Gourmet Kindergarten

Zhuangzhuang blinked, his little face scrunched up:

"Wangjianglou? Is that the place my parents took me to last time, where the dishes were so small and we had to wait for ages?"

Lin Minghui's face darkened: "That's called waiting in line! Don't you understand how busy business is..."

"And it's so expensive," Zhuangzhuang added.

Lin Xi didn't participate in the father and son's bickering. She silently turned her head and pretended to look at the scenery.

Several college students nearby were trembling with suppressed laughter.

Zhang Qian, who had once again stirred up trouble, smiled and pressed Zhuangzhuang, "It's a bit pricey, but it tastes good, right? It's better than what your brother makes, isn't it?"

Zhuangzhuang tilted his head, giving him a "Are you kidding me?" look, and said with certainty:

"Not at all."

The entire audience was stunned.

Zhang Qian was the first to react, and laughed: "Little brother, Wangjianglou is the top restaurant in this area. How old are you? How many restaurants have you eaten at?"

Zhuangzhuang got anxious and raised his little hand high: "It's true! I'm a dog if I'm lying!"

Lin Xi nodded in agreement, stating frankly, "Yes, as far as sweet and sour pork goes, it's definitely far from good."

The proprietress personally stamped it.

The atmosphere instantly exploded.

"Holy crap, even the boss lady verified it? That means it's absolutely authentic!"

"Wow, that's amazing! I have to check this out this weekend! Give me your address now!"

"I've eaten at Wangjianglou Restaurant, and it's truly excellent. If there's anything even better, I'd sell my pots and pans to try it!"

"The key question is... what kind of shop? Is there some hidden big shot in this area?"

A group of college students were completely intrigued and eager to try it out.

Zhang Qian did not join in the commotion.

Having mingled in over a dozen food-related groups, his title as the "information chief of the area" wasn't given lightly.

He could draw the entire restaurant scene around here with his eyes closed.

A newly opened, amazing shop?

Absolutely not.

Unless... a private kitchen that doesn't open to the public?

His interest grew even stronger. He squatted down and looked at Zhuangzhuang with a smile: "Zhuangzhuang, tell your brother, where did you eat all these dishes?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Several college students crowded around, craning their necks and staring longingly at Zhuangzhuang.

Zhuangzhuang was surrounded by a group of big-headed people, looking completely bewildered.

He tilted his head and replied with an expression as if he were looking at an idiot:

"Kindergarten."

He paused for a moment.

"Where can I, a child, eat?"

No one spoke.

Zhuangzhuang looked at them and added, "It's our Golden Sun Kindergarten, don't you know it?"

Still, no one spoke.

Zhang Qian remained in a half-squatting position, her smile frozen on her face.

A girl next to me couldn't hold back any longer and burst out laughing.

Then comes the second one.

Then everyone laughed—not because they found it funny, but because they found it absurd.

Private kitchens, hidden restaurants, chefs cooking in private kitchens... I just went through a hundred possibilities in my mind, and the answer is actually a kindergarten cafeteria.

"Wait, wait, wait!"

Zhang Qian slowly stood up, rubbing her knees which had gone numb from squatting, her expression complex: "You mean... the kindergarten lunch?"

"Of course!" Zhuangzhuang nodded his little head like a chicken pecking at rice.

"Is sweet and sour pork also one?"

"Um."

"Steamed shrimp with garlic and vermicelli, is that also?"

"Mmm."

Zhang Qian shut her mouth.

He subconsciously took out his phone, opened a review app, and searched for "Golden Sun Kindergarten".

The result, of course, was—nothing.

Having spent three years in the food scene, he boasts that there isn't a single restaurant in this area that he doesn't know.

Today, I was thoroughly humiliated by a kindergarten kid over lunch.

He silently put his phone back in his pocket, remained silent for a long while, and then managed to squeeze out a sentence:

"...Do kindergarten teachers now have to get a chef's certificate?"

