"Yes, Teacher, we already ate during lunch," Xiaoran continued.
The fruits were all prepared, so why wouldn't they eat them!
Jiang Feifei ignored Xiaoran's refusal and still placed the fruits in front of him.
"Teacher, we don't need them." Xiaoran stood up from his chair and picked up the fruits she had just put down.
Taking the fruits he handed over, Jiang Feifei not only didn't put them away but took another one from the fruit basket. She stuffed both into Xiaoran's hands. "Auntie was careless yesterday and gave you bad fruit, so today I'm giving you two. If you don't take them, Auntie will be sad."
Sad?
Xiaoran looked at her furrowed brow and the fruits in front of him.
Should he take them or not?
"Take them. Every student gets fruit," Jiang Feifei said, then quickly placed fruits in Qianqian's and Yuze's hands.
Seeing the extra fruit, Xiaoran kept it on the table.
When they left home, Ye Ziyu had instructed them not to eat any food from outside. They were to eat only the food prepared by their family during this period.
The fruits sat there all afternoon. They were still on the table when school ended.
"Qianqian, hurry up and pack. Mommy is coming to pick us up today," Xiaoran said while packing his schoolbag, urging Qianqian next to him.
Being rushed, Qianqian fumbled. The more she packed, the more disorganized the books in front of her became.
"Little Ran Gege," she called out to him plaintively.
As soon as she frowned, Xiaoran and Yuze dared not speak loudly. They immediately came to her side to help.
After the schoolbags were packed, Qianqian looked at the fruits on the table. "Aren't we taking the fruits?"
If they left them here, they would be thrown in the trash. Yuze thought for a moment and then suggested, "Let's take them. We can give them to Uncle Hu later."
"Okay."
They took the fruits from the table separately and walked out of the teaching building.
Jiang Feifei had been watching them from not far from the classroom.
The fruits they received after lunch were still here! She angrily punched the wall.
Today's plan had failed again!
Upon reaching the school gate, the children saw Old Hu.
"Didn't you say Mommy and Daddy were coming to pick us up?"
"Mommy said so when we left this morning. Why is Uncle Hu here?"
As they voiced their confusion, Old Hu walked towards them and, as usual, took their schoolbags off their shoulders.
"Madam had something to attend to and couldn't come today," Old Hu explained.
The children knew Ye Ziyu was busy with work, but she had broken a promise.
The children pouted and walked unhappily to the car.
Old Hu felt sorry for them. Although they had a good living environment, they couldn't always be with their parents. This was probably the sorrow of the poor!
All the way, the three children didn't say a word. The atmosphere in the car was cold, and even Old Hu was affected by their unhappiness.
"We're home!"
The car stopped at the entrance of the Ye residence. Old Hu got out and opened the car door. The first thing that greeted him was the fruit Qianqian held in her hands. "Uncle Hu, for you."
"For me?" Old Hu looked surprised.
Qianqian nodded. "We didn't eat the fruits from school. Uncle Hu, please eat them."
After being picked up and dropped off every day, the children had long regarded Old Hu as family. Moreover, Old Hu treated them very well.
Old Hu accepted the fruits and was as happy as a child. "Then I'll accept them."
The fruits were not valuable, but the sentiment behind them was.
After taking the children to the living room, Old Hu went to park the car in the garage.
By the time Ye Ziyu finished her work, the children were already asleep. She tiptoed into their rooms and found a note left on their desk.
"Mommy, we exercised and drank milk before bed."
Looking at the content of the note, Ye Ziyu glanced at the exercise plan she had written next to it. Every item had a checkmark next to it.