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Gu Ran knew that if he wanted to "farm points" from Anne Hathaway, he first had to understand her.

With twelve years of future knowledge, this wasn't much of a challenge. In fact, he dared to say that he understood Anne's situation at this stage of her life better than she did herself.

Anne Hathaway had been acting since she was fifteen. She won the Supernova Award for her lead role in the stage play Gilded World at the White House Theater. At seventeen, she gained popularity through the TV show Get Real, earning the Teen Choice Award for Best TV Actress. At nineteen, she starred in The Princess Diaries, which became her lifelong signature role. She then continued with films like Brokeback Mountain, Ella Enchanted, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, The Devil Wears Prada, Becoming Jane, and Rachel Getting Married.

It was Rachel Getting Married that earned her a nomination for Best Actress at the 2008 Academy Awards—just a nomination, though.

Anne was a dedicated actress. From the age of fifteen, her life had revolved solely around acting. Because of that, she lacked a lot of real-world experience and basic social awareness.

Hollywood was a massive arena of fame and fortune. It wasn't just for actors, directors, and producers—it was also a battlefield for critics.

And Hollywood critics loved nitpicking. Their favorite targets were actors with noticeable flaws, easy to attack.

Unfortunately, Anne wasn't their type.

From the moment she debuted, she had been labeled as the "perfect princess," which wasn't just an image but her true self. She was even more flawless than the roles she played on screen.

And that was the problem. She was too beautiful, too elegant. No matter what role she played, she was always considered adorable.

Critics had a term for this: scene-stealing.

Her presence was so striking that it disrupted the narrative flow of movies. Some critics believed her beauty and perfection were proof that she couldn't act.

Others accused her of being "pretentious," claiming that her innocence was an act.

The more they criticized her, the more they indulged in it, as if tearing her down made them seem more sophisticated—as if it proved they valued depth over mere appearance.

This kind of scrutiny made Anne increasingly miserable, causing her to doubt herself.

She couldn't understand why her heartfelt award speeches were called fake, while Jennifer Lawrence tripping on stage earned applause and praise.

Eventually, she started taking on self-destructive, intentionally unglamorous roles in bad movies.

She wanted to prove she wasn't just a pretty face. She wanted critics to acknowledge her talent. She wanted to win the highest honor an actor could receive—the Oscar.

In Gu Ran's past life, Anne spent twenty years—starting from her first movie at seventeen until she was thirty-seven—before finally earning her place on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019.

For decades, this Hollywood princess, beloved by millions, struggled to gain recognition from the industry's elites. She suffered and took many detours.

But now that Gu Ran had crossed paths with her in this life, he wasn't just going to farm points—he was going to push his goddess forward.

If one push wasn't enough, he'd push her twice, three times... He'd keep pushing until she reached the peak!

Of course, this wasn't something that could be rushed. It had to be a long-term goal.

For now, he needed an opening—a way to start farming points.

Gu Ran had put serious effort into today's lunch.

Instant noodles with tomato-egg sauce simply wouldn't cut it.

This was their first meal together as housemates. It had to impress Anne.

So, he decided to make a classic Chinese dish—sweet and sour pork.

When making coffee earlier, he had already confirmed that Anne had a sweet tooth. A dish with a balanced sweet and sour profile would be perfect for her.

After all, practically every female celebrity had a weakness for sweets. Due to their strict diets, they were often deprived of sugar, which was an essential nutrient for the body and the only direct fuel for the brain.

A prolonged lack of sugar could lead to mood swings and even depression.

Why was Coke called "happiness in a bottle"? Because it had an insanely high sugar content, and sugar made people happy.

That said, making sweet and sour pork in the culinary wasteland of the UK was no easy task.

The first challenge was the ingredients.

The main component was pork tenderloin.

Westerners mainly ate beef, rarely using pork as a staple ingredient.

Why? Because their pork tasted awful compared to what people ate in China.

Foreign pork had a strong, gamey odor, which was why Westerners generally avoided it.

Some believed it was due to differences in slaughter methods. Others said it was because foreign pigs weren't bled properly during butchering, leading to unpleasant meat.

Both theories were wrong.

Western slaughterhouses did drain blood from pigs—it was necessary to keep the meat fresh and prevent spoilage.

The real reason was castration.

In China, male pigs were neutered before they reached two months old. In the West, they weren't.

Unneutered pigs retained high levels of androstenone and skatole, compounds that gave their meat a musky, almost foul odor.

Castrated pigs, often called "eunuch pigs," lacked these compounds, resulting in meat with a naturally sweeter taste.

Food was a reflection of cultural refinement.

Historical records showed that since the Eastern Han Dynasty, Chinese pork had been sourced from neutered pigs. It had been a culinary standard for over a thousand years.

Meanwhile, Europe had only risen in the past few centuries, following the Industrial Revolution. Their ancestors had lived too primitively to develop a sophisticated food culture.

Give them a hairy crab, and they wouldn't know how to eat it. Hand them sunflower seeds, and they wouldn't know how to crack them.

Thus, it was impossible to find properly processed pork in a UK supermarket.

The tenderloin Gu Ran had purchased, of course, wasn't from a neutered pig. But at least tenderloin had a milder odor compared to other cuts.

Even so, it needed further treatment.

Gu Ran placed the meat in a pot of cold water, poured in an entire bottle of cooking wine, and tossed in Sichuan peppercorns and star anise. He then let it simmer on low heat.

Only after a thick layer of scum had formed on the surface did the smell finally start to fade.

This alone took half an hour.

Compared to the rushed meals he had made for Maria, this level of effort was unprecedented.

The rest of the process was simple.

He tenderized the blanched pork and cut it into strips. He then marinated it with cooking wine, sugar, vinegar, pepper, and eggs, letting it sit for half an hour.

Afterward, he coated the pork strips in dry starch, shook off the excess, and prepared them for frying.

The first round of frying was done at medium heat until golden brown.

The second round, at a higher temperature, gave them a crispy exterior.

Finally, he thickened a sauce with sugar, vinegar, and cornstarch, then tossed the crispy pork into the pan, ensuring every piece was coated in the glossy, caramelized glaze.

With that, the Southampton-style sweet and sour pork was complete.

From blanching to plating, the entire process took an hour and a half.

This was the most effort he had put into cooking since his rebirth.

Gu Ran picked up a piece with his chopsticks and took a bite.

Damn…

This… was barely edible.

It was overwhelmingly sweet. Cloyingly so.

One bite alone could knock out a diabetic.

And the pork itself—compared to what he was used to in China, it was like comparing heaven and earth.

This was nothing short of a disaster.

If he served this to guests in China, it would be considered an insult.

So much for theoretical knowledge—execution was a different beast entirely.

After all the elaborate steps, all the careful frying, this was what he ended up with.

An absolute trainwreck.

For a moment, Gu Ran debated throwing it out.

Then, a thought struck him.

Wouldn't eating something this bad trigger negative emotions?

And if Anne experienced enough frustration, wouldn't that drop a perfect talent bubble?

Yes… this could work.

It wasn't cruel—just a little harmless suffering for the greater good.

"Sorry, Anne," he muttered to himself. "For the sake of farming points… you'll have to endure my cooking."

With that, he set the dish on the table and knocked on her door.

"Anne, lunch is ready."

"Oh, okay, Gu! I'll be right out," came her cheerful response.

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