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He Mei blushed and said hesitantly, "I can take these photos back to the station to develop and use them to enrich our news material. You wouldn't mind, would you?"

Before Huo Baichuan and Tao Yan could speak, He Mei added, "Actually, this would be good for you too. With these photos, I can help publicize that newly established Missing Persons Rescue Website of yours. Maybe some child's parents will see the pictures and contact our TV station!"

Huo Baichuan glanced at Tao Yan. Tao Yan neither agreed nor objected. Huo Baichuan smiled. "All right! Then we'll trouble you with it. But I'll need to discuss it with the director and the volunteer aunties first."

He Mei nodded eagerly. "Of course."

Half an hour later, the director and several volunteer aunties, all changed into fresh clothes, arrived at the entrance of the orphanage. Huo Baichuan keenly noticed that everyone had redone their hair, and two of the aunties had even put on lipstick. When Huo Baichuan looked over, the two of them seemed a little self-conscious and said somewhat bashfully, "Well, we're having photos taken! Lipstick makes us look a little more lively."

Huo Baichuan smiled and nodded, then began organizing everyone for the pictures.

The elderly director suddenly said, "You two, come over too! If we're taking a family portrait, everyone has to be in it."

She asked the cameraman to help take the picture. He readily agreed.

"Come on, everyone line up at the entrance. Children in front, adults in back."

"Everyone look at the camera. One, two, three, cheese!"

With a click, Red Heart Orphanage's first family portrait was captured on that blazing afternoon.

After the group photo, Huo Baichuan took the telephoto camera and snapped several candid shots of the elderly director, the volunteer aunties, and the children. At the end, he wanted to take a few pictures of Tao Yan too, but Tao Yan, who hated being photographed, refused.

"Then let's take one together." Undaunted, Huo Baichuan handed the camera to the cameraman, draped an arm over Tao Yan's shoulder, and stood before the entrance of Red Heart Orphanage, flashing a broad white grin. "It'll be a keepsake!"

Tao Yan could not win against him. He could only stand stiff-faced at the orphanage entrance and take a photo.

That day's lunch at the orphanage was taro-braised pork ribs, glutinous rice stuffed lotus root, and water bamboo shoots braised with fermented black beans. Ever since Tao Yan and Huo Baichuan's computer business had begun doing better and better, the orphanage's meals had improved as well. Some of the extra dishes were bought by Tao Yan and Huo Baichuan, but more of the meal subsidies came from the money the volunteer aunties earned running snack stalls.

The weather was getting hotter by the day, so the elderly director bought plenty of honeysuckle, chrysanthemum, lotus leaves, and bamboo leaves to brew cooling herbal tea for everyone. Tao Yan and Huo Baichuan were not used to herbal tea, though. They still preferred mung bean soup. Especially chilled mung bean soup—soft and grainy on the tongue, a bowl of it left one refreshed all over.

"Don't worry too much about our station purchasing computers. I'm still working on it!" During the lunch break, while the cameraman had gone to the restroom, He Mei quietly told Tao Yan and Huo Baichuan, "The station has been hesitating all along, but I figure once this interview airs, there shouldn't be much of a problem."

Even if it was only to support the missing children in saving enough medical fees for surgery as soon as possible, the station ought to show some support.

Huo Baichuan smiled. "Don't rush either. It'd be best if you can work it out, but it doesn't matter if you can't. We're doing charity, not trying to make a sale. Don't force them to buy our computers."

He Mei curled her lip and said unconcernedly, "You two are overthinking it. Your computers aren't any worse than those big brands. They're assembled with imported parts, and your operating system is even easier to use!"

He Mei was about to say more when the cameraman returned. She could only stop reluctantly and lower her head to eat.

"The water bamboo shoots with fermented black beans here are really good. I love this dish. It's a shame my mom can't cook. The version she makes is especially bitter," He Mei complained.

Aunt Zhao, one of the volunteers, smiled and said, "If Reporter He likes the food at our orphanage, come by more often in the future."

"Oh, I'd feel so bad imposing!"

"What's there to feel bad about? It's only an extra pair of chopsticks." The elderly director smiled. "Actually, we should be thanking you. Your report will make more people in society notice these children who have lost their parents. I think they need more care, especially those four children."

As she spoke, the elderly director looked toward the four disabled children in the corner of the cafeteria, being fed by volunteer aunties, and unconsciously lowered her voice. "I also hope their parents and families will see the TV report and come find them soon. I think what they need even more is their families' care."

He Mei and the cameraman followed the elderly director's gaze, and their hearts grew heavier.

After lunch, He Mei and the cameraman followed Tao Yan and Huo Baichuan all the way to the business administration office, filming the entire process of the two receiving their business licenses. After that, they went to Lianhua District Police Station for investigation and interviews. Finally, while interviewing local residents, they learned from the neighbors that Tao Yan and Huo Baichuan had not only founded a computer company and the Missing Persons Rescue Website, but had also helped the orphanage's volunteer aunties set up a snack stall selling liangfen.

The two of them then waited until evening to film the volunteer aunties selling liangfen and fried potatoes. They also sat in front of the stall and personally sampled the liangfen, liangpi noodles, and Tiger-Tooth Potatoes.

Aunt Zhao smiled and said, "The meat sandwiches those two make are even better. Rice soaked in that pork knuckle broth tastes better than anything. It's just too expensive, so we can't bear to make it."

The neighbors gathered around the stall to watch the spectacle also chimed in one after another. "That pork knuckle broth really smells amazing!"

"It smells even better than the braised meat shop run by Old Li at the street corner. Old Li nearly went to ask Little Tao and Little Huo for the recipe, but he couldn't bring himself to swallow his pride."

"They can play the erhu and the suona too. They even performed at the mouth of the alley before and caught a petty thief."

"They're both exceptionally good kids."

As night deepened, neighbors who had spent the whole day working outside gradually returned home. The sounds of chopping and stir-frying slowly rose from the kitchens, and the entire alley filled with the fragrance of food and the smell of cooking oil. Elderly people who had come out to enjoy the cool evening air sat beneath the trees and in the shadows by the walls, fanning themselves with palm-leaf fans, while children ran about screaming.