Leaving Instructor Yu's courtyard, Lin Chen went straight back to the Martial Arts Arena.
Gu Fei pulled out two steamed buns from his coat and handed them to Lin Chen, "You haven't eaten, right?"
"Yeah."
Lin Chen didn't stand on ceremony with Gu Fei and took the buns offered by him.
Even though these two buns were also deducted from the grain delivered to Gu Fei's house, as brothers, he wouldn't be so particular about such things with Gu Fei.
"Chen, what do you mean by working part-time to support your studies?" Gu Fei asked curiously while Lin Chen was chewing on a bun.
"Instructor Yu found a job for me to help out in the cafeteria, so I can get free meals."
Working in the cafeteria?
Gu Fei was quite shocked, his eyes widening instantly.
"Chen, don't be foolish."
Although they hadn't done less work in the village, after entering the Martial Hall, they had a certain sense of superiority deep down.
Mostly, doing dirty and tiring work in front of other students would likely invite ridicule from them, and he feared Lin Chen wouldn't be able to handle it.
Seeing Gu Fei worried, Lin Chen reassured him proactively, "Haven't there been enough people mocking me over the past half year? Have you forgotten the legendary Martial Path stories I told you?"
"That's different, the story of 'Don't belittle a youth who is poor' and the like, although mocked, they didn't do menial labor."
"The essence is the same, the more I'm mocked now, the more satisfying it will be when I achieve success in martial arts and prove them wrong."
"That's true, but…"
"Alright, I finally got Instructor Yu to agree. Now, even if I don't want to do it, it's no longer an option."
Hearing this, Gu Fei pursed his lips, finally cursing, "Your grandfather is really something else."
...
...
In the morning, Yu Yongnian came to the Martial Arts Arena, watched the students practice martial arts for a while, and then left, but before leaving, he said a word to Lin Chen, allowing him to go directly to the cafeteria at noon.
Lin Chen knew that Instructor Yu had already arranged things with the cafeteria steward.
As it neared mealtime, Lin Chen bid farewell to Gu Fei and left fifteen minutes early.
Arriving at the cafeteria, he asked to see the steward and reported his name.
"Instructor Yu indeed left instructions, so you can be responsible for serving dishes to the students and eat with everyone afterward."
"Thank you, Steward Zhang."
"No need to thank me, this is a favor from Instructor Yu. Just remember to be grateful to him."
Steward Zhang waved his hand; there were many chores in the kitchen. The hardest and most exhausting was collecting and cleaning the students' dishes, but he wouldn't arrange such strenuous work for Lin Chen.
Although Instructor Yu merely said to give Lin Chen an opportunity to work, leaving the details to him as the steward, he couldn't really let Lin Chen do the dirtiest and hardest jobs.
When mealtime arrived, Lin Chen stood at the beef window with an iron ladle in hand.
"Senior Brother, how many pounds of beef do you want?"
"Senior Brother? Aren't you that… um, who?"
"Senior Brother, my surname is Lin."
"Junior Brother Lin, sorry, I forgot for a moment. Give me two pounds of beef."
Lin Chen nodded and put two ladles of beef on the other person's tray.
"How many pounds of beef does this Senior Brother want?"
Each time a student came by, Lin Chen would address them with a smile, looking very at ease.
Instead, the Martial Hall students were somewhat surprised to see Lin Chen at the window, their expressions carrying a hint of astonishment, but none mocked him openly.
Lin Chen had no personal vendetta with them, so even if they ridiculed him, it was kept to themselves, not overtly expressed in front of Lin Chen.
"Senior Brother Zhao, how many pounds of beef do you want?"
Zhao Jingchuan looked at Lin Chen in front of him, somewhat surprised, "Junior Brother Lin, why are you doing this job?"
"Instructor Yu had pity on my family's poor circumstances and arranged for me to help in the cafeteria to get free meals." Lin Chen replied naturally.
"I see, then please, Junior Brother Lin, give me ten Cow Bone Staffs."
"Please wait, Senior Brother."
Lin Chen turned around and scooped out ten Cow Bone Staffs from another iron basin. Indeed, Zhao Jingchuan was one of the wealthy students in their batch, and his actions were generous. The Cow Bone Staffs weren't priced by weight; each one cost thirty cents, so ten cost three hundred cents.
There wasn't much meat on the Cow Bone Staffs, but the bone marrow inside was better for replenishing Qi Blood than beef, and only a few people in the Martial Hall could afford it.
