I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

"The third floor?"

After Yin Mingyang explained, Shen Kang understood what the third floor meant: the cafeteria at Qianmin University had three floors. The first floor served fast food and fried rice and pancakes. The second floor offered various local snacks. The third floor was the faculty dining hall.

The teachers' cafeteria offers a variety of stir-fries, which are more expensive than fast food, but taste great.

That's the faculty cafeteria; only lecturers can eat there, and students can't.

After explaining to Shen Kang, Yin Mingyang directly told Xie Yuan, "The third floor is the teachers' cafeteria; we can't go there."

Xie Yuan chuckled: "Other students might not be able to go, but with me leading the way, there won't be any problem."

Shen Kang said, "No need to trouble yourself, I think fast food is fine."

Xie Yuan said, "No, Shen, you've come all this way to Qianmin University, we have to make sure you're treated well. Besides, Yali is here today too. She doesn't usually eat fast food, the faculty cafeteria is more to her liking."

Su Yali hadn't expected that she would be involved, so she quickly replied, "I'm fine with anything I eat."

After a chaotic struggle, Yin Mingyang surprisingly sided with Xie Yuan, saying that if Xie Yuan had a solution, it would be good to eat on the third floor.

Yin Mingyang wasn't stupid. He could tell that Xie Yuan was trying to show off in front of him again. But Shen Kang had really come to Qianmin University once in a while, and he wanted to treat Shen Kang to something nice. Fast food was a bit too cheap. Although he had just been arguing with Shen Kang, Yin Mingyang still planned to treat him himself.

Now that Xie Yuan has a way to eat on the third floor, Yin Mingyang feels even better; spending a little more money is worthwhile. As for Xie Yuan's pretentious act, let him pretend if he wants.

Shen Kang glanced at Yin Mingyang and then offered no further resistance.

These two have already formed a united front, so there's no point in him and Su Yali persisting any longer; it's just a waste of time, and they might as well surrender sooner.

So the four of them headed up to the third floor.

Upon reaching the third floor, Shen Kang found the environment to be significantly better than below; it was much quieter and cleaner. The limited number of windows offered a variety of stir-fries, and there was no need to queue.

Xie Yuan walked ahead, thinking that he would get some wine later and get the two of them drunk. He reasoned that people speak the truth when they're drunk, and if he wanted to know the real story of these two, he should start with some wine.

As for whether he would get drunk first... Xie Yuan was quite confident in his alcohol tolerance.

The reason Xie Yuan insisted on bringing them to the third floor was because they absolutely needed some alcohol—the first and second floors didn't sell any alcohol, and it would be too abrupt and unnatural to force them to buy some alcohol from the supermarket to eat with fast food and fried rice.

The third floor is better; it's all stir-fries and they also sell drinks. Eating stir-fries and drinking drinks right there feels so natural.

Xie Yuan walked and thought, secretly applauding his own plan.

Then I walked to a window of a Sichuan-style stir-fry restaurant and was about to order.

The chef inside glanced at the four people who had come in and reminded them, "This is the teachers' cafeteria. Only teachers can swipe their cards. Students can't order food here."

The campus card system at Qianmin University has different versions for students and faculty. The faculty cafeteria on the third floor only accepts faculty cards, not student cards.

The master chef could tell at a glance that the people in front of him were all students.

Shen Kang and the others looked at Xie Yuan.

Xie Yuan looked inside, his gaze darting around as if searching for someone. "Old Huang isn't here today?"

The head chef glanced at him again, "Old Huang isn't doing it anymore."

"Aren't you going to do it anymore?"

Xie Yuan was startled.

The reason he said he could bring them to the third floor for dinner was because he knew someone there who could order food in cash.

So that person quit?

Shen Kang noticed this too and suggested, "Why don't we go downstairs to eat?"

Xie Yuan quickly waved his hand, turned around and whispered to them, "I'll talk to him again." Then he turned back to the chef in front of him, smiling ingratiatingly, "Master, I'm from the same hometown as Lao Huang. We're quite close, and I used to eat here often. Could you please make an exception and accept cash for us and cook us a few dishes?"

He planned to bring up Lao Huang's influence to see if it would work—although Lao Huang had quit, he and the master craftsman inside had been colleagues before, so he would probably give him some face.

