Chapter 208 - 208 Please Take Me In, Can We Spend The New Year Together?
Initially, Ai Tingya was also conflicted about whether she should return. Ai Zhaojiang was also looking forward to celebrating the first reunion with his granddaughter after all.
However, after careful consideration, Ai Tingya decided to return to the orphanage to take a look.
Firstly, she was worried that Dean Du would think too much. Secondly, she was indeed missing the children in the orphanage.
Ai Tingya felt extremely relaxed returning to the familiar courtyard. The two of them sat around the stove and chatted happily.
“Xiaoya, you found your family?”
“Yes! I found Grandpa. He’s a professor in our school.” Ai Tingya smiled.
Dean Du recalled that when Professor Jing came to the orphanage to enroll, he insisted on meeting Ai Tingya in person. Initially, Dean Du thought that the recruitment teacher was in charge, but he didn’t expect it to be his old friend’s accurate intuition.
“That’s great!” Dean Du was also very happy for Ai Tingya.
The two of them had a lot to talk about, especially Ai Tingya. She told Dean Du everything that had happened in school, from the small matter of delivering drinks during military training to expanding the milk tea shop and competing with powerful seniors.
Dean Du was sometimes surprised, sometimes worried, and sometimes laughing.
Ai Tingya was not a person who liked to chat, but when she met Dean Du, her words were like a flood that had opened its floodgates. She could not finish them even after three days and three nights.
This was because in her heart, Dean Du was more like a parent than Ai Zhaojiang. Moreover, they were talking as equals. Ai Tingya enjoyed the time she spent chatting with Dean Du.
While they were engrossed in their conversation, Luo Feng helped pour water, open and close the windows, and occasionally play with his phone. He was like a primary school student accompanying his parents, finding something to do in his boredom.
Dean Du didn’t want to neglect her guest. She thought of chatting with Luo Feng and said, “Tingya, look at how well Luo Feng treats you. He sent you home when he returned to Crown City. What a good child.”
It would have been better if she hadn’t said this. The moment he did, Luo Feng thought of his parents who had gone out to play.
Luo Feng looked up and smiled bitterly. “Dean Du, can I ask you for a favor?”
“Of course!” Dean Du agreed without thinking.
Luo Feng had helped the orphanage a lot. The milk tea shop he opened took care of most of the children’s work.
“I was abandoned by my parents. Please take me in,” Luo Feng said pitifully.
“?”
Hearing this, Dean Du immediately chose to look at Ai Tingya.
Ai Tingya held her forehead and felt that Luo Feng was pitiful and funny. “Explain it to the Dean properly. Otherwise, she will misunderstand.”
The orphanage was very sensitive to words like “abandoned”, “abandoned”, and “lost”. Dean Du’s first reaction was that Luo Feng’s parents were unusual. They could even abandon such a promising son.
If not for Ai Tingya’s smile, Dean Du might have taken it seriously. For example, she would make an exception and apply for an admission certificate for Luo Feng to officially join a large family like the orphanage.
“It’s like this… My parents sold their house and went on a trip…”
Luo Feng explained the ins and outs of the matter, and Ai Tingya couldn’t stop laughing. Dean Du’s expression was very serious at first, but after understanding the ins and outs of the matter, she couldn’t help but laugh.
“So, your parents are traveling and won’t be at home for the New Year this year,” Dean Du said with a smile.
“Yes… They probably forgot that they have a son like me…” Luo Feng felt stifled.
Even if Ai Tingya was an orphan, she still had an orphanage to stay in. He had both parents. He stood in front of a house that was no longer his home and enjoyed the cold wind. As for his parents, they might be enjoying the sun on the warm beach.
It was sad just thinking about it.
“Dean Du, I’ve thought it through on the way here. Perhaps our orphanage is my destined destination.” Luo Feng had a depressed expression and suddenly had the aura of a poet.
The corners of Dean Du’s mouth curled up into a smile. When she heard this, she complained softly, “I’m afraid it’s not our Xiaoya who’s destined to be your home…”
“If you have nowhere to go, you can stay here.”
There was nothing else in the orphanage, but there was no lack of rooms.
Dean Du had always been grateful to Luo Feng, so she naturally wouldn’t reject this small request.
Luo Feng had done the orphanage a favor after all. Good Me’s milk tea shop was originally meant to alleviate the orphanage’s economic crisis. Now, a portion of Crown City’s milk tea shop’s shares belonged to the orphanage.
From then on, Dean Du almost never worried about funding again.
Moreover, the milk tea shop provided very good jobs for the children. Luo Feng never hides anything. When hiring employees, the first thing he thought of was the orphanage.
A store manager like Xiao Fei was considered a leader. She earned nearly 100,000 yuan a month. Before Luo Feng appeared, the children were already very lucky to find jobs that gave them a few thousand yuan.
To orphans without a background or parents to help them, Luo Feng could be said to be their second parent.
What surprised Dean Du even more was that when the children earned money, they pooled it together to discuss and decided to give a portion to the orphanage every month. This was Xiao Fei’s suggestion.
Even though there was not much money, some children who had just started working could only take out a few hundred yuan. However, there were many children who gathered money. There were tens of thousands of yuan in total. It was enough for the younger children to eat for a few months.
Dean Du did not want it at first. She felt that it was not easy for the children to earn money.
Xiao Fei took leave and came back just to convince her to accept it.
According to Xiao Fei, if they weren’t children from the orphanage, they probably wouldn’t have the chance to get to Good Me for such a good job.
The conversation returned to the beginning.
In order to fulfill Ai Tingya’s dream, Luo Feng had opened a milk tea shop. Even after expanding until now, he had not forgotten his original intention.
It was the orphanage that facilitated Good Me’s opening of the shop, and it was also Good Me who helped the orphanage.
Dean Du could not win against Xiao Fei, so she could only accept the money. This 10,000 yuan could also reduce the Dean’s burden.
Just now, when Ai Tingya and Luo Feng entered together, the children surrounded the two of them. Even though the children were young, they remembered Luo Feng’s kindness and knew how helpful he was to everyone.
Moreover, Luo Feng also gave the employees in the shop a break while he was on holiday. Xiao Fei and the others returned to the orphanage before Ai Tingya. When they heard that Luo Feng was here, the employees who were taken care of by Luo Feng also ran over.
However, they were still bosses and employees. Some people were still a little reserved when they saw Luo Feng and did not dare to speak casually.
Except for Xiao Fei.
...
When she heard that Luo Feng had applied to stay in the orphanage, she hurriedly ran over to laugh at him. “Boss, I didn’t expect you to have such a day.”
“Xiao Fei.” Dean Du glanced at her and asked her to speak properly.
“Ahem, Boss, I heard that you’re going to celebrate the new year with us?” She skipped around Luo Feng. It was true that she was laughing at Luo Feng and also true that she was happy.