Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

Jiang Fan left Times Media.

Standing on the street, I glanced at the time.

Shen Nian is working on her song on her own in the studio today, so he doesn't need to keep an eye on her.

Hsu Ching-ya is busy with rehearsals for her Kyoto concert.

Su Yuyan had just been dealt with by him—

A rare moment of leisure.

He stood on the curb, his gaze crossing the road to the large shopping mall across the street.

Jiang Fan strode over.

Pushing his shopping cart through the aisles, he began to throw things into the cart.

Milk, biscuits and snacks, he carried them in boxes and boxes, and he picked out the most expensive and best fruits.

When he got to the stationery section, he simply scanned half of the shelf.

Pencils, erasers, notebooks, colored pencils.

Everything that a child could use was stuffed into the car.

Soon, several shopping carts were piled up like small mountains.

The cashier's hand ached from scanning so many codes, so the manager urgently arranged for two more people to come and help.

After swiping his card, Jiang Fan asked the clerk to help him carry the goods to the supermarket entrance.

I called a Lalamove delivery service on my phone.

"Go to the Songjiang District Sunshine Children's Welfare Home."

The driver glanced in the rearview mirror at the mountain of things piled up behind him.

"Going to an orphanage? Boss, are you doing charity work?"

"Go home." Jiang Fan leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

The car drove onto the outer ring expressway and headed towards the western suburbs.

The tall buildings outside the window gradually appeared shorter.

Office buildings were transformed into residential areas, and residential areas were further reduced to scattered bungalows and vegetable plots.

Jiang Fan flipped through the original owner's memories.

He left the orphanage at sixteen and never did well in life, not returning for almost two years.

But every month, he would regularly transfer 1,000 yuan to the welfare home's account.

The remaining money was used for food and rent.

-

Forty minutes later, the road became difficult to walk on.

The driver kept his speed low, avoiding puddles of all sizes on the ground.

An iron gate appeared at the end of the road.

A faded wooden sign was nailed above the door.

"Sunshine Children's Welfare Home".

The old three-story building had a layer of yellow paint on its exterior walls, but in some places the paint had peeled off, revealing the gray bricks underneath.

There is a small patch of cement ground in front of the building.

The ground was covered with hopscotch squares drawn in chalk, the lines crooked and uneven.

About thirty children, ranging in age from four or five to ten, were running around in the yard.

A little girl with pigtails was the first to spot him.

He tilted his head and stared at it for a while, then suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Aunt Fang! Someone's here!"

A middle-aged woman walked out of the door, wearing a gray cotton shirt, with half of her hair turned gray.

She wiped the water off her hands, walked to the door, and looked up to examine the room carefully for a few seconds.

"You are... Xiao Fan?"

"Aunt Fang, it's me." Jiang Fan stepped forward. "I've come to see you and the children."

At this moment, Jiang Fan realized that he was still influenced by his past life and was somewhat unable to control his emotions.

Fang Xiulan vigorously wiped her hands on her apron twice and quickly walked over.

"You've gained weight." She reached out and pinched Jiang Fan's arm. "Have you eaten?"

Jiang Fan's throat moved.

"have eaten."

"Aunt Fang, I bought some things. Could you ask a few of the older kids to help me carry them?"

Fang Xiulan's gaze passed over him and landed on the truck outside the yard.

Looking at the truck bed, which was packed full of supplies.

"Why are you buying so much stuff? It's not easy for you to earn money—"

"For the children."

Fang Xiulan opened her mouth, but the words stuck in her throat.

After a long pause, he managed to squeeze out, "Tiger! Take your group and help your brother Fan move his things!"

A chubby-faced boy responded and called out to four or five other boys who then ran out.

A few older people recognized Jiang Fan and called him "Brother Fan" as they gathered around him.

"Brother Fan, what brings you here! It's been so long since I've seen you!"

The younger ones don't recognize him.

But when they saw the whole carton of milk and colored pencils sticking out from behind the car, their eyes lit up.

"Brother Fan! Are all these for us?"

"Yes, they're all yours."

A group of children cheered and rushed forward to carry things, turning the yard into a complete mess.

Jiang Fan stood to the side, looking at the children's innocent smiles, feeling very content.

-

Fang Xiulan led Jiang Fan into the office on the first floor.

It's called an office, but it's really just a small room of about ten square meters.

Inside the room was a worn-out desk, piled high with ledgers and documents.

The walls are covered with photos of the children at different stages of their lives.

She poured Jiang Fan a glass of warm water.

"I received the money you transferred last time." Fang Xiulan sat down opposite him. "Your salary isn't much to begin with, why did you transfer so much all at once?"

Jiang Fan held the cup.

I was diagnosed with a terminal illness last month and thought I wouldn't live much longer, so I transferred all the money in my account.

"I've been saving it up for a while, thinking I'd give it to you guys to use first," Jiang Fan said casually.

Fang Xiulan looked at him, her eyes scrutinizing him carefully.

"Did something happen to you?"

"No. I've changed jobs; I'm making music now."

"Making music?" Fang Xiulan asked suspiciously. "Didn't you used to work at that company—"

"I quit. Now I'm starting my own business."

Fang Xiulan frowned.

In her mind, although security guards had low wages, at least their jobs were stable.

