3:45 PM.

Qin Yi arrived at the gate of Zisan Primary School.

There is a very large open space outside the school gate.

Students in grades 1-3 lined up at the main entrance to leave school.

There are plenty of places to set up a stall; it just depends on where you prefer to be.

She carefully observed the positions of the front and back doors.

We discovered a small, uphill path about 100 meters from the main entrance.

After turning the corner of the path, you'll reach the back gate of the Third Primary School.

The shopkeeper who sold me water last time said that students in grades 4-6 line up at the back door to leave school.

Ultimately, Qin Yi decided to set up her stall at the intersection of the open space at the main entrance and the uphill path.

Although this place is far from the school gate, students from both groups can run into each other, and parents also tend to linger in this area.

This is it!

He stopped the tricycle and took out his equipment.

Light up the signboard of the meatball fried food shop and start making Zi Sanxiao's exclusive meatballs.

First, bring out a sausage grilling machine.

This is my favorite item from elementary school in my past life.

Who understands a child who doesn't love the sausages from the sausage grilling machine, but loves the meatballs from it?

Qin Yi took out various kinds of meatballs that she had frozen the night before from the freezer.

On the sausage grilling machine, the first row is white fish balls, the second row is yellow squid balls, the third row is handmade beef balls, and the fourth row is red spicy strip balls.

Start the motor.

One by one, the round meatballs slowly rolled on the heating rod.

They are neatly arranged, perfectly round, and richly colored; each meatball awaits the appreciation of its diner.

Then Qin Yi turned on the fryer and put in some round meatballs.

As they were deep-fried, the meatballs sizzled and sank to the surface.

After these handmade meatballs are fried until golden brown.

Layer upon layer, it releases a rich and fragrant aroma of meat.

"Boss, how much are your meatballs?"

A pretty girl with shoulder-length short hair and fair skin asked the price with a smile.

Qin Yi was instantly melted by that sweet voice.

Unexpectedly, the first customer at the entrance of the Third Primary School was neither a primary school student nor a parent.

She turned out to be an adorable girl with long, curved eyelashes when she smiled.

He looked to be in his early twenties.

They're probably one of those college students who come to the gates of elementary schools to collect snacks, like those people online.

Qin Yi quickly pulled out the price banner and pasted it on the front of the carriage.

Beef balls 2 yuan, cuttlefish balls 2 yuan, spicy strip balls 2 yuan, pork balls 1 yuan, fish balls 1 yuan

"We only have five flavors available today. You can have them baked or fried. Which one would you like?"

Yumi is a journalist working in new media.

Because experts' focus on primary school students' pocket money has sparked heated discussions in society, the leaders want to create a special feature on the daily lives of primary school students.

"After-school snacks" is what she'll be doing this episode.

The first place we visited was Zi San Elementary School.

I heard from netizens that the food stalls at this school are very unique, so I definitely have to check them out.

So she bought bowl cakes, sandwiches, chicken rolls, and cupcakes.

Just as I was about to go back, I smelled a rich aroma of meat.

Follow the aroma to find the owner.

It turned out to be a "fried meatball shop" opened by a pretty girl.

The food in the car was plentiful and glistening with oil, making it irresistible.

Take another deep breath.

Huh? The additives in frozen meatballs are now so realistic that they're indistinguishable from the real thing?

This is clearly the caramelized aroma released from the meat after it has been fried at high temperatures.

It smelled of pork, beef, and even a slightly pungent spicy snack.

How come she didn't know which manufacturer had just released frozen spicy snack balls?

That's too much! Those bright red balls, could they really be spicy snack balls?

There are also various kinds of meatballs in the oven, their plump, round bellies constantly turning 180 degrees.

Some of them had already formed a golden-brown crust, with the juices from the meat congealed on it, gleaming with an enticing sheen.

"One grilled meatball, and two fried meatballs of each kind, please."

Can you eat spicy food?

"Roasted meatballs don't have chili peppers, but fried meatballs do."

Yumi can't eat spicy food, but her colleagues love it. She bought herself a serving of grilled meatballs and packed some spicy fried meatballs for her colleagues.

The food stalls near the school gate have been basically cleared out.

Yumi returned to the company carrying a large bag of spoils.

"Everyone come and try these snacks! They're all from the elementary school gates. Kids these days are so lucky; they even get to eat cream cakes!"

Several of Yumi's colleagues are married working women who are mothers.

“Where is the happiness? Just like when we were kids, we only eat junk food. I often tell my daughter that the spicy snacks she eats are made by the boss stepping on them with his feet.”

"Aren't you being mean?! I love spicy snacks too!"

"The main problem is that she gets diarrhea and pain for a long time every time she eats unclean food, and it breaks my heart as a mother!"

"Hey! Stop talking and come eat!" Yumi stopped her two chatty female colleagues in front of her.

The female colleagues picked up the cream cakes first and took a bite.

"Ugh, this tastes so cheap and creamy. It must be made with vegetable oil. It's not only greasy, but it also doesn't melt in my mouth. Next one."

"The taste of the bowl-shaped rice cake is okay, but it has a fruity artificial flavor. Next one."

"The fried chicken pieces in the chicken roll all taste like flour, and they didn't even put in much processed meat. Elementary school students are too easy to fool," a female colleague named Linzi said, shaking her head as she ate.

"You're being too nice. Look at what I'm eating. It's making me laugh."

Everyone crowded around to take a look.

The sandwiches were served in a white, triangular box, and they looked quite appetizing from the side, containing eggs, vegetables, and luncheon meat.

At that moment, my colleague took a big bite from the pointed corner and found that 99% of the bread was white.

Startled, she took the sandwich out of the box and broke it apart piece by piece.

...Something unbelievable happened.

The owner only put about 1 cm wide fried egg, 1 cm wide lettuce leaf, and 1 cm wide luncheon meat slice on the side slice in the middle.

Behind them stretched a desolate, white bread desert.

Hahahaha...

Seeing this, Yumi couldn't help but burst into laughter: "I'm so sorry! I didn't know the things I bought would look like this, hahaha~~"

After everyone finished laughing, they fell silent again.

"Primary school students have such a hard life. They carry heavy schoolbags after a long day of school, save up their meager few dollars to find happiness, and then they get cheated by unscrupulous merchants."

"Hey! Do you think they have no idea that a sandwich should be topped with a thick layer of salad and ham, and a whole fried egg?"

"No way!"

"That's possible! Because that's the feedback they got from eating a sandwich for the first time in their lives."

"Like my daughter, a classmate fed her a watermelon seed and she thought it was delicious. She asked me to buy some for her, so I went to the snack store and bought her a bag of plum-flavored ones. Guess what happened?"

"She would put each watermelon seed in her mouth, suck out the sugary coating, and then spit it out. I was stunned!"

"I asked her if she didn't know that watermelon seeds are eaten by eating the kernels, and she said she didn't know, no one had ever told her, she thought the correct way to eat them was to lick the additives on top..."

"The little girl is so cute and adorable! You're trying to trick me into having a baby again! Get away from me!"

“Elementary school students are really easy to fool, which is why we made this episode of ‘After-School Snacks’ – hoping that parents and society can pay attention to children’s dietary health.”

"Yumi, what's that little bag at the bottom of your big bag that's all tied up tightly?"

My colleague brought it out out of curiosity, untied the knot on the plastic bag, and steam rushed straight to his head.

A layer of spicy aroma mixed with chili, cumin, and Sichuan peppercorns quickly wafted out.

Then, a rich aroma of meat wafted over.

Yumi slapped her thigh: "How could I forget about the beautiful boss's fried meatballs!"