The next day, Gan Lan sat on her sofa, questioning her life choices as she stared at the bill sent by the school.
Yes, the bill was over two hundred million Credit Points, and that was even after the school had applied a discount.
Gan Lan stared blankly at her account balance of 150,089,461.3 Credit Points. She was short by over fifty million. With no Credit Points to settle the bill, she felt like crying. Only about twenty million people had showed up yesterday! How did they end up eating over two hundred million Credit Points’ worth of food? What a terrifying appetite!
Gan Lan shed tears of regret. Feeling deeply wronged, she dialed Professor Ye’s number to ask if she could pay the remaining fifty million in installments.
"Professor Ye... um... hehe, I want to talk to you about something."
Hearing her tone, Ye Lanyu had an ominous premonition. Gan Lan had used this exact same tone when she first borrowed Credit Points from her.
"Speak," she replied calmly, waiting to see what the girl had to say.
"Well, I only have a little over 150 million right now, which isn’t enough to pay the school’s bill. Can I pay the rest in installments?" Gan Lan asked cautiously.
Ye Lanyu fell silent. She knew it was going to be about Credit Points. "Yes," she finally answered. "The principal has already instructed the finance department to allow you to pay in installments. You have one year to pay off the remaining debt."
"That’s wonderful! Thank you, Professor! Thank you, Principal! Thank you so much! Our school is the best!" Gan Lan jumped up in excitement. Paying off fifty million in a year was totally doable—she was an internet celebrity now, after all! She believed in herself; she could pay it off in just a few months!
"Hehe, then I won’t bother you anymore, Professor. I’m off to earn some Credit Points. Goodbye!"
Ye Lanyu shook her head as she looked at the disconnected call. Tossed aside once she had outlived her usefulness! She resolved to never put in a good word for Gan Lan again.
Once the excitement faded, Gan Lan sighed. She had spent over two hundred million in a single day. Back in the day, her savings hadn’t even reached a million. She had truly become corrupted. Warning herself that she couldn’t let this happen again, she realized she would have to budget her remaining hundred thousand or so Credit Points very carefully.
There were only about ten days left until the competition. She could only afford to make at most two dishes a day. She would spend the rest of her time reading. Even though she had memorized everything, she still needed to review just in case.
Browsing the Star Network Ingredient Store, she wondered what to make today. She was craving honey-roasted spare ribs. Paired with a cup of milk tea, it would be perfect! Striking while the iron was hot, she bought the necessary ingredients and officially opened for business. After her usual greetings to the viewers in the streaming room, she began to take out the required ingredients.
Love Ugly Shellfish, Love Kale: [What are you planning to make today? I see spare ribs! And there are actually tea leaves!]
Choubei is Delicious: [Don’t ask, just wait to eat. You look even prettier today! Are you doing a lucky draw today? The squid was so delicious!]
My Life is Too Hard: [Heh! So you’re here to show off. Someone, drag the person above out and execute them!]
Immortal Barbecue: [I heard you became a broke wretch again? I overheard the finance department saying you’re tens of millions in debt this time! Is it true?]
Binbin: [Is she really in debt again?]
...
Gan Lan rolled her eyes as she watched the topic shift from her cooking to her becoming penniless again. These people were certainly well-informed, but she had no desire to discuss this. She took out the ingredients and seasonings one by one and introduced them. "These are the main ingredients for today’s honey-roasted spare ribs and milk tea. If you want to cook along, go buy them now! You have five minutes, as usual."
Blooming Beauty, Moonlit Grace: [You’re really broke again? If you’re in a tight spot, just let us know.]
Feeling helpless, Gan Lan replied, "Don’t worry, everyone, I’m not completely broke yet." She pulled up her account balance of over eighty thousand and showed it to the stream. "See? I still have over eighty thousand. I’ll go set up my stall later and earn some more, so there’s no need to worry!"
Immortal Barbecue: [Yesterday, you were a wealthy woman with over a hundred million in assets. One day later, you’re down to eighty thousand and tens of millions in debt. You’re really something!]
The green of the Qingtuan is really beautiful: [So I’m also one of the culprits who ate the streamer into poverty? Yesterday’s hot pot was amazing!]
