At 7:30 in the evening, there were hardly any people left in the dining area of the Seventh Dining Hall, only a sparse few students, who, having arrived late, were still buried in their food.

Although the Seventh Dining Hall was located off the beaten path, there were benefits to its seclusion.

Take this moment for example: the students, having eaten their fill, left the dining hall to either stroll around the spacious campus roads, gather in circles on the stadium lawn for idle chats, or simply drag their partners into the little forest behind the teaching building...

Ah, university life—always so poetic and dreamlike, making you lose track of where to go.

Unfortunately, Jiang Yu, still a senior student, was not blessed with the fortune to enjoy such a beautiful life.

Inside the kitchen of the Seventh Dining Hall.

Exhausted from a full day's work, Jiang Yu was slumped in a chair, limbs weak, not wanting to move an inch.

Lu Shuwu and the others were in similar states, each drenched in sweat, their white chef uniforms soaked time and again.

The first day of opening nearly wore everyone out, but at last, they could take a breather.

"Phew, we really need to hire a chef, otherwise we'll be worn out at the stove sooner or later."

Jiang Yu was seated on a chair in front of the workstation, holding a cup of tea brewed with care by Hu Zhihai. He blew on the tea leaves, took a small sip, let out a long sigh, shook his head, and said,

"I thought earlier that Brother Xiao Wu and I could handle it ourselves, but even with Uncle Ma and Sister He's help, we're still dead tired; running a dining hall is indeed not easy."

"Haha, being a dining hall chef is much more tiring than working in a hotel."

Ma Guoqiang, who was also resting, remarked. He didn't seem that tired; after all, when he used to run his own place, he'd knead dough all day, which was much more grueling than chopping vegetables.

He took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and said with a laugh,

"In a hotel kitchen, the division of labor is clear—cold dishes, chopping board, stove, and so on, each focusing on their own area, which makes the work less tiring;

But a dining hall chef doesn't have such luxuries; whether it's the prep table or the cutting board, work needs to be done if there's any, and after a busy day like that, how can one not be exhausted?"

"That's definitely true."

Lu Shuwu nodded in agreement and then turned to Jiang Yu,

"Boss, I'll ask around tonight to see if there are any suitable chefs available,"

Jiang Yu replied, "Alright, go ahead. Make sure to explain our situation clearly, so no one makes a pointless trip here."

"Boss Xiao Jiang, I can ask around for you too. There's a small stir-fry shop near my community; the owner is young, and his cooking's not too bad,"

Ma Guoqiang thought for a moment and chuckled,

"It's just a pity he chose the wrong location. Most of the young people around my community have gone out to work, leaving only the elderly who are so frugal they wouldn't think of dining out.

That shop can barely hang on, so if he's willing to work in the dining hall, it would be quite nice."

"That works; we're not picky as long as the food tastes good,"

Jiang Yu smiled at the suggestion, "Thanks, Uncle Ma."

Saying that, he got up from his chair, intending to stir-fry some small dishes.

Everyone had been busy all afternoon and hadn't had dinner yet, their stomachs already rumbling with hunger.

The ingredients had been pre-cut and prepared; Jiang Yu lit the stove and heated the oil, and soon the kitchen was enveloped in rich, tempting aromas.

The exhaustion marking everyone's day seemed to vanish at the moment they smelled the fragrance, reviving them with renewed energy. They couldn't help but gather around, eyes shining, gazing intently in the direction of the rising stove flames...

All the hard work, wasn't it just for this mouthful of delicious food?

Slurp!

...

After dinner, Ma Guoqiang and He Chunxiao left first as they didn't live on campus.

Hu Zhihai, along with Yan Tongtong and others, helped clean the dishes and tidied up each section of the dining hall before leaving.

The spacious kitchen was left with just Jiang Yu and Lu Shuwu, who were still busy.

By the time they finished the preparation work for the next day, it was nearly midnight, and not wanting to impact tomorrow's work, Jiang Yu promptly urged Lu Shuwu to rest.

Heading back was not an option; they had to continue staying in the dining hall.

Fortunately, they had the foresight to have Hu Zhihai partition the second floor into two rooms for use as temporary rest areas; otherwise, after staying up so late, walking all the way back would have been unbearable.

After washing up, Jiang Yu and Lu Shuwu exchanged goodnights and went to their rooms to rest.

Perhaps the day had been too tiring, for shortly after entering his room, Jiang Yu heard snoring coming from the room next door.

The snoring was thunderous, making Jiang Yu's heart tremble.

Though Jiang Yu was also very tired and sleepy, the loud snoring kept him awake, tossing and turning in bed.

He didn't know what to do; he couldn't just go to Lu Shuwu, wake him up, and say:

"Hey! Can you snore a little quieter?"

Last time Hu Zhihai did this, it almost drove Lu Shuwu nuts. If it happens again, Lu Shuwu might really lose it.

