When Hu Zhihai reached the boys' dormitory, he didn't follow Jiang Yu upstairs. Instead, he went straight out of the school gate back to his rented apartment.

Returning to the dorm alone, Jiang Yu boiled some hot water to wash his face and filled up a bucket with hot water. Then he pulled over a chair and sat at the desk, soaking his feet while turning on his computer.

The reason he came back to school early was not only to avoid the awkward situation of his grandma introducing him to someone, but also because he indeed had things to do back at school.

By the end of last year, the fourth-year philosophy students had already completed their thesis topic selection. From that point on, the countdown to graduation had essentially begun.

During this period, senior students were either looking for jobs, doing internships, or diligently preparing for civil service exams or teaching certifications…

Those who were guaranteed graduate school placements or already had clear job positions had less pressure compared to others, but they still needed to calm down and seriously finish writing their graduation thesis.

Jiang Yu also hoped to finish his undergraduate thesis during this leisure time before the reopening, to avoid being too busy like a spinning top once the Seventh Dining Hall's patronage increased after school started.

If it really got to that point, how would he find the time to calmly write his thesis?

The undergraduate thesis is said to be neither too difficult nor too simple. Having deep research insights is typically unrealistic, but as long as the topic is clear and the issues are well-organized and explained, there shouldn't be any problem.

Of course, the key is not to plagiarize.

If the plagiarism rate of a thesis is too high, being sent back for revision is a mild consequence. In severe cases, it could even result in disqualification from obtaining your degree certificate.

After turning on the computer, Jiang Yu searched online and downloaded several papers that were relevant or similar to his thesis topic, opening them one by one for thorough study.

He wasn't aiming to plagiarize but intended to see how others wrote their papers, to absorb some useful experiences for future use.

As the saying goes: "Reading three hundred Tang poems, even if you can't write poems, you can still recite."

Jiang Yu believed that by reading more papers from others, once he got familiar with the patterns, he might not become inspired miraculously, but at least he wouldn't be clueless about where to start...

Since he didn't have to get up early the next day to make breakfast at the cafeteria, Jiang Yu studied until almost one o'clock at night before he turned off the computer, shut off the lights, and went to bed.

In the following days, aside from lunch and dinner which he couldn't avoid due to Hu Zhihai, the "big foodie," and since he didn't like the food at the Second Dining Hall, he had to run to the Seventh Dining Hall to cook and eat.

During the rest of the time, he was almost always in the dormitory, studying other people's papers while starting to write his own thesis.

Hastening and occasionally needing to revise, it took more than a week before Jiang Yu finally completed a 9000-word graduation thesis.

And on the same day his thesis was completed, the renovation work on the second floor of the Seventh Dining Hall was also completed, passing inspections by the fire safety, health, and environmental departments.

By now, the start of the school year was fast approaching, and students, having spent a winter break at home, were tired of being nagged by their parents all day long, with most choosing to return to school early.

The campus, which initially seemed somewhat empty, suddenly felt bustling overnight. On the wide campus avenues, couples who hadn't seen each other for nearly a month clung to each other like opposite poles of magnets, slowly moving forward together.

The basketball courts that were unused for a while once again echoed with the thudding of the ball, and occasionally when someone managed a swish through the net, it even drew cheers, making several passing girls cover their mouths in laughter.

Everything seemed so vibrant and lively.

However, Jiang Yu had no time to stop and admire these things. At this moment, he, Hu Zhihai, and Lu Shuwu were familiarizing themselves with the site on the second floor of the Seventh Dining Hall.

Lu Shuwu had just returned with his younger sister yesterday.

He couldn't help it, having mastered the secret recipes for chopped chili fish head and chicken soup dumplings. Right after returning home, he made over a dozen cages of dumplings and a large plate of chopped chili fish head for his family to taste.

Although Grandpa Lu Jinseng had eaten it once before, he was still amazed by the familiar taste.

Back at the Second Dining Hall, he had to maintain the demeanor of a Xiang Cuisine master and didn't want to eat too much to appear unsophisticated.

But this time at home, he could afford to ignore such concerns, picked up his chopsticks, and couldn't stop eating.

It wasn't until Lu Shuwu noticed something was wrong and hurriedly stopped him. At such an old age, how could he binge eat like this?

If anything happened from this overeating, wouldn't the elders in the family skin him alive?

Even though Lu Shuwu stopped him, Lu Jinseng still ate a lot — four fist-sized soup dumplings and more than half of a fish head!

As for the others...

There was no need to mention them; with the dozen cages of dumplings he made, he didn't even manage to eat one himself. By the time he realized, the remaining half of the chopped chili fish head was gone too.

Not only was the fish head gone, but even the juice in the plate was mopped up with dumpling wrappers and eaten!

