Arrangement

Early the next morning, Jiang Jianguo drove his Wuling Hongguang, loaded with a car full of wooden molds, to the Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant. Not only were there molds, but also several large bags of red beans, green beans, and peas that had been soaked overnight, along with a few large pots and a pile of equipment, all of which were moved into the back kitchen.

Ever since his aunt was diagnosed with the "three highs," she had stopped eating high-sugar pastries, rendering Jiang Jianguo's extensive equipment useless.

The kitchen was divided in two. One half was for Comrade Jiang Jianguo to make pastries, and the other half was for Comrade Jiang Jiankang to operate the restaurant as usual. There weren't many customers in the restaurant on the weekend, and only a few scattered takeout orders. Ji Yue could handle it all by herself, so Jiang Feng texted Qiu Chen and the others, telling them not to come in to help that day.

Comrade Wang Xiulian had made plans with his aunt to go to the beauty salon for facials, and she had left early in the morning.

"Xiao Feng, I wasn't sure what kind of pastries you wanted, so I just soaked some beans first." Jiang Jianguo poured all the large bags of beans into basins with a clatter. Three large basins were filled to the brim.

"Let's process these beans first. I still have several dozen catties of flour, and I'll make some Cantonese pastries later," Jiang Feng said.

With everything prepared, it was time to make pea cake, mung bean cake, and red bean cake.

Jiang Feng put the peas into a pot to cook, and Jiang Jianguo put the red beans into a pressure cooker. Afterward, the two of them sat by the basin filled with green beans and began to peel them.

Peeling the green beans was a laborious task, but if they wanted to make fresh mung bean cakes and didn't want to buy pre-made mung bean flour from the market, this was the only way.

Jiang Feng could only help with this kind of supporting work. Once the beans were cooked and mashed into a paste, there would be little for him to do. Jiang Jianguo had a clear idea of the ingredient ratios, how to mix them, and what to combine them with.

After spending a full two hours peeling the green beans, Jiang Feng felt like his own palms were being peeled along with them. Only then was the large basin of green beans finally processed. He then put the green beans into the pressure cooker to cook. Jiang Feng considered his work finished.

Jiang Jianguo was cooking the pea puree. Seeing that Jiang Feng was done, he pointed to several dark large bags on the ground and said, "Xiao Feng, take a look and see which molds you want."

Upon opening the bags, they were filled with wooden molds.

Needless to say, quite a few must have been "borrowed" from Grandpa.

They came in animal shapes, flower shapes, various kinds of floral patterns, long and wide ones, square ones, round ones, heart-shaped ones, and ones with carved words – they had them all.

An outsider might have thought they had stumbled into a mold factory.

Jiang Feng picked out a few with attractive designs, feeling confident of his success.

With these molds, it would be hard for the Chess Club not to recruit enough members this year.

To thank his uncle for his strong support, Jiang Feng had, the day before, catered to his preferences by asking Liu Zixuan to buy him some of the currently popular health flower teas. His aunt had recently become obsessed with health and had already posted several times on her social media complaining about not being able to buy the trending health flower teas. Liu Zixuan's family was in business and had extensive connections. Once his aunt received the health flower teas, she would be overjoyed, and his uncle's allowance for the month might even double.

Throughout the Jiang family, from top to bottom, the wife had always been in charge of the money. Even Grandpa Jiang had to get his wife's permission to improve the diet of his beloved granddaughter.

Ji Yue had finished her deliveries and was sitting idly in the restaurant playing on her phone. Seeing Jiang Feng emerge from the kitchen, she looked up and asked, "All done?"

"Far from it," Jiang Feng said, finding a chair and sitting down.

"Jiahui has finished the flyers. Take a look. If they're okay, she'll go to the print shop to get them printed now." Ji Yue handed her phone to Jiang Feng.

The flyer was designed very simply, with no fancy elements. It was clearly the product of rushed work. If it weren't for the prominent "Chess Club Recruitment!" in six large characters, Jiang Feng might have suspected it was an advertisement for the Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant.

