Chapter 14

Chapter 14

It wasn’t like this was the first time such a thing had happened. This is an orphanage, after all; there are always people who have children they don’t want or can’t afford to raise, so they leave them at our gates. But even when people abandon children, they usually wrap them in thick layers of clothing and maybe leave some of the child’s daily necessities nearby. Wen Miao and the others were different. They had nothing. They were wearing only thin, single-layered clothes-not even shoes. I happened to arrive early that day; otherwise, in that weather, even if they had survived being brought inside, they would have suffered a life-threatening illness.

After Wen Miao and the others arrived, we tested their bone age and found they were all around five or six years old. You have to understand, abandoning an infant is quite different from abandoning a five or six-year-old child.

With infants, people are afraid of the crying. So, they usually wait until the baby is fast asleep before dropping them at the orphanage gate and leaving. But older children are different; they remember things to some extent. Parents either coax or trick them into staying at the gate, making up an excuse about needing to buy something or some other reason to leave. When the child can’t find their parents, they naturally turn to the orphanage for help.

That’s why I say the situation with Wen Miao and the others was unusual. Of course, that wasn’t the only strange thing. All those children were dressed in identical white, thin clothes, making it feel as though they had been abandoned by the same family… though that was just a guess. There was no blood relation between any of them.

Later, we brought the children into the orphanage. Several from that group were adopted one after another, until finally, only Wen Miao, Wen Xin, and Wen Tangtang remained.

At that time, Wen Tangtang was in poor health and fell ill frequently. The orphanage was poor back then and we had many children, all of whom were at the age where they were growing fast; honestly, just filling their bellies was a luxury. We couldn’t keep up with things like fruit or proper nutrition, so for someone with a weak constitution like Wen Tangtang, the illnesses were never-ending. Everyone knew why she was sick, but as the saying goes, a single penny can stump a hero-we simply didn’t have the money.

Wen Xin was a boy, so there were actually quite a few people who wanted to adopt him. But every time someone came for him, he insisted on taking Wen Tangtang with him before he would agree to go… Naturally, those adoptions fell through, and he stayed at the orphanage.

As for Wen Miao, when she was little, she was actually closer to a boy named Xiao Shu. Later, the two of them were adopted together, but for some reason, Wen Miao suddenly returned to the orphanage on her own one day.

When I asked her about it, she just sat there with her head down, reading a book and ignoring everyone.

We called the adopter, who took a long time to call back. He said that due to certain circumstances, he could only adopt Xiao Shu.

It was only later that Wen Miao became friends with Wen Tangtang and Wen Xin. It seemed they were destined to be friends. From the age of eight, we discovered that these three children possessed exceptionally high IQs. Ordinary children weren’t even on the same starting line as them.

Resources at the orphanage weren’t as good then as they are now. Beyond guaranteeing the children’s nine-year compulsory education, most weren’t even able to attend high school. Because we lacked the funds, we could only allocate resources to those who were particularly good at their studies.

There was a reason for this: we usually signed agreements with the children we supported through their education. We would support them for seven years-three years of high school and four years of university. After graduation, they were required to donate a certain amount of supplies or funds to the orphanage over the next ten years, based on their salary. This ensured that other talented children in the orphanage would also have the chance to go to school. It was a virtuous cycle.
To be honest, the orphanage hadn’t actually provided much money for Wen Miao, Wen Xin, and Wen Tangtang’s education. The three children knew the orphanage struggled financially, so they relied entirely on scholarships for their studies.

I remember back during the high school entrance exams, the three of them were so close that they originally planned to attend the same school. However, while the city high school offered decent first- and second-tier scholarships, the third-tier amount was far too low. Because of this, Wen Xin intentionally applied to a different school to avoid competing with Wen Miao and Wen Tangtang for the top scholarships. They had no choice; if any of them ended up with a third-tier scholarship, it wouldn’t be enough to cover a full year’s tuition and fees.

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After finishing her story, the Director sighed emotionally. “Those three were the smartest children our orphanage has ever seen… I don’t know if it’s true that the brilliant are often short-lived, but Wen Miao passed away in her twenties, and Wen Xin only made it to his thirties. Wen Tangtang…”

Her voice choked up, and unable to continue, she fell into a somber silence.

Nan Mu hadn’t realized Wen Miao’s childhood had been so difficult. He felt a pang in his heart. “Does Happiness Orphanage still have any of Wen Miao’s belongings?”

“I’m not entirely sure. Most of Wen Miao’s things were eventually taken by Wen Xin and Wen Tangtang,” the Director said, thinking for a moment. “How about I take you to Wen Xin’s room to have a look?”

She stood up and led Nan Mu outside. “Wen Xin used to come back often, so we’ve always kept his room reserved for him. Wen Tangtang works a lot of overtime and doesn’t get much time off, but when she does visit occasionally, she stays in Wen Xin’s old room as well.”

She sent someone to get the keys from the security post, then went to the third floor and opened the room at the very end of the hallway.

It wasn’t a large room, but it looked very clean.

Just then, someone came running over in a hurry and whispered something into the Director’s ear.

“Why don’t you take a look around on your own first? I have something urgent to handle, but I’ll be back in a moment.”

“Of course. Please, go ahead. I’m in no rush.” This was exactly what Nan Mu wanted. He had been hoping for a chance to search the place for any useful clues.

After the Director left, he went through the cabinets and actually found a stack of old items with Wen Miao’s name on them inside a drawer.

He flipped through them but didn’t find anything particularly unusual. The box was mostly stuffed with books Wen Miao had used in the past, ranging from junior high to university.

Aside from the pages being slightly yellowed with age, Wen Miao’s elegant handwriting was still clearly visible when he opened them.

Nan Mu sighed. As he was stacking the books back one by one, a photograph slipped out from between the pages.

There were three people in the photo. One was Wen Miao, looking like she was in her university years. The other two were male. One looked quite young; although he was tall, his face was very boyish, making him look like a minor. The other was a young man in his twenties.

The weather in the photo seemed warm, as Wen Miao was only wearing a thin cardigan, yet the young man was wearing a plush hat and appeared very pale.

Nan Mu turned the photo over and saw a line of text written by Wen Miao on the back: “Taken with Xiao Shu, April 2022.”

Was this the boy named Xiao Shu that the Director mentioned had been adopted?