Arriving at the orphanage

Wang Zihua recoiled at the sudden voice, nearly losing his balance. "Whoa, kid! Do you walk without making a sound?"

"Don't you know you can scare someone to death?"

The wheat-skinned boy lifted his chin. "If you have a clear conscience, you don't fear a knock at the door."

"If you weren't bad-mouthing Director Mom, what would you be scared of?"

Wang Zihua scratched his head guiltily. "That didn't really count as bad-mouthing her. Besides, I wasn't wrong."

Xie Yuan glanced at Wang Zihua and told the boy, "Ignore him. There's something wrong with his eyes."

The boy grinned, showing eight white teeth. "Now you know how to talk."

"Sure enough, good-looking people say nice things."

The boy glanced at Wang Zihua. "Unlike some people, who look average and can't even talk properly."

Wang Zihua thought, Did a half-grown kid just look down on me?

He sprang to his feet indignantly. "Do you have any taste? Even if I'm not as handsome as Young Master Xie, surely I'm not so bad you'd turn your nose up at me."

Seeing Wang Zihua stand up, the boy instinctively stepped back, his expression wary.

Xie Yuan stood and patted the boy's shoulder. "Enough, Young Master Wang. Look how you've scared the kid."

"He's just a kid. Why are you taking it personally?"

Xie Yuan looked down at the boy. "What's your name?"

The boy's face reddened a little. "Xiaomai. My name is Xiaomai."

Xie Yuan looked at Xiaomai's complexion. "It suits you."

"Right? I think so too." Xiaomai looked proud. "Director Mom named me."

He pointed at the person talking to Teacher He. "Look, that's Director Mom."

Xie Yuan nodded. "We just met."

Watching the interaction between the adult and child, Mu Ze looked thoughtful.

Young Master Xie seems to like children, but if we're together, we can't have any. What should we do?

Mu Ze's face was full of conflict.

Just then, Teacher He called the guests together to leave.

"Everyone, it's time for us to head out."

Mu Ze put his thoughts aside and glanced toward Xie Yuan out of the corner of his eye.

Having a baby just like Young Master Xie might be nice, too.

All the guests gathered together.

Four children had come from the orphanage, just enough for one child per group.

Xiaomai happened to be assigned to Xie Yuan and Mu Ze's group.

The production team had brought plenty of supplies. The staff carried some, but there was still a lot they couldn't carry.

Several children stepped forward to help carry things, but Su Wanyue stood in front of the supplies. "These are heavy. Just leave them to the production team."

"You're still little. You can't carry them."

The children exchanged glances and didn't step forward again, looking back at Director Wu nearby.

Director Wu nodded, and only then did the children stop insisting on carrying things. Still, they stared at the supplies for quite a while before reluctantly looking away.

Once the supplies had been divided up, the guests also carried some light, portable things, but there was still plenty left that they couldn't carry.

Despite Teacher He's attempts to dissuade her, Director Wu picked up a twenty-five-kilogram sack of rice.

When Xie Yuan's turn came, he stepped forward, picked up a carton of instant noodles, and walked over to Xiaomai. "Can you carry this?"

"Yes." Xiaomai patted his chest. "I'm a strongman! Ten kilograms is nothing to me."

"All right." Xie Yuan set the carton of instant noodles in front of Xiaomai. "I'll leave this to you."

"Okay." Xiaomai showed eight teeth. "I'll carry it safely back to the orphanage without damaging it at all."

"I trust you." Xie Yuan picked up some things at random, weighing about ten kilograms in total.

The remaining supplies stayed where they were. The production staff would come back for them later.

A hundred meters wasn't far.

Holding the carton of instant noodles, Xiaomai's face was full of smiles and pride.

The other three children kept casting envious looks at Xiaomai.

After they had walked a few meters, one child came closer and quietly asked, "Xiaomai, can you let me carry it for a while too?"

Xiaomai looked up and saw that his other two friends were also looking at him enviously.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Okay."

"I'll carry it for twenty-five meters, then each of you can carry it for twenty-five meters. Is that all right?"

The three children beamed and nodded vigorously. "Yes!"

Throughout this, Director Wu didn't say a word. She simply watched quietly as the children worked it out themselves.

The half-grown youngsters took turns carrying the carton toward the orphanage.

The smiles never left their faces the entire way.

Comments in the livestream chat.

[I don't really understand. Why are they so happy just to carry a few things?]

[I'm so jealous that they can smile so happily.]

[You can tell at a glance that the children are being well cared for. Otherwise, they wouldn't have such pure smiles.]

[Whenever my parents used to ask me to do something, I'd be really unwilling. Looking at this now, I was taking things for granted.]

[I hope they can always be this happy.]

Over a distance of about a hundred meters, carrying a two-and-a-half-kilogram carton wasn't difficult for the children. They weren't even out of breath when they reached the orphanage.

Three children aged eleven or twelve were waiting outside the orphanage gates, all smiling.

Seeing the production team approach with supplies, the three children stepped forward to help carry them.

The production staff quickly moved aside. "These are heavy. We don't need your help."

The three children withdrew their hands, their smiles fading a little.

Xie Yuan stepped forward, divided what he was carrying into two portions, and placed them in two of the children's hands. "Just as well. I'm tired."

Following behind him, Mu Ze gave the lighter things he was carrying to the remaining child.

Their eyes instantly brightened, and they turned and entered the orphanage with the supplies.

Only after putting the supplies in the orphanage storeroom did the guests have time to look around.

The orphanage was fairly large, with two rows of three-story buildings, one running horizontally and the other vertically.

They looked a little old, but sturdy. It was clear that care had gone into their construction.

The ground floor of the horizontal row housed the storeroom and dining hall, where the children usually ate.

The upper two floors contained rooms.

The first floor of the vertical row had two classrooms. Seeing the guests' puzzled expressions, Xiaomai, who was showing them around, said, "It's inconvenient for the orphanage children to attend kindergarten, and it costs a lot of money."

"So Director Mom set up two classrooms herself to teach the younger boys and girls basic preschool lessons."

"Director Mom even went for preschool teacher training."

Xiaomai's face was full of pride.

The upper two floors were all rooms, so the guests didn't go up to look around.

Then came the courtyard, which had been swept very clean. It was divided into two sections, one planted with plenty of vegetables that were growing well. It was obvious they had been carefully tended.

The other section had play equipment, such as a slide, swings, and a seesaw.

There was also a table tennis table and a small sports ground.

Small as it was, it had everything.

For an orphanage, these facilities were already quite extensive.

Once the tour of the orphanage was over, it was time for the tasks.

The guests gathered on the sports ground.

There were four groups of guests and twenty children in the orphanage, making exactly five children per group.

While waiting among the children, Xiaomai kept sneaking glances toward Xie Yuan.

Clearly, he wanted to join Xie Yuan's group.

Teacher He noticed Xiaomai's little movements and was inwardly amused. "Young Master Xie and Mu Ze are in group three."

A huge smile instantly bloomed across Xiaomai's face.