Chapter 2446: Worth It (2)
Seeing how even a grown man like Teacher Zhou was on the verge of tears, Qiao Nan quickly explained. “Don’t worry. Our country and society have developed and we won’t leave these children in the lurch no matter what. Now that I’ve understood the situation, I’ll think of a plan to implement. I realized that the temperatures here in the mountain aren’t very high. The weather will get colder in a month’s time. Do the children have enough clothes for winter?”
They didn’t just face difficulties in food and materials. The children’s clothes also posed a huge problem.
It was already autumn. If it started raining, the temperatures would drop drastically and it would be bone-chilling.
Teacher Zhou laughed bitterly. “Of course not.”
The children pretty much lacked everything they needed.
“…”
Qiao Nan’s heart hurt. “Alright. I understand. I’ll leave for the day. I’ll send some resources over.”
“Thank you. I thank you on the children’s behalf.”
Teacher Zhou didn’t know how much Qiao Nan was willing to do, but no matter how little she did, Teacher Zhou was already eternally grateful as long as it helped improve the lives of the children.
After all, these children were practically strangers to Qiao Nan. Unlike him, she didn’t have any feelings for the children.
Initially, Qiao Nan had intended on staying for a few more days to understand the situation better.
However, there was nothing more she needed to know. It was clear as day.
Just like what Teacher Zhou said, they lacked everything they needed.
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Qiao Nan felt that winter clothes were definitely necessary, especially long johns for the children, to guard against the falling temperatures.
The triplets were still young and had much simpler thoughts. Although they thought that it was strange that the older children were wearing ragged clothes unlike themselves, they didn’t treat them any differently just because of their clothing.
Initially, the thirty-over students didn’t even dare to get close to the triplets because not only were they beautiful, but they were also clean and well-dressed.
In the end, it was because of the greedy San Bao, who ran in front of an elder sister, staring at a raw chestnut in her hand, that they had gotten closer.
Seeing the desire in San Bao’s eyes, the young lady thought and said, “This is raw. You’re still young. I’m afraid that you may get a stomachache if you eat this. Shall I cook this for you?”
These children in the mountains didn’t have much in terms of food, but they didn’t lack wild chestnuts. Whenever they were hungry, they would simply peel and eat one. It tasted quite like a raw potato.
Roasting raw chestnuts was nothing to the children living in the mountains.
Not long after, a crackling sound could be heard, and the young lady picked out the ripe chestnuts.
The triplets, who had never seen anything like this, were taken aback and stared wide-eyed, wanting to hide behind the older children. The children couldn’t help but giggle. These young children were so adorable. They were even afraid of the sound of chestnuts cracking!
After picking out the roasted chestnuts and peeling off the skin, the girl handed one over to San Bao.
Of course, San Bao didn’t reject her kind intentions. After all, food was always ready and peeled for her whenever she was at home. All she had to do was open her mouth.
As such, San Bao naturally accepted the older girl’s help. As she savored the sweet chestnut, San Bao opened her eyes in wonder and let out a smile that was even sweeter than the chestnut. “Yummy!”
Da Bao and Er Bao believed in San Bao’s judgment since she was known to be a foodie.
The moment San Bao said that it was delicious, Da Bao and Er Bao looked longingly at the older children. They were still young and didn’t know how to peel those delicious things. More importantly, the chestnuts made a loud and scary noise!
The children giggled and quickly peeled the chestnuts and placed them on a clean piece of paper for the boys to eat.
Qiao Nan had simply taken a look around the school, but her three children had already been well fed by these adorable students.
The triplets had no shame in taking food from others!
When Qiao Nan realized the situation, she quickly stopped them. “Thank you, but they’re still young. They can’t eat too much of these. They still have to have their meals later.”
Thankfully, the three children had come after having their meal. Otherwise, the three children might very well have had their fill of chestnuts from the way the students were feeding them.
Qiao Nan squeezed San Bao’s ruddy cheeks and her heart melted even more as she saw the innocent faces of the children. “Thank you for taking care of them. Did they cause any trouble for you?”
The children respectfully shook their heads while giggling, expressing that the children had been adorable and obedient. They had been no trouble at all.
Because Qiao Nan had a good attitude and spoke nicely without anger, the students finally relaxed. They knew that this beautiful auntie wasn’t angry at them for feeding the children chestnuts.
“Thank you! We’ll play again next time!”
The children nodded and looked forward to the Zhai family visiting them again.
Their parents were all out at work and came back only once a year. Because the roads were bumpy and unpaved, only Teacher Zhou went out once in a while. Very few people ever visited them.
Because of this, the children always looked forward to visitors and were especially welcoming to them. But they did not know what fun there was in coming to such an impoverished place like this.
As the family of five left, Qiao Nan’s steps were especially heavy.
Zhai Sheng knew what Qiao Nan was thinking about and comforted her. “Don’t be sad. At least, we’ve come now. We’ll help them as much as possible. You’ve got a good understanding about the children, and I took a look around the living conditions of the elderly.”
It wasn’t just children who needed help. The elderly needed help too.
Even food was difficult to obtain here, much less medications that the elderly needed.
Zhai Sheng realized that there were quite a number of elderly residents who were ill because of the humidity up in the mountains. When it struck, their limbs hurt so much that they wouldn’t even be able to get off their beds.
That meant it was definitely insufficient for them to simply send the children resources. They would have to think about medical supplies as well.
The moment Qiao Nan got out of the mountainous areas, she went on a crazy shopping spree.