Chapter 185 Maintenance of the orphanage
Two days have passed since the last time Nangong asked to arrive at Jun’s house, and Asher hasn’t been idle at all in these few days, on the one hand, he ordered his men to continue looking for Mia, and on the other hand, he has shifted his center all the way to the orphanage where Mia was staying.Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.
“You really do have a lot of leisure, to think that you’re happy with things like maintaining an orphanage.” Claude was obviously having trouble sleeping and eating these days because of Mia too, the dark circles under his eyes lying silently like a meal waiting to be tasted by Asher.
“You’ve worked hard these days. Take a good catch up on your sleep, and looking at the dark circles under your face, it can no longer be ignored, and at this rate, I can hardly guarantee that I’m keeping a giant panda in my own company for nothing.”
Asher put down the paper he had just finished reviewing in his hand, and the expression on his face was only slightly more relaxed.
Claude did not show comfort or happiness because of Asher’s concern, but only his face was filled with the same unrestrained smile as before: “Aigoo, I’m sour, Master Asher, I think if you don’t come with me, I’m afraid that by the time we reach the orphanage, it will already be dark, not to mention not seeing the old director, and even if you do, I’m afraid you won’t be able to return. I’m afraid I won’t be able to come back, it’s hard to walk at night.”
Asher looked at the relaxed Claude with amusement, how could he not know that it was the tired man in front of him who was trying to hide his relief by working up and down for him these days.
“Good, just about all the paperwork is done, can we just have the secretary regularize them later, let’s go.” Asher grabbed his suit that was hitched to his chair and quickly straightened his grooming before turning around and walking out of the office and straight to the parking lot.
Behind her Claude frowned and grumbled, “Hey, what a talker, I’ve had eight lifetimes of bad luck knowing you.” Although the grumbling mood on his face continued unabated, Claude’s eyes were full of smiles, real smiles that hadn’t been seen in half a month.
“Hey, what’s the point of stalling? Hurry up! I was rushing me earlier.” Asher grumbled at the slow Claude when he saw that the people behind him weren’t following.
“Here we go!” Claude opened the door of the black Porsche in stride and sat unceremoniously in the passenger seat.
Asher’s depressed gaze skewered Claude as he silently took the driver’s seat and drove.
The car flew away into the busiest part of the city, and after an unknown amount of time, a black luxury Porsche sped into a remote suburb of the city.
When the car pulled up, two tall men got out of it, one in front of the other.
“Is this the place?” Asher straightened the collar and cuffs of his suit and cleared his throat softly.
“Nonsense, you drove the car here, how should I know!” Claude gave the pretend ignorant Asher a good-natured look and headed straight for the orphanage.
Maybe it was the years of desolation in the orphanage, or maybe it was because the flowers and plants in the orphanage also had a spiritual nature. In any case Claude had an indescribable sadness when he first stepped into the courtyard, a sadness that spread throughout his body in an instant until it overwhelmed his entire being.
“Who is it?” An elderly old woman came out of the room directly across from the courtyard door, looking about sixty, but in perfect health, speaking in a thick, booming voice.
Claude sees someone coming out and is just about to go up and announce himself, but is pulled back by Asher, who gives Claude a scowl that signals him to be silent at this point.
“Old man, we are friends of Mia who used to live here, and we came here to see her old place and also to find out more about her former life.” Asher said in as gentle a voice as he could muster.
When faced with such an Asher, perhaps any of his rivals would be surprised to hear it. Such a gentle and humble voice is really unlike the usual thunderous Asher’s approach.
But Claude, beside Asher, would never think so.
Since Mia had entered Asher’s life, all of Asher’s previous impossibilities had now become possible as well.
So looking at the reverent Asher with his attitude, Claude was stating the reason for his visit to the old woman in the same gentle voice.
“Yes, old man, the one in front of you is Miss Mia’s boyfriend, and they are about to get married, so Mr. Jun wanted to come over to see Mia’s living environment, and also wanted to contribute some of the funds for the re-furbishment of the orphanage.”
It was rare for Claude to be so understanding, and perhaps by chance, to their surprise, the old man in front of them was the very old dean they were looking for.
“I’m the dean here, you’ve come to the right person.”
“Alright, you guys come with me.” After the old dean heard the purpose of his visit, a small smile surfaced at the corners of his mouth as he turned around and led the two of them into the depths of the courtyard.
