Chef at the University Canteen-Chapter 390 - 252: It’s Just a Meal

Jiang Yu never expected that after trying a few Peach Blossom Pastries, Xiong Bingsheng’s daughter would actually get hooked!

"The Peach Blossom Pastries you brought me, I took just two boxes home, and as last time, I gave the rest to Vice Principal He and Niu Wenlin."

On the other end of the phone, Xiong Bingsheng sounded quite embarrassed. Perhaps he felt awkward making this call, but he had no choice; it was all for his daughter.

"After taking them home, my daughter just tried one bite, and couldn’t put them down. She skipped both lunch and dinner, just eating those Peach Blossom Pastries.

By yesterday morning, she had finished both boxes all by herself, and neither my wife nor I got a single taste.

Who knew, after finishing the pastries, she still wasn’t satisfied, pestering me that she wanted more Peach Blossom Pastries. I told her there weren’t any left, and she started crying, telling her mom that I didn’t love her anymore.

Yesterday, the whole day, my head was about to split open from her crying!"

"I thought it was something serious. This is nothing. Kids are like that; when they find something they like, they can’t resist eating it."

Jiang Yu couldn’t help but laugh after hearing this, and comfortingly said,

"It’s no problem, Teacher Xiong. I just happened to make some more Peach Blossom Pastries yesterday, and there are still some in the cafeteria. You can come over and pick them up now."

He paused, then laughed and added,

"The cafeteria just rolled out Jiangzhou Mixed Noodles recently, and you haven’t tried them yet, right? You can come over to have a taste."

"Uh..."

On the other end of the line, Xiong Bingsheng hesitated again, clearly in a dilemma. After thinking it over, he still spoke up,

"Xiaojiang, I might need to take a few more Peach Blossom Pastries, because Niu Wenlin and the others also called me, wanting to know if you have any more Peach Blossom Pastries..."

He paused again, then hurriedly added,

"Don’t get me wrong, Xiaojiang. We can pay for them at market price; we can’t just eat for free."

The Peach Blossom Pastries and Qingming Fruit that Jiang Yu brought over, whether last time or the time before, could be considered as thanks to the teachers, gifts to them, and naturally did not require payment.

Bringing up money would hurt the sentiment.

But now Xiong Bingsheng was calling to ask for more. Of course, he should pay, as Jiang Yu runs a cafeteria and is in the business of selling food. It’s unreasonable to always eat for free.

As a scholar, Xiong Bingsheng has high moral standards and can’t bring himself to do such a thing.

After hearing Xiong Bingsheng, Jiang Yu chuckled and said,

"Teacher Xiong, what are you saying? It’s just a few pastries, why talk about money?"

"If you don’t take the money, then I won’t come to get the pastries."

On the phone, Xiong Bingsheng paused, then continued,

"Once or twice is fine, but how can I always eat for free? You run a cafeteria, not a charity." 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"Teacher Xiong, I don’t have many pastries left here. You’d better come quickly."

Jiang Yu couldn’t help but laugh as he told him,

"If you don’t come over soon, you can’t blame me if the pastries run out."

"Okay, okay, I’m coming now!"

Xiong Bingsheng suddenly panicked; if he couldn’t get the pastries, his daughter would surely give him a hard time when he got home from work, just thinking about it gave him a headache.

He paused again, then said,

"But let’s agree, I’ll pay according to the price at your cafeteria’s counter!"

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Yu couldn’t help but shake his head with a smile. This Teacher Xiong, quite principled.

He took a long breath, stood up from the chair, and prepared to get some breakfast.

Besides the four private rooms that were reserved in advance for today’s lunch, Duan Yiming also reserved a room, so with food for five rooms to prepare, he definitely needed to go upstairs a bit earlier to get ready.

...

In a spacious, clean office at Jiangzhou High-Tech Entrepreneurial Park.

"Mr. He, although our company is a bit small, we do have strong capabilities."

Duan Yiming sat behind a large desk, his face full of smiles, chatting eloquently with a middle-aged man sitting on the sofa.

"Our R&D team has one PhD, five master’s degree holders, and the rest are all graduates from top domestic universities like Jing University, Shuimu, and Huaxia Science and Technology University.

Of course, this bit of talent is hardly remarkable compared to other big companies, but as the saying goes, it’s not about having more people, but the right people.

If you use them well, a few people can accomplish great things; if you don’t, a whole group can’t achieve much."

He paused and pointed to the trophies and certificates displayed in the cabinet behind him, then added with a smile,

"Mr. He, you see, although our company was only established three or four years ago, we’ve already achieved impressive results. Compared to companies of the same type and scale, we are definitely in the top tier."

The man facing him, known as Mr. He, was named He Zhengyu, 45 years old, a graduate of Shuimu University with a major in software engineering, and an experienced worker in various major internet companies.

Unfortunately, He Zhengyu fell seriously ill last year. Between treatment and recovery, it took more than half a year. Although his old company didn’t fire him, his original position was taken over by someone else. Now, if he returns, he can only do minor side tasks.

Having worked for decades and never being a "slacker," He Zhengyu naturally refused to become one in his forties, so he resigned from his original job.