Jiang Chao’s eyes lit up instantly.
He hesitated for a moment.
Still, he went up to greet them. "Deputy Monitor, Ling’er, are you two out for a late-night snack too?"
Song Yaqi and Chu Ling’er turned and saw it was Lin Feng and his three friends.
A faint smile appeared on their faces.
They had just seen each other a couple of days ago at Su Ruoxi’s birthday party.
By now, they could all be considered fairly close friends.
"Ling’er and I aren’t actually here to eat. We found a part-time job on the food street."
"We were just on our way to work."
Jiang Chao nodded, but for a moment, he didn’t know what else to say.
He could only stand there awkwardly, shooting a pleading look at Lin Feng.
Lin Feng was exasperated by Jiang Chao’s personality, which swung between being headstrong and incredibly timid.
After all, boys tend to act a little strange around the girls they have a crush on.
So, under his brother’s pleading gaze,
Lin Feng stepped in with a smile to smooth things over. "Well, since we’re all heading in the same direction, why don’t we walk you there?"
Since it was on the way for everyone, Song Yaqi and Chu Ling’er didn’t refuse.
Cao Ming and Yang Qiniang both knew that Jiang Chao liked Song Yaqi.
So, throughout the walk, they kept trying to steer the conversation toward Jiang Chao.
This completely flustered Jiang Chao.
But Lin Feng, watching from the side, could tell that Jiang Chao was still happy deep down.
"We’re here. This is where we work."
"This is it. Thanks, you guys!"
Everyone stopped and looked up. Cao Ming slapped his thigh. "Well, what a coincidence! This is the same barbecue shop we were coming to!"
"Lin Feng, this is that Xiaohuang Barbecue Shop I’ve been telling you guys about all evening!"
Cao Ming hadn’t expected such a coincidence either.
Song Yaqi and Chu Ling’er exchanged a glance and chuckled. "Since we’re at the same place, we’ll throw in a couple of extra skewers for you later!"
Watching the two girls skillfully change into their work uniforms at the stall and start working,
everyone felt a little emotional for a moment.
Truth be told, none of the four guys came from a particularly bad family background.
That went without saying for Yang Qiniang and Lin Feng.
And Cao Ming’s and Jiang Chao’s families weren’t badly off either.
The living allowances their families provided were more than enough for them to live comfortably at university.
But for Song Yaqi and Chu Ling’er,
life was perhaps not so easy.
"Skewers are here!"
Song Yaqi brought over a plate with a smile.
As promised, the plate was piled high.
After the incident at the cafeteria and some guidance from Lin Feng,
Jiang Chao’s attitude had been gradually improving, and he wasn’t as impulsive anymore.
He looked at the beaming Song Yaqi before him.
He slowly began to ask, "Chu Ling’er is a great cook, too. Why don’t you two find a job with higher pay?"
Song Yaqi was taken aback, not expecting Jiang Chao to ask this.
She smiled, shook her head, and said, "We’re just part-timers, so we can’t come in every day like full-time staff."
"So there aren’t many positions available to us, and the ones we can find don’t require much technical skill."
In reality, Song Yaqi and her friend had a very clear understanding of their situation.
They had tried to find jobs that required more skill,
but they discovered that there were only so many part-time positions available for students.
There wasn’t much to choose from.
Jiang Chao fell silent after hearing this.
Just then, business at the barbecue shop suddenly picked up.
Song Yaqi and Chu Ling’er stopped chatting with Lin Feng and his friends.
"Actually, business at those cafeteria stalls has been bad ever since Chu Ling’er left,"
Cao Ming said suddenly after taking a couple of bites.
Although Yang Qiniang hadn’t eaten at the cafeteria much recently,
he had eaten Chu Ling’er’s cooking before.
"That’s only natural. Of course the people who came after her can’t compare to Chu Ling’er’s cooking skills."
"It’s to be expected that the boss’s business would decline,"
Yang Qiniang remarked.
"That boss deserves it. With his attitude toward employees, he probably can’t hire anyone better than Chu Ling’er!"
Jiang Chao gritted his teeth as he spoke about it.
After all, Song Yaqi had also suffered quite a bit during that whole affair.
Lin Feng sat to the side, not saying a word.
But a plan was already forming in his mind.
This food street was right next to Yang City University.
So, most of the people sitting at the tables around Lin Feng and his friends were also students out for a late-night snack.
The voices from a nearby table grew louder.
"I don’t know what’s going on with that stall. The food keeps getting worse."
"And the hygiene is seriously worrying. Last time, I found a piece of a steel-wool scrubber in my food."
"I wonder what that boss’s background is. I tried to report him before, but nothing came of it."
"Not many people eat there anymore. What can we do? Just hope he goes out of business!"
The conversation from the group at the next table drifted into the ears of Lin Feng and his friends.
Yang Qiniang looked smug and raised his eyebrows. "See? I knew everyone had a problem with those stalls."
"But anyone who opens a stall in the cafeteria has to have some connections in the back,"
Cao Ming said after taking a sip of water.
"But that’s just the reality of the situation."
"But no matter how strong your connections are, if you can’t make money, you can’t stay in business,"
Jiang Chao added.
Lin Feng nodded. "Of course, the main point of doing business is to make money."
"Now that this boss can’t make money, he’s probably getting anxious."
As he said this, a meaningful smile spread across Lin Feng’s face.
Yang Qiniang had been working with Lin Feng at their company for a long time.
He immediately sensed that Lin Feng had another idea.
"Brother Feng, what’re you plotting now? Spit it out, don’t keep us in suspense!"
Cao Ming and Jiang Chao snapped to attention as well.
They looked at Lin Feng curiously.
Lin Feng gestured for the three of them to lean in.
"I’m actually thinking of taking over the cafeteria,"
Lin Feng said with a smile.
"You know, that investment company Yang Qiniang and I have is looking to expand into other businesses."
"And I think the school cafeteria is a hidden gold mine."
As they listened to Lin Feng, the others’ eyes lit up as well.
Yang Qiniang’s eyes shone the brightest.
After all, having been by Lin Feng’s side, Yang Qiniang had seen a thing or two by now.
So he could see some things quite clearly.
The cafeteria was indeed a high-profit business.
After all, students have to eat.
And due to the distance, most of them would choose to eat in the cafeteria.
This was why some stalls could serve terrible food and still have student customers.
And in the eyes of Yang Qiniang and Lin Feng, this phenomenon was, in effect, a micro-monopoly.
It was precisely this monopoly that made the cafeteria’s income so secure.
Within a school cafeteria, there was still competition among the various stalls.
But even a stall with the worst business would still earn more than a small shop rented outside.
Its reputation just wouldn’t be very good.
Just like Song Yaqi and Chu Ling’er’s previous boss at the cafeteria.
"I think that’s a great idea, Brother Feng. At the very least, you’re a student too, so you definitely wouldn’t make your money unscrupulously."
On this point, Cao Ming had complete faith in Lin Feng.
Then Jiang Chao suddenly realized a key detail:
"Brother Feng, are you planning to take over the stalls from that old cafeteria boss?"
Lin Feng nodded with a smile. "Since his business is doing poorly, why should he bother continuing?"
"He can’t even guarantee basic hygiene. I doubt the food from a stall like that is even edible."
Although Lin Feng was smiling as he said this,
there was something inexplicably intimidating about him.
You could vaguely sense that Lin Feng was about to make a move.

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