CH 41

Jingjing thought Miaomiao’s idea was excellent.

Selling food was the quickest way to make some easy money since everyone needed to eat. Business would be great.

Zhou Yuan listened to their exuberant voices.

They aren’t concerned about how they were going to procure the raw materials; how to make the food; when to cook; where to sell, or who would be their customers.

However, Zhou Yuan didn’t have the heart to shatter these immature dreams of theirs.

Great joy and ebullience often enfolded children when they came up with their own ideas.

But these plans would never come to fruition, no matter what they did.

Firstly, they had to think about how they were going to obtain some start-up capital, which they lacked. Then, they had to find a store and a chef. Realistically, Miaomiao could be the chef.

Furthermore, they were just kids. This was the most pressing issue in comparison to their other ones.

Zhou Yuan decided that he would let them realize the folly of their ideas on their own.

After all, one had to be tactful when shattering the dreams of children with roseate dreams. Children often never came out unscathed when their dreams met the cold, hard truth of reality.

Zhou Yuan watched them discuss their ideas in silence. They were talking about how much money they were to make every day and what they were going to do with that money.

Miaomiao’s face reddened with excitement, and her eyes were sparkling with a dreamy light, which glinted with her desire for money.

“After we make some money, I’ll buy some cosmetics for my mother. My mother loves a brand called Lamei, but she said that it was too expensive…” Jingjing said.

“I want to buy some, too,” Miaomiao added cheerfully. If other people’s moms had it, her mother should also have it.

Deng Feng stuttered, “I…I…”

Jingjing unhappily interjected, “No, you two can’t buy it. There’s only one bottle left. My mother said that the last bottle is on the official website. Since I suggested it first, I will buy it.”

Deng Feng replied, “Well…then…then…okay.”

Miaomiao pondered for a moment. 

Yes, Jingjing brought up the idea first, so she should buy it.

Zhou Yuan wondered whether he should just tell them that by the time they made any money or even before they saw any profits, somebody would’ve bought it already. Their little business group was already precariously close to breaking up due to a conflict over cosmetics.

Since children rarely carried any vindictive grudges, they quickly jumped from this topic and entered into a discussion about how they would sell their food.

“My mom told me that people who sold food could earn between ten to twenty thousand yuan per day.” Jingjing replied. “We’re a group of three, so we could probably earn more than that.”

Ten to twenty thousand yuan, that’s amazing!

Deng Feng and Miaomiao’s eyes glistened with excitement as they already looked forward to their bright future.

“Wait…Wait…When I…have…have…enough money…I will…buy…the school!” Deng Feng boldly announced.

Miaomiao thought his idea was brilliant, “Then after we buy it, the poor students don’t have to pay.”

Zhou Yuan was holding back his laughter while he listened to them. When he heard what she said, he was shocked. He felt as if a small rock had hit his heart. 

She worked hard to get that money, and the first thing she wanted to do was to make school free for poorer students. In a world where wealth is equated with power that’s rife with greed and corruption, that’s pretty naive but pretty cute at the same time.

Jingjing’s eyes lit up, and she took Miaomiao’s hand and asked, “Could I be the principal then?”

“Yes.” A voice suddenly sounded from behind them.

The three children raised their heads and saw their school’s principal smiling. There were quite a few creases and wrinkles on his face, which made him look a little scary.

Every morning, when they entered the school gate, they saw the principal. At the school gate, the principal watched the children tread into the school, but he differentiated himself from the other teachers. He didn’t laugh, and he had a very serious demeanor; therefore, he exuded an aura befitting of a principal. They were a little frightened of him.

However, Miaomiao was a little abashed. In Miaomiao’s opinion, the principal wielded a lot of power; otherwise, how else could he become the supreme existence of their school hierarchy. Since every teacher obeyed his orders, and every student had to listen to their teachers, she surmised that their principal was the most powerful and preeminent existence at their school.

“Jingjing, what would you do if you became principal?” he asked as he ensconced himself on a stool next to them.

He was surveying the hallways when he passed by their class. He overheard the children when they said, “What should I do if I had money?”

