Chapter 31 - 30: Cafeteria Speech

Chapter 31: Chapter 30: Cafeteria Speech

The next day, Ning He and the other two arrived at the cafeteria, collected their ingredients, and got straight to work.

Everything went as smoothly as it had the day before. The three of them worked together with greater synergy, and the quality of their finished dishes was even better than yesterday’s.

However, once the students entered the cafeteria, things started to feel off.

Shockingly, their stall was completely and utterly deserted!

Even the students who had eaten there yesterday and promised to return today were nowhere to be found.

Not a single person.

Even the occasional glances cast their way were tinged with thinly veiled contempt and schadenfreude.

Something was very wrong.

There was definitely something fishy going on!

"What should we do?" Connie had also realized the problem. She knitted her brows and looked at Ning He.

Ning He looked into the distance. Not far away, the female student from yesterday, Juno, was excitedly walking in their direction.

"Let’s wait and see."

She wanted to verify something.

Sure enough, before Juno could even get close to their stall, someone suddenly appeared from behind, grabbed her arm, and whispered a few words into her ear.

Juno’s face fell in disbelief. She cast another glance in Ning He’s direction before finally walking away with a regretful expression.

Ning He’s face darkened like a stormy sky.

Cutting off someone’s livelihood was as heinous as murdering their parents.

’Which bastard is playing dirty tricks behind our backs?’

Actually, she didn’t even need to think about it. It definitely had something to do with Qiu Luo.

’But I didn’t murder anyone, nor did I commit arson! I’m just trying to make an honest living with my own skills. Why should I be blacklisted over some heartless scumbag?!’

Ning He took off her mask, grabbed a megaphone off the wall with one hand, picked up a stool with the other, pushed open the side door of the stall, and walked out.

Her sudden appearance drew the attention of the crowd. The gazes that landed on her were filled with undisguised mockery and disgust.

This was the woman who had been pestering Qiu Luo ever since he enrolled. Not only had she forced him to date her, but she had also forbidden anyone else from getting close to him. She was typically bitter and sarcastic, and she loved to cause trouble. If it weren’t for Qiu Luo, absolutely no one would have willingly gone to her stall. How did she even have the nerve to come back?

Turning a blind eye to the glares, Ning He pushed through the crowd and strode to the very center of the cafeteria.

She set the stool down and stepped onto it. Standing high above the crowd, she swept her gaze over the surroundings and raised the megaphone.

"Everyone, I am Ning He."

"I know some of you have heard my name before. You might even hate me—hate me enough to want me driven out of this cafeteria."

Ning He paused for a moment. Not far away, Ito and his group’s expressions shifted slightly.

"While I can confidently say I’ve never broken any rules or regulations, I am standing here to apologize if my past behavior ever caused any of you distress."

"Returning here was a decision I made after careful consideration. Honestly, as a Third-level Chef, I had plenty of other options. Running a Zero-level stall is hardly a lucrative choice. Yet, I still came. My father dedicated the better half of his life to this place, and he always told me it was his proudest achievement. That is why I came back!"

Murmurs rippled through the crowd, and the gazes fixed on Ning He began to soften slightly.

But it still wasn’t enough.

"I’ve made some poor choices in the past. But what’s done is done. If you’ve been following the news, you should know that I’ve already died once. Starting from scratch at a Zero-level stall is my way of telling myself that from this day forward, everything begins anew."

"To prove my determination, I promise that I will never bother a single student over my personal affairs ever again. I will focus entirely on honing my culinary skills and ensure our menu features new items every single month. Furthermore, as an apology for taking up your time today, we will be launching several new dishes tomorrow. You’re all welcome to come give them a try and share your feedback with me."

"Finally, I know someone has been pulling strings behind the scenes today. I’m not angry. I only hope that whoever it is will have the decency to confront me directly in the future. After all, pulling petty little stunts in the shadows really isn’t in line with the spirit of our Mecha Academy."

As Ning He finished speaking, the murmurs in the crowd grew louder. Many people covertly shot glances in Ito’s direction.

Ito’s face flushed hot, and the chicken breast sandwich in his mouth suddenly became hard to swallow.

"In short, I hope you will all give me a chance. I promise I won’t let you down."

Ning He lowered the megaphone and gave a deep bow.

The crowd remained utterly silent. A few seconds later, sparse applause broke out.

Ning He looked toward the sound and saw it was none other than the female student named Juno.

Ning He flashed her a grateful smile.

Soon, more people joined in the applause.

