Mother Theresa's Orphanage of Compassion stood in a residential district for commoners west of Black Iron City, near the city wall. From the orphanage gate, one could see the city's wall, more than thirty meters high, along with a line of military buildings standing just inside it. Black Iron City's walls were a source of confidence and security for its people. Up close, their towering height could feel oppressive and less than beautiful, but in this age, no one who lived in a city ever complained that its walls were too high. Those towering walls were also why everyone wanted to live in a city, and why real estate prices everywhere within them kept soaring. It was for no other reason than that the walls brought a deep sense of safety.
I wonder if my brother's on duty on the wall right now? Seeing it made Zhang Tie think of his brother. As a member of Black Flame City's City Guard, protecting the city walls was his brother's unquestionable duty. Zhang Tie didn't know how the City Guard's daily assignments and rotations worked, so naturally he didn't know where his brother might be or what he might be doing at that moment. Nor was he interested in finding out. Strictly speaking, all information about the City Guard's deployments, defenses, and military operations was confidential. In ordinary times, people might not think much of it, and casual conversation could reveal all sorts of details. But sometimes, if anyone chose to take the matter seriously, that overgrown curiosity could bring all kinds of trouble and disaster down on them and their families. As an ordinary person, Zhang Tie had always minded his own business and never been especially curious. Still, after hearing about the Red Scarf Bandit Group from his brother yesterday, he had kept an eye out and deliberately looked twice at the distant wall. Whether it was just his imagination or not, he felt that there were noticeably more soldiers on duty there today, and that the air seemed a little more grim than before.
When Zhang Tie turned his gaze from the wall, he saw Mother Theresa standing at the orphanage gate. As usual, she was there waiting for him at this time each week.
As a devout believer in the Grapis Sect, Mother Theresa always wore a green nun's robe. It was patterned with white olive branches, which symbolized the spirit of the Grapis Sect. A little plump, she gave off the warm, familiar air of a kindly old neighbor in her green robe.
Green and white were the colors beloved by the Grapis Sect's followers, and the colors that represented their teachings. Setting everything else aside, Zhang Tie thought the combination looked quite nice. It always seemed warm and pleasing to the eye.
When she saw Zhang Tie riding up on his tricycle, a smile spread across Mother Theresa's face. She turned and called, "Children, your favorite treat is here..."
As soon as Zhang Tie stopped his tricycle at the orphanage gate, five or six children, around eight or nine years old, ran out. Without waiting for him to ask, they paired up and expertly began unloading the things from his tricycle.
"Heh... heh... careful now. If it's too heavy, let me handle it!" As he spoke, Zhang Tie helped them lift down the large clay jars from his tricycle. The little ones carried them into the orphanage, beaming with joy, and soon cheers rang out inside. More children came running. Those with a little strength hurried to help, while the younger ones stood by the roadside, eyes wide and noses twitching as they sniffed eagerly, staring at the rice gruel in the jars with drool running down their chins. For children who had grown up in the orphanage, this snowy-white gruel, rich with the aroma of rice, was a peerless delicacy.
At times like this, Mother Theresa always watched the children, who had lost their parents when they were young, with a kind smile.
Every week, when Zhang Tie's family made rice wine, they saved a lot of rice gruel while cooking the rice. The gruel was precious. Zhang Tie and his brother had grown up drinking it, and whenever a family in their neighborhood had a baby but no breast milk and couldn't afford cow's milk, they would often come to the Zhangs' for some gruel to feed the child.
Rice gruel was good stuff, rich in nutrients and the very essence of the rice, but it wouldn't keep for long. After about two days, it would spoil. His mother said that wasting food was a sin, so after setting aside enough for the family for two days, they always gave the rest away. Plenty of people who looked down on others might turn up their noses at a little gruel, but for the children at the orphanage, who often struggled just to eat their fill, it might be the best thing they ever tasted. The rice gruel the Zhangs brought each week was enough to feed the children for two days. In Mother Theresa's words, it was the finest gift Heaven could give them.
In the past, Zhang Tie's father had brought the gruel. Later, it was his brother. Now it was Zhang Tie. The Zhang family had been in the rice wine business for years, and they had been bringing gruel to the orphanage for just as long. It had become a family tradition.
After directing a little team of children as they carried the jars of gruel into the orphanage, Sister Theresa came over. She gave Zhang Tie a gentle hug, held his head, and pressed a light, blessing-like kiss to his forehead.
"Child, God will bless everyone with a loving heart. Those who give to others with kindness will surely receive God's blessings in ways unseen, and miracles will surely come into their lives..."
Mother Theresa had said these words many times before, but this time they struck Zhang Tie differently, stirring a faint emotion in him.
"Thank you, Mother. I believe God will bless good people too!"
