The director's callused hand gently stroked the title page, her voice trembling slightly. "Th-this is wonderful. The children will be able to sit in bright classrooms. They won't have to crowd together for lessons anymore."
Jin Xia exchanged a glance with An He, who read the situation well and stepped forward.
She smiled. "I'll have the agent contact the landlord right now. Director, you should start preparing to move out as soon as possible, too."
"So soon?"
The director stopped in her tracks in shock, but soon lowered her head and murmured awkwardly, "The landlord has told us to leave so many times that I prepared in advance. Everything is already packed. We can take the children and leave at any time."
"Good!"
An He nodded.
Beside her, Jin Xia picked up her phone, quickly opened the agent's contact information, and sent over the property listing.
She took the opportunity to ask, "What did the orphanage's landlord say?"
The agent replied almost instantly. "Miss Jin, I've more or less finished negotiating with him, but he says he needs a large sum for his son's wedding, so he can't make any further concessions. Seven hundred thousand at the very least, including the land and the building."
Seven hundred thousand...
Jin Xia looked up at the old building before her. For a privately built house in a location like this, the cost of construction materials and labor would have come to two or three hundred thousand at most.
Although it stood a full five stories tall, it was hardly any different from an unsafe building.
The landlord was selling it for seven hundred thousand because he urgently needed money for his son's wedding. There was nothing wrong with her buying it outright in cash so they could each get what they needed.
But in less than a month, bulldozers would raze this place to the ground.
That seven hundred thousand could multiply several times over, at least!
Jin Xia asked the real estate agent to arrange the contract as soon as possible. She wanted to settle the orphanage's affairs quickly.
There were fifty-six children in all, twenty-five of whom could not even care for themselves.
The director and several teachers busied themselves packing their things and carrying the packed luggage outside.
To make it easier for them to relocate quickly to the former nursing home in Huaxi Village, Jin Xia even asked An He to help rent several buses.
Sitting on the bus with the children, the director cheerfully hummed a tune. "Our lives are so beautiful~ Children, do you know where we're going now?"
A very small number of the children shook their heads, while many carried on playing by themselves.
To them, the outside world was new and magical.
As Jin Xia watched the children from the orphanage, her thoughts instantly returned to the past.
She seemed to have been just like this when she first left the orphanage for the outside world.
In her previous life, she had spent money like water with Lu Mingchuan. A single meal at a revolving restaurant cost five figures, and a bottle of wine cost six.
She had even...
To attend a socialites' afternoon tea, she had gone to Jimmy Choo specifically to buy a limited-edition pair of crystal shoes. Eighty thousand yuan!
One pair of shoes would have been more than enough to cover food and drink for these children at the orphanage for two months.
The director suddenly raised a hand and patted Jin Xia, looking at her with smiling eyes and interrupting her thoughts. "We're moving to a new home! We need to thank our big sister Jin Xia. Without her, we might have ended up homeless."
"Thank you, big sister Jin Xia!~"
Their voices rang out loudly in unison, and the children looked at Jin Xia with wide, innocent eyes.
A little embarrassed and awkward, she shook her head. "You don't need to thank me. All of this was donated by kindhearted people."
"What are you saying? If you hadn't kept our orphanage in mind all the time and sought out kindhearted donors, we might have been sleeping on the streets tonight."
Her eyes full of gratification, the director added, "You'll be going to Haida University soon. You're my pride and joy!"
Pride and joy?
Really?
Jin Xia's eyelashes trembled slightly. If Mama Director knew everything she had done in her previous life, would she still consider her a source of pride?
Soon, the group arrived at the former nursing home.
It was much better than Jin Xia had imagined. At least the buildings had no serious leaks or damp problems.
Every room had its own bathroom, and there was a communal recreation room that could serve as a classroom...
The director walked behind Jin Xia, her eyes red. "This is wonderful. Our children will be able to take hot showers every day now, and have lessons in a clean, spacious classroom."
She was so overcome with emotion that her arm kept shaking as she ran her hand over the doors and windows.
At first, Jin Xia thought the director was simply too excited. She reached into her bag for tissues, intending to wipe away the director's tears.
Before she could take the tissues out of her bag, a loud thud sounded beside her!
The director toppled stiffly to the floor!
Jin Xia panicked. "Mama Director, what's wrong?"
She spun around and looked toward the activity room. "Ms. Wang, hurry! Mama Director has fainted!"
The teachers came running at her call, and several of them worked together to carry the director into Jin Xia's car.
Her voice trembling slightly, Jin Xia did not dare waste a moment as she instructed An He, "Hurry! To the hospital!"
Fortunately, the location was not too remote. It took only fifteen minutes to reach Central Hospital.
After bringing the director into the hospital, Jin Xia and the others began waiting anxiously outside.
The red light above the emergency room stayed on.
The doctors and the hospital director all looked anxious as they hurried into the emergency room, and none came back out.
Jin Xia clasped her hands together, her delicate brows tightly knitted. She stared at the firmly shut door, growing increasingly tense.
At first, she had thought the director had probably fainted from overexertion, but now... her heart was in her throat.
Someone pulled the doors open, and a man in a white coat strode over. "Which of you is Wang Xiumei's family?"
"Me!"
"I am!"
The orphanage teachers and Jin Xia blurted out their replies almost in unison.
The director had never married. She had devoted her entire life to charity on her own.
They were all her family.
Jin Xia stood and hurried up to the doctor. "Has something happened?"
"The patient's condition is very unusual. I don't know whether you noticed before, but she should have been showing symptoms for some time, such as frequently complaining of bone pain."
The doctor pushed up his glasses, his expression particularly grave.
The teachers exchanged glances and nodded.
Ms. Wang added, "The director overworks herself. She often says her legs hurt."
"The pathological features and diagnostic report indicate that the patient's condition is highly consistent with Gaucher disease."
The doctor sighed and looked at Jin Xia again. "You're young, so you should be more familiar with the internet. You can look up Gaucher disease online. This disease..."
Before he finished, Jin Xia had already opened the search bar.
The densely packed lines of text on her phone screen nearly made her faint.
At that moment, it felt as though an invisible hand were clamped around her neck.
"Recommended treatment regimen: Imiglucerase for injection and other medications. After reimbursement in China, Imiglucerase costs approximately 250,000 yuan per injection..."
Not only that, but patients needed long-term injections, relying on medication to stay alive.
Mama Director's monthly treatment costs would exceed a million yuan!
The doctor looked at Jin Xia, his face filled with concern. "Actually, given the patient's current condition, our hospital recommends that you give up treatment if you can't get connected with a medical project team in China. After all, this is no ordinary illness. Most people can't afford to treat it."
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