The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead
Chapter 302 - 293: Connections

Chapter 302: Chapter 293: Connections

Lu Jingqiu spent the night at the small building and went to school early the next morning.

Luo Xinyue told her that she had already asked her mother-in-law for help.

Lu Jingqiu packed several portions of dry goods, planning to visit the association at noon. One portion was for the canteen, the rest were gifts for Editor Yang, Zhang Miao, and Editor Ban.

Luo Xinyue said she wanted to go with her, so the two of them rode their bikes to the association right after class at noon.

Editor Yang had come back from his vacation and, upon seeing the dry goods they brought, he generously brought out some special local products he bought from outside, some fruit candies, and let each of them take a handful to try with the kids at home.

After leaving, Luo Xinyue said, "Do you think we’re bribing Editor Yang with this?"

Lu Jingqiu laughed, "This is just an exchange of gifts, we’re not asking Editor Yang for anything, how could it be considered a bribe."

Luo Xinyue laughed.

Zhang Miao, seeing the high-quality dry goods, said, "Where did you get these from? They’re really good quality."

"There’s a shop that sells grains and oils at Fish Tail Market, it’s just up front. My friend owns the shop. If Editor Zhang likes it, please introduce more customers to us."

Zhang Miao raised an eyebrow, "Your friend isn’t bad, using you to do advertisement in the middle of the day huh."

"Haha, we even thought about advertising in the canteen. Turns out our canteen has merged with the print factory now."

"Exactly, there are only a few of us. After moving here, we didn’t have a place to cook, so we have to eat with the print factory."

"Oh."

Lu Jingqiu wasn’t acquainted with the print factory canteen management and going there rashly might not accomplish anything. Just as she was feeling awkward about it, Zhang Miao smiled, "Do you want to sell dry goods to the canteen?"

Luo Xinyue said, "My friend doesn’t just have good dry goods, the vegetables and fruits are also quite nice."

Editor Ban on the side said, "If it was the old manager from before, it would’ve been easy, but now it’s not him in charge. However, we could still ask for his help."

Lu Jingqiu quickly smiled, "Does Editor Ban have a way?"

"Let’s go, I’ll take you to meet him, he should still be around."

Editor Ban led them both to the print factory’s canteen. The publishing house staff were all there, but they were no longer in charge.

They found the former chef and gave him two bags of dry goods, hoping he could help ask if the canteen needed any.

The old chef, impressed with the dry goods, readily agreed to help inquire and would let them know the outcome.

Lu Jingqiu and Luo Xinyue were quite happy. Around one o’clock, they headed back to school.

In the evening, He Yu and Chen Qingru even asked them where they had been, mentioning they had braised fish today: "Two yuan per serving, tastes quite good. Many students lined up for it. We didn’t see you two coming and were almost frantic as the fish was nearly gone."

Luo Xinyue said, "We went to the association today. Sorry, we left in a hurry and forgot to tell you. How was the fish, was it tasty?"

Chen Qingru said, "Not bad, and I heard there will be more tomorrow."

Lu Jingqiu asked, "How come the school suddenly served fish?"

He Yu replied, "They said it was caught by villagers by the river. A teacher knew someone at the school and introduced them. It’s nice to change up the menu occasionally, it’s quite a treat."

Luo Xinyue nodded eagerly, "Yeah, sure, let’s hurry down and line up tomorrow. We should get extra portions, two pieces per person is not enough."

Chen Qingru said, "Each person is only allowed two pieces."

Lu Jingqiu suddenly thought of something, "You mentioned that our school has Niannian’s family members, could Professor Shi also help ask the cafeteria? I wonder if Niannian has spoken to Professor Shi about it."

Luo Xinyue said, "Exactly, I wonder if she’s mentioned it."

Everyone in the dorm was anxiously waiting for the next day to come. As soon as the morning classes ended, they grabbed their lunch boxes and dashed to the cafeteria.

Lu Jingqiu got in line first, followed by Luo Xinyue. Then, He Yu and Chen Qingru arrived, squeezing in between the two.

With her lunch box in hand, Chen Qingru said, "All I can think about is fish. I was so distracted during this morning’s lecture."

Hearing this, Lu Jingqiu burst out laughing, "So you like eating fish, huh?"

Indeed, there were only two pieces of fish per person, and trying to charm your way into more was futile.

Aside from the fish, there were also potatoes with cabbage, brown rice, and steamed buns today.

After the group found a place to sit, Chen Qingru took a great big bite of her fish and savored it, but Lu Jingqiu, smelling the fish, had no appetite at all, "I feel like the cabbage tastes really good today."

As soon as she said this, everyone turned to look at her. Chen Qingru laughed and said, "Do you want my cabbage then?"

And Lu Jingqiu actually nodded. Chen Qingru asked, "Seriously going to swap?"

"Yeah, I think this fish... doesn’t suit my taste," she replied, and handed her fish pieces over to Chen Qingru.

He Yu and Luo Xinyue, while eating their fish, said, "The fish today is really good. The chefs at our school are quite skilled, pretty good indeed."

Lu Jingqiu shook her head; she used to enjoy eating fish too but for some reason, today she didn’t even want to catch a whiff of it.

She had wondered if Niannian had managed to get through to the cafeteria using Professor Shi, but on Thursday, she and Luo Xinyue saw Niannian’s family’s dried goods in the cafeteria.

Luo Xinyue said, "I knew she wouldn’t miss out on such a great convenience. Good, oh, that’s right, my mother-in-law has found out for us: a total of 125 square meters for forty yuan per month. She’s reserved it for us and told us to discuss it when we get back. If we decide to take it, we must act quickly."

When Lu Jingqiu heard forty yuan, she thought if the store had ten customers a day, they would make money. She swiftly said, "Let’s take it. Let’s find Niannian tonight and discuss it. If we agree, we should sign the contract tomorrow since it’s Friday. We can hire someone to start the renovations by Sunday."

"Yeah, okay."

After school, the two went straight to Niannian’s house to talk over the details of the house. Xue Jianian said, "The kitchen will need one head chef and one assistant, while two waiters should suffice for the front. We’ll have a large serving counter where customers can pick up their food. Except for senior citizens and kids who might need some help, young people should be able to carry their dishes to the table themselves. The rest of the time will be spent clearing tables. A head chef for thirty-five, an assistant for thirty, two waiters for twenty-five each, a cashier for twenty-five, and then budget twenty for utilities like electricity and water. That’s a monthly expense of two hundred yuan. If we can have twenty customers a day, we should be fine."

Luo Xinyue said, "With such a big customer base, we should easily attract twenty people a day."

Lu Jingqiu said, "Twenty persons a day, we should be able to get five in the morning, and I suppose we’ll manage during the afternoon and evening."

Xue Jianian, seeing their lack of confidence, laughed and said, "Get rid of ’suppose’. I guarantee, with our flavor, twenty customers won’t be an issue."

Luo Xinyue said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let’s rent it."

The three of them discussed it a while before Luo Xinyue decided to stop by her in-laws’ place to see if they could sign the contract at noon the next day.

If possible, the three of them would make a trip during lunch. If not, Luo Xinyue would have to take time off to sign the contract alone.