Chapter 201 Big brother, I'm hungry... Never mind, you can eat yours.
In order to compete with Shen Yuqiu, Wen Yusheng not only slept with his woman before leaving, but also tried to steal his most beloved future student. However, Wen Xingmou's determination to study medicine was as firm as a rock and could not be swayed. So Wen Yusheng set his sights on An Fusheng.
“I…I can’t do it.” An Fusheng shook his head repeatedly.
Hearing the voice: "Men are not allowed to say no!"
An Fusheng: "..."
Hearing the voice, he said, "I'll give you three years. Once the hotel is running smoothly, come to the UK to study for my master's degree!"
An Fusheng: "But you teach sociology..."
Hearing the voice, "What's wrong with sociology? Sociology is perfect for people like you who don't need to work after graduation. Besides, does the sociology program at the University of Edinburgh look down on you?"
An Fusheng: "No, didn't you previously suggest that I pursue a master's degree in management or economics?"
Wen Yusheng said, "I think sociology is more suitable for you now. If you study sociology, you will not only learn to collect statistics, analyze and communicate, empathize and understand, and translate cultures, but you will also reduce internal friction. Because you will find that the dilemma you are facing is actually a dilemma of society, and the dilemma of society is an inevitable development under the gears of history. People don't need to be too hard on themselves. The most important thing is that you will understand the people in society better. You have been running a restaurant for so long. Have you encountered a lot of strange people?"
An Fusheng nodded quickly.
Wen Yusheng continued to deceive, "Then do you want to know the reasons behind these people's behavior?"
An Fusheng had never thought his aunt was so unfathomable, and asked eagerly, "Yes."
Hearing the voice, he said, "Then come and study under me as a graduate student. I'll tell you why."
Although An Fusheng didn't do well in school in his previous life, he actually loved reading. In this life, most of the people he meets here are highly educated, and he's always been envious of them, but…
"I can't pass the exam," An Fusheng said honestly.
Hearing the voice, "No need to take the exam, just apply directly. Your previous grades are enough. As long as you pass the language exam, your aunt believes in you."
An Fusheng didn't want to rely on others; "I want to take the exam myself."
Hearing the voice: "If you like it, as long as you can come, that's fine."
An Fusheng was uncertain, "If I don't pass the exam, I... won't come."
Hearing the voice, she said earnestly, "Fu-zai, your aunt has never lost in her life, how can you bear to let me lose to a scheming man?"
A scheming man surnamed Shen: "..."
“But I will try my best!” An Fusheng said this with joy in his heart, not because he could get into graduate school through connections, but because he suddenly had the courage to try to take a path that he never dared to think of before.
Hearing the voice, she was very satisfied and said to Shen Yuqiu in a very provocative way, "Hmph, how about it? By the time my graduate student graduates, your graduate student will still be in nine years of compulsory education."
Shen Yuqiu: "Then congratulations in advance."
Hearing the voice, he walked away smugly.
...
After hearing Yu Sheng leave, An Fusheng researched a lot of information and decided on the path to pursuing a master's degree in sociology at the University of Edinburgh. Then, he took a pile of books and went to find Xu Leran.
Xu Leran was overjoyed; she had easily earned a large sum of money in tutoring fees!
...
When Xiao Ba was adopted, Wen Min told An Shisi and Wen Xingmou that their parents would come to pick them up one day. When An Fusheng asked about it one day, Wen Min said that they actually planned to establish a simulated family at the Xingchen Children's Welfare Institute.
Simulated families, in short, involve recruiting volunteers to form "families" and placing children from welfare homes into these volunteer-formed "families." This replaces collective care with a family-like setting, allowing children to receive care and emotional companionship in a family environment, thus compensating for emotional deficiencies during their growth.
An Fusheng worriedly asked, "How are these parents going to be chosen? Can they take good care of the children? What if someone enthusiastically signs up to be a parent, but then decides they don't want to anymore after a while? Will that harm the children? Also, will non-biological parents truly love and care for the children? What if they hurt the children?"