System Notification: [Congratulations to the streamer ’Come and have some barbecue!’ for receiving 99 Cosmic Starships from ’Feiran’. A network-wide broadcast has been triggered.]
Network-wide Broadcast: [’Feiran’ says to ’Come and have some barbecue!’: I really liked the little surprise you sent yesterday.]
System Notification: [Congratulations to the streamer ’Come and have some barbecue!’ for receiving 100 Cosmic Starships from ’Sky Blue’. A network-wide broadcast has been triggered.]
Network-wide Broadcast: [’Sky Blue’ says to ’Come and have some barbecue!’: The little surprise you sent me yesterday was absolutely stunning! I still can’t bear to eat it. [Image] [Image] Everyone, tell me, is it beautiful or what?]
The pictures Gao Haiyang posted were of the small cake Gan Lan had made yesterday. It was an ocean-blue, round cake adorned with colorful fish leaping across the surface, as if they were jumping right out of the sea. It truly was beautiful.
Retreat: [So beautiful!!! I’m jealous, I’m jealous, I’m jealous! Also, this big shot is insanely rich! Casually dropping a hundred million Credit Points in one go! That’s too much!!]
Immortal Barbecue: [...So she paid off her debt in a single day and became a multimillionaire again? This world is completely disillusioned; you never know what’s going to happen in the next second.]
System Notification: [Congratulations to the streamer ’Come and have some barbecue!’ for receiving 100 Cosmic Starships from ’Hot Pot Balls’. A network-wide broadcast has been triggered.]
Network-wide Broadcast: [’Hot Pot Balls’ says to ’Come and have some barbecue!’: I absolutely loved the little surprise you sent yesterday! [Image] [Image]. I carefully took a tiny bite, and it was so delicious! It’s incredible! I couldn’t bear to eat the rest, so I stored it away! Hehe.]
The cake Gan Lan had made for Lu Ziyu was designed like a dual-flavor hot pot. The miniature foods inside were all meticulously crafted from sugar. If it weren’t so small, anyone looking at it would have thought it was a real hot pot!
Pork Trotters Are the Best: [SOB, I’m so envious! It’s so gorgeous! Your craftsmanship is too good! Also, please accept my bow of respect, you rich big shots!]
I’m Just Looking: [I’m a newbie here. There are so many wealthy people in this stream! I’m here to worship the big shots!]
The number of viewers in the stream had already surpassed a billion. Gan Lan quickly waved her hands and frowned. "Stop sending gifts! Stop! If you guys keep doing this, I’m never sending any little surprises again. Every time I send something, you shower me with gifts."
Honestly, it didn’t feel very good. It was perfectly fine for friends to exchange small tokens of appreciation, but she had merely sent some inexpensive food, and they were returning the favor with gifts worth tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions. This left Gan Lan feeling rather frustrated, unable to fully articulate her discomfort.
Feiran: [I genuinely love it. I didn’t know what to send in return, so I just gave some gifts to show my appreciation [Image] [Image]. I think it’s completely worth it.]
Roast Meat Bibimbap: [The big shot’s cake looks like stepping into a strawberry garden. So beautiful! She is incredibly talented. I think it’s completely worth it too! I want one! Can a custom little cake be made for one hundred Cosmic Starships? I want to buy one!]
Sky Blue: [Don’t feel pressured. I actually feel like one hundred Cosmic Starships are too few. They aren’t enough to buy a little cake that you put your heart into making.]
...
Gan Lan stared in dumbfounded shock. "Are you guys... all really this rich??"
Immortal Barbecue: [These Credit Points aren’t even enough for them to buy a single Mecha part! So you don’t need to worry about it!]
Hot Pot Balls: [Exactly! One of my Mecha arms costs five billion, and a complete Mecha costs hundreds of billions. So don’t worry, we’re loaded! Seriously!]
Gan Lan was left completely speechless. It was just her lack of worldly experience. She had always thought that a hundred million was an astronomical sum, enough to last several lifetimes. Yet, here she was, being told that a single Mecha part cost billions. Her entire worldview was being turned upside down.