After returning the tools to the General Affairs Office, there was no need for the two of them to go back to the classroom. They headed straight to the cafeteria.
Since each class had finished at slightly different times today, and the second-years were still in self-study and hadn't been dismissed yet, there were very few people in the cafeteria. There was practically no need to queue, which saved time, so they split up and got food from two different windows.
"Aunt, I want that, that, and that."
Lin Li pointed at three Darkies at the window, but the cafeteria aunt apparently failed to grasp what he meant and only served him three dishes.
No harm done.
Watching the scene before him, Lin Li couldn't help feeling moved.
So often, life's most magnificent declarations were hidden precisely within perseverance that coexisted with pain. When fate was unfair and took away the weights that kept a life balanced, some chose to give up and resign themselves to being tossed about, while others recalibrated their dignity amid that imbalance.
What unyielding will did the latter possess? What tremendous vitality? What proud souls?
Respect. Lin Li's forehead dampened as tears streamed down his face.
—That was what Lin Li felt after seeing that the cafeteria aunt had Parkinson's yet still insisted on working through her illness.
Aunt, maybe stop shaking your hands.
A perfectly full ladle had become half a ladle.
But seriously, this couldn't be blamed on Aunt either. He could only say he had come at the wrong time.
If he had come earlier, setting aside those aunts who were genuinely stingy and saved public money as though it were their own, most aunts would see a heaping tray of food and serve generously.
And if he came later, especially close