1979: My fiancée is a goddess

Chapter 172: A Trip to the Orphanage

In early June, the morning breeze was gentle.

Cheng Kaiyan rode a bicycle on the gray and uneven road. After half an hour of stumbling, she finally arrived near Zuojiazhuang, Chaoyang.

Chaoyang is indeed a very good location in the future, but at this moment, it is not much better than a large county town, and is still inferior to the imperial city of Dongcheng District.

The dusty road is flanked by green trees that are so big that a person can hug them. The buildings on both sides of the street are relatively low, most of them are about three or four stories high. Every few steps there is a telephone pole, made of concrete or wood.

Things didn't get better until we reached a relatively prosperous area in the district.

Cheng Kaiyan found another middle-aged woman who was waiting for the bus and asked about the location of the editorial office of Children's Literature. In the middle, they encountered a post office, and then the Chaoyang District Government and the Party School.

"I guess the Institute of Literature is right here?"

Cheng Kaiyan shook her head. "It's also thanks to Wang Anyi and the others that they start waiting for the bus at six or seven every day, and then take the bus for more than an hour to get to Beijing Normal University..."

There are dozens of kilometers between the two places.

Just like the Beijing migrants in later generations, they live in the suburbs and commute for several hours to work.

After walking for a while, we finally saw several figures at the door of a large iron gate, one of whom was Xu Dexia.

"Teacher Xiao Cheng is here."

Xu Dexia had sharp eyes. She caught a glimpse of Cheng Kaiyan not far away and waved.

When Cheng Kaiyan came closer, Xu Dexia introduced him: "This is our editor-in-chief Hu, this is the district officer Ma, and behind are Comrade Zhang and Comrade Li from the Chaoyang Youth Service Team..."

Cheng Kaiyan looked at them one by one and found that the well-mannered middle-aged man with a protruding belly and glasses was Editor-in-Chief Hu, while the tall and thin man with a badge on his chest was Secretary Ma from the district.

As for what kind of organization the Youth Service Team is?
Are there any volunteer organizations now?

"Editor Xu? What is the Youth Service Team?"

Cheng Kaiyan asked curiously.

"The Youth Service Team was established in the district recently. It is a volunteer organization, supposedly in response to a call from Shanghai.

In February this year, Shanghai Bicycle Factory No. 3 took the lead in establishing the first youth service team in China, determined to serve the people. So we also established one in Chaoyang, and now more than 100 people from all walks of life have joined. "

Editor-in-Chief Ma explained with a smile.

"Hello, Teacher Xiao Cheng. I have heard a lot about you."

"I'm Zhang Li from the Youth Service Team. Nice to meet you."

A pretty young woman with short hair and wearing a white shirt was the first to extend her hand to greet Cheng Kaiyan.

Because of her height, she had to look up, her eyes were bright, and she seemed to be very interested in Cheng Kaiyan.

You must have heard of it a long time ago.

"I am Huang Pingping from the Youth Service Team..."

"Hello."

Cheng Kaiyan shook hands with several people in a friendly manner. After exchanging pleasantries for a while, he finally found out the location of the event. One was a primary school in Chaoyang, and the other was an orphanage.

There were a total of twenty people on this trip, ten from the editorial department and ten from the youth service team.

"Comrade Xiao Cheng, is he going to the primary school or the welfare home?"

Editor-in-Chief Hu asked.

"I'd better go to the welfare home."

"Okay then, Xiao Xu, besides taking the books, you should also take these supplies with you."

Cheng Kaiyan followed the line of sight and found a pile of cardboard boxes at the door of the guard room.

It was just open, and inside were mostly some fruit candies, the kind that cost two for a cent. There were two boxes in total, probably containing hundreds or even thousands of them.

In addition, there were some clean new clothes, plastic toys, wooden spinning tops and other toys.

After everyone decided on the itinerary, they set off separately, each riding a bicycle with a cardboard box tied to the back seat.

"set off!"

The convoy of twenty people set off in a mighty procession and finally parted ways on the street.

Cheng Kaiyan and his group finally arrived at a large courtyard.

It is a remote area surrounded by old houses, with tall trees and branches forming a green dome at the top of the street.

Only a few rays of sunlight penetrated through the layers of green leaves, leaving tiny specks of gold on the concrete road.

There were not many people on the street.

The rusty iron gate was tied with a large iron chain as thick as a finger, which was rusty, black and cold.

On both sides of the door, it is written Chaoyang Children's Welfare Home.

"Hello, please come in. I am Jiang Yun, the deputy director of the welfare home."

