Gourmet Kindergarten

"Uncle Li, practicing your voice so early in the morning?"

Pei Qian casually replied and slowly strolled over.

As soon as we arrived at the kindergarten gate, Grandpa Li grabbed my arm and dragged me to the base of the wall.

The old man peeked out and glanced left and right to make sure no one was around before suddenly turning his head back.

Pei Qian: "..."

Sir, the way you're acting makes it seem like we're having an underground meeting.

Grandpa Li lowered his voice: "Oh my dear young principal, you still have the mind to joke! Something's happened!"

"What happened?"

"Zhao Cuihua led a large group of people into the park and headed straight for the office building!"

"What is Aunt Zhao doing bringing people in there?"

"How would I know!" Grandpa Li waved his hands repeatedly. "A lot of her older sisters, around the same age, along with a bunch of little kids, rushed in all at once, chattering away. Before I could stop them, they were gone."

"Okay, I understand. I'll go take a look."

Pei Qian turned and walked into the garden, his steps quickening slightly, his mind filled with unease.

It's true that Aunt Zhao is a gossip and loves to meddle, but why would she lead a bunch of people straight into the office building so early in the morning?

This isn't like her at all.

Turning the corner, the scene of the small square in front of the office building immediately came into view—

Good guy.

There were more than a dozen people standing there, all of them middle-aged women around fifty years old, each with curly hair and full of energy.

If you didn't know better, you'd think some popular square dance group had come to scout out the location.

Several babies were scattered around the middle-aged women.

There are probably eight...

Some were holding hands, some were holding baby bottles, and the most outrageous one was lying on his grandma's back, sleeping in a crooked position, with drool hanging on her collar.

Aunt Zhao stood right in the middle of the crowd, her face filled with utter despair.

The sight made Pei Qian pause, his mind going completely blank.

—Aunt Zhao, if you've been kidnapped, just blink.

His response was a twisted smile from Aunt Zhao that was even uglier than crying.

"Cough cough."

Pei Qian abandoned his spectator's mood and slowly stepped forward: "Aunt Zhao, what's wrong...?"

Where did you kidnap so many kids?

Before the question could even be uttered, the woman with the permed hair standing at the front spoke up, her face instantly breaking into a wide, toothy grin: "Oh! You must be the headmistress of this kindergarten? Seeing is believing, you're really handsome—"

"Hello, may I ask who you are?"

"I'm Li Shufen, Zhao Cuihua's best friend!" The aunt slapped her thigh and went straight to the point, "Little kindergarten director! Those crispy pork tenderloins that Cuihua brought home last night—did you make them?"

"..."

Pei Qian was stunned.

That's it?

Early in the morning, more than ten middle-aged women arrived at the city gates, leading children and carrying babies, making a scene like a siege, all for the sake of asking for a piece of meat.

This completely silenced him!

and many more…

Could Aunt Zhao have been responsible for that sudden surge in reputation points last night?

Judging from the current situation—it's definitely going to happen!

"Yes, I made it. Seeing that Aunt Zhao liked it, I packed up the rest for her to take home. What's up?"

"What's wrong? Well, of course—"

"Ahem!!"

Aunt Zhao coughed violently and glared at Li Shufen, fearing that this blabbermouth sister would expose her secrets.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Li Shufen chuckled twice, quickly changing the subject: "Nothing much! It's just that my son and grandson have reached kindergarten age, so I asked Cuihua to introduce them to this school!"

She then pushed the two adorable little creatures beside her forward: "This is my son Jianjian, and this is my grandson Haohao! Come on, greet the headmaster!"

"Hello, Principal!"

Jianjian stood ramrod straight, his voice loud and clear.

Hao Hao held the milk bottle, blinking his eyes with a blank expression, without moving his mouth.

Li Shufen panicked: "Hey Hao Hao, what are you doing holding that broken baby bottle? Call someone!"

"Haohao, don't be afraid, call him with your uncle." Jianjian patted his nephew's shoulder like a little adult.

Pei Qian's mind went blank for a moment.

Son? Grandson? Uncle?

He silently went through the family hierarchy in his mind—Li Shufen, around fifty years old, had a son in kindergarten, who was also her uncle. In other words, her daughter was much older than her son, and since her daughter had given birth to Hao Hao, Hao Hao had to call Jian Jian his uncle.

Uncle and nephew going to kindergarten together?!

This is truly amazing—the world is so big, there are all sorts of wonders!

And Jianjian's generation...

She's even tougher than him, the kindergarten director.

Hao Hao looked down at the bottle, then looked up at Pei Qian, and tentatively opened his mouth: "Headmaster... hello?"

Seeing this, several middle-aged women nearby quickly nudged their children, saying, "Quickly greet the headmistress! May I eat... from now on, your grandma (maternal grandma)?"

The words were on the tip of their tongues, but everyone swallowed the rest of their sentences back.

The group looked at each other, their faces flushing red.

so close!

I almost blurted out my real purpose: "Can I get some meat for free?"

"Ahem... Call someone quickly! Don't just stand there!"

"Hello, Principal!"

A chorus of sweet, childlike voices rose and fell, melting Pei Qian's heart.

And judging from this... they're all here to register for kindergarten?

This is truly like someone handing you a pillow when you're about to fall asleep.

Yesterday we were worried about not having enough children in the nursery, but today a whole bunch of them came right to our door.

That's right—

Pei Qian glanced around and thought the age range seemed a bit outrageous.

The older one looked to be five or six years old, while the younger one, Hao Hao, who was holding a baby bottle, was probably only a little over three years old. They were all of different ages.

What's worse is that there's only one teacher in the kindergarten, so it's impossible to divide classes according to the traditional model.

but……

A thought suddenly flashed through Pei Qian's mind.

Mixed-age education!

Isn't the core principle of Montessori education to promote mixed-age classes?

Putting children of different ages together, with older children mentoring younger ones, can help older children develop a sense of responsibility and younger children have role models. This approach is often more effective than rigidly separating children into classes.

There were already six children in the kindergarten, so they were perfect "big brothers and sisters".

These newcomers, the older ones are fast runners and can lead people, while the younger ones are still suckling on bottles—they all blend in together.

A natural mixed-age ecosystem, all set!

Thinking of this, a glint of light flashed in Pei Qian's eyes.

But we still need to say the unpleasant things upfront to avoid future disputes.

"Ladies, although our kindergarten is an established one, its facilities can't compare to those bilingual kindergartens next door. If you're looking for luxurious facilities, then I suggest—"

"Not picky!"

Li Shufen took the lead in waving her hand, saying sincerely, "Don't worry, little director, we're not picky! As long as we have a place to sleep and food to eat, that's fine!"

"Yes, yes, I'm not picky!"

The other middle-aged women all nodded in agreement.

Pei Qian noticed that several middle-aged women's eyes lit up when he mentioned the words "there is food to eat".

His lips twitched slightly.

Okay, those who know, know.

"Also, our kindergarten currently only has one teacher, so we're short-staffed. Therefore, we will adopt a mixed-age class format, with older children taking care of younger children. This model is very popular abroad, so you don't need to worry about the effectiveness. In addition, we will be launching 'life skills classes' in the future."

"Little Headmaster!"

Li Shufen waved her hand to interrupt him, "We're not picky, so stop with the preamble and get the enrollment procedures done quickly!"

"Yes, let's get it done quickly! Stop dawdling."

Pei Qian choked on his words.

Well, they don't even want to hear my ideas; they're practically ready to pull out their wallets and slam them on the table.

Since that's the case, what are we waiting for?

manage!