A father in China quit his job and travelled 900 km to set up a food stall near his daughter’s school after she complained that the dishes in its canteen lacked the “taste of home”.
The concerned father has trended on mainland social media as a result of his actions.
His daughter, Li Bingdi, is a second-year student at Jilin Normal University in Siping, Jilin province, northeastern China.
Over the past year, Li has complained that she did not like the food at her school, which she said was unhygienic and did not have the “taste of home”, Dahe News reported.
As a result, her father resigned from his job at a barbecue restaurant in Tianjin, 900 km south of Siping, and went to southern China to learn how to cook fried rice and noodles.
He then rented a stall near the gates of his daughter’s school.
Li senior’s fried rice and noodles business made its debut in mid-October.
On the first day of business, he only sold seven sets of cooked rice, making a small profit.
His earnings were lower than the 70 yuan (US$10) his daughter made that day as a private tutor for a young student, according to the daughter.
Feeling sorry for her father, Li junior shared her father’s story on her school’s social media platform.
She wrote that her father attached importance to preparing clean food and was seeking advice on how to improve the performance of his business.
To her surprise, the next day, many people, including students and teachers from her school and nearby residents, formed a long queue at her father’s stall.
Some customers even overordered to support his business, said Li junior.
In recent weeks, the daughter has spent much of her spare time helping her father.
“Last month, my father said he felt cold running the stall because of the weather. But now he is hectic with work and his heart feels warm,” said the daughter.
“My father did not want to make huge profits; he only hoped to make a living. Therefore, he feels at ease staying here for two reasons: looking after me and supporting himself,” she added.
Li junior said she and her father have depended on each other since the death of her mother from leukaemia a few years ago.
The daughter recalled that when she was choosing a university and had no idea which city she should go to, the father told her wherever she went, he would follow.
“He has fulfilled his promise,” said Li junior.
“While many people praise a father’s love as being as stately as a mountain, for me, my father’s love is as warm as the sun,” she added.
One online observer said: “He provides not only fried rice, but also the pure love of a father.”
“The dishes are definitely hygienic, because his daughter eats them,” said another person. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
