"Chi Yue, believe me, I’ve heard that the braised pork rice here is exceptionally delicious!" The speaker was a girl from the external department dorm 202 named Zhan Yi.
"Okay, I get it, you all just go ahead and eat. I’ll take care of the bill," Chi Yue said, looking somewhat disdainfully at the small eatery, but if she wanted to win over her classmates, she naturally had to offer something.
"Jiang Shuqin, do you think you can stomach the food here? If not, I can take you someplace else by ourselves!" This time, Chi Yue was treating most of the people from the dormitory, including those from 201.
Jiang Shuqin didn’t want to come initially, but since the other people in the dorm were especially excited, holding the thought of slaughtering Chi Yue for a meal, she ultimately joined them.
"Let’s go, let’s go inside," the girl named Zhan Yi was the most excited and rushed into the shop first.
As soon as they entered, Zhan Yi exclaimed in surprise, "Xia Chuyi?"
At the sound of this name, Chi Yue suddenly looked up and saw that it was indeed Xia Chuyi!
The companions from 201, especially Jiang Shuqin, also came forward.
"Chuyi, what are you doing here?" Jiang Shuqin asked.
No sooner had she spoken than Jiang Shuqin felt a pang of regret.
All they saw was Xia Chuyi, wearing an apron, sleeve covers, and a work hat, holding a tray, clearly working part-time here in this eatery.
From the looks of it, it was clear that was the others’ thought too.
"Chuyi, is this... your classmate?" Qian Qianqian, seeing the unusual expression on Xia Chuyi’s classmates, felt a bit annoyed and said softly, "I should have known not to make you help out today!"
Xia Chuyi responded with a smile, "It’s okay."
Since she had decided to do business, incidents like these were bound to happen sooner or later.
However, she hadn’t anticipated that she’d bump into an entire group, and one brought by Chi Yue at that.
It really was a narrow path for enemies.
"What would everyone like to have?" Xia Chuyi served the group as naturally as ever.
Just as Jiang Shuqin was about to say something, Chi Yue suddenly confronted Xia Chuyi with a question, "Are you working here?"
Her gaze was full of sarcasm.
Xia Chuyi smiled lightly, "If you’d like to eat here, please come in and take a seat. If you brought your bowls, feel free to take the food to go."
Seeing her react so calmly made Chi Yue feel even more dissatisfied, and she sneered, "A university student, stooping so low as to wash dishes, is truly a disgrace to our external department!"
"Chi Yue!" Jiang Shuqin was the first to be unable to stand it any longer and frowned at Chi Yue.
Chi Yue simply arched an eyebrow and said, "Jiang Shuqin, you always speak up for her, and that’s fine."
"But today, you see for yourself, she’s degrading herself by working here without any regard for the image of the students from our external department. It’s indeed a disgrace!"
In her tone was an unmistakable mix of triumph and contempt.
The rest of the crowd exchanged glances.
"Heh heh," Xia Chuyi chuckled twice.
"Our nation’s leaders have taught us that ’one should rely on one’s own efforts to provide for oneself,’ and that labor is the most glorious," Xia Chuyi replied unruffled to Chi Yue, "So, Classmate Chi Yue, it seems your ideological consciousness has some problems."
Everybody was taken aback.
None of them dared to refute those words.
Chi Yue was no exception.
Yet Chi Yue was not willing to give up and added, "Classmate Xia Chuyi, the school distributes a living allowance every month. If you’re thrifty, it should be mostly enough."
"And yet, you feel that is insufficient and come out to work. Are you questioning the national policy? Complaining about the small allowance?"
Continuing, Chi Yue remarked, "Of course, I’ve heard that in some impoverished areas, a whole family shares one pair of pants... "