Chapter 195: Incident (3)

There was a surprised voice as Xi Xiaye walked past the cemented path. She raised her head and saw the elder chief of the orphanage, Lady Wang, as well as Teacher Li.

"It's Ms. Xi!" The old chief put on a smile and greeted her.

The chief only knew Xi Xiaye's surname. Although she wanted to get her name in the orphanage to thank her for all the donations she had given, Xi Xiaye had declined her.

Every time she came over, she would just leave the items aside and watch the children outside for a while before leaving.

"Happy New Year! I was working nearby so I came over to take a look." Xi Xiaye's face softened and she greeted them respectfully before she handed the things to Teacher Li. "These are some gifts for the children. Are they doing alright?"

Teacher Li was startled for a moment before accepting the two bags with a smile. There was some warmth in her voice. "Thank you, Ms. Xi! The children are doing well. Don't worry, but..."

Suddenly, Teacher Li stopped talking. She turned around hesitantly and looked at Lady Wang. There was an unspeakable sorrow in her eyes.

Lady Wang seemed depressed as well and her weary eyes darkened as she let out a long sigh. "Ms. Xi, you should go and take a look at those children. This place is going to be demolished in a few days..."

"Demolished?" Xi Xiaye frowned after she heard Lady Wang's words. Her eyes turned dull and she asked, "What happened?"

"This is an old area, after all. Long ago, the government had plans to rebuild the area. We thought the official paperwork would only be approved several years later and I've been working hard on upkeeping this place recently. However, the document was approved before I could get any results from my efforts. This place has been bought and we need to move away by next month..." Lady Wang shared in a depressed tone. Raising her head and looking at her familiar surroundings, she felt like she missed this place already.

It had been several decades!

In the end, they were still going to lose it!

"Then, what will happen to the children?" Xi Xiaye's heart sank and her eyes seemed concerned.

"We're having trouble with that too. If we can't keep this place, we don't really know what to do as well. We can only send them to welfare agencies temporarily and think of an alternative later on. The chief gathered some people to ask around and see if there are any families willing to adopt some children. At least, we can still do something..."

Teacher Li said in a worried tone, "Some of the children are still young. Xiao Hu and Xiao Qing have rather poor health conditions, so I'm really worried about sending them to the welfare agencies..."

Xi Xiaye grimaced. After a moment of silence, she asked, "Isn't there any other way? Can we keep the place?"

"The buyer is almost done getting all the approval from the government. I'm afraid there's no other way. This old area was going to be reconstructed anyway. I was thinking of using my savings and getting a new house for the children. In the end..."

Lady Wang sighed to Xi Xiaye, "Thank you for your love and care for the children over the years. I thank you on behalf of the kids. You're a good Samaritan and you'll surely be blessed. Go in and take a look at the children. I'm afraid they'll all be separated in a few more days..."

Xi Xiaye felt pain blossom in her chest when she heard Lady Wang's words. She related too much to these children because they reminded her of her lonely self back when she was still studying at boarding school.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before asking, "Who bought this place?"

Lady Wang shook her head. "There was no information. It was so sudden that we still aren't sure what happened! Go take a look at the kids, Ms. Xi. They are in class now. We started preparing them for classes earlier..."

Xi Xiaye nodded and followed Lady Wang to the school building.

As they went nearer, the voices of the children's reading reached their ears.

'The sun beyond mountains glow, the Yellow River seawards flow; to enjoy grander sights, climb to greater heights—'

She felt sad as she stood near the back door and watched the children focus in class and make notes!

All these innocent and happy faces should be living with a happy family, but now...

Some of them had been abandoned by their parents because of birth defects while some of them lost their parents because of accidents, and some were children who wandered off and got lost...

How could someone be so cruel to make them lose a permanent home once again, and take away their place to stay?

Xi Xiaye never thought of herself as a kind person. She could watch a poor beggar die of hunger at the end of the street, or watch a crazy gambling addict be pushed to their wit's end.

However, there were some things she still had to do.

She had no idea if it was right or wrong, but if something touched her, she was strongly convinced that she needed to do something about it.

She went back to her car depressed. The sky was already dark when she was about to return to Maple Residence and the street lamps were lit up.

She took her phone out from the pocket and gave Shen Yue a call.

Shen Yue was on the way back home from his office when he received Xi Xiaye's call.

"CEO, it's Ms. Grandaughter's call!"

Lan Zilang handed the phone to Shen Yue in the back with a smile. "It seems that Ms. Granddaughter has been contacting home a lot ever since she got married. She misses both you and Miss a lot more than before."

Shen Yue beamed as well. He nodded and replied, "That's right, I guess it's all to Chen's credit. I'd better reward him sometime, haha..."

He pressed a button and answered the call. "Hello? Xiaye?" Shen Yue's loving voice came through.

Xi Xiaye guided the steering wheel with one hand and slowed down. Her eyes were focused in front while her voice softened slightly. "It's me... Grandpa..."

"What's wrong? Why did you call me at this time? Are you coming home? I'll ask your mother to prepare some dishes for you..."

"No, Grandpa... I need to ask you for a favor," Xi Xiaye interrupted Shen Yue.

"What's the matter?" Shen Yue asked.

"There's an orphanage in the north called Ning An Orphanage. A mysterious buyer bought it and is going to demolish it. I want you to check who bought it..."