Jiangzhou University, in the kitchen of the Seventh Dining Hall.
After lunch, everyone rested for a while and then started preparing dinner in their assigned roles.
The school canteen is like this, starting preparation for breakfast at four or five in the morning and staying busy until night, with hardly a moment to spare.
At first, Jiang Yu felt very tired, but gradually, it became a habit.
Whenever he heard the cheers and surprise from students in the canteen hall, or saw the delighted and joyful expressions on their faces when they tasted delicious dishes, he felt very satisfied.
No matter what you're doing, as long as it is helpful to others, the effort and sweat you put into it is worth it.
With more than two hours until dinner and not yet time to fry dishes, Jiang Yu, Lu Shuwu, and the others were cutting and preparing ingredients in the prep area.
Watching Jiang Yu wash a large pile of green peppers and small chili peppers and cut them precisely, Lu Shuwu couldn't help but brighten his eyes:
"Boss, are we having spicy chicken tonight?"
Just now during lunch, he and Ma Guoqiang had quite enjoyed themselves.
The fried chicken was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Once bitten, the fresh aroma of the chicken filled their mouths, the numb and spicy sensation opened up their pores, making them feel like they were flying.
Despite sweating profusely, they couldn't stop eating piece after piece of chicken.
As for Hu Zhihai...
Well, let's not mention that timid guy, shall we?
Hu Zhihai: Excuse me, are you being polite?
Jiang Yu nodded and said, "Yeah, let's switch up the dish tonight. We've been selling saliva chicken for so long; it's time to change things up."
"This dish is very numbing and spicy; many students might not be used to it."
Ma Guoqiang, who was trimming chicken claws with scissors, also spoke up with a smile,
"Here in Jiangzhou, not many people eat numbing and spicy food."
"You probably don't know how popular saliva chicken is."
Before Jiang Yu could answer, Lu Shuwu had already chimed in, saying,
"Saliva chicken is also made in the authentic Sichuan style. Back when we had a shop near the Second Dining Hall, due to space limitations, we sold only fifty portions per meal, and they were always gone as soon as they were available, couldn't even snatch one."
"Alright, maybe young people have stronger acceptance."
Ma Guoqiang nodded and said no more.
"But we still need to change it a bit, not too little chicken, not too many peppers."
Jiang Yu thought for a moment and said with a laugh,
"In a restaurant, it might be acceptable to dig chicken out from a pile of peppers, but students don't get a lot with each dish. If they scoop a serving and it's all peppers with just a few pieces of meat, that's really unappetizing."
"That's true."
Lu Shuwu also laughed, jokingly saying,
"If they're unlucky, they might scoop up nothing but peppers, that would really make the students cry at their meal?"
As they worked and chatted, the door to the prep area suddenly got a knock. Then, a small head popped in from the doorway. Her eyes were a bit flustered, but they lit up upon seeing Jiang Yu, and she said happily:
"Senior Brother Jiang, someone is looking for you outside!"
"Oh, who is it?"
Jiang Yu was puzzled for a bit, then put down what he was doing, wiped his hands on his apron, and walked briskly to the door, asking as he went.
"Someone I don't recognize, it's a mother and son."
Yan Tongtong looked at Jiang Yu as he approached her, her face reddening slightly, she quickly lowered her head and said nervously,
"Sh-she said they came all the way from Qiantang City to ask for your help to save her child."
"Save her child?"
Jiang Yu didn't notice Yan Tongtong's expression, he asked curiously,
"Is her child sick? But I'm not a doctor, didn't she find the wrong person?"
"She said her child has anorexia, can't eat anything…"
"Anorexia? I don't know how to treat that either."
Hearing this gave Jiang Yu a bit of a headache, he's just someone who cooks, how could he know how to treat illnesses?
Besides, he's only heard of anorexia a few times, let alone knew how to treat it.
Thinking about it, he suddenly remembered something and asked,
"Did you ask her where she heard that I could treat anorexia?"
"Uh, she said, she heard it from an online livestream…"
Yan Tongtong's voice grew softer and softer, almost fading away at the end.
Actually, when Liu Shurong mentioned it, she already realized that this "trouble" was brought upon by her.
If she hadn't spoken indiscreetly and inadvertently shared her roommate An Xiaoqi's past situation with Hua Xiaoling in a chat, how could Liu Shurong from faraway Qiantang have found out?
If she didn't know about this, Liu Shurong wouldn't have flown all the way to Jiangzhou and gone to the school cafeteria to find Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu doesn't know how to treat illnesses, let alone anorexia. Isn't this just causing trouble for Senior Brother?
At this moment, Yan Tongtong felt both guilty and nervous, her clenched hands couldn't help but tremble a little.
