Gan Lan walked along, overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of her fellow schoolmates. She could barely handle it.
"Junior, you haven’t eaten yet, right? Come sit down and have a bite." The sophomore senior put down her chopsticks, stood up, pulled Gan Lan over, and pressed her into a seat.
"Junior, this hotpot is so convenient! Just one soup base, you swish whatever you want in it, dip it in some sauce, and it’s delicious!" another senior sitting next to her said to Gan Lan.
"Yeah, yeah! Junior, how did you come up with this?"
Hearing this, the others didn’t stop their chopsticks, but their eyes darted toward Gan Lan, eagerly awaiting her answer.
Gan Lan ate a mouthful of beef, chewed, swallowed, and replied, "Hotpot has been around for a very, very long time. However, it was lost during the Great Destruction. By sheer coincidence, my ancestors visited me in a dream to guide me, and that’s how I learned it."
They all stared at her in silence, quietly watching her brag.
Gan Lan fell silent, feeling a bit awkward. It seemed her explanation wasn’t very convincing.
She wiped her mouth and said somewhat sheepishly, "Really! I had a dream where I was born in the era before the Great Destruction, and both my parents worked in food-related fields..."
Gan Lan quietly wove a story, half-truth and half-fiction.
Everyone fell silent again. It sounded plausible enough, but they still didn’t quite believe it.
"Don’t give our junior a hard time. Didn’t you hear how wonderful the story was? Even I almost believed it. At least give some sort of reaction, won’t you?"
Gan Lan was speechless. So she wasted all her breath just to tell a nice story? Weren’t they curious at all about what happened before the Great Destruction era?
Gan Lan looked at her seniors, who were all bowing their heads to battle the hotpot, and huffed. "Fine, don’t believe me then! I tell the truth and you guys say I’m making up stories!" With that, she moved to stand up and leave to eat somewhere else.
The senior next to her quickly put down his chopsticks and pulled Gan Lan back with a smile. "Junior, of course we believe you. We were just too entranced, listening to you while eating. It’s your fault for making it so delicious!"
That sounded pleasing enough to the ear, and Gan Lan was satisfied. "I’ll get going now. With millions in my harem, I have to go favor them one by one. Take your time eating, seniors!"
Everyone was speechless. That analogy was actually quite fitting.
Gan Lan went from table to table to "favor" everyone. After only eating at six tables, she was already getting full. She rubbed her belly; this body still ate far too little. Looking at the others, they had been eating for an hour and were only just starting to line their stomachs.
With everyone eating so much, Gan Lan felt like she was really going to end up a pauper again.
She strolled leisurely over to Yan Yifei’s table, where the atmosphere was rather quiet.
It formed a stark contrast with the bustling noise of the other tables. Everyone here was just burying their heads and eating, the air pressure feeling slightly low.
Yan Yifei was the first to notice Gan Lan’s arrival, but he didn’t say a word, continuing to expressionlessly swish meat in his pot.
"What are you guys doing? Why so quiet while eating hotpot? Is today’s hotpot not good?" Gan Lan asked aloud.
Wen Ningyue looked up and signaled with her eyes for Gan Lan to look at the gorgeous beauty sitting beside Yan Yifei and Gao Haiyang.
Looking at Wen Ningyue’s eyes, Gan Lan seemed to understand a little and nodded back at her.
She walked over to the gorgeous beauty who was currently gazing affectionately at Boss Yan.
She extended her right hand with a smile. "Hello, I’m Gan Lan. May I ask what to call you?"
Mu Hanyu snapped out of her daze and glanced at the person reaching out to her. Short and plain-looking—a total pauper at first glance! She was already furious enough that Wen Ningyue was at the table, and now here came another one. What a nuisance! She curled her lips. "Who I am is none of your business."
Gan Lan awkwardly withdrew her hand, just about to retort.
Wu Mingyu slammed his chopsticks down with a CLACK. He stood up, his tone laced with anger. "Has someone from the Mu Family lost even the most basic manners?"
Mu Hanyu immediately snapped back disdainfully, "She’s just some unpresentable, shoddy cook. I can just pay her Credit Points, can’t I? What crappy hotpot, as if anyone cares!"