Many of those present were new students who had only recently enrolled. They were completely unaware of Ning He’s past. They had simply seen messages circulating in their group chats and the academy forums the night before, urging everyone to boycott the Zero-level Stall that served breakfast in the cafeteria.

The instigators had claimed that she relied on nepotism to get a spot in the cafeteria, that she had relentlessly harassed the academy’s most outstanding senior student, and that her unreasonable behavior was ruining the academy’s culture.

But after hearing her speech, their perspectives shifted. She was a dignified Third-level Chef who was merely taking over a Zero-level stall to honor her father’s legacy. This was a noble sacrifice on her part. What need did she have for nepotism?

Not to mention, she even promised to regularly introduce new dishes. Tsk, which of the other stalls would ever dare make such a claim?

How on earth was this ruining the academy’s culture?

Was she ruining their culture of serving the exact same menu all year round?

If that was the case, they welcomed more people like her!

At that moment, save for a few students who already harbored a deep-seated grudge against Ning He, the prejudices spawned by the rumors had largely dissipated.

Her goal achieved, Ning He hopped down from the stool and returned to the stall. Connie eyed her with a look of pure wonder.

"I never expected you to be such a smooth talker. But tell me, were you really out there to prove your determination, or were you just running a promotional ad for the stall?"

Ning He gave her a playful wink. "You caught that, huh? Actually, it was a bit of both. If you’re going to do something, you might as well go all out."

Connie opened her mouth to reply, but quickly snapped it shut.

Because their customers had arrived.

Meanwhile, at the entrance to the cafeteria, a group of men in instructor uniforms were chatting among themselves.

"...Who was that girl just now? She’s got some serious guts!"

"You don’t know? That’s the girl who’s been clinging to that kid Qiu Luo. Her cooking is alright, but her personality... well, it’s a lot to handle."

"Oh, right! Now that you mention it, I remember her. I guess Qiu Luo finally managed to escape that nightmare."

"By the way, Leo, Qiu Luo headed to Central City. Has he reached out to you at all?"

The man in the center was tall and heavily built, possessing thick eyebrows and a striking gaze. It was none other than Leo. He happened to have some rare free time today, so he had returned to teach a Mecha piloting class for the students.

Hearing this, he shook his head. "Not yet."

The man who asked the question frowned slightly, but quickly smiled again. "He just got there. He’s probably swamped with things to do and simply forgot."

Leo nodded, unwilling to dwell on the topic, and stepped through the cafeteria doors.

"Come on, let’s go eat."

Despite the earlier bumps in the road, business at Ning He’s stall rebounded to its expected levels. In fact, thanks to the foundation built by their returning customers from yesterday, the crowd was even larger today.

Ning He no longer had to hide in the back. She organized the students into two separate lines and manned the window alongside Connie, while Ah Huai stayed in the back, taking charge of freshly frying the dough sticks and sticky rice cakes.

The cafeteria stalls rarely ever introduced new dishes. When Ning He rolled out several new items right off the bat, the students were completely unable to resist the temptation—provided the food tasted decent, of course.

Because of this, a significant portion of the line consisted of upperclassmen, and they were ordering in large quantities.

Right in the middle of the rush, Ning He noticed that the cafeteria had suddenly gone completely silent. Even the students waiting in line in front of her had shifted their gazes away from the food and toward the entrance.

A chorus of respectful greetings echoed throughout the cafeteria.

"Commander Leo!"

"Good morning, Commander!"

"Instructor Leo!"

Ning He paused.

’It’s him?’

Leo nodded to the surrounding students, gesturing for them to sit back down and continue their meals. Everyone was incredibly obedient. Aside from watching him with rapt attention, no one dared to make another peep.

Over at the Third-level Stall across the hall that sold sandwiches, the head chef—a large, portly man with an afro—poked his head out the window and waved enthusiastically at Leo.

"Instructor Leo! I’ve prepared a smoked meat sandwich for you. Please, come have a taste!"

"I have some here too! Me too!"

For a moment, every single stall was fighting tooth and nail for the honor of serving this man breakfast.

Ning He was dumbfounded.

’Is this really necessary?’

’Even men fighting over the top courtesan at a brothel in a soap opera wouldn’t be this desperate, right?’

While she was silently grumbling to herself, she heard Connie’s voice chime in beside her.

"Lieutenant Colonel Leo! Our stall has an entire menu of brand new items! Please come have a taste too!"

Ning He’s eyes widened in shock.

’Huh?’

’What is going on here?’

’Who exactly is this guy?’

’How does he have this much charisma?’

While Ning He was puzzling over this, she saw the man who had captured everyone’s attention taking long strides straight in her direction.