Chef at the University Canteen-Chapter 458 - 269: Can’t Afford the Meal, Offers Himself Instead
"Have you heard? This sour plum soup was personally made by Senior Brother Jiang, no wonder it tastes so good!"
"That’s obvious, every new dish from the Seventh Dining Hall is made by Senior Brother Jiang, otherwise, how could it be so delicious?"
"Senior Brother Jiang is really considerate; knowing the sweltering weather in Jiangzhou, he made sour plum soup to help us cool down, relieve the summer heat, aid digestion, and enhance the appetite. I love him to death!"
"..."
This lunch excited many Jiang University Students, even making them eat much more than usual. The kitchen had prepared plenty of dishes, but in the end, it wasn’t enough, forcing Jiang Yu to quickly stir-fry several more dishes.
Of course, Jiang Yu had spent two or three hours the previous night making two large pots of sour plum soup. He thought it would suffice for the students for a whole day, but it was gone just in time for lunch.
"Boss, what should we do?"
Lu Shuwu, feeling a bit schadenfreude, couldn’t help but chuckle while looking at the empty barrels,
"Anyway, we’re done with the busy time, and there’s still a long way to dinner. Why don’t we make a few more pots?"
"Xiaojiang, you underestimate your cooking skills!"
Jia Dequan remarked with a smile, holding a cup of hot tea while sitting in a chair,
"Everything you make is so delicious, how can others resist it if you put it out there?"
"Uh..."
Jiang Yu thought for a moment and then said,
"Let’s do it this way, we won’t put the sour plum soup outside anymore. Just place it at the window, and assign someone to serve it, distributing it person by person, one cup each."
He paused and then added,
"This way, we won’t have people crowding and fighting over the sour plum soup at noon.
The midday crowding was too chaotic; luckily, it was stopped in time, otherwise, I was worried someone might get hurt." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
Lu Shuwu nodded in agreement and said,
"One cup per person is good; everyone gets to taste it, and drinking too much won’t upset the stomach."
"Alright then, Xiaowu, first soak some hawthorn and smoked plum in warm water, and we’ll make a few more pots of sour plum soup later."
Having figured out a solution, Jiang Yu sighed in relief, then turned to Lu Shuwu with an instruction and smiled at Yan Tongtong,
"Alright, it’s about time now, take the dishes out, and we can have lunch too."
"Oh, okay."
Yan Tongtong responded and quickly turned away to get busy.
...
During this period, Jiang University students indeed felt very blessed.
Despite the unbearable heat of Jiangzhou’s summer, the Seventh Dining Hall provided everyone with chilly sour plum soup and a new cold dish every day, which was enough to soothe that bit of restlessness in everyone’s heart.
The daily cup of free iced sour plum soup, though it couldn’t fully quench the students’ thirst, still offered some solace and brought them a little extra anticipation amid their busy studies.
Amid this longing for delicious sour plum soup, time quietly slipped away. In a blink, the day for the senior students’ thesis defense approached.
During this period, it seemed like there were suddenly more people on campus, even the usually quiet print shops became busy, and the printers seemed to have found their purpose, working nonstop with a "zzz~zzz~" sound all day long.
Thank goodness for the strong air conditioning in the little shop; otherwise, I’d worry that it might suddenly "strike" and stop working due to the extended "overtime" in this hot weather.
"It seems like there are more people in the cafeteria these days."
In the kitchen on the first floor of the Seventh Dining Hall, Lu Shuwu scratched his head and said to Jiang Yu,
"Boss, do you know what’s going on?"
"The senior students have started their thesis defenses; different departments have different schedules, but most of them are concentrated in this half-month period."
Jiang Yu glanced at him and calmly said,
"In the first half of the year, many seniors were either interning or looking for jobs, so they weren’t on campus. But they’re generally coming back during this time."
"Oh, right. It’s been years since I graduated, and I’d forgotten it’s graduation season now."
Upon hearing this, Lu Shuwu immediately understood. He thought maybe the school’s gate management had relaxed again.
If they indeed allowed a large number of outsiders in, the Seventh Dining Hall staff would be exhausted, just like that time.
But if it’s because the seniors are back, then there’s no problem, as they’ll leave once the thesis defenses are over.
He paused for a moment, suddenly recalling something, and said,
"Boss, aren’t you going to participate in the thesis defense too? When is yours?"
Jiang Yu replied, "The morning after tomorrow."
"Oh, I’m sure the boss will pass on the first attempt, especially since you’ll be pursuing further studies next term."
Lu Shuwu grinned and said,
"Boss, once you pass the defense, should we celebrate?"
Jiang Yu didn’t refuse and shot him a glance before saying, "Let’s talk about that after I pass."
"Hey, Lao Jiang! It looks like most of our classmates are back."
Hu Zhihai, having just finished his meal and not yet headed to the library, saw Jiang Yu come down and approached him to ask,
"What do you think about what I mentioned last time?"
Jiang Yu glanced at him with a puzzled look and asked,
"What was last time? And what did you say?"
"Your memory is so terrible....."
Hu Zhihai looked at Jiang Yu speechlessly for a while before finally saying,