Zhang Tie's face reddened a little. Mother Theresa was soft and full-figured. In the past, being hugged by her hadn't felt like anything special, but now that he was growing up and understood a little about men and women, he felt a bit awkward. It wasn't as if he was some beast who could entertain thoughts about someone old enough to be his grandmother, but he still felt slightly embarrassed.
After the little ones had carried the six clay jars inside, it wasn't long before they brought them back out, washed clean. Each jar held more than ten pounds of gruel, so the five jars together contained sixty or seventy pounds. For the orphanage, where food was always in short supply, it was quite a "generous" gift.
"By the way, Mother Theresa, when I went to the grain shop today, I noticed that a lot of food had started getting more expensive. Sugar has gone up too!" While they waited for a few children to load the clean jars onto the tricycle, Zhang Tie told Mother Theresa about the rising food prices. It was hardly good news for the orphanage.
After asking Zhang Tie carefully about the details, Mother Theresa's face did indeed take on a trace of worry. She gazed into the distance and fell silent for a long while, then let out a long sigh.
Looking at the worry on Mother Theresa's face and the happy smiles of the little ones beside her, Zhang Tie felt a sudden rush of impulse. He reached into his pants pocket, took out the ten copper coins his mother had given him for pocket money, and put them in Mother Theresa's hand. "Mother, this is all the money I have on me. Please accept it as a donation for the children here. It isn't much, but even a little help is better than none!"
This was the first time Zhang Tie had donated money to the orphanage. Before, he'd been so broke he couldn't spare a thing. But after obtaining Castle of Black Iron over the last couple of days, his mood had gradually brightened, and in a moment of impulsive "generosity," he'd gone and made this grand gesture. The moment the money left his hand, he felt a little regretful. He should have donated five copper coins. Why had he been so generous and given them all away? Now he was broke again. But taking it back at this point would make him look awful, so he did his best to put on the face of a well-behaved child, smiling shyly and showing two neat front teeth.
Mother Theresa looked a little surprised to find ten copper coins in her hand. Then she gave Zhang Tie a deep look and patted him on the head. "Child, your kindness will surely be repaid!"
At the word "repaid," Zhang Tie suddenly remembered something. A little embarrassed, he said to Mother Theresa, "Mother, I heard you have lots of plant seeds here. Could you give me some? One of my classmates just moved, and he has a pretty big yard. I'd like to give him some seeds as a present!"
God, forgive me. I lied to your servant. It was Zhang Tie's first time lying to kindhearted Mother Theresa, and he really did feel his face grow hot and his heart race with shame. Only when Sister Theresa had mentioned "repaid" had he remembered that he could "ask" for something from her. But the slightly flustered look on his face only made Mother Theresa think that this "child" was even more innocent and sincere.
The Grapis Sect was also called the Church of the Guardian God. Its teachings were represented by the two colors on its robes: protect the earth with green, and end killing with white. The sect worshipped no idols or gods, but instead revered the very earth beneath everyone's feet. The followers of the Grapis Sect called this earth Mother Earth, Gaya. They believed that all living things on earth were Mother Earth Gaya's children, and that every patch of green on earth was a gift from her to all living things. This was the sect's guiding belief.
Zhang Tie didn't know how the Grapis Sect fared elsewhere, but in Black Flame City and the Andaman City-State Alliance, a place steeped in commerce and where gold coins were treated like gods, the Church of the Guardian God was not well regarded. One only had to look at Mother Theresa and the orphanage before him to see that. In Black Flame City, even minor religions had grand churches or temples, but aside from this orphanage, the Church of the Guardian God didn't even have a decent prayer room. In the eyes of many people in Black Flame City, the sect seemed to do little more than teach people to care for flowers and plants, encourage tree planting each spring, and take in a few orphans. On the second Sunday of March each year—the "Grace Bathing Day" of Mother Earth Gaya, as the Grapis Sect called it—the sect held an event in Black Flame City, giving citizens all kinds of plant seeds for free and, as a side benefit, raising a little money for the sect. It had been some time since this year's Grace Bathing Day, so Mother Theresa should still have plenty of seeds. Thinking of that, then of the vast space inside Castle of Black Iron, where he had planted only a few potatoes and cornstalks, and its pitiful Spirit Qi Value, Zhang Tie felt he might as well ask for some seeds. It didn't matter what kind of plants they were, as long as they could sprout. He could plant them in Castle of Black Iron and help it build up the Spirit Qi Value he needed.
Mother Theresa looked even happier when she heard Zhang Tie ask for seeds than she had when he donated money. She told him to wait a little. A few minutes later, she returned and handed him a cloth bag, heavy with nearly half a pound of seeds. Zhang Tie didn't even open it. He thanked her, then climbed back onto his tricycle, his heart pounding with excitement as he pedaled home at full speed.