Wen Min: "Don't worry, I've considered all of these situations. Actually, I started thinking about doing this when Xiao Ba's parents first came to the welfare home to say they wanted to adopt Xiao Ba. Over the past six months, I've worked with all my colleagues at the welfare homes in Nanshi and leaders from the civil affairs department to fully discuss this project and develop relevant plans before deciding to implement it. All of this is to ensure that the children have a healthy and complete environment for growth, so naturally, I'll be very cautious. Moreover, simulated families have been established in welfare homes in some developed areas for a long time, and the results have been good, so I want to give it a try."
An Fusheng was still a little worried: "But after all, they are not our own children. If we hand the children over and cause them harm, it will be irreparable. Besides, how many people really know how to be parents? Do we really want to risk our children's lives for some vague emotional compensation? Now we have you, Aunt Lou, me, and Teacher Shen. Isn't it enough for so many of us to love and protect our younger siblings?"
Wen Min said, “You know that your younger siblings have a lot of love, but the children in other welfare homes don’t. Our welfare home has fewer children, and they are all relatively healthy. They can express themselves freely, live normal lives, and ask us for love and care. But the children in other welfare homes are not like that. Many of them are so disabled that they have no ability to take care of themselves. The staff of the welfare home are already exhausted from taking care of their daily lives. They simply don’t have the extra energy to provide them with emotional support.”
“Then let other welfare homes do it. I don’t think we need to,” An Fusheng said. “I will love my younger siblings for the rest of my life. So what if they don’t have parents? Even without parents, I can still protect my younger siblings and ensure their safety for the rest of their lives.”
Wen Min sighed, "Don't just look at the problem from your own perspective. You need to consider the living conditions of orphans across the country and face the fact that many orphans are indeed lacking in psychological care. If we don't explore ways to improve their living environment, what can they rely on?"
An Fusheng: "I'm not the director of the welfare home, these things are not for me to think about."
Wen Min: "..."
“Okay, let’s not talk about anything else for now, let’s just talk about our family. Do you also approve of Mr. Shen and Ms. Ming adopting Xiao Ba?” Wen Min asked.
An Fusheng: "They are good people."
Wen Min: "Then how can you be so sure that the volunteers in the simulated families can't be good people?"
An Fusheng retorted: "How can you make that comparison? Adopting a child establishes a parent-child relationship, and the adoption system has very high requirements for adoptive parents in all aspects. Those who can pass the screening under those systems are not bad."
Wen Min: "Look, don't you also believe in the system?"
An Fusheng: "However, the simulated family does not truly establish a legal parent-child relationship. Instead, it is more like an employment relationship between an orphanage and 'parents.' It is more suitable to compare it to the relationship between an employee and a company. How many employees are truly devoted to their company?"
Wen Min teased, "Really? Do you really distrust your employees that much?"
“…” An Fusheng: “A company can be restored or even rebuilt if it is damaged or collapses, but what if children are hurt? How can you regret it?”
Wen Min said seriously, "Children can be harmed in any environment, including living with their biological parents. That's why there is the 'Law on the Protection of Minors' and many other laws and regulations. But can we prevent a child from being born just because we're worried about them being harmed? When the adoption system was introduced, it also faced a lot of questions like yours, and there are still questions about it now. But it's undeniable that it has given many orphans a home and a completely new life."
An Fusheng wanted to say, "Isn't that right? Isn't Wen Yue a victim?"
However, such a generalization seemed immature, so An Fusheng finally suggested, "Then could we not force our younger siblings to join the simulated family if they don't want to?"
“Of course, the most basic premise for forming a family is that both parties are willing.” Wen Min said helplessly, “What exactly do you think this model is? Come to my office, and I will show you all the information.”
Without hesitation, An Fusheng went to Wen Min's office and read through all the materials. After reading them, he realized that he had indeed been a bit narrow-minded. The simulated family plan was comprehensive, from the parent qualification examination and daily training to the supervision team including medical staff, childcare workers, social workers, teachers, psychological experts, and property management personnel, and even the configuration of family appliances and lifestyle. There were also many subtle requirements for the safety of girls, which seemed no more lenient than the adoption system. An Fusheng felt a little relieved.
However, he felt it wasn't enough. "Since the original intention of simulated families is to cultivate children's attachment and secure emotions, the stability of family relationships is very important. How can we ensure that?"
Wen Min: "There are relevant regulations. Isn't there a requirement that once a family is established, it should ideally continue until the child turns sixteen before dissolving?"