"..."

Lu Shuwu found it hard to comprehend.

Could using the boss's method to make chopped chili fish head and soup dumplings really be that exaggerated?

He ate it every day himself with no other flavors to compare, so he simply couldn't tell.

In fact, just recalling how he felt when he first tasted the spicy fish head and soup dumplings, it's easy to understand.

Back then, his reaction was not even as good as his family members!

At that time, all he could think about was working at the "Jiang Family Soup Dumplings" shop, just to eat those soup dumplings every day. He was even willing to do odd jobs and wash dishes...

If Lu Shuwu could remember this, he might dig a two-bedroom apartment with his toes out of embarrassment.

Ever since he made spicy fish head and soup dumplings at home once, Lu Shuwu hasn't had "freedom." Almost every day, his family would push him to the kitchen to make either soup dumplings or spicy fish head.

Sometimes, his family felt that eating one kind of dish too often was not nutritionally balanced, so they would occasionally switch flavors. For example, making steamed pork ribs with taro and black bean sauce for lunch, then braised pork with preserved vegetables in the afternoon, and the next day switching to chicken feet stewed with dried mustard greens...

The Lu Family had a happy and satisfying New Year, but it was hard on Lu Shuwu alone. He even began to regret it. If he was just going home for the New Year, why couldn't he resist showing off his cooking skills?

Now, he had literally cooked himself into the kitchen...

He was held "hostage" at home until just two days ago, when his younger sister Lu Shuyao had to return to school, and the family reluctantly let go of Lu Shuwu, allowing him to drive his little sister back to school.

Before leaving, his grandfather Lu Jinseng didn't forget to remind him to work hard at Jiang Yu's place and try to learn more dishes so that he could cook a full table when he returned.

Upon hearing this, Lu Shuwu almost cried.

Is there still a "next time"?

Will I even dare to come back next time?

Of course, as he said that, Lu Shuwu was actually quite happy. It was the first time in his life he had seen his grandfather so enthusiastic.

For no other reason, even if it's just to make his grandpa a little happier, he had to learn more dishes from Jiang Yu...

At this moment, Lu Shuwu followed Jiang Yu up to the second floor of the Seventh Dining Hall and looked around.

At the top of the stairs on the second floor was a reception bar with a long, dark wooden counter that looked quite high-end. Behind the bar was a big wall cabinet, with empty bottles and boxes of fine wine placed in the grids.

Lu Shuwu pointed at those wine bottles with a smile and asked:

"Why do you display wine? Where did these come from?"

"Empty bottles, empty bottles."

Hu Zhihai raised his hand to scratch his head and said a bit embarrassedly,

"I just thought the cabinet looked too empty, so I randomly found some wine bottles from home to decorate with. I'll replace them when we open!"

Continuing forward, a turn to the left from the bar led to a wide corridor, with private rooms of varying sizes on both sides.

There were four private rooms on each side of the corridor. The doors had names on them, the four on the left were called "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter," and the four on the right were "Mei, Lan, Bamboo, Chrysanthemum."

Lu Shuwu pointed at the words on the doors and asked with a grin, "Did you come up with these private room names as well?"

"They are just codes to make it easier to differentiate. What's it matter what they're called?"

Hu Zhihai pursed his lips, knowing that Lu Shuwu was making fun of the plainness of the names. He muttered a bit defensively,

"Besides, if you don't like the names, you can change them!"

"No, no! I didn't mean that!"

Lu Shuwu waved his hands repeatedly with a smile and said,

"These are quite nice, simple and clear. Why complicate private room names? If you pick some obscure word, wouldn't it be awkward if even the guests can't recognize it?"

The three of them walked all the way to the end of the corridor, where there was a leisure area. The two pool tables Hu Zhihai had previously placed on the second floor were moved there.

Positioned along the windows were a row of sofas and coffee tables, providing space for guests to relax and entertain themselves.

Further forward was a kitchen separated by transparent glass walls.

Through the glass, one could clearly see the clean and tidy stove and countertops, the shiny range hood, and neatly arranged condiment bottles like soy sauce and vinegar.

Beyond the kitchen, there were two rest rooms blocked by screens, which would be the temporary residences for Jiang Yu and Lu Shuwu in the future.

Jiang Yu and Lu Shuwu wandered around for a look and didn't find anything unsatisfactory.

After all, the renovation project for the second floor of the Seventh Dining Hall was planned and designed before construction. Looking at it now, the construction was strictly according to the design drawings, and it basically met their needs.

After one round of inspection, Jiang Yu nodded with satisfaction and said:

"Very good, let's keep it like this. The second floor's private room can wait, but the first floor dining hall can start business tomorrow."

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