There was even a QR code for an Official Account in the bottom right corner.

Jiang Feng expressed his satisfaction.

"This is fine, go ahead and print them. Senior Sister, do you remember how much funding our club had left from last year?" Jiang Feng asked.

"Fifty."

"...Let's print 300 copies first. I'll cover the cost for now, and you can reimburse me once the funding is approved." Jiang Feng took out his phone, preparing to transfer money to He Jiahui. "How are the arrangements for the venue coming along?"

"Are you the president or am I? I seem to recall I already graduated," Ji Yue couldn't help but complain a bit. "We still have to rely on you, the former president, to sacrifice your charm to arrange the venue. If the Chess Club gets disbanded this year, I'll skin you alive."

Theoretically, the recruitment booths for student clubs were fixed. However, this was only theoretical. If someone managed to secure a spot on the periphery and expand outwards, the Student Union wouldn't interfere, provided they could actually get a peripheral spot.

In previous years, the largest area had been occupied by the Culinary Club, under the guise of needing space to display their props. In reality, it was just some pots and pans, along with the cakes they made themselves. With sugary temptations and eloquent, beautiful young ladies, they lured unsuspecting junior female students to join.

"It's the capable who bear more burdens. Thank you for your hard work, Senior Sister Ji Yue," Jiang Feng said with a smile. "Would you like me to get you a bowl of the ice-cold sour plum drink from the freezer?"

Ji Yue solemnly extended two fingers and said sternly, "Two bowls!"

By mid-afternoon, Jiang Feng and the others had to take their things to set up the recruitment venue.

Theoretically, recruitment would start at 7 AM the next day. Some of the less demanding clubs at A University had no limit on membership, with clubs like the Badminton Club and Basketball Club having one or two hundred members. Elite clubs had higher entry barriers, as they could earn academic credits and potentially win decent awards. Clubs like the Chess Club, which were somewhat weak, lacked members, offered no academic credits, and had very little funding, were quite rare.

Lack of manpower meant a heavy workload.

By the time Jiang Feng and his team arrived at the venue with tables, chairs, props, decorations, banners, and sunshades, other clubs had basically finished their setups.

"Do we have everything?" Jiang Feng asked.

"Yes, I've checked. Let's get started," Qiu Chen said, beginning to set up the sunshade.

The others also started to act.

"Jiang Feng?" Jiang Feng was spreading a tablecloth when he looked up and saw Wang Hui, the president of the Home Economics Club, standing in front of him holding a bouquet of fake flowers for decoration.

"I went to ask the Student Union for a venue, and they told me this spot was already taken. Why does your Chess Club need such a large area?" Wang Hui surveyed their setup. "Are you planning to set up a row of chessboards?"

"We want to showcase our club benefits," Jiang Feng replied.

"Come on, with only 400 yuan in funding last year, what club benefits can you possibly have? This place is so remote, what's the point of it being so big? You might as well have asked for a spot at the front. I heard that if you don't recruit enough members this year, your club will be disbanded," Wang Hui said. "Why don't you switch venues?"

There wasn't really any past grievance between the Chess Club and the Home Economics Club, except for a personal vendetta from the former president of the Home Economics Club who had refused Jiang Feng's membership on the grounds that he was male. After all, the Home Economics Club was a large club with 200 members, and the Chess Club didn't have the opportunity to hold a grudge against them.

"We're not changing," Jiang Feng refused directly. "The spots at the front are so competitive, and there simply isn't enough space."

"What are you going to set up?" Wang Hui asked curiously.

"It's a secret!"

"Tsk." Wang Hui returned with her fake flowers.

"Why did Wang Hui come over to our place?" Qiu Chen asked.

"Their venue seems to be right next to ours." Actually, the Home Economics Club's space wasn't small either, and Wang Hui was right; their location was indeed a bit out of the way.

"Next to us?" Qiu Chen exclaimed, "What if the freshmen mistake us for the Home Economics Club tomorrow?"

Jiang Feng: ...

"Wouldn't it be easier to just fill out our club's application form and trick them into coming over?"