A Young Woman's Heart

The large characters "Jinying Children's Welfare Institute" are somewhat faded and worn.

Mo Xueyao sighed from the bottom of her heart, "It's so shabby..."

……

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Feelings in My Heart

It's easy to imagine that the children's welfare home in this mountain village rarely has such a lively time.

To be honest, this place could even be considered a haunted house theme park...

Perhaps doing this and charging admission fees would be more profitable than running an orphanage.

Mo Xueyao shook her head. Ever since her family started doing business, she had unconsciously associated many things with money, and her thinking had been influenced by her parents to a certain extent.

—In fact, the purpose of opening a welfare home here is definitely not to make money.

They were simply putting their own 'goodness' into practice.

She jumped lightly on the spot, grabbed the strap of her keyboard bag and tugged it forward to prevent it from slipping off, though this was probably just a psychological effect.

Walking into the welfare home, the ground underfoot was not paved with cement. The areas that people often walked on were bare, while the areas that few people walked on were overgrown with weeds. Among the lush weeds, some delicate wildflowers of various colors were also blooming.

There were many people today. Several old desks were set up on the roadside. People kept bringing in boxes, and then staff members unpacked the boxes, counted them one by one, and put them away in different categories.

Most of them were old clothes and old textbooks, mixed with some comic books and toys with very few words.

Interestingly, these toys weren't all broken or missing parts as one might imagine. Many looked brand new and without any defects. Some were even still in their original boxes, unopened.

Compared to the old clothes and books, it seemed a bit out of place—just like how Mo Xueyao and her classmates, as students, felt when they entered this orphanage.

The surrounding area was full of adults dressed in different ways. Some looked glamorous and were accompanied by many people, while others were dressed very simply, and their clothes looked like they came from a street stall. They were also walking in twos and threes with their companions.

Yukong High School also brought donated items—which Ye Yu and Mr. Xue carried over together.

There was nothing they could do; after all, the only two people traveling with them today were men.

There weren't many items; they were mostly stationery packed in boxes, along with brand-new small musical instruments such as harmonicas and recorders.

It is said that these items were all selected and purchased by the head of the teaching department, making it seem as if he was spending more lavishly than others.

"Come, come, I'm in charge of the Snow Music Band." After registering the donated items, Ye Yu waved to Mo Xueyao and the others, "Let me show you around!"

"Oh, oh..." Everyone seemed uninterested, because no matter how you looked at the dilapidated school building, there was nothing to see.

Mo Xueyao had visited the Kongqing Welfare Home before, and she had absolutely no interest in visiting such a dilapidated building.

Ye Yu seemed to read her mind, touched his nose, and said with a smile, "Mo Xueyao? You've been to Kongqing Welfare Home, haven't you?"

"Huh? Um...yes..."

"Haha, that was built with donations from the Su Group. Uh, you might not know, but Teacher Su from the Medical Affairs Department is the daughter of the president of the Su Group."

"Oh--"

Everyone turned to look at Ye Yu.

"In fact, most welfare homes are far from having such good conditions... The ones like Jin Ying's are the most common. Of course, in the Jiangnan area, most welfare homes are much better than this, but in mountainous areas, many children's welfare homes are even worse."

As Ye Yu walked along, he talked about the orphanage with a smile, and everyone listened attentively, though everyone seemed to fall silent for a moment.

We walked into what looked to be the newest school building, and through the narrow corridors, we could see children playing freely in the small classrooms.

Right now, all the few teachers have come to welcome the outside donors, so the older children are left to take care of the younger ones.

Mo Xueyao remembers that when she was in kindergarten, she loved these kinds of free activities the most. The class monitor would bring out the toy box and dump all kinds of building blocks on the ground. Then everyone would lie down and choose their favorites. If there was a teacher supervising, things would be more orderly. The teacher would distribute the building blocks to each child's table, and everyone would get a few. If someone wanted more, they could apply to get more.

But in any case, everyone was very happy, exchanging ideas and showing off their pieced-together creations.

Sometimes someone gets bullied and starts crying in class, and their friends go over to comfort them...

Even if you're not happy, shouldn't it still be lively?

However, the reality was completely different from what she had imagined.

Dull.

silence.

A stifling silence.

Not every abandoned child is physically healthy.

Not every abandoned, physically disabled child can receive the same meticulous care as the Kongqing Welfare Home.

Not every child in an orphanage can grow up healthily.

They sat there haphazardly, like abandoned dolls.

The small, low table looked very cheap.

There was a child with an unusually large head, looking like an alien, but he had intellectual disabilities. He was constantly drooling with his mouth crooked, and his thin skin seemed unable to cover the blood vessels on his head. The lines were very clear, and you could even feel them pulsating.

Hua Yinyin, who was the first to walk in, was startled and instinctively took a half step back, blocking the others outside.

"Uh—" Everyone was speechless. Ye Yu, who was standing at the back, lowered his head with a wry smile as if he already knew.

"Aaaaaah!" A skinny little boy suddenly jumped out of his seat and bumped into Mr. Xue's thigh as he turned to enter the classroom. Then, as if he had gone mad, he started tearing at Mr. Xue's trousers, with thick yellow saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"Don't do that! Be quiet!" shouted the boy sitting next to the front of the class. He looked the most normal, and although he was only eleven or twelve years old, he seemed more mature than the average high school student.

