In just a few days, the number of diners at the Seventh Dining Hall suddenly soared from around a thousand per meal to nearly fifteen hundred, an increase of nearly 50%.

This unexpected "change" was not only unforeseen by others in the dining hall but also caught Jiang Yu off guard. After multiple adjustments to the food supply, they barely managed to cope with so many diners now.

But the Seventh Dining Hall is not a large canteen; coupled with limited kitchen staff, everyone in the canteen is working at full capacity after the increase in food supply. If the number of people coming to eat increases further, they would truly be powerless.

"I took a little tour around the dining hall today and found that most of the additional people are from outside the school,"

Hu Zhihai appeared promptly in the kitchen just as the evening hours ended. While watching Jia Dequan skillfully toss a small pan, he greedily sniffed and said to Jiang Yu, resting on the side,

"Some of these people are attracted by live streaming influencers, while others are here because of Liu Xining and Xie Siqi.

Do you know what a check-in point is?"

Jiang Yu asked, "What does it mean?"

"You really don't know? A check-in point refers to very popular places worth visiting, attracting many people to take photos as souvenirs."

Hu Zhihai turned to look at Jiang Yu in surprise, and after a simple explanation, he continued,

"Simply put, the Seventh Dining Hall has now become a popular check-in point online for young netizens. Whether the food tastes good is secondary; they travel a long way just to come here.

Their favorite activity is taking lots of photos and videos and then posting them on their social networks to prove they've been to the much-discussed Seventh Dining Hall.

Yes, it's said that after a successful check-in, they gain some kind of psychological satisfaction."

At this point, he couldn't help but curl his lip, showing some disdain.

Anyway, he doesn't need to gain satisfaction in such a way.

With that time, wouldn't it be better to come to Jiang Yu's place to enjoy a few more delicious dishes?

"What's the use of understanding this? Can it make fewer people from outside come here?"

Jiang Yu glanced at him, saying helplessly,

"You still haven't grasped the crux of the issue. No matter why these people came, the fact is, they're here, and more people are coming every day.

If things continue like this, I don't know if the students will have anything to eat, but I'm sure Lu Shuwu and I will be exhausted first."

"..."

Hu Zhihai was instantly dumbfounded; while he was good at rambling, solving the issue of too many outsiders was beyond him.

A pure foodie!

"Isn't it just too many diners? What's the problem?"

Jia Dequan had just finished stir-frying a large portion of spicy beef. While plating it, he said slowly,

"In bustling restaurants and hotels, having too many guests is common. You can't just put tables in the street, right?

When they see there's too many people, some who can wait will naturally wait, and those who can't will simply leave.

So, for things like this, you don't need to worry. Just prepare the usual amount of food. Although you're running a student canteen, can you ensure all the food is eaten by students?

Impossible if you think about it!"

Before Jiang Yu could speak, Hu Zhihai immediately asked, "But they are our juniors, can't let them queue up without getting food, right?"

"If their food is taken by outsiders, wouldn't they go to the school to complain? It's not your place to worry,"

Jia Dequan glared at him and shook his head, saying,

"It's like the emperor isn't worried, but the eunuch is!"

"..."

Hu Zhihai was so choked by this remark that he couldn't speak for a while, then after a long pause, he snorted and thought to himself,

"Am I anxious? For what? It's not me who's going hungry!"

Just as he thought this, he couldn't help but slap himself:

Damn, the old man was talking about the eunuch being anxious, why am I projecting myself here?!

Stupid of me!

Jiang Yu gave Hu Zhihai a strange look. Is this guy nuts? Why suddenly slap himself?

...

The next day, near noon, Xiong Bingsheng was still sitting at his desk, busy reviewing various documents.

These were the lists of candidates for the 2018 Outstanding Student Collectives and Individuals submitted by the secondary colleges, and they needed his careful review to ensure no mistakes caused any embarrassment afterward, as it would be his face on the line.

It's a pity that after just enjoying a meal at the Seventh Dining Hall yesterday, he has to be cooped up in the office working overtime again today.

As he was thinking about these things, the door of the office was knocked on, and then Xiaodu from the Student Affairs Office peered in and smiled shyly:

"Mr. Xiong, are you working overtime at noon? Do you need me to bring you a meal from the Seventh Dining Hall?"

"Ah, wouldn't that be a bit inappropriate?"

Upon hearing this, Xiong Bingsheng was overjoyed. He had never thought of asking a colleague to bring him food before; so it was possible to do this!