If all else fails, you can just call Lao Huang on the spot.

Thinking this, Xie Yuan was about to take out his phone.

Upon hearing this, the chef at the window remained expressionless. "That's the school's rule. We only accept teacher cards here; there's no such thing as cash."

Xie Yuan looked at the situation and realized that making a phone call seemed to be the only option: "How about I call Lao Huang?"

The head chef nodded. "Alright. That kid also took two packs of cigarettes with him when he left. You call him, and I'll give him a piece of my mind."

"..."

Xie Yuan realized he had run into a brick wall; it seemed he couldn't eat on the third floor. He had no choice but to give up, turning around with an embarrassed and unpleasant expression.

Seeing Xie Yuan's state, Yin Mingyang had mixed feelings: on the one hand, he felt quite pleased to see Xie Yuan, his rival who always wanted to humiliate him, make a fool of himself in front of him; on the other hand, he was unhappy that he couldn't treat Shen Kang to a nice meal and had to go downstairs for fast food.

Shen Kang didn't care; he enjoyed whatever he ate.

"Let's go."

The group turned to leave, but before they had gone a few steps, they saw three students, two men and one woman, enter through the door.

The three students were about to pass by them, but when they saw Shen Kang, one of the four, the boy who was leading them suddenly stopped. The other two also stopped.

The boy who stopped in front looked at Shen Kang and asked directly, "Shen Kang?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Kang looked at them and quickly remembered who the boy in the lead was: "Zhan Yingxu?"

He had previously participated in the city-level competition for innovation and entrepreneurship, and met many contestants, including the boy in front of him named Zhan Yingxu. However, he hadn't seen the other two before; they were probably Zhan Yingxu's classmates from school.

Zhan Yingxu came over directly, very warmly, "You're here to have fun at Qianmin University?"

Zhan Yingxu then introduced him to the two people behind him, saying, "This is Shen Kang, the one I told you about. He came up with a completely new project on the spot, and it was flawless. He's amazing!..."

Judging from the expressions of the other two, Zhan Yingxu seemed to have indeed told them about Shen Kang before. Upon seeing Shen Kang, the two were quite friendly and went up to chat.

Seeing this, Shen Kang simply introduced Yin Mingyang to them, saying that he was his good friend who had grown up with him. He also introduced Su Yali and Xie Yuan.

After chatting for a while, Zhan Yingxu brought up the current matter: "...You guys came here for dinner?"

"Um."

"Are you finished eating and about to leave? How about we grab a little something more to eat together?"

"No, I only found out when I got here that they only accept teacher cards and don't accept cash."

Upon hearing this, Zhan Yingxu realized what was going on and quickly patted his chest, "Hey, I thought it was something serious. Come on, come on, other students can't eat here, but you can't? Come on, come on, I'll arrange it!..."

After Zhan Yingxu's enthusiastic entreaties, the group returned.

"Old Shen, what kind of food do you like? Sichuan stir-fries, or Jiangxi stir-fries? Or how about some Cantonese dishes?..."

Unlike Xie Yuan, who needed to find a window with an acquaintance, Zhan Yingxu simply dragged them around the third floor, letting Shen Kang choose for himself, as if he could handle any window.

This obvious gap left Xie Yuan feeling extremely frustrated as he watched from behind.

It's bad enough that I made a fool of myself, but I didn't expect that a comparison group would come along.

Compared to Zhan Yingxu, Xie Yuan's attempt to find a window but failed was incredibly embarrassing.

Xie Yuan felt that the people around him were looking at him with disdain and mockery...

But in reality, no one was watching him.

Su Yali just kept glancing at Shen Kang.

Yin Mingyang's friend is truly something else. Driving a BMW is one thing, but how does he have such a wide network of connections and get along so well? Even just coming over for a meal, he runs into an incredibly influential acquaintance—who exactly is the student from Qianmin University? ...

After Zhan Yingxu's enthusiastic encouragement, Shen Kang finally chose to order from a Jiangxi-style stir-fry stall.

Then he saw how Zhan Yingxu did it: Zhan Yingxu directly took out a teacher's card and swiped it. The chef at the window seemed to recognize Zhan Yingxu and swiped the card without saying a word.

