Swearing inwardly, Mao Meng looked at the robot still hovering in front of him. He dejectedly paid the fine, then glared at Gan Lan with bitter resentment. "Just you wait! Your luck will run out soon enough!"
He then snatched the cleaning tools from the robot and began sweeping vigorously.
The other stall owners hadn’t expected the conflict to end like this and fell somewhat silent. However, they soon gathered their homemade food and moved to a new spot.
Wu Shihan led the way, carrying his beef rice noodles. He sighed in satisfaction. "That was sweet justice! Junior, you did the right thing! He’s an ungrateful wretch who bites the hand that feeds him!"
"Exactly! He’s always been petty and calculating. He even stole the recipe for the new cookies I developed, and I had nowhere to complain," one vendor chimed in.
"Me too, me too! This is so satisfying!"
The other stall owners quickly joined in, venting their frustrations about the man.
Gan Lan listened silently as they listed Mao Meng’s numerous misdeeds. Having only met the man twice, she wasn’t in a position to say much, so she merely nodded from time to time. They settled down in a new area far away from where Mao Meng was sweeping, and she took a seat to wait for the taste test.
The eight bowls had been reduced to seven.
Though still a bit displeased, Gan Lan adjusted her mood and shared her thoughts. "You mentioned that some stall owners are struggling to keep their businesses afloat. If they’re willing, they can cooperate with me too. The only condition is that I don’t want anyone like Mao Meng."
Pang Dun ran over with a bowl, panting slightly. "Really? I know a lot of people who used to set up stalls here. Their character is absolutely flawless!"
Wu Shihan placed his beef rice noodles on the table and added, "A few of the guys who used to set up next to me are pretty good too. I’ll go ask if they’re interested. But aren’t two types of rice noodles too few?"
Hearing this, Gan Lan agreed that two variations were indeed a bit lacking. "When I go back later, I’ll make two more types for you. There are countless ways to prepare rice noodles. You can all experiment and create your own variations, too."
Just as Gan Lan mentioned innovating, a young man in black stepped forward to introduce his dish with a hint of shyness.
"Junior, these are my beef rib and pickled mustard greens rice noodles," Gu Mingyi said, pushing the bowl in front of her. He rubbed his neck, looking a bit embarrassed. "I discovered the pickled mustard greens when I was eating snail rice noodles. I thought they tasted amazing, so I figured out how to make them myself.
"As for the beef ribs, I tried them at a small restaurant I went to with Wu Shihan and the others last time. They tasted great and were pretty simple to make; it doesn’t take much time to prepare them at all. For the broth, I used your bone broth method, but I swapped the pork bones for beef bones."
Gan Lan looked at the bowl in front of her, genuinely pleasantly surprised.
This guy was incredible. She knew exactly how difficult it was to develop a new dish from scratch, yet he had managed to deliver results in just a few days.
"Junior, here’s a bowl." Pang Dun handed Gan Lan a clean bowl, thoughtfully passing her a packet of tissues along with it.
Gan Lan thanked him. She picked up a piece of beef rib and placed it into her bowl, followed by two spoonfuls of broth and a chopstick-full of rice noodles.
She took a sip of the broth. It was rich and savory, instantly sending a current of warmth down to her stomach, which had been empty all morning.
She gnawed on a piece of the beef rib. It was stewed to perfection—neither too soft nor too tough—and the gamey taste had been handled exceptionally well.
Grabbing a pinch of rice noodles and pickled mustard greens with her chopsticks, she took a loud SLURP. She chewed thoughtfully. The pickled greens weren’t quite sour enough, but they were still very good. The rice noodles were a bit too soft; if they had a slightly chewier texture, the dish would be absolutely perfect.
Gan Lan offered her feedback point by point. "Senior Gu, these beef rib and pickled mustard greens rice noodles are truly delicious! If you let the mustard greens ferment for another three to five days, they’ll taste even better. As for the rice noodles, they were blanched for a bit too long and got too soft. Cut down the time next time. Also, when simmering the beef bone broth, you can add more ginger slices to remove any remaining gamey smell."
Gan Lan finished the rest of the broth and reached for the beef rice noodles made by Wu Shihan.
Gu Mingyi nodded happily, his tone sincere. "Junior, you were the one who gave me the inspiration. Thank you!"