Since he couldn't sleep anyway, Jiang Yu decided to dive into his thoughts and pulled out the system's virtual panel.

Wealth Value: 250,320

Current Menu: Chicken Soup Dumplings, Appetizing Hot and Sour Soup, Sichuan Mouthwatering Chicken, Chopped Pepper Fish Head, Rice Noodles with Pork, Lotus Blood Duck, Gannan Stir-fried Fish, Steamed Silverfish with Egg, Steamed Ribs with Taro and Black Beans, Fish-flavored Shredded Pork...

Culinary Skill Level: Advanced (11%)

He never realized it before, but now that he saw it, he was truly shocked!

A few days ago, while planning the dining hall menu, Jiang Yu exchanged for more than ten dishes from the System Mall in one go, and these dishes weren't cheap. Just a single Lotus Blood Duck required 8,800 wealth points, and even the relatively inexpensive Steamed Silverfish with Egg cost 4,860 wealth points.

After exchanging for these more than ten dishes, his wealth value, which originally exceeded 310,000, instantly shrank by a third, leaving only over 200,000. Who would've thought that after just one day of the dining hall being open, the wealth value surged by more than 50,000?

Doesn't this mean that a single day's revenue was over 50,000?!

It seemed like a lot, but when Jiang Yu sat down to carefully calculate, it wasn't really that much—after all, the Seventh Dining Hall served a large number of students, at least a thousand!

With each student spending an average of 50 yuan a day, having a daily revenue of over 50,000 yuan seemed quite normal.

Some might think spending 50 yuan just on food in the dining hall is a lot, but looking at the menu of the Seventh Dining Hall, this price isn't expensive at all.

For breakfast, there are marinated duck necks, duck feet, duck wings, and other delicacies, as well as soup dumplings and big meat buns. For lunch and dinner, there are hearty dishes like steamed ribs, steamed fish chunks, and mouthwatering chicken—it's easy for a few dishes to cost ten or twenty yuan.

An individual spending 50 yuan is an average figure. Those with larger appetites might spend thirty or forty yuan on a meal alone.

Even though there's still over 250,000 in wealth value now, it won't be long before Jiang Yu needs to exchange for new dishes—after all, the dining hall can't serve the same few dishes every day, right?

However, he's not too worried now, as the wealth value keeps increasing daily, and the rate isn't small either...

Moving past the current menu, Jiang Yu turned his gaze to his culinary skill level.

After practicing hard for so long and cooking every day, Jiang Yu's culinary skills have finally reached an advanced level, but an advanced chef isn't the highest rank for a chef.

In terms of chef levels, there are five ranks—apprentice, intermediate, advanced, technician, and master technician. Each time one attains a higher certification, a certain amount of work experience in the culinary industry is also required.

So, for someone to go from a beginner apprentice to a chef with a master technician certification, it would take at least 20 years of learning and working.

Of course, if you're not interested in getting certifications, that's another story.

For Jiang Yu, certifications aren't important. What matters is that in just over a month, he transformed from someone who could only make a few homestyle dishes to a chef with advanced culinary skills—something not easily achieved.

Without the bonus from the Gourmet System, it wouldn't have been possible, no matter how hard he worked for a year or two.

Gaining advanced culinary skills not only meant a level up but also greatly improved his knife skills, spoon work, and heat control techniques.

No longer does he need to rely on the system's recipes to control the heat carefully, anxiously watching the fire and counting time, exhausting himself like running a ten-thousand-meter race.

At the advanced culinary level, controlling the heat for familiar dishes often only requires a quick glance.

Jiang Yu couldn't help but wonder what it would be like when he reaches technician or master technician level.

Maybe by that time, he'd be like Lu Shuwu's grandfather, able to create mouthwatering dishes without relying on the system's recipes?

What if he continued using the system's recipes?

Would the dishes become so delicious they'd drive people crazy?

"Whoa, that's too scary, better not think about it!"

Startled by his sudden thought, Jiang Yu shook his head quickly to dismiss it.

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Yu felt sleepy. Just as he was about to close the system panel, he noticed a line of text suddenly appearing:

"Detected that the host has successfully contracted a college dining hall, the system function panel will undergo its first upgrade in 5 minutes. During the upgrade, the system will be in silent mode..."

System function panel upgrade?

Was this triggered by him contracting the dining hall?

Jiang Yu instantly felt wide awake. The Gourmet System had been with him for a month, without a single change, and now suddenly it was upgrading today!

But how exactly would the system upgrade?

Would there still be a System Mall after the upgrade?

No, this is just a function panel upgrade, not a whole system upgrade. The System Mall should remain as it is...

But... who knows?

If the System Mall disappears, where would he exchange for recipes to cook in the future?

Realizing this, Jiang Yu panicked and, seeing that the upgrade countdown had only 4 minutes and 30 seconds left, quickly opened the System Mall and started frantically exchanging for various dishes like a shopaholic.

Regardless, he needed to enrich the dining hall's menu...

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