「The next day.」

Father Jiang slept until almost noon before getting up. Zhang Yuxi had already eaten breakfast and gone to class.

Lin Feng wanted to go check on Tuanjie Road, but he had to take the babies to their class today. So, he gave Liu Bo a call, asking him to come over, get the keys, and take a look at the property for him.

Liu Bo arrived late, not until after three o'clock, because he was carrying half a pig on his back.

"This is a free-range pig my mom bought in the countryside. We're keeping half, and I brought the other half for you, Bro."

The little ones swarmed over to watch, their faces filled with wonder.

The pig wasn't too fatty; it was just right. You could tell the quality of the meat was different just by looking at it.

Lin Feng was stunned. He stared at the half-carcass, not knowing where to even begin. We don't have the right tools at home, do we?

"My parents sent it over just like this," Liu Bo explained, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "I wanted to find someone to butcher it before bringing it over, but I couldn't find anyone, so I just had to haul it all the way here." That half a pig wasn't light at all.

Lin Feng hesitated for a moment. "I'll figure something out later."

Liu Bo sat down and took a sip of water. "Bro, leave this to me. It's inconvenient for you, having to take the kids out all day."

Lin Feng thought for a moment, then handed Liu Bo a set of keys.

"Go to Tuanjie Road. These are the keys to A1 through A7."

"When you get there, video call me and show me the situation."

"If it's a bad time for a video call, just record a detailed video instead."

Without asking any more questions, Liu Bo took the keys and hauled the pig away again. "I'll go to the market later and find a pork stall. I'll pay him to get this thing butchered."

Lin Feng nodded. "Thanks for going through all this trouble. I'll call your parents later to thank them."

Liu Bo laughed. "It's no trouble at all. Saying that makes us sound like strangers."

He arrived in a whirlwind and left just as quickly.

Lin Feng took the babies, along with Jiang Chenchen and his family, to their early education class. This session was led by Teacher Wang, with an assistant teacher helping out.

Today, the babies were tasked with sorting shapes and colors. They were required to complete the tasks independently, without any help from their parents.

The younger children wouldn't have it. The moment their parents left, they started wailing. It was the assistant teacher's job to console them, but if a child couldn't be calmed down, the parent was allowed back in to sit with them. Of course, this only happened with a few children.

The children in Teacher Wang's class were all around two years old. The main objective was to develop their motor skills and independence in preparation for preschool.

Lin Feng wasn't worried about his other babies, but Sanbao was very clingy, which made him a bit worried. So, he made a request to Teacher Wang to let Sanbao sit in the middle, surrounded by her older brothers and sisters. Perhaps that would help her feel more secure.

Just as Lin Feng was about to leave, Sanbao's smile vanished.

"Daddy!"

Lin Feng soothed her. "Daddy is just going to the restroom. You sit right here, okay?"

"Not okay!" she replied, crisp and decisive.

"Look," Lin Feng whispered, "your brothers and sisters are all in the classroom. They'll stay with you!"

"No."

Holding her, Lin Feng asked, "But if Daddy doesn't go to the restroom, my tummy will start to hurt and I'll feel sick."

Sanbao let out an "Ah."

Lin Feng furrowed his brow slightly to look more convincing. "Daddy will be right back as soon as I'm done, okay?"

Sanbao looked like she was reluctantly agreeing. "Then Daddy, you have to be quick!"

"Okay, I promise. As soon as I'm done, I'll rush right back, alright?"

"Without Daddy, Sanbao will be scared!"

"Don't be scared, don't be scared. Your brothers and sisters are here."

"I want Daddy!"

Lin Feng gave her a kiss. "Daddy knows, honey. Now go on, the teacher and the other kids are about to start the games."

Only then did Sanbao hesitantly return to her seat, glancing back every few steps. The assistant teacher left the door slightly ajar, and Lin Feng took the opportunity to sneak a peek.

He saw Sanbao's eyes welling up, looking like a pitiful, abandoned little thing.

A parent beside him smiled. "It's always like this with kids at first. They'll be fine after a few days. With so many friends around, she'll forget all about it in a little while."

Sure enough, as Teacher Wang worked her magic to liven up the atmosphere, Sanbao started laughing along with the other babies.

Lin Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief. After a trip to the restroom, he stepped outside to take a video call from Liu Bo.

After arriving at Tuanjie Road, Liu Bo had driven around the area before calling Lin Feng.

"Bro, take a look. This is the place..."

A1 through A7 were actually two large storefronts that, once combined, would span over 300 square meters. The floors were new, but the wallpaper and light fixtures all needed to be redone.

Lin Feng got a good sense of the situation and told Liu Bo to head back. He then called Boss Luo to make the necessary arrangements.

After everything was settled, Lin Feng hurried back to the classroom door. He saw Sanbao's gaze constantly drifting toward the entrance, a pitiful look on her little face.

Lin Feng waved to her through the crack in the door.

Sanbao's face instantly lit up. Her frown disappeared as the father and daughter exchanged finger hearts.

Erbao, who was sitting in the front, looked up. Seeing this, she made a finger heart for her daddy too.

Sibao, who was having the most fun, seemed to sense something. She looked over and saw her daddy making a finger heart at her. She quickly made one back, as if to say, 'Daddy, Sibao loves you!'

Dabao just pouted and blew a kiss through the air.

For the rest of the class, the parents sat on chairs outside the classroom. Jiang Chenchen's father was scrolling through a job app on his phone. He looked from side to side before leaning closer to Lin Feng and asking in a low voice, "It's advertising jobs for laborers overseas. Is that reliable?"

Lin Feng was a little surprised. "Brother Jiang, you'd better not even think about something like that. Don't you know? There are a lot of stories about people getting their kidneys stolen overseas these days."

Jiang Chenchen's father simply said, "Oh."

In the end, his attention was caught by an ad from a furniture factory that was hiring apprentices. The base salary was 4,000 yuan, plus piece-rate commissions, guaranteeing a minimum of 8,000 a month.

Jiang Chenchen's father had worked on construction sites for two or three years. He had not only worn out his body but also barely saved any money. Although a day's pay could be 300 to 400 yuan, and up to 600 or 700 during holidays, the cost of meals alone was thirty to forty yuan a day. If he occasionally treated himself to something nice, his expenses for the day could exceed a hundred yuan. So, in reality, he only brought home about 6,000 to 7,000 yuan a month.

Even then, he wasn't guaranteed to get that money, as wage delays were common. You'd be lucky if they settled up at the end of the year after dragging it out that long. Some bosses would delay payments for a year or two; that was the norm. So, not only had he failed to earn much money, he also hadn't been there for his wife and child.

Besides, working on construction sites meant occasionally working at great heights. Dozens of stories up was normal! He was still so young, with a child just over two years old. For their future, he had to give up construction and find a technical job to learn a real skill.

He contacted the furniture factory's owner through the app. When the owner learned that he had zero experience and didn't even know how to assemble furniture, he was only offered a base salary of 2,000 yuan. With piece-rate work, that would come out to around 4,000 yuan a month.

When Jiang Chenchen's father returned, Lin Feng could tell from his expression that the job hunt had been a bust.

"Brother Jiang, don't rush the job search," Lin Feng said. "Take your time."

"Yeah, I know," Jiang Chenchen's father replied with a heavy sigh. He went to the door to peek at his precious son.

Seeing the smile on his son's face, he felt his own hope for the future rekindle.

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