When Li Chunmei came to pick up Xia Minmin at noon.

"Mom, Teacher Li wants you to go to his office tomorrow."

Today is Sunday morning. Xia Minmin is having an Olympiad math tutoring session at school. Teacher Li is Xia Minmin's teacher.

"Is it because you want to quit the math Olympiad tutoring class?"

Li Chunmei knew a little bit about it; she had heard her daughter say some time ago that she didn't want to stay in the math Olympiad class anymore.

"I think so. I told my teacher today that I didn't want to continue with math olympiad tutoring during the winter break."

"Okay, I got it. Let's go home! I'll take you to the newly opened roast duck restaurant today."

"Yay! We're having a big meal again today!"

Xia Minmin skipped and hopped forward, and if she wasn't careful, her big backpack on her back would pull her to one side.

Li Chunmei watched her daughter walk forward; the little girl was carrying a huge schoolbag, and the schoolbag was bending her whole body under its weight.

"Dad, can you help me with my schoolbag?" Xia Minmin shouted.

Xia Jianguo was packing up a customer's order at that moment.

"Boss, you go get your daughter's schoolbag first, I'll pack my own things," the customer said with a smile.

"I'm so sorry."

"It's alright."

Xia Jianguo walked out from behind the counter, took the schoolbag from his daughter's shoulder, and said, "It's really not easy for children to get an education these days."

"Didn't your mother go to pick you up? Why hasn't she come back?"

Xia Minmin ran to the counter, took out a water glass, and gulped down a large glass of water.

"Drink slowly, be careful not to choke. Didn't I bring you water? Why are you still so thirsty?"

"I ran back, and my mom was still behind me. Today, a classmate brought a Russian sausage, and he shared it with his classmates. The first bite was okay, but the third bite was really too salty."

Li Chunmei, who was walking slowly behind, also arrived home. "Xiaomin, why are you running away, child?"

Xia Jianguo said, "I came back to drink water. I've already finished one cup, this is my second cup."

"What's wrong? Breakfast wasn't very salty today."

"It wasn't about breakfast. Her classmate from the math Olympiad class brought a Russian sausage for them to share today. The sausage was very salty, and that's how it happened."

Xia Jianguo pointed to Xia Minmin, who was frantically filling up her account with water.

"Drink less, you still have dinner later!"

After finishing her water, Xia Minmin hurriedly pulled up her pants and ran to the bathroom, her bladder feeling bloated from drinking too much water.

"Although this child is in fourth grade, he is still reckless and impulsive in his actions."

"After all, he's still young!"

The couple smiled at each other. Xia Jianguo put Xia Minmin's schoolbag away and prepared to close the shop temporarily to have lunch.

Li Chunmei said, "Xiaomin just told me that Teacher Li asked me to go over there tomorrow."

"An advanced math class?"

"Well, didn't Xiaomin plan to quit the math Olympiad class?"

"It's good that she withdrew. Teacher Zhu, who taught her abacus mental arithmetic before, said that Xiaomin is not suitable for math olympiad. When Teacher Li asked her to join the math olympiad class, I didn't quite agree because the child is still too young."

"That's what I think too. I've been studying with them for over a year, but my grades are only average. I'll be going to junior high in a couple of years, so I might as well focus my time on my main subjects."

"Um."

Li Chunmei checked the time; Xia Minmin had been in the bathroom for ten minutes.

"Xia Minmin, are you all better yet?"

"immediately!"

The sound of hands being washed came from the bathroom.

Xia Minmin complained, "I will never eat Russian ham again; it's not suitable for my stomach."

Li Chunmei looked at Xia Minmin's pale face and asked, "What's wrong? Do you have diarrhea?"

"Yes, that's true."

"Looks like we won't be able to have roast duck today. Let's have porridge instead!" Li Chunmei made the decision immediately.

Xia Minmin cried out, "Why is this happening?"

"Alright! Alright! I'll take you to eat Peking duck next week, won't that work?"

Li Chunmei rubbed her ears, which had been shaken by the noise.

The whole family accompanied Xia Minmin to eat porridge. There is a very famous porridge shop next to the supermarket. Whenever they want to eat porridge, they go to this shop. The owner says that all the ingredients in the porridge are fresh, and the rice is also new rice.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Xia! What would you like to eat?"

"Boss Zhou, give me a three-person serving of chicken congee, a plate of seasonal vegetables, a plate of pork ribs, and a plate of shrimp cakes."

"Okay, do you want to eat here or have it delivered to your supermarket?"

The porridge shop was bustling with people at lunchtime. "I'll take it back to the supermarket to eat, and I'll bring the bowl and chopsticks back to you later."

"Boss Xia, you can come and pick up your lunch in fifteen minutes."

Xia Jianguo strolled back to his own supermarket, while Xia Minmin went to the restroom again.

"She's never acted like this when she eats at roadside stalls before."

"I don't know, let's observe for a while. If it's still like this in the afternoon, we'll have to go to the hospital to see a doctor."

After finishing a bland lunch, Xia Minmin went home to sleep.

Li Chunmei was worried and went home from the small supermarket to check on Xia Minmin. She found that there was nothing seriously wrong, so she was relieved.

······

After dropping Xia Minmin off at school on Monday, Li Chunmei stayed at the small supermarket for a while before going to Teacher Li's office around nine o'clock.

Thump thump thump...

"Is your teacher home?"

"Are you Xia Minmin's mother? I'm here." A thirty-year-old female teacher stood up.

Teacher Li brought over a chair for Li Chunmei to sit down.

Li Chunmei walked over and said, "Hello, Teacher Li, I am Xia Minmin's mother. May I ask why you asked me to come here today?"

"Xia's mother, here's the thing, Xia Minmin told me yesterday that she doesn't plan to continue attending the math Olympiad class. Did you agree to this?"

“It was my decision. The child herself was unhappy in the math Olympiad class, and her father and I didn’t want to force her.”

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