All three children were about to cry.
Just then, a parent who had come to see their child asked, "What happened?"
Chen Chunya was blunt: "The children didn't pay; their families let them come and eat for free."
The two men frowned upon seeing this: "How much can a child eat? Let's share some with them, otherwise they'll go hungry this afternoon."
The three children burst into tears.
He thought someone would back him up.
Ji Huaizhi came in and asked softly, "Which child are you the parents of?"
The two pointed to their children.
Ji Huaizhi said directly to the two children, "Are you willing to let your mother give your food to these three children?"
The two children shook their heads, looking somewhat unhappy.
"What do you mean by this? Why won't you feed my child?"
"Yes, we paid."
Ji Huaizhi: "But we only cooked for so many children today. If we divide the food among three of them, your children will only eat less. Don't you understand?"
The two of them fell silent.
Chun Ya: "Xiao Tian, your food is in the innermost room, go and eat quickly."
Ji Huaizhi came over to help Chun Ya get food for the children; the kids were very well-behaved.
They even know to line up obediently.
"This is for you, take it and eat it at the table outside." Chun Ya gave the children generous portions.
Whether it's a boy or a girl, they're pretty much the same.
The two parents felt a little better upon seeing this, as the food was indeed quite good, after all, it was made with wheat flour.
"Give my child a little more; he didn't eat breakfast."
"Yes, my son has a big appetite, and he loves to eat eggs."
Ji Huaizhi, standing beside Chun Ya, straightened his back and said, "Every child has the same amount of food. If you don't give them breakfast in order to make them eat more, it's the children who will suffer."
The two of them looked a little embarrassed.
They didn't expect to be discovered.
However, seeing the children eating so heartily put my mind at ease, so I said goodbye and left.
To avoid being annoying people by staying here all the time.
The three children were still crying there, and Chen Chunya looked to Ji Huaizhi for help.
"Go outside and cry."
Ji Huaizhi was, after all, a grown man, and he was still quite afraid of children.
"Uncle, my brother and I are so hungry. I'll ask my mom to come and give us money tomorrow," the child cried pitifully.
But Ji Huaizhi was not soft-hearted at all, saying, "They're not his sons: 'Little friends, it's not that your uncle won't feed you, but you should know that food in the city is rationed.'"
“Your mother also knows that you have to pay first to eat here, otherwise you won’t get any food.”
He spoke as if he genuinely sympathized with them: "So your mother..."
The three children had tears in their eyes, and they were filled with resentment towards their family for making them lose face and go hungry, as well as resentment towards the couple for not feeding them.
“Go back to school. You’ll have nothing to eat if you keep crying at our house.”
Ji Huaizhi looked very serious when he wasn't smiling, so the three children had to leave first.
Chen Chunya frowned: "Actually, I felt sorry for them. I almost couldn't resist giving them some food just now."
“These three kids hate us to death, and you still feel sorry for them? They're not your children.”
Ji Huaizhi divided the remaining noodles and stir-fried eggs with green peppers among himself, and the two of them ate them in the yard.
Xiao Tian's meals were different, of course, since there were more eggs than vegetables.
"Huaizhi, what's going on at your house? So many children?" the old lady next door asked.
Ji Huaizhi asked Chun Ya to bring out the sponge cake he had bought.
“Xiaotian went to school, and I also attended classes at school. My monthly allowance of just over ten yuan was not enough for the family to live on, so Chun Ya set up a small dining table at home to supplement the family income.”
Ji Huaizhi handed the sponge cake to the old woman: "This is for Xiao Shitou. I saw he wasn't home yesterday afternoon."
"Oh, what are you doing with this?" The old woman waved her hand: "Take it back to nourish Xiaotian's body."
"Grandma, take this. Little Stone often plays with Little Tian and acts like a big brother. This is for Little Stone."
The neighbor's child seemed to hear someone calling his name, and came out with his rice bowl in his hand: "Uncle Ji."
"Little Stone, here's a chicken cake from Uncle."
"Wow! Thank you, Uncle Ji, you're so cool!" The child ran over with a bowl and took the sponge cake away.
The old lady felt very embarrassed: "You are too kind of you. You always explain problems to Little Stone and even give him steamed egg cakes."
"It's okay, didn't you give Xiaotian snacks too?"
