"The National Graduate School Entrance Exam is about to start, Zhihai, do you have any confidence or not?"

After the dinner service ended, when everyone in the cafeteria was gathered around the counter eating dinner, Jiang Yu suddenly remembered that the graduate school entrance exam was about to begin.

He turned his head to look at Hu Zhihai, who was eating with oil dripping down his mouth, and said with a smile,

"You better not have studied hard for months just to be someone else's sidekick in the exam!"

"How is that possible? It's just an exam for graduate school at our school!"

Hu Zhihai pursed his lips and said disdainfully, "I'm not bragging, but if it weren't for you opening the cafeteria at our school, I would definitely aim for a prestigious university for my master's!"

"Tsk tsk, bragging doesn't get taxed, so you might as well go all out."

Lu Shuwu clicked his tongue, muttering softly,

"There will be a day when your bragging is exposed, and I'll see how you cover that up!"

"I know you don't believe it, but whether you do or not, I believe in myself. We'll see when the time comes."

Hu Zhihai shook his head confidently, quickly finished off his bowl of rice, placed the bowl and chopsticks on the table, wiped the oil off his mouth, and said,

"I won't talk to you guys anymore, I need to go back and study for a while. The day is almost here, and I'm running out of time!"

Saying this, he grabbed his backpack and dashed out of the cafeteria without waiting for anyone to say anything.

"Tsk tsk, I've never seen that chubby guy work so hard before!"

Lu Shuwu watched as Hu Zhihai vanished in a flash, leaving him stunned, and he couldn't help shaking his head and saying,

"Could this be the legendary 'sharpening your spear at the last moment, better late than never'?"

The group continued eating and chatting, quickly finishing their meal.

As the days went by, the skies darkened earlier and earlier, and even though they had just finished dinner, it was already pitch black outside the cafeteria.

The streetlights not far away seemed to be afraid of the cold, huddled up in the freezing weather, barely illuminating a small patch of ground ahead.

From a distance, they looked like dim little orange lights.

Since it got dark early, and the school was about to go on holiday, everyone appeared a bit lazy. Jiang Yu didn't plan on making them work overtime.

So, after dinner, he began urging Ma Guoqiang, He Chunxiao, Qian Liwei, and others to head back early:

"Uncle Ma, since you all live far away, head back early to rest. If it gets too late, it'll be really cold on the way.

No need to come too early tomorrow. Just come in time to help make the buns, that should be enough.

Also, there might be something else for you and Sister He to do tomorrow; we'll discuss it when you get here."

"Alright, then we'll head back first. The cold makes people sleepy, and if we don't get enough sleep at night, we won't have energy all day."

Ma Guoqiang didn't hold back. Having been in contact with Jiang Yu for a while, everyone understood his personality. As long as you didn't slack off during work, occasionally arriving late or leaving early wouldn't be an issue for Jiang Yu.

With a boss like him, everyone quite liked working under him, as there wasn't much unnecessary fuss. Just taking care of your own tasks was enough.

After Ma Guoqiang, He Chunxiao, Qian Liwei, and others left, only Jiang Yu and Lu Shuwu remained in the kitchen.

With the cold weather, they could prepare the soup dumplings and other buns in advance, so that they could simply steam them in the morning just before opening.

This way, Jiang Yu and Lu Shuwu wouldn't have to force themselves out of their warm beds in the freezing morning, at least allowing them to sleep in for half an hour.

Getting out of bed in such cold weather is the worst. Even an extra ten minutes of sleep could make you wake up smiling from a dream.

Jiang Yu and Lu Shuwu stayed warm in the kitchen, chatting while preparing the buns and stewing the hot broth. Before they knew it, it was already past ten at night.

Seeing it was getting late, they decided not to push through the night. They packed away the prepared soup dumplings and meat buns, turned off the stew, and left it to soak.

After finishing everything, Jiang Yu turned off the kitchen lights and went upstairs with Lu Shuwu to wash up and rest.

...

"Huh, what's going on today? That chubby Hu Zhihai didn't show up for lunch; that's unheard of!"

As soon as the lunch service ended and the group sat down to eat, Lu Shuwu noticed that someone was missing from the usual crowd and immediately exclaimed,

"Where did that chubby guy go? Could it be that he ate too much yesterday and still hasn't digested it?"

Ma Guoqiang chuckled and said, "You're only noticing now? Xiaohu didn't come for breakfast either! He probably had something to do and went out. Otherwise, he wouldn't miss a meal!"

