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墨書 Inktalez
In the suburbs of nh City, there is a two-story red brick building shaped like an "H," surrounded by a three-meter-high wall. Weeds about a foot long grow at the base of the wall, making the building appear even more desolate. Bai Tang judges that the building was likely constructed in the 1970s, a time when people were very honest and the buildings were built to last. Although it looks old on the outside, if an earthquake were to strike nh City, while other high-rise buildings might collapse, this one would still stand firm.
Upon entering the building, Bai Tang sees a red iron gate embedded in the wall. The gate is also quite old, covered in rust spots. However, the sign on the wall beside the gate shines brightly as if it were new, likely because someone has cleaned it. The sign has black characters on a white background, and five large characters catch Bai Tang's eye: "Dehua Orphanage."
Bai Tang walks over to the side of the gate and knocks loudly. Remembering what Sun Senwen said about Uncle Liu, who is hard of hearing due to his old age, she knocks with considerable force so that he can hear her. It seems that someone like Uncle Liu is not really suited for the job of a gatekeeper, but the conditions at the orphanage are too poor to afford new staff. In fact, everyone at the orphanage, from the director to the cook, is elderly. They have worked there their entire lives and have deep feelings for both the orphanage and its children, which is why they stay despite low pay. There have been young newcomers full of enthusiasm who came to work at the orphanage, but unfortunately, most left after a short time because they couldn't handle the hardships.
"Who is it?" After more than two minutes, a hoarse voice comes from inside.
Bai Tang replies loudly, "Is that you, Uncle Liu? Hello, I'm here to visit you and the children on behalf of a friend."
With a creak, the door opens from inside, revealing an elderly man in his sixties standing before Bai Tang. He wears a patched blue cloth coat, and his black-yellow face is covered in wrinkles; his hands are also calloused. Bai Tang immediately thinks of an image from a TV drama she recently watched called "The Old Farmer." Although this old man is not a farmer, he is also a simple and hardworking elder deserving of respect.
"Uncle Liu!" Bai Tang greets him politely. Having heard Sun Senwen's description of the orphanage, she holds great respect for its staff; their dedication deserves her admiration.
"Young lady, did you come from our orphanage? I don't think I've seen you before," Uncle Liu says as he looks at Bai Tang with confusion.
Bai Tang smiles and replies, "Uncle Liu, I'm not from the orphanage. I'm here to visit on behalf of my friend. My friend's name is Sun Sang Wen. Do you remember him?"
Before leaving her future world, Bai Tang had visited Sun Sang Wen, telling him that she had found a way to travel back to the 21st century. However, this method could only be used once; once she returned to the 21st century, she could not go back to her future world. She asked Sun Senwen if he wanted to come with her. Naturally, Sun Senwen declined. When she asked if he had any wishes for her to fulfill upon her return, Sun Sang Wen asked her to visit Uncle Liu and the children at the orphanage. He also gave Bai Tang two gene enhancers in exchange for 5 million RMB from the 21st century to help improve living conditions for both staff and children at the orphanage. Sun Sang Wen then revealed his true name from his past life to Bai Tang, which turned out to be Sun Sang Wen as well. She thought this name had become just a memory; little did she know that thirty years later, he would reclaim it again. Is it fate?
"Sun Sang Wen?" Uncle Liu thinks for a moment before recalling what Bai Tang reminded him about Sun Sang Wen's appearance. "You are his friend? Come in quickly; I'll take you to see the director."
The front yard is quite large and has been cultivated into several vegetable plots growing oilseed lettuce, lettuce, potatoes, beans, and eggplants among other vegetables and fruits. The flowers of eggplants are white; those of beans come in various colors—yellow, purple, brown… swaying in the wind like beautiful canvases.
Seeing that Bai Tang's gaze falls on the vegetable plots, Uncle Liu explains to her: "The conditions here at our orphanage are not very good, so we grow our own vegetables to save some money for buying stationery for the children. After all, we have empty land here; it would be wasteful not to use it."
"This initiative is great!" Bai Tang praised. No wonder Sun Senwen never went hungry during his time here but still suffered from malnutrition; he only ate vegetarian food without any meat, and how could his nutrition keep up? It's just that the Orphanage is located in a remote area, making it difficult for kind-hearted people to come here. Without donations, the operational expenses of the Orphanage rely solely on funding from the Nation, but that little funding can only support the basic operations of the Orphanage. As the number of children in the yard increases, this money becomes insufficient. The Director had previously applied to higher authorities for an increase in funding, but there are many welfare institutions under the Nation, and it is impossible to increase funding solely for Dehua Orphanage. If all funding were to be increased, the amount would be substantial. Thus, the matter of increasing funding has been delayed. Even four years after Sun Sang Wen's arrival, the funding issue remains unresolved.
