Pan Jingchen sat on the bed hugging a blanket, staring blankly at the local specialty noodle dish inside the lunchbox in front of her. The diced tomatoes had been completely cooked down, and the thick, tangy aroma was wafting up her nose. The shiny hand-rolled noodles looked absolutely delicious.
"Gurgle!"
In the quiet room, a loud gulping sound suddenly echoed.
Liu Xining turned her head in surprise to look at Pan Jingchen, only to see her eyes locked tightly on the tomato sauce noodles in the lunchbox, her dry lips moving slightly.
Just as she was considering whether to offer so more words of encouragent to Chenchen, she noticed that Pan Jingchen’s right hand had already erged from the blanket. She picked up the chopsticks beside her, grabbed a noodle, and hesitantly placed it near her mouth, taking a small bite and slowly starting to chew.
"How is it? Tasty?" Liu Xining asked expectantly.
"Yes, it’s delicious, even better than what they make at the restaurants back ho."
Pan Jingchen nodded slightly, and her chewing pace began to quicken.
After finishing one noodle, perhaps finding the lunchbox too far away to easily reach, Pan Jingchen took the initiative to grab the lunchbox with her other hand and brought it closer, starting to eat large mouthfuls.
Liu Xining felt very excited at this sight.
She knew that the food Jiang Yu made was sothing even a person with an eating disorder couldn’t refuse, so Chenchen, who was suffering from depression, surely wouldn’t either.
Look, Chenchen is already starting to eat, isn’t she?
The insulated lunchbox wasn’t large, but it was enough to fill one person. Pan Jingchen might have been starving for too long, or she just really loved the tomato sauce noodles; she quickly finished the whole bowl.
She even drank every last bit of the remaining broth from the bowl.
After finishing, she seed to want more, licking her lips and looking up at Liu Xining to ask:
"Is there more?"
"Not full yet?"
Liu Xining was montarily stunned, then quickly replied,
"Chenchen, it’s already past ten at night, it’s not good to eat too much now. I’ll bring you more delicious food tomorrow morning!"
"Okay."
Pan Jingchen didn’t argue, and after a while, she lightly bit her lip and softly said,
"This tomato sauce noodle dish kind of tastes like my grandma’s."
Liu Xining was montarily dumbfounded, then she walked forward, gently embracing her, and said with a light laugh,
"This ans that your grandma, from where she’s watching over you, also hopes you eat well, sleep well, and stay happy every day!"
The next day, Liu Xining, Xie Siqi, and others arrived at the Seventh Dining Hall early in the morning.
Even before they entered, they saw the dining hall bustling with people, students already lined up outside the door.
Liu Xining and her friends had never seen such a scene before; they instinctively stopped in their tracks, hesitant to go inside.
"Wow, the business here is really good!"
Xie Siqi’s eyes were wide with surprise; she’d never seen a university dining hall as crowded as the Seventh Dining Hall, and it wasn’t like other dining halls weren’t serving food.
She couldn’t help but exclaim, "Our juniors are really capable, running a student dining hall with such booming business!"
"We should call Xiaojiang and see if there’s another way to get in."
Liu Xining was a bit helpless; she actually didn’t want to bother Jiang Yu with everything. She initially thought they could just grab sothing on the first floor to fill their stomachs, not expecting so many people this early.
Looking at the situation now, they might not even be able to squeeze in.
Xie Siqi also said, "That’s the only way. There are too many people; if we get recognized, who knows if we’ll get blocked inside."
"Okay, I’ll call Xiaojiang then."
Liu Xining nodded, took out her phone from her bag, and dialed Jiang Yu’s number.
Soon, Jiang Yu ca out of the dining hall, walking quickly towards Liu Xining and the others, waving and saying with a gentle smile,
"Sis, co this way, we can enter through the side door of the kitchen."
"Oh, alright!"
Liu Xining responded, following behind Jiang Yu, and Xie Siqi and the rest quickly followed.
After a few steps, Liu Xining rembered last night’s events, feeling a surge of excitent. She couldn’t help but say to Jiang Yu,
"Xiaojiang, Chenchen loved the tomato sauce noodles I took back last night. She not only ate it, but finished it all!"
"Really?"
Jiang Yu raised an eyebrow, turning his head in mild surprise to look at Liu Xining, and said,
"That’s great. As long as she’s willing to eat, things won’t be so bad."
"She finished the whole dish and asked if there was more, showing she really liked it. She’s never shown such desire for any food before."
Liu Xining let out a long sigh; she felt absolutely certain that bringing Pan Jingchen to Jiang Yu for help was the right decision. Otherwise, she would still be worrying about how to convince Chenchen to eat a few more mouthfuls.
No matter how delicious others’ food was, it never had this effect. Only Jiang Yu’s cooking could make soone with no appetite drool.
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