"Didn't we talk about it yesterday? Today is the day of the National Graduate School Entrance Exam. Hu Zhihai's exam center is in the city, so he left early this morning to catch a bus to the test site."

Jiang Yu scooped a bowl of rice, pulled out a chair, and sat down, picking up some dishes with his chopsticks while saying,

"You don't have to worry about him. With his build, he could jump around even after going hungry for three days."

"That's true, over two hundred pounds!"

Lu Shuwu nodded in agreement and added,

"I'm just curious if he'll get into grad school this time. If not, he'll probably end up working at his dad's company, right?

What a pity, not being great at studying, he can only go home and reluctantly inherit his dad's billion-dollar company!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Guoqiang nearly burst out laughing and wiped his tears while saying:

"This is indeed quite pitiful, I've always wanted to be this pitiful since I was a child, it's just that my old man wasn't up to it, didn't give me this chance!"

Everyone chatted casually while eating, and soon they were all full.

It was still early for dinner, so everyone took the time to rest a bit, knowing they'd be busy again soon, and there wouldn't be any time to catch a breath later.

Jiang Yu made himself a cup of tea, just about to sit down and play on his phone, when Yan Tongtong came bouncing over:

"Senior, Teacher Xiong is looking for you!"

"Oh, okay, I got it!"

Jiang Yu responded, quickly turned off his mobile game, and stood up from his seat, heading towards the dining hall lobby.

Last time Teacher Xiong came looking for him, it was about the scholarship, it's been quite a while now, could it be that there's news about it?

Jiang Yu thought as he walked forward.

It's strange, before he hadn't thought about pursuing further studies, and he felt nothing towards the matter, not even envious.

But ever since Teacher Xiong mentioned the scholarship, he couldn't help but feel a bit of anticipation.

Upon reaching the dining hall lobby, Xiong Bingsheng greeted Jiang Yu with a beaming smile and said:

"Xiaojiang, congratulations! The results for the scholarship exemption have come out, you're lucky, you made it just in time!

By the second half of next year, you'll be a master's student at our school!"

"Really? A huge thank you to Teacher Xiong!"

Jiang Yu couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement upon hearing this, he rushed forward, shook Xiong Bingsheng's hand vigorously, and gratefully said,

"If it weren't for Teacher Xiong's help with this, with my grades, I wouldn't even dare to think about the scholarship, let alone graduating smoothly with a bachelor's degree."

"Ah, Xiaojiang, you're being too modest, there's no need for such formalities between us."

Xiong Bingsheng seemed very happy, waved his hand and smilingly asked,

"By the way, the school will be on winter break soon, do you have any plans? Will the dining hall remain open?"

"Everyone's worked hard this semester, I plan to let everyone go home and have a good New Year once the school is on break, the dining hall will be closed for a period."

Jiang Yu thought for a moment before replying,

"Balancing work and rest is important, only when everyone's well-rested will they have enough energy to continue serving delicious meals next year."

"Yes, taking a break once school is out is a good idea."

Xiong Bingsheng nodded in agreement, glanced around, and continued,

"Recently, an entrepreneur from out of town donated some funds to your Seventh Dining Hall, hoping to use the money to renovate the second floor into private rooms for external business.

What do you think about this?"

"There's such a thing?"

Jiang Yu was taken aback after hearing this.

Wow, he couldn't help but exclaim internally!

He had only ever heard of entrepreneurs donating money to build school buildings and libraries, it was his first time hearing about someone donating for dining hall renovations.

What kind of operation is this?

And who is this mysterious entrepreneur, why the sudden idea to donate to the dining hall?

"Well, I'm not very clear on the specifics."

Xiong Bingsheng nodded, smilingly explained,

"After all, I'm just a teacher from the Student Affairs Office, the dining hall falls under the logistics department; Minister Niu Wenlin probably has a clearer understanding.

It shouldn't be long before Minister Niu comes to discuss this matter with you."

"Oh, okay then."

Jiang Yu understood. Since Xiong Bingsheng wasn't privy to the details, asking more wouldn't help; he might as well wait for Niu Wenlin, who knew the specifics, to come to him and then inquire about the situation.

He thought it over and said with a smile,

"Since this donation matter hasn't reached me until now, I won't concern myself with it. Ultimately, the dining hall belongs to the school, so whatever the school decides, I'll comply."

If the school doesn't plan to renovate the second floor, he'd carry on as usual.

If the school decided to convert the second floor into private rooms, even better, he could try cooking small pot dishes not suitable for the dining hall.

What a challenging opportunity!

Just thinking about it, Jiang Yu felt a sense of anticipation for the coming year's life!

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