"What did you just say? The Fifth Dining Hall is closing down?"

Just after the lunch hour, Hu Zhihai arrived from the library and brought with him an explosive piece of news.

Others in the dining hall didn't mind much; they didn't have much impression of the Fifth Dining Hall. So if it closed, it closed. However, as a student of Jiangzhou University, Jiang Yu still found it a bit unbelievable.

"Yeah, at first I thought I misheard it. When I came at noon, I even took a detour to check it out. It was indeed closed, the entrance was locked, and there was a notice posted on it."

Hu Zhihai's expression was a bit rueful. He said regretfully,

"Speaking of it, the various egg pancakes, shredded potato wraps, and Mexican chicken wraps there were quite good. I was thinking of trying them again, but before I had the chance, the dining hall is gone..."

"This seems normal, right? There are seven dining halls in the school. If our business is good here, others will have worse business. If no one goes there for a while, how can the dining hall stay open?"

Lu Shuwu found it quite normal. He said as he ate,

"Running such a big dining hall, everywhere costs money—rent, utilities, various food costs, and employee wages. While each of these may not seem much, added together, it's a substantial amount.

So, don't be fooled by the seemingly easy profit from school dining halls. If no one comes to eat, losing money is like throwing it into water; you won't even see a bubble!"

"Well, the Fifth Dining Hall was a bit like ours, located in a remote area, not near the student dorms or the academic buildings. If there wasn't something special to attract students, they wouldn't bother going there."

Jiang Yu nodded, speaking with some contemplation,

"When the Fifth Dining Hall just opened, it focused on specialties like various sauce pancakes, hand-grab pancakes, and Jianbing Guozi. Initially, it did attract quite a few students.

Unfortunately, the menu didn't change much. Those sauce pancakes and hand-grab pancakes are fine for occasional snacks, but eat them too often, and they're just so-so.

The key issue was that our opening coincided with summer. The weather was so hot, and those baked goods and griddle cakes were too dry and prone to causing inflammation. It was normal for students not to want to go there.

If, at that time, the Fifth Dining Hall had made some changes, it might have been able to recover a bit of its decline, but alas, it didn't.

So, it's only expected that it couldn't hold on."

"On my way here, I saw the First and Second dining halls were quite tense. I guess they're also worried about following in the Fifth Dining Hall's footsteps."

Hu Zhihai noticed everyone was a bit silent, so he deliberately laughed to lighten the mood. He said,

"The First Dining Hall launched a meal plus drink offer: spend over ten yuan per meal, and you get a glass of freshly squeezed juice.

The Second Dining Hall went even crazier, introducing a couple's meal deal: two people dine, if one orders, the other gets their meal at 20% off, plus an extra-large drink!

You'd be surprised, but quite a few students were indeed attracted to these offers."

"They had no choice. Compared to food taste, they can't compete with us, so they can only use their wits in other areas.

To be frank, this is still a school, and there are always some students from less affluent backgrounds. To save money, the taste of the food isn't that important to them."

Lu Shuwu nodded as he spoke,

"Besides, if those other dining halls don't come up with strategies soon, we may be small in size, but sooner or later, we'll outcompete them."

"Is it really as exaggerated as you say?"

Jiang Yu couldn't help laughing. He got up from his seat, grabbed a tissue to wipe his mouth, and continued,

"In any case, competition among dining halls is a good thing. At least most students will benefit. They'll be able to enjoy cheaper, tastier dining hall meals. Isn't that enough?

As for those dining halls that stubbornly stick to the rules, only thinking about profiting off students, the sooner they close, the better."

After saying this, Jiang Yu turned and planned to sit in the dining hall's private room.

The private room in the dining hall was a storage room converted by Liu Xining and Xie Siqi when they came to the school.

After Liu Xining and Xie Siqi left, the school didn't send anyone to move the tables, sofas, etc., out, so they just remained there. Jiang Yu didn't know how to handle it either, so he simply left the room as it was.

Although the dining hall no longer needed to cater to others, it was still suitable for a lunch break.

Just as he turned to leave, Lu Shuwu caught up and nudged him, asking:

"Hey, Boss, tomorrow is New Year's Day. Aren't we planning some activities in our dining hall?"

Jiang Yu didn't stop walking, glanced at him, and asked, "What activity do you want to plan?"

"Isn't that what I'm asking you? You're the dining hall owner."

Lu Shuwu said as he walked alongside,

"Didn't you promise to plan something for New Year's Day when Christmas came around last time?"

"Planning activities is too troublesome. We're a school dining hall with so many people; how can we manage everyone's needs?"

