Gan Lan slowly ate her grass jelly dessert. The grass jelly was soft, the red beans tender, the peanuts crisp, the coconut jelly sweet, and the taro balls chewy. Mixed with milk tea, it was truly a sweet and delicious treat!
Su Wanying initially managed to eat in small, delicate bites. However, after only two or three mouthfuls, she began to copy Cheng Haozhen, stuffing large spoonfuls into her mouth. From time to time, she sneaked peeks at Gan Lan with an expression of absolute worship.
Cheng Haozhen, on the other hand, continued to eat bite by bite with a blank expression. If it weren’t for the rapid speed of his spoon, Gan Lan would have thought he disliked it.
[Roasted Meat Rice Bowl]: I’m so jealous! I want to sit with the host and eat delicious food too! I envy those two so much! How are they so lucky?!
[Spicy Fried Crab Is The Best]: I’m super jealous too, but the grass jelly dessert looks incredibly delicious. My mom asked me why I’m drooling while watching a livestream T.T
[Hot Pot Balls]: I really don’t like sweets! But anything my junior makes is an exception. It’s just too good!
Gan Lan polished off her large bowl of grass jelly dessert. Setting the empty bowl down, she chuckled softly at her livestream audience. "You guys will have a chance to eat it too. I made a lot of dessert today. To welcome our new viewers, I’m going to draw a hundred names and give each winner a serving of grass jelly dessert!"
[I am Huanhuan]: AAAAAH, pick me, host, pick me! I’m ready!
[Charcoal Roasted Crab]: Me, me, me! Host, draw my name! I even washed my hands for good luck!
[You and Me in Time]: A newbie hoping to get picked! The food here looks so delicious. I just binge-watched all of the host’s past videos. Why did it take me this long to discover such a treasure of a host?!
Gan Lan asked Cheng Haozhen and Su Wanying to start packaging the grass jelly desserts. "Alright, let’s begin the draw!"
System Notification: [Congratulations to ’The green of the Qingtuan is really beautiful,’ ’Not Coming Tomorrow,’ ’My Dearest You,’ ’I am Huanhuan,’ and the rest of the one hundred lucky viewers for winning an exquisite dessert from the host! Please send the host a private message with your address!]
[Not Coming Tomorrow]: AAAAAH! I finally won! My god! Host, you really make me love and hate you. Ever since I unfollowed you, I couldn’t sleep at night. I only lasted three days. By the fourth day, I couldn’t hold out any longer and followed you back. And now I won a prize!
[Retreat]: I unfollowed and came back too. The person above me actually lasted three days; I couldn’t even last a single day before crawling back, boohoo. Even though I originally became a fan because you didn’t accept expensive gifts, and I was drawn to your unpretentious attitude.
[Have You Eaten Today]: Same here. When you reopened the gift channel, I felt like I had been deceived. But, but... I still like you, so I came back.
Seeing these comments, Gan Lan felt quite moved. She had indeed mishandled things. She spoke with utmost sincerity. "Thank you all for continuing to support me, and I’m sorry. I initially closed the gift channel because I felt I had enough Credit Points. With the income from my videos and the barbecue stall, I was already wealthy enough for someone who only needs to feed herself."
She paused for a moment before continuing. "Later, I wanted to donate a portion of the Credit Points I earned back to my home planet. A few days ago, when I had some free time, I browsed the Star Network and actually saw people selling planets! This came as a huge shock to me—it turned out that planets could be bought. That sparked my idea of purchasing Star 1888, so..."
Gan Lan bowed deeply to her livestream audience. "Thank you to those who never abandoned me and continued to support me. Thank you to the friends who left and came back, and thank you to the newcomers. Thank you all."
System Notification: [Congratulations! The host has received a Cosmic Starship from ’Have You Eaten Today.’ Triggering a network-wide broadcast.]
Network-Wide Broadcast: [’Have You Eaten Today’ says to ’Come and have some barbecue!’: I forgive you! Who told me to love your food, and you, so much!]
