Entrance of the Seventh Dining Hall kitchen.

Jiang Yu and Boss Zhao chatted while unloading various ingredients from the tricycle. Rice, flour, grains, and oil were placed in the storage room, while meat and vegetables were put in the refrigerator in the preparation room.

Once everything was in place, Jiang Yu clapped his hands and said with a smile:

"I'll be in charge of the Seventh Dining Hall from now on. Next time you deliver rice and vegetables, Boss Zhao, please send them directly here."

"Alright, Boss Xiao Jiang, if you need anything, just give me a call, and I'll deliver it to you promptly."

Boss Zhao nodded, exchanged a few pleasantries with Jiang Yu, and then turned his tricycle around to head back.

Shortly after Boss Zhao left, Hu Zhihai and Lu Shuwu arrived.

"Boss, I already contacted three people last night: two pastry chefs and one main course chef. They should be here around ten o'clock."

Lu Shuwu had returned to school yesterday afternoon, and Jiang Yu immediately tasked him with recruiting chefs. Knowing time was tight, he called a few of his chef acquaintances to recommend some people.

This is where having a wide network comes in handy. In less than half a day, he found three interested chefs.

What Lu Shuwu referred to as pastry chefs mainly handle making cakes and pastries, not involved in stir-frying and such. In simple terms, they're the ones who make dough-based foods.

Main course chefs mainly deal with processing side dishes and cooking ingredients, including stir-fried, cold, and steamed dishes.

"That's good."

Jiang Yu breathed a sigh of relief, turned towards the kitchen, and said to Hu Zhihai,

"Later, Xiaoyan and the three of them, plus the five new part-time students we hired recently, will all come over. Zhihai, please register each of their course schedules, and then make a part-time schedule based on that.

Once the schedule is ready, post it on the corridor wall in the kitchen, so they can see when they're working and when they have time off.

Oh, make sure to tell them if they can't make it one day, they need to notify us in advance, to avoid being understaffed and in chaos here.

Anyway, there should be rules in everything we do."

"Got it."

Hu Zhihai nodded and, after some thought, added,

"I might as well go online and check some resources, look at how other university canteens operate, and draft some basic rules and regulations. This would make management easier and improve efficiency."

"Sure, go ahead and take care of it."

After assigning tasks to Hu Zhihai, Jiang Yu turned to Lu Shuwu with a smile and said,

"I bought a lot of ingredients today. Once those three chefs your connections recommended arrive, let's have them show their skills.

We'll let Xiaoyan and the others stay, and we'll all have a meal together to get the dining hall warmed up."

Lu Shuwu's eyes lit up, "Boss, are you making new dishes?"

"New dishes?"

Hu Zhihai, upon hearing that, instinctively swallowed, gazing eagerly at Jiang Yu.

"Now that we're opening a dining hall, how can we not make new dishes?"

Jiang Yu smirked and continued,

"Let's not worry about new dishes for now. Let's first go inside and discuss the dining hall menu. We can't be thinking of the menu day by day; that would be too stressful."

"Alright."

Lu Shuwu, hearing there really were new dishes, became instantly enthusiastic and said with a grin,

"Didn't you ask me before how my cooking skills were?

My cooking might not be as good as yours, but my dishes aren't bad at all, certainly better than those in the Second Dining Hall!"

The two chatted and laughed as they entered the kitchen to discuss the dining hall's menu.

Hu Zhihai scratched his head, thinking it was best for him not to get involved, not knowing how to cook. If he went inside, he would only end up salivating.

Since he wouldn't be able to eat it anyway, why listen to the dish names and make himself drool?

So he decided not to enter the kitchen and instead walked to the dining hall lobby.

Xiaoyan and the others would arrive soon, and it was better to chat and hang out with a group of junior students.

Moreover, weren't there four new male students?

If they could play billiards, that would be even better. There's a billiard table on the second floor…

...

Time flew by, and more than two hours passed quickly.

Jiang Yu and Lu Shuwu discussed for a long time and finally came up with a relatively reasonable menu.

It was no longer the "Jiang Family Soup Dumplings" shop, but the Seventh Dining Hall. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner couldn't be as simple as before.

For breakfast, previously, there were only soup dumplings and hot and sour soup, along with some cold pickled radishes. If that were all, it would be quite shabby.

Therefore, Jiang Yu planned to enrich the breakfast offerings. Soup dumplings were a specialty and would definitely remain, but he'd add meat buns, vegetarian buns, bean paste buns, and steamed buns as well.

On the side dish front, besides cold pickled radishes, they'd also make some braised dishes, like braised eggs, braised duck feet, wings, and necks. Also, Jiangzhou's famous cold lotus root slices were a must-have.

With buns and side dishes, beverages couldn't be left out, so congee was added as well.

As for hot and sour soup, with so many strong-flavored side dishes, it might be inappropriate for breakfast. It could be kept for lunch or dinner. Jiang Yu planned to have a different soup every day.

Having a single soup every day like before wouldn't do for a dining hall. Even the students would find it tiresome, never mind himself.

They also discussed lunch and dinner menus, listing out dishes.

Jiang Yu suddenly realized that Lu Shuwu was indeed a foodie; he excelled in making high-end dishes, such as Consommé with cabbage, Buddha jumps over the wall, and soup-filled yellow croaker…

He was speechless. Are these the kinds of dishes found in a dining hall?

Besides the high-end dishes he loved, Lu Shuwu could make simple homemade stir-fries, mostly from Xiang Cuisine, like Hunan grandmama's vegetables, pickled pepper duck giblets, bandit pork liver, and pickled vegetable fried vermicelli.

The menu, though mostly planned, wouldn't be fixed. Adjustments would be made according to the new chefs' abilities once they arrived.

Shortly after Jiang Yu and Lu Shuwu took a break, Hu Zhihai entered:

"Lao Jiang, three people are outside applying for the chef positions. They must be the ones recommended by Xiao Lu's acquaintances."

"Have they arrived? Great, Brother Xiao Wu, let's go take a look."

Jiang Yu was quite eager. After hearing Hu Zhihai's words, he stood up quickly, called for Lu Shuwu, and turned to leave.

Lu Shuwu stood up from his seat and followed him out the door.

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