Zhao Jingchuan left with his Cow Bone Staffs, and after a few more students queued up, Gu Fei appeared in front of Lin Chen, winking at him, "Give me two pounds of beef."
Lin Chen's expression remained unchanged, but he scooped the two ladles into the beef pot with a bit more force, pressing them firmly.
With these two scoops, there was more than a few extra taels of beef.
The two brothers exchanged a smile; everything was understood without words.
"Hey, not practicing martial arts, running to the cafeteria to do odd jobs?"
Zhang Tao appeared once again in front of Lin Chen, whose expression didn't change. He knew why Zhang Tao didn't like him.
Jealousy!
Zhang Tao's family wasn't particularly well-off either. Initially, seeing Lin Chen go to scoop beef soup at the cafeteria, yet he couldn't lower his pride to do the same, he harbored a twisted jealousy towards Lin Chen.
Such people, he had encountered many in his past life.
Back in school during the selection of impoverished students, a classmate from a poorer family, due to pride, feared being mocked by classmates and didn't dare apply for assistance. When other students received aid, he sarcastically ridiculed them.
These people, deathly vain, truly incompetent!
"Want to dish meat?" Lin Chen didn't respond to Zhang Tao's words and asked directly.
"Give me two pounds of beef." Zhang Tao snorted lightly. There were still queued students behind him, so he didn't dare delay too long.
Lin Chen picked up the iron ladle and scooped a ladleful from the beef-filled porcelain basin. After scooping, he shook his hand, causing the top few pieces of beef to drop back into the basin.
Zhang Tao's expression shifted from initial delight to subsequent anger.
"Two pounds of meat ready, next."
Lin Chen paid no mind to Zhang Tao. He didn't give him less than his portion but initially served more, letting Zhang Tao think he gained the upper hand, only to bring him back down afterward.
He realized that serving had its perks too.
When encountering familiar students, he could serve a bit more, adding an extra tael or two, and the cafeteria wouldn't mind.
After all, the cafeteria didn't have a scale, so they couldn't be very precise; one scoop was considered one pound.
"Is it ready or not? If so, hurry and move aside!"
Just as Zhang Tao was about to get angry, a student behind urged him. Faced with the impatience from the student behind, Zhang Tao promptly stepped aside, carrying his meal away with an unhappy look.
Seeing this, Lin Chen felt only disdain in his heart.
A person extremely sensitive and insecure inside, seeking to satisfy his vanity by bullying someone poorer than himself, fearing the strong while bullying the weak, such individuals could never achieve anything in the Martial Path in their lifetime.
The school had a total of sixty students, and Lin Chen finished serving all of them in a quarter of an hour but stayed at the window for another quarter hour since some students would return to their dormitories after training, change into clean clothes, and then come to the cafeteria to eat.
...
After the cafeteria closed, Lin Chen returned to the kitchen with the remaining beef from the basin to eat with the kitchen staff.
In the beef basin, three to four pounds of beef were left.
"Just in time for a meal, I see."
Steward Zhang showed up right on time, stepping inside.
"Care to join us, Steward Zhang? We happen to have some leftover beef today." Chef Wang greeted.
"I've already eaten, so I'll pass."
Steward Zhang waved it off with a smile, took a glance at the table, and then turned to Lin Chen, "Lin, you need to strengthen your body for martial arts, eat more beef."
"Thank you, Steward Zhang." Lin Chen expressed his gratitude genuinely.
"Alright, you all eat. I was just making rounds, so I'll take my leave."
Steward Zhang came and left quickly, but his words left the kitchen staff with various expressions, prompting Chef Wang to directly pick the largest piece of meat and place it in Lin Chen's bowl.
"Lin, eat more. In the future, if there's leftover beef, just help yourself."
After saying this, the head chef looked at the others, "Lin needs meat for his martial arts, so don't compete with him for it."
"At my age, eating more meat won't make a difference; it should all go to Lin."
"Lin, eat more and train well. If you succeed, our kitchen will benefit too."
Regardless of the kitchen staff's thoughts, after Steward Zhang's visit and the head chef's statements, everyone encouraged Lin Chen to eat more.
Lin Chen didn't hold back; he worked in the kitchen to eat beef.
This favor came from Instructor Yu, and if he acted overly polite, deliberately leaving food behind, that wouldn't be tactful but foolish.
Looking at the beef remaining in the basin, the head chef knew he could start buying an extra pound or two of beef daily starting tomorrow.