It was a little girl, about five or six years old, wearing a gray linen dress. She was half a head taller than Amy. The dress looked like it had been altered from an adult's dress, with many patches on it. Her short, casually cut hair only reached her ears, but her little face was clean and her bright, clean black eyes seemed to reflect both good and evil.
The little girl's mouth gaped open, her eyes filled with joy as she looked at Amy. She nimbly flipped over the back of the chair and ran towards her.
"Jessica!" Amy called out happily, also running towards her with her short legs.
The little girl ran over with her arms outstretched, but stopped abruptly two steps in front of Amy, withdrew her arms, and looked at Amy's little dress with delight.
"Jessica, why aren't you hugging me anymore?" Amy asked Jessica, looking a little unhappy.
"Because Amy is wearing a pretty dress today, I can't get your dress dirty." Jessica smiled and shook her head, revealing a tooth missing a small front tooth. Her eyes were still fixed on Amy's clothes, and her little face was genuinely happy. Her gaze fell on the Ugly Duckling in Amy's arms, and her eyes brightened even more. She exclaimed in surprise, "And this little kitten, it's yellow too, so cute!"
"This isn't a kitten, it's the Ugly Duckling. Actually, it's a duckling, hatched from a duck egg." Amy said earnestly, shaking her head.
"Really? But it doesn't look like a duck at all!" Jessica looked at the Ugly Duckling with some hesitation, but quickly looked at Amy expectantly and asked, "Can I hold it?"
"Meow!" The Ugly Duckling raised its little paw, its face showing refusal.
"Of course you can." Amy nodded, then turned to the Ugly Duckling and said, "This is my good friend Jessica. You have to be good, or you'll have to do five extra laps today."
"Meow~" The Ugly Duckling immediately cowered, rolling its eyes as Jessica took it, looking utterly dejected.
"Ahhh! So cute, so wonderful!" Jessica gently stroked the Ugly Duckling, calling out happily.
"Amy!"
"Little Amy!"
The other children in the corridor also saw Amy and greeted her. Some even gathered around, looking curiously at the Ugly Duckling in Jessica's arms.
Amy greeted them one by one by calling out their nicknames, her little face beaming with joy.
"The little one is quite popular, but it seems that the habit of giving nicknames is not a recent thing." Mai Ge couldn't help but smile. The children ranged in age from four or five to eight or nine, and their clothes were quite worn, just like when he first saw Amy. The little girl named Jessica seemed very intelligent and sensible, and she seemed to have the best relationship with Amy.
"Little Amy said you are all her good friends, so she asked Uncle to bring you some delicious food. You probably haven't had dinner yet, right? How about one serving for each of you?" Mai Ge said with a smile to the children.
"Okay!" The children's eyes lit up immediately, all fixed on the two bags Mai Ge was carrying.
"Jessica, this is my Daddy. He made you guys some super delicious Braised Chicken Rice." Amy whispered in Jessica's ear, "And he made one for your mother too."
"Dad…Daddy?" Jessica looked up at Mai Ge, a hint of envy in her clear eyes, but a happy smile quickly spread across her face. She nodded happily to Amy and said, "Thank you, Amy. I knew you were the best to me."
"Come over here and eat, sit down." Mai Ge carried two large bags to the end of the corridor, gently set them down, and then took out the braised chicken portions one by one. Because some children were too small, he arranged them in a row on the chairs and opened the lids.
"It smells so good!"
"Gurgle..."
The enticing aroma of braised chicken immediately filled the corridor, and the children's eyes lit up. They couldn't help but swallow their saliva, but looking at the tempting braised chicken, they hesitated and dared not go forward.
"Children, eat up, this is your dinner." Mai Ge opened the lid of the last Braised Chicken Rice. There were three boxes left in the bag, and there were only nineteen children here.
The children looked at each other, but no one stepped forward.
"If you miss this meal, you won't be able to eat such delicious food for a long time. Daddy's braised chicken is really amazing!" Amy, holding Jessica's little hand, walked to a serving of braised chicken first, took the Ugly Duckling from her, and smiled at everyone as she spoke.
"It smells so good! Thank you, Amy's father. I'll try the first bite!" Jessica's eyes lit up as she smiled at Mai Ge, picked up the chopsticks, took a piece of chicken, and bit into it. Her eyes widened instantly.
What a wonderful taste! She didn't know what words to use to describe it, she just thought it was so delicious! She had never eaten anything so good in her entire life.
"It's so...so delicious..." Jessica swallowed the chicken in her mouth, sniffed, and held back the tears in her eyes. Then she immediately put the half piece of meat she was holding with the chopsticks into her mouth.
"Don't cry, Jessica, are you alright?" Amy quickly reached out to wipe her tears, asking with some concern.
"I...I'm fine, it's just...it's just so delicious, so delicious that I cried..." Jessica shook her head, picked up another piece of chicken and put it in her mouth, eating while tears streamed down her face.
Mai Ge smiled and shook his head. This little girl was too cute. But this kind of praise was the best recognition and evaluation for a chef. A sense of pride welled up in his heart.
Seeing Jessica enjoying her meal so much, the other children couldn't resist either. After a moment's hesitation, they all walked over to the braised chicken and picked up the chopsticks to eat.
"So delicious!"
"Amy, your daddy is really amazing!"
"It's so delicious... Waaah... I can't resist either..."
The children's praises, mixed with a few cries, echoed in the corridor, but the atmosphere was still very warm and joyful.
"Jessica, I'll tell you a secret, pouring this soup on top will make the moon rice taste even better." Amy whispered in Jessica's ear.
"There really is a moon in this rice! How amazing!" Jessica's eyes lit up as she looked at the rice in the box, immediately eliciting a burst of amazement from the children.
"Doing good deeds now and then does seem to really lift our spirits." Mai Ge stood to the side watching the children's smiles as they ate their food, and a smile appeared on his face as well. If there was no pressure to recover his physical fitness in the future, doing good deeds seemed like a good option.
"Huh? Isn't that Mr. Mai Ge? What's he doing here?" Not far away, Luna, carrying a large cloth bag, stopped and looked in the direction of the corridor, muttering to herself with some doubt.