An Fusheng: "What if they don't want to? There are neither incentives nor penalties here."
Wen Min: "We can't just write down punishments as we please. As for bribes, that's a matter of public interest..."
An Fusheng: "Isn't welfare also a form of benefit? Why can't you, who control the national welfare system, exchange benefits with society?"
Wen Min: "What do you mean?"
An Fusheng: "For example, we can combine the pension system with it. Volunteers raise children for the country, and the country provides for the volunteers' retirement. This exchange of benefits makes the relationship more stable. It's similar to taking the civil service exam. Many people know that the salary for a government job is low, but they are still willing to take the exam because of the good retirement benefits, right?"
“That makes sense!” Wen Min exclaimed excitedly. “There really isn’t much we can do about family stability. Now that you mention it, I suddenly understand. We can buy social security for working ‘parents.’ If they serve for a certain number of years, they can be allowed to move into a welfare home for free when they reach the required age, and the welfare home will take care of them in their old age.”
Wen Min continued, "You may not know this, but our Xingchen Children's Welfare Home is quite special. It's a dedicated children's welfare home, so we only raise orphans. Most other welfare homes actually also provide elderly care services! Combining child care and elderly care is simply wonderful. You're so smart, Fuzai, Mommy loves you so much!"
"..." The world is bustling with activity, all for profit. This is just the most basic principle that An Fusheng learned in running his restaurant.
...
Wen Min revised the plan again, and after the revision, he continued to discuss and improve it with other colleagues from the welfare home and superiors. It was not until several months later that the final plan was determined.
In the past few months, An Fusheng has been running the restaurant, adjusting the talent training model, improving the top-level design, equity structure, and building the core team of Xiaoxingchen, all while studying. He is so busy that he wishes he had three heads and six arms.
A year passed in the blink of an eye, and An Fusheng completed his junior high school studies.
Xu Leran found a local middle school entrance exam paper for An Fusheng to take. After the exam results came out, Xu Leran held the exam paper and exclaimed, "These scores are enough to get into one of the top three key high schools in the city."
An Fusheng was very happy. Perhaps it was because he had the brains of a top student that he could learn things quickly, had a good memory, and his comprehension was much stronger than before.
After An Fusheng finished his junior high school courses, Xu Leran went back to his hometown to take an exam. An Fusheng thought he was going to find a new tutor, but Xu Leran returned not long after.
Xu Leran failed her exam this time and even dumped her boyfriend. She was quite depressed for a while after returning home, but eventually recovered her spirits quickly with the help of delicious food.
The past year has been busy not only for An Fusheng, but also for Ji Fengnian, who has started participating in competitions. He is either away competing or in closed-door training every few days. Of course, he has won many medals, big and small. What makes the whole family most proud is that Ji Fengnian also won a provincial youth weightlifting championship.
Wen Min and Lou's mother were also very busy. More and more people learned about the free clinic activities for disabled children, and the number of events held was getting bigger and bigger. Xingchen Children's Welfare Institute also held a month-long summer camp for the children of migrant civil servants during the summer vacation, as well as preparing for simulated families.
When Lou's mother got busy, Wen Xingrui had no one to take care of him, so he followed An Fusheng around every day, becoming An Fusheng's little shadow.
An Fusheng spends his days in the office studying and doing practice problems, while Wen Xingrui quietly eats next to him. Without a doubt, it must be Xu Sannian feeding him. An Fusheng grimaced: "Wen Xingrui, I'm going to tell Aunt Lou that you're secretly eating again."
As Wen Xingrui gradually recovered, Lou's mother hoped that he could go to school like a normal child as soon as possible. She began to cultivate various life skills and habits in him, including no longer allowing him to eat with his hands, and even more so, not allowing him to chew food all day long. In Lou's mother's words, "Does he have to tell outsiders that he is sick and needs special care when he interacts with them in the future?"
Wen Xingrui has poor swallowing ability. He already eats slowly and carefully, and he has to learn to eat with a spoon or chopsticks, which makes him even slower. As a result, he only gets a few bites of food each day before it is taken away, leaving him hungry every day.
Wen Xingrui froze in his munching on an egg pancake, looking at An Fusheng with an innocent and pitiful expression: "Big brother, I'm hungry..."
"Fine, just eat yours." An Fusheng broke down in a second.
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