Jiang Yu thought for a moment, then said,

"If you really want to do something, we can add a specialty dish, something different from the usual—maybe a trendy dish?"

"What trendy dish?"

Lu Shuwu didn't really care about what kind of event was happening; what he cared about most was whether there'd be new dishes to eat.

Upon hearing Jiang Yu's plan to introduce a trending dish, he immediately got excited.

"Lamb skewers in flatbread? Plus a chitterling wrap with green onions?"

Jiang Yu thought for a moment, then added,

"Since the weather is getting a bit cold, we could also add a bowl of lamb soup. Such a meal should be enough to fill up a student with an average appetite, even without rice."

"Sounds really delicious."

As Lu Shuwu heard this, his eyes lit up. Just imagining the fragrant, cumin-scented lamb skewers and the sizzling, crispy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside chitterlings made his mouth water.

Lu Shuwu quickly slurped up his saliva and nodded repeatedly, "Great, let's sell this for dinner tomorrow!"

Saying this, he turned around, intending to go back and share the good news with the others.

Seeing him about to run off, Jiang Yu quickly stopped him and instructed:

"Go back and let Uncle Ma and Sister He know that they can start making the dough for the flatbreads this afternoon. Get them ready early, and make plenty so we don't run out of them tomorrow."

"Got it, I understand!"

Lu Shuwu responded and hurried back.

After Lu Shuwu left, Jiang Yu thought for a moment, then took out his phone to call Boss Zhao. With a new dish on the menu tomorrow, he needed to prepare the ingredients in advance to avoid any chaos if they ran out.

Besides, since they're doing barbecue, an oven and smokeless charcoal are definitely necessary.

...

As soon as lunch ended the next day, Jiang Yu didn't even have time to rest before grabbing the bamboo skewers to start threading lamb skewers.

Lamb skewers in flatbread isn't exactly a novel dish; it's a snack from Jizhou Prefecture in Ludong Province, which became popular in the mid-1990s.

Originally, it got its name from fried lamb skewers being tucked into a flatbread that was cut open.

In just a few short years, because of its delicious taste and affordability, this snack spread through the streets and alleys of Jizhou Prefecture and into surrounding areas.

With continuous improvements in the process, the fillings are no longer limited to lamb skewers. Dozens of kinds of fried meats, eggs, and vegetable skewers have been added, along with seasonings like chili powder, cumin powder, peanuts, and sauce, giving it a unique and distinctive flavor.

Of course, Jiang Yu couldn't possibly prepare so many kinds of ingredients in the canteen. The main ingredient was lamb skewers, plus some pork belly, mushrooms, green peppers, and leeks, basically making it good enough.

The appeal of lamb skewers in flatbread lies in its novelty. Occasionally having it once or twice is fine, but eating it often would get boring.

As for the chitterling wrap with green onions, it's a specialty from the Sichuan-Chongqing region.

By combining fresh green onions and chitterlings, then roasting them on a grill at high temperatures to fully render the fat, you get a texture that's crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The green onions nicely balance the greasiness of the chitterlings, with a spicy and mouth-watering flavor.

After threading ingredients for a while, Lu Shuwu cheerfully said:

"Boss, once the ingredients are ready, let's try some to taste. I'm already drooling just thinking about it!"

Hu Zhihai's eyes shone as he said:

"I want to eat the chitterling wrap with green onions, one in each hand, taking bites from the left and right, it's just heavenly!"

"Biting from the left, biting from the right..."

Jiang Yu gave Hu Zhihai a side glance, speechlessly saying,

"Have you even looked in the mirror to see how fat you've become?"

"..."

Hu Zhihai grumbled, "My parents don't mind, do you?"

Jiang Yu pursed his lips and didn't speak further, continuing to busy himself with his tasks.

After lunch, there were six or seven people in the kitchen with nothing much to do, so everyone gathered to help skewer the ingredients, working until almost four in the afternoon. They had threaded over a hundred catties of lamb meat alone.

Apart from lamb skewers, there were some pork belly, mushrooms, green peppers, and chitterling wraps with green onions, all piled up in large stainless-steel basins, looking like small mountains.

"This should be enough; any more and we won't be able to finish grilling tonight."

Jiang Yu looked at the large basins on the counter, clapped his hands, and said,

"It's not too early now, so let's make fewer stir-fried dishes tonight. With these barbecues, I doubt many will want to eat rice. The students will be eager to try something new."

"That's right, everyone lend a hand and transport some of these materials to the window over there, and send some of the flatbreads too."

Lu Shuwu, while greeting everyone, said with a laugh,

"The lamb soup in the pot is almost ready too. Once the boss sets up the grill, we can wait to enjoy the delicious food!"

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