Gan Lan specifically put on a face mask just in case.
Using the same oil left over from the yuba, she quickly fried a batch of sun-dried peanuts, scooped them out to drain the excess oil, and set them aside in a bowl. Following that, she arranged the chopped wood ear mushrooms, pickled long beans, pickled mustard greens, and dried radish into their own individual bowls, ready for use.
Sky Blue: [Junior, I’m here! I finally survived until class ended. It was my mentor’s lecture just now, so I didn’t dare say a word.]
Binbin: [Wow! So much food, and it smells amazing! I was in class just now too, so I didn’t dare speak up either.]
"You guys are just in time. Hurry up and sign your names on the Must-Eat Pledge at the top. We’re going to start eating right away."
The newcomers signed their names without a shred of hesitation. Even though they didn’t know why they needed to sign such a thing, just looking at the mouthwatering array of food laid out in the stream room was enough. Forget signing a pledge—they’d gladly sign away their Credit Points for a bite!
Everyone: [Signed! Let’s get started already.]
Looking at the hundreds of millions of signatures, Gan Lan’s smile grew even more radiant. She reached directly into the temperature-controlled box and pulled out a massive vat of pickled bamboo shoots that harbored a very peculiar scent.
This was the absolute soul of Luosifen! You could skip any other ingredient, but you could never skip the pickled bamboo shoots!
Gan Lan slowly lifted the lid off the vat. Instantly, an overpowering, peculiar stench permeated the entire stream room.
The Audience: [...] The sudden, peculiar scent was enough to make a person suffocate.