Gourmet Kindergarten

Aunt Zhao finally couldn't stand it anymore.

"Shut up, all of you!"

That shout had a certain air about it, reminiscent of the "Landlady" from Stephen Chow's movies, and it startled the sparrows in the nearby camphor tree, causing them to flutter and scatter in alarm.

The four middle-aged women all shrank back and immediately quieted down.

Four pairs of eyes stared at Aunt Zhao.

Aunt Zhao, hands on her hips, said with exasperation, "You lot, we've been friends for decades, and you're arguing like this over a simple chore like washing vegetables? Aren't you ashamed if word gets out?"

"They started it—" Aunt Zhang retorted, her neck stiff.

"Just because they went first doesn't mean you can join in the commotion..."

Aunt Zhang: "..."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"Yeah, Sister Zhao, you have so many ideas, what do you suggest?"

Aunt Zhao rubbed her temples.

Hey!

They're all seasoned veterans; who doesn't know what's going on in each other's minds?

These women don't really need this job.

He's clearly craving the food the kindergarten director makes!

They were using the job application as an excuse to sneak in and freeload.

But then again... the kindergarten director's skills are worth all this fighting over!

However, right now...

A brilliant idea flashed into her mind.

"Alright! I have a compromise, do you want to hear it?"

"Yes! Tell me quickly!"

"Shared employment, rotating shifts! One person per day, rotating shifts. No one should be left behind, and no one should be taken advantage of."

Aunt Li tilted her head and thought for a moment, then said, "That's... fair too."

Liu Guilan snorted, remaining silent but not objecting either.

Aunt Yang scratched her head: "Alright, it'll do."

Seeing that the commotion had subsided, Aunt Zhao let out a long sigh of relief and straightened her back.

She knew that there was no such thing as mud that couldn't be mixed up; it just depended on whether your spoon was big enough.

She tilted her head slightly and gave Pei Qian a smug look that seemed to say, "How about it? Isn't Auntie awesome?"

Pei Qian: "..."

No way, this is allowed?!

This turns a full-time position into a "shared employee" model, right?

After all this time, Aunt Zhao, it's such a waste of your talent that you're not working as an HR person at a big company...

Just as Pei Qian was about to give her a thumbs up, something unexpected happened.

"etc."

Liu Guilan suddenly spoke.

Aunt Zhao's heart skipped a beat: "What's wrong now, Grandma?"

Liu Guilan held up one finger: "We only have four of us, and we go to school five days a week. So who goes on Fridays?"

Aunt Zhao: "..."

Aunt Zhang: "..."

Aunt Li: "..."

Aunt Yang: "..."

Aunt Zhao rolled her eyes, speechless. "Isn't that simple? Just start again from Monday's schedule on Friday! A four-day cycle, seamless!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the eyes of the four middle-aged women lit up simultaneously.

"good!"

"Brilliant!"

"Sister Zhao, you really know how to coordinate!"

The four women reached a consensus in a second.

Aunt Zhao turned around, her face beaming with a warm smile: "Young director, what do you think of this arrangement?"

"Okay." Pei Qian nodded. "Then... how will the salary be calculated?"

"No salary needed!" Aunt Zhang answered faster than anyone else, and the other three nodded vigorously.

Pei Qian frowned and waved his hand, "How can this be? Working for free without getting paid, if word gets out that I, Pei Qian, am running a kindergarten, I might as well just call it a black brick kiln."

"Hey! Little Director, you're being too polite!" Aunt Zhang exclaimed impatiently. "Don't be fooled by how much we haggle over a bunch of scallions; we're not short of a few bucks. With our pensions and rent, we have more money than we can spend. Your meager salary isn't even enough to fill a tooth gap. Besides—the food you cook, can you measure its value with money? You couldn't even get that at a fancy restaurant! Eating a meal from you, I'd feel like I'm making a profit, even if I had to pay out of my own pocket!"

The other three echoed:

"Yes, yes, yes! You'd make a profit even if you had to pay extra!"

"As long as meals are provided, everything else is negotiable!"

"Money doesn't matter, I'm here mainly for your skill!"

Pei Qian: "..."

So they're all rich, idle people who come here to work purely as a form of "paying for meals"—oh no, it's more like "exchanging labor for meals."

But he can't just order people around for free; what kind of talk would that make?

"How about this, ladies, I'll feel bad if I don't pay you. Since you're taking turns coming, I'll just pay you one month's salary per person. You can discuss and divide it among yourselves, okay?"

"Really, you don't need to—"

"It's settled then, enough with the nonsense." Pei Qian, adopting the authority of a boss, made the decision directly. "However, let's get this straight: the kindergarten will only provide lunch for now. In other words, only lunch is included. Is that acceptable?"

"Okay, okay, okay!"

The four middle-aged women nodded their heads like chicks pecking at rice.

As long as they are provided with meals, they will accept even half a meal, let alone a whole meal.

"Then you can start working today, right?" Aunt Zhang asked eagerly.

"Okay." Pei Qian looked at the four energetic middle-aged women and nodded helplessly. "You can coordinate among yourselves who comes first today."

Before she could finish speaking, Aunt Zhang shouted, "I'll go first! I'm the oldest by age, so I'll fight anyone who tries to take my place!"

The other three wanted to object, but Aunt Zhao spoke up: "Alright, let's do as Sister Zhang says, Sister Zhang will go first today."

Aunt Zhang looked smug.

The other three women looked regretful, wishing they had been born a few years earlier.

Just then…

Li Shufen and her group came out of the conference room after completing the formalities.

Seeing this, Aunt Zhao immediately gave them the order to leave: "Alright, Shufen, the paperwork is all done, so hurry up and go home. Don't keep taking up Teacher Yu and the headmistress's time."

"Okay, okay."

Li Shufen turned to look at her son and grandson, forcing a reluctant expression on her face, "Jianjian, Haohao, Grandma is leaving first. You two have to be good."

She took a few steps, then stopped, turned back, and gave him a meaningful squinty: "Don't forget our pinky promise!"

Upon hearing this, several parents nearby also shouted at their own children in unison:

"Beibei, don't forget your promise to Grandma!"

"Yuanyuan, remember our promise!"

"..."

Jianjian and the other little ones stood there, stunned. On their tender little faces, a helplessness that didn't belong to their age appeared at the same time.

This scene left Pei Qian, who was standing to the side, completely dumbfounded.

What agreement?

Judging from the utterly dejected expressions on these little ones' faces, this is definitely not a good thing!

He was about to ask a question when he saw Hao Hao, clutching his milk bottle, calling out to Li Shufen's retreating figure, "Grandma! Don't leave Hao Hao behind—!"

Li Shufen paused in her steps.

The next second, she ran faster than a 100-meter sprinter, her motto being, "As long as I run fast, my grandson can't catch me..."

"Grandma is bad!"

Hao Hao got anxious and ran outside with his short legs.

"Haohao, don't run away... Uncle's here..."

Jianjian sighed and resignedly started to chase after him.

Upon seeing this commotion, Pei Qian and Aunt Zhao instinctively followed.

Beibei and other curious children also ran out.

"Hey, don't run away..."

Teacher Yu and Aunt Zhang called out twice from behind, but to no avail. They could only helplessly follow the large group toward the park gate.