While waiting for a reply, Gan Lan browsed through other ingredient shops and bought what she needed for tonight’s live stream.
Inside a small bungalow on the poverty star, Star 2122.
"Are you serious? The person you mentioned is really willing to teach us how to make such delicious food? She isn’t a scammer? Or scheming something?" an old woman, her face wrinkled and etched with the traces of time, asked the flat-headed youth suspiciously.
"Mayor, this is the person who bought all our goods before. She shouldn’t be tricking us, right? What do we even have to be scammed of? We’re completely destitute."
"Mayor, Mo is right," one of the elders said. "We have nothing worth taking. We don’t have any Credit Points, and we’re just a bunch of poor old folks. What could she possibly scam from us? Besides, the girl in that video doesn’t look like a fraud at all. If anything, she looks very kind-hearted."
"What’s wrong with being cautious? What if... what if she really is a scammer?" the old mayor frowned.
"The mayor has a point. Then... Mo, why don’t you send a message to ask for more details?"
"Yes, yes, Mo, ask her right away. If she sincerely wants to help us, she’ll definitely reveal her identity," the other elders urged the flat-headed youth.
The flat-headed youth had no choice but to dejectedly prepare to send a message. Someone was finally willing to help them, yet these people were being far too paranoid. There was truly nothing to scam on this rundown planet and in this dilapidated town. If he hadn’t poured out his grievances to this customer before, she might not have even made a second purchase.
He sighed. But what else could he do? With these stubborn elders, he could only do as they said.
Seeing the shop owner’s reply, Gan Lan paused for a moment. They were quite cautious, but that was a good thing. A normal person wouldn’t casually hand over secret recipes to someone else, so suspicion was completely normal. She figured she was just a bit abnormal in this world.
Shop Owner: [Could you please provide your identity information? The elders are quite stubborn and are afraid that you... might be a scammer or something, but I believe you.]
Come and have some barbecue!: [Go to the Happy Dreams live stream platform and search for my account name. The information you want to know is right there on the homepage.]
Receiving the reply, the flat-headed youth paused. She was a streamer. Nevertheless, he went to the Happy Dreams live stream platform and searched for the name.
Clicking on her homepage, he quickly browsed through it and shouted excitedly to the elders behind him, "Mayor! Come look at this quickly! This person is amazing!"
"Let me see." The old mayor widened his eyes and read through it carefully, then directed the flat-headed youth to click on Gan Lan’s videos, watching them one by one.
Pointing at Gan Lan in the video, his fingers trembled and his eyes grew slightly red. "Is this really her? It seems we’ve met a great benefactor! Hahaha, our good days are coming!" The old mayor laughed, but then he started crying. "Finally... finally! We have something to look forward to."
The other elders also began wiping their tears. They had been living such bitter lives that sometimes they felt they couldn’t endure it any longer. If it weren’t for the Federation Government still providing subsidies to maintain their basic food and clothing, they might have simply continued on in despair.
Their planet was simply too rundown and remote. They could only plant crops that were easy to keep alive, but those were far too common. There was no room for development, so all the young people had fled. The current population was just over fifty million, mostly consisting of the elderly and children.
Shop Owner: [Are you... truly willing to teach us personally?]
Come and have some barbecue!: [Meeting each other means it’s destined, and it just so happens to be exactly what you need.]
Shop Owner: [Thank you, truly thank you. I don’t even know how to repay you.]
Come and have some barbecue!: [But I have one request. If anyone asks you who created this production method, just say it’s a Huaxia product. You don’t need to mention me. This recipe comes from a place called Huaxia, and I am just passing it along. Popularizing the production method I give you will be the best repayment.]
Come and have some barbecue!: [Tomorrow morning at ten o’clock, I will spend two hours personally teaching you. Just buy the ingredients shown in the video; they are all very cheap. You already have the pickled goods. As for meat, it’s optional—it tastes great even without it. Once you have the means in the future, you can add it then.]
Shop Owner: [Okay, okay, we understand. Thank you, we are very grateful.]
Gan Lan smiled. Being able to help those in need felt truly fulfilling. Turning off her Light Brain, she opened her live stream. Today, she would only make one dish: pork and cabbage dumplings, prepared in two ways—as soup dumplings and pan-fried dumplings.
"Good evening, everyone! Have you had dinner yet?" Gan Lan flashed a professional smile, giving her daily greeting to the live stream audience.
Sky Blue: [Why are you so late today! I’ve been waiting for you for so long, my food doesn’t even taste good anymore.]
Feiran: [Didn’t you just eat three bowls of rice, four plates of dishes, and a bowl of soup? You call that not tasting good?]
Sky Blue: [...Who are you? I don’t know you!]
I’m Too Stressed: [I only drank nutrient solution today. Only your delicious food can lift my spirits now.]
