Chapter 3The After-School Program That Changed Everything

I put my phone back in my pocket without looking at the continuously increasing comments.

Because parents were arriving to pick up their kids.

Most parents were still polite to me in person.

They each said a few pleasantries. We parted on good terms.

Ethan's mom was the last to pick up her child.

She held her son's hand but stood at the door, unwilling to leave.

"Grace's mom, it's not easy for you raising your daughter alone. Don't make decisions out of spite and throw away a good money-making opportunity. Your daughter's five years old—everything costs money at this age."

"Whatever they think, as long as you're willing to give a discount, even if you can't get down to five hundred, I'm still willing to send my kid to you."

Ethan's mom was panicking.

She knew better than anyone what the quality of my program was like.

She'd just wanted to use this opportunity to pressure me on price.

She never expected me to actually quit.

Before I could say anything, my daughter came running over.

She put her hands on her hips and looked up at Ethan's mom.

"We wouldn't give you a discount even if we wanted to. Even if you paid five hundred a day, my mom wouldn't take your business. Hmph!"

I smiled and patted my daughter's head. "Such a little smarty-pants."

Ethan's mom was so angry her breathing became uneven.

"No good deed goes unpunished. Son, let's go!"

But Ethan kept looking back reluctantly.

"Mom, are we really not coming to Grace's house tomorrow?"

Ethan's mom got even angrier, her face turning pale.

Early the next morning, Content and Happy came to my house to move the tables and chairs.

Soon, she started posting pictures in the group.

[The little classroom is all set up, ingredients are ready. Just waiting to pick up the kids after school this afternoon.]

I opened the pictures one by one.

The first picture was the final result of Content and Happy turning her living room into a classroom.

Judging from the décor, the house must be rented.

And it was the smallest floor plan in the entire community.

The orientation wasn't good either—by two in the afternoon, the living room was pitch black.

The small tables and chairs crammed into the living room made it incredibly crowded.

Two small tables and chairs really wouldn't fit, so they'd been moved to the balcony.

The second picture showed the food Content and Happy had prepared.

The kitchen counter was piled with leafy greens that didn't look fresh at all.

In the very center, she'd lovingly placed a fatty slab of pork belly.

The group fell into a long silence.

After a while, someone posted an ellipsis.

Ethan's mom couldn't help but speak up.

[@Content and Happy, is this all the food for the kids' dinner? Isn't it a bit too vegetarian?]

[And you didn't mention you rented the smallest floor plan. When you took on this business, didn't you consider whether fifteen kids could even fit?]

[In the middle of winter, those two kids sitting on the balcony will freeze!]