NOVEL WEB Chapter 13 - Want a Lamb Meat Bun?
Another rule.
This time it was related to the cafeteria.
As usual, He Gu took out his phone first to take a photo of the rule before thinking further.
After taking the photo, He Gu fell into deep thought looking at this rule.
Just from these few rules, He Gu couldn’t see anything suspicious.
After all, with the limited information known so far, He Gu still hadn’t found any issues with any of the rules since entering this scenario.
And the Dragon Nation side also hadn’t used their chance for an information hint yet, apparently they also hadn’t obtained any effective information yet.
He Gu didn’t know that by the second day in this scenario, including himself, there were only 3 candidates still alive out of the original group.
So far, the experiences of the other 2 candidates didn’t provide any useful references for He Gu. Instead, they were coasting along in He Gu’s wake.
Facing the rule in front of him, what He Gu was most concerned about was still that hidden message that only he could see:
Food is always a good thing at any time, especially delicious food, it can heal everything.
…
Unlike the previous 3 hidden messages which had clear implications, this hidden message was more like a casually written prose.
What exactly was the meaning behind this message?
Was it hinting that food was very important?
Or was there some other metaphor?
For the first time facing a hidden message, He Gu was completely puzzled.
After thinking hard for a while, He Gu helplessly gave up on deducing its meaning for now.
It was pointless to keep standing here thinking about something he couldn’t figure out. It would be better to record it for now and analyze it together with other clues later.
With his mind made up, He Gu stopped dwelling on it and stepped into the cafeteria.
At this time, the cafeteria was brightly lit with the aroma of food in the air.
However, other than the cafeteria staff standing behind the counter, the entire cafeteria was empty. He Gu was the only one here to eat.
After all, there were less than 10 students left in the whole school, so it was admirable that the cafeteria still remained open.
There were a total of 6 service windows in the cafeteria. He Gu looked them over one by one. The breakfast options prepared were quite abundant, from soy milk and fried dough sticks to milk and eggs, from buns and mantou to noodles. Almost all the common Chinese breakfast items could be found here.
He Gu glanced around the 6 windows. 5 of the windows had cafeteria staff dressed in red work uniforms standing behind them.
Only at Window #4 was there a fat man dressed in a white chef’s uniform.
Cafeteria Rule #4: Please do not let the staff dressed in red serve your food.
He Gu shook his head with a laugh. It looked like he had no choice but to go to Window #4.
Window #4 sold breakfast items like buns and mantou. He Gu took a look and said, “I’ll have 2 orders of xiaolongbao, and 2 pork bun, all with beef filling.”
The fat man nimbly packed the buns into a paper bag. But just as He Gu was about to pay, the fat man suddenly said, “We also have new big lamb buns made with a freshly researched method, want to try two?”
Upon hearing this, He Gu’s heart jumped.
Cafeteria Rule #3: Do not decline recommended dishes from the chef.
But Rule #2 said: There is no food involving lamb in the cafeteria, please keep this in mind.
Yet the first thing this fat man recommended to He Gu was lamb buns!?
He Gu instantly felt nervous. He forced himself to ask, “Are you the chef?”
If this fat man wasn’t the chef, then He Gu refusing him would not violate the rules.
However, the fat man smiled and nodded, “Wearing this outfit in the cafeteria, what else could I be if not the chef?”
He Gu’s heart sank. Still not giving up, he continued asking, “Then…was what you just said recommending a dish to me?”
The fat man continued nodding, “Of course, this is my newly researched method, the lamb is specially handled, it will definitely be delicious!”
Upon hearing this, He Gu was completely flustered.
Accepting his recommendation would contradict Rule #2.
But declining his recommendation would directly violate Rule #3!
When this kind of situation occurred, usually only one possibility existed – one of these two rules must be fake.
However, right now there were no other corroborating clues, so He Gu had no way to judge!
“What do you think, want to try one?” The fat chef asked again.
He Gu’s heart raced faster, knowing he had to make a choice now.
However, just as He Gu was bracing himself to take a gamble, a shrill scream suddenly rang out from the operations room at the other end of the cafeteria.
“Bleat–”
The voice was hoarse yet shrill, sounding like the bleating of a sheep, yet also somewhat like a person hysterically screaming. It made people’s scalp tingle.
This sudden sound startled both He Gu and the fat chef.
He Gu looked towards the tightly shut door of the operations room, and saw it violently shaking, as if something was slamming against it trying to break out.
Seeing this, the fat chef’s expression immediately darkened.
“Those bunch of clumsy idiots, they can even mess up slaughtering a sheep!”
“The meat texture and flavor change if the sheep is frightened!”
“Morons!”
He Gu asked suspiciously, “The school cafeteria still slaughters their own animals? Don’t they get pre-slaughtered meat delivered from outside?”
The fat chef glared at him and impatiently said, “Only meat from freshly slaughtered sheep can make delicious cuisines, what do you know!”
As he spoke, the fat chef took out a pair of white gloves from his pocket and put them on while cursing and grumbling as he walked towards the operations room.
Shortly after, He Gu saw the fat chef yank open the door to the operations room, scolding the people inside as he entered.
In the instant the door opened, He Gu saw that the inside of the door was splattered with crimson blood, and the various tools were scattered all over the floor, completely messy.
However, before He Gu could take a closer look, the door was slammed shut again.
Seeing this scene, a bizarre thought popped into He Gu’s mind.
That scream from earlier…was it really a sheep?
As soon as this thought emerged, He Gu immediately felt a chill down his spine.
Fortunately, that fat chef had left, and would not continue recommending his “lamb buns” to He Gu.
He Gu also hadn’t directly rejected him, so he didn’t violate any rules.
Thinking of this, He Gu slightly relaxed.
That was close, he had evaded another calamity!
He Gu dared not linger any further. He promptly used his meal card to pay, then left the cafeteria carrying his xiaolongbao and beef buns.
Passing through the empty school yard, He Gu quickly returned to the dorm building diagonally across from the cafeteria.
At the dorm entrance, the dorm manager was still reading a newspaper wearing his presbyopic glasses.
He Gu ignored him and briskly went upstairs carrying the buns.
However, when he reached the 2nd floor, He Gu suddenly heard a clamorous chatter and laughter.
The sounds came from the dorm room directly facing the stairwell. Judging by the noise, there were at least 10 some people crammed inside.
He Gu couldn’t help but feel this was odd. Now there weren’t even enough people left in the entire boys dorm to fill one room, so how could this room be so lively?
Moreover, listening closely, he could even hear girls’ voices!
But when He Gu listened more carefully, his expression immediately changed.
Among the noisy chatter and laughter, He Gu seemed to hear Xiao Ying and Zhang Chao’s voices!