Universe Infinite Canteen

As usual, the West Gate of Aerospace University was bustling with excitement. Ma Lu and Old Wang's tricycle had barely arrived when a group of hungry people immediately surrounded them.

The moment they saw what The Universe's Number One Snack Stall was preparing to sell this week, everyone was stunned, and upon glancing at the prices, they were all struck by a collective silence spell.

Someone rubbed their eyes to confirm they weren't seeing things wrong—the price of 66 yuan per serving was printed in black and white on an A4 paper.

Even though everyone knew that the food from The Universe's Number One Snack Stall was delicious, 66 yuan for a bowl of vegetables was a bit too outrageous.

So this time, a full 5 minutes passed with everyone just watching, and no one took out their money.

Ma Lu didn't seem in the least bit anxious. He even said to the onlookers, "If you want to try, buy it early. Today we only have 400 servings. There might be a bit more later on, but probably only 500 servings.

"And this week I'm only selling for 4 days, mainly because I have to take care of some new store business as well. This pricing is also a way to give back to my alma mater."

By the end of his spiel, Ma Lu couldn't help but reminisce about his days as a student at Aerospace University, especially the annual physical tests, showing a hint of nostalgia—only to be met with eye rolls in exchange.

The onlookers found the facade of a certain conniving merchant even more hateful.

No, this time they couldn't indulge him anymore, they had to show him some colors.

Everyone exchanged glances and quickly came to a consensus.

So, for the first time in history, The Universe's Number One Snack Stall experienced a cold reception. Apart from Shen Yue and others who later came with a skeptical attitude and bought a few servings, during the entire lunch rush hour, which lasted almost 50 minutes, they sold less than twenty servings.

But Ma Lu still seemed very calm and once again said to the onlookers, "Are you sure you don't want any? If you don't buy now, you'll miss out."

As a result, everyone shook their heads in unison.

Squid Brother and his fellow townsfolk were also quietly observing the situation here. Squid Brother had been full of bravado when The Universe's Number One Snack Stall first arrived, thumping his chest and assuring that he would soon find a way to deal with this trouble.

However, afterwards, he could only ramble every day with Fourth Old Guo, both of them trying to find a clever strategy to defeat their enemy from the online novels they've read.

Now, more than two months have passed, they had long since resigned themselves to silence. But fortunately, they ultimately relied on their resilience and almost outlasted this tough competitor.

When Squid Brother first heard that Ma Lu planned to open a store and stop setting up a stall, he felt a surprising sense of joy mixed with a hint of reluctance—it made him wonder if he had developed feelings after being tormented for too long.

But that didn't stop him from enjoying the spectacle now. It was rare to see Ma Lu at a disadvantage, which felt even more exciting than scrolling through TikTok dramas.

Squid Brother even broke tradition by grilling a squid tentacle for himself as a snack while watching the excitement, and together with the approaching Fourth Old Guo, they began pointing out their great strategies.

"He's anxious; he's definitely anxious. He's started to push sales proactively."

"Hahahaha, this is what they call the self-destruction of the wicked. Brother Sun, you really are a man of great wisdom and strategies. You had already predicted this day would come, which is why you told the brothers to hold back, right?"

Even Squid Brother, who was thick-skinned, blushed at this comment and stuffed the rest of his squid tentacle into Fourth Old Guo's hand, "Here, you eat too."

He originally wanted to shut Fourth Old Guo up, but to his surprise, Fourth Old Guo kept munching on the squid tentacle and said gleefully, "We've finally had our moment of triumph today. We definitely sold more than he did."

At those words, Squid Brother's heart skipped a beat.

He often read web novels too, and knew that you can't just rashly set a flag, especially for minor characters like them. So he instinctively reached out to cover Fourth Old Guo's mouth, but it was already too late.

Squid Brother then saw a horde of students sprinting towards the school gate at a hundred-meter dash pace.

Among them, someone was running and shouting, "Boss, I, I want a serving of Vegetable Medley!"

"Me too!"

"Me too!!!" Students in the back were also yelling in a mess.

But they weren't the fastest, there was an old brother who somehow found a bicycle and pedaled all the way from the playground to the West Gate.

He was the first to arrive at The Universe's Number One Snack Stall.

He didn't even bother to stop and lock the bike, just let go of it and let it fall to the ground, but he had already jumped off, took out his phone, paid with a scan in no time, and while glancing at his watch, he urged.

"Hurry, hurry, I'm next in line."

"Alright." Ma Lu took the Vegetable Medley that Old Wang had taken out of the oven and swiftly packed it into a disposable lunch box.

The boy almost snatched the lunch box then and there, then squatted by the roadside and began to gulp it down.

Since he was about to run, he thought not to eat too much, but once he swallowed the first bite, what followed was out of his control.

He, like Shen Yue, fell into the fantasy kingdom of nature, unwittingly finishing even the soup.

He wiped the broth from his mouth with the back of his hand, then closed his eyes.

By this time, those who came later had also arrived one after another, asking eagerly, "How is it, how is it?"

The first boy to finish the Vegetable Medley pondered carefully for a moment, then suddenly opened his eyes and stretched his neck.

"Power, I feel an endless stream of power."

He didn't have the time to talk more with the others, dropping that line before hurrying back on the bike toward the playground.

But with that one sentence, it was enough; the crowd had already surrounded The Universe's Number One Snack Stall, scrambling for the remaining Vegetable Medleys.

Ma Lu had to bring out a loudspeaker to control the situation and had the students queue according to the physical test schedules, selling the Vegetable Medleys first to those having their tests next.

Actually, this dish was not very suitable for a food stall. First, the audience for pure vegetarian food was smaller, and second, it took more time to prepare compared to other snacks they offered before.

Ma Lu had seen Old Wang experimenting with it at home.

It required dicing onions, garlic, chili peppers, and tomatoes, frying them on low heat, evaporating the moisture, and concentrating the sauce.

Then placing sliced eggplants, cabbage, and cucumbers on top, sprinkling with salt, pepper, olive oil, and a little mint juice, and baking at 220 degrees Celsius for 16 minutes to finish.

The preparation part could be managed beforehand, but the baking time was hard to reduce.

The commercial oven Ma Lu had bought was only able to bake 20 servings of Vegetable Medley in 16 minutes, and at most, it could produce only 75 servings in an hour.

Fortunately, Ma Lu anticipated the potential surge in demand and had Old Wang prepare 40 servings in advance, but these 40 servings sold out quickly.

Afterwards, they could only bake on demand, and those who didn't get any watched eagerly on the side, occasionally urging, "Boss, is it ready yet, is it ready yet?! When will it be my turn?"