"Are you a friend of Sang Wen? Is he doing well?" The Director was a woman in her fifties, with half of her hair already gray. Her demeanor was kind and made one feel warm inside.
"He is doing well! However, due to work, he has gone abroad and cannot return to see you all, so I came in his place," Bai Tang said as she glanced around the Director's office, which was filled with very old furniture; even the sofa had lost its elasticity.
The Director placed a cup of brewed tea in front of Bai Tang and pulled out a chair to sit across from her. "Sang Wen is the most successful child in our orphanage; he got into university without costing us a penny for tuition and even sends money back every month. Although it's not much, it helps improve the meals for his younger siblings. After he started working, the amount he sent back increased every month, helping more and more children. But four years ago, he suddenly lost contact, which really worried us; we feared something had happened to him. Now that I hear he has gone abroad, I feel relieved."
The Director spoke at a moderate pace with a gentle tone; mentioning Sun Sang Wen felt like she was talking about her own son, allowing one to clearly sense her maternal affection.
"The Nation where Sun Senwen is stationed is relatively underdeveloped, making communication inconvenient," Bai Tang lied as she took out two checks and handed them to the Director. "This ten million is from Sun Senwen for you; please accept it!"
Bai Tang took out five million herself and pretended it was from Sun Senwen.
"Ten million?" The Director was taken aback; her calm expression faltered. "Where did Senwen get so much money? He wouldn't have done anything illegal, would he?"
Bai Tang quickly reassured the Director: "Director Mom, don't worry; Sun Senwen hasn't done anything illegal. This money was earned through legitimate means by his own efforts. You must believe in his abilities!"
"Really? You're not lying to me!" The Director asked hesitantly; it wasn't that she didn't trust the child she raised but that this amount was too large for her to believe. Ten million! For her and for the Orphanage, this was a fortune. With this money, they could repair the building; otherwise, water would drip from the roof whenever it rained. The children could finally have meat in their meals and improve their nutrition. Their tuition fees would be covered so they wouldn't have to drop out after middle school to work and waste their education. They could buy a few more computers and connect to the internet; in today's society, computers and internet access are essential—children who don't understand them would be ridiculed and left behind by society. They could also raise salaries for the staff; after decades of selfless dedication without concern for compensation, they deserved appropriate rewards. Moreover, they needed to hire a few younger employees since older staff members had limited energy and might overlook caring for the children...
The Director thought about many things. After Bai Tang confirmed that there were no issues with the source of the money, she gratefully accepted both checks.
"Thank you, young lady!" The Director expressed both gratitude and admiration towards Bai Tang; such a large sum of ten million was offered without hesitation by this young woman, indicating her excellent character—Director Mom realized that before her stood someone wealthy; ten million was nothing to them and certainly not about greed or character.
"It’s just a small effort!" Bai Tang smiled.
“Director Mom, Director Mom!” Hearing the shouts from downstairs, Director walked over to the window and asked loudly, “Sanming, what happened?”
Bai Tang followed Director to the window. The office window faced the backyard, which was only a third the size of the front yard. Against the wall were some simple playground equipment like parallel bars, a seesaw, and a ping pong table. These facilities looked quite rudimentary; the seesaw was just a long plank fixed on a mound of dirt, seemingly DIYed by the staff of the Orphanage.
“Director Mom, Brother Dashan caught three big fish! Can we have fish soup tonight?” The boy shouting downstairs was a little over six years old, thin and dark but full of energy, drooling as he spoke.
“Sure!” Director Mom replied with a smile. “Go tell Mother Zhang to buy five more pounds of pork so everyone can have Braised Pork!”
The boy cheered and ran off to find Mother Zhang, who managed the kitchen.
Director turned back to Bai Tang and said, “The kids can only have meat once a week; they’re all craving it.”
Bai Tang smiled and said, “Now it’s good. With Sang Wen’s money, the kids can have meat.”
Director laughed as well. “Yes, thanks to this child! When they grow up, we’ll let them go abroad to thank their brother Sang Wen!”
Bai Tang twitched her mouth; even if the children from the Orphanage went abroad, they wouldn’t be able to find Sang Wen, as he had transcended to the Future World!
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