When a daughter complained that the food at her university lacked the taste of home, her father made a life-changing decision, quitting his job and moving nearly 900 kilometers to be near her.
According to a report by Chinese media, Li Bingdi, a second-year student at Jilin Normal University in Siping, Jilin Province, had long been unhappy with the food served at her university cafeteria. For almost a year, she had been voicing concerns about poor hygiene and the lack of a homely flavor in the meals.
Hearing his daughter’s worries, her father left his job in Tianjin, a city about 900 kilometers away, and traveled to southern China to learn how to cook fried rice and noodles.
Soon after, he rented a small food stall near the entrance of his daughter’s university. In mid-October 2025, he officially began his new venture. On the first day, he sold a small quantity of fried rice and managed to earn a modest profit, less, in fact, than what his daughter made from giving tuition lessons.
Touched by her father’s dedication, Li Bingdi shared his story on the university’s social media platform, writing that her father prioritized cleanliness and healthy cooking. She also asked other users for suggestions to help improve his small business.
The very next day, her father’s stall was surrounded by customers — a response that left the student astonished.
In recent weeks, Li has spent most of her free time helping her father at the stall. She revealed that he had fallen ill a few days earlier but quickly returned to work.
“My father doesn’t want to make big profits,” she said. “He just wants to earn enough to live and he came here only to take care of me.”
Li added that after her mother’s passing a few years ago, she and her father had become deeply dependent on each other. When she enrolled at university, her father promised her one thing that he would do whatever it took to make her happy.