Love Ugly Shellfish, Love Kale: [Dear junior, we’ve already gone to vote regarding the school forum matter. Snail rice noodles are so delicious! How can they be canceled! I won’t allow it!]
Sky Blue: [What matter on your school forum?]
Immortal Barbecue: [I started that topic. As the student council president of Mingzong, I received many anonymous complaints today about her food polluting the air and whatnot. I had no choice but to initiate a vote, but I believe snail rice noodles will not be defeated!]
Hot Pot Balls: [If Mingzong doesn’t like it, then come to our school! First Military Academy welcomes you!]
Sky Blue: [Exactly! First Military Academy welcomes you! Our captain’s relative is the principal. A single cafeteria stall is a piece of cake!]
Feiran: [Hmm... that works. First Military Academy welcomes you.]
Immortal Barbecue: [Trying to poach her!? That’s impossible.]
Handsome Mingyu: [The people at First Military Academy are all violent maniacs! If you go there to rent a stall and some violent maniac gets dissatisfied and beats you up, what will you do? Your frail little body won’t be able to handle it!]
Sky Blue: [The person above, don’t just spout slander! We military academy folks are very gentle!]
Watching the bullet comments erupt into arguments, with people inviting her to set up a stall at their school or sell snail rice noodles in their cafeteria, Gan Lan was speechless. They could even argue over this? She hurriedly changed the subject, afraid they might actually arrange a real-life brawl.
"Alright, everyone, stop arguing! We’re making dumplings today. Because it’s quite late, we’ll just make one dish, but we’ll prepare it in two different ways." Gan Lan brought out the flour, fifteen catties of mostly lean meat, and three massive napa cabbages.
Her topic change was extremely successful.
Immortal Barbecue: [What are dumplings?]
The green of the Qingtuan is really beautiful: [I also want to know what dumplings are.]
Sky Blue: [I’ll listen to you! So what are dumplings?]
Gan Lan rolled her eyes. "They’re just dumplings."
"Cut the meat into small chunks and mince it." Knife skills were a mandatory course for every chef, and this was Gan Lan’s first time wielding a knife in her live stream.
Barbecue Bibimbap: [Damn! Her knife skills are absolutely incredible! These small chunks of meat look like they’ve been measured out, they all look exactly the same!]
Surprised Beggar Chicken: [Holy crap! Look at the speed she’s mincing the meat at! There are afterimages, it’s so fast! And she’s using both hands simultaneously!]
Flower Pastry is True Love: [Wow! Even her knife skills are this stunning! It’s just that the chopping is making my heart race.]
"Alright, next we need to marinate the meat." Gan Lan put the minced meat into a large basin and took out the necessary seasonings.
"Add an appropriate amount of salt, cooking wine, soy sauce, thirteen-spice powder, chicken bouillon, and sesame oil to the meat filling. Considering some people don’t eat scallions, ginger, or garlic, I’ll leave those three out.
"When you make this yourself, if you like scallions, ginger, and garlic, you can mince them and add them in. Then, mix everything evenly, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it marinate for a while.
"Finely chop the napa cabbage and mince it, then add some salt, rub it in, and squeeze out the water from the cabbage. Let it sit for a bit to allow the moisture to drain." Gan Lan felt that she was becoming more and more talkative recently. She was mincing meat with both hands while her mouth kept running non-stop without even stopping for breath.
Hot Pot Balls: [You look so badass chopping vegetables!]
Sky Blue: [She’d probably look pretty badass chopping you up, too!]
Feiran: [...]
Immortal Barbecue: [Spectating the big shots jabbing at each other! Fight, fight!]
The smell of gunpowder in the live stream grew a bit heavier.
"Pour the flour into a large tray, add water, and knead it into a slightly firm dough. Set it aside to rest for about ten minutes.
"A lot of water has already come out of the cabbage. Now, take a piece of cheesecloth, put the cabbage inside, and squeeze out the remaining moisture. Then add it to the marinated meat filling and mix it evenly." Gan Lan set the filling aside.
"Now, roll the rested dough into a long strip and cut it into evenly sized small dough portions. Stand them up, flatten them, and use a rolling pin to roll them out into circular wrappers. Put the filling in the center and fold them into dumplings."
Gan Lan held a finished dumpling right up to the camera lens. "If you don’t know how to fold it into this shape, just pinch the edges tightly together. It’s all going to be eaten anyway."
Hot Pot Balls: [You folded it so beautifully! Such deft hands! Your folding speed is incredible; you’ve already made almost twenty in just two minutes! I gave it a try, and um... it’s too hard. It turned into a lump. It’s so ugly!]
Pig Trotters are True Love: [This is too hard to fold! Mine turned into a lump too!]
Gan Lan looked at the terrible craftsmanship of the people in the bullet comments and sighed. These people were truly hopeless.