When Xiao Lin saw the private appearance of his usually sweet and cute students, his impression of them was refreshed, and he found it a little funny.

I guess the two monitors didn’t expect me to see this WeChat Moments post. 

Back when he was in college, he would block all relatives, friends, and teachers when posting on WeChat Moments.

He couldn’t help but sigh, These two were too careless.

He put away his phone and prepared to go to the Seventh Cafeteria. However, on the way to the Seventh Cafeteria, the students’ recent mention of the Eighth Cafeteria kept lingering in his mind like a curse.

Was the mung bean soup they were talking about really that delicious?

There was also a distinct hint of Versailles¹ in Tan Mengmeng’s tone. Otherwise, why would she post the payment link to her Moments when she could have done so in the group chat?

He suddenly thought, Well, why not go to the Eighth Cafeteria for lunch today, it’s nearby anyway.

Xiao Lin then walked to the Eighth Cafeteria under the scorching heat of the sun.

The air conditioning in the Eighth Cafeteria was on, and the air was cool. As Xiao Lin stepped inside, a gust of cool wind blew on his face, instantly calming the originally unbearable heat on his body. 

Xiao Lin looked around the Eighth Cafeteria and its bustling crowd, feeling both surprised and delighted. It turned out that the Eighth Cafeteria was really open.

Although Xiao Lin would make jokes about the cafeterias like the students, it was just a way to have fun.

Under the siege of the seven bewitched cafeterias at Aero U, even though there were cafeterias on campus, they still had to go to the snack street outside to eat. It was not only unhygienic—posing a health hazard—but it was also inconvenient.

For example, during the dog days of summer, when the sun could cause heatstroke, many teachers who didn’t want to eat takeout must trek to the snack street. The students nickname for Aero U’s was ‘aircraft carrier’², which gave a person an idea of how vast its campus was. Teachers and students had to walk at least a kilometer from the teaching building closest to the school gate to the snack street outside.

The Aero U cafeterias have made everyone suffer for a long time.

The leadership knew about the situation, but due to the length of the contract, it was inconvenient to change the operators. So they simply started from scratch and established the new Eighth Cafeteria, with stricter requirements for the cafeteria’s chefs.

So when the Eighth Cafeteria was built, the teachers and students of the entire school were as happy as they were disappointed after it closed down.

Now, the reopening of the Eighth Cafeteria has finally brought a glimmer of hope to Xiao Lin.

Xiao Lin had already been beaten to a new low by the other cafeterias, so he didn’t have high expectations for the Eighth Cafeteria. He even muttered to himself, “I don’t want it to taste like the hotel restaurants out there, I just want it to be at the level of Cafeteria 7. Otherwise, I’ll be really missing out if I miss out on their fried buns.”

Xiao Lin walked forward, thinking calming thoughts.

Just then, he heard some ‘wow!’ sounds coming from a food window, which made him look over there.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

Luo Huai’an sprinkled crushed Oreo on the shaved ice and handed it to Wei Ziwei through the window. “Your Oreo shaved ice is ready.”

“Wow, thank you.” Wei Ziwei’s eyes flashed with surprise, and she happily took the Oreo shaved ice.

Her friend Shu Wenwen came over and couldn’t help but swallow. “It looks delicious.”

The Oreo shaved ice was made of vanilla milk shaved ice, a creamy white that was like winter jasmine flowers; drizzled with rich, dark chocolate sauce; and finally sprinkled with crispy Oreo cookies. The clear, tall glass added a touch of elegance to the Oreo shaved ice.

“I think so too,” Wei Ziwei agreed. She couldn’t help but immediately take out her cell phone to take a photo and send it to her Moments.

Before she could even put down her phone, she got a prompt that someone liked her post.

Best Friend: [Where did you buy the shaved ice? My popsicle suddenly doesn’t taste as good anymore, woowoo.]

High School Classmate: [Wow? Is the white mist around the shaved ice real or photoshopped? So beautiful.]

It was the first time that Wei Ziwei received a like and reply so quickly, and she was a little flattered. [This is the shaved ice they sell in our cafeteria. They don’t have it anywhere else.]

When her best friend and high school classmate saw her words, they were immediately disappointed. Wei Ziwei was the only one in their class who got into Jiangcheng Aeronautics University; most of their class stayed in the local area.

They were so envious that they left messages saying, [When I go to Jiangcheng, can you take me to eat the shaved ice at your school?]

[Of course, our school’s cafeteria is super nice.]

Wei Ziwei was delighted and satisfied by everyone’s enthusiasm, so she sent another reply to everyone: [The owner of the Eighth Cafeteria at Aero U is good-looking, speaks well, and sells delicious food. I love it here.]

Just when she was extremely happy, a reply suddenly appeared under her Moments.

Mom: [I searched for Aero U on the Internet and saw the name of Jiangcheng University of Aeronautics on the list of universities with dark cafeterias across the country. I was so worried about you that I couldn’t sleep all night. I got up this morning and prepared to send you some money so that you can have an extra meal.

But after seeing this shaved ice and your reply, I feel like the online news is truly unreliable, so I won’t be transferring the money to you anymore.]

Wei Ziwei: [???]

Mom, the Eighth Cafeteria of Aero U is really good, but you still have to pay for it!

… …

Xiao Lin didn’t notice Wei Ziwei’s expression of extreme joy that turned into sorrow, as all his attention was drawn to the shaved ice.

Although he was a male counselor, he also enjoyed iced milk tea. The fact that customers could customize the shaved ice at the counter piqued his creativity, so he ordered his own. While ordering, he suddenly had an idea: the afternoon was long, so he might as well take out the shaved ice.

“Can I have it for take out?”

“Of course, but there will be an extra packing fee.”

“Okay,” Xiao Lin nodded in agreement.

Luo Huai’an pulled a transparent cup from a cabinet. It was a custom-made, milk tea cup she had made at a nearby plastics manufacturer. Almost all of Jiangcheng’s milk tea cups were made there. The quality of the milk tea cups was excellent, and you could even add your own logo. 

The transparent milk tea cups used by Eighth Cafeteria for shaved ice were inscribed with bold, flamboyant script: ‘Eighth Cafeteria.’

Luo Huai’an made his shaved ice order and added, “It melts easily, remember to eat it early.”

Xiao Lin thanked her, took the shaved ice from her, ordered some stir-fried dishes, and hurried back.

Mythical Beast Cafeteria translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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Chapter 19.2 — Crunchy Shaved Ice
Chapter 19.3 — Crunchy Shaved Ice
Chapter 20.1 — Mount Everest Shaved Ice
Chapter 20.2 — Mount Everest Shaved Ice
Chapter 21.1 — Mount Everest Shaved Ice is Trending
Chapter 21.2 — Mount Everest Shaved Ice is Trending
Chapter 21.3 — Mount Everest Shaved Ice is Trending

1. Versailles is humble-bragging. ‘Oh poor me, my new Chanel bag is too small, it can’t fit all my shopping!’ ↩︎
2. Aircraft carrier is ‘Hangkong Mujian’. Aeronautics University is  ‘Hangkong Daxue’, but the students often shorten it to ‘Hang Da’—literally ‘Big Ship’. When I write ‘Aero U’ what the text actually says is ‘Big Ship’. ↩︎