Shen Yue and the others had by this time also noticed the tricycle behind Ma Lu.
The current president of the Classical Literature Society poked Ma Lu, "Yours?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Has the job market really become this tough?" Shen Yue was astonished.
"It's okay, I guess. Not as good as the last few years, but should be better than the next few years," Ma Lu comforted.
"Damn, then I'm screwed when I graduate," Shen Yue said with a look of despair, "my college GPA is even lower than yours."
"Don't worry, by the time you graduate, my shop should be up and running. If you really can't find a job, you can come and wash dishes for me."
"Ha, quite confident, Senior! Planning on opening a shop just after starting a stall for one day, tsk tsk tsk, even named it The Universe's Number One Snack Stall. Right, who's this uncle?" Shen Yue turned her gaze to Old Wang.
"My roommate and business partner, a very skilled chef but a bit of a loner, doesn't like to talk much."
"I knew you couldn't cook, Senior, so how did you suddenly start a snack stand? Turns out you've got a serious backer. Then I must really try this out."
"We want some too!" Hearing this, the others also echoed in agreement, taking out their phones.
"Eighteen per serving."
"Pfft—" Shen Yue's wrist shook, almost dropping her phone, "are you here to run a stall or to rob us, what could be so expensive?"
"Seems like it's deep-fried meat patties." On the other side, Old Wang's oil was almost hot enough, and someone saw him putting the meat patties into it.
Shen Yue also crowded around, "This portion... is a bit outrageous, Senior. Taking advantage isn't quite done this way. Although we did eat quite a few nice meals with the funds you brought in at the start, it's not like you can come back to charge us again."
"Rest assured, it's absolutely worth the price. Besides, if you don't eat this time, you won't know when you'll get another chance," Ma Lu pointed to the sign that read "served in limited quantities."
Shen Yue wasn't convinced, "Seriously, if it sells well, you'd still stop selling it, Senior?"
"Because our goal is to open a shop, we have to try out a variety of dishes. Plus, we use quality ingredients that aren't so easy to come by."
"Fine, fine, fine, I'll eat, okay?" Shen Yue quickly made the payment by scanning the code, and immediately her face broke into a sly grin, "Hehehe, then, Senior, I'll have the honor of being your first."
Ma Lu couldn't be bothered with her, while the others, seeing the president leading the charge, didn't want to be left behind and began to fork out money.
The Universe's Number One Snack Stall sold seven orders in less than three minutes upon opening.
Once the meat patties were cooked, the members of the Classical Literature Society gathered around again. Shen Yue weighed the portion in her hand and muttered.
"This is barely over two ounces, right? And who knows if the meat even makes up half of that. A real rip-off. I might as well sever ties with Senior after this meal."
"What did you say?" Ma Lu's voice floated over from behind.
"Nothing, just saying it looks pretty delicious, I'm going to start eating." After speaking, Shen Yue took a bite and immediately let out a sound of amazement, "Wow!"
"Is it poisoned?" one of the members joked.
"Poison my ass. At most, Senior is only after our money. It doesn't make sense for him to endanger our lives," another person retorted while taking a bite. In the next second, he let out the same sound of astonishment.
"Wow, what is this miraculous delight? Hurry up, everybody, try it!"
There was no need for them to be told twice: the others had already started eating, seeing Shen Yue bury her head in her feast, as if she hadn't had a meal in days.
The next moment, exclamations erupted one after another.
"It's really delicious, no wonder the president was enjoying it so much!"
"This is the tastiest meat pie I've ever had! Why didn't senior start his stall earlier?!"
"Damn, one is definitely not enough; I need to eat another one!"
"Calm down, didn't you just take your girlfriend to Universal Studio this week and spend all your money? Be careful, or you won't even have instant noodles to eat."
While everyone was still agonizing over the steep prices, Shen Yue had already finished her meat pie and, with a spring in her step, rushed back to the tricycle, exclaiming, "Senior, I want another one!"
"Hmm, you're not planning to cut ties with me anymore?"
"Who said that? I can cut ties with anyone but I can't cut ties with you, senior. Plus, after I graduate, I still have to go wash dishes in your shop." Shen Yue said with a flattering smile.
Ma Lu remembered that he had entrusted the future of the Classical Literature Society to this person precisely because he valued her ability to be flexible and resourceful, especially when it came to securing sponsorships for external relations.
But he hadn't expected that once she became the president, her shamelessness could be taken to a whole new level.
However, with that being said, some things had become much simpler.
With just a look, Shen Yue immediately understood and whispered, "524, the Classical Literature Society now has 524 members. I could hold a poetry contest with the theme of meat pies, and then we could use the funds to buy a fried meat pie for each person. I don't want a share of the profits; just send me ten, no, twenty fried meat pies once it's a success."
"........."
Ma Lu was speechless, "What are you thinking? I only asked you to help me promote within the Classical Literature Society; I didn't ask you to abuse your power for personal gain. And twenty fried meat pies won't kill you."
"I could split it over ten times, eating two a day." Shen Yue was persistent.
"Forget it."
"No, no, no, I'll promote for you, for free. Not just the Classical Literature Society but also our class. I can find acquaintances in other classes too... If you need it, I can even pull up a banner for you on the campus. Please, out of consideration for my loyalty, spare me a few more fried meat pies."
Ma Lu held up three fingers, "Thirty people. If you can bring me thirty customers within half an hour, I'll give you one more."
Upon hearing this, Shen Yue wasted no time and started making phone calls, "Hey, Lu Lu, I've found an amazing snack stand that's so delicious it's flying off the charts; just give me a movie ticket and I'll tell you where it is..."
"Xiao Jiu, don't you love fried chicken? There's a meat pie now that's ten times better than KFC. You help me mark attendance in tomorrow's water pollution class and I'll tell you where you can get it... What, you're saying it's outside the West Gate? Damn, how did you know, did Xu Dawei post it in the group?"
After hanging up, Shen Yue hurriedly checked the Classical Literature Society's WeChat group. Sure enough, someone had already beaten her to the punch, and now there was eager discussion about the former president's fried meat pies.
Shen Yue could only grit her teeth and try to recruit people from outside the society.
......
Soon enough, the Universe Snack Stand was surrounded by students who had heard the news, making Squid Brother and his fellow villagers green with envy.
Who says that going to university is useless these days? Look, being an alumnus certainly comes with benefits when setting up a stall.
Seeing how Ma Lu and Old Wang's stall had sold out as soon as they opened, Squid Brother and the others could only sour grape it in their minds, consoling themselves by thinking everyone was just showing face for the old president and supporting the opening.
The exaggerated expressions and gestures of Shen Yue and her group after eating the fried meat pies were clearly an act, as fake as it could get.
Today's youth, always up to no good, have learned to flatter even before leaving school.
But the food and beverage industry is different from others—if it's not delicious, it's just not delicious. Once this hype dies down, with such high prices, surely they won't be able to sell anymore.