Chapter 8 Four Dishes and One Soup

  "Bang!"

  "Bang!"

  "Bang!"

  ……

  Cheng Dechang's board hit Fan Changfeng's hand solidly.

  Li Tao felt a pang in his heart, he couldn't bear to look and closed his eyes, muttering silently: Jiulang, I know you're suffering for me, once my body recovers, I'll definitely repay you double.

  Li Tao opened his eyes again, the board had been beaten. Fan Changfeng's palms were swollen very high, estimated to be in great pain, with two teardrops still hanging on his face.

  Looking at Fan Changfeng's miserable appearance, Li Tao let out a deep sigh. He suddenly caught sight of "Big Sister" and the blue-shirted youth gloating over Fan Changfeng, and his heart rose in anger, glaring at the two with furious eyes. "Big Sister" and the blue-shirted youth also glared back at Li Tao without backing down.

  This standoff didn't last long, and ended with the master leading the students in reciting. Cheng Dechang held a book in his left hand and had his right hand behind him, pacing back and forth while leading the students in loud recitation, filling the private school with the sound of reading aloud.

  Li Tao felt like time was passing slowly, and he didn't have the mood to listen to what Master Cheng was reading. It wasn't just that sitting up straight was too uncomfortable, it was simply self-torture. Not to mention his weak body couldn't hold out now, even if he had a strong body in the future, enduring this for a whole day wouldn't be easy. Next to Master Cheng's desk lay a bamboo pole as long as a zhang, and just as Li Tao thought of slacking off when Master Cheng wasn't paying attention, Master Cheng struck him on the head with it. The room was small but the bamboo pole was long, and every student in the study had their heads within its reach.

  Just as Li Tao's waist and knees were sore, his head was dizzy and he couldn't hold on, Cheng Dechang announced the end of the morning class. The students all came to the private school before dawn, and the end of the morning class was to leave time for the students to have breakfast.

  Li Tao carried a wooden "book bag" and followed Fan Changfeng out of the quadrangle courtyard, passing through the willow trees on the left, to an open space, which was where the students had their meals.

  When Li Tao and others arrived, other students had already arrived. He glanced coldly and found that more than a dozen students were not gathered together to eat, but each ate their own.

  "Big Sister", the blue-shirted youth and three other boys were a group, "Big Sister" and the blue-shirted youth sat on stone stools, meat pies, buns and other snacks were placed on the stone table, the blue-shirted youth was attentively saying something to "Big Sister". The three boys stood behind them, eating their own food, Li Tao couldn't see what they were eating, but he knew it wasn't as varied as "Big Sister"'s.

  The yellow-robed girl who had previously shouted to scare away the "Big Sister" and a white-clothed boy sat at another stone table, each holding a steamed bun and eating a plate of shepherd's purse with gusto.

  The rest of the students were squatting in twos and threes, their breakfast was much simpler, mostly wild vegetables and steamed buns, some students only had a piece of tofu. When they saw Fan Changfeng and Li Tao arrive, they showed a look of disgust on their faces, which made Li Tao somewhat puzzled.

  Fan Changfeng seemed to have long been accustomed to such a gaze and calmly pulled Li Tao to a place where there was no one.

  "Jiulang, are we going to eat here?" Li Tao suddenly asked.

  "It's natural to eat here, haven't you seen everyone eating here?" Fan Changfeng put the huge "backpack" on the ground.

  "I didn't mean that, I was asking why they have tables and chairs while we don't?" Li Tao asked, pointing at "Big Sister" and the girl in yellow.

  "Shh! Keep your voice down! Atao, don't make a fuss, it's always been like this, everyone is used to it!"

  Alas! It seems that there are unfair things everywhere, even in this small private school, which has to be divided into three six nine classes. A person under the eaves cannot help but bow their head, Li Tao shook his head and opened his own "book bag".

  "Jiulang, it seems that Mother has forgotten to prepare food for me!" Li Tao said with a hint of disappointment as he looked at the empty second layer of his "school bag".

  "Your mother, of course, wouldn't prepare food for you to eat, Ah Tao. You've forgotten, haven't you? It was always me who prepared your breakfast when we were in private school!" Fan Changfeng smiled and opened the wooden box on his "school bag", having long forgotten the pain of being spanked.

  Li Tao Zhang opened his mouth wide, and it turned out that he had been eating Fan Changfeng's food all along. Even his mother had gotten used to not preparing breakfast for him anymore, which was something not many people could do.

  Li Tao could see that Fan Changfeng was genuinely fond of him, and it wasn't just ordinary affection. He suddenly felt a warm current rising in his heart.

  Fan Changfeng quickly assembled the lunchbox with Li Tao's, then took out the breakfast placed on the second and third layers of his "backpack". Li Tao's mouth was wide open: The main course was Osmanthus cake and shrimp pancake, and there were also four small dishes: pepper oil silver ear, five-spice sauce chicken, braised deer tendon, and throat sheep meat.

  "Four dishes and one soup?" Li Tao swallowed a mouthful of saliva and muttered quietly.

  "Soup? Ah! This barely counts!" Fan Changfeng suddenly produced a porcelain jar as if by magic.

  "What is this?"

  "The five-colored sauce is delicious!"

  Looking at Fan Changfeng's style and the tempting food on the wooden box, several questions that had puzzled Li Tao were solved.

  Why is Fan Changfeng so fat?

  Having such a luxurious breakfast at the private school, it can be imagined how they eat at other times, and it's hard not to get fat.

  Why is Fan Changfeng's "school bag" so big?

  It turned out that his "backpack" was mainly used as a lunchbox, and in order to eat well, he was willing to spend so much effort, which made Li Tao have to admire.

  Why did other students show a disgusted expression towards him and Fan Changfeng?

  You're showing off too much. I know your family has money and you eat well, but you shouldn't flaunt it like this. Don't you understand that since ancient times, the problem hasn't been scarcity, but rather uneven distribution?

  It seems that I have the time to explain the reasoning behind this, but that's a story for later. The most pressing matter at hand is to fill my stomach with all these delicious foods, otherwise it would be a waste of Fan Changfeng's efforts.

  "Jiulang, can we eat now?" Li Tao's mouth was watering.

  "Ah Tao, wait a minute!"

  Fan Changfeng finished speaking, picked up a piece of osmanthus cake and shrimp pancake, and ran in another direction with a whoosh.

  What's going on? Who would Fan Changfeng be so attentive to? Li Tao found it quite strange.

  "Lu Xiaoniangzi, here are today's pastries!" Fan Changfeng came to the stone table of "Big Sister" and the blue-shirted youth, bowing and nodding.

  "What is it?" The blue-shirted youth replied without even lifting his head, as if he had already gotten used to it.

  "Wang Erlang is a rice cake and shrimp pancake!" Fan Changfeng said with a smile.

  "Put it on the table!" The blue-shirted youth said disdainfully.

  "Alright! You guys eat slowly, I'm leaving!" Fan Changfeng let out a sigh of relief, as if the other party had given him great face.

  Fan Changfeng hadn't even had time to turn around when a figure suddenly rushed out from the slanting stab, and with one swift motion, swept all the pastries off the table onto the floor. Apparently still unsatisfied, he used his foot to trample them into a pulp, muttering angrily: "You think you can eat for free? You're so beautiful, let me feed you! Let me feed you!"

  Fan Changfeng, Blue Shirt Youth and "Big Sister" were caught off guard, shocked by the scene in front of them with their eyes wide open and mouths agape.