musicians of old

Chapter 798 Want a hug

The entire charity event lasted one afternoon.

The so-called "consolation and companionship session" had just started for less than twenty minutes when they almost disappeared from the area surrounding the children.

The celebrities gathered in the center of the square again, chatting with each other and exchanging business cards.

Fanning knew that under normal circumstances, the group's socializing would continue for at least two hours, so he still squatted in front of the group of little boys.

Besides herself, there was another young brown-haired girl who had not left the area. She was not far from Fanning, and several little girls were surrounding her, listening to stories.

"My little friends, the following story is about Saint Anthony of Padua preaching to the fishes."

Her voice sounded soft as she read and flipped through the old book in her hands. From this angle, Fanning couldn't see the name on the cover, only the jade bracelet on her fair wrist shining in the sun.

The VanderSchaaf Collection’s chief hammer bearer, Nancy Esterhazy, is supposed to be a little younger than Fanning.

Logically speaking, one is a glamorous position in front of the stage, and the other is a technician behind the scenes. It should be difficult for the two to have any intersection in normal work situations. However, given Lerici's style of doing things, perhaps next time, he will drag out all the employees of the Vanderschaft Collection to support the scene.
The children's attention span was constantly changing. After a while, they knelt in the sand pit again and started to make things with clay.

Fanning and Nancy just squatted there with smiles on their faces, lending a hand from time to time.

"It's better not to hug."

At a certain moment, Fanning suddenly spoke softly.

Nancy was stunned. She was squatting on the ground and had just pulled a little girl's hand.

The little girl was about four or five years old. Her name was Lianka. Nancy asked her just now. She obviously liked Nancy very much and her head was almost rubbing against Nancy's shoulder.

"Are you talking to me?" Nancy looked up and asked Fanning.

The two had been playing with the group of children for more than an hour. During this time, they talked to the children and helped each other, but they had never communicated directly.

Fanning said "hmm".

"Why?" Nancy frowned and stared at the young man who looked familiar in the workplace but whose name she couldn't remember.

"The Mecklenian Almshouse, the one in the east of Vienna, have you been there?" Fanning sighed.

"I've been there. It seems like it was three years ago, or almost four years ago. What happened?" Nancy asked.

"Then we should have been together at the time, but we just didn't interact with each other."

"Yeah, there are so many people and so many eyes."

“Well, that was my first time participating in a charity event in Lerici, and my first time helping out on site at the workhouse,” Fanning said with memories gleaming in his eyes.

"There was a little girl in the courtyard at that time. I remember her name was Luna. She was an orphan, maybe only 2 years old. She had albinism, but she was a very cute little girl. As soon as she saw outsiders coming in, because people like us at least dressed neatly and didn't look fierce, she immediately climbed up from the straw mat. That's it."

Fanning made a motion of stretching his arms forward.

"She stood by the pillar, and made a gesture of reaching out for a hug. Her eyes were a little pink, and she looked at you with a very pure and expectant look."

"I thought it was funny, cute and heart-breaking. I hugged Luna and played with her for an hour. Later, my superiors urged us to end the party, so I put her down and walked outside until I reached the end of the corridor. The child didn't cry or make a fuss, but was very quiet. During that time, I turned around and she was still standing there, just like that. She was looking at me straight with a very expectant look, as if she thought I would turn around in the next second." "Do you know how I felt at that time? I felt like my legs were filled with lead, and I felt like there was a whole wall of thorns on my back."

"What happened to Luna later?" Nancy listened attentively, but when she saw Fanning paused for a long time, she couldn't help but ask subconsciously.

"later."

Fanning closed his eyes and opened them again.

"You know that charity events in Lerici are scheduled. There are so many poorhouses in Vienna, and there are other occasions. There is no reason to go to the same place many times. If it is not a formal event led by the government, the poorhouse will not be open to an unrelated outsider for no reason on weekdays."

"It wasn't until last year that I went there again because of 'scheduling'. I looked for Luna for a long time but couldn't find her. I asked many staff members, but most of them had changed and didn't know anything."

Fanning squatted in the sand pit with his eyes downcast, playing with clay with other children.

". But there are still one or two people who seem to have some impression of the description of 'little girl with albinism'. When asked, they said, 'Oh, that little girl seems to have died a year ago.'"

Nancy squatted on the ground, unable to speak for a long time.

"What a pity." After a long moment, she seemed to force a smile, then immediately turned her face away, looked up at the sky, and smoothed her brown hair.

"Do you mean, is it a pity that she died, or is it a pity that I didn't get to see her again?"

"Of course. Both."

"I thought so at first," Fanning sighed, "but then I asked myself, how can I avoid regrets?"

"Luna, or any other orphan, will you visit them again after two years, and once a year? And then, will you continue to put them down when you leave, and continue to be stared at with those expectant eyes?"

"These children are completely emotionally deprived. As long as someone treats them a little bit well, they will remember you every day, think about you every day, and wait for you. Once they are hugged by someone, they will always want to be hugged. So, it's best not to hug them."

Fanning had already stood up, and as he said this, his legs were hugged by a little boy who looked only 2 years old.

"Forget it, just pretend I didn't say anything." Fan Ning smiled bitterly and touched the child's head and shoulders.

Nancy was stunned by what she heard, but at the same time, the little girl named Lianka had already stuck to her.

Oh, if you want a hug, then hug me.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the event and fundraising have come to a successful conclusion, but our charity still needs continued investment!”

At this moment, Lerici's loud voice sounded again from the stage: "Yes, a notice, tonight, VanderSchaaf Auction House will hold the most important annual summer auction event 'Prudence Heritage Night'! I sincerely call on and invite all friends present here to donate generously and actively participate in the auction tonight! Every time you raise a number, it is not only for the art treasures you like, but also to light up places like the Llangefni Almshouse, and to ignite the fire of hope in the hearts of more compatriots in difficult situations!"

Amidst warm applause and crowds of support, Lerici finally walked down from the podium.

"Let's get ready to leave! Ladies and gentlemen! We still need you to continue to work hard at your posts tonight!"

Someone immediately urged Fanning and Nancy to come in this direction.

"Everyone please board the carriage on the west side of the workhouse entrance! We will be back in ten minutes!"