System Notification: [Congratulations! The host has received...]
The corners of Gan Lan’s lips curled up. "Then let’s start making roasted eggplants. We’ll roast a hundred first. To welcome back the foodies who have forgiven me, I’ll draw another hundred lucky viewers to receive garlic roasted eggplants."
Seeing the cheers erupting in the comments, Gan Lan beamed brilliantly.
She took the washed eggplants, dried them off, and placed them on a baking tray lined with tin foil. Brushing a layer of oil over them, she popped the tray into the oven to bake for about twenty minutes.
Pouring an appropriate amount of cooking oil into a pan, she tossed in half of the minced garlic and sautéed until fragrant. She added soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and steamed fish soy sauce, cooking everything through. Finally, she stirred in the remaining half of the minced garlic, mixed it evenly, and scooped it out to set aside.
Taking out the roasted eggplants, she sliced them in half lengthwise with a knife. She shredded the eggplant flesh into strips to help it absorb the flavors better, then topped them with diced green and red bell peppers and bird’s eye chilies. Pouring the freshly sautéed garlic paste over the top, she placed them back into the oven to roast for another ten minutes or so.
Since she had a large oven, roasting twenty eggplants at a time was not a problem.
Gan Lan provided hands-on guidance to the two students watching her every move, simultaneously teaching her livestream audience.
"You two, give it a try. Do it once from the very beginning. It’s quite simple," Gan Lan told her two apprentices.
Eggplants were cheap anyway, so she wasn’t worried about them messing up. Besides, this roasted eggplant dish was incredibly simple; it wouldn’t be difficult for culinary students.
Gan Lan took out the fully roasted eggplants and immediately put in a fresh batch to bake.
[Binbin]: Holy crap! It smells so good! So even vegetarian food can give off such a mesmerizing aroma!
[Happy Choubei]: This smell reminds me of Choubei! It’s so delicious. The eggplant flesh is incredibly soft, and when mixed with the toppings, it becomes a fragrant, spicy delight! Absolutely incredible! How is everything so good?!
[Feiran]: So vegetarian food can be this tasty too. I love it ^^
[Sky Blue]: Me too...
Gan Lan was still a bit full, so she decided not to eat on the stream. Instead, she set aside two portions for her hardworking apprentices, who were currently busy roasting their own eggplants.
Holding up a portion of the garlic roasted eggplant, Gan Lan announced, "Let’s begin the raffle. I’ll draw fifteen portions first, and we’ll draw for the rest once they’re done baking. The eggplants take a little while to roast."
[Handsome Mingyu]: Junior! Me, me, me! Look at me, pick me, pick me!
[Hot Pot Balls]: And me, and me! I just went to take a shower! I have to win this time!
...
System Notification: [Congratulations to ’Osmanthus Rice Cake,’ ’Surprised Beggar Chicken,’ ’If You Don’t Say It,’ and the rest of the fifteen lucky viewers for winning a delicious meal from the host. Please send the host a private message with your address.]
[Surprised Beggar Chicken]: Me, me, me... I’ve been blessed by the gods of luck! Hahahaha, I’m so excited!
[Osmanthus Rice Cake]: Hahahaha, I won too, I won too! Junior, I love you, love you, love you!
[Sky Blue]: Why wasn’t it me?! I went to take a shower while junior was streaming too, boohoo.
[Immortal Barbecue]: Hot Pot Balls took a shower, and you took a shower too. I suspect you two are hiding some unspeakable secret...
[Hot Pot Balls]: Mingzong Student Council President, is it?! Just you wait! I’m going to beat you up tomorrow!
Gan Lan was left speechless. She wondered how the topic had drifted so far off track when they were clearly doing a raffle for roasted eggplants.
However, when it came to changing the subject, Gan Lan was second to none. "The second round of the raffle is starting! Another batch of roasted eggplants is ready."
[Hot Pot Balls]: Junior, look at me! Look at me! I will definitely be the luckiest of them all!
...