Xie Yuan, who was standing to the side, still remembered why he insisted on coming to the third floor, quickly chimed in, "Let's have some more beer, a case to start."

As soon as he said it, he knew that Zhan Yingxu was not familiar with him, and it wouldn't be fair for Zhan Yingxu to pay for the extra food himself, so he added, "I'll pay for the drinks."

As he spoke, he took out his wallet.

Zhan Yingxu also wanted a drink and was about to agree when he saw this, but Shen Kang reached out and pressed down on Xie Yuan's hand as he took out his wallet: "Never mind, I have things to do this afternoon, so I won't drink."

Just as Zhan Yingxu was about to speak, he suddenly changed his tone in response to the echo of someone else wanting some drinks: "Yeah, Lao Shen is right. Everyone has things to do this afternoon, and drinking during the day isn't good; it can easily lead to mistakes. Let's drink another time."

Since the two leaders had said so, the others naturally echoed their sentiments.

Even if Xie Yuan wanted to drink more, he couldn't continue under these circumstances and had to give up, which made him even more depressed.

Xie Yuan ate the entire meal in a rather depressing mood.

He had originally planned to have some drinks, and since he had brought them up himself, he would act as the "leader," and then he would be in charge of controlling the conversation at the table.

At that time, you will naturally be able to find out whatever you want.

But I never expected there would be so many twists and turns.

Shen Kang and Zhan Yingxu are now leading the conversation at the table, discussing some kind of startup project.

Xie Yuan wanted to ask something else, but in this situation he couldn't bring himself to ask or know how to ask, so he was naturally very frustrated after the meal, feeling like he had eaten for nothing.

Yin Mingyang was quite happy with the meal—he had originally thought he would have to treat everyone, but unexpectedly, when Lao Shen came to their Qianmin University, he ran into a sucker who knew Lao Shen and was willing to treat everyone, which was really great.

After dinner, everyone parted ways at the cafeteria entrance. Zhan Yingxu and his group went about their business, while Shen Kang and his group began preparing to stroll around the Qianmin University campus.

Shen Kang then explained his plans to Su Yali in detail: "...Specifically, I'm looking for a location with good traffic flow. Do you have any similar places you could recommend?"

Su Yali had also tried starting a business with partners before, so she knew about things like logistics flow. After thinking for a moment, she said, "At Qianmin University, there are three commercial districts, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. I wonder if you'd like to do anything else besides this logistics point? If you're only going to run this logistics point, I can recommend a good location. It's relatively inexpensive, conveniently located, and offers great value for money."

Upon seeing this, Shen Kang realized he had indeed found the right person, Su Yali, and immediately said, "Besides this logistics point, we're planning to do something else..."

As the two were talking, Xie Yuan listened from the side, but couldn't get a word in edgewise. So he turned to look at Yin Mingyang and saw that Yin Mingyang was looking down at his phone and pressing buttons repeatedly.

"Sending text messages to Huang Jing?" Xie Yuan said casually, but there was still an unreadable hint of jealousy in his voice.

Yin Mingyang didn't even look up. "No."

He and his love rival didn't usually have much to say to each other.

Xie Yuan felt the same way. After hearing Yin Mingyang say "no," he felt a little better and stopped asking. He then looked at Shen Kang and Su Yali, intending to find an opportunity to interject and see if he could find out anything.

The group then began to walk slowly.

Not long after I left the cafeteria, a girl walked over from a distance and headed straight for me.

Xie Yuan knew that girl.

As he watched the girl walk towards him, he suddenly had a bad feeling.

In particular, Xie Yuan noticed that the girl's gaze was very direct, staring straight at Shen Kang, which made Xie Yuan's bad premonition even stronger.

No way...

As if in response to Xie Yuan's ominous feeling, the girl walked straight up to Shen Kang, stopped, and smiled, her smile as beautiful as a flower.

This girl was already beautiful, but today she wore exquisite makeup, making her even more stunning. Now, when she smiles, she's even more radiant.

"What a coincidence, Shen Kang, you're here at Qianmin University?"

The girl smiled at Shen Kang and said this.

Xie Yuan's expression was blank—who the hell is this school? Why does this guy always run into acquaintances?!

In particular, the person in front of him was a princess-like figure who actually took the initiative to greet Shen Kang! Xie Yuan had never seen her with such a fawning smile before.