Chef at the University Canteen-Chapter 230 - 210: Only Food and Love Should Not Be Let Down (Part 3)

"Stir-fried Speck with Shepherd’s Purse is nice and all, but what I’m really thinking about is that Qingming Festival is coming up in a few days. I wonder if Senior Brother Jiang knows how to make Qingming Fruit..."

"Qingming Fruit! Ah, I really love eating that!"

"..." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

A dish of Stir-fried Speck with Shepherd’s Purse brought delight to many students dining at the Seventh Dining Hall, improving their appetites significantly.

Luo Xiaoyu, Zhu Youfeng, and others, with plates piled high with food, found a spot in the dining area and immediately started digging in.

After eating for a while, feeling they had a bit of a base in their stomachs, Zhu Youfeng finally lifted his head, took a long, comfortable breath, and said with some sentiment:

"I didn’t expect the business upstairs to be so busy, yet Senior Brother Jiang still took the time to come down and cook for everyone. It’s a good thing we came here for lunch today, or else we wouldn’t have had the chance to eat such delicious Stir-fried Shepherd’s Purse with Speck."

To be able to eat Jiang Yu’s dishes from time to time, Zhu Youfeng racked his brains and came up with the idea of a "Sharing Private Room" setup, even establishing a "Sharing Private Room Alliance" QQ group among Jiang University students, attracting over twenty like-minded students to join.

So far, this "Sharing Private Room Alliance" has only managed to group dine at the Seventh Dining Hall once, primarily because the private rooms at the Seventh Dining Hall are too hard to come by.

Originally, Zhu Youfeng and the others thought that strength in numbers would mean a greater chance of securing a private room.

But in fact, their group of about twenty was incredibly small compared to the thousands of "fans" of the Seventh Dining Hall inside and outside the school, and their chances of securing a private room were slim to none.

For instance, this morning was the first day the Seventh Dining Hall reopened for private room bookings. Their group of twenty got up early but even before the booking time, they were persistently dialing in hopes of getting through and securing a private room.

Unfortunately, what echoed in their ears was not the sweet voice of the Seventh Dining Hall’s waitstaff, but the busy signal indicating the line was occupied.

Unable to reserve a private room, they still had to eat.

On days they can’t make it to the Seventh Dining Hall, the group would either grab anything to fill their stomachs or opt to dine at the regular area of the Seventh Dining Hall.

Regardless of whether Senior Brother Jiang is on the first floor or not, the food at the Seventh Dining Hall is undoubtedly the best-tasting and most varied in the Jiang University dining facilities.

Yet today, without any warning, they managed to eat a dish personally cooked by Senior Brother Jiang, which was a pure unexpected delight!

"Ah, that was so satisfying! This shepherd’s purse is so fragrant, both crisp and tender, and paired with the savory speck, it’s simply divine!"

After sitting down, Luo Xiaoyu had already devoured more than half of his meal in one go.

After hearing Zhu Youfeng’s words, he slowed down slightly, pulled out a napkin from his pocket to wipe the oil from his mouth, and said with a smile,

"The upstairs wasn’t operating today, and anyway, isn’t the Seventh Dining Hall also operated by Senior Brother Jiang?

The palm and the back of the hand are both flesh, how can you favor one over the other?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youfeng was momentarily stunned, then he burst into laughter.

Luo Xiaoyu wasn’t wrong; the entire Seventh Dining Hall is Senior Brother Jiang’s domain. It doesn’t matter where he is cooking; it’s still cooking.

Moreover, what Jiang really cares about are the students at Jiang University; otherwise, with his skills, why would he stay in a university to run a student cafeteria?

With this thought, he nodded and said:

"You’re right, the private rooms at the Seventh Dining Hall are getting harder to book. We shouldn’t worry too much about it.

If we manage to book a private room, that’s great, but if not... at least there’s still the Seventh Dining Hall. Even though the food might not compare to upstairs, it’s still a rare treat.

And who knows, maybe Senior Brother Jiang will come down to cook again on some other day!"

"Yes, that’s what I think too. To put it bluntly, our families send us to university not to enjoy ourselves but to learn. We shouldn’t focus too much on leisure."

Luo Xiaoyu took another mouthful of food and, while chewing slowly, said,

"Though I’m only in my sophomore year, I need to work harder too, to strive for better grades. Even if I can’t secure a postgraduate spot at our university, I have to prepare for the graduate exam in two years.

After all, when we graduate and move on to work, it would be even harder than climbing to the heavens to try Jiang’s dishes again!"

Zhu Youfeng burst out laughing, pointing at Luo Xiaoyu with his finger, teasingly,

"You sound so earnest that I almost believed you’ve ’given up’ on good food, only to find out you’re planning to stay for graduate studies just for a few more years of Seventh Dining Hall meals!"

Luo Xiaoyu chuckled, "In this world, only good food and love cannot be let down."

A person’s hard work is intended to make future days filled with good eats, sweet dreams, and to always be with the one they love.

...

Jiang Yu paid little mind to the commotion in the dining hall.

As a chef, cooking was his duty.

Even though he was about to enter graduate school in the fall, he still considered himself a cook.

It wasn’t just because of the Gourmet System he possessed, but rather because after half a year, Jiang Yu himself discovered the pleasure in cooking.

Watching the ordinary ingredients transform in his hands into tempting, fragrant dishes that made everyone around him eager and drooling, brought a satisfying sense of accomplishment and fulfillment that was simply intoxicating.