"No, not at all! I'm going to eat with Xiaoluo anyway, it's on the way. The food might be a bit cold though..."

"That's fine, no problem!"

Upon hearing this, Xiong Bingsheng waved his hand repeatedly. It was already very nice of them to bring him food; how could he have the nerve to ask for it to be hot?

Remembering something, he quickly took out the meal card from his pocket and handed it over, smiling as he said,

"Xiaodu, consider today's lunch on me. You can use my card when you get there!"

"No, no! It's just a meal. I can afford it."

Xiaodu waved his hand quickly, as if the meal card were biting him, and with that, he turned around and ran off.

Watching him leave as if he was fleeing, Xiong Bingsheng finally sat back down, feeling quite pleased:

This young fellow is really quite good, quite promising!

Expressing some goodwill towards a young person who had just entered the system, Xiong Bingsheng sat back down to continue with his work.

He had just finished carefully reading a document when the office door was knocked on again. He thought it was that young man Xiaodu returning, but when the door opened, a tall and steady figure walked in from outside, and at the same time, a deep and rich voice echoed in the office:

"Lao Bear, how come you're still busy?"

"Oh, what brings Minister Fan to my humble abode today?"

Seeing this person, Xiong Bingsheng quickly stood up from his seat, went forward to greet him, and invited him to sit on the sofa at the side. He then busied himself with making a cup of hot tea, placing it on the coffee table, and then looked at him curiously and asked,

"Minister Fan, you're such a busy person, you wouldn't come to my office without a reason. You must have something on your mind, right?"

This person was none other than Fan Chuliang, the Minister of the University's Publicity Department.

A few days ago, using the opportunity when the two stars Liu Xining and Xie Siqi praised the delicious food at the Seventh Dining Hall, which became a hit online, Fan Chuliang managed to elevate Jiangzhou University's fame to a new level.

Although this event was over, in Fan Chuliang's opinion, it was still too early to be complacent because the most crucial Seventh Dining Hall was still on campus!

As long as the Seventh Dining Hall remains closely tied to the university, whenever people think of the Seventh Dining Hall, they'll think of Jiangzhou University. Then there's no need to worry about the university's popularity, right?

So, he had thought earlier to come find Xiong Bingsheng to learn more about Jiang Yu related to the Seventh Dining Hall.

But things had been busy at the university these past few days, so it was delayed until today.

At this moment, seeing that Xiong Bingsheng directly got to the point and asked about his purpose, he didn't stand on ceremony and directly said:

"I'm here today to understand a little something from you.

The Seventh Dining Hall went viral online a few days ago. I heard that it was you who helped the dining hall owner secure that two-storey building.

Does that mean you are quite familiar with the owner?"

"Actually, we're not that familiar. I got to know him because of the freshman military training issue."

Upon hearing this was the matter, Xiong Bingsheng immediately had some guesses.

Minister Fan was from the Publicity Department, so it was highly likely he was thinking of using the online popularity of the Seventh Dining Hall to raise the university's visibility.

This could be a good thing, but the problem was that the skyrocketing popularity of the Seventh Dining Hall was drawing more and more people to eat there each day, leaving the students at school with hardly any food!

Most importantly, the increase in external visitors posed significant safety hazards to the university's regular teaching activities and student safety.

Moreover, for the past two days, while browsing the campus forum to understand the students' academic life and mental health, he noticed many students complaining that a lot of outsiders were coming to the Seventh Dining Hall to snatch food, leaving many with nothing to eat.

There were even several incidents of conflicts between outsiders and university students. Although no damage had been caused yet, it was already a very ominous sign.

Many students were calling on the university to manage the situation. The school is a place for learning, not a public place where outsiders can come and go freely.

Xiong Bingsheng had previously mentioned the need to find ways to resolve the issue of the increasing number of outsiders.

If Minister Fan now plans to ramp up publicity efforts, wouldn't that make the situation worse?

Xiong Bingsheng's mind raced, and with a smile, he said,

"This young man is quite remarkable, dependable and steady, able to focus earnestly on his work. To be honest, in all my years working with students, I have rarely seen such an outstanding young person."

Not sure yet whether Minister Fan was planning to use Jiang Yu himself as a model for promotion or intended to promote the Seventh Dining Hall, Xiong Bingsheng decided to hold steady for the moment.

No need to rush; let the situation unfold a bit first.

If things are indeed as he suspects, there will still be time to think of a solution.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.