"Hey, Xiaoyan, what's wrong with you?"
The somewhat slow Jiang Yu finally noticed that Yan Tongtong seemed a bit off. He asked with concern,
"Why do I see you trembling? Are you feeling unwell somewhere? If you're not feeling well, I'll have someone take you to the hospital to have a look. You shouldn't go to work this afternoon, just go back to the dormitory and rest well!"
"No, no, I'm not unwell."
Yan Tongtong hurriedly waved her hands upon hearing this. After thinking for a moment, she bit her lip and decided to confess,
"Senior Brother, actually, actually, it's all my fault for speaking carelessly..."
She proceeded to recount what happened with An Xiaoqi at the beginning of the school year, and then detailed her conversation with Hua Xiaoling.
After she finished, she hung her head and said weakly,
"Senior Brother, it's all the trouble I caused, you can scold me!
However, I just saw that auntie's kid. The auntie said he's 16 years old, but he looked so thin and emaciated, like a walking skeleton, listless with no spirit at all, really pitiful.
I, I think this matter might be quite important, so... so I came to you."
"Why would I scold you? You didn't spread rumors or lie."
After hearing about An Xiaoqi's situation, Jiang Yu also found it quite intriguing.
Could it be that the food he made has such an effect?
An Xiaoqi lost her appetite in the hot weather and couldn't eat anything, yet she was attracted by the aroma of the soup dumplings he made and could eat an entire tray of buns!
This, this is too miraculous, isn't it?
As for Yan Tongtong telling others about this, resulting in the arrival of the mother and son...
This isn't really an issue at all.
He smiled at Yan Tongtong and said, "I didn't blame you, so why are you pouting? Come on, let's go over there and have a look at the situation first!"
Saying this, he started to walk towards the dining hall.
Yan Tongtong was momentarily stunned, then quickly followed along after coming to her senses.
As soon as the two of them reached the hall, Jiang Yu saw an elegant and poised middle-aged woman standing by the window, looking anxious, occasionally glancing inside the sales window.
Not far behind her in the dining area, a very thin child was sitting limply in a chair, looking listless, no one could tell if he was tired or just weak.
After coming out, Yan Tongtong immediately raised her small hand and waved over there, shouting:
"Auntie, my Senior Brother is here!"
After shouting, she belatedly turned back to sneak a peek at Jiang Yu. Seeing that he didn't notice her calling him Senior Brother, she quickly turned her head away and stuck out her tongue secretly.
Oh no, almost got caught calling him Senior Brother in front of him, so embarrassing!
Liu Shurong had actually seen the young man coming out of the kitchen long ago, but she couldn't quite believe that the cafeteria boss mentioned in the video would be this young.
It wasn't until she saw the girl who had spoken with her earlier calling out to her that Liu Shurong finally confirmed this was the person she was looking for!
In a hurry, she first glanced back to check on her son who was sitting not far away, making sure he was still sitting there fine. Then, Liu Shurong quickly jogged over to Jiang Yu.
Actually, it was only a short ten meters or so, not really necessary to be so anxious, but she ran so hard that she was panting, with even the hair on her forehead dampened by sweat.
Upon arriving close, Liu Shurong didn't bother to catch her breath, and with a face full of anxiety, she said:
"Are you the Boss Jiang mentioned in the videos? Could you please save my son, at any cost!"
"Auntie, Auntie!"
Hearing Liu Shurong speak such words as soon as they met, Yan Tongtong worried that Jiang Yu wouldn't understand, quickly interrupted her, reminding softly,
"Don't panic, can you explain slowly? My Senior Brother, he's a good person. If he can help, he certainly won't stand by and do nothing."
Jiang Yu glanced helplessly at Yan Tongtong, not knowing what to say.
This silly junior sister, giving me another badge of honor...
However, she's not wrong. If he really can help, he won't just stand by.
Shaking his head, Jiang Yu didn't ponder further, and said,
"Auntie, please calm down. I noticed you've been standing here for quite a while. Why don't we sit over there and talk things over slowly, how about it?"
Liu Shurong turned to look at Jiang Yu, seeing the calm demeanor on his face, his eyes clear and bright. Her originally anxious heart inexplicably calmed down.
She took a deep breath, held Yan Tongtong's supportive small hand, nodded, and said, "Okay."
They didn't go elsewhere, just sat next to Wu Wenle.
"My name is Liu Shurong, I'm from Qiantang City, and this is my son, Wu Wenle. He's sixteen this year, and in the second year of high school."
After sitting down and calming herself, Liu Shurong began to speak slowly,
"Half a year ago, for some unknown reason, Lele suddenly lost his appetite for anything..."
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