It had already been two days since she arrived in this future era.
Gan Lan sat in the classroom, appearing to listen earnestly to the instructor at the front. Internally, however, she was sighing, mourning the heartbreaking reality that she could never return to Earth. She wondered how her parents were doing and how agonizing it must be for them to bury their child. She could only silently comfort herself with the thought that she wasn’t an only child. She had a younger brother. Even if she was dead, her brother would be there to provide for their parents in their old age.
She also bemoaned her current penniless state. The original owner of this body hailed from a poverty star, and both her parents had passed away when she was ten. Fortunately, this future world’s welfare system for orphans was quite decent. The government funded their education and provided food and clothing until they turned eighteen. Luckily, the original owner had possessed a brilliant mind. Relying solely on her exceptional theoretical knowledge, she had managed to rank first on her poverty star, earning a spot in the Culinary Department at Mingyang Star Comprehensive University on the main planet, Mingyang Star.
She had arrived at the school full of expectations, thinking she could start a new life. Unfortunately, the original owner was the type of person who possessed god-tier theoretical knowledge but was utterly useless in practical application. Even the simplest roasted meat would turn out either charred to a crisp, half-raw, or tasting bizarre. She had tried countless times, only to fail over and over again. She was a textbook disaster in the kitchen.
The mockery from those around her and the disappointed gazes of her instructors were relentless. Her background, combined with her near-nonexistent practical skills, made even the theoretical knowledge she was so proud of seem laughable. Her inferiority complex, weakness, and poverty had become the fatal flaws her classmates ridiculed, ultimately acting as the original owner’s death warrant. Thus, Gan Lan had ended up here. Looking at her less-than-friendly classmates, she noted that it had been a month and a half since the semester started, yet the original owner hadn’t made a single friend. Gan Lan sighed again.
However, none of this was a big deal to the current Gan Lan. The most pressing issue was that the original owner had turned eighteen this year. Without government support, she couldn’t even afford the lowest-level, most foul-tasting nutrient solutions. Even a hero could be paralyzed without a penny! If only she had a thousand Credit Points—that would be enough to serve as her startup capital. But she recalled the measly ten Credit Points left in her account balance. Even a low-level nutrient solution cost fifteen Credit Points! She needed to figure out how to survive. After today, she would be completely out of food.
In her past life, Gan Lan had been something of a little culinary god and a barbecue master (self-proclaimed). Her father was a five-star chef, her mother a traditional Chinese pastry chef, and she had a genius scientist for a younger brother. At just twenty-three years old, Gan Lan had fully inherited her parents’ crafts, even surpassing them. After mastering those skills, she became an apprentice under her father’s friend, a famous barbecue master of the time, to study grilling techniques. Two years later, she returned fully trained and prepared to open her own restaurant. The renovations were already finished: barbecue on the first floor, dining on the second, and Chinese pastries on the third. She had just been waiting for the grand opening!
But then came the plane crash. When Gan Lan woke up, she was here in the future!
This era marked the Federation Star System’s transition from the Great Destruction Era into a period fully dedicated to developing technological civilization. As a result, historical and culinary civilizations had suffered a massive disconnect. Culinary civilization had even regressed to the earliest stages of dietary culture formation. Although spices and seasonings were perfectly preserved—with even more new ingredients and spices emerging—this was an era where culinary monstrosities were all too common!
The ingredients were fully intact, and various types had even evolved. Yet, there was almost no surviving culinary heritage. Everything had been created in this current era, and rumor had it that most of it tasted terrible. Perhaps families with enough deep-rooted history had managed to preserve a tiny fragment of it? Gan Lan wasn’t entirely sure.
This truly seemed like an era tailor-made for her! Unfortunately, Gan Lan didn’t have a single cent to her name. Otherwise, she could have set up a street stall selling barbecue after class. Right now, the most important thing was acquiring some capital. She didn’t ask for much—five hundred to a thousand Credit Points would do. There were ways to make do with a small amount of money. As long as she had that much, Gan Lan was confident she could live very comfortably relying on her own skills!
But what to do? Gan Lan scratched her head in frustration. She wondered if she should borrow money from someone. But even though the original owner had been at the school for a month and a half, it was already considered friendly enough that her classmates weren’t bullying her. Hoping to borrow money? Who would lend it to her?! Gan Lan’s mind was a mess. She didn’t comprehend a word the instructor was saying; her thoughts were entirely consumed by the problem of who to borrow money from.
