Gan Lan opened her Light Brain and tried sending a message to Professor Ye, asking if she was in her office. After a while, she received a reply.
Carrying the temperature-controlled box, Gan Lan cheerfully trotted over to the office. The door was open, but she still knocked symbolically. Seeing Professor Ye signal her to enter with a glance, she walked in.
"Hello, Professor! I brought my own creations and wanted to ask for your feedback. Is that okay?" Gan Lan looked at her cautiously, terrified of being rejected. She thought to herself that if the professor refused, she would just drop the temperature-controlled box and run! That way, she wouldn’t be able to say no. She felt like such a smart cookie.
Ye Lanyu put down her pen and looked at Gan Lan calmly. "Take them out."
Ye Lanyu had heard that this student was recently setting up a stall on Food Street and that business was booming. Seeing Gan Lan’s rosy complexion now, she figured the girl was doing well. At the very least, she wouldn’t starve to death anymore; she had finally wised up. Ye Lanyu felt somewhat gratified, though her expression remained unchanged.
She watched as Gan Lan took the food out of the temperature-controlled box one by one. The pork elbows, pig trotters, Choubei, and mutton skewers were arranged neatly. She even thoughtfully laid out a knife, fork, and chopsticks. After finishing, Gan Lan gave her an obedient smile.
Looking at the four dishes in front of her, each emitted its own unique aroma.
Ye Lanyu leisurely tasted them. She only took one bite of each, using an immense amount of self-control to restrain herself from eating more. She was afraid that if she couldn’t stop eating, Gan Lan would become overly arrogant and conceited. Most importantly, the authoritative image she had worked so hard to establish in front of her students would be ruined!
Gan Lan watched Professor Ye, who remained expressionless even while eating. She nervously squeezed her small hands together, feeling a bit expectant. Even though Gan Lan had always been confident, she still longed for the approval of this elder in the future era.
Ye Lanyu restrained herself, putting down her chopsticks. She wiped her mouth with a tissue and spoke slowly. "The mutton skewers are spicy and savory, with crispy skin and tender meat. The Choubei is delicious. The pork elbow is deeply flavorful and falls right off the bone, filling the mouth with a rich meaty aroma. The pig trotter is soft, tender, and fragrant. I don’t have any suggestions for you. If you can consistently maintain this standard, you’ll easily pass your practical exam."
There was one thing she didn’t say aloud: it was better than what the teachers made, and it could even rival the creations of culinary masters!
After speaking, she stood up and patted Gan Lan’s shoulder, her eyes filled with gratification. "I also look forward to you researching and creating even more wonderful and delicious foods in the future."
Her professor’s encouragement and validation made Gan Lan sigh in relief. She broke into a smile, bowed to Professor Ye, and expressed her sincere gratitude. "Thank you, Professor Ye! I will continue to work hard!"
Ye Lanyu watched Gan Lan’s retreating back and made a gesture, causing the door to slowly close. She then picked up her chopsticks and happily resumed eating! It was truly too delicious. In this era, food was usually quite bland. While there were occasionally stunning dishes, the rest were either bizarre or weirdly flavored; only the fruit juices were somewhat tasty.
Although the food at restaurants opened by culinary masters was also delicious, the flavor profiles didn’t seem quite as rich. Furthermore, dishes made by culinary masters were expensive and required reservations. Sometimes, it took months just to get a table.
In the principal’s office of Mingyang Comprehensive University.
Principal Yang didn’t express an opinion after seeing the forum post. This was just a minor issue. Besides, everyone in the Culinary Department had made barbecue before; it was even a mandatory course. It was just that their results were either completely mediocre or strangely bizarre, which wasn’t very ideal. Now that the barbecue made by this student, Gan Lan, had received a fairly good response, she should be encouraged rather than punished. Otherwise, students would be too afraid to innovate or deeply research ingredients in the future. That would be a massive loss for the Culinary Department and food culture.
However, Principal Yang wasn’t ready to share this stance with the students yet. If the principal had to show up every time someone tagged him, he would die of exhaustion! He decided to set it aside and wait to see how the main party involved would handle it.
After returning, Gan Lan went to check the forum post again.
It was quite lively; the comment count had already reached several hundred thousand. However, she wasn’t worried. Given the current technological advancements in medicine and the evolved physiques of the people in this future era, the health hazards of barbecue mentioned in the post were minor issues—or perhaps not even issues at all.
