Chapter 31: The Cafeteria Ladies Couldn’t Sit Still

At the same time, business began to pick up for the merchants who had signed contracts with Lin Qianfan.

"Boss, the order volume is up again today! We can barely keep up!" a clerk said to the owner with excitement.

"Well done!" The owner beamed, unable to hide his delight. "If we have this many orders every day, our monthly revenue will double!"

Meanwhile, the other signed merchants were also feeling the shift. The owner of the Sichuan restaurant was busy packing orders as notification chimes for food deliveries rang out incessantly on his phone.

"Boss, three more orders!" the server shouted.

The owner smiled while packing the food. "Looks like this platform is actually useful. Sales today are double what they usually are!"

The proprietress of the spicy hot pot shop was also swamped. "This platform is great. The students who ordered even left good reviews, saying it tastes exactly like it does in the shop."

"And the cashback coupons have the students absolutely thrilled."

Having tasted success, these merchants began to place more trust in the platform. Seeing how well the signed merchants were doing, those who had been sitting on the sidelines began to feel restless.

"Hey Liu, have you heard? Business at the Sichuan restaurant next door is booming lately, all thanks to that food delivery platform."

"Yeah, same with the hot pot shop. They have so many orders every day they can't even deliver them all."

"Should we give it a try? We can't just sit here staring while others make money, right?"

"I heard the commission is only 2%. That's not high, and there's no harm in signing a contract."

Soon, several more merchants reached out to Lin Qianfan, expressing their desire to join the platform. Lin Qianfan smiled upon receiving the calls.

"It looks like this promotional push was a success."

However, not everyone was pleased with the development. The person in charge of the school cafeteria had been incredibly stressed lately. Every afternoon and evening, typically the busiest times for the cafeteria, had become remarkably quiet.

"Old Zhao, have you noticed? Our sales have plummeted over the last few days," a cafeteria worker complained.

"At this time before, the windows were lined with students. Now, there are only a handful."

"Need you ask? They’ve all gone to order delivery," Old Zhao said with a grim expression. "If this continues, who are we going to sell our food to?"

"Exactly! Because of this delivery platform, the students are spending all their money on take-out. Who would come to eat our food anymore?"

The group grew increasingly frustrated, eventually deciding to go to the principal to report the situation.

"Principal, you have to do something! No one is eating the school’s food anymore; the students are spending all their money on delivery!"

"If this keeps up, the cafeteria won't be able to stay open!"

The principal frowned after hearing their grievances. He knew that the cafeteria was a major source of revenue for the school; if students chose delivery, the cafeteria's business would inevitably suffer. On the other hand, Lin Qianfan's delivery platform was a genuine highlight and could not be easily shut down.

He pondered for a moment and said, "Shouldn't you be reflecting on why students don't want to come to the cafeteria to eat?"

"Besides, ordering delivery is a choice the students make themselves."

"But, Principal..." The cafeteria manager was momentarily speechless, trying to salvage the situation. "The prices for the cafeteria food are already at their lowest, the portions are sufficient, and the students..."

The principal interrupted him. "You can say that, but how do the students see it? Aren't you aware of that?"

The manager tried to argue, "Once we have no students eating here, this month's budget will completely collapse, and the school's operations will be affected!"

The principal looked up, clasping his hands on the desk. "The budget is important, but student satisfaction is more important."

"Instead of thinking about how to save the budget, you should think about how to attract the students back."

The manager fell silent. He looked down, thought for a moment, and finally nodded. "Principal, I understand. We will begin making improvements immediately."

The principal nodded. The group walked out with sullen faces, casting glances at one another, eventually slinking away.

In Classroom 305, Lin Qianfan sat staring at the data report on his computer screen, his brow furrowed. The traffic curves and article read counts for the official account were rising, especially for the recent contentious posts, with the comment sections of each becoming battlegrounds.

"'Should teacher-student romances be supported?' That headline is certainly bold," Yong Pan said, leaning back in his chair while scrolling through the comment section on his phone.

"Look at this one: 'I don't think there's anything wrong with teacher-student romance. As long as two people are truly in love, why shouldn't they be together?'"

"And look at this: 'No way! Teacher-student romance is immoral! How could a teacher fall in love with a student?'"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. The war is raging in this comment section."

Lin Qianfan looked at the screen calmly, his fingers tapping lightly on the desk.

"The more controversy, the more traffic. This article has already surpassed fifty thousand views."

"However..." Lin Qianfan paused, turning to Yong Pan. "We need to control the tempo. Don't let the comment section spiral completely out of control. If the flaming gets too intense, we'll get reported."

Yong Pan nodded. "Got it. I'll have someone keep an eye on the comments and delete the excessive ones directly."

Lin Qianfan opened the backend to check the newly submitted stories. The quality of submissions had improved significantly lately, especially the emotional stories, which generated strong discussion.

He clicked on one and read a few paragraphs. "This one is good—melodramatic, but addictive. The students will definitely love it."

"And this one—the title is catchy enough, but the content needs some polishing."

He marked the stories with potential and forwarded them to his roommate in charge of editing. "Get these ready for publication, but make the titles even more appealing."

"Understood." Da Wei took on the task and began working immediately.

After a month, the revenue from the official account was able to cover a portion of the delivery platform's operating costs. The writing fees had also been paid out, totaling over ten thousand. Lin Qianfan looked at the balance, feeling a slight sense of relief.

Over the past few days, the subsidy programs for the delivery platform had been burning through cash rapidly. While order volumes had grown, the actual profit was nearly zero.

"Finally, I can fill the void of this money-guzzling beast of a delivery app."

Relying on the income from the official account, Lin Qianfan was just barely able to maintain the delivery platform's operations.

"One more month. Once the data stabilizes, I can take these numbers and approach the supermarkets for a partnership," he calculated.

After school that afternoon, as Lin Qianfan was heading to Classroom 305, Xia Ruo suddenly walked up to him.

"Lin Qianfan, have you not been eating properly lately?" Xia Ruo's voice was soft, but it carried a hint of concern.

"Huh? No, I haven't," Lin Qianfan said, taken aback. "I'm doing just fine."

Xia Ruo pursed her lips. "Don't lie to me. You're busy until very late every day, and I don't even see you at lunch."

"I..." Lin Qianfan started to object.

Xia Ruo interrupted him. "Starting tomorrow, I'll pick up your meals for you."