Early in the morning, Gan Lan received a call from the security guard. "Is this student Gan Lan? There is someone at the school gate looking for you. She says she is a friend’s mother and also your fan. Do you want to come out and take a look?"
Mrs. Yan hadn’t managed to find out what Gan Lan liked from the trio yesterday. As a newly joined fan, she felt she had to show some token of appreciation, which was why she specifically paid the price of a chicken leg, only to get no information in return. Late last night, she had gone on a massive shopping spree on the Star Network. Space Rings, beautiful dresses, limited edition jewelry, cool Flying Cars, and various other odds and ends—she had stuffed them all into a Space Ring, planning to deliver them bright and early this morning.
Yet, this annoying security guard actually wouldn’t let her in. She had talked until her mouth was dry, but he had only agreed to help make a call. She knew people at Mingzong. If they found out she was chasing after a star—let alone a minor internet celebrity who was also their student—she would be laughed to death. She couldn’t afford to lose face like that. But! This was all for the adorable food streamer she had just become a fan of yesterday. She made such delicious and beautiful desserts; even an ordinary chicken leg could be made so tasty.
She usually only ate Exotic Beast Meat, but to her surprise, regular meat could be incredibly delicious as well. It had truly opened the door to a new world for her. Also, who knew that fresh flowers could taste so good? Ever since she had tried the shrimp dumplings from Yan the day before yesterday, she had become utterly obsessed.
***
After hanging up the call, Gan Lan was somewhat puzzled. A friend’s mother? The guard hadn’t even mentioned which friend it was. Still, she had never encountered such a situation before, and she was a little curious about which of her friends’ mothers had actually come looking for her!
Gan Lan hurriedly washed up and tidied her clothes before heading out. If she wasn’t genuinely worried that it might be one of her friends’ elders, she wouldn’t have come out. After all, she was very busy these past two days; once she finished making the Phoenix Cakes, she still had to go to Banan Star. However, she figured she might as well go take a look, since it was very close anyway.
Passing by students rushing to class, she finally arrived at the school gate. At first glance, she was captivated by a great beauty. The woman had exquisite facial features, an elegant and luxurious temperament, and eyes that looked exactly like Yan Yifei’s.
Gan Lan’s footsteps faltered. She wondered if this would be like a scene from a TV drama, where the mother would say something like, "I’ll give you five million to leave my son." But she and Yan Yifei were just ordinary friends. Surely something like that wouldn’t happen, right?
Gan Lan took off her mask and walked toward the beautiful woman. The beauty seemed to recognize Gan Lan and waved at her happily. With such a bright smile, it shouldn’t be what she was imagining...
"Hello, may I ask if you are looking for me?" Gan Lan put on her warmest smile, her eyes curving into crescents as she asked the beauty.
"Yes, yes! I’m here to thank you for taking care of my son, Yan Yifei, recently. Also, I’m currently your top backer! ’Princess Yan is the cutest’ is me!" the great beauty said with a smile, taking Gan Lan’s arm.
It was actually Boss Yan’s mother, and she was her top backer! This was simply too amazing.
Mrs. Yan looked at the wide-eyed Gan Lan and found it somewhat amusing. Her dumbfounded appearance made her look even cuter.
"Mainly, I wanted to come see you and give you a fan meet-and-greet gift." As she spoke, she directly took off the small, exquisite blue rose Space Ring she was wearing. "I didn’t know what you liked, so I just bought a bit of everything. Since your name contains the character ’Lan’, which means blue, I picked a blue rose Space Ring for you. Do you like it?" While talking, she tried to slip it onto Gan Lan’s index finger.
Gan Lan was shocked and quickly hid her hands behind her back. "Auntie, you don’t need to be so polite," she refused. "He has always been the one helping me. I merely made his portions in passing when I was cooking. I can’t accept such a huge gift. They also often send me virtual gifts. I can do so little in return, only what is within my power."
