After Gan Lan went offline from her stream, she called her two apprentices, who had just finished their classes, over to help and learn as she began preparing dinner.
Flower pastries, Osmanthus Rice Cakes, and Qingtuan were all desserts. She guessed that the viewer "Princess Yan is the cutest" really liked sweets, so she decided to make the milk tea she had made before. Since those were all post-meal desserts and all sweet, she wanted to add a savory dish as well. She settled on fried chicken legs—simple, convenient, and delicious.
"Wan, help me process the mugwort first. Blanch it until it’s soft, then..."
"Senior Cheng, you prepare the ingredients for the Osmanthus Rice Cakes. Soak the osmanthus flowers first, and then..."
"Yi, Er, go soak the chicken legs..."
Gan Lan had the five robots and her two apprentices running in circles. She didn’t stay idle either; she was busy wrapping the flower pastries and even took a break halfway through to marinate the chicken legs.
Three hours later.
Gan Lan packed the last type of food into a temperature-controlled box and had a robot take it down to ship. Fortunately, she had plenty of helpers. Otherwise, she definitely wouldn’t have agreed to make so many desserts at once—making sweets was quite a hassle.
"Chao Zheng," she called out to her two apprentices, who were currently drinking milk tea and eating flower pastries. "You two take these with you later. Don’t refuse; this is your reward for helping." Gan Lan shook the two temperature-controlled boxes in her hands and placed them beside the pair.
"I’m going to take a shower first. I’m exhausted. Remember to shut the door when you leave, and don’t forget to take the temperature-controlled boxes!" With that, she walked into the bathroom without looking back.
The two of them were left exchanging speechless glances.
Gan Lan had no idea that the temperature-controlled box she was sending to the person who gifted her a billion credits would end up in Yan Yifei’s dorm. The robots had handled all the shipping addresses.
First Military Academy, inside Yan Yifei’s dorm.
Four temperature-controlled boxes sat on the table. Yan Yifei sat expressionless beside them, with Gao Haiyang and Lu Ziyu sitting next to him in turn. The three of them listened in silence to the beautiful young woman chattering endlessly at the head of the table. One look at her face and it was obvious she was Yan Yifei’s mother. After all, the two shared the same exquisite facial features and similar eyes.
"Oh my, why did this little girl send four portions? It seems you three have quite a special relationship with her," Mrs. Yan said, looking deeply at the three brothers who had grown up together. "Could it be that all three of you fell for her at the same time? But that doesn’t seem right. If you really had your eyes on the same girl, shouldn’t you be fighting by now? You all look quite harmonious."
The silent trio remained unmoved upon hearing this. They knew that if they said even a single word, she would have an endless stream of topics to throw at them. Even the most talkative Gao Haiyang was terrified of Mrs. Yan. Lu Ziyu and Gao Haiyang exchanged a tacit look of sympathy and directed it at the expressionless Yan Yifei. They both thought, "Our captain is truly too pitiful."
Mrs. Yan looked at the three of them, who were holding their tongues so well, and sighed. They really got less cute as they grew older.
She opened one of the temperature-controlled boxes, and a mixture of sweet scents wafted out, with the fragrance of osmanthus being the most prominent. Mrs. Yan took out the most visually appealing dish, the Osmanthus Rice Cake, held it in her hand, and took a deep sniff. "This osmanthus is so fragrant," she marveled. "This rich floral scent makes me want to eat it all in one bite~"
Catching the familiar scent of osmanthus, Gao Haiyang and Lu Ziyu swallowed hard in unison. They stared intently as Mrs. Yan took a bite of the Osmanthus Rice Cake and revealed a look of absolute satisfaction. Yan Yifei also quietly gulped, secretly eyeing his mother as she took bite after bite of the Osmanthus Rice Cake and sipped her milk tea with an expression of pure enjoyment.
Just as Mrs. Yan was about to pick up a flower pastry to try next, Gao Haiyang lost his patience. Mrs. Yan’s table manners were elegant, but the utter bliss and satisfaction radiating from her expression made it impossible for him to hold back any longer. "Aunt Yan, can we eat too?"
