CHAPTER 55: CHAPTER 55: THIS MATTER MUST BE DONE

The deliciousness of the food at Jiang Yu’s shop really amazed Teacher Xiong.

In private, he admitted with some embarrassment that in his forty-plus years, he had never tasted anything this good.

It’s not because he’s poor and can’t afford to go to fancy hotels.

In fact, while his family wasn’t wealthy, Teacher Xiong never lacked money growing up, and after starting work, his finances improved significantly. He traveled during holidays and tasted nearly all the local cuisines.

He’s certainly eaten plenty of delicious food before, but the surprising texture and extraordinary taste of the dishes at Jiang Yu’s shop were genuinely earth-shattering for him.

How could he not be amazed?

Yet, how had he never heard of this little shop, hiding so many culinary delights?

The key is, it was prominently located in the school’s canteen.

This didn’t seem logical at all!

If it weren’t for the freshmen being unable to buy the soup dumplings from the shop due to military training, and then posting their grievances on the campus forum, he still wouldn’t have discovered it!

After leaving the school’s second canteen, Teacher Xiong walked slowly, hands behind his back, towards the teacher’s apartment building.

The night was already deep, the night breeze had carried away the oppressive heat in the air, leaving only a coolness.

In the vast campus, one could see scattered people leisurely strolling from afar; in the roadside hedges, unknown insects occasionally chirped to announce their presence.

Under the slightly dim streetlights, everything seemed so quiet and peaceful.

Teacher Xiong let out a long sigh, realizing he had been overthinking things.

In hindsight, not only hadn’t he realized it, but it seemed none of the other teachers had either, otherwise he would have heard about it from colleagues.

Partly, this was because Jiang Yu’s shop hadn’t been open for long, but the bigger reason was likely because the school had a designated staff canteen.

The staff canteen was not far from the administration building, located on the second floor of the third canteen. Most teachers with needs dined there.

With the staff canteen available, school teachers naturally wouldn’t go to the student canteen to eat, so it was normal they hadn’t discovered Jiang Yu’s shop’s real allure.

Even if some teachers heard the food at Jiang Yu’s was delicious, they mostly felt awkward about queuing alongside students for it.

If their students saw them, it would be so embarrassing!

Thinking this way, Teacher Xiong suddenly felt it was "unfair":

Why should such tasty food only be enjoyed by students, while teachers miss out?

Students should be focusing on learning knowledge and skills in school; how could they waste precious time on eating?

If one doesn’t work hard when young, they could regret it when old!

This kind of will-eroding distraction should be dealt with by the teachers!

Thinking this made Teacher Xiong feel incredibly ambitious.

As a teacher, one should be like a candle, burning oneself to illuminate students. To ensure student success, such "sugary cannonballs" should be withstood by the teachers!

At that moment, he suddenly felt that agreeing to help Jiang Yu find a larger space was absolutely the right decision!

This matter must be done!

Not only that, it must be done quickly and done well!

If not, with such a small shop as it is now, even students have to queue to buy delicious food. Wouldn’t teachers have even less of a chance?

Thus, Jiang Yu’s shop must expand!

At least, there should be an exclusive window for teachers, that’s necessary!

...

What Teacher Xiong was thinking, Jiang Yu would certainly not know.

After seeing him out from the second canteen, Jiang Yu returned to the shop with Hu Zhihai and others to busy themselves cleaning up.

"Hey, Lao Jiang, was Teacher Xiong really just passing by?"

Hu Zhihai was holding a cloth, absentmindedly wiping tables before scooting over to Jiang Yu’s side.

Jiang Yu glanced at him: "What else?"

"I feel like he came looking for you with some agenda..."

Hu Zhihai muttered, thought for a moment, then suddenly slapped his forehead, eyes bright with excitement,

"I figured it out; he must have come because of the smell, wanting to feast. Didn’t you see how he was eating earlier, tsk-tsk..."

"..."

Jiang Yu was speechless. This guy again with his nonsense, he quickly raised his hand to interrupt,

"Alright, alright, let’s focus on work. After finishing, you should go back and get some rest early."

Hu Zhihai pouted, taking the cloth back to wipe the stoves while muttering quietly,

"Did I say anything wrong? I was right; he ate more than me..."

Jiang Yu: "..."

With more people in the shop, tidying took less time, and soon, everything was cleaned inside and out.

After finishing the work and closing the shop, everyone took their leave, each heading home.

Upon returning to his dorm, Jiang Yu routinely took a shower, changed into fresh clothes, switched off the lights, locked the door, and climbed into his bed.

Lying down, stretching his limbs, Jiang Yu couldn’t help but let out a contented sigh.

For the past period, he left home before dawn every day, working non-stop until after ten at night before he could rest.

He was definitely tired, but life felt fulfilling and full of hope.

He recalled Teacher Xiong pulling him aside before leaving, sincerely promising to help him find a larger space.

With Teacher Xiong’s repeated assurances, Jiang Yu had to seriously consider how he would manage the new space if it really came to be.

Should he continue focusing on soup dumplings while adding items like hot and sour soup, mouth-watering chicken, or similar soups and cold dishes as complements, or should he reclassify soup dumplings as snacks and reconsider the signature dishes for the new shop?

After thinking for a while, Jiang Yu couldn’t come to a conclusion, so he decided to stop overthinking.

The new space wasn’t even confirmed yet; better to wait for news and see how big it might be before considering management.

Yet, there’s one thing that doesn’t need contemplation, and that’s accumulating wealth value.

After all, no matter how he manages, adding new dishes would require wealth value for redemption at System Mall.

So, wealth value is always more, the better!

As he thought about this, Jiang Yu gradually drifted off to sleep.

A streak of cool moonlight streamed through the dorm window, falling on his young, strong face, as if he was glowing...