"Do you know how high the value of the food you make is now? If such delicious food were sold at Sunny Day Restaurant, do you know how many Credit Points you could earn in a day? As for Star 1888 that you want to buy, you would be able to afford it in less than half a year."
Gan Lan dodged left and right, avoiding the Space Ring that Mrs. Yan was trying to force upon her. "Auntie, this gift is too expensive. I can’t accept it. You already sent me a lot of gifts yesterday, I really can’t take this. Besides, I’m still so young. I can wait a few years to buy a planet, I’m not in a hurry."
She saw Mrs. Yan stop her movements. Although she didn’t seem too happy, Gan Lan still breathed a sigh of relief.
"Alright, alright. Well, if you ever need anything, you can come to me. I can help you solve any problem!" Mrs. Yan didn’t force the issue, though she felt it was a pity about the princess dresses she had carefully selected.
"Auntie, are you busy later? If you’re free, let me treat you to breakfast," Gan Lan offered. After all, this was her first time meeting a friend’s mother; she naturally had to maintain her manners.
Mrs. Yan’s eyes lit up slightly. She said reservedly, "I’m free. Would that be too much trouble, though?"
Looking at Mrs. Yan, who was tightly clutching her sleeve and refusing to let go, Gan Lan let out a soft laugh. "Not at all. It’s already made. We can eat as soon as we head up."
***
Yan Yifei watched the short video his mother sent him. In the video, she and Gan Lan were eating together. The food on the table consisted of steaming soup dumplings and regular dumplings, along with a large bowl of fish tofu soup and an exquisite little cake... There were actually even two bowls of beef and char siu rice noodles.
As if his hand had a mind of its own, he immediately called Mrs. Yan. "Mom, aren’t you trying to lose weight? The two of you eating that much will definitely make you gain weight. Do you want me to help you eat some? I just don’t want you to waste food."
"Oh my, is my son not pretending anymore? To think you actually picked up your old skills just for a little food?"
Hearing the surprised yet knowing voice coming from Mrs. Yan on the call, Yan Yifei’s ears turned slightly red. "Then, Mom, just pretend I never said anything. Goodbye."
After hanging up, Yan Yifei felt somewhat annoyed. How could his persona crumble over a little bit of food?
***
Mrs. Yan fell in love with the feeling of slurping noodles. Who knew food could actually be this delicious!
Taking a sip of soup, slurping a mouthful of noodles, and following it up with a few slices of beef and char siu—she could eat this for a month without getting tired of it. Goodness, the soup dumplings actually had soup inside! Sucking out the fresh, sweet broth from inside, then eating the whole dumpling in one big bite—the sensation was truly too wonderful.
But her favorite was still that exquisite little cake. She could hardly bear to eat it. Next, she tasted a bite of the dumplings and the fish tofu soup. This was just way too delicious! Each dish had a different texture, but they were all equally tasty. She really wanted to just lounge around here and never leave.
Losing weight was impossible. Besides, she... she wasn’t even fat!
Having eaten and drunk her fill, Mrs. Yan took the leftovers as well, almost clearing out all of Gan Lan’s food stock. She even had Gan Lan pack ten portions of snail rice noodles for her, saying she wanted to give them away as gifts.
"Auntie, because snail rice noodles have a rather unique smell, not everyone can accept them. Are you sure you want to pack them? Besides, you haven’t even tasted them yet."
"They look delicious at first glance! I’ll eat them with my friends at noon later. Thank you for your hospitality, my dear little Gan Lan."
Gan Lan watched the elegant and unhurried Mrs. Yan walk away. She had never imagined that such a great beauty would actually be a chatterbox. Throughout the entire meal, except when she was chewing her food, she had to speak the moment her mouth was free, constantly praising how delicious the food was, and then proceeding to praise Gan Lan.
In short, she was a very special person. Aside from bearing a slight resemblance to Yan Yifei, their personalities were nothing alike.