Mrs. Yan thought the three of them looked quite pitiful, so she waved her hand to signal that they should hurry up and eat. Then, she picked up a flower pastry garnished with tiny rose petals, took a bite, and chewed slowly. The fragrance of roses instantly filled her mouth. Her eyes narrowed in contentment. "Is this the taste of first love?"
The dorm room was filled only with Mrs. Yan’s various gasps of admiration and praise, while the other three ate their delicious food in total silence for the first time, not uttering a single word.
Mrs. Yan picked up a fried chicken leg and examined it carefully. "This smells amazing, but it looks like a chicken leg, right? It’s a bit greasy. I don’t really like eating things that are too greasy."
Hearing this, Lu Ziyu’s eyes lit up. Forgetting all the past torment he had suffered at Mrs. Yan’s hands, he quickly offered, "Aunt Yan, how about I eat it for you? Or I can trade you a Qingtuan for it?"
Yan Yifei looked at this remarkably courageous man. He thought, "Although this is my mother and I am supposed to protect her, still..."
Gao Haiyang stared dumbfounded at Lu Ziyu. He thought, "This idiot fell for the trap again. I don’t know how Mrs. Yan is going to mess with Lu Ziyu this time, but what should I do about feeling so incredibly excited?"
Mrs. Yan smiled triumphantly. "Yuyu is still the cutest. I used to think Yan and Yangyang were the cutest, but now that you’ve grown up, our Yuyu is definitely the most adorable!"
A chill ran down Lu Ziyu’s spine, and he wanted nothing more than to slap himself. He really never learned! All his past blood and tears had been tossed out the window for a single chicken leg. He hurriedly tried to salvage the situation. "Aunt Yan, I misspoke just now. Actually, I’ll be full after finishing these. You should eat the chicken leg yourself or save it for the captain." Lu Ziyu smiled stiffly and waved his hands in refusal.
Yan Yifei shot Lu Ziyu a glare upon hearing him shift the blame onto him.
Mrs. Yan picked up a fried chicken leg with her chopsticks and held it out to Lu Ziyu. "Eat it. I won’t give you a hard time this time. I just want to ask a few questions."
"Really?" Lu Ziyu was pleasantly surprised.
"When have I ever lied to anyone?" Mrs. Yan said calmly. She then glanced at Yan Yifei and Gao Haiyang, who were happily gnawing on their own chicken legs. This chicken leg actually looked pretty tasty.
Looking at the three remaining chicken legs on the plate, she picked up the one that looked the smallest and took a cautious bite. The bite was too small to taste anything, so she took a huge bite instead. The crispy skin went CRUNCH CRUNCH, while the meat inside was tender, juicy, and packed with a hint of spice. What kind of heavenly chicken leg was this?! She cast a regretful glance at the chicken leg on Lu Ziyu’s plate, somewhat sorry that she had given it away.
She wiped her mouth and put the remaining two chicken legs into her temperature-controlled box before turning to Lu Ziyu. "Spit it out. What does that little girl Gan Lan like? Like, what style of clothes does she prefer, or what model of Flying Cars does she fancy? Tell me absolutely everything in full detail!"
Lu Ziyu was stunned by these questions. He thought, "I assumed Aunt Yan would pry into my personal life—like what kind of girls or boys I like, or at the very least, ask for the latest gossip about my parents." However, he still answered honestly, "I don’t know. I only know her basic profile and that the dishes she cooks are incredibly delicious."
Mrs. Yan turned to Yan Yifei and Gao Haiyang, who were eating their food in silence, signaling them to speak. Both of them shook their heads at the same time.
"Aren’t you watching her streams every day? How can you not even know this? And to think she sends you delicious food every single day! You are all utterly disappointing!" Mrs. Yan said in frustration, pointing at the three of them one by one. "What a waste of my chicken leg. Give it back!" Moving swiftly, Mrs. Yan snatched the largest chicken leg right off Lu Ziyu’s plate.