Jingjing was different from Miaomiao. She was energetic. She exuberantly replied, “If I’m the principal, I’ll burn all the books and tell the teachers, ‘Since we don’t have any books, we can’t teach the students anymore, so tell them all to go home and rest.”

The principal was amused by her remarks, and he replied, “Then, if everyone went home and slept, wouldn’t they all fail the final exam? When their parents find out, wouldn’t they come and pester the principal? They will say, ‘The kids at other schools scored 100 percent, why did your students fail the test? Did you even manage the school correctly?'”

Conjuring up this scene, she clenched her stomach and gulped as if she had already experienced being beleaguered by a horde of angry parents. She imagined swarms of livid parents besieging her office, striding up to her with the report card, and angrily chastising her. The other principals were mocking her for her failure.

Jingjing shrank her head, “Then, I won’t be the principal.”

Adjacent to her, Miaomiao was quietly listening to their conversation. Although she couldn’t quite understand what the principal was talking about, she thought he was a good person.

She couldn’t quite put a finger on it, but she believed that the principal was excellent. He looked aggressive and bellicose, but he wasn’t like that at all. He was almost like the physical education teacher.

For the first time, a thought occurred to her that perhaps she shouldn’t just judge someone based on their outer appearance.

Although she conjured up these thoughts in her mind, she didn’t notice them right away.

The principal turned his head, and he saw Miaomiao staring at him. Naturally, he was aware of who she was. She entered elementary school directly without attending kindergarten. This would not have been possible without his permission from the start.

The principal smiled and asked Miaomiao, “If you were principal, what would you do, Miaomiao?”

The principal questioned Miaomiao for the very first time. Even though she was slightly nervous, and her hands shook with trepidation, she still said what she wanted to say, “I’ll let Zhouzhou go to sixth grade.”

Zhou Yuan listened to them in silence since he didn’t want to be involved in their childish colloquy.

He didn’t expect Miaomiao to abruptly mention him.

What astonished him even more was Miaomiao’s answer.

How could she say that? Is it possible that she no longer wanted to sit at the same table with me?

The principal asked patiently, “Why should Zhouzhou be allowed to become a sixth-grader?”

Miaomiao quickly replied, “Because Zhouzhou is my best friend. I will make his wish come true if I become the principal. He doesn’t want to attend first grade anymore.”

In Miaomiao’s mind, the highest grade possible was sixth grade, so she assumed that Zhouzhou wanted to be a sixth-grader.

Not long after Miaomiao met Zhou Yuan, she overheard Zhou Yuan tell his mother that he didn’t want to be a first-grader nor did he want to play with a bunch of kids who didn’t understand anything.

All this time, Miaomiao ingrained these words into her head. She thought that someone of Zhouzhou’s intelligence should enjoy the company of smarter children much more.

The principal directed his gaze at Zhouzhou; the boy looked astounded. Since Zhou Yuan was such a genius, he also knew him. One time, he approached him to request a transfer to a different school. But now, his expression told a different story. It was as if he didn’t want to go to sixth grade.

The principal responded to Miaomiao, “You don’t have to wait until you become principal. Zhouzhou can attend sixth grade right now. But, however, if he goes to sixth grade, he wouldn’t be able to sit at the same table with you in the future.”

Miaomiao’s nose turned sour, and the corners of her lips curved downwards. Her voice sounded slightly sad and despondent as she said, “It’s alright. When I become smarter, I’ll go to sixth grade with him.”

The principal quickly inquired, “Zhouzhou, do you want to go to sixth grade?”

Zhou Yuan furtively held his little tablemate’s hand under their desk and replied, “Sixth grade has mountains of homework, so I’ll remain in first grade.”

The principal responded, “It seems as if the principal isn’t very good at all.”

Zhou Yuan: “…” These adults and their schemes…

Zhou Yuan wondered how Miaomiao knew about it. Once, he told his mother this at school. She couldn’t have heard it at any other time. 

His original words were, “I’m wasting my time studying in elementary school, which is basically like wasting money. God didn’t grant me this intelligence just to squander it on these children who don’t understand a single thing I say. There’s no common language between us.”

Zhou Yuan: “…” Shut up.