“You seem to know the ongoings of the hospital well, why don’t you visit Colonel Lin and see how he’s doing now for yourself?” With that, Director Lee withdrew himself from the conversation with a look of irritation.
Zhou Weiqi snickered. “It does feel good seeing their misfortunes.”
“Don’t get too far ahead of yourself.” Lu Xingzhi replied, raining on Zhou Weiqi’s parade. He continued, “If you want to have some peace and quiet, look for an excuse and leave Jindo City for a few days.”
Zhou Weiqi understood immediately. At the end of the day, no matter how much he was hated, they would still come to him for the favor.
“Where are we going?” Having heard what Lu Xingzhi said when he came over, Chen Xuyao was a little thrilled.
Zhou Weiqi pondered for a bit before looking at Jiang Yao, widening his lips to a grin. “Aren’t you going back to Nanjiang City the day after tomorrow? It does sound like a neat place to hang out. I will arrive a day before Jiang Yao. Plus, I can look after her for Brother Lu.”
“Thanks.” Jiang Yao rolled her eyes and thanked him dryly.
Chen Xuyao could not stop but laugh after witnessing their interaction. Interesting, he thought, an intriguing character Jiang Yao was. Even a three-year old toddler could discern her feigned gratitude. To his surprise, he saw Lu Xingzhi’s lips curled upward into a smile too.
Interesting.
Suddenly remembering he was here to see Lu Xingzhi, Chen Xuyao said, “Brother Lu, can you come with me? Old General Liang wants to introduce someone else to you.”
Lu Xingzhi looked at Jiang Yao, seeing her nod of approval, he gave her head a rub. “Keep up with Weiqi, don’t you go wandering around again. I’ll be back soon.”
He turned as he finished speaking and walked toward where Old General Liang was currently standing, along with Chen Xuyao.
“Jiang Yao, let’s have a seat over there, the auction is starting soon.” Zhou Weiqi grabbed Jiang Yao and walked to the right.
The banquet hall was set up merely as a registration site for the charity auction. To the right of the banquet hall was the auction venue, connected via a short walkway. The auction items were all brought in by guests. All proceeds would be donated to school children in rural mountainous areas of the country.
The auction had not yet officially begun, but seats were already filled up by people. Zhou Weiqi, lugging Jiang Yao along, took their seat numbers and started searching for them. Jiang Yao managed to get a glimpse of the number in Zhou Weiqi’s hand. ‘Number six,’ she thought, ‘lucky number.’
Jiang Yao had never been to an event like this, this was her first. Before her rebirth, she helped organize donations received by the school back when she was living in the mountains. It was the happiest time for the teachers at the school.
The donation of winter clothing meant that the students were protected from the frigid cold, and the donation of new stationeries meant that the students did not have to practice their writing using twigs on dirt.
The great amount of monetary donations also meant that the school clinic did not have to worry about medications running out of stock.
“People do recognize the fact that most of the items presented here are not going to be auctioned off, save for a selected few.” Zhou Weiqi sat down and handed Jiang Yao a bottle of water. “Although I’m pretty sure Brother Lu’s item will be one of the few exceptions. Calligraphy art like his does command a lot of attention and is quite popular with the people here, even more so than jewelries.”
Jiang Yao smiled at Zhou Weiqi appreciatively. She glanced around aimlessly and rested her gaze on Chen Feibai and Zhou Ning.
Perhaps irked by Zhou Ning, Chen Feibai shoved her and howled, “Dammit, get lost!”