"Linglong."
Bai Shuixian had been waiting at the door. When she saw her coming, she immediately went to meet her with a cloth bag.
Gong Linglong had just bought two fried dough sticks at a state-owned restaurant. She ate one herself and handed the remaining dough stick to her. She smiled and asked, "Mom, was work going well this week?"
"The elderly cadres in the nursing home are all easy to get along with. Aside from two elderly people whose minds are not clear, everyone else can walk and move around. My main job is to give them massages and cupping, and chat with them. It's not too tiring."
Bai Shuixian has only been working for a week, but she has already become familiar with everyone in the sanatorium. Her massage techniques have been recognized by the veteran cadres. Now everyone takes turns asking her for massage, and there is no need for her to do other chores.
She didn't intend to talk much about work, and instead asked, "Linglong, are you plowing the land this week? Is it hard?"
"We've finished the work. We have the help of the art troupe this time, so it's not too hard for us."
"Huh? People from the art troupe help you farm?" Bai Shuixian was a little surprised.
"They brought this upon themselves."
Gong Linglong accompanied her and told her about the literary troupe on the way.
The mother and daughter hadn't seen each other for a week, but they still had endless topics to talk about. They talked and laughed all the way to the meat processing plant and bought some pork.
As for the chicken that Lu Jingchuan asked her to buy, Bai Shuixian did not buy it. She planned to wait for her son-in-law to come back from his business trip next week, then buy another chicken and prescribe some nourishing Chinese medicinal herbs to stew together to nourish her body.
After buying the meat, Gong Linglong planned to go to the orphanage and said to her, "Mom, this place is not far from the orphanage. I want to go there."
"Come on, I'll go with you."
Gong Linglong took out a piece of cloth from the space and gave it to her mother, asking her to use it as a headscarf to wrap her head. She also put on a hat and a mask.
When the mother and daughter came over, the director was washing clothes, and the bamboo poles in the yard were full of old clothes hanging out to dry.
"Little comrade."
The dean was very happy to see Gong Linglong and immediately stopped what he was doing to greet her.
"Dean." Gong Linglong smiled at her and introduced her: "This is my mother. She said she came to see you."
Bai Shuixian had just bought a few pounds of fat meat at the meat processing plant and handed it to the dean, speaking softly, "Dean, I just heard my daughter tell me about what's going on here. I haven't made any special preparations, so please keep this little bit of fat and lard. It's a little gift from me to the children."
"Thank you, comrade."
This thoughtful gesture is very practical and is exactly what the orphanage needs most. The children here don't have access to meat all year round, and they rarely use oil when cooking. It's rare to see even a speck of oil in a pot of food.
The weather is warm today, and except for the children under four years old who are at home, all the older children are out.
Children from poor families have to grow up early. The older children in the orphanage are the main workers. They all went out to find firewood and food today, and the younger ones stayed at home and were taken care of by the director.
The mother and daughter moved a bench to sit in the yard and chat with the director about the orphanage. When they learned that the food supply had been cut off for a month, Gong Linglong's face changed on the spot: "Cut off for a month? Who issued this order? Not giving them food for a month, isn't that just asking the children in the orphanage to die?"
"Well, they said other places need more aid, and we in the big cities are having it a little easier. They told us to find a way to get through this month, and then we can guarantee a timely supply of food next month."
The dean was also helpless when he talked about this, his face full of gratitude: "Comrade Xiao Gong, you sent us so much food, we were able to survive this month."
Knowing the orphanage's current situation, Gong Linglong wouldn't stand by and watch the children starve. However, she felt something was amiss regarding the food cut, so she asked, "Director, was it the leaders of the Civil Affairs Department who notified us, or the officials from the Subdistrict Office you mentioned last time?"
"The street officials in charge."
The director always contacted the street official on matters concerning the orphanage and had never gone to the civil affairs department. However, with so many children in her family needing care, she simply couldn't spare the time to go to the civil affairs department to inquire.
"What's the other person's name?" Gong Linglong asked again.
"Xu Qingsheng."
Gong Linglong remembered the name and stood up. "Mom, please stay here with the dean. I'll go find someone to ask."
"Okay." Bai Shuixian also felt that the food supply cut was abnormal, and warned her: "Linglong, be careful."
"Mom, I know."
After saying this, Gong Linglong strode away. She had been here several times and was quite familiar with the area. She headed straight for the nearby street office.
"Sister, is Comrade Xu Qingsheng here?"
The subdistrict office only had three small offices. A middle-aged woman was working as a receptionist at the door. She was writing something with her head down. When she heard she was looking for Xu Qingsheng, she pointed outside and said, "Director Xu just left. He's been gone for less than half a minute."
"Are you going to the left or the right?" Gong Linglong asked hurriedly.
"right."
"Thank you." Gong Linglong thanked him and immediately ran after him.
There were not many people walking on this road. After running about a hundred or two hundred meters, she saw a middle-aged man carrying a briefcase. He was of medium build and was standing on the side of the road looking at his watch. She guessed that this man should be Xu Qingsheng.
Just as she was about to step forward and call him, a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks, "Brother Xu, sorry for the wait."
Gong Linglong recognized the voice as Xu Wei's fake cousin. She saw a dark corner nearby and after carefully confirming that the surroundings were safe, she immediately hid in the corner, turned on the stealth function, and then strode towards them.
The person who was talking to Xu Qingsheng was Xu Wei's fake cousin. The two seemed very familiar with each other and were particularly cautious when speaking. They both looked around tacitly first.
After making sure no one noticed them, Xu Qingsheng spoke first, "We haven't got the quantity you requested yet. Only 90% is ready, and it's already in the warehouse. Take it over first, and I'll figure out the rest, but it'll take some time."
"Give me an exact time."
Xu Qingsheng hesitated for a moment and replied, "About three days."
"Okay, I won't deliver this batch of goods for now. Once you have gathered them, I'll arrange for someone to deliver them."
The other party handed him a cigarette, lit it, and continued in a low voice: "I happen to be going out to do some work in the next two days. When I'm done and you've collected enough food, we can make arrangements together then."
"Okay." Xu Qingsheng nodded.
They both spoke in low voices, but Gong Linglong was standing very close and could hear everything they said clearly.
The so-called food supply shortage is all caused by these bastards behind the scenes.
Thinking about what the director said last time, she was now basically certain that it was not only the orphanage that was out of food supply. The same situation had occurred in the Glorious Home and other nursing homes. The food that was originally supposed to be supplied to them was all intercepted by these scum who were worse than animals for their own personal gain.
In order to find out Xu Wei's true identity and find out their other accomplices hiding in Seoul, Gong Linglong did not take action against them. After listening to what they said next, she hurried back to the orphanage.
After returning to the orphanage, I didn't tell the truth to my mother and the director. I lied and said, "When I went there, the cadre named Xu Qingsheng had just gone out on business. I will go and ask him next time when I have time."
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