Chapter 380 The Orphanage's Lies: The Handsome Flower Boy 80
He looked at his parents, a glimmer of hope igniting in his eyes.
"Go to that welfare home tomorrow and ask around."
Just say that the child was abandoned by someone else in the family, and that you've been looking for him all these years.
"Act pitifully, say that there are only three of us left in our family, and we want to find our grandson to reunite with us."
Mr. Zhou hesitated, feeling somewhat guilty about doing this, since it involved lying and telling a lie.
"What if people ask about the child's mother?"
Zhou Weimin answered without hesitation; such a country woman could not provide him with any help at the moment.
What cannot help him is useless to him.
"Just say she died in childbirth."
Don't mention Wang Xiuying, and don't mention me either.
You said you were from an ordinary working-class family, and that your family was struggling financially back then, and your child was abandoned by your unfilial and irresponsible children, without your knowledge.
Now that I'm old, I just want to find my grandson to take care of me in my old age and see me off in my final days.
Zhou's mother nodded repeatedly, saying that she would do anything to find her only grandson.
"Okay, okay, we'll go first thing tomorrow morning!"
Zhou Weimin repeatedly gave them instructions.
"Remember, you must ask clearly whether a baby boy was found on a night more than ten years ago. He should have had a red string bracelet made of persimmon seeds on him, which my mother made."
That's a keepsake.
He remembered everything so clearly: what the child was carrying, when he threw it away, and where he threw it away.
But I never thought of it once all these years, until now when I finally used it.
He clearly knows everything.
The elderly couple kept these words firmly in mind.
The next morning, Mr. and Mrs. Zhou set off.
The two of them deliberately wore their most worn-out cotton-padded jackets. Zhou's mother even wrapped half of her face with a headscarf, revealing only a pair of red and swollen eyes, half from crying and half from the cold.
The welfare home was in the west of the city. They took two buses and walked two miles to get there.
Standing outside the rusty iron gate of the orphanage, Zhou's mother's legs trembled. Was her eldest grandson in this place?
The person who opened the door was a middle-aged woman wearing a dark blue work uniform with a badge of a great man pinned to her chest. She looked the elderly couple in front of her over.
Who are you looking for?
Zhou's father rubbed his hands together, exhaling white breath, trying his best to make his voice sound sincere, soft, and pitiful.
"Comrade, hello, we've come to inquire about something."
Eleven years ago, around a December evening, did you find a baby boy here?
The middle-aged woman frowned.
Who are you?
Zhou's mother immediately pushed her way forward, tears welling up without any pretense.
"We are the child's grandparents."
The child has a hard life; not long after he was born, his mother ran off with someone else.
My good-for-nothing daughter-in-law thought taking care of the child was a burden, so she just threw the child away!
My wife and I have been searching for this place for years, and we only recently found out that it might have been dumped here!
Not only did they want to distort the truth, but they also wanted to take the opportunity to kick them while they were down. They had never even met their daughter-in-law, but she had given birth to their only grandson.
When they start slandering someone, they don't need to think before they speak; they just start spouting nonsense.
She spoke with such sincerity, and given their worn-out clothes and haggard appearances, the middle-aged woman, unsure of their sincerity, softened her expression.
If they're really looking for their child, there's no reason to stop them.
"Please come in first, it's cold outside. I need to ask the dean about this."
She ushered the two into the reception room, poured them some hot water, and then went to call the dean.
Mr. and Mrs. Zhou sat on a long wooden bench, nervously rubbing their hands together.
Slogans for serving the people were posted on the wall, and some certificates of merit were displayed in a glass cabinet. The room was warmer than outside because of the stove, but the two of them were still very uneasy.
After all, it was the first time either of them had ever lied like this, so they were bound to feel guilty.
After a while, Dean Lu came over. He was wearing reading glasses, had a kind face, and a sharp look in his eyes. He glanced at the elderly couple and sat down opposite them.
"I am the director. I heard you are looking for a child?"
Mr. Zhou quickly repeated what his son had taught him the night before, and added at the end.
"The child should have a red string bracelet on him, which his grandmother made. That's the only keepsake we have."
The bracelet was certainly not made by Zhou's mother, but as Zhou's mother had just said, her daughter-in-law had run off with someone and abandoned the child, so the bracelet couldn't have been made by her.
Upon hearing this, Dean Lu's heart skipped a beat.
Eleven years ago, on a snowy night in December, a baby boy with a red string bracelet—wasn't that Lu Jinnian?
But wasn't Lu Jinnian taken away by his biological mother?
Dean Lu now trusts Shen Ci completely. Such a wealthy, capable, and loving philanthropist could not possibly be a fraud.
Even if they're scammers, they can't get any more benefits from the orphanage; the orphanage has nothing.
Could it be that what this elderly couple said is true? The child was abandoned? No, that's impossible.
She would do her research before entrusting her child to someone else, and Ms. Shen doesn't seem like a bad person.
She had also asked Lu Jinnian some questions privately. Lu Jinnian's childhood memories were vague, but not entirely absent. Dean Lu calmed herself down.
Ms. Shen is not only Jin Nian's biological mother, but also has been kind to the welfare home.
Her mind was racing, but she didn't show it on her face; she simply nodded.
"I need to check the records regarding the situation you described."
Please sit down for a while and have some water.
She got up and left the reception room, but instead of going to the archives, she went straight to her office, closed the door, picked up the phone, and dialed the number Shen Ci had left behind.
The phone rang a few times before being answered.
"Hello, is Ms. Shen there?"
"I am... and who are you?"
Dean Lu immediately lowered his voice.
"I am Director Lu of the Chengxi Welfare Home."
Ms. Shen, there's something I need to tell you. Two elderly people came today, saying they were looking for their grandson. Their description matches Jin Nian's situation perfectly.
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.
"What do they look like?" Shen Ci's voice was calm.
"An elderly couple, around sixty years old, dressed in very worn clothes, said to be an ordinary working-class family."
They said their daughter-in-law abandoned the child, and they've been searching for him all these years.
Dean Lu paused for a moment.
“I asked them who else was in their family, and they said only the elderly couple and the child’s father were there; the child’s mother had run away.”
Shen Ci took a deep breath on the other end of the phone. "You guys are something else. You even have to drag someone down while you're looking for your child."
Are they still around?
"Wait in the reception room."
"Dean Lu, please don't tell them any information yet."
I'll contact Jinnian right away; the child needs to know about this.
After hanging up the phone, Shen Ci immediately called home, and Lu Jinnian answered.
"Little New Year, that's me."
Listen to me now, don't panic.
"Director Lu from the welfare home just called to say that an elderly couple came looking for you, claiming to be your grandparents."
On the other end of the phone, Lu Jinnian's breathing visibly faltered.
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