After class, Gan Lan ignored her classmates’ sarcastic remarks. She patted the desk in front of her, stood up, and hyped herself up. She decided to shamelessly ask her counselor for a loan!
Outside the faculty office, Gan Lan took a deep breath, silently preparing herself mentally. Compared to starving to death, her life was the most important thing. She straightened her already tidy school uniform to mask her wildly pounding heart. After all, it was her first time borrowing money, and the target was a strict dean of students. Ultimately, the will to survive conquered her sense of shame. With a serious expression, she raised her hand and knocked on the door.
"Come in," came the mature, composed voice of her counselor from inside.
Gan Lan still felt a bit panicked, but she pushed the door open and barged in. Without even daring to look at her counselor’s face, she lunged forward and hugged the woman’s thighs. Tears instantly streamed down her face—she didn’t even need time to force them out. "Instructor, please save your student! A future culinary god, a barbecue master, she’s about to starve to death! WAAH WAAH WAAH! So, could you please lend this student a thousand Credit Points? I promise to pay you back within three days. Really, Instructor, please believe me!"
Counselor Ms. Ye Lanyu looked down calmly at the student clinging to her thighs and wailing like a banshee. The girl was sallow and emaciated, with dry, yellow hair, barely standing at one point six meters tall—a clear textbook case of long-term malnutrition. She was slightly speechless. To think that she, the esteemed counselor of the Culinary Department, known as Yama Ye, actually had a student who didn’t turn and run at the sight of her, but instead rushed up to hug her thighs. Should she praise the girl for being bold, or perhaps a little too bold?
Slightly surprised, she looked down and asked, "Borrow money? A future culinary god? A barbecue master? You really dare to say that. Also, take your hands off me!" With that, she shook her leg with a bit of force, but failed to shake the girl off. Her expression straightened, and returning to her calm demeanor, she added, "If you don’t take your hands off right now, not only will you not get a single Credit Point, but I will also give you a demerit...!"
Before Ye Lanyu could finish her sentence, she watched the student rapidly release her thighs as if holding a hot potato, though the girl continued to SOB SOB SOB...
Ye Lanyu was left speechless. She wondered why she hadn’t seen this student act so lively before. She used to be gloomy all day long.
Gan Lan felt bitter inside, but there was no other way. Simply surviving was too difficult. It was truly too difficult. Raising a hand to wipe her tears, she choked out, "Instructor, I’ve let go. Everything I just told you is true. Instructor, please save this pitiful child!"
Tears brimming in her eyes, Gan Lan looked up at her one and only lifeline. When she thought about how her future might consist of scavenging through trash or starving to death due to a lack of money—a dignified future culinary god, pastry chef, and barbecue master starving to death! It would be an absolute humiliation! Sorrow welled up from within, and she immediately cried even more pitifully.
Seeing the student’s genuine display of emotion, Ye Lanyu felt a pang of sympathy. "I can lend you ten thousand Credit Points. As long as you can secure first place in this month’s practical exam and maintain that rank, you won’t even need to pay this money back. How about that?"
Ye Lanyu still valued talent. After all, it was exceedingly rare for a student from a poverty star to rely on herself to step by step gain admission to the Federal First Comprehensive School. The gap between her practical and theoretical knowledge was massive. While such cases existed, they were one in a billion. Ye Lanyu planned to give her another chance; otherwise, if she kept scoring zero on the practical exams, she would face forced expulsion after one semester.
"Instructor..." Hearing this, Gan Lan jerked her head up in sudden surprise, looking at her counselor with tearful eyes. She felt a mix of complexity and deep emotion. It was complex because her mentor was actually willing to lend her money—lending it to a student from a poverty star who was a complete failure in practicals. She was also moved because her mentor was still willing to believe in the original owner and chose to give her another chance. But the original owner could never return...
Gan Lan lowered her head and clenched her fists. She silently swore that she would absolutely not disappoint her mentor’s expectations. She would cherish the opportunity her mentor had given her and definitely reclaim first place! Not only would she reclaim first place, but she would also maintain it! Furthermore, she was going to add a magnificent stroke of the Earth Era’s culinary civilization to the canvas of the Future Interstellar. She would let the people of the future understand the profound and extensive culinary culture of the Earth Era!