This sentence became the last straw that broke the camel's back, leaving the college students even more surprised.

"What an amazing kindergarten! They can even make sweet and sour pork and steamed shrimp with garlic and vermicelli?! They're so generous! Unlike other kindergartens that just serve cabbage and tofu—"

"They even completely outclass Wangjianglou?!"

"Has the early childhood education industry gotten this messed up?"

……

Lin Minghui didn't get involved in the commotion over there.

He stood behind the iron pot with a dark expression, staring at the rice noodles bubbling inside.

More than six hundred.

I waited in line for forty minutes.

The kid was eating with his mouth full of oil, and kept saying how delicious it was.

Now look what's happened—they're starting to dislike it?

Furthermore, there was a kindergarten principal who didn't play games with the children but just stood there flipping a wok, which made his own son so infatuated with her that he didn't recognize his own family.

What kind of nonsense is this?

Lin Minghui turned up the heat, and the oil in the pan splattered with a "sizzle." He poured all his frustration into the pan.

But he didn't expect that even more heartbreaking things were yet to come.

……

After the peak season passed, things finally quieted down at the stalls.

Lin Xi leaned closer, hesitated for a long time, and squeezed out, "Honey, I'm thinking... I want to find a job."

Lin Minghui paused in wiping the table, then looked up at her: "What kind of job do you work?"

"Just... a regular class." Lin Xi avoided eye contact guiltily, pretending to be calm. "I'm just idling at home all day anyway, so I wanted to go out for a walk."

"If you can't stay idle, why don't you come and help me at my stall? Why go out and work for someone else?"

"That's different."

Lin Minghui stared at her for a while, but didn't rush to ask any further questions.

After a long pause, he slowly asked, "Where to?"

"kindergarten."

"……what?"

"To be a life skills teacher. Not teaching classes, just taking care of the kids' meals and sleep," Lin Xi muttered. "I originally wanted to be a teacher, but unfortunately I don't have the certification."

Lin Minghui remained silent.

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation.

Which one?

"Golden Sun".

Lin Minghui finally understood his wife's true intentions: "Wife, I think your desire to go to work is just an excuse; you're really just craving the food that kindergarten principal makes, aren't you?"

"No way..." Lin Xi's eyes darted around as she tried to salvage the situation, "I can also take care of Zhuangzhuang while I'm at it. Besides... I also want to realize my personal value."

Lin Minghui didn't respond.

Lin Xi's lie was so clumsy that he understood it immediately.

But lies aren't scary; what's scary is that when she tells a lie, her eyes are shining.

That kind of brightness doesn't only appear when you mention "going to work," but only when you mention the six words "the food the kindergarten principal cooked."

He knew that look all too well.

This is how Zhuangzhuang acts when he shouts, "Brother's sweet and sour pork is the best in the world!"

In all the years of their marriage, Lin Xi had never looked at his fried noodles with that kind of gaze.

Not even once.

She would also praise things like "Sales were good today" or "Customers really like this flavor," but that's different.

It's like praising a man as "reliable" versus praising him as "amazing"—both sound like compliments, but the meaning is completely different.

To put it bluntly, the stir-fried noodles I made were already numb to her.

A kindergarten principal he had never met before had his son completely infatuated with her, to the point that he didn't even recognize his own family. Even the child's mother had fallen for her, abandoning her peaceful life to become the principal's life teacher.

Before they even met, they were completely outmatched and utterly defeated.

But what can he do?

If you want a peaceful life, you can only smack your lips and swallow your pride; support is essential, and you absolutely cannot stop it.

What's the most frustrating thing?

They don't even have the right to be angry.

After all, it was only you who unilaterally treated someone as a hypothetical enemy; the kindergarten principal probably didn't even know that someone like you existed in the world.

Lin Minghui slapped the rag onto the stove.

Row.

I'll have to meet this young kindergarten director sooner or later and see for myself just how amazing his cooking skills really are.