Chapter 41 The Moon of Yesteryear
"Xiaoxue, sit down and rest for a while. The food will be ready soon." Fujita Mitsuha asked in a gentle tone, seemingly casually, "I just saw you get out of a car. I remember the Zhang family sold the villa, right?"
Speaking of this, Ruan Xue's expression turned sour. "It's Xie Qing's car. Didn't you say you wanted to borrow it to find out about Xie Ning? I tried to talk to her, but she looks up to me and completely ignored me."
She sounded extremely aggrieved.
Fujita Mitsuha quickly comforted him, "It's alright, it's all my fault. I just really wanted to see that mechanical expert, Mr. Xie. As you know, my younger brother studies mechanical engineering, so I thought I'd ask Mr. Xie for some guidance."
"How can you blame yourself? It's all Xie Qing's fault. She won't answer a single question when asked three times. She's so aloof. Only the old woman from the Zhang family believed her because she's gentle and polite. She even wanted to match her up with Zhang Mingyuan. But they both have coffin-like faces, so they're a good match, humph."
However, if you ask Xie Ning, I do know a little bit about him. I heard he's currently receiving treatment abroad, and I don't know when he'll be back.
Ruan Xue also didn't like Xie Ning. She knew that Zhang Congzhi doted on her, and everyone else was eager to curry favor with him, but Xie Ning was always indifferent and looked down on her.
Fujita Mitsuha's smile faded slightly; this was a problem. "Xiaoxue, could you arrange to meet Miss Xie? I'd like to ask her to introduce me to Mr. Xie, just to fulfill my younger brother's wish."
Ruan Xue was initially hesitant, but upon seeing Fujita Mitsuha take out a string of gemstone necklaces, she immediately agreed.
Seeing Ruan Xue excitedly return to her room to put on the necklace, Fujita Mitsuha picked up the soap and washed her hands again and again until they were bright red.
The two siblings in the Xie family depend on each other for survival, so their relationship must be very deep. If Ruan Xue can lure Xie Qing out, he can use Xie Qing to coerce Xie Ning to return to the country. An expert like Xie Ning is hard to come by, and it would be best if he could be used for his own purposes. If he cannot win him over, he can only destroy him.
Unaware that someone was plotting against her behind her back, Xie Ning didn't go home after dropping Ruan Xue off. Instead, she took Cai Huai to a welfare home after buying a lot of things.
The welfare home is run by a nun in her forties named Windsor. She is a kind and gentle person. Previously, the Japanese bombing of civilian areas injured many people, causing many children to become orphans. This welfare home took in those orphans.
Zhao Le brought her here in the first place. At that time, Zhao Le led people to the civilian area to rescue the people who were injured in the bombing. Later, when the children had nowhere to go, the Red Cross people pointed out that Zhao Le should send them to the welfare home. The welfare home run by Sister Windsor took in the most children.
Zhao Le was very grateful to Sister Windsor and donated some of his meager savings to the orphanage. Xie Ning also went to visit and donated some money as well.
"Sister Qingqing." The lively child rushed over enthusiastically as soon as he saw Xie Ning coming over, and the bolder one even hugged Xie Ning's leg.
Xie Ning bent down and patted the children's heads, then beckoned the oldest child over, "Musheng, give the younger children candy."
The boy obediently called out "Sister," then took the candy and gestured for the children to line up one by one to receive theirs.
Xie Ning, smiling, walked towards Sister Windsor, who was not far away, and asked, "How have you been feeling lately?"
As the two walked and talked, Xie Ning suddenly saw a little girl hiding behind a tree, peeking at them. However, the tree, which was only as thick as an adult's thigh, could not hide her figure at all. When she saw Xie Ning looking over, she shyly covered her eyes.
Xie Ning couldn't help but chuckle at this blatant attempt to deceive herself. Sister Windsor smiled helplessly and called out softly, "Little Dingdang, we've already seen you. Aren't you going to come out and say hello to Sister Qingqing?"
The little girl jumped up like a rabbit, as if startled. Then she secretly glanced at Xie Ning, and then awkwardly moved over, gently touching Xie Ning's drooping hand with her small hand.
Then she opened her palm, revealing a grasshopper woven from straw. The thin, pale-faced girl's eyes sparkled. "Sister Qingqing, this is a little gift for you. It's a delicious grasshopper. Can you kiss me like you kissed Xiaodoudou last time?"
Grasshoppers? Delicious?
Xie Ning was a little puzzled, but she still squatted down slightly to be at eye level with the little girl, her eyes filled with a smile, "Thank you for the gift, Xiao Dingdang. Sister Qingqing likes it very much."
After saying that, he gently kissed the little girl's forehead, and the excited little girl blushed.
Watching the little girl stumble away, Xie Ning smiled slightly. "Sister Windsor, is this also one of the children brought into the orphanage during this war?"
If the child had been taken in to an orphanage long ago, he wouldn't be so malnourished, with a large head and a small body.
Ms. Windsor shook her head. "Little Dingdang was a child who fled here during the famine. I was with the other nuns when I saw her on the street. She was holding a corpse that was already cold and calling for her mother. It was so pitiful. She had no parents and was an orphan. I wanted to take her to the orphanage. It was this action that prompted many other refugees to send their girls over. They were all poor people who couldn't make ends meet."
"flee from famine?"
"Yes, the great floods in the Yangtze and Huai River basins have killed countless people."
Xie Ning remembered that she had specifically consulted professionals and then drawn a disaster prevention cartoon.
A river of misty grass, a city full of drifting catkins, and the plum rains of early summer.
It was a major flood that occurred before the September 18 Incident. In late April of last year, the Xiangjiang River in Changsha was found to be abnormal in the water level of the Yangtze River. By May, the water level had exceeded 22 meters, while the flood control level in Hankou was 25 meters. Due to the inaction of the authorities, the dam broke, and more than ten provinces and cities were submerged.
The people were displaced and their lives were in turmoil.
Xie Ning didn't remember the flood; she only learned about it from the newspaper. Besides donating money and drawing some disaster prevention and epidemic control information in her cartoons, there was nothing else she could do.
Last year there were floods, the year before drought, what about this year? What about next year?
Amidst natural disasters and wars, Xie Ning suddenly felt a sense of unreality. Stepping outside the situation, she knew that the country would eventually survive and gradually become stronger, but for those truly living in this era, the future was hopeless and dark.
The people, already on the verge of death from natural disasters and wars, are further oppressed by the seemingly unified government, where warlords harbor ulterior motives, officials are corrupt, and they amass wealth at will.
“Cai Huai, I don’t believe in fate, but now I’m starting to believe it a little. He doesn’t have the right timing, the right place, or the right people. Tell me, who is in charge of destiny?”
Cai Huai was somewhat taken aback, wondering why Xie Ning suddenly said these things.
Xie Ning seemed to have figured things out, and the usual gloom on her face disappeared. The sunlight shone down, casting a warm glow on her fair face. "You're still young. Go talk to your uncle, and he'll teach you."
Cai Huai's uncle was the army commander.
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