Liu Yutong was taken aback—she hadn’t expected Yu Xin to suddenly request a transfer.
Throughout the summer, Yu Xin had mostly been assisting her, handling administrative tasks like organizing data, compiling reports, and occasionally running errands. Even though they wouldn’t be on the same campus once the semester started, they could still communicate normally via phone.
Liu Yutong had always intended to groom her for a career in administration.
But she never imagined Yu Xin would want to work at the restaurant.
Currently, the Wanlong Association had only two operational businesses: a supermarket and a restaurant.
Under Yang Xin’s leadership, the supermarket was thriving, having opened four new branches in just one summer. In another month, a fifth branch would launch near the university district—progress was rapid, and the business was flourishing.
In contrast, the restaurant’s situation was different. So far, there was only one location in Wushui County.
Expanding the restaurant chain wasn’t easy—it was both simple and incredibly difficult.
The simple part was that with sufficient funding, store renovations and equipment could be arranged quickly. The hard part was maintaining the same quality and flavor as the Wushui County branch without tarnishing the reputation—it required meticulous attention to detail.
Training new chefs took time. While the Wushui County branch had several cooks, only two were truly capable of leading the kitchen independently.
Thus, establishing a robust chef training system was crucial.
Alternatively, they could follow the trend of the future by setting up a central kitchen to produce semi-finished dishes—pre-made meals—then distribute them to various branches via express logistics.
But that would compromise freshness, and the signature dishes of Yuyue Fang relied heavily on being served fresh.
In short, opening a chain of restaurants was no simple feat.
Liu Yutong asked, "Are you sure about this?"
Yu Xin took a deep breath and nodded firmly. "Sister Tong, I know you’ve always looked out for me, but I want to try something more challenging."
Working at the restaurant would indeed be more demanding than the supermarket.
Dealing with difficult customers, impatient demands, or drunken patrons—all of it tested one’s patience and adaptability.
"You can transfer after the new branch opens," Liu Yutong finally agreed, then added, "But you’ll start from the bottom—waiting tables, cleaning, everything."
Yu Xin had no management experience, so putting her in charge of a restaurant outright was unrealistic. Starting from the ground up was the best way to learn.
"Thank you, Sister Tong!" Yu Xin replied excitedly.
Truthfully, she had made up her mind after choosing her university major. Meeting a few international students in her class had only strengthened her resolve to challenge herself.
After the others left, only Liu Yutong, Ma Da, and Yun Cheng remained in the meeting room.
Liu Yutong looked at Ma Da and said, "Ma Da, I have a task for you. There are too many troublemakers loitering near our school, harassing female students. I want them gone from the campus entrance within a week."
Ma Da slammed the table and stood up angrily. "Miss, are you talking about those guys from the vocational college? I’ve heard about them—I didn’t realize they’d bothered you too! Don’t worry, I’ll teach them a lesson!"
"Remember, we’re a legitimate company. Handle things properly," Liu Yutong reminded him.
Ma Da gave an OK sign and declared confidently, "Don’t worry, Miss, I know the drill."
For some reason, seeing Ma Da so self-assured made Liu Yutong uneasy.
"Has Zhao Tianyi moved here yet?" she suddenly asked.
Yun Cheng, who had been standing quietly nearby, reported, "Miss, he’s already relocated. He’s at the courthouse now."
Once she confirmed Zhao Tianyi’s arrival, Liu Yutong instructed Yun Cheng to notify him to conduct more training sessions for the team—reinforcing legal awareness—before leaving.
As Liu Yutong stepped out of the building, someone nearby noticed her.
"Hey, isn’t that Liu Yutong? Did she just come down from the second floor?"
"I didn’t notice… Probably not? Who dares to go to the west-side second floor these days?"
"Right! Last weekend, I went up there to find a friend and nearly had a heart attack! Dozens of men in black, like some kind of gang headquarters!"
"Wait, you saw it too? The one with the sign that says ‘Wanlong Association’?"
"Yeah, that’s the one."
"Honestly, I never thought I’d see something like this near the university district—like a legit gang straight out of a movie."
"What’s the deal with those people on the second floor? Does anyone know?"
"No idea."
"..........."
The Wanlong Association’s office, prominently displayed on the second floor of the university district’s food street, was impossible to miss.
What kind of place was the food street?
It was the busiest area in the entire university district—the first stop for students after class, a must-visit for couples on dates, and the go-to spot for late-night snacks.
Yet in such a bustling, lively place filled with the aroma of street food, a gang had openly hung up its signboard.
Yes, a signboard—bold and unapologetic.
Three gilded characters shimmered under the light, accompanied by a coiled dragon emblem, its claws bared and aura intimidating.
Anyone walking to the west side of the snack street would see it at a glance—impossible to miss.
Even ordinary college students had never witnessed such a spectacle, let alone the local troublemakers, who were utterly dumbfounded.
This was mainland China, not 1990s Hong Kong.
Here, you’d be hard-pressed to find another group daring enough to flaunt a gang sign so brazenly.
And don’t even try to pass it off as a legitimate business. What kind of proper company would choose such a name, paired with that downright underworld emblem?
What’s more, the second floor often hosted a crowd of young men in black suits—sometimes as many as sixty or seventy of them, a sea of dark figures radiating sheer intimidation.
Students in the university district weren’t strangers to delinquents gathering in clusters. At night, the snack street and internet café strip were often dotted with groups of bleached-blonde, cigarette-dangling hoodlums loitering on the sidewalks.
But their sloppy, disheveled swagger was nothing compared to the disciplined, sharply dressed men in black.
And so, with their presence, the west side’s second floor gradually became a no-go zone for students.
That’s why seeing Liu Yutong near the staircase was such a shock.
Among the freshmen, Ling Yan happened to be in the crowd.
Spotting Liu Yutong at the stairwell from a distance, she couldn’t help but sneer, "Is Liu Yutong that desperate? Expecting a bunch of gangsters to solve her problems? What a joke..."
Of course, she didn’t dwell on it, assuming Liu Yutong was just passing by, and went back to eating and shopping with her friends.
...
The military training at the finance university had ended.
So had the vocational college’s next door.
The freshmen were now completely free.
The moment they shed their training uniforms, a group from the vocational college started clamoring about where to go for fun, where to let loose.
Compared to their counterparts at the neighboring four-year university, these freshmen had the same wide-eyed naivety in their gaze—but with an added layer of streetwise edge.
After all, many had come straight from vocational high schools or were the type who’d coasted through regular high schools, much like the students from Wushui County’s vocational school.
Most of the boys sported long, side-swept bangs, flicking them dramatically to keep the hair out of their left eye, convinced it looked cool. The girls, meanwhile, rocked teased-up hair and ripped jeans, their style aggressively alternative.
And after a month of settling in, making friends with like-minded peers, some of the more restless freshmen began forming cliques, itching for action.