Mr. Xue gently patted the child, who had intellectual disabilities and manic-depressive disorder, and tried to wipe his mouth with a napkin, but his finger was bitten, and blood seeped directly from between his teeth.

"Xiaoxue! Are you alright!" Mo Xueyao rushed forward, bumping into Hua Yinyin, wanting to pull the little boy away, but she didn't know how to do it because he was too dirty and had a fishy, ​​stinky smell.

"It's alright." Mr. Xue lowered his eyes slightly, his expression unchanged. He simply smiled and scratched the boy's head again with his other hand, as if soothing a small animal. This gradually calmed the restless boy down. Then, as if he had become a different person, he showed a frightened expression and quickly ran back to the corner of the classroom to curl up.

"Here, a band-aid!" Mo Zhuyou hurriedly pulled a box of band-aids from her pocket, hastily tore open the packaging, and handed it to Mr. Xue.

"It's best to disinfect it first." Ye Yu had already prepared a bottle of iodine. "Apply it to this first before applying it."

At this point, everyone's attention was no longer on the children in the classroom.

The oldest boy cast an apologetic glance at the crowd, bowed his head slightly, and said, "I'm sorry... he can be like that sometimes... he can suddenly... go crazy."

"It's alright." Mr. Xue smiled, and his calm gaze reassured the young man.

"Hmm...you seem to be the most normal one..." Hua Yinyin didn't seem to be in the mood for jokes anymore. Her gaze slowly moved down and she finally noticed that the boy was sitting in an old wheelchair. The chair was a bit rusty, and it would definitely take a lot of effort to move it.

"...Thank you." He gave a somewhat irrelevant reply.

"Are all the children here like this?" Mo Xueyao pointed to the seven or eight children of similar age in the classroom. Every single one of them was in a bad situation and seemed to be resisting communication with the outside world. Or rather, it wasn't so much resistance as... passivity.

“Most of them are like that… The majority have intellectual disabilities. Many people have intellectual disabilities, plus other defects, such as being deaf, blind, unable to speak, or having bipolar disorder, autism, developmental deformities, etc…” He closed the first-year junior high school biology textbook in his hand. “However, there are also quite a few normal ones, but those are usually adopted very quickly…”

"Oh……"

"There are also older people who will leave on their own when their time comes."

Here, being of normal intelligence is perhaps something to be incredibly grateful for.

"Teacher Ye Yu, it seems like the teachers here are all irresponsible..." Wang Jiale asked somewhat angrily.

Ye Yu shook his head helplessly: "After all, one person has to take care of so many people, and a person's energy is limited. You have to understand, there's not much salary here. Those who are willing to stay here are all well-intentioned, but many times... many things are hard to control."

This kind of thing can only be solved with money.

Like Kongqing Welfare Home, every staff member is specially selected, and each person has their own division of labor. Some only need to teach the children, while others are only responsible for life management. Moreover, those who manage life do not need to take care of too many children, only two to five. It is precisely because of this that they have the energy to take care of everyone.

Clearly, Jin Ying Welfare Home does not have these conditions.

Mo Xueyao patted her pockets, and having not prepared in advance, she only managed to pull out a few cola candies.

"Um... this is for you."

"Thank you."

"Sorry, I didn't bring anything with me."

“It’s okay, it wouldn’t make any sense to give it to me… The things you donate are shared, they’re meant for everyone to use, not just for me.”

Although that's what he said, he still seemed to be hoping for something.

However, in the end, no one brought anything out. He sighed, seemingly losing interest and no longer as enthusiastic as before.

The Jin Ying Children's Welfare Home has the largest number of disabled children, and this atmosphere has even affected many able-bodied children.

However, when they arrived at the classroom of the normal children, they finally felt as if they had returned from the underworld to the world of the living.

The children in this classroom are at most like impoverished left-behind children, but at least everyone can communicate normally.

But because their intelligence is normal, or even a little too smart, their fawning and obsequious manner makes people feel very uncomfortable.

……

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Change the Song

Before arriving, Mo Xueyao thought she was going to Kongqing Welfare Home. After being notified that she was going to another place, she thought all the way there that she would see lively and naughty children, adults and children gathered together, having a happy performance.

You might even see traditional lion and dragon dancers, or clowns with thick layers of makeup performing...

However, in reality, everything was so ordinary and simple, and there was a sense of oppression in the air.

Although the adults chatted and laughed with each other, I always felt that their laughter wasn't genuine.

But how can this situation be changed in a short period of time?

Perhaps that's why ordinary people from all walks of life organized themselves to hold such a charity performance.

In order to bring some light to the children who are lost and confused, even though the donated items are very cheap, they can at least alleviate the financial pressure on the welfare home.

It's better than doing nothing.

"You don't need to be in a hurry. The performance at Yukong High School is scheduled for the afternoon, and the Snow Music Band's performance is the last one." Seeing that everyone was silent, Ye Yu grinned and tried to ease the atmosphere. "Well... so take a rest first. The instruments you are carrying are also very heavy. I'll go ask which room they have arranged for you."

"Yes, thank you for your help, Teacher Ye Yu." Mr. Xue nodded gently and put his bandaged finger into his pocket.

"Then you guys wait for me in this open space by the entrance for a bit, I'll go ask." Ye Yu said, turning around and disappearing into the noisy crowd.

The inside and outside of the building are separated by an invisible wall, giving people a feeling of being in another world.