Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Taking a New Path

The former No. 1 food line champion of Seventh Elementary, Zhu Chenchen, surged forward and finally, despite being behind by one point, successfully grabbed a second serving.

But the third serving... probably not.

Meanwhile, the new generation food line champion, Zhu Kuangkuang, smoothly grabbed two pieces of cauliflower in the third round.

Stir-fried cured meat with cauliflower was also fragrant and crispy; the smoky flavor of the cured meat combined with the dry-fried wok aroma made it a top-notch dish to eat with rice.

Zhu Kuangkuang carefully nibbled on the cauliflower while asking her sister:

“Sis, do you still remember what you said?”

Zhu Chenchen scooped a big spoonful of rice, carefully placed a squid tentacle on top, then added a small piece of cauliflower, preparing to enjoy a bite that combined both flavors.

“Ah, eat first, then talk!”

She thought her sister wanted to say something about McDonald’s or fried chicken.

If only she had known the kindergarten food was this delicious, why would she still be thinking about McDonald’s?

Now, forget McDonald’s, even Chen’s Restaurant seemed like a thing of the past to her.

Zhu Kuangkuang carefully ate the cauliflower, scooping rice from the bowl onto her plate, trying hard to soak it with the squid’s sauce.

“Sis, if I didn’t get any, you’d share your food with me...”

Zhu Chenchen’s chopsticks paused, then quickly grabbed two pieces of squid flower and stuffed them into her mouth.

“But you got some!”

She picked up her plate, quickly eating rice and cutting off her sister’s unrealistic hopes.

“You even ate more than me! When I went for my second round, I only got three pieces of squid flower!”

Zhu Kuangkuang raised her chopsticks, ready to sneak a bite from her sister’s plate: “Sis, you don’t keep your promises!”

Zhu Chenchen knew she was in the wrong, put down her plate, and tried to solve it with another offer.

“You eat every day... how about I buy you milk tea at home?”

“No! I want squid tentacles!”

“Two cups!”

In the end, Zhu Chenchen used force, pacifying her sister with a slice of carrot.

Zhu Kuangkuang carefully sucked the sauce off the carrot slice until there was no more flavor, then ate the carrot.

Unlike the hard, crisp texture of squid, the carrot slice was soft, soaked with sweet and spicy sauce, and hardly tasted like carrot.

She carefully finished it, then looked again at her sister’s plate, frowning in disappointment.

—It was already finished, even the sauce was wiped clean, nothing left.

“Sis…”

Feeling guilty, Zhu Chenchen quickly changed the subject:

“Sis really didn’t expect your kindergarten food to be this delicious!”As a college student, no matter how innocent or naive, Zhu Kuangkuang knew some of the unspoken rules of the adult world.

Why would such a good chef be cooking in a kindergarten?

Zhu Kuangkuang had overheard teachers talking about it and knew some of the inside story.

She sighed in a somewhat grown-up manner: “The teacher said that Teacher Chen is only helping temporarily and will leave after another month.”

Temporarily helping?

Zhu Chenchen thought that made sense, but at the same time, her heart ached even more.

If it was just one more month, she wouldn’t even get to eat at the next event.

Moreover, school would start in a month and a half!

But college students never give up!

Quickly handing over her and her sister’s trays, Zhu Chenchen dashed over to the kindergarten director.

“Director, I remember your kindergarten charges extra for the evening care meals, right?”

“Yes,” the director had a good memory, especially for unforgettable kids like Zhu Kuangkuang, “but isn’t Zhu Kuangkuang already enrolled in evening care?”

“My mom is a bit worried about my sister,” Zhu Chenchen said with concern, “she’s been eating too much lately and has gained a pound these past few days.”

“That’s true, kids still need to control their weight,” the director noticed as well, “I’ll ask Teacher Li in their class to keep a close eye on her.”

“It’s a bit awkward to trouble the teacher to watch her specifically,” Zhu Chenchen revealed her plan, “I’m on summer break anyway, so I come every night to eat with my sister and keep an eye on her to eat less, then I take her home in the evening…”

The director forced a polite official smile that reminded Zhu Chenchen of her high school homeroom teacher: “In that case, you can tell your mom to just let you pick your sister up to eat at home during this period, how about that?”

No matter how mature the teacher, they always treated their students with practiced familiarity.

To the director, Zhu Chenchen was just a baby of a little over two hundred months.

Zhu Chenchen left defeated.

Seeing Zhu Chenchen walk away, Teacher Wang stepped forward.

“Director, weren’t you worried before about poor publicity? Why not take advantage of this opportunity?”

“Take advantage of the food?” The director shook her head, “With Ranran’s skills, do you think she’ll stay long in our kindergarten?”

“Besides, we’re a kindergarten, not a restaurant!”

Teacher Wang felt disappointed.

She really loved the food Chen Ran cooked; even though she’d gained a pound because of it, she had no regrets!

But this kind of director really made her feel reliable. That’s why she rejected private kindergartens and stayed here.

People who love children aren’t bad people.

However, people who love children don’t necessarily love kids over a hundred months old.

The director also decisively rejected another parent’s request to join meals.

“No, that’s not allowed.”“Really not allowed, it really... isn’t allowed.”

The same young mother who failed hung her head and walked out the door, suddenly overhearing the Zhu sisters whispering.

