Humph, it’s a shame that Mr. Shen still remembers us. He hasn’t made a single call for so many years. I thought he would never want to come back except sending money here every month.”
The old man patted the iron filings on his hand, snorted coldly, turned around and walked towards the courtyard.
Lin Qiye and others followed closely behind him.
"By the way, where is Mr. Shen? Why didn't he come?"
"Oh, Shen Qingzhu is performing a secret mission and cannot escape." Lin Qiye replied without changing his face, and then quickly changed the subject, "What do you call me?"
"My surname is Liu, and I am the director of this private orphanage." The old man pushed up his reading glasses.
Old Man Liu led Lin Qiye and others through the narrow courtyard and walked into the only old-fashioned suite in the courtyard.
The house is not high, and seems a bit cramped for a young man like Lin Qiye. The rough and old walls are carefully painted with light green paint, and red flowers are hand-painted with paint to outline them. Although they are shabby, But there is a kind of pure warmth.
As soon as he crossed the threshold, Lin Qiye saw three or four children hiding behind the door, looking at them with curiosity and fear. The older ones were twelve or thirteen years old, while the younger ones were only seven or eight years old.
They were wearing old-fashioned but very warm cotton-padded jackets, their faces were rosy, and they looked very well-nourished.
There was only a little boy in the corner, who looked a little different. In this weather, he was only wearing a thin gray sweatshirt, his face was a little pale, and he was older than the other children.
"When Mr. Shen said he wanted to be a soldier, I still didn't believe him. With his bad temper, how could he be a soldier? He probably would have been kicked back by the instructors on the day he left."
Old man Liu muttered as he walked:
"I didn't expect that we actually asked him to stay... Hey, what level is he in the army now?"
"You are considered an officer." Lin Qiye pondered for a moment and replied, "He has made a lot of achievements, and he also led a new class of recruits this year. He has a high prestige."
Old Liu turned a corner and walked into a small room that looked like an office, but except for a wooden table, a few benches, and a few thick stacks of newspapers stacked in the corner, there was nothing else.
Old man Liu brought a bench to everyone, and sat down himself, grinning and saying:
"It's not bad. It didn't embarrass me, the dean."
"Dean Liu, how long has your orphanage been open?" Baili Pangpang looked around and couldn't help but ask.
"It's been more than thirty years." Dean Liu unscrewed the thermos flask, blew in a few dried wolfberries floating on the water, and said leisurely,
"Don't look at me now, uncle. I was also a well-known entrepreneur in Linjiang back then. I made a lot of money in my thirties. Later, I got a serious illness. I finally understood some things and opened an orphanage of my own. , it can be regarded as doing good deeds and accumulating virtue.
At that time, Linjiang had not yet developed, and it was not too remote. Later, high-rise buildings were built, and fewer and fewer people lived nearby, and it gradually became a small and rundown place that no one cared about.
I'm not bragging, sir. In the past thirty years, the number of orphans who have walked out of my place has been in their seventies or eighties, if not a hundred. Boy Shen, I picked him up by the river twenty years ago."
Lin Qiye nodded thoughtfully:
"By the way, what about the gangster you just mentioned?"
"This place is getting old, so naturally some people will keep an eye on it. Isn't that Li Group planning to start a real estate project here recently? They often send gangsters and the like to cause trouble, but it doesn't matter, I'm not afraid of them."
Old man Liu took a sip of tea and said calmly.
"They just use their power to bully others! If Brother Qingzhu is here, which gangster dares to come to our Dongtan Alley to cause trouble?!"
The little girl in a red cotton-padded jacket who had been squatting at the door immediately stood up and said angrily.
"That is, when Brother Qingzhu is here, who among the Linjiang underworld dares to offend us? Brother Qingzhu will knock their teeth out!" The other children also responded one after another.
"Tsk, what do you kids know about the underworld? It's all Mr. Shen who brought you bad luck." Old Man Liu glared at them.
"In that case, why don't you move away?" Cao Yuan asked doubtfully,
"This place is so old, it would be a good idea to change to a new environment? Is it because the conditions they opened it for are not good enough?"
"Not really." Old Man Liu opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but did not speak.
"Understood."
Lin Qiye nodded and gave Baili Pangpang a look beside him.
Baili Pangpang stood up and said with a smile, "You guys talk first, I'll go out and make a phone call."
After Baili Pangpang walked out of the house, Lin Qiye and others chatted for a while. The gloomy sky outside the window became darker and darker, with faint thunder surging in the clouds, and it seemed that a heavy rain was about to come.
"No...it's going to rain again. I haven't bought the food for dinner today."
Old Man Liu frowned when he saw the sky outside the window changing, he stood up in a hurry, picked up his umbrella and walked out the door.
"Shall we go for you?" Lin Qiye stood up immediately.
"No, you young people don't know how to buy groceries... Listen to me, just stay with these kids and have a meal together in the evening before leaving. By the way, tell me carefully that Mr. Shen is standing in the camp." What kind of merit have you gained?"
As the rain fell, Old Man Liu held up his umbrella, pushed open the iron door, and walked out quickly.
In the Hanshan Orphanage, only Lin Qiye and a few children were left looking at each other.
Due to Jiang'er's special shape, it has been hidden in the speaker on An Qingyu's waist in a magnetic field. The coffin body is in the trunk outside the lane, so only Lin Qiye, Cao Yuan and An Qingyu are left in the house. people.
Just when Lin Qiye was worrying about how to communicate with these children, Baili Pangpang took his mobile phone and waved to him outside the window:
"Qiye, come here for a moment."
Lin Qiye was startled, then stood up and walked out.
Cao Yuan's eyes swept across the young children in front of him. After struggling for a long time, he still tentatively spoke:
"you……"
All the children immediately took a step back and looked at Cao Yuan with fearful eyes, especially the little girl, who was almost scared to tears.
"No, I'm not a bad person...I..."
Cao Yuan, who had a fierce face, was pale and wanted to explain something. The children quickly turned around and ran into another small room, as if they were avoiding some kind of savage beast.
Cao Yuan:......
An Qingyu stood up with a smile and patted Cao Yuan on the shoulder.
"Don't be discouraged. Appearance is something you are born with. But if you have such needs, I can give you a full facelift when you go back..."
Under Cao Yuan's resentful gaze, An Qingyu followed the children into the small room. Soon, the amused giggles of the children could be heard in the room.
Cao Yuan let out a long sigh.
At this moment, his eyes met with the only child in the corner who did not escape.