They were greeted by a middle-aged woman in her forties, wearing a plain blue worker's shirt, with long hair, a kind face, a very gentle temperament and great affinity.

Cheng Kaiyan pushed her bicycle and walked into the yard with everyone else.

This yard was larger than he had imagined, with a guard room and two four-story buildings arranged in front and back.

In the middle was a spacious open space where many children were playing. They were dressed simply and some of their clothes were patched.

Some children have different kinds of physical defects, fingers, arms, legs, feet, and even eyes...

"This area is a district, with a teaching building and a dormitory building... It is equipped with living rooms, activity rooms, medical rooms, isolation rooms, rehabilitation rooms, kitchens, restaurants, duty rooms, toilets, storage rooms and other functional areas..."

Director Jiang, who led them, enthusiastically introduced the area to them and took them around the welfare home.

After the introduction, I learned that there are more than one hundred children adopted here, ranging from abandoned newborns to older children aged fifteen or sixteen.

The reason why there are not many of them is that many normal children will be adopted by some families, leaving only some children with not so good conditions, children with congenital diseases, or children who are unwilling to leave the welfare home.

It is mainly divided into two areas, Area 1 and Area 2.

The main distinction is between children who can live a normal life and those who cannot.

Provide basic education to children who can lead a normal life, and take care of daily life for children who cannot lead a normal life...

"The children are very happy about your arrival. After notifying us two days ago, everyone was very excited."

Dean Jiang pushed up his glasses and said with a smile.

"As long as the children are happy, it's just because they have good food to eat and can play games, right?"

Xu Dexia smiled and said that people from the editorial department of "Children's Literature" come to the welfare home every year.

She comes quite often, so she is familiar with the teachers and children in the school.

"Haha, let's take a break and then we'll get started."

Dean Jiang couldn't help but nodded, and then reminded: "Also, I hope everyone will not mention parents, children, etc....Also, don't use the word orphanage, everyone should use welfare home."

"Okay." X11
……

Dean Jiang and several teachers in the hospital went to gather the children. Cheng Kaiyan and the others rested in the open space, waiting for the next arrangements.

"Xiaohe! My sister is here!"

Xu Dexia called out to a seven or eight-year-old girl with long braids. The little girl, who was digging the soil with a wooden shovel under a tree, heard the voice and a smile of surprise appeared on her pale face. She ran over quickly, shouting, "Sister Xu!"

Cheng Kaiyan noticed that the child's hair and eyebrows were white.

Maybe albinism?

His heart sank.

The arrival of several people attracted the attention of some children, and then two more children came over, one of whom was a girl of fifteen or sixteen years old.

"Sister Xu is here."

"Yeah, Xiaoli, how are your studies going recently? Not too stressful, right?"

Xu Dexia looked at the thin girl in front of her who was as beautiful as a lotus in clear water and asked with concern.

"Fortunately, my grades are pretty good, but I was worried about my sister, so I came to see her."

The girl bit her lip and twisted her hands nervously in front of her, as if she was not used to being surrounded by so many strangers. After the two talked, Cheng Kaiyan also learned that they were a pair of sisters who came from the rural area of ​​Hebei.

Both her parents have passed away, and her family is from other places. When her parents were alive, she was still able to make ends meet, but after they passed away, all the things in the house were eaten up by the villagers, leaving the whole family wiped out.

Later, they had no choice but to live in an orphanage. Five or six years ago, the elder sister was adopted, but the younger sister was not adopted because of her albinism and some potential congenital diseases.

Therefore, the elder sister is currently attending high school and would come to visit her younger sister on weekends. She does not have any resentment towards the adoptive parents for not adopting her younger sister.

It was not quite what Cheng Kaiyan expected. The elder sister Xiaoliyu was rather shy, while the younger sister Xiaohe was innocent and lively. When she saw Cheng Kaiyan, she hugged his legs and refused to let go.

"It's already a great favor to adopt me, so how can they add another heavy burden? Although they don't really want me to come, they always give me money and don't ask where I go on weekends..."

The little carp responded timidly to Cheng Kaiyan's question.

"Mom and Dad are fine! Xiao He knows..."

The little girl holding onto Cheng Kaiyan's trouser legs tilted her head back, her light blue eyes appearing red in the sunlight.

This is achromatic albinism.

Listening to the little girl's clear voice should be a wonderful thing, but...

When everyone heard this, they were stunned.

It took a long while before I came back to my senses from the little girl's voice.

"I'm sorry, sis...those are your parents."

Upon hearing this, the skinny girl Xiaoliyu hugged her sister tightly.