“Next time, you bring me some food, and I’ll let you play with my phone!”

“How can I bring food? The teacher will see!”

“If you happen to have some quail eggs or peanuts, bring a little! I remember you used to make tiger skin eggs, secretly hide one for sister!”

The young mother’s eyes lit up!

But looking at the young sisters across from her, she thought about being a parent after all. The young mother reluctantly gave up on the idea.

She said earnestly to her daughter, “Baby, Mommy really loves you so much.”

The young daughter, unaware of how bizarre that request was, happily kissed her mother’s cheek and they went home together.

When Chen Ran got off work, she saw the Zhu sisters’ backs.

The little director laughed, pointing that way and said to Chen Ran, “You know Zhu Kuangkuang, right? Didn’t expect her sister likes food just as much! Already in college, and still insists on having evening care here…”

Chen Ran had a deep impression of Zhu Kuangkuang — a kid over 200 months old!

Just now, she sneakily glanced and saw the sister was over 300 months!

“I know her, I really like her.”

Chen Ran watched the satisfied pair walk away, planning her own tasks; if nothing unexpected happened, she could get the recipe tomorrow.

“Want me to add you to the group? Lots of praise for you in the WeChat group recently.”

The little director really liked Chen Ran. After hearing about the Chen family situation, she took the initiative to plan the next step for her.

“I heard about your family situation. If they’re suppressing you and won’t let you apply for jobs, then if it doesn’t work out, why not try being a private chef?”

The little director couldn’t help but reach out and touch Chen Ran’s hair. A sweet and energetic girl who stays optimistic under such circumstances — who wouldn’t like her?

In the past few days, for Chen Ran’s sake, she searched a lot of related info: “I saw on Douyin that home cooking jobs are really popular now, and you can earn over ten thousand a month. Why not try that?”

She decisively pulled Chen Ran into the parent group chat: “These parents will definitely want to hire you! And it pays well.”

Chen Ran’s eyes welled up.

She opened her arms to the little director, gave her a big hug, then loudly pecked the director on the cheek.

“Hey, you’re all drooling…”

The little director gave her a disdainful look but continued showing her the WeChat group: “I’m telling you, before, my relatives who sell fruit wanted me to make a group, but I didn’t. Don’t underestimate this kindergarten’s parent group…”

Chen Ran held the director’s arm, rested her head on her shoulder, watching how she not only added her to every group but enthusiastically introduced her in the chats.

Unfortunately, amid this warm atmosphere, the system untimely interrupted.

“Home private chef jobs do not count as main storyline tasks for this system.”

Chen Ran rolled her eyes.

“Why not? Doesn’t the main storyline say just working part-time is enough?”The system said nothing, so Chen Ran clicked into the system interface to check.

She was a bit shocked to find that the task description had changed!

Behind the main task description, there was now a small note in parentheses: The main worker must not be an individual.

“Huh? Was this sentence here before?”

The system remained silent.

Chen Ran didn’t dare protest too much—the system still held control over her tasks!

Whether it was the one million cash from the main task or the upcoming S-level recipe, these were things she absolutely had to get at this stage.

She closed the system and opened WeChat, seeing that the four groups she’d been added to each had hundreds of messages.

Without exception, every group showed a huge welcome.

“Our baby really loves going to kindergarten now! No need to coax her anymore!”

“Yeah, before her appetite was bad and I was so worried, but now she’s much better.”

“Director, I only care about one thing — can parents come to accompany their kids during meals?”

Someone below immediately called out that parent.

“Are you going to accompany them for studying, or for eating?”

“Shut up upstairs, I want to accompany studying too!”

“Shut up +1, strongly demand a study accompaniment class!”

Zhu Chenchen also wildly typed +1 below.

Other parents had only heard their kids praise the food, but she had tasted it herself!

Food like that, if she could only eat once, she’d wake up crying from dreaming about it.

The little director had to come out and interrupt the chat.

She said sternly, “It’s fine to joke around, but the three people in the kitchen are already very tired. Please parents, don’t add burden to the kindergarten.”

Seeing the enthusiastic responses, the little director seriously thought for a moment, then turned to the girl leaning on her shoulder.

“Chen Ran, how about we organize a tour at the kindergarten? In the form of a buffet. Wouldn’t it be too tiring for you? It’d also let the parents see your cooking skills.”

By then, not only could they showcase the kindergarten’s special activities, but it would give Chen Ran a chance to display her culinary talents.

She just didn’t believe the Chen family could continue to control everything.

Chen Ran hugged the little director tightly.

This little director was unmarried and childless, ran the kindergarten by selling her house, and truly cared for the kids and teachers like her own.

Although the system had already blocked the private chef path, she didn’t want to disappoint the little director.

“Okay! I’ll do my best!”

The two chatted a bit more about the upcoming tour, while in the group, Zhu Kuangkuang jumped up from the couch because of the director’s comment about not having enough hands.“Zhu Chenchen, what are you doing? If you can’t stay at home, then go work a part-time job!”

Zhu’s mother originally thought her eldest daughter would quiet down immediately, but instead saw her proudly tilt her head back.

“Mom! Tomorrow I’m going out to work part-time, don’t worry!”

If she can’t go to the after-school care, then she’ll just intern at the company, right? She didn’t believe the employees wouldn’t get to eat!