"Is it really that good?" Wu Shihan was a bit skeptical. He grabbed a small bowl, scooped out some of the beef rib and pickled mustard greens rice noodles, and took a bite. "Gu, this is great! You’ve got the potential to be a master chef."
Wu Shihan was genuinely happy for Gu Mingyi. Out of all of them, Gu Mingyi came from the poorest family and was dead last in their class rankings. Sometimes, they even heard him secretly crying under his covers at night over his grades.
He and Pang Dun had noticed this several times in their dorm and had always wanted to help him out however they could.
When they went to that small restaurant, it had actually been his and Pang Dun’s treat. Who would have thought that a single visit would spark something inside him? And now, Gan Lan’s appearance seemed to have fully unlocked his hidden culinary potential.
Gan Lan proceeded to taste the remaining seven bowls of rice noodles. None of them had any major issues, and the minor flaws were negligible.
Since they were all students from the Culinary Department, making a simple bowl of rice noodles was a piece of cake for them.
Gan Lan set down her chopsticks and patted her slightly bulging stomach. Looking at the eight people around her, she said, "Actually, there are so many types of rice noodles. Just like Senior Gu, you can try using different broths and meats, or you could even make vegetarian versions. As long as the base broth is good and the ingredients don’t clash, the flavor will turn out great. You all should give it a try when you have time."
The stall owners nodded repeatedly at her words. Their junior’s advice provided them with a wealth of inspiration, and Gu Mingyi’s sudden innovation had given them a massive boost of confidence.
Just as Gan Lan was about to head back, the others asked her to stay a bit longer. They had already contacted the other vendors to come over and sign the contracts.
There was no time like the present. Since their junior was so busy, it was better to finalize everything today; otherwise, who knew when they would see her again?
After a ten-minute wait, the others began arriving one after another.
Once the contracts were all signed, Gan Lan addressed the group. "I’ll head back and make two new types of rice noodles. I’ll ship them directly to you guys so you can study them first."
Once Gan Lan returned home, she immediately started braising pork trotters. She planned to teach them how to make pork trotter rice noodles and Eight Immortals rice noodles.
The pork trotter rice noodles followed the exact same method as the beef version, simply swapping out the beef for braised trotters. The Eight Immortals rice noodles, however, utilized a much wider variety of ingredients and featured extremely rich toppings.
Gan Lan turned on the recording function and began preparing the Eight Immortals rice noodles.
Although flat rice noodles would have provided a better texture, she was pressed for time and opted for round rice noodles instead. They were ready-made, and the difference in mouthfeel wasn’t that significant anyway.
First, she made the fish dumplings, which were one of the key toppings for the dish. She sliced mullet fish into paper-thin pieces to serve as the dumpling wrappers. Then, she minced beef and mixed it with mushrooms and egg whites before stir-frying the mixture in a pan.
Placing the cooked filling onto the mullet slices, she brushed a layer of starch over them, rolled the fish slices into crescent shapes, and placed the assembled fish dumplings into a steamer to cook.
Before cooking the rice noodles, she poured a generous half-bowl of premium pork bone broth into a hot pot. Once the broth boiled, she added the toppings: one or two pieces each of fish dumplings, quail eggs, shiitake mushrooms, squid, shredded chicken, lean pork slices, fish fillets, and tender fresh vegetables.
She let it boil vigorously over high heat for a moment before tossing in the rice noodles. When the broth returned to a rolling boil, she seasoned it with an appropriate amount of scallions, sesame oil, salt, and MSG. A bowl of Eight Immortals rice noodles, bursting with diverse ingredients, was complete!
Gan Lan took a deep breath, inhaling the fragrant aroma. She sat straight down and ate a bowl for her lunch.
SLURP. SLURP.
Gan Lan continuously sucked up the noodles. To her, slurping rice noodles was truly addictive. The noodles were pleasantly chewy and refreshing, the broth was savory and delicious, and the toppings were incredibly rich.
By the time she finished her bowl, she had worked up a sweat. However, she still had to continue cooking so she could ship the food to the other stall owners. It was best not to put off until tomorrow what could be done today; she worried that if she got busy and forgot, she wouldn’t know how long it would be delayed.
By this time, the pork trotters were perfectly braised.
Gan Lan quickly blanched several bowls of pork trotter rice noodles, cooked up a few more bowls of the Eight Immortals rice noodles, and shipped them all over, figuring the vendors could just share them.
After all, there were almost twenty of them now, and she simply didn’t have enough time left today to make individual portions for everyone.