An energetic voice came from outside the hospital room, shattering Zhang Yue's melancholic mood.
She looked up and met Lu Xing's sparkling eyes.
Before, Lu Xing had been a little brat shorter than her. Now, she had to tilt her head up to see his face.
"Wow! Dr. Zhang, you're here too!"
Seeing Zhang Yue in the room, Lu Xing greeted her happily.
In the beginning, before he got into the professional simp business, he was an orphan with no money.
His grandpa was in the emergency room, and no one could spare a thought for him.
He was starving, but he didn't know who to tell.
It was Zhang Yue who took pity on him and brought him to eat in the hospital cafeteria for two days.
Therefore, Lu Xing was very grateful to Zhang Yue.
"Dr. Zhang! I want to give you a small gift!"
Zhang Yue looked at Lu Xing's brilliant smile and couldn't help but smile along with him.
"You're bribing a doctor, you know."
Lu Xing chuckled and pulled a box out of his pocket.
"Are you sure you don't want it?"
When Zhang Yue saw clearly what was in Lu Xing's hand, she burst out laughing.
It was a box of ballpoint pens.
The hard currency in a hospital isn't money, but... pens!
Leave a hundred-yuan bill on a desk and no one will touch it, but leave a few pens on a desk, and they'll vanish in an afternoon!
Zhang Yue was still laughing her head off.
But then she felt her own pocket, and her smile froze.
"Hey? I had three pens in my pocket! Who swiped them all!!!"
The hospital room instantly erupted in laughter.
Lu Xing put the box of pens into Zhang Yue's pocket and said thoughtfully.
"Dr. Zhang, you'll definitely be very popular when you go back to your department."
Zhang Yue clutched the pens in her pocket and solemnly shook Lu Xing's hand.
"You're a good person!"
Lu Xing gave a salute. "As I should be!"
After a round of laughter and joking, Zhang Yue said to Lu Xing.
"Mr. Zhao Henmei is recovering very well. We need to observe his physical condition for a little while longer. If all his vitals are normal, he can be discharged. Congratulations, congratulations."
Zhang Yue had watched Lu Xing walk this path from the beginning.
She knew that Lu Xing's life wasn't easy, and she knew even better that he was a good kid who knew how to repay kindness.
"Really? That's great!"
Lu Xing was pleasantly surprised. His grandpa was recovering even faster than he had imagined!
After seeing Dr. Zhang off, Lu Xing rushed to the hospital bed and gripped his grandpa's hand.
"Good, good, good!" Zhao Henmei's hand trembled as he wiped his tears with a cloth.
The burns were irreversible, so there were still scars on his hands.
Zhao Henmei stroked Lu Xing's head, tears streaming down his old face.
"We can finally go home!"
"It's been hard on you..."
Zhao Henmei's wife was named Zhao Zhenzhu.
The two of them had no children their whole lives, but they had spent their life savings to open an orphanage.
Zhao Zhenzhu had just finished fetching hot water and entered the room when she saw this scene.
She didn't go over. Instead, she secretly turned around to wipe her tears.
Back when the orphanage caught fire...
The couple's life's work went up in flames, and Zhao Henmei was sent to the emergency room.
At that time, Zhao Zhenzhu had nightmares night after night.
She didn't know how an uneducated old woman like her would manage if something happened to her husband!
In her extreme grief, Zhao Zhenzhu had even cried until she passed out.
When she woke up, she saw Lu Xing's small, tender face showing a determined expression as he earnestly promised her.
"Grandma, don't cry. Grandpa will be fine."
"Even if an accident really happens, I will take care of you!"
At that time, Zhao Zhenzhu had hugged Lu Xing and cried her heart out, thinking this sensible child was just comforting her.
But Zhao Zhenzhu never expected that Lu Xing would actually keep his word!
From then on, no storm or rain fell upon the two old folks. Instead, Lu Xing faced the tempest, using his thin shoulders to hold up a new world for them!
Lu Xing lay on the cot for accompanying family members.
Grandpa Li had long since fallen asleep, his snores louder than thunder.
Lu Xing suddenly asked.
"Grandpa, do you still want to open an orphanage?"
Zhao Henmei was stunned.
Ever since the orphanage burned to ashes, he had never dared to have that thought again...
Lu Xing knew his grandpa liked raising children.
Back when he was abandoned in the village, he lived on government relief, dressed in dirty clothes every day.
The other kids his age wouldn't play with him, and the teachers didn't like him either.
Only Grandpa said that he was a star in the sky, and that being able to live, however faintly yet diligently, was already amazing!
After Grandpa's orphanage opened, he was the first one to be brought in!
That year, Lu Xing was ten.
Later, the orphanage caught fire, and Lu Xing's life once again hurtled in an unpredictable direction!
Lu Xing stared at the stars outside the window and said.
"Grandpa, the copyright for the novel I wrote this year was sold."
"They said they're going to make it into a TV series. They gave me one and a half million. Plus the money I saved before, I now have a total of three million two hundred thousand on hand."
"I've calculated it. It will cost two million seven hundred thousand to build a new orphanage, and the subsequent operating costs will be three hundred thousand. I'll give you another two hundred thousand for backup funds and living expenses."
"You had a good reputation when you ran the orphanage before. If you apply for subsidies, you should be able to maintain its subsequent operations."
Lu Xing spoke slowly, his voice firm and serious.
The thought of many children like him having a home brought a faint smile to Lu Xing's lips.
This smile was more genuine than any smile he had ever shown to any of his clients.
Zhao Henmei's mind went blank.
He never thought that what Lu Xing wanted was to build a new orphanage for him!
Zhao Henmei asked with a trembling voice.
Lu Xing was taken aback.
Zhao Henmei suddenly sat up, his teeth chattering, staring at the back of Lu Xing on the cot.
"You're giving all the money to me, how will you live?!"
Zhao Henmei had been strong his whole life, but now, clear tears streamed down his face.
"For the past three years, you've exhausted yourself every day, just to give me all the money you earn. What about you?"
"When I took you in, I wanted you to live a happy life!"
"I failed to do that, and instead I let you..."
So that's what this is about.
Lu Xing let out a sigh of relief. He thought his grandpa didn't want to run an orphanage anymore.
Lu Xing said comfortingly.
"It doesn't matter to me."
"Grandpa, I can still write more novels. They really like the things I write."
"Now that you're well and the orphanage is being built, I can write slowly. It won't be tiring!"
By the end of this month.
Lu Xing would have earned enough for his university living expenses.
It wouldn't be bad to end his professional simp career now, but earning until graduation in June would open up even more possibilities for Lu Xing!
He would regain his freedom!
All those psychos would disappear from his life!
Holding onto his hopes for the future, Lu Xing closed his eyes.
It will be the first morning he doesn't have to wake up half an hour early to make breakfast for Wei Qingyu.