Making music sounds unreliable.

"Can you support yourself?"

"Yes." Jiang Fan took a sip of water. "Aunt Fang, I earn more in a month now than I did in a year before."

Fang Xiulan stared intently at his face, as if trying to discern the truth in his words.

Jiang Fan didn't explain much.

"Aunt Fang, what do you still need in the yard? Tell me."

Fang Xiulan's lips trembled slightly.

He lowered his head and tidied up the account books on the table, which didn't need any tidying at all.

After a while, she raised her head.

"The orphanage has admitted four new children this year, the youngest of whom is only two and a half years old."

"There's another one named Xiaodou who has congenital heart disease. Although the government paid for the surgery, the follow-up nutrition and medication will cost a lot each month."

"Funding has always been tight, and we haven't seen any funding from the district yet."

"How much are you short?" Jiang Fan asked.

"The waterproofing layer on the roof needs to be repaired. It leaked on the third floor during the heavy rain last month, and more than ten children were sleeping on the floor in the activity room."

"The kitchen stove needs replacing, plus the children's food and clothing... all in all, the shortage is quite significant."

"I'll have someone come and take a look later, and we'll fix everything." Jiang Fan said calmly.

Fang Xiulan opened her mouth.

The words "No need, no need" were on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back.

She knew all too well how much money this courtyard needed right now.

"Well... thank you, Xiao Fan."

"No need to thank me." Jiang Fan stood up. "I'll go check on them."

-

In the courtyard, everything had already been moved into the activity room on the first floor.

Milk, snacks, and fruit filled half a wall.

The stationery was piled on the long table.

More than thirty children gathered around, their eyes glued to it.

But no one made any sudden movements.

The oldest boy, Hu Zi, stood in front of the table with his hands on his hips, looking exactly like a little housekeeper.

"Wait, everyone! No one is allowed to touch anything until Aunt Fang arrives!"

A little girl, about five or six years old, is standing on tiptoe.

My finger hooked onto a box of colored pencils on the edge of the table.

"Brother Tiger, I just want to take a look..."

"You can't even look!"

The little girl pouted and put her hands behind her back.

Fang Xiulan walked over from behind and clapped her hands.

"Alright, line up, one at a time."

The children stood in a neat row.

Fang Xiulan started by distributing milk, one box to each person, two packs of snacks to each person, and a set of stationery to each person.

When the little girl who wanted the paintbrushes received them, she ran to the corner with the colorful paintbrush box in her arms.

I sat on the floor and started unpacking.

Jiang Fan walked over and squatted down.

"Do you like drawing?"

The little girl looked up at him and nodded vigorously.

"I like it, but I only have two crayons left."

Jiang Fan reached out and ruffled her hair.

He stood up and walked out of the activity room.

Standing in the corridor, I sent a message to Li Cheng.

"Help me find a reliable renovation team in Songjiang District, one that can start work in the next few days."

Li Cheng replied instantly: "Renovating what? Did you buy a house?"

I'll talk to you about it later.

Jiang Fan put away his phone and sat down on the cement steps in the yard.

The children were chasing each other around the yard.

Some were playing hopscotch, others were bouncing a ball, their laughter and chatter mingling together.

Fang Xiulan came out carrying a plate of sliced ​​watermelon and called the children over to eat.

A group of people swarmed over, chattering and scrambling together.

Fang Xiulan called out to him, "Xiao Fan, come and eat too!"

He walked over and took a slice of watermelon.

Tiger squatted down beside him, his mouth stuffed with watermelon, and asked indistinctly.

"Brother Fan, what are you doing now?"

"A songwriter."

"Can you make money writing songs?"

"able."

"Then teach me!"

Fang Xiulan laughed and scolded from the side, "With your tone-deaf voice, you want to write songs? Go, go, go, finish your food and go do your homework."

Tiger ran away in a flash.

Jiang Fan looked at the scene before him.

The original owner grew up here until he was sixteen years old.

No parents, no home.

Fang Xiulan raised dozens of children all by herself.

Jiang Fan took out his phone, opened the bank app, and entered the welfare home's corporate account number.

He transferred 500,000 yuan directly.

"bite."

Fang Ma's old cell phone vibrated in her pocket.

She took it out and glanced at it, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands...five hundred thousand?!"

Fang's mother suddenly looked up, her voice trembling and her hands shaking.

"Xiao Fan! Where did you get so much money? Don't scare Aunt Fang, you can't do anything illegal!"

Jiang Fan put his phone back in his pocket.

"Aunt Fang, I told you, songwriting is very profitable. And the money is perfectly clean."

"I've had someone hire a renovation team, they'll be here in the next couple of days."

"First, fix the leaks, and then install air conditioning in all the rooms."

Fang's mother clutched her phone, her eyes red-rimmed.

"You've had it tough too. You still need to get married and buy a house. You can't just throw all your money at the yard..."

Jiang Fan smiled.

"Don't worry, Aunt Fang."

"Once I've earned more money, I'll buy the land next door."

"We'll build you a brand new building. We'll completely transform this place."

Looking at her grown-up child, Fang's mother's eyes welled up with tears.

She wiped her eyes and chuckled as she cursed.

"You little rascal, you've started to brag now."