Scrambled Eggs with Toona Sinensis Sprouts (Part 2)

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Fei Qingyu stared absently at the shepherd’s purse dumplings in the dish. Each one was plump and perfectly rounded, gleaming white and translucent as jade.

He had eaten dumplings before—or what passed for dumplings—at upscale restaurants when his family took him traveling to other planets.

But the dumplings at those restaurants had been nothing like the ones before him. He remembered their bizarre, misshapen forms, with filling even leaking through the dough wrappers.

Fei Qingyu blew on one until it had cooled slightly, then took a cautious bite.

The moment his teeth broke through, fragrant meat juices burst across his tongue, savory and richly seasoned.

A hint of sweetness followed. It was clean and delicate rather than overpowering, bringing out the salty fragrance of the meat filling and giving the dumpling a more complex flavor.

Fei Qingyu ate even faster than he had when devouring the scrambled toon sprouts. Despite the heat burning his mouth, he stuffed dumpling after dumpling into it.

All the table manners his family had taught him were forgotten. At that moment, he only wanted to enjoy the food to his heart’s content.

Only after he had cleaned his plate completely did he put down his chopsticks, cover his mouth, and let out a satisfied belch.

Before tasting food this delicious, Fei Qingyu had never understood why people bothered to eat. Wasn’t drinking nutritional fluid better?

It provided all the necessary nourishment without forcing anyone to face food that looked bizarre and tasted even worse.

In the past, he had thought food was either unpleasant or even more unpleasant. It had never occurred to him that anyone could prepare something so perfect in color, aroma, and flavor.

If this had been the old Fei Qingyu, he would certainly have called the chef out and rewarded her handsomely.

But when he remembered that these dumplings had been made by Wen Jiu, he felt inexplicably conflicted.

“She’s only good at making these few dishes. It’s not as if everything she makes tastes good,” Fei Qingyu muttered, trying to console himself.

Yet he could not stop himself from reaching his chopsticks toward the bowl of silkworm potatoes.

“Ah!”

The spicy, numbing, savory flavor assaulted his taste buds. Fei Qingyu sucked in a breath, his eyes misting from the heat.

But he was entirely unwilling to put down his chopsticks. The more he ate, the more refreshed and invigorated he felt.

After emptying another bowl, Fei Qingyu no longer wanted to make excuses for himself.

He could not bring himself to lie and say the food was bad.

So he sat there awkwardly for a long while, wanting to go to the service window and talk to Wen Jiu.

At last, Fei Qingyu finally gathered his courage and rose to his feet—only to see a crowd charging toward him like a horde of zombies, clawing and flailing as they came.

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In an instant, the short boy was swallowed up by the sea of people.

“Boo-hoo, I finally made it! The teacher kept me after class at noon, so I missed the food at Window Eighteen. I felt like I’d lost my soul for the entire afternoon.”

“Three portions of shepherd’s purse dumplings and one portion of silkworm potatoes! I was craving the dumplings so badly that I drooled all over my pillow during lunch break.”

“Four portions of silkworm potatoes, please!”

Fei Qingyu struggled through the crowd for quite some time before finally breaking free, leaving him dizzy and disoriented.

Where had all these people come from?

Still puzzled, he returned to his seat and watched.

All he saw was Qiao Shishi enthusiastically serving the customers at the window, her sweet smile accompanying every dish she carried out.

Meanwhile, Wen Jiu worked deftly at the back, boiling dumplings and tossing potatoes with practiced skill. Every student standing in the long queue wore an expectant smile.

The atmosphere was completely different from the lifeless gloom that had once hung over the cafeteria.

From time to time, curious students would come over and ask about the long line. Those waiting would eagerly gesture and rave about how delicious the food at the window was, after which the newcomers would join the queue as well.

They had only just begun serving lunch, yet the line at Window Eighteen had already crushed the queues at every other window.

Thanks to their overwhelming popularity, Wen Jiu and Qiao Shishi finished business in barely an hour.

The two of them then sat on little stools and scrubbed dish after dish, huffing and puffing until everything was washed and the kitchen had been cleaned. Only then did they leave.

As he watched them walk out of the cafeteria, Fei Qingyu, who had been quietly observing them all along, felt a strange emotion stir within him. He hurried after them with quick little steps.

“Are you still looking for someone?”

Wen Jiu turned at the sound of his voice. Fei Qingyu stood there with his lips pursed, a faint flush coloring his fair little face.

“We are. Are you interested?” Wen Jiu thought to herself that they were particularly short of a dishwasher.

Fei Qingyu abruptly turned his head away and scampered off again.

His behavior left Wen Jiu and Qiao Shishi utterly bewildered.

But neither of them had the energy to concern themselves with him. After such a busy day, they were both exhausted and wanted nothing more than to return to the dormitory and lie down.

As soon as Wen Jiu returned to the dormitory, she received a reply from Li Qin-zhen.

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[“3047 Li Qin-zhen”: Some of the students working part-time reported that distributing ingredients only once a week could lead to shortages. Therefore, the teachers responsible for distributing ingredients will now allocate additional supplies to each window every day.]

[“3047 Li Qin-zhen”: However, these additional supplies can be selected. If there are any ingredients you need, you can contact the teacher and submit a request. You will receive them the next day.]

Wen Jiu stared at the message in a daze.

Did this mean she could do whatever she wanted?

There were far too many dishes she knew how to make.

[“Nine Lives, Nine Fortunes”: All right, thank you, Teacher Li.]

Li Qin-zhen immediately forwarded her the contact information of the teacher in charge of ingredient requests. Wen Jiu sent a friend request, but even after waiting a long while, she still did not see it approved.

She guessed the teacher was probably busy and did not give it much thought.

After washing up and climbing into bed, she began planning her grand scheme for making money once more.

Relying solely on selling food in the cafeteria clearly would not be enough. After all, the school’s customer base was limited. No matter how successful she became, only the students and teachers would come to buy from her.

She was determined to become a wealthy woman!

But after thinking it over from every angle, it seemed that setting up a stall on the Star Network was the only reliable option. Unfortunately, she simply could not afford the two thousand five hundred credit stall fee.

Was her path to wealth destined to be so difficult?

Wen Jiu lay on her bed, her thoughts in disarray. Beside her, Qiao Shishi seemed to sense her mood and asked softly, “Jiujiu, what’s wrong? You don’t seem very happy.”

“A little.” Wen Jiu rolled over. “Shishi, what other ways can students like us make money besides working in the cafeteria?”

Qiao Shishi thought for a moment. At first, she wanted to suggest opening a shop or setting up a stall on the Star Network, but she quickly realized that with Wen Jiu’s current financial situation, she might not even be able to pay the stall fee.

Thinking about it that way, there really did not seem to be many opportunities to make money. After all, they spent every day inside the academy.

“I’ve got it!” Qiao Shishi suddenly slapped the bed. “You can start a livestream!”

Wen Jiu sat up and scratched her head. She had watched modern livestreams before, but most people sang, danced, or played games. And if those were the things she had to do, then she truly could not do any of them.

Seeing the confusion still written across Wen Jiu’s face, Qiao Shishi hurriedly explained, “A food livestream! Jiujiu, you look so impressive whenever you cook, and everything you make smells amazing. It would be such a waste not to start a food livestream!”

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