Yan Tongtong was at the reception desk of the Seventh Dining Hall, juggling phone calls and scattered thoughts, busily and happily engaged.

Meanwhile, in the comments section of Jiangzhou University's official Douyin account, netizens were having a heated discussion:

"Daily question: Did you manage to book a private room today?"

"Book what?! I started calling at eight and kept calling till nine, couldn't get through once!"

"Is this reservation phone number fake? Or did they just pick up the receiver and set it aside..."

"Come on, it's a restaurant. If the phone doesn't work, who would show up to dine? Do you even think before you speak?"

"..."

Underneath a pile of comments, there was a user named "Ten Miles of Spring Breeze" who said:

"Hehe, brothers, thanks for letting me! I've successfully booked a private room for noon, a week from now!

I'm planning to starve myself for two days before heading out; it's such a rare booking, not feasting would be a waste!"

As soon as this comment was posted, a flood of replies appeared below:

"Wow! Does this brother have the luck of an emperor?! Others can't even get through, but you managed to book!"

"Envy, jealousy, and hatred, why couldn't it be me?"

"Brother, do you have room for a pendant on your leg? Take me along!"

"Take me! +1"

"..."

These comments were somewhat normal, and this user "Ten Miles of Spring Breeze" was quite pleased, originally intending to boast a bit by telling others.

Such a difficult private room to book, and I've got it; isn't that impressive enough?

But what he didn't expect was, shortly after the comment went out, many netizens started DMing him:

"Bro, how many people are dining with you? Can you take me along? I've never been able to get through on the phone, or I wouldn't bother you. By the way, don't worry, I'll chip in for the cost!"

"Hey buddy, can you take me and my girlfriend to the meal? I'll cover all the dining expenses! If you agree, reply to me!"

"Brother, please, I really want to taste the dishes at the Seventh Dining Hall, take me along!"

"..."

"Ten Miles of Spring Breeze" looked on speechlessly; the first two were somewhat normal, but who's this third person?

Who could say such things; how thick must their skin be?

He shook his head in disbelief and kept scrolling down, with many similar messages requesting to pay some money to be included. Naturally, he didn't reply to any of them.

He's from the Jiangzhou area, not too far from Jiangzhou University, just over an hour's drive.

Having managed to reserve a private room in the Seventh Dining Hall, how could he possibly bring strangers along?

Not to mention, there are a few leaders at work who treat him well, now that the opportunity has arisen, wouldn't he have to invite them for a nice meal?

Plus a few close colleagues, and the private room would surely be filled.

On such an occasion, how could he skimp on a few bucks by bringing a stranger along?

Even if the leaders couldn't make it, he could take his grandparents and parents to savor this rare treat—after all, they've worked hard all their lives and haven't tasted many fine foods; spending some money to enjoy once isn't unreasonable, right?

And on such a family gathering, other people being present would be even more inappropriate.

Therefore, no matter what, "Ten Miles of Spring Breeze" wouldn't bring others along, even if someone's paying for the meal.

If he's willing to book a private room, why would he skimp on meal money?

As he kept reading, "Ten Miles of Spring Breeze" saw a unique message:

"Bro, would you transfer your booked private room? I need it urgently, how about a 2000 yuan transfer fee? If you think it's not enough, we can negotiate further, reply to me!"

"..."

This time, "Ten Miles of Spring Breeze" was genuinely stunned.

Wow!

Is my call worth this much?

Just booking a private room, casually transferring it, and I could pocket 2000 yuan!

That's faster than robbing!

Moreover, according to the message, this 2000 yuan transfer fee is just the starting price; with some negotiation, it might go even higher!

Thinking about this made "Ten Miles of Spring Breeze" gasp:

These people are really willing to splurge for a meal.

Unfortunately, he needed this private room himself, otherwise, he would have considered transferring it.

"Alright, forget it, stop looking, or I might impulsively transfer the room."

"Ten Miles of Spring Breeze," feeling apprehensive, quickly deleted all the backstage messages.

But what he didn't expect was, shortly after, a new bunch of messages poured in, netizens might have changed but the content was much the same.

At this point, "Ten Miles of Spring Breeze" regretted, if he knew so many people coveted this room, he wouldn't have boasted about it initially.

