"Hurry up, it’s free! We might as well eat it," Liao Shenggu urged Senior Xianhua, holding up the skewer of roasted meat Gan Lan had just handed him.
"Don’t you have one in your hand too?" Senior Xianhua grumbled. "Why don’t you try it first?"
"Aren’t we all a bit scared here? You’re from the Culinary Department too—don’t you have faith in your own department?"
Senior Xianhua was speechless. Of course she had no faith in the Culinary Department! Well, except for Gan Lan!
Seeing how cowardly they were acting, Wang Zi scoffed, "Chickens!"
He took a direct bite out of his beef skewer and chewed carefully. A burst of savory, spicy, and tender meat filled his mouth. His eyes lit up. "This is actually really good! Li Langbai didn’t scam us this time!"
Devouring the rest of the skewer in a few quick bites, he reached out toward the hesitant group. "Since you guys aren’t eating yours, I’ll eat them for you!"
"In your dreams!" the crowd retorted.
Gan Lan watched the group dissolve into a chaotic scuffle over the beef skewers. It seemed they had accepted Li Langbai’s cooking. She announced, "Since you all agree that Senior Li’s barbecue is delicious, should we officially hire him?"
The crowd fell into a collective silence. While it was undeniable that Li Langbai’s barbecue skills were solid, that was only under the premise of Gan Lan’s supervision. What if he took advantage of their trust in the future and secretly added some "special" ingredients?
Senior Xianhua took the lead. "That’s fine and all, but he has to guarantee that he won’t pull any stunts with the barbecue! Otherwise, Junior, what if he ruins your reputation down the line?"
"Yeah, exactly! Senior Xianhua is right! We have to make him write a guarantee letter!"
The other alumni chimed in with their agreement.
"Alright then! Let’s have him write a guarantee letter right here and now!" Gan Lan took out a pen and paper, handing them to the dumbfounded Li Langbai.
Watching him take the items with a deeply aggrieved expression, Gan Lan took over his station and resumed roasting the beef skewers.
Li Langbai stared at the pen and paper in his hands and rolled his eyes toward the sky. He had no idea that simply barbecuing some meat would require a written guarantee!
He cast a heartbroken glance around at the completely unsympathetic alumni, then walked toward a nearby seat, his lonely figure radiating sorrow.
"Tsk, tsk. Look at that poor little guy. It makes my heart ache just watching him!"
"Senior, maybe wipe that massive grin off your face before you say that!"
Seeing Li Langbai racking his brains with a wronged expression, the crowd showed zero sympathy. Instead, they laughed uproariously. Some even clapped and cheered.
Gan Lan chuckled softly at the scene. She wondered what kind of dramatic history these people shared with him.
Sky Blue: [Oh~ Li Langbai, you finally get what you deserve! I was tricked by him back in the day! This is immensely satisfying!]
Hot Pot Balls: [Hahahaha! Serves him right!]
Lamb Skewer Lover: [You guys aren’t the only ones he scammed! He didn’t even spare us from the Culinary Department! Hmph! Let’s see him try to show off now!]
Life Is Hard: [By the way, now that our junior has hired helpers, does that mean I finally have a chance to win the food lottery or buy a portion?]
Blooming Beauty: [Not necessarily! Haven’t you seen that our junior’s streaming channel is about to break one billion viewers? She is definitely going to be famous across the entire interstellar! Even the Imperial Star System will come learn from her!]
Binbin: [Exactly! Even though it’s "only" approaching a billion right now, she will definitely have trillions of fans in the future! My goddess is always the absolute best!]
Life Is Hard: [You guys... why must you force me to face this harsh reality?]
"Everything is sold out, so that’ll be it for today’s stream. See you all tomorrow!" Gan Lan called out to her viewers, finding a spare moment as she and the robots cleaned up the stall.
It couldn’t be helped. She was someone with a singular focus; she simply couldn’t juggle running the stall and engaging with the stream at the same time.
