Xiao Yuan quickly followed.
The two of them exchanged phone numbers as if they were making a covert connection with the underground party, scanning the surroundings for anyone eavesdropping. Just after they swapped numbers, Xiao Yuan’s phone rang. He hurriedly answered the call and afterwards, he apologized to Anning, "My advisor needs for sothing; I have to get going quickly."
Anning waved her hand, indicating that he should hurry off.
After Xiao Yuan left, Anning carried the soy milk over to find Mrs. Jiang.
Mrs. Jiang just happened to be thirsty, so Anning handed her a cup of soy milk to drink first.
It took about half an hour before it was Mrs. Jiang’s turn.
Anning and Mrs. Jiang went in. The doctor examined her, ordered so lab tests, and then it was a series of checks.
While accompanying Mrs. Jiang during the examination, Anning thought to herself that if she had been a doctor, or even just had a bit of dical knowledge, she would have been able to treat Mrs. Jiang’s illness directly and wouldn’t have needed any blood tests or other lab work.
After the inspections, so results ca out right away while others hadn’t. Overall, Mrs. Jiang didn’t have any major problems, just gastritis. However, the doctor advised her not to eat spicy food or anything too cold, to have als regularly, and to eat soft, easily digestible food for the near future.
Mrs. Jiang was really nervous about her check-up today because she had been in a lot of pain from her stomachache the day before.
She feared that the check-up would reveal so serious problem but, having received so of the results and knowing that it didn’t seem to be anything major, she relaxed completely.
She kept the doctor’s advice in mind, promising herself to stick to it.
Anning went with Mrs. Jiang to get her dication. Noticing it was already noon, they hurried ho.
When they got back, Jiang Anan was at ho; she had finished cooking and was about to start stir-frying. Hearing the door, Jiang Anan popped her head out of the kitchen: "How did it go? Did you get the results?"
While taking off her shoes, Anning replied loudly, "We got it, it’s gastritis. We picked up so dicine. Mom should take it after lunch and get so good rest."
Jiang Anan also relaxed, then went back into the kitchen and started stir-frying rapidly.
Anning asked Mrs. Jiang to rest in her room and went into the kitchen to make so porridge for her.
While in the kitchen, Anning and An Nan spoke in low voices, and An Nan began to talk about so things related to the restaurant where she worked.
Mr. Jiang had started working in the city as an assistant cook in a restaurant, tasked with preparing side dishes. Later, a master cook in the restaurant noticed his sincerity and good nature and took him on as an apprentice, teaching him many specialized skills. Mr. Jiang eventually beca a chef at the back of the restaurant and has to this date beco a well-known chef in a famous restaurant in the city.
Of course, this involved a lot of hard work on Mr. Jiang’s part. He had started learning late and it took him more than a decade to beco a chef, which certainly wasn’t easy.
When An Nan decided not to go to university after finishing high school, Mr. Jiang was worried for her. But seeing that she was strong and skilled with her hands, he taught An Nan so basic pastry work, and then accompanied her to seek apprenticeship with one of his senior apprentice brothers to learn pastry making.
A few years later, An Nan completed her apprenticeship and now specialized in making breakfast items in a restaurant, like buns, char siu, and so Chinese pastries.
Since she was making breakfast, she had to get up very early every day. However, An Nan had made a na for herself by now; once she finished the breakfast tasks, she could go ho, which afforded her more freedom in terms of ti than others.
Actually, An Nan was thinking about no longer working at this restaurant.
She contemplated opening her own place to sell breakfast items, but she didn’t have enough saved up over the years and doubted that her family would be willing to provide the money for it.
In Mr. and Mrs. Jiang’s view, a girl should find a steady job, marry and have children when the ti cos. The idea of starting a business seed too troubleso to them.
Moreover, Mr. and Mrs. Jiang themselves lacked the determination to start a business; they likely wouldn’t encourage An Nan’s entrepreneurial aspirations even if she were a boy. They thought An Nan had a good job at the restaurant with a decent inco and extraordinary job security; venturing out to start a business seed too risky.
As Anning was cooking the porridge, she discussed with An Nan, "How much money do you have? How much more do you need?"
An Nan pondered, "I’m planning to open a small shop, just selling breakfast. It actually doesn’t require much money, it’s mainly the rent that’s expensive. I’m thinking about renting a place near the University City, and you know how it is with rents over there..."
Anning finished the porridge, turned off the heat, covered it with a lid to let it stew a bit longer, "The rent there is indeed expensive. Renting a place, doing the renovation, it all needs a good amount of money. It looks like you’re quite short; even if I give you all my savings to use, it still won’t be enough. And you can put aside any thoughts of getting support from our parents. They won’t shift their mindset so easily and probably won’t back you up."
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