Transmigration: Space-Aided Rise to Power and Prosperity-Chapter 100 - 25: Cafeteria Turmoil

Gu Chengyu and Wang Qikai headed to the dining hall together. They saw that most students eating there had a bowl of plain rice porridge accompanied by two white flour buns, and a separate bowl of stir-fried seasonal vegetables. This dining hall wasn’t like the modern cafeterias of the previous life, offering a wide selection of dishes. Here, there was only one dish. The daily rice porridge and buns were always the same, only the vegetables changed.

In private schools like this, students who ate there were given a small bamboo stick with "provision" inscribed on it. They would show this stick to the dining hall lady before meals to get their food. Of course, after some time, the cook would clearly know who brought their own meals and who bought food from the school, considering there were only about fifty people in the school.

Just as he was about to take out his stick, Gu Chengyu suddenly remembered that Wang Qikai didn’t eat at the school, so he wouldn’t have a stick. He wasn’t sure if Wang Qikai knew that he would need a stick to eat. What would they do if he didn’t have one?

"Why did you stop? Hurry up and go in! I’m starving!" Wang Qikai said urgently, pulling Gu Chengyu towards the cook.

After thinking it over, Gu Chengyu decided not to mention it for now, planning to order one portion and share it between them, though he was worried it might not be enough for Wang Qikai.

"Auntie, give me a serving." Gu Chengyu approached the food barrel, took out the stick from his pocket, and handed it to the cook.

Yes, don’t doubt it, it was indeed a barrel. The rice porridge here was served in deep wooden barrels.

The cook glanced at the stick and smiled, "You’re the one who just joined Class C today? Mr. Wen already told me yesterday. Oh my! What a handsome young man! So thin, though. Wait a moment, Auntie will give you some extra." Actually, there wasn’t much of the porridge left in the barrel; what was scooped out was mostly watery, while the bottom held the thicker portion.

After speaking, she served the thickest porridge from the bottom to Gu Chengyu, filling the bowl completely. She even ladled a scoop of fava beans onto it. Gu Chengyu looked at it and found there were even some meat strips. It seemed that the food in the dining hall was quite decent, apart from the single vegetable dish being a bit simplistic.

"Thank you, Auntie!" Gu Chengyu thanked the cook with a smile.

The cook quickly waved her hand, saying it was unnecessary and exclaiming how she wasn’t worthy of thanks from a scholar, though her slightly dark face blossomed into a wider smile, showing her gums.

"Auntie, hurry and serve me! I don’t have a stick. Can I use money?" Wang Qikai, almost too hungry to stand, couldn’t spare time for all the thanking back and forth.

"You little fatty, can’t you see I’m busy? Ten coins will do." The cook handed Gu Chengyu two buns made of white flour.

Gu Chengyu watched as Wang Qikai counted out ten coins from the pouch hanging from his waist and gave them to the cook. However, when the cook scooped the porridge for him, she did it quite casually, giving a scoop from the top, which was noticeably less than Gu Chengyu’s full bowl.

And so, Wang Qikai and Gu Chengyu carried their porridge and vegetables to a random seat and sat down. Throughout the meal, Wang Qikai kept grumbling about the cook’s favoritism.

There weren’t many people in the dining hall. Some students lived in town or nearby and chose to go home to eat, like Wang Qikai; some even took their meals back with them, eating while reading.

Usually, students in Class A were common among those who did this. Class A required students to pass exams set by the teacher with excellent scores to enter; or those about to take the child student exam, which would automatically promote them to Class A.

Gu Chengyu took a sip of the porridge and a bite of the bun, only to look up and see that Wang Qikai had already taken several big bites of a bun, eating so fast that he almost choked. He quickly drank a large gulp of porridge to swallow the bun in his throat, letting out a comfortable sigh thereafter.

No wonder he could maintain that figure; one should eat slowly and chew thoroughly. Eating in such a hurry would certainly lead to gaining weight, wouldn’t it?

"Qi Kai, slow down. Eating too fast is burdensome on the stomach."

"I’m used to it; I’ve always eaten this way. I get dizzy when hungry, and if I don’t eat quickly, I’ll faint," Wang Qikai said nonchalantly.

Listening to him, Gu Chengyu carefully observed his face. Could he be experiencing low blood sugar? But seeing him eat so much, his family food supplies wouldn’t be poor either, so how could he have low blood sugar? Plus, he looked very red-faced, not like someone with low blood sugar. There might be other reasons.

Poor Gu Chengyu had only read a few herbal explanation books so far and barely browsed through one medical book containing common cold symptoms. This illness might have to be diagnosed by a doctor.

He and Wang Qikai had just become acquainted today, not enough to speak deeply. The Wang Family would surely have consulted a doctor, and this might even relate to some family secrets which were inconvenient for him to pry into.

"Hey, look, it’s Ye Zhiqiu!" Wang Qikai pointed in the direction of a table two seats away, speaking softly to Gu Chengyu.

Gu Chengyu looked where Wang Qikai pointed and saw a boy about seven or eight years old, not very tall, wearing an old buttoned long gown. In front of him was his own meal, two multigrain buns and a wild vegetable cake. At that moment, he was eating in small bites, drinking the hot water provided by the dining hall.

Suddenly, someone spoke loudly, "Some people! Obviously so poor that they can’t fill their own stomachs, yet insist on reading, burdening their whole family to support them. How could they bear to stay in a private school like this?"

Gu Chengyu turned towards the voice and saw it was a boy of about eleven or twelve, not far from Ye Zhiqiu. Although he didn’t call anyone by name, he was clearly looking at Ye Zhiqiu. Ye Zhiqiu, who had been eating, stopped, his face turning red. It was obvious to those watching that this student was targeting Ye Zhiqiu, and he was likely a fellow student in Class B. Yet no one spoke up to help Ye Zhiqiu; on the contrary, some students nearby were adding fuel to the fire, while others just stood by watching for drama.

Seeing this, Gu Chengyu shook his head. Regardless of the Ye family’s situation, it wasn’t a stranger’s place to comment. But Ye Zhiqiu was indeed too timid. No matter what, he had to prepare for the imperial exams later, and such rumors could harm his future career path. Since ancient times, it was said that scholars look down on one another, and this was indeed true.

Seeing Ye Zhiqiu being so awkwardly bullied, Gu Chengyu turned away, not wanting to see anymore. He certainly wasn’t the Holy Father. Moreover, he didn’t know the whole story and couldn’t just assume that Ye Zhiqiu was the disadvantaged one from seeing just one side of things.

However, unlike Gu Chengyu’s calmness, Wang Qikai was visibly more agitated. "They’re just too much. Whether Ye Zhiqiu is being supported by someone, what’s it got to do with them? They’re just picking on him because he’s talented. If they have the skills, they should try getting into Class A!"