"Mr. Liang, are there any students in our class who are facing financial difficulties but are interested in learning from me?" Gan Lan called Mr. Liang right after returning to her dorm. She had originally intended to ask Professor Ye, but the professor had been very busy lately, and she didn’t want to bother her with such trivial matters.
"Aside from you, the rest of the students in our class are fairly well-off. However, I did manage to find two candidates for you. I’ll send you their profiles so you can take a look yourself." Mr. Liang felt deeply gratified. This student was truly kindhearted. Perhaps because of her own background, she knew just how difficult it was for someone from a poverty star to gain admission to a prestigious academy. They had to give it their all, which was why she wanted to lend a helping hand to others in their daily lives.
"I watch your streams every day, so when I heard you mention it, I went ahead and looked into it for you," Mr. Liang continued to explain. "Honestly, there aren’t many who fit the criteria. As you know, very few people from a poverty star make it into top schools, mainly because the teaching resources there are so lacking. I picked out two of them for now. I’ve already notified them in advance, so you can have a chat with them."
Gan Lan had been wondering how her teacher had found candidates for her so quickly. It turned out he watched her streams every day! This made her swell with pride, and joy laced her voice. "Okay! Mr. Liang, you’re the best! Thank you!"
A soft chuckle came through the communicator. "I’d love to have some Beggar’s Chicken and Flower Pastry. A cup of milk tea to go with it would be even better!"
Even though he couldn’t see her, Gan Lan nodded vigorously. "Of course, of course! I’ll cover your dinner tonight! Thank you, Mr. Liang!"
After receiving the profiles from Mr. Liang, Gan Lan dialed the girl’s number first.
Once connected, Gan Lan spoke gently, "Hello, Su Wanying. This is Gan Lan. I assume Mr. Liang has already told you why I’m reaching out."
"Yes, it’s me. I know you. I’m a big fan of yours, and I visit your streaming channel every day. I’ve had your hot pot, and I’ve even gone to help out before. Everything else I’ve eaten has been through your streams... Thank you. I will definitely cherish this opportunity."
Hearing the slight choke in the girl’s voice through the communicator, Gan Lan’s tone grew even softer. "Then come to my dorm tomorrow at noon after class. We’ll talk in person."
Gan Lan hung up the call, feeling a pang of sorrow. If only... if only someone had been there to lend a hand to the original owner of this body back then.
She shook her head. She shouldn’t dwell on it. Nothing could be undone now. She then dialed the other senior’s communicator.
"Is this Senior Cheng Haozhen? This is Gan Lan. I assume Mr. Liang has already explained why I’m contacting you? What are your thoughts? If you agree, please come to Dorm 6066 tomorrow at noon after class so we can talk in person."
Gan Lan rattled off her questions in one breath. Before sending the files, Mr. Liang had also included brief notes on their personalities.
Senior Cheng was described as a man of few words, taciturn but honest and driven. This prompted Gan Lan to say everything she needed to say at once. Otherwise, could she really expect to have a back-and-forth chat with someone who was practically mute?
"Okay," a deep voice replied through the communicator before promptly hanging up.
Mr. Liang had been entirely accurate. But that was fine! This was good. He didn’t talk much, but he was hardworking and resilient. That was exactly what she needed!
Now that her two helpers were finalized, the next step was to make dinner. Originally, she had planned to just throw something simple together.
But since her teacher had explicitly ordered a meal, she might as well make something nice. Since she was already cooking, she figured she could make extra portions for the dean and her friends as well. After all, she now had five assistants to help her.
After purchasing the ingredients for the Beggar’s Chicken, Flower Pastry, and milk tea, she got straight to work.
Beggar’s Chicken was a bit troublesome to make, which was why Gan Lan hadn’t made it again since her first attempt. She decided to just make a large batch today. They wouldn’t go bad in the temperature-controlled boxes anyway.