If this were the Earth Era, you could find regions on Earth that didn’t eat Hunan or Fujian cuisine, but barbecue was universally loved across the entire country. Even if it brought harm to people’s bodies, the citizens of the Foodie Country simply couldn’t control their appetites or resist the temptation. The streets remained bustling with lively barbecue stalls.
She figured she should reply to that post first, and then create a new one to address the situation properly. Otherwise, people might actually think she had chickened out.
Floor 880,000: [I’m here! I’m the person you tagged in your title. I was busy making barbecue yesterday, but I still want to thank the original poster for giving me such a massive advertisement. Now, I won’t have to worry about selling my barbecue in the future; instead, I’m worried that I won’t be able to make enough all by myself! To show my gratitude, I’ll give you a twenty percent discount the next time you visit! I’m sorry for replying so late. After all, I’m so busy, how could I have the time to browse the forums? Also, thank you to everyone who supported me. Tomorrow, I’ll be releasing a new surprise!]
After replying, Gan Lan created a new post on the forum titled: [Why Do I Like Eating Barbecue? And Why Can’t You Resist the Temptation?]
Come and have some barbecue!: [A long, long time ago, our ancestors inadvertently started a fire and accidentally cooked a piece of meat. They were deeply captivated by that cooked meat.]
Come and have some barbecue!: [Time flew by, and before we knew it, tens of thousands of years had passed. The descendants of those ancestors accidentally started a fire again, and they inadvertently cooked a piece of seasoned meat. That seasoned, cooked meat was just as delicious, and once again, they were deeply captivated by barbecue.]
Come and have some barbecue!: [Also, the sign in front of my stall has long featured a friendly purchase notice: "Eating too much barbecue will harm your health! It is recommended to eat less or refrain from eating it to reduce health risks!" Additionally, to thank all the friends who have supported me, I will be offering a special release of one thousand surprises tomorrow! Of course, they won’t be free, so don’t overthink it~]
After finishing the post, Gan Lan clicked send. Tomorrow was a rest day with no classes. Otherwise, she never would have dared to promise a thousand new surprises.
She planned to make Beggar’s Chicken. While browsing the Star Network Ingredient Store earlier, she had seen a type of poultry called Zhenzhen Chicken. It wasn’t large, and its bones were incredibly fine, but its entire body was covered in tender meat. Using it to make Beggar’s Chicken would definitely be super delicious!
She placed an order for a thousand of them at fifty Credit Points each. Combined with various seasonings, ingredients, mutton skewers, Choubei, pork elbows, and pig trotters, Gan Lan ended up spending all the money she had worked so hard to earn!
Spending it all was one thing, but she even had to use her student ID and stall permit as collateral to apply to the Star Network Ingredient Store to pay the remaining balance of 20,000 Credit Points within twenty-four hours. Only then was she able to get all the ingredients. She hadn’t known this option existed and had only stumbled upon it by accident. If she had known earlier that she could do this, she wouldn’t have needed to borrow money.
Still, borrowing money from her professor had its benefits. Now, her relationship with Professor Ye was pretty good!
Gan Lan scratched her head in frustration, wishing she could slap herself for being so impulsive! Sighing, she realized that since things had already come to this, she just had to accept her fate and get to work.
She had the robot process the ingredients while she prepared the necessary seasonings and marinated the chickens. Next came stir-frying the stuffing. She heated a wok, added lard, and sautéed minced ginger and star anise. Then, she sequentially added diced pork, shrimp, and winter bamboo shoots, followed by cooking wine, scallions, and other seasonings.
She tightly wrapped the bodies of the chickens in pork caul fat, bundled them in lotus leaves, and tied them securely with straw ropes. Finally, she coated the outsides in a layer of sticky yellow mud. Because the chickens were small, slowly roasting them over a charcoal fire for about three hours would be enough.
There were simply too many chickens. Left with no choice, Gan Lan had to rent another small robot. By the time everything was prepared and all the mud-caked bundles were roasting, it was almost midnight.
Once again, she wanted to beat herself to death for making such a boastful promise! Saying she’d make a hundred would have been enough! To think she actually promised a thousand! Not only was she in debt, but her hands were about to fall off! If she didn’t have the robots to help her, she figured she would have had to pull an all-nighter or keep working until tomorrow morning just to finish!