These children had never stepped outside the village. When had they ever had any snacks?
Therefore, when Natalia offered to make them some, their eyes lit up at once.
"Great!"
Natalia beamed. Though it was a bit odd that these children kept following her, she found them quite adorable.
Thus, she didn't think it was too much trouble to make some fried potatoes for them.
Being a mother herself, she was naturally fond of children, so she was not on guard when they were around.
Natalia walked into the kitchen only to find that it was still dingy.
Thankfully, there was a not very small window on the left side. It was open. The sunshine poured in from outside, making the poorly-lit room less gloomy.
Since this village had no electricity, it didn't have gas stoves either.
Natalia spun around to look at the munchkins behind her, then asked, "Which of you can light a fire?"
The kids all held up their hands and shouted, "I can!"
"I can do that!"
"Me too!"
Natalia cast her eyes over the group of children and saw a boy who seemed to be the oldest. She pointed at him and said, "Then I'll let you do it."
The boy who got the task rejoiced at once.
He scurried to the back of the stove in high spirits. The other kids all gazed expectantly at Natalia.
Afraid that they might disturb her cooking, Natalia gestured to the stools on the side and said, "Don't just stare at me. You can sit over there and wait. Your snacks will be ready in a moment."
The munchkins nodded and meekly went to take their seats.
Fortunately, Natalia had experience in babysitting children. Otherwise, she wouldn't know what to do with so many children following her around.
Since this was a poor village with limited cooking resources, she couldn't really give play to her cooking skill.
Back at home, she once learned how to fry potatoes from Mrs. Kylee, the maid. She did it quite well. Thus, she prepared to make some for these children.
First, she found potatoes from a sack in the corner of the room. Then, she peeled them, chopped them into pieces, and put them in the pan to fry.
It was a simple dish. But when the potatoes sizzled in the oil, all the children's mouths watered.
They stared fixedly at the pan, as though their eyes were glued to it.
Seeing this, Natalia was both amused and pained.
She thought these children were actually quite pitiful.
She did not know how their daily life was, but in a village with scarce goods, children's happiness was always scarce, too.
The fried potatoes were soon ready.
It looked delicious and smelt good.
She put the potatoes onto a large plate and asked with a smile, "Who wants some? Raise your hand if you do."
These children's hands immediately shot to the air as they whooped with excitement.
Some were so enraptured that they even leaped from their stools.
Natalia distributed the potatoes with a fork. At the same time, she reminded them, "It's hot. Blow on it before you eat."
The smiles spread across the children's faces as they finally tasted the delicious food they had been waiting for.
As they ate the potatoes, their affection for Natalia increased rapidly.
Watching them enjoy her food, Natalia also had a piece. The rest of the potatoes were equally shared by the children. Then, she walked out of the kitchen.
It was already 11, almost noon.
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