Ian Song cooked a total of eleven dishes, nearly filling the whole round table.
"Everyone, come eat!" Ian called out. Actually, he didn’t need to call—they’d already followed the aroma into the dining room.
Soon, everyone took their seats. Kara Moran couldn’t wait—she grabbed her chopsticks and picked up a piece of stir-fried spirit chicken, popping it into her mouth. Just a single chew, and an indescribable flavor exploded on her tongue, instantly capturing her taste buds.
"It’s... it’s amazing! That stinking scholar’s cooking has gotten even better!"
Mumbling as she spoke, Kara chewed a few times and swallowed the meat, then reached her chopsticks toward another plate of spicy stir-fried spirit vegetables.
The other girls, seeing her blissful expression, couldn’t hold back any longer. They all grabbed their chopsticks and reached for different plates, soon showing looks of utter surprise.
Ian picked up his own chopsticks, took a piece of stir-fried spirit chicken, and tasted it. He nodded to himself—now that his cooking skill had reached God-Tier Chef, his dishes tasted at least three times better than before. Plus, all the ingredients came from the Immortal-Dao world and were packed with spiritual energy. Not only were they delicious, they were great for cultivation too.
Because the food was just too good, nobody bothered to talk. In only twenty minutes, all eleven plates were wiped clean.
"Stinking scholar, I want more!" Kara Moran stuck out her pink tongue to lick the oil from her lips, her voice full of longing as she looked at Ian.
"Brother Ian, me too!"
Coco Guan glanced shyly at Ian, eyes full of longing.
"Grand General!"
"Young Master!"
One after another, everyone spoke up, all saying they wanted more.
"Alright, I’ll make more!"
Ian stood up without hesitation. Seeing how much everyone loved his cooking made him genuinely happy.
In just half an hour, Ian whipped up fifteen more different dishes and brought them to the table. The girls didn’t bother with politeness—they grabbed their chopsticks and dove in.
This time, Ian made sure the portions were generous, so no one asked him to make more—but their eyes still showed they hadn’t had enough.
"Dishwashing is your job now," Ian said.
"I’ll do it!" Raina Quinn jumped in eagerly.
"Let me help!" Coco Guan stood up too, helping Raina Quinn gather the dishes and chopsticks. The others felt embarrassed and joined in to help.
Half an hour later.
In the living room, all the girls sat around Ian Song.
Ian pondered for a moment: "I’m planning to become a superstar, a famous doctor, and a celebrity chef. Any good ideas on how I can get famous fast?"
"What?"
Everyone was stunned by Ian’s words. Kara Moran couldn’t help but laugh: "Stinking scholar, you’re joking, right? You want to be an actor!"
Ian’s face darkened. "I said superstar, not actor."
"Isn’t that the same thing?"
Kara Moran had already gotten used to this world, but some of her old beliefs were hard to shake. In her view, anyone who performed in public—singing or acting—was just an 'actor.'
Before Ian could correct her, Lily spoke up: "Grand General, with your status, how could you become a chef or a doctor?"
"That’s right. The Grand General should be above such lowly trades!" Autumn nodded earnestly.
"Song Lang, have you lost your mind?"
Diana Toba chimed in as well.
"Enough! I’m asking for advice on how to break into the scene, not for you all to mock me." Ian snapped, a little annoyed.
Seeing Ian get upset, the girls quieted down and started offering suggestions.
But none of the ideas were very useful.
Just then, Coco Guan said, "Brother Ian, I actually think you don’t need to open a restaurant. You could develop a few ready-to-eat recipes and sell them as packaged foods. If you can get them out worldwide, your name will spread everywhere too."
"Good idea!" Ian’s eyes lit up. Making ready-to-eat foods was definitely the way to go—long shelf life, affordable price, and almost everyone could buy them. It was way better than opening a restaurant.
After discussing with the girls for another hour, Ian headed straight for the Zhao family.
The Zhao family was one of the ten great clans of Yanhuang, with many businesses. Using their network to promote his ready-to-eat foods would be much easier—and more importantly, save time.
After all, this mission only lasted three years.
When Ian Song explained his plan to Zhao Changsheng, the latter was astonished: "Ian, are you short on money? If you need it, the Zhao family could easily gather thirty to fifty billion for you."
Ian smiled wryly: "Don’t get me wrong, I’m not doing this for the money—there’s a special reason!"
Zhao Changsheng replied, "If you don’t want to say why, I won’t push you. The Zhao family has several snack factories that fit your requirements, and over a hundred supermarkets nationwide. Once your ready-to-eat foods are produced, they can go straight onto our shelves!"
"Thank you, Godfather," Ian said gratefully.
Zhao Changsheng laughed, "We’re family—no need to be so formal. You’ve brought so much to the Zhao family already. Helping you with this is nothing. If you need anything else, just ask. If I can help, I won’t refuse!"
"Do we have entertainment and pharmaceutical companies?" Ian asked, suddenly inspired.
"We do!" Zhao Changsheng nodded. "Tianyi Entertainment is secretly controlled by the Zhao family, and we also own Liushun Pharmaceuticals."
"That’s fantastic!" Ian said happily.
In the blink of an eye, Ian had been back in the main world for ten days. After ten days of preparation, all three of his ready-to-eat foods were successfully launched.
The three products were Ian Song Brand Signature Chicken Feet, Ian Song Brand Signature Duck Neck, and Ian Song Brand Signature Dried Tofu.
He registered new trademarks for all three, using his own name—'Ian Song'—as the brand.
Since these were mass-produced, they didn’t taste as good as Ian’s handmade dishes, but compared to regular chicken feet, duck neck, and dried tofu on the market, they were at least ten times better.
But Ian set the prices low.
Ian Song Brand Signature Chicken Feet was priced at five yuan per bag, Ian Song Brand Signature Duck Neck at six yuan, and Ian Song Brand Signature Dried Tofu at three yuan.
To promote himself, he not only named the products after himself, but also printed his portrait on every package.
Since the factory workers were all from the Zhao family, Ian was basically using their resources to make his own fortune. After discussion, they agreed to split the profits fifty-fifty, though Zhao Changsheng originally didn’t want any share at all.
But Ian insisted. Money was just a number to him—if not for the system’s mission, he wouldn’t bother with all this trouble.
When the three products launched, every major TV station started running ads for them like crazy.
Not only that—even the biggest video websites started advertising them.
So, in just one day, most people in Yanhuang had heard of these three snacks. Many rushed to the supermarket after seeing the ads, but although the commercials were everywhere, the snacks hadn’t hit the shelves yet—so nobody could buy them.