Jiangzhou University, Seventh Dining Hall.

Jiang Yu was busy in the kitchen, unaware that because a livestream influencer had visited the dining hall, his Seventh Dining Hall had become the talk of the school.

At this moment, not only was Liu Shurong from Qiantang City preparing to bring her son Wu Wenle over, but many food enthusiasts from other places were also packing their bags, ready to come and enjoy the food.

In the upcoming days, he would likely have to accommodate not only the school's faculty and students but also the numerous foodies flocking from outside the school.

Of course, for Jiang Yu, this wouldn't add any real burden. He still provided the same meals every day, and he didn't care who ended up eating them.

Since Qian Liwei, a new chef, joined the dining hall, Jiang Yu had it much easier. Most of the time, he didn't need to cut or prepare ingredients himself; he just had to stir-fry the prepared dishes.

Lunchtime was nearly over, and the dishes put out for sale were unlikely to have any leftovers. These days, it seemed like more and more people were eating at the dining hall, and no matter how many dishes were served, they were all sold out in the end.

So, Jiang Yu was already used to personally stir-frying a few dishes after lunch to feed the dining hall employees.

Like now, he was preparing a new dish, Spicy Chicken.

Spicy Chicken is a typical Yu Province "Rivers and Lakes" dish, mainly using chicken and green peppers, with small chili peppers as the base seasoning ingredient.

The dish features chicken mixed with a large amount of spicy peppers, resulting in a fresh, spicy, and numbing flavor that leaves you sweating but eager for more.

This is the allure of "Rivers and Lakes" cuisine—eating in the "Rivers and Lakes," savoring the flavor in your mouth.

In fact, "Rivers and Lakes" dishes are compared to authentic cuisine, distinguished from various regional dishes.

The "Rivers and Lakes" cuisine first gained fame in roadside stalls and small restaurants. Because of its uniqueness, flavor, and novelty, it catered to the urban consumer's desire for new and curious experiences.

Plus, its low price and appeal to the masses led even some high-end hotels to put aside their pretense and start offering these dishes.

This Spicy Chicken is a representative of the spicy and flavorful Yu Province "Rivers and Lakes" cuisine and is a famous local delicacy.

Jiang Yu first chopped the cleaned chicken into small pieces, then mixed in the right amount of salt, soy sauce, cooking wine, and pepper powder. After that, he added a suitable amount of corn starch, stirred it evenly, and left it to marinate for a while.

While the chicken was marinating, Jiang Yu sliced green peppers, chili peppers, and dried red peppers into circles, chopped garlic, ginger into granules, and scallions into sections, and washed a suitable amount of fresh green peppercorns as a backup.

Once the ingredients were ready, and the chicken was almost marinated, Jiang Yu heated oil in the pan. When the oil temperature was about 50 to 60% hot, he poured in small pieces of chicken to deep-fry. When the chicken turned golden brown, he fished them out to drain the excess oil.

Immediately after, he poured most of the oil out of the pan, leaving just a bit, added the ginger and garlic granules, and green peppercorns to fry until fragrant. Then, he added the green peppers, chili peppers, and dried red peppers to stir-fry until aromatic, added red oil bean paste to stir-fry for color, and then put the fried chicken back in the pan.

After a quick stir-fry, he added the scallion sections, a suitable amount of oyster sauce, salt, sugar, and chicken essence, drizzled a little sesame oil, stirred it all evenly, and then turned off the heat to plate the dish.

As soon as the dish was out of the pan, the pungent, spicy aroma instantly spread through the kitchen, causing Hu Zhihai, Lu Shuwu, and others to sneeze uncontrollably.

"Achoo!"

Ma Guoqiang stepped out of the prep room and, catching a whiff of the smell, couldn't help but sneeze as well.

Luckily, Qian Liwei, who was standing opposite him, quickly dodged to avoid being sprayed with snot. Ma Guoqiang smiled apologetically at him, then turned and jokingly said to Jiang Yu,

"Boss Xiao Jiang, your dish, it's got an intense 'Rivers and Lakes' flavor!"

"It's meant to be 'Rivers and Lakes' cuisine, after all!"

Jiang Yu replied with a smile while skillfully washing the pan,

"It's a famous local dish in Yu Province, Spicy Chicken, kind of a variant of spicy chicken, with a fresh, spicy, and numbing taste, really delightful."

"Is that so? We Jiangzhou folks aren't afraid of spice, but we don't often eat numbing spicy."

Ma Guoqiang rubbed his hands and chuckled,

"Well, I'll have to try Boss Xiao Jiang's Spicy Chicken in a bit to see just how numbing and spicy it really is!"

"No need to wait, the dish is ready. Go call Yan Tongtong and the others to come in and eat, they've been busy all noon."

Jiang Yu finished washing the pan, then washed his hands with soap to get rid of the grease. Only then did he come to the counter to prepare for lunch.

Just as he was about to scoop some rice, Yan Tongtong and the others came in.

As soon as she saw Jiang Yu, Yan Tongtong blushed and said softly:

"Boss, just now a livestream influencer outside said she wanted to meet you. I told her you were busy, so I didn't let her in..."

