Chapter 170 You really can eat! No problem, dinner's served...
After the new semester started, Ji Fengnian became a sports specialty student as he wished. However, he had to go to school at six o'clock every day to start training, and he had to train until eight o'clock in the evening after school. He was so tired when he came home that he only had the energy to eat a late-night snack. On top of that, he still had to do his homework, and he couldn't do any housework at all.
Ji Fengnian regretted it a little: "If I had known, I wouldn't have joined so early. I heard that many people only started practicing their special skills in high school and later got into university."
Zhaolin slapped him on the head: "What are you thinking? Look at those athletes who participate in the Olympics, which one of them didn't start training at a very young age? You're already too late at your age, okay? In sports like swimming and some ball games, if you're not exceptionally talented, you'll never reach a high level of competition if you start training at your age. And you still think it's too early?"
Ji Fengnian glared at him defiantly, "I'm not participating in the Olympics, I just want to go to university."
Zhaolin: "Heh, you're so wrong. Let me tell you, getting into a good university is much tougher in sports than in academics. Not only do you need to win at least a provincial-level award in your sports, but your academic score is also quite high."
"Huh?" He scratched the back of his head. His PE teacher hadn't told him any of this!
Zhaolin felt he might have discouraged the young man a bit, so he thought for a moment and said, "But didn't you say your PE teacher said you have a talent for running? If you start running hard from now on, there are many track and field competitions. If you participate in more competitions, you will definitely win a few awards. It will be easy for you to get into an ordinary university."
Ji Fengnian couldn't eat.
Because of training, Ji Fengnian would come home hungry around 8 p.m. every night and look for something to eat. Eating leftovers from dinner at home every day was unhealthy, so An Fusheng told him to come to the restaurant to eat after school every day. By then, the restaurant was almost closed and there weren't many customers, so it was easy for An Fusheng to cook a few dishes for him.
An Fusheng placed the last dish he had cooked on the table in front of Ji Fengnian and then sat down.
Ji Fengnian: "Big brother."
An Fusheng: "Hmm?"
Ji Fengnian hesitated, "How about I stop practicing sports?"
An Fusheng: "Study hard and train hard. You don't need to worry about things at home. Your teacher said you have athletic talent, so don't waste it."
Ji Fengnian: "No, the teacher only said I had talent before I joined. After I started training, he called me stupid every day..."
"Hahahaha! You actually believed that?" Zhaolin laughed loudly. "What's the difference between this and every teacher saying, 'You are the worst class I've ever taught'? You actually believed it? How can you be so honest?"
Ji Fengnian didn't want to take it seriously, but the teacher found out that the new transfer student could run faster than him, so he sent him to the weightlifting team.
When school started, he happily told his family that he was going to train in track and field. Everyone thought he was amazing, and his younger siblings admired him. Now, less than a month later, he was relegated to weightlifting because he couldn't outrun others. There are only three people on the school's weightlifting team, including him, and they were all rejected by other teams. Ji Fengnian was too ashamed to tell his family about his transfer.
A few days ago, An Fusheng went to ask Ji Fengnian's PE teacher for the track and field athletes' menu. The teacher told him that Ji Fengnian had good joint bearing capacity, a long torso but relatively short limbs, making him more suitable for weightlifting. The teacher also asked An Fusheng if he agreed to Ji Fengnian's transfer to another team. An Fusheng asked the teacher to ask Ji Fengnian for his opinion. Yesterday, the teacher said that Ji Fengnian had already transferred to the weightlifting team. An Fusheng thought that Ji Fengnian had transferred voluntarily, but now it seems that this is not the case.
"You don't want to transfer to the weightlifting team?" An Fusheng asked.
Ji Fengnian was astonished: "How did you know I transferred to the weightlifting team?"
An Fusheng: "Your PE teacher asked me about this, and Wen's mother and Lou's mother also know about it."
"Huh?" Ji Fengnian was even more embarrassed. His face, which had been tanned for a month, instantly turned red, making him look even darker.
Zhaolin: "Weightlifting?"
Ji Fengnian nodded in despair.
Aunt Zhang, who was clearing the table nearby, couldn't help but ask after hearing this: "Can your small frame lift that big iron block? I heard that round iron block is very heavy, several hundred pounds. All the weightlifters on TV are big fat guys."
Everyone gradually finished their work and gathered around. Ji Fengnian ate a lot and ate with gusto, and everyone enjoyed watching him eat.
Xu Sannian smiled and said, "Weightlifting is also a competitive sport, and it's not all about strength. And being big doesn't necessarily mean being strong. We Chinese aren't considered big in terms of physique, are we? But we've always performed very well in international weightlifting competitions. To take a look at the last two Olympic Games, we sent eight weightlifters to one and won seven gold and one silver medal, and we sent six athletes to the other and won five gold medals."
Aunt Zhang: "That's amazing?"
"Of course!" Xu Sannian said to Ji Fengnian, "Fengnian, the PE teacher said before that you have a talent for track and field, which proves that you must be good at track and field. On the premise that you are very good at track and field, the teacher also thinks that you are more suitable for weightlifting, which means that you have even stronger talent in weightlifting. This is very rare. Work hard."
Zhaolin quickly chimed in, "So you really do have talent! You'd better make the most of it. If you practice hard and win more medals, you'll have a sure thing getting into university!"
Ji Fengnian: "But if I get too fat, will I... be unable to find a wife?"
"Hahaha!"
Everyone laughed at his antics.
Wen Yue: "A vain little brat in puberty."