The yard was not very large, about the same size as the area occupied by the Jun family’s villa, and due to years of disrepair, many of the walls of the yard had receded from their siding, and the floor tiles were mossy. Perhaps it was due to the diligence of the gardener, the courtyard was full of flowers and plants but not overgrown.
As he walked to the backyard, Asher saw what looked like a swing that had been sitting in a far corner for years, and was also rusty from the rain.
“Hey, Mia is a good kid. She was just a little girl who didn’t know anything when she was adopted. I heard from the people who brought her in that both of her parents died because of the fact of the plane, leaving the poor girl alone”, the old dean spoke silently as he walked around looking at the swing in the corner.
The old Dean’s memories reminded Asher of the surprise and heartache he felt when he first learned the news. He thought it might be better when he heard it again, but it wasn’t, and just somewhere on the left side of Asher’s chest was filling with the dust of pain at the moment.
“Growing up, Mia was a very understanding child. She was very kind and willing to help others. Whenever there were good clothes and toys donated to her, she always hid in the corner and waited for others to pick them first, and only after the children were all gone did she come over with the one or two that looked pretty good.” The old dean’s gaze turned back from the swing, but the words from her mouth grew, and she lifted her feet and continued walking forward.
“One time, another Goodwill donor came by and looked at Mia in the corner , and I was curious and asked her why she was always hiding in the corner and smiling, but not going to get something with the other kids. Guess what she replied to me?” The old dean stopped and looked back at Asher who was full of heartache and worry with a kind smile on his face.
“What did she say?” Asher had been stunned by the awfulness of the situation before him, he had no idea that the sweet and pathetic little woman had such a heartbreaking and heartbreaking past.
The old dean took a long breath and smiled, “She said that there was a limit to what was good, and if she took it, then the other kids wouldn’t have it.”
Asher’s body suddenly stiffens, and his heart stings as hard as if struck by lightning!
With this forgiveness, with this kindness, he could conclude that such a woman was the only one in the world who was that little fool!
Time spilled unhurriedly with each step towards Mia’s room, but Asher’s steps became heavier and heavier. There were children running around from time to time, and Asher always wondered if there was a little Mia among them.
“Here it is.” The old Dean’s voice pulled Asher back from his memories to reality.
Asher didn’t say anything, just lifted his feet and stepped into the not very large room, thoughts swaying his every nerve, every speck of dust in the air felt so familiar to Asher, like it was tinged with Mia’s body odor.
Asher stays in Mia’s room dazedly, while Claude, aside, gestures with great understanding to the old dean to go out with him.
Once the two arrived in the courtyard, Claude took the door with him, knowing Asher needed some alone time.
“Old Dean, then let’s go talk about the kindergarten repairs.”
The minutes ticked by and it was dark by the time Asher emerged from the room. Looking at Claude standing in the doorway, Asher threw a thankful glance.
Claude didn’t say anything, just walked straight to the door, and Asher didn’t ask more questions, figuring it was just as well that Claude had gotten things done, such a loyal friend was a rare find.
Night falls, and I wonder what color the sun will be tomorrow.
Word had gotten out about Asher’s donation, I just didn’t know it would come so quickly.
“Hey, you know what? I heard that General Jun donated a considerable amount of money to the orphanage hey!”
The story that is making the rounds in Jun’s company is this one incident of Jun’s donation. But Asher doesn’t know that he has become a model businessman in the news and a charity king in the entertainment headlines at the moment.
“Really? You didn’t just say tiger me for fun, did you? We all know that usually the president is cold, would he be someone who would go to charity when he has money?”
“Of course, who’s lying to you, look for yourself if you don’t believe me. If I’m bluffing by saying it, then you’ll have to believe what the newspapers say, right?” With that, a slender woman in a smart professional outfit flung a pile of newspapers in front of another woman.
“Wow, and quite literally hey! What a big number!”
As the woman marveled more people gathered around the woman, and naturally the result was that in no time at all more marvels reached all corners of the floor.
“Hey, what are you all doing? Don’t you have to work?” Suddenly a harsh woman’s voice came from the doorway.
The person who spoke was Asher’s secretary, only to see her clutching a large pile of information in her hands and following a tall, handsome man with a look of reproach in her eyes for these gossipy employees.