After hearing such exorbitant prices, half of the students who had initially intended to order meals silently returned to their seats.
The kitchen staff paid no mind to this scene.
They continued to cheerfully swipe the funds of the teachers and students who paid for their meals, their smiles brighter than ever.
"Thank you for your patronage." The beaming faces of the kitchen staff appeared to the teachers and students of both academies as nothing short of unscrupulous profiteers.
"Um... I'll just have one steamed bun..." An elderly professor walked over, pointing to the cheapest item on the menu—a steamed bun costing only three Star Coins.
Since this old professor was from the Tianyao Noble Starship Military Academy, according to the previously stated ordering rules, he would need to pay triple the price.
Just as the old professor opened his electronic account to make the payment, the crew member holding the card reader quietly withdrew it.
The old professor looked at them in confusion.
"We won't charge you. Your order has already been arranged on our end," the female crew member replied.
"No charge... why?" the old professor asked, puzzled.
The female crew member smiled and said, "You are Professor Jiang, right? During your tenure at the Tianyao Noble Starship Military Academy, while conducting research, you developed a medical formula. However, you did not collect any patent fees for this technology. Instead, you publicly released this medical technology free of charge. The Empire also awarded you a Star Coin bonus, which you donated entirely to the Red Cross Association. Our commander said that any meal you order here is on the house."
After speaking, the female crew member took an apple from a nearby meal cart and handed it to the old professor. "Your meal will take a little while. Please have an apple to tide you over. Also, sitting on the ground might be uncomfortable. We've arranged a chair and a warm towel for you. You can rest here while waiting for your meal."
Professor Jiang took the apple, his expression dazed, and a glimmer of moisture appeared in his eyes.
The teachers and students from both academies around him were astonished. They had never expected this unassuming old professor, who had traveled with them all this time, to have such a story. Many had assumed he was merely the team physician responsible for the medical health of the teachers and students.
Even a large portion of the teachers and students from the Tianyao Noble Starship Military Academy were unaware of this chapter in the old professor's life.
"Thank you... thank you..." Professor Jiang repeatedly expressed his gratitude, smiling as he took a bite of the apple and said sincerely, "It's so sweet..."
This scene left many of the teachers and students from both academies, who had been inwardly complaining about the commander, feeling a complex mix of emotions.
"I never knew this old professor had such a past," Zhao Wan'er said in surprise, watching as the old professor was carefully escorted by the crew member to a chair to rest.
Teacher Qin sighed deeply beside her and said, "I've heard about Professor Jiang's story. The patent for that medical technology was actually extremely valuable. It could reduce the mortality rate of wounded soldiers on the battlefield by 20%, and its cost-effectiveness was far better than most medical formulas available at the time."
At that time, Tianyao Noble Starship Military Academy wanted Professor Jiang to secure the patent for this technology and license it to the Academy for operation. This would not only earn a substantial amount of money but also allow them to build connections, establish networks, and enhance the prestige of Tianyao Noble Starship Military Academy.
However, Professor Jiang stubbornly insisted on his own course and resolutely chose to make the technology public.
Professor Jiang's exact words were: "If this were starship technology, I would hand it over to the Academy. But this is life-saving medical technology—it shouldn't be used to make money! At least, I won't do it!"
Although Professor Jiang received commendations from the Empire at the time, Tianyao Noble Starship Military Academy secretly blacklisted him. They no longer provided him with laboratories or research funding, and the courses he was responsible for were gradually suspended under various pretexts. Even his achievements were scarcely known among the faculty and students.
Now, at Tianyao Noble Starship Military Academy, he merely serves as a physician in the student medical office.
Professor Jiang is a talented individual, and our North Star had also wanted to recruit him.
But Professor Jiang is a stubborn man. He said that Tianyao Noble Starship Military Academy had nurtured him, and no matter how the Academy treated him, he would never leave.
He is one of the few people my father deeply respects.
I never expected that Student Zhao Chen would even know about this past incident."
Hearing Teacher Qin recount this story, everyone was somewhat surprised by Zhao Chen's actions.
After this old professor, several other professors and mentors enjoyed similar treatment.
During this time, students from Tianyao Noble Starship Military Academy quietly approached the students of North Star Starship Military Academy, whispering something to them.
Subsequently, some students from North Star Starship Military Academy hesitantly returned to the food counter, ready to place their orders.
At that moment, the chef once again remarked casually, "Oh, one more thing. Whoever orders food can only eat it themselves—sharing with others is not allowed.
You can pay for others, but you cannot order on their behalf.
If we find out, you'll bear the consequences!"
The simple phrase "bear the consequences" made the students from North Star Starship Military Academy lower their heads and silently return to their original seats.
Seeing this, Su Lan and the others guessed the reason.
Some students from Tianyao Noble Starship Military Academy must have been unwilling to pay triple or even ten times the price, so they tried to rely on North Star Starship Military Academy students who could buy food at the original price to act as "proxy buyers."
"I… why am I being charged thirty times? I'm just a student from Tianyao Noble Starship Military Academy—that should only be triple the price!" At this moment, a student from Tianyao Noble Starship Military Academy, unable to bear his hunger any longer, placed an order and was shocked to see the cost, which amounted to over a thousand Star Coins.
"Because not only are you a student from Tianyao Noble Starship Military Academy, but you also said some unpleasant things here earlier," the chef said with a stern face.
"I… I didn't say anything! What evidence do you have that I said anything?" the young man shouted loudly.
The chef raised his hand, and a holographic projection window appeared, playing back the scene in the hangar at that moment. The main character in the footage was none other than the man standing before them.
"That man is so vulgar! How dare he be so rude to the son of a count! How crude!..."
The boy's words were played back exactly as he had said them.
This left the boy speechless.
"Are you going to order or not?" the cook asked expressionlessly, looking at him.
"These... I don't want them anymore... just give me... a piece of bread..." the boy said with a pained expression, paying the 'sky-high' price of one hundred and fifty Star Coins for a piece of bread that originally cost only five Star Coins.
At that moment, the student who had earlier been told by the cook, 'He should be grateful he's a student of the North Star Starship Military Academy,' suddenly understood.
If it weren't for his status, he would have had to pay not ten times the price, but a full thirty times!
Now, he actually wore a pleased expression, as if paying ten times the price wasn't so unacceptable after all.
Just then, another voice rang out, drawing everyone's attention.
"Wait! Why is ours 100 times the price!" Zhou Min, with a bandage on her shoulder, and another fair-faced young man, seeing the amount they had to pay, turned pale.
Both of them had ordered meals that originally cost only one hundred Star Coins, but the displayed price was a full ten thousand Star Coins!
The cook smiled at the two of them. "Because that's the price for you two."
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