After finishing their meal, everyone took their lunchboxes back to school. They could have washed them before taking them back, but their parents told them not to wash the lunchboxes and to show them what they had eaten when they got back.
Some people with small appetites, who were reluctant to eat the food themselves, would take it back to their families.
Chun Ya didn't say anything.
On the way back to school, people around were surprised to see so many children coming out of Ji Huaizhi's house: "Is Teacher Ji going to open a kindergarten?"
"I don't know, I'll go ask in a bit."
A few children were chatting on their way back to school: "Ji Yanli, do you still have sponge cakes at home?"
Ji Xiaotian nodded with a serious face: "Dad bought it."
"Don't you have any younger siblings? There are several children in our family, how come you're the only child in your family?"
Ji Xiaotian: "I don't know."
"Maybe you'll have one in the future. When you have a younger brother or sister, you'll have to work. And the chicken cakes in your family won't be just for you anymore."
Ji Xiaotian paused for a moment and didn't say anything.
"Ji Yanli, why were you eating inside instead of with us?" another boy asked.
"Yeah, did you eat meat behind our backs?"
Ji Xiaotian stopped and frowned: "That's my home. What do you mean by eating behind your backs?"
"You should eat the same food as us."
"Why do I have to eat the same things as you?" Ji Xiaotian stopped. "That's my home. I'm the boss, and you're just guests. Have you ever seen a head chef in a state-run restaurant eat the same food as the guests?"
"I have never been to a state-run restaurant."
"I don't have any either."
Ji Xiaotian: "If there isn't any, then there isn't any. It's not as good as my mom's cooking anyway."
After school, the children's parents all came over to ask them what they had eaten that day.
How was the meal? Are you full?
The children spoke the truth, which put their parents at ease.
Some parents took out their children's lunchboxes, only to find them empty: "Huh? Why are they empty? Didn't we tell you not to finish your food and bring some back for us to see?"
"I had some left, but I kept thinking about those few bites of noodles all afternoon, so I secretly ate them when get out of class ended."
The child's mother nudged his head: "Hey, you're such a glutton! You don't even leave a bite for your younger siblings."
"Hey, what's wrong with you two? You look so listless?"
The twins burst into tears upon seeing their mother: "You didn't even pay for our living expenses, yet you let us go to eat, but they don't give us any food at all!"
"That's right, there was one other person besides my brother and me, and all three of us were starving all day!"
"You bad mother, I was starving this afternoon and the teacher gave each of us a pancake."
"Waaaaah!"
"Wow wow wow!"
"We're all starving! I never want to go hungry again, it's so shameful!"
Kids these days still care about their image. The twins' mother was shocked to see her children so hungry: "What? You've been starving all day?"
"How could this happen?" The mother was heartbroken and regretted it after hearing the news: "It's just that I forgot to pay the living expenses, how could this happen?"
Upon hearing that her children had been hungry all day, the twin mother looked around and finally spotted Chen Chunya in the crowd.
"Comrade!"
Chen Chunya turned her head: "Hello, is there anything I can help you with?"
The twin mother pulled her children in front of her: "I just want to ask you why you won't feed my children?"
People around stopped in their tracks at the commotion: "What's going on?"
“Comrade, there’s something wrong with what you’re saying. You’ve already said it’s your child, so why should I feed your child?” Chen Chunya said slowly, following Ji Huaizhi’s instructions.
"Don't you run a private after-school care center?"
Why didn't you give them food when they came to your house today? They were so pitiful! Look how hungry the children are!
Chen Chunya calmly replied after hearing the conversations around him:
“Each child’s meals are rationed. How can they eat if you don’t pay for their living expenses? Are you expecting them to eat and drink for free?”
Twins' mother: "Didn't I just forget? Can't you give it to me after I finish eating?"
Chen Chunya: "I already said that each child has a fixed amount of food. If I pity your child and give them food, then the other nine children who received money will go hungry!"
"They've paid us, so they should definitely eat their fill. We can't just share the food from other people's bowls with them, can we?"
The twin mother felt that no one else was as important as her own children: "What's wrong with sharing? Just eat a little, my children are still hungry."
The others objected, saying, "You didn't pay, so why should your child eat my child's food?"
"That's right! How can you be so unreasonable? You just want to eat and drink for free!"
"How heartless! Letting her child go hungry for a day. She said she forgot to give her living expenses, but I don't believe her. She just wants to freeload!"
