Ma'am, I ordered boiled and fried noodles for him." One of the school children who had just had a break and went straight to the small hut that became Fen's canteen.
As the owner of a small canteen, Fen is quite busy serving school children who come and order their food. "Okay, wait a minute. I'll make it soon." He took the time to answer.
This is just the beginning, if only Bertrand cried, Fen would be in a frenzy facing his customers, who are school children.
"Here's the deck, the noodles are ready." A bowl of noodles is already available on the table, the customer's order earlier.
Then he went back inside to see the state of his children. "Thankfully, apparently they got along inside." Fen thought, smiling happily. Yes, cellphones were Fen's choice because she had to. What else can make her child stop crying apart from that?
***
At 12.00 noon.
"We went home…" Chica came with her two younger siblings from school.
Fen walked rushing to open the front door, which had been closed earlier because Alvin liked to go out of the house alone. "Wow, you guys are home already? What did you learn at school? How about your grades?" That's what Fen does every day, interrogating her children as soon as they enter the house.
Everything he does is a form of attention to them. Don't want them to be neglected, and also be able to know every problem they have at school.
Sure enough, Chica immediately let out what she felt earlier. "Mom, my teacher said earlier, I have to buy skills materials. Manila paper and paper glue. Do you have any money?" he said as he put the shoes that had just been removed from his feet.
Not having finished that, Nana instead harried to speak with a sullen face. "Mom, do you know, at school earlier my friends took my lunch, even though they also had food, while I only had a little left? And that didn't fill me up at all."
Fen frowned when he heard their complaints. "The profit from the sale just now was only a little, but enough to buy materials. But, it's okay if you only buy manila paper, it will be enough."
Then he turned to Nana, "Friends took your food? Wasn't your teacher there? Who did that to you? This isn't just the one time, you reported it twice. But it's been too many times, your teacher should have noticed." Fen looked annoyed and very emotional.
Even though it was only a trivial matter, just like that, the period was incompetent. At this rate, all the children who go to school there are just an opportunity to make money, this is really too much, there is no sense of caring for their students.
After saying that, Fen circled them and headed straight to the kitchen to prepare lunch for her children. "Chika…! After you've changed your clothes, come to the dining room right away, okay, have lunch first. Incidentally, there's some leftover rice cake soup and a bit of fried food. If you want to finish what's on that plate, go ahead. Mom has also left some for dad. So, it doesn't matter if you spend all of it."
Their answers could be heard faintly, but it wasn't clear to Fen's ears. At that moment, the sound of people chatting was heard in the front room. "I think I hit this sound. Could it be…"
"Good afternoon."
"That's right. That's David's voice." Femi remembered Alvin, who had just fallen asleep in the living room. He slowly carried her into the room. Luckily, the front door was left wide open, so her husband could enter the house without having to go open it.
***
This afternoon, the whole house is still taking a nap, except for Fen, who is still writing down the grocery list for tomorrow's groceries.
"David, wake up." Fen shook her husband's body slowly.
Still semi-conscious, David immediately sat up with his eyes closed. "Mas, please take care of Bertrand first! I'm going to go shopping at the market." said Fen who was getting ready to leave.
David glanced at his wife a little, "Before leaving, please make me some hot tea first, no coffee. So that my eyes won't be sleepy anymore."
Feni is an obedient wife, it's no wonder she immediately does what her husband orders. He entered the kitchen, in 2 minutes, the drink was finished and brought before his husband.
"Okay, then I'll go first!" Fen immediately turned around and headed for the door to leave immediately.
"Dude, just a minute!" Fen's steps stopped again, then turned his head without answering anything. "Do you have extra money or not? For example, buy a pack of cigarettes for me later!"
"What?" Fen's mouth dropped open when he heard her husband's words. "You think, by selling like this, I can make a lot of money at once. Even with a return on investment, I'm already happy. Luckily, these snacks are not that big, it's just that the leftover cooking oil, sugar and other ingredients can be used for daily needs."
At the same time, Fen rolled her eyes, "I could use this to buy cigarettes, but later the ingredients for tomorrow's sales will be lacking. You should have given me extra money, so the cigarettes could be bought." His tone sounded irritated.
Hufft… "Never mind, if it's not enough, it's okay. Go soon. Later, when Bertrand wakes up, he will surely cry."
"Then okay, I'll go first. Oh yeah, if Alvin wakes up, the food is in the cupboard. There's still plenty of rice and salted fish there. If you want something to eat, just look for it there." Fen immediately left from there as soon as he said that.
At home there is still a stock of rice, so she doesn't focus on that, all she is thinking about now is how to make enough ingredients to make the snacks that she will sell tomorrow and even have some left over, so she can buy her husband's cigarettes.
Half an hour of walking, he did not realize that he had already arrived at the market. The place was so crowded, Fen entered a cake ingredients shop and chose the ingredients to buy.
A group of arisen women was seen huddled around something. "What's that?" Fen was curious and immediately joined after finishing shopping.
"Mom, is the fresh fish still available?" one of them asked a woman who was the same age as Fen.
Feni seemed to know that woman. Unfortunately, the crowd was so crowded and had to jostle if you wanted to get there.
"Ouch, I'm so sorry. Today the fish is sold out. What if tomorrow, if there is, I will bring it back here."
The woman turned around, it was… "Tika?" Fen waved his hand, then approached him with a smile. "What are you doing here? Going shopping too?" Fen asked curiously.
"....."
Someone from the crowd earlier, back chattering. "Too bad I didn't get fresh fish. Even though I wanted to make a delicious dish. Where else would I look for that fresh fish? Now it's so hard to get it." he grumbled sullenly, then left there.
Silent, no sound. The feeling of awkwardness appeared instantly. Luckily, Fen was able to bring the atmosphere back to life, they started chatting.
"So you sell fish too? Does it belong to your husband? Or..." Fen had not finished speaking, Tina immediately answered.
"Yes, that's what Johnson caught. Last night they went fishing because they were invited by neighbors. The result is quite a lot, but if you eat alone it won't run out, that's why I sold it." His tone of voice, as well as the look on his face, was so relaxed.
Feni raised her eyebrows, "Are you serious? Your husband goes fishing? Does he go out to sea at night?" This seems interesting to Fen. At a time like this, the family really needs extra money.
Is it possible that David can do it?