Bai Ying felt sorry for her daughter, so she and Bai Guo each massaged Xu Zhi's calves.
Xu Zhi groaned comfortably, "Oh, the two older sisters are getting more and more skilled. This massage makes me feel so much better."
Bai Ying kept working and said to Xu Zhi, "Miss, there are so many things to do, and you have to do everything by yourself. In my opinion, we should hire some more people to help us."
Xu Zhi turned over, asked the two maids to massage her back, rested her chin on her hands, and said, "This is my own business. I want to watch my business grow from nothing to something, little by little. In the initial stage, there are too many things to do. I need to know how to do each thing. Don't worry, once things are sorted out and everything is on track, everything will be fine."
Bai Guo thought about the children she had treated with Bai Mi and Bai Wei during the day, and then about how she came to the Xu family. Naturally, she hoped that her daughter could do a good job so that children like herself could have a better future.
The next day, Xu Zhi got up from the kang (a heated brick bed) with aches all over her body.
Someone put some firewood into the stove hole in the middle of the night, so the stove was still warm and cozy, and the whole room was also warm and cozy.
After Xu Zhi got up, she saw Bai Ying come in from outside and asked her, "How are the children?"
Bai Ying placed the basin of water she was carrying on the table and said, "They've been up for a long time, and none of them have been idle. Some are sweeping, some are wiping tables, and some are helping to make breakfast in the kitchen. Don't worry, girl, these children are all good children."
Xu Zhi nodded, quickly washed up, put on warm clothes, and headed to the kitchen.
The kitchen is in the east courtyard. Before we moved here, the kitchen had been renovated. It was not only a place to cook, but also a large room was set aside as a place to eat. Several large tables and more than a dozen benches had already been placed in the room.
When Xu Zhi entered the east courtyard, she found the kitchen already filled with smoke, and she could smell the food even before she entered.
Because the children are growing, they need to be able to eat a boiled egg every day. Xu Rao also managed to get a few dairy cows, and hired a cook to start steaming buns and cooking porridge very early in the morning. Although it was just dawn, the food was already ready.
Xu Zhi saw that the children were already seated, gazing longingly at the steaming large steamer. Bai Guo was busy preparing to serve breakfast to the children. When she saw Xu Zhi standing at the door, she quickly greeted her, "Girl, you've arrived. Please sit down for a moment. I'll bring your breakfast to your room right away."
Xu Zhi waved her hand and said, "No need, I'll help you with the work."
Xu Zhi rolled up her sleeves, ready to help, but Bai Guo quickly grabbed her arm, saying, "Good girl, what are you doing? There's no need for you to do things in the kitchen. Wait a moment, I'll be done soon."
Xu Zhi had no choice but to stand in front of that huge stack of steamers.
Bai Guo, accompanied by several old women, first distributed the bowls of porridge to the children. While distributing the bowls, she loudly instructed, "Children, your stomachs are not very good, so you can't eat too much at mealtimes. Each of you will have a bowl of porridge, a steamed bun, and an egg. Everyone will have one, so don't hide them, you must eat them all."
Bai Guo knew yesterday at noon that some children were secretly hiding their lunch buns under their blankets. Having grown up around this time, she naturally understood the importance of food to a child.
The children at the orphanage never have enough to eat every day, and they have all experienced hunger before. They cherish food very much, so when they come here and see soft white steamed buns, they think of hiding them away unless they are particularly hungry, so they can take them out to eat later when there is nothing else to eat.
Each child received a bowl of porridge, a steamed bun, and a boiled egg. Xu Zhi observed that the children sat quietly, none of them picking up the food and eating it immediately just because it was placed in front of them. Instead, they waited until all the ginkgo nuts had been distributed and it was time to start eating before they picked up their food and ate slowly.
Bai Guo carried a food box, along with breakfast for Xu Zhi, herself, and Bai Ying, and walked towards Xu Zhi's courtyard.
As Bai Guo walked, she said to Xu Zhi, "Most of these children hid things yesterday. Some of them didn't even eat a single bite of the white steamed buns they had for lunch. They hid them all. We need to change this habit of theirs. It's fine if they hide things for two days in the cold weather, but if it gets hot, the food will spoil and they'll get sick."
Xu Zhi, who had also experienced hunger, naturally understood the children's feelings. She said, "Let's try to understand. Over time, once they realize there's always enough to eat, they'll naturally be able to change their ways."
Bai Guo placed the food box on the kang table. Bai Ying had already tidied up the room and quickly helped Xu Zhi sit down. The two Bais took the breakfast out of the food box. Bai Ying touched the bowl of porridge and found it was still warm, so she was relieved and said, "The porridge isn't warm anymore since it came from the kitchen. It's not the coldest time yet. I think we should make a small kitchen in this courtyard."
Bai Guo nodded and said, "That's what I think too, girl. I think if we tidy up the west wing properly, it can be used as a kitchen, and we can even boil water at night."
Xu Zhi, considering that she would be staying here for a while, agreed and let Bai Guo and Bai Ying handle the matter.
After breakfast, Xu Zhi continued to make plans, such as how to conduct the training courses for these children, how to arrange the follow-up work, and most importantly, where to find a trainer. These were all problems that she needed to solve one by one.
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