The other people aren't stupid. They all paid, so why shouldn't they pay for other people's children's meals?
Moreover, if we give some to him, our own child won't have enough to eat!
Chen Chunya straightened his back when he saw so many people standing on his side; this was something Huaizhi had taught him.
If someone causes trouble for her, she'll drag others into it. At first, they'll just watch the show, but once their interests are threatened, they'll start speaking up for her.
The twins' mother never expected these people to be so heartless.
"You're all mothers, how can you be so heartless?"
"And given how heartless she is, are you really comfortable letting the children eat at her house? Will they really be able to get enough to eat in the future?"
Chen Chunya said loudly, "Everyone can supervise, and even come and see what I feed the children every noon. I can provide them with hot meals without requiring food coupons."
"If you think I'm charging too much, or that I'm not giving people free food and drinks, then you should let your children eat cold food at school."
Upon hearing Chen Chunya's words, everyone waved their hands and said, "That's good."
"It's so good that the children can have something hot to eat. The children said they even had white flour for lunch today, which is better than what they eat at home."
"Really? Then I'll have my child try it for a week, since there's no one at home to cook."
Chen Chunya felt a surge of excitement upon hearing this: "I'm giving you next week's living expenses this week. For now, I'm only accepting children, and the allowance is fixed, so there's no issue of more boys than girls."
The twins' mother was furious to see the woman being surrounded and talked about.
But after being criticized by everyone, she didn't have the face to go up and argue again.
Ji Xiaotian glanced at the twins. Their mother bullied my mother, so I'll bully them too.
Chen Chunya's small catering service was quite good. Some people near the school got her inspiration and started steaming rice and dishes for the students, charging two cents a time.
Some people have tried setting up after-school care centers, but they've found that cooking for so many children is quite troublesome.
“Huaizhi, I’ve been running this little catering service for a month now, and I’d like to ask the old lady next door to come and help.” Chen Chunya pressed herself against the man’s chest.
"Okay, I'll talk to them tomorrow about how to pay the salary." Ji Huaizhi opened his eyes.
Chen Chunya stood up and took out his notebook: "I calculated that in the first week, there were 9 students and the amount was 31.5 yuan, in the second week there were 13 students and the amount was 45.5 yuan, and in the following two weeks there were 16 students and the amount was 56 yuan. That's 112 yuan in two weeks, and that's about 189 yuan in a month."
Chen Chunya covered her mouth with her notebook and laughed happily.
Ji Huaizhi gave a thumbs up: "My wife is really amazing."
"I calculated the cost to be around seventy yuan, but I didn't have time to go to the countryside to buy vegetables later, so the purchase price was a bit high. I wasn't very familiar with the process in the first month, so I didn't control the costs well. I should be able to earn more in the future."
"This month, my grandmother helped me out because I was busy, so I gave her a red envelope containing 8.88 yuan."
"If she comes, how much do you think would be appropriate to give her?"
Ji Huaizhi thought for a moment and said, "We're busy at noon, and we're the ones doing all the hard work. Let's pay her twenty a month."
Chen Chunya nodded: "Okay, I'll listen to my man."
Ji Huaizhi also smiled.
Chen Chunya threw herself at him: "Huaizhi, I feel like I'm dreaming. I can't believe I can earn so much money."
"Take it slow. Now that we've made some money, we'll go back to Chengdu and buy a house after I graduate."
"We'll buy a shop and open a store then."
Chen Chunya's eyes lit up when he heard that; it was a house in the provincial capital.
"Um!"
With hope for the future, Chen Chunya worked even harder.
The thought that once they bought a house, Xiaotian could go to school in the city, and she and Huaizhi would become city dwellers.
The old lady was happy to learn that she would receive twenty yuan for helping out, since all she did was wash vegetables, cook, and serve meals to the children, which would only take a few hours.
When her daughters-in-law heard this, they all thought she was capable.
The couple's life was thriving, but some people couldn't stand it.
Take Jiang Li and Lin Tao, for example.
Lin Tao had been pursuing Jiang Li ever since he learned that her father was the director of the Education Bureau. After finally winning her over, he often bragged about it in the dormitory.
Logically speaking, Jiang Li would normally look down on Lin Tao, a man with many hidden agendas.
He agreed because he used to be Ji Huaizhi's roommate, and he could get news about Ji Huaizhi from Huang Dong and the others in the dormitory.
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