Chapter 20 Youth Palace

Chen Yu's body shuddered violently, and even the filling he had just scooped up almost fell off.

Tong Ya's hands were always delicate and soft, and rubbing his shoulders like that instantly refreshed him, as if he'd been struck by lightning.

"How's that? Comfortable, right?" Tong Ya giggled, "You stand all day; be careful not to hurt your cervical spine."

"Wow! Dad, you actually let Teacher Tong Ya give you a shoulder rub!"

Tuan Tuan, holding two bottles of juice, suddenly climbed onto the food cart.

Chen Yu was about to explain but was preempted by Tong Ya.

"You little rascal, which dance class student hasn't been massaged by me! Besides, your dad has been busy for several days. If I don't help him loosen up his muscles and bones, he could easily run into problems."

Tuan Tuan set the juice aside and hugged Tong Ya's neck from behind.

"Teacher Tong Ya, do you want to give my dad shoulder massages for the rest of your life?"

Tong Ya's heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and her face flushed to the roots of her neck in an instant.

Chen Yu rolled his eyes: "What nonsense are you spouting, little girl? Are you asking for a spanking again?"

Tuan Tuan pouted and hid herself behind Tong Ya.

"By the way, Dad, lots of customers say we have too few ice cream flavors!"

Chen Yu snorted, "I bet it's you, little girl, who's tired of those few flavors!"

Tuan Tuan stuck out her tongue, then went into the room to get her backpack and sat quietly beside them, starting on her homework.

"Oh, Chen Yu, we don't have much of the raw materials left today. Can we pack up around seven or eight o'clock?" Tong Ya suddenly asked.

Chen Yu glanced around the food cart subconsciously: "The crowd is definitely going to be smaller on weekend afternoons, probably just the elderly who come for the square dancing! We might sell out by six or seven o'clock."

"That's great! There's a dance competition at the youth center tonight that I signed Tuan Tuan up for half a month ago. I've been so busy these past few days I almost forgot about it!"

At the mention, Tuan Tuan immediately jumped up excitedly.

"Really?"

"Of course it's true!" Tong Ya became serious, "But before we go, you have to finish your homework, okay?"

Tuan Tuan raised her hands and cheered, then pecked Tong Ya on the cheek and continued on with her homework.

This scene, which resembled that of a warm family of three, quickened Tong Ya's pulse once more.

Chen Yu noticed Tong Ya's change as well: "Are you feeling okay? Why is your face so red?"

Tong Ya quickly fanned herself, "No, it's just too hot!"

Chen Yu didn't ask further, just glanced at the food cart's built-in refrigeration unit.

When the food cart was handed over to Chen Yu, it was stocked with a large amount of solid cooking oil.

Plus, the frying pot on the food cart had a filtration system, so the oil consumption wasn't high. They used on average two big blocks per day.

After a few days, even the solid oil was running low, with only one block left in the refrigeration unit.

He would have to make a phone call tonight to restock.

At four in the afternoon, the square dancing seniors arrived as expected, and it seemed there were even more people today than usual.

"Young Chen, did you hire this girl to work for you? She's been here for two days already, hasn't she?"

"With such a beautiful girl by your side, no wonder Young Chen isn't keen on blind dates."

"This girl is perfect—beautiful and hardworking. Just marry her, Young Chen!"

...

This sudden rush to get married caught Chen Yu off guard.

Tong Ya didn't say anything but just busily packed things up on her own.

Indeed, apart from these seniors, there weren't many other customers today.

Even so, the fried cakes and vegetable dumplings were selling out fast.

By six in the afternoon, everything was sold out.

[Congratulations, Host, for perfectly completing a day's business. Today's net profit is 40,700 yuan, earning 40,700 points. Your total accumulated points now stand at 106,840.]

Chen Yu's breathing immediately became rapid; he hadn't expected the points to accumulate to 100,000 so quickly.

With that, he could now take a shot at the high-level lottery.

However, Chen Yu didn't rush to draw the lottery. Instead, he calmed his emotions and first made a call to the raw material supplier.

The same ingredients as yesterday, only today he added ten more blocks of solid cooking oil.

Each block weighing ten jin, at five yuan per jin, the total cost was 500 yuan.

Adding it up, the cost for tomorrow would be a total of 19,600 yuan!

After paying the money, Chen Yu found that his savings had reached a staggering 80,920 yuan.

In Suzhou City, that amount of money was enough for a down payment on a modest house.

Tong Ya and Tuan Tuan had also changed their clothes; all three of them got into Tong Ya's car and headed straight to the Youth Palace.

Perhaps since there was a competition, there were an unusually large number of people at the Youth Palace today.

Tuan Tuan, holding Tong Ya and Chen Yu's hands, bounced joyfully.

The scene immediately drew envious glances from the people around them.

"This family of three is so beautiful!"

"It's genetics, good heredity, huh!"

"The child is so big, and they're still so loving; truly a model family."

"I think I've seen that child before; he was the champion of the last dance competition at the Youth Palace!"

...

Hearing the discussions along the way, Tong Ya not only didn't get angry but instead her heart raced, and, like a little girl, she couldn't help but sway her body.

By the time they reached the competition venue, all the competing children had already entered into tense preparations.

But Tuan Tuan was not at all flustered and casually changed into her dance costume before going to the prep area.

Chen Yu and Tong Ya made a cheering gesture for her from outside, then took their seats in the audience.

"I've told you before, Tuan Tuan's talent for dance is truly unparalleled!"

Tong Ya became excited for no particular reason.

Chen Yu also nodded with a smile on his face, "It's because of your good nurturing!"

Hearing Chen Yu's praise, Tong Ya immediately bit her lower lip.

"Right! If Tuan Tuan can win the championship this time, she will get a prize of 10,000 yuan! That's just enough for the tuition fees."

Chen Yu was slightly taken aback; it seemed Tong Ya had been trying to figure out how to take care of Tuan Tuan for a long time.

"Thank you!"

This thank you, said with a quickened breath from Tong Ya, made her feel it was Chen Yu's recognition of her.

The competition began, and Tuan Tuan was the first to take the stage.

From those graceful dance moves, Chen Yu could actually discern a kind of aesthetic derived from life experiences.

It appeared the events of this period had greatly influenced Tuan Tuan.

But the little girl was able to integrate all her emotions into the dance, which was a testament to her talent.

Chen Yu suddenly felt that the best thing he had ever done was to send Tuan Tuan to learn dancing, regardless of the cost.

As the music stopped, Tuan Tuan froze on stage in an incredibly wide movement.

The thunderous applause erupted suddenly; everyone present knew that the championship had already been swept by Tuan Tuan.