August gradually drew to a close, but the weather was still extremely stuffy with no sign of cooling down.
In a top-floor room in the Jinyuan District.
Huang Jun sat in front of the computer, flipping through the colorful enrollment brochures in his hand with a worried expression.
It was already late August, and the school term was about to start, yet he still hadn't found a kindergarten for his twin daughters or registered them!
It wasn't that he didn't want to enroll them.
But without a local residency permit, they couldn't get into public kindergartens, and private kindergarten tuition was generally not cheap.
He finally found an affordable one, but the internal environment was far from reassuring, and he wasn't willing to compromise his daughters' wellbeing.
Therefore.
The registration issue was delayed until now.
All in all, this was all due to a lack of money!
He couldn't go out to work with two kids to care for, and initially survived on meager savings. But the feeling of depleting those savings was daunting until he ventured into writing online novels and earned some royalties, which slightly eased his burden.
Some might say he had no talent for writing, but his first book was successfully contracted and garnered royalties; others might say he had talent, but he didn't make much, earning only about six thousand a month.
It seemed fine, but raising kids was costly.
Especially with two kids, the expenses seemed endless.
Along with rent and utilities, there was hardly anything left at the end of the month.
But life was still manageable.
In theory, if they held on, things would get better.
But who would have thought…
The new novel flopped completely.
It also shattered his hope of earning more from the novel to save more for his daughters' tuition.
Not discouraged, he seamlessly started a new piece, but still failed to make any progress. This made him deeply aware of the instability in writing online novels, forcing him to reconsider his employment path.
As for why he alone was raising kids without his wife's presence.
It's because they got divorced.
Though he and his ex-wife went to different schools, they both chose to stay in this city to fight for their careers after college.
A company party brought them together.
Both got drunk under the influence of their colleagues, and they ended up having their first time together all muddled.
Neither expected that she would get pregnant on the first try!
And with twins!
Upon hearing the news, Huang Jun was shocked but didn't run away from it.
He chose to take responsibility.
They registered for marriage because of the pregnancy.
Under his meticulous care, his ex-wife gave birth to twin daughters.
But she found caregiving too exhausting and returned to work as soon as her maternity leave ended, leaving Huang Jun to look after the children.
To better care for the kids, Huang Jun pondered carefully and decided to quit his job, taking on the role of househusband.
From then on, his ex-wife often criticized him.
And before the daughters were one-year-old, his ex-wife, due to her exceptional work performance, was spotted by the company and got an opportunity for overseas training and study.
This opportunity was undoubtedly a turning point for Yang Yanting.
For her career.
She disregarded Huang Jun's pleas, chose to abandon him and their daughters, and divorced him…
From then, no news was heard of her!
In Huang Jun's heart, he neither loved nor hated this ex-wife, rather he was quite grateful that she brought the two darling daughters into his life, and was thankful that she didn't take them away when she left.
Now, thinking about the savings that were only over ten thousand left and completely insufficient for his daughters' tuition, he couldn't help but utter a long sigh: "Sigh…"
"Papa~"
Huang Keqing, who was playing beside him, immediately put down her Pleasant Goat doll upon hearing her father's sigh, and sprinted over with her short legs, reaching out her chubby little hand, gently tugging at his clothes, and looking up at him with a face full of concern.
Huang Jun turned his head to look at her.
The little one's black and white eyes were as clear as mirrors, which made Huang Jun unable to resist pulling her into his arms, softly asking: "Qingqing, what's wrong?"
Qingqing hesitated for a moment and said: "Papa, I don't want to go to kindergarten anymore…"
On hearing this, Huang Jun was slightly stunned, his brows furrowed.
Just as he was about to ask why she didn't want to go to kindergarten, he saw her reach out to touch his brow, her baby voice speaking again by his ear: "Papa, don't frown anymore."
Though she was young, she was still sensitive enough to pick up on the grown-up's unintentional display of helpless emotion.
Initially, when daddy spoke about going to kindergarten with her and her younger sister, she looked forward to it with much anticipation.
But later on, she gradually noticed that daddy would sigh every time he looked at the kindergarten enrollment brochures, and the anticipation of starting nursery school faded.