"Hey...have some candy."

Cheng Kai took out a few White Rabbit milk candies from his pocket and handed them over. The people peeled off the candy coating and let the off-white candy paper melt in their mouths.

"good to eat!"

The little girl drooled at the corners of her mouth and said in a childish voice.

"When you feel unhappy, just eat some candy and you will feel better soon."

Everyone sat quietly, basking in the sun, peaceful and relaxed.

Cheng Kaiyan looked at the children playing not far away, feeling confused, not knowing what she was thinking...

After a while, Dean Jiang came over with more children.

"Let's get started, everyone."

The next part of the time was when things were distributed. Children of different ages lined up in a row, waiting quietly for their things to be distributed.

Each person got two handfuls of candy, and filled the two small square pockets of their shirts with toys, clothes, and a book on children's literature.

After the things were distributed, we divided into several groups under the organization of Dean Jiang and the teachers to play games.

"Wow~ Don't catch me! Big Brother Eagle."

Because Cheng Kaiyan, who played the eagle, only knew the little girl Xiao He, he stared at her and tried to grab her, which frightened the little girl so much that she screamed in fear.

"Those who catch it will get candy."

"Then big brother, catch them. I will protect everyone!"

"Ha ha!"

……

Cheng Kaiyan was having a lot of fun playing here. Considering that some children had disabilities in their hands and feet and some were blind, Cheng Kaiyan tried her best to control the range of her movements, very slowly.

Everyone is very happy.

Not far away, a group of children sat quietly listening to the adults telling stories.

"This brother is really popular. Many children play with him."

Xiaoli sat on a wooden stool with a book in his hand. He read while paying attention to everyone playing the game, and said with some envy in his tone.

Although she grew up here and is familiar with most of the children, there are still some children who are always silent.

Xiaoli felt a little jealous and envious when he saw how popular Cheng Kaiyan was.

"Yeah, that's really strange. But... maybe he has a childlike heart? After all, he is a great writer of children's literature."

Xu Dexia retracted her gaze and said with a smile.

"A great writer?"

Xiaoli nodded thoughtfully, with a hint of longing in his eyes.

What you say is unintentional, but what you hear is intentional.

She lowered her head and looked at the story in her hand, titled "The Alchemist's Alchemy", and a seed quietly took root in her heart.

In fact, there are other people who are paying attention to Cheng Kaiyan like them.

President Jiang and Zhang Li from the Youth Service Team.

"This young man seems to be a great writer. I've seen him in People's Daily before. Comrade Zhang, you are the editor of Chinese Literature. You should be familiar with these people in the literary world, right?"

Dean Jiang asked.

“I’m not familiar with it, but I’ve heard of it before.”

Zhang Li shook his head and replied with a smile.

……

In the blink of an eye, the happy morning passed.

At noon, I had a meal with the children in the canteen of the welfare home.

Before leaving, the welfare home held a farewell ceremony and the children waved goodbye with reluctance in their eyes.

"You guys go ahead, I forgot something."

Cheng Kaiyan said this to Xu Dexia, and then returned to the welfare home and found Director Jiang.

"What happened to Comrade Xiao Cheng?"

Dean Jiang was sitting on a chair, knitting clothes in her hands. When she saw Cheng Kaiyan coming back, she asked with some confusion.

"Nothing... Here is three hundred yuan, Dean Jiang, please accept it."

Cheng Kaiyan shook her head, pulled out a stack of big unity notes from her wallet and handed it over.

"As much as I want to take it, this is just too much."

Dean Jiang was silent for a while, pursed his lips and shook his head.

Three hundred yuan is equivalent to what an ordinary family can save in two years.

This is too much money.

“I’m a great writer!”

Cheng Kaiyan only said this one sentence. Although she sounded proud on the surface, she felt a little embarrassed in her heart.

He can’t even afford an orphanage...what kind of great writer is he?
"Well, on behalf of the children, I thank you... Then let's wish our Comrade Xiao Cheng to become the greatest writer in the future."

Dean Jiang looked up at his eyes and smiled gently.

I thought: 'How childish! This kid...'

"Haha... I won't stay any longer. Come back later."

Cheng Kaiyan laughed, turned and left without looking back.

I made a decision quietly in my heart:
When I have money in the future, I can use half of the royalties from his children's literature works to set up a welfare foundation and donate it to children.

Taken from children, for children.

No problem.

Just as Cheng Kaiyan was leaving, a short-haired woman turned back and saw his leaving back, "Interesting..."

(End of this chapter)