In the courtyard of the orphanage, messy footprints were intertwined, vaguely indicating that a fierce battle had taken place. Heavy snow and light rain fell on the ground, quickly covering all the marks.
A short, thin figure stood at the entrance of the orphanage, holding an umbrella. Behind him were Ye Lichuan and the orphanage director. Fortunately, the director had let the children go to sleep after midnight, so they didn't see Gu Anran pulling Gu Xiaotian out the door.
“This child was specially recruited by me. She is not an orphan and has family, but her family is not well-off. The facility provides her with two meals a day, and she also helps me with some housework.”
The dean felt sorry for the child, but she was stubborn and refused to move. He had no choice but to give her an umbrella and briefly explain the little girl's situation to Ye Lichuan.
"Don't worry, Dean, I'll take her home. It's getting late, you should go and get some rest too." Seeing that he had made a promise, the Dean went to rest.
He stepped forward and handed her the ginger tea. The little girl still had tears in her eyes and looked at the cup in front of her, refusing to take it.
"If you catch a cold, Brother Xiaotian will worry." Having no other choice, Ye Lichuan brought up Xiaotian.
Upon hearing this, she took the cup and gulped down several mouthfuls, choking and coughing repeatedly. Ye Lichuan then handed her a piece of paper, and with his encouragement, Xiaoling finally went back inside.
They placed the towel the dean had left aside over her head, dried her hair, and changed her clothes.
It's getting late, and the little girl isn't staying at the orphanage anymore. As Xiaotian's father, he has to take responsibility and make sure the little girl gets home safely.
"Is Uncle so angry because of my Aunt?"
"No, Auntie has just had some bad things happen to her recently, so she's not in a good mood," he comforted her gently.
Recalling what she had just said to him, Ye Lichuan sighed helplessly. How could he say such things so casually? He would overthink it too. His phone hadn't rung, so he took it out and glanced at it. The screen was still on the call log, but there were no incoming calls.
"Where do you live? I'll take you home. Your family must be very worried about you."
Xiaoling glanced at the door again. All she could see was a vast expanse of white snow. She nodded dejectedly and told them where her home was, which was quite far away.
The car was driven away, so he had to take a taxi. However, since it was Chinese New Year, many drivers had gone home for the holiday, and almost no one was accepting his orders. It took a long time before a car finally accepted his order, and Ye Lichuan took her into the car.
It takes half an hour to get from the orphanage to Xiaoling's house. After they had traveled halfway, she finally spoke, "I met Brother Xiaotian on the street. My grandma gave me money to go to the city to buy things. I didn't know the way, so I got lost. Brother Xiaotian helped me."
"He said he ran away secretly because he was bored at home and his parents always ignored him." She glanced at Ye Lichuan and then lowered her head, continuing to tell the story of her and her brother Xiaotian.
From her account, Ye Lichuan clarified the relationship between the two. He indeed wouldn't care about Xiaotian, especially during the time when Anran had her accident. Xiaotian could leave as long as he gave a reason, which was also the reason he met Xiaoling.
Two children from completely different family backgrounds are curious about each other's living environment, so Xiaotian is willing to play with her. The two children seem to have finally found each other's playmates, and they think of each other whenever they have something fun or delicious.
Xiao Ling comes from a poor family, so Gu Xiaotian helps her financially, though it's always in small amounts. Xiaotian knows he can't keep giving her money, so he also teaches her to read.
“Today is Chinese New Year, so I used my grandma’s phone to send New Year’s greetings to my brother Xiaotian. I found out that he was home alone, so I asked him if he wanted to come out and play. My brother Xiaotian agreed, and then we stayed at the orphanage for an afternoon.”
"Uncle, please don't blame Brother Xiaotian. It's all my fault. If it weren't for... I called him, he... wouldn't have come." As she spoke, the little girl began to sob, her words broken and fragmented.
"Uncle doesn't blame you or Xiaotian, don't cry." Ye Lichuan wiped away her tears and gently comforted her.
He bears full responsibility for this incident. Knowing that his child lacked care, he always thought that Xiaotian was a boy and not so delicate, ignoring his inner thoughts and missing out on his growth.
An Ran was already in the process of adjusting her mindset, and he didn't want her to worry too much. He would take extra care of Xiao Tian in the future to prevent such a thing from happening again.
"Really, Uncle?" She looked at Ye Lichuan with red eyes.
"Uncle promises you, I will not scold Xiaotian when we get back. I bear a lot of responsibility for this, and I will reflect on my actions when we get back." He raised two fingers to swear.
Xiaoling hesitated for a moment, then decided to trust him and held up her little finger, "Let's pinky swear."
Ye Lichuan extended his finger and made a pinky promise with her. He breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the little girl's smile. On the way, Xiaoling kept telling him about Xiaotian.
As Xiaotian's father, he learned about his son's excellence from others, which made Ye Lichuan feel both heartbroken and fortunate. The car soon arrived at the small road next to the little girl's house. The car could not go in, so they had to walk.
"Ye Lichuan wanted to see her inside but was stopped. I'll just go down this way, Uncle, you don't need to see me off." She pointed to the house in the distance and took off her coat to return it to him.
"Just wear it, don't catch a cold."
Xiao Ling hesitated for a moment, glancing at the wool sweater he was wearing. She still wanted to return it to him, but Ye Lichuan brought up Gu Xiaotian again before she finally gave up. She waved to him and then ran away. Ye Lichuan stood at a distance, watching her enter the house before getting into his car.
He gave the driver another address, leaned back in his seat, rubbed his temples, and took out his phone to call Gu Anran again, but she still didn't answer. Gu Anran had just gotten home and drunk a cup of hot water, and that was it. She wanted to go and change Xiaotian's clothes, but was refused again.
"Don't touch me, I can handle it myself!" Gu Xiaotian said coldly, shifting his weight to the side.
Gu Anran kept touching him for a long time before straightening up and slowly going upstairs to get his clothes. No matter how angry she was, she couldn't let him catch a cold.
"Sir, the total fare is five hundred and eighty yuan."
After paying the bill using the last bit of electricity, Ye Lichuan headed home. He opened the door and walked in, and could hear the sound of a television in the distance, thinking that the two must have made up.
As he approached, he heard a sob, a suppressed sob that made his heart ache. He quickened his pace and went to the living room, where he found An Ran curled up on the sofa, burying her head in her pillow and crying bitterly.
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