Listen to yourself. Do you even believe that?

Qiao Qianqian and Cheng Qing overheard their conversation from the side, and their impression of Li Yi improved even more.

Such an outstanding young man had actually grown up in an orphanage. It made them both ache for him and like him.

It was not just them. The livestream viewers began to feel for him too.

[He actually grew up in an orphanage. This big sister's heart is aching. Little brother, you've got my vote this episode!]

[Which orphanage has such handsome young men up for grabs? Here I come with my little sack!]

[Sunbathing Under the Covers, holy shit, the third-highest scorer in Beicheng's Gaokao actually grew up in an orphanage.]

"Guests, we're officially about to start filming. The director wants everyone to gather." A member of the production crew came over to call them together.

"Has the last guest arrived?" Cheng Qing asked.

"Yes, they're waiting for everyone in the courtyard."

"The last guest should be a corporate CEO, right? I wonder which one it is," Qiao Qianqian said.

"I'm a little curious too. My manager said this CEO was only confirmed at the very last minute," Su Xia said.

Brimming with curiosity, they walked to the meeting point in the courtyard.

Everyone froze for a moment at the sight of the tall man opposite them, dressed in a crisp black suit.

Even the livestream viewers went from composed to shrieking.

[Ah!!! Are we sure this isn't some talent show? Why is everyone so gorgeous?!]

[I'm just saying, can someone really have long legs AND a perky ass?]

[The wise never fall in love, unless he's handsome.]

[I hate that I'm not a few decades older. Then I could be living in this nursing home too.]

[Being able to look but not touch would give me a geriatric heart attack on the spot!]

[I don't know what kind of touching you have in mind, but our country has a comprehensive Constitution.]

Li Yi stopped in his tracks and looked up ahead.

What was Shi Yan doing here?!

Did this fit his character?

A sinister lunatic like him, taking part in charity work???

No wonder he'd agreed right away when I asked for leave a few days ago. He was taking part himself!

"What? You know him too?" Su Xia was walking beside Li Yi. When he saw him stop, he stopped too.

"How should I put it? He's my boss at my summer job."

"Your summer-job boss?" Su Xia turned and pointed at Shi Yan. "President Shi?"

"Yeah."

Li Yi walked over calmly.

"Nine o'clock on the dot." Director Sen adjusted his smile and began the introduction. "Our show is a charity variety show dedicated to caring for vulnerable groups.

"South Mountain Nursing Home, which we're visiting today, has quite a story behind it.

"This is a nonprofit nursing home, and all the elderly residents stay here free of charge.

"This nursing home and the orphanage across the road belong to the same person.

"This mysterious benefactor wishes to remain anonymous, but what he has done deserves to be publicized."

[I know South Mountain Nursing Home. They really have taken in a lot of elderly people with no one to care for them. The caregivers there are all very professional and attentive.

[But they don't just take anyone in. The screening is very strict. They don't accept people with sons, daughters, or partners.]

[I don't know about South Mountain Nursing Home, but I know Nanshan Orphanage. They support the children there all the way through university.]

[I've heard the adoption procedures at Nanshan Orphanage are really strict, but the kids who grew up there are all very polite. My classmate is one of them. He's really just like Li Yi, smart and polite.]

[Can I send my son to Nanshan Orphanage to straighten him out? I'll disown him right now.]

[Is there an age requirement? I want to send my mother-in-law there to straighten her out.]

"Today, our main activity will be spending a pleasant day with the elderly residents. Each guest can invite one resident to perform an act with them.

"The remaining residents will clap to show their support. Whichever group gets the most applause wins."

"What's the prize for first place?" Qiao Qianqian asked.

"A cash donation of five hundred thousand will be made to an orphanage in Beicheng in the winner's name."

"Wow! Then I'd better work hard! That five hundred thousand is mine!" Su Xia clenched his fists, looking ready to go all out for the five hundred thousand, making everyone laugh.

"You can start choosing your partners now."

Once Director Sen finished speaking, they split up and began looking for suitable partners.

Li Yi walked over to Shi Yan and asked quietly, "President Shi, what brings you here?"

"Charity work."

"You..." Li Yi scrunched up his face. "Charity work? Listen to yourself. Do you even believe that?"

"I've noticed something." Shi Yan lowered his head. "The way you talk to me at the villa is very different from how you talk to me outside."

"How could it be the same? At the villa, I'm an employee. I have to respect you.

"But once I'm off the clock, I'm a free man. Nobody gets to boss me around."

As the young man spoke, the corners of his eyes and the tips of his brows tilted upward, his eyes sparkling. He was lively and playful, like a haughty cat.

Shi Yan's gaze stilled slightly, and an unfamiliar, abrupt thump came from the left side of his chest.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Li Yi felt he had guessed right. "Come on, tell me. What's your purpose?"

"You won't believe me even if I tell you." Shi Yan extended two fingers and flicked Li Yi on the forehead. "Time to choose someone for the performance."

"Ow!" Li Yi rubbed his forehead, watching Shi Yan walk away with some anger.

Shi Yan definitely hadn't come to the nursing home to do charity work!

The nursing home was the most important place to him. He had to keep an eye on Shi Yan!

"Li Yi." Grandpa Wang Song came over to him. "How about playing a duet with Grandpa later?"

"Sure! You can play the guqin like before, and I'll play the flute."

"Good. It's been so long since we last played together. Let's go rehearse for a while first."

"Okay, let's go."

Shi Yan looked back at Li Yi, a smile on his lips.

He had indeed come to the nursing home with another purpose.

Li Yi's protectiveness toward the nursing home meant he had come to the right place.

Shi Yan often had a dream. In it, he became a child, with another child beside him holding a bottle of cola. The child always liked to take his hand and call him "big brother" in a soft little voice.

The child was around five years old, with an especially adorable, fair, round little face. Whenever he grinned, the little mole beneath the corner of his mouth stood out.

In the dream, the child was always the one talking, chattering about how he disliked cilantro, but his mother always liked to put it in his bowl.

He said he loved playing barefoot on the floor, but his father would scold him whenever he saw him.

He said his favorite cakes were strawberry and mango, but he could not finish two in one sitting.

He also said his puppy at home was very cute, but his older sister thought it was noisy and would always kick it.

The child was so pitiful, as though no one in his family liked him very much.

When Shi Yan found him annoying, he would push him away, and the child would offer him the half-empty bottle of cola cradled in his arms.

The scene shifted. The two of them were sheltering from the rain beneath the eaves. His arm was injured, and the child cried bitterly, taking out all his money and going out into the rain to buy him medicine.

The child did not know how to wrap a bandage and bundled his hand up like a rice dumpling, then grinned and called him a mummy.

The scene shifted again. Neither of them had eaten for two days. The child picked up a broken umbrella and said he was going to find food.

The rain was heavy that day, and the sky was dark. Injured and unable to go out in the rain, he stayed huddled beneath a bridge, waiting for the child.

A day passed, and the child did not return.

He never saw the child again.

Over the years, this dream had always come in fragments, a piece here and a piece there, never joining into a complete picture.

But Shi Yan clearly remembered that he had never met such a child when he was young.

Nor had he ever been to the place in the dream.