An Fusheng: "Not all weightlifters are fat. For example, Lü Xiaojun and Li Dayin are very strong weightlifters, but they are not fat at all. On the contrary, they have beautiful physiques because of long-term training. We learn from them when we train our muscles."
Ji Fengnian's eyes lit up: "Really?"
"Hmm. You can look it up yourself."
"I will practice hard!"
With his worries resolved, Ji Fengnian launched into a frenzied eating spree, quickly devouring three or four dishes and a large bowl of rice.
Zhaolin: "No wonder you're so strong, you really can eat a lot!"
An Fusheng patted Ji Fengnian's head: "It's okay, we run a restaurant, so we have plenty of food."
Ji Fengnian: "..."
Is my brother trying to comfort himself? It doesn't seem like it.
...
In the blink of an eye, Little Star Cafeteria has been operating for two months. During these two months, An Fusheng and the restaurant staff have gone from being overwhelmed at the beginning to gradually becoming more composed.
Little Star Cafeteria serves high-quality, freshly cooked food. The chefs are skilled and the service is excellent. Almost every customer who has eaten there is satisfied, attracting many repeat customers. Later, they acquired a good source of ingredients, making the food even fresher and more delicious, further improving the quality of the dishes. As a result, the restaurant's business has been booming.
From the end of August to mid-September, hotel staff can still take time off as scheduled, but by the end of September it becomes very difficult to find time off.
After working for two consecutive weeks, Ji Qingqing started nagging An Fusheng again:
We need to hire more people...
We need to hire more people...
We need to hire more people...
An Fusheng persisted for another week before finally managing to squeeze out half a day to go see Director Zhang.
When Director Zhang heard that An Fusheng had come to recruit people, he was almost moved to tears. "You've come to ask me for people? That's wonderful! I have plenty of people here."
Two days later, Director Zhang sent four people to An Fusheng. "Are four enough? If not, I have more. I can have as many as you need."
An Fusheng said that was enough; the restaurant didn't have enough chefs and could only make so many dishes each day, so they couldn't accommodate so many customers and didn't need so many waiters.
Director Zhang is in charge of the welfare home. Many children in the welfare home did not receive tutoring when they were in school, so their grades were not very good, they could not get into good universities, and it was difficult for them to find good jobs after graduation. In addition, some children have physical disabilities, so it is difficult for them to find ordinary jobs after leaving the welfare home.
Society is a dog-eat-dog world. He knew his children couldn't compete with others and didn't expect them to find great jobs. He was content with just an ordinary job that would allow them to support themselves. So he tried his best to advocate for and implement various policies to help his children find work. However, in reality, some companies were indeed willing to hire these children, but the wages they offered were very low.
The child was already destitute and helpless. He did the same work as others but didn't receive the same pay. Director Zhang felt sorry for him!
But what could he do? His hair gradually turned white, but he still couldn't come up with a better solution.
An Fusheng took the initiative to come to him to ask for the people back, and even promised to give his children the same treatment as everyone else. How could he not be moved?
Children who can leave the welfare home are actually capable of working and surviving normally. Some of them may have minor defects. For example, of the four people that Director Zhang gave him, one girl has a scar on her face from a burn when she was a child, one has a hearing problem like Fourteen and needs to wear a hearing aid, and two others have no problems at all and will not affect their work. Why can't they enjoy the same treatment as others?
After bringing the four people back, An Fusheng chose two to learn cooking from Wen Yue and Ji Qingqing, and kept two to be waiters. Although there was no chef yet, with two more helpers in the kitchen, the chef could cook faster.
In mid-October, Jiang Manzhi excitedly made a video call to An Fusheng.
An Fusheng discovered that Jiang Manzhi really enjoyed making video calls, and every time she would first show him the vegetables they grew, the poultry they raised, and the natural scenery they enjoyed, introducing them to An Fusheng with great familiarity. She truly loved her hometown.
After the call was connected, An Fusheng greeted him first: "Director Jiang."
Jiang Manzhi: "Hehe, did I disturb you?"
"No, it's past lunchtime, we're resting right now."
"I knew it, you wouldn't answer my video call if you were cooking."
Before An Fusheng could speak, Jiang Manzhi tilted her head, revealing the background behind her, and asked An Fusheng, "Guess where I am?"
It must have just rained over where Jiang Manzhi is; white mist is swirling behind her. Through the mist, An Fusheng can vaguely see a bamboo forest. "Why are you still on the mountain in the rain?"
Jiang Manzhi: "We country folk have work to do whether it's sunny or rainy. Do you see the bamboo grove behind us?"
An Fusheng: "I saw it."
Jiang Manzhi: "There are bamboo shoots in the bamboo forest, do you want some?"
An Fusheng: "Are there bamboo shoots this season?"
Jiang Manzhi: "Yes, it's called Fang bamboo shoot. Because it only grows in the eighth month of the lunar calendar, it's also called August bamboo shoot. It's only available here. It tastes very sweet and delicious. Whether you stir-fry it with cured meat, shredded meat, eggs, or stew it with pig's feet, it's very tasty."
"There's been a lot of rain this autumn, so the bamboo shoots are plentiful and plump. My parents are busy picking them in the bamboo grove. If I could get a signal from inside, I would have video-called you from there and shown you the view. How about it? I'll send you some to try tomorrow."
An Fusheng smiled and said, "Okay, thank you, Director Jiang."
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Author's Note: I just realized that "纪逢年" was written as "纪缝年" in many places. There's no search and replace function in the backend, so I'll correct them one by one when I'm slacking off at work. [Milk Tea emoji]
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