"Livestream influencer?"

Jiang Yu was taken aback. He never would have thought that a school dining hall would attract a livestream influencer. The likelihood was she'd heard about the food being good and came for that?

But why would a livestream influencer want to see him? He's not famous, and he couldn't boost her viewership...

He shook his head and said with a laugh,

"Yes, you did the right thing! The dining hall is an important place, no unauthorized entry!

In the future, no matter who it is, if they're not from our dining hall staff, don't let them in. Even if they're teachers from the school."

"Then, what if someone wants to find you?"

"If someone is looking for me and you think it's important, just come and let me know."

Jiang Yu thought for a moment and said with a smile, "If you think it's not important, like today's livestream influencers, just find an excuse to turn them away."

"Okay, got it!"

Tongtong nodded vigorously. Previously, when Hua Xiaoling wanted to contact Senior Brother Jiang through her, of course, she didn't agree. She didn't even think about it and found a reason to refuse.

She was originally worried that Senior Brother Jiang would be angry, but to her surprise, he even praised her.

So happy!

"Alright, let's eat quickly."

Jiang Yu smiled at her, then turned away to scoop himself a bowl of rice.

Seeing this, Tongtong hurriedly washed her hands, took a set of bowls and chopsticks from the sterilizer, and prepared to eat.

When they returned to the counter to sit down, they found that Hu Zhihai, Lu Shuwu, Ma Guoqiang, and others were gathered around a plate of spicy chicken as if they were having a cockfight, scrambling for food.

Their chopsticks moved like a storm, quickly and accurately picking pieces of golden chicken from the pile of red and green peppers, and then stuffing them into their mouths with a burst of chewing and showing a smile of enjoyment and admiration:

"The chicken is crispy outside and tender inside, numbing and spicy, really delicious!"

"The spiciness is real, the numbness is real, but it just tastes so good, the more you eat, the more you can't stop, it's addicting!"

"Truly a representative of Jianghu cuisine, this freewheeling taste is so Jianghu!"

"..."

Lu Shuwu and Ma Guoqiang, after all, are chefs, saying they are "trained" is no exaggeration. For the "lazy" Hu Zhihai to outpace them in grabbing food is almost impossible.

For example, now, Lu Shuwu and Ma Guoqiang are quick and precise, almost every time their chopsticks go down, they can pick up a piece of chicken, and then pleasantly eat it.

But Hu Zhihai was much worse off, not only slower than those two, but less accurate. It took him three to five tries just to pick up a piece of meat, and sometimes he even ended up with nothing.

What's more annoying is that sometimes when he got nothing, he accidentally picked up a chopstick full of peppers.

Watching them take one bite of chicken after another, eating until they were sweating and dripping with oil, with a face full of enjoyment, Hu Zhihai got anxious.

He threw down his chopsticks, picked up a spoon from the side, and didn't care if it was peppers or chicken, directly scooped several big spoonfuls onto his rice, then went to the side to eat.

Though chicken is delicious, stir-fried peppers are also good—spicy, numbing, savory, and perfect with rice!

Those two fools only know how to eat chicken. They really don't know how to enjoy food!

I'm the smart one!

After giving himself a bit of "Ah Q" psychological comfort, Hu Zhihai directly grabbed the spoon, scooped up a big spoonful of rice and peppers together, and stuffed it into his mouth, enjoying every bite.

...

Taking the high-speed train from Qiantang to Jiangzhou only takes a little over three hours, but Liu Shurong still felt it was too slow, so she chose to fly with her son Wu Wenle, taking just an hour to get to Jiangzhou.

When they walked out of Jiangzhou International Airport with her son Wu Wenle, it was already three in the afternoon.

This speed is already very fast.

When Liu Shurong got the news from her two little nephews, it was already past eleven. By the time she decided to take her son to Jiangzhou, and then hurriedly packed a change of clothes for both of them, more than an hour had passed.

If it weren't for worrying about her son's condition, the usually graceful and poised Liu Shurong would never have acted in such a hurry, like a drowning person grasping a life-saving straw, rushing recklessly to Jiangzhou.

Pity parents' hearts all over the world!

"Lele, are you tired, are you hungry?"

Sitting in the taxi, Liu Shurong turned her head, looking lovingly at her son and said softly,

"If you're tired, lean back and take a nap; we'll be there soon. Then I'll take you to a place where the food is even better than Chef Zhao's. You'll definitely like it."

"Mm."

Wu Wenle responded lazily, curling up in his seat. Although a sixteen-year-old, curled up like that, he looked more like a thirteen or fourteen-year-old.

Watching him, Liu Shurong couldn't help but feel a pang in her nose. She quickly turned her head back, not daring to look more, fearing she might accidentally begin to cry.

She silently vowed in her heart, "Son, no matter how much effort it takes or hardships I must endure, Mom will make sure you get well!"

Thinking of this, Liu Shurong couldn't help but silently pray:

May there really be a "god" residing in Jiangzhou University's Seventh Dining Hall!

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