She couldn't understand the burden her dad carried or the exact emotions he expressed when looking at the brochures, she simply thought that he frowned and sighed every time he looked at those pieces of paper, appearing very unhappy.
She didn't want her daddy to frown anymore!
Huang Jun felt a pang in his heart, an indescribable pain.
At this moment, Huang Kewei burrowed into his embrace, tilting her little head up, blinking her eyes at him: "Papa, I don't want to go to kindergarten either, don't frown anymore, frowning isn't handsome at all."
Finally, she mimicked her sister and reached out to touch his forehead.
He took a deep breath, suppressing the sour emotion in his heart, and with a smile, patted their little heads and said, "Daddy's not frowning; he's just struggling to choose which kindergarten would be suitable for both of you!"
Qingqing and Weiwei both looked up at him, and when they saw the smile on his face, they believed his words.
"Struggling?"
Qingqing's little voice carried a note of confusion as she asked, "Daddy, what does struggling mean?"
"Yeah, what does struggling mean, Daddy?" Weiwei blinked her eyes, full of curiosity.
"Struggling means it's hard to choose, like if Daddy puts ice cream and chocolate in front of you and asks you to choose one, but you can't decide which one to pick at the moment, that's what struggling means."
"Oh, so that's what struggling means~"
Both little ones nodded in realization, and then the two of them cuddled up in his arms and started playing.
Huang Jun smiled and patted these clingy little ones, and when he looked at the enrollment brochures again, his eyes suddenly lit up slightly.
Oh, right.
He remembered seeing online that children of kindergarten employees often have discounted tuition.
How about...
He applies for a job at the kindergarten?
That way, when he's at work, he can take the kids with him, and when he's off work, he can conveniently bring them home together.
Most importantly...
Kindergartens also have weekends and various holidays, summer and winter breaks!
Just thinking about it feels wonderful!
But here's the problem.
As a man, what job could he apply for at a kindergarten?
After all, most preschool teachers and caregivers are women, and being a teacher requires a teaching certificate, while caregivers need specific training.
It seems like the only position suitable for him is cook.
But he's worried he might not get hired.
After all, his cooking skills are just so-so!
At that moment, an electronic voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
[Ding!]
[Detected host's strong desire, life assistance system has successfully bound.]
[Assistance area: Kindergarten]
[Gourmet section unlocked… Beginner.]
Huang Jun: (ﾉﾟ0ﾟ)ﾉ~
Whoa!
The legendary cheat code has landed on him!
With this, there's great hope for securing the cook position.
In an instant, Huang Jun felt as if new hope was injected into him, leading him to burst into laughter uncontrollably.
Qingqing, hearing this, couldn't help but have a big question mark in her big eyes: "Daddy, what are you laughing at?"
"Daddy, what are you laughing at?"
Weiwei also looked at him curiously, repeating the question like an echo.
"Nothing much."
Huang Jun collected himself and kissed both of their foreheads, softly saying, "Daddy plans to apply as a cook at the kindergarten."
"Ah~"
The two little ones opened their mouths wide, enough to fit an egg inside.
Immediately, Qingqing's eyes sparkled with excitement, and she muttered, "Daddy goes to the kindergarten as a cook, and my sister and I go to the kindergarten to study, then we can go to the kindergarten together in the morning and come home together!"
"Daddy, am I right?"
Huang Jun nodded, "Yes, that's right!"
Weiwei happily asked, "Daddy, then will we be able to see you when we have meals at the kindergarten?"
Huang Jun nodded again, "Yes!"
"That's great."
The two little ones cheered in unison, and thus renewed their enthusiasm for going to kindergarten.
"But what if Daddy doesn't get hired?" Huang Jun wanted to prepare them just in case he didn't get the job, so they wouldn't be heartbroken.
Hearing this, the two little ones fell silent.
They hadn't thought about this possibility!
Upon thinking about Daddy's cooking, they couldn't help but feel a bit worried.
Still, they both cheered him on: "Daddy, you're the best, you'll definitely get the job."
"Yeah, even if you don't get hired, you're still the best daddy to us."
Huang Jun hugged his two daughters tightly in his arms.
With daughters like this, what more could a father wish for!