As soon as they started eating, Principal Qiu heard the teachers at the table chattering about the dishes. They were all excitedly marveling at how delicious the food was today. From their enthusiasm, it was as if they were eating rare delicacies rather than ordinary home-cooked dishes.
Principal Qiu picked up his chopsticks and took a bite himself, only to discover that today's food really was much tastier than usual!
If he had to describe it, it was like they had been eating food made by an ordinary cafeteria cook, only for a national treasure-level master chef to suddenly prepare them a meal. The difference was immediately obvious.
After swallowing the food, Principal Qiu asked, "Did our school cafeteria get a new cook?"
"No, it's because of the vegetables." Aunt Zhu came in carrying a basin of tomato and egg drop soup and said with a smile, "The family that supplies vegetables to our school sent these over today. They grow a lot of vegetables and couldn't finish them all, so they gave our cafeteria quite a bit."
"I see." Principal Qiu nodded. "Vegetables grown in one's own field really do taste much better than greenhouse-grown ones."
The other teachers chimed in as well.
Aunt Zhu set down the steaming egg soup and said with a smile, "Exactly. The children all said today's food was especially delicious. They usually leave a lot behind, but today they finished everything."
"Really?"
Principal Qiu found it rather novel. Children generally did not like eating on their own initiative, and with hundreds of them, it was impossible to supervise every single one. They often left behind a great deal of food, which had once given the student-minded Principal Qiu quite a headache. He worried that the children were going hungry without eating enough.
"Yes." Aunt Zhu wiped her hands on her apron. "If you don't believe me, you can go take a look after lunch."
Principal Qiu truly nodded.
After lunch, Principal Qiu, who had always valued health and wellness, discovered that he was actually stuffed. The food had simply been too delicious, and he could not help eating nearly another half bowl of rice.
He slowly strolled into the student cafeteria. The cafeteria workers were clearing away the trays, and he noticed that the trays which usually held plenty of leftovers were especially clean today. The students had eaten every bit of their food without leaving anything behind!
Aunt Zhu had not exaggerated after all. He watched for a while in thought, then called Aunt Zhu over.
Xu Han soon received a call from Aunt Zhu: Principal Qiu wanted her to find time to come over and sign a contract. From then on, her family would supply the school's vegetables.
Xu Han went over that very afternoon and signed the contract. It was for one year, and payment would still be settled at the beginning of each month.
She roughly calculated that she would earn around 4,000 a month. For Xu Han, who was currently so poor she practically wanted to dig up dirt to eat, that counted as a substantial income.
Besides, if she went into the city to look for work, her starting salary would probably only be around that much. Living expenses in the countryside were also far lower than in the city.
Xu Han felt that her family's standard of living had instantly gone from eating dirt to modest prosperity.
In the blink of an eye, it was time for Koukou to get vaccinated again. He needed to get his vaccine at the hospital in Town.
Xu Han realized that living in a rural place like this was truly inconvenient without transportation. Every time she needed to go to Town, she had to ask in advance whose car was going and hitch a ride.
And when they delivered vegetables to the school, they had to carry the vegetables by hand. Even though it only took ten minutes, it was still exhausting.
Maybe she should buy an electric scooter. Back in university, her campus had been huge, and she had ridden a bicycle to class every day. Learning to ride an electric scooter should not be difficult.
Xu Han made up her mind. However, she could not ride an electric scooter yet, so she would probably need to find someone in the village who could ride to go buy one with her and ride it back for her. Then she could slowly learn on the cement road in front of her house.
"Your child is really well-behaved. He doesn't even cry when he gets shots."
The doctor had vaccinated Koukou several times already and recognized Xu Han. As he prepared the vaccine, he chatted with her.
Little Koukou was especially brave. He had gotten so many vaccinations, yet he had never cried.
"That shouldn't be a problem, right?" Xu Han asked, filled with a mother's worries.
The doctor said, "It's fine. Every child has a different threshold for pain. Your child is developing normally, and he's still so young, so there's no major problem."
Hearing that, Xu Han relaxed. She took one of Koukou's arms out of his coat and rolled up his sleeve. Since she knew he was getting a shot, she had deliberately not dressed him in clothes with difficult sleeves, instead wrapping him in thick swaddling.
The doctor gave him an injection in his chubby little hand.
Then, as if to prove that he could cry, little Koukou scrunched up his face. His mouth drooped, his eyes instantly filled with tears, and he looked as though he was about to cry but was holding it in, utterly aggrieved.
Xu Han: "..."
That worked too?
The doctor could not help laughing. "Old folks always say children shouldn't be praised. Seems there's some truth to that."
Xu Han hurriedly dressed him again, held him in her arms, and soothed him. "Koukou, be good. Don't cry. It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt."
After his mother comforted him, Koukou finally could not hold it in any longer and burst into tears with a wail.
Xu Han: "..."
Sure enough, he could not be praised.
After the shot, Xu Han decided to go look at electric scooters. She had not planned to buy one, but the shop owner eagerly said they could deliver it right to her door for free after purchase. Once Xu Han heard that, she picked out a pink two-seater that looked much like a women's motorcycle.
The battery that could make a round trip from home to Town was more expensive than Xu Han had expected, costing 2,600. Thinking that this expense was unavoidable, she gritted her teeth and bought it.
The shop owner said that today was market day and he was busy, so he could not deliver it until tomorrow. Xu Han had no objections. She gave him her address and asked him to deliver it the next day.
After buying the electric scooter and some daily necessities, it was about time to head back. The car she had hitched a ride in dropped her off at the elementary school entrance. She still had to walk ten minutes home, and with a backpack full of things on her back and Koukou in her arms, Xu Han slowly made her way home.
Halfway there, a sudden rustling came from the grass by the roadside. Xu Han jumped in fright, thinking it was a snake, but then she remembered that there did not seem to be snakes in this season.