Now he's troubled endlessly by netizens' pestering.

This really does have a bit of the meaning of "an innocent person gets into trouble because of their valuables," doesn't it?

...

The netizen "Ten Miles of Spring Breeze" regretted leaking the news that they had successfully reserved the seventh dining room's private box, leading to "unceasing disturbance."

Meanwhile, someone else brazenly posted on their Douyin account:

"I successfully reserved the seventh dining room's ten-person box for March 3rd, from 17:00 to 20:30, but due to unforeseen circumstances, I can't go. Now I'm offering it to food enthusiasts!

If interested, please private message me with your offer. Highest bidder wins!"

As soon as this was posted on Douyin, it caused an uproar among netizens, and comments quickly surpassed a thousand!

"Damn! This is obviously a scalper move, just reserved the box in the morning and now transferring it, and claiming unforeseen circumstances. I don't believe a word of it!"

"Despise scalpers! They're just market disruptors!"

"You can't put it like that, where there's demand, there's a market. Many people want to try the food at the seventh dining room but can't reserve a box. With these scalpers, at least there's another chance; at least you can 'buy' a box if you spend a bit of money."

"It's because of people like you that scalpers spread like wildfire and keep coming back with spring's arrival!"

"Cannot stand scalpers, reported the video, thanks!"

"Report, report!"

"..."

This video suspected of scalpers reselling reserved boxes was quickly deleted by the platform after being incessantly reported by indignant netizens.

However, the video has already proven that scalpers had indeed noticed the booming seventh dining room and had already joined the fiercely competitive box reservations.

Although the video was deleted on Douyin, it was still visible on other websites. Scalpers wouldn't be so unreliable in their dealings, right?

Their resources were never worried about not being sold.

Many netizens lamented:

"It was already hard to reserve a box before, and now with such a group of 'scalpers,' it's going to be even harder in the future."

"I don't even want to eat at the seventh dining room's box anymore; better to obediently reserve a spot to visit Jiang University, trying the food at the Seventh Dining Hall, and I'd be satisfied."

"Hey! You know, that's actually a good idea! The food at the Seventh Dining Hall is made by the same owner, and I heard it's undeniably delicious too!"

"..."

Reminded by this netizen, the once disappointed crowd was suddenly reinvigorated and flocked to the official Jiang University Douyin account.

...

Seventh Dining Hall, in the first-floor kitchen.

Jiang Yu was chatting with Jia Dequan for a while, but the chef introduced by Qian Liwei never showed up.

A bit disappointed, he casually had some breakfast and was about to go upstairs to prepare lunch when Hu Zhihai came over with a phone, laughing and asked:

"Your upstairs box has been booked for half a month in advance. If this keeps happening every day, won't it end up being fully booked for a year or two?"

"Now that you mention it, it seems it might."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yu frowned as well. Other restaurants could accept reservations daily because there weren't as many customers, but his situation was different. Here, there were just too many people.

If things really continued this way, he would be worn out and unable to keep up.

Besides, he had previously intended to take two days off a week, but now that it's booked half a month in advance, when could he possibly rest?

As he thought about this, he said,

"I need to think it over and change the reservation rules. For example, only one day a week can accept reservations, and the reservation time is within five days."

Hu Zhihai was curious: "Why five days?"

Jiang Yu confidently replied: "I need two days to rest."

Hu Zhihai: "..."

You make a good point; I'm speechless.

"Anything else? If not, I'll leave!"

Jiang Yu gave him a glance, ready to go upstairs.

"Why in such a hurry? I haven't finished talking yet!"

Hu Zhihai pulled him back, showing his phone and saying,

"Look, scalpers have already started booking boxes at our place, then selling them at a high price outside. This harms the interests of the diners!

Clearly free boxes, yet they earn thousands just from transferring them!

This is just ridiculous, it increases what diners have to pay, not to mention they earn more than we do!

This is simply unbearable!"

"These people are indeed annoying, but dealing with them is simple."

Jiang Yu thought for a moment, then smiled and said,

"We'll issue a notice that box reservations require ID and phone number registration. Dining will require verification of these two things, and if either doesn't match, sorry, no service.

In this way, all the boxes the scalpers have reserved will be unsellable.

If they can't sell, will they still be so eager to grab reservations?"

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