Hearing this, Yan Yifei’s eyes turned icy. He looked at Mu Hanyu and said, "Get lost!"
Lu Ziyu chimed in, "Yeah, hurry up and get out. Where are your manners? I had no idea you’d become so mean-spirited."
Wen Ningyue followed up angrily, "I’ve been tolerating you for a long time! If it weren’t for the fact that you’re Gao Haiyang’s friend, I would’ve told you to get lost ages ago! Who do you think you are!?"
Gao Haiyang hastily spoke up to deny it. "I’m not her friend." Gao Haiyang was also getting angry! Since when did this Mu Hanyu become so mean and ill-mannered as to dare insult his goddess like this! Unforgivable!
Wang Bin flushed slightly and squeezed out a sentence, "You’re not welcome here!" He knew this woman was one of the top ten beauties of the First Military Academy, and he previously thought she was just a bit arrogant. But to insult his goddess like this was unbearable. What use was just having a pretty face? This mean-spirited attitude was simply repulsive!
Meanwhile, the other schoolmates who had been keeping an eye on Gan Lan’s whereabouts also noticed the somewhat overbearing and hostile atmosphere at that table. Were they about to start fighting again?
They rushed over one after another to ask Gan Lan what happened and if she needed help.
Gan Lan waved her hand, saying somewhat apologetically, "It’s nothing, nothing happened. Hurry back and continue eating."
"Is it really nothing?" The crowd was a bit too excited, looking pointedly at Mu Hanyu’s reddening eyes as they asked.
Helpless, Gan Lan affirmed once more, "It’s nothing! Really, there’s no problem."
Look at these gossipy people. She thought they actually cared about her, but it turned out they just wanted to watch a show.
After shooing away the crowd of onlookers, Gan Lan sighed in resignation and addressed Mu Hanyu. "Isn’t this just basic manners? There was a stranger sitting among my friends, so I came over to say hello. There’s no need to speak like that, is there? I don’t even know when I offended you."
She pulled out a tissue and handed it to Mu Hanyu. "Crying here? Others will think I bullied you. I’m the one who got insulted, yet you’re the one crying?"
"Get lost! Who asked for your fake kindness!" She crumpled the tissue Gan Lan handed her, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it, throwing a provocative glare at Gan Lan. "You’re just a commoner. Do you think you’re worthy of knowing me?"
Gan Lan’s face darkened. What kind of person was this? Another extreme weirdo? What kind of luck did she have to constantly run into people like this?
Although she was used to the cynical mockery of some people, this was her territory now. She wouldn’t allow someone to bite the hand that fed them!
She was truly incredibly annoyed by this type of person, who acted as if the whole world had to yield to them.
"You ate so much. One hundred thousand Credit Points. Pay the bill and get out. I’m just a poor commoner, I can’t afford to treat you." Gan Lan’s eyes were calm as she pulled out her payment account and held it up to Mu Hanyu’s face. "Hurry up, or I’ll call someone and say you’re dining and dashing!"
Mu Hanyu sneered. "Isn’t it just a hundred thousand Credit Points!? If I give you a million, will you get lost?"
"Sure, how about I give you a million and you get lost!" Gan Lan sneered right back.
"You! Don’t push your luck!" Mu Hanyu pointed angrily at Gan Lan.
Gao Haiyang abruptly stood up, grabbed Mu Hanyu, and tried to pull her away so she’d leave quickly, but... he couldn’t move her.
Gao Haiyang fell silent. He wordlessly sat back down and continued swishing meat in his pot, pretending nothing had just happened.
Mu Hanyu’s tears started streaming down. She pointed a finger at Gan Lan. "What is she anyway? Is she worth every single one of you protecting her?"
She looked at Yan Yifei and the other two, her tone agitated. "I’m the one who grew up with you! You actually refuse to protect me and protect an outsider instead! And a piece of trash from a poverty star at that? What right does she have!"
Seeing Mu Hanyu’s words become increasingly out of line, Yan Yifei signaled for Lu Ziyu to drag her away.
They had grown up together, true, but it was always her shamelessly tagging along, sticking to them like glue, impossible to drive away.
Looking at her low class and vicious tongue now, it was truly impossible to like her.