Perhaps because Luo Jun had difficulty walking but insisted on not using a wheelchair, his visit stretched for more than an hour. It wasn’t until nearly 12:30 that Luo Jun completed his tour of the orphanage and finalized a donation.
Qin Huai wasn’t sure about the exact amount donated, but from the enthusiastic way Director Qu brewed tea, it seed to be substantial.
Lunch was a communal affair, with everyone eating together.
The orphanage’s al distribution was similar to that of elentary schools. Large containers held the food, and each child would line up with their bowl to receive their portion. They had no option to be picky; they ate what was available, and today the main course was buns made by Qin Huai.
The person who bought the ingredients clearly hadn’t made buns before, as they bought a lot of pork, but it was too fatty.
Normally, the filling should be made with pork that is seventy percent lean and thirty percent fat. Sixty percent lean would work too, but anything over thirty percent fat would make pure at buns seem greasy.
The at purchased today was pork belly with close to fifty percent fat.
Luckily, the purchaser also bought a lot of cabbage. Qin Huai decided to make cabbage and pork-filled buns, and the remaining green beans from the stir-fry were used to make minced at and bean buns.
With limited ti at noon, not all the buns were finished. Fearing the orphanage kids might go hungry without enough staple food, Qin Huai prioritized making a batch and steaming them as soon as possible.
This resulted in a very uneven appearance of the stead buns.
After all, the buns were made by Chen Huihong, by Qin Huai, by Qu Jing, and by other staff mbers of the orphanage.
Apart from the ones made by Qin Huai, which looked standard and recognizable as buns, the rest displayed a great deal of creative freedom.
While making the buns, Qin Huai fully believed Director Qu’s statent that the orphanage staff were not adept at making pastries. Indeed, they couldn’t, and it was evident they were only skilled at making dumplings, as so staff initially wrapped the buns like dumplings out of habit.
Luo Jun looked at the buns Qu Jing handed him with so disdain.
A plate of three buns: one made by Qin Huai and two of unknown origin. One bun and two at-filled pastries.
As the benefactor, Luo Jun received special treatnt during the al. His table not only had a small table just for him, but the dishes were served on small plates.
"Mr. Luo, if you’re not used to it, there are still so snacks that Master Qin brought this morning. Should I bring you so snacks?" Qu Jing noticed Luo Jun’s reluctance.
"I’m not hungry," Luo Jun said lightly, "It’s not my usual lunch ti yet."
Qu Jing realized it too; indeed, Luo Jun typically had lunch at around three or four in the afternoon. It was understandably a bit early for him.
Luo Jun pointed to sothing that resembled a dough-made tangyuan: "Who made this bun? It’s worse than mine."
Upon hearing this, the three of them were shocked and spoke in unison, "You can make buns?"
"Of course, I can even make dumplings," Luo Jun said with a sip of tea. "Though, your orphanage’s als are quite ager, with four dishes and not a bit of at visible."
"Today is considered pretty good for als," Qu Jing replied. "On Sundays, when volunteers co to help, there’s often an improvent, with several dishes. On ordinary days, it’s usually just two dishes, cabbage and potato shreds, along with a bowl of egg flower soup. But that’s from when I was in high school; it should have improved over the years. I don’t co often, so I’m not really sure."
Qin Huai, holding a bowl, continued to eat while watching a staff mber feeding children who clearly had intellectual disabilities. He asked, "Are there also many children with disabilities at your orphanage?"
Qu Jing noticed the word "also": "Master Qin, did the orphanage you grew up in also..."
Qin Huai nodded, "Healthy kids are generally easily adopted. When I was little, there were still normal, healthy children in the orphanage like , but in recent years, it’s mostly those with developntal issues or congenital severe diseases."
"My adoption ca relatively late. When I was young, Director Qin always thought I had ADHD. At that ti, the concept wasn’t well understood, so it was just said I was sick. The rumor spread until it turned out I was considered stupid. So, although I was at the orphanage from a young age, no one adopted until I was seven or eight." Qin Huai felt sharing his childhood story was the first step in making friends and closing the gap.
This thod was very effective because Chen Huihong beca interested.
"And then?" Chen Huihong asked.
Qin Huai thought to himself, Sister Hong, why are you curious about this? Shouldn’t this be Qu Jing’s question?
"Afterwards, I was adopted by my parents. Their breakfast shop was right opposite the orphanage, so I sort of grew up under their watch and they knew well."
Chen Huihong nodded and asked Qu Jing, "Hey, Xiao Qu, since you had such good grades, weren’t there couples eager to adopt you too?"
Qin Huai: ...
Sister Hong, if you don’t know how to chat, it’s better not to.
Clearly, Qu Jing was completely unfazed by Chen Huihong’s question. She calmly replied, "Director Mommy did try to help find an adoptive family, but I was too quiet, and being a girl, it was hard to find the right match."
"Later, as I got older, I didn’t want to be adopted anymore and just stayed at the orphanage."
"I always felt that adoption requires a certain fate, just like Master Qin with his parents, or you and Huihui. Perhaps I wasn’t destined for it."
Not far away, Director Qu had begun breaking the buns apart and mixing them with the dishes before feeding them to the children.
"Director Qu is quite patient," Qin Huai remarked.
Qu Jing smiled and nodded, "Director Qu is a really good person. My first pair of gloves were knitted by her with wool. I rember they were purple, and she was worried that the color would be too embarrassing, that I’d be made fun of at school, so she added a cloth bow on them, which actually made them look even worse."
"Dr. Qu, it must have been tough being severely allergic to UV rays since a young age," Qin Huai said. "Having to avoid the sun while going to and from school."
Qu Jing was startled, paused, then nodded, "Yeah, but my UV allergy wasn’t as severe when I was young. It only started in middle school... Director Mommy knitted many mittens for , so it didn’t affect my life much."
"Now, Director Mommy’s knitting skills have improved a lot. Master Qin, do you need any? If you do, I can ask her to pick a few nice pieces for you. She now knits sweaters, scarves, and mittens every day, and sotis she even sells them online."
Qin Huai waved his hands repeatedly, "I wouldn’t need them."
"I don’t like things made of wool," Luo Jun said.
Chen Huihong seed sowhat interested, "Can it be custom ordered? I’d like to order two pieces for Huihui."
"Of course, Director Mommy would be happy to take your order."
The two began discussing business.
Qin Huai could only try hard to steer the conversation back, glancing at Luo Jun, who had already started playing on his phone and seed to have completely forgotten that today’s the was to make friends with Qu Jing. Qin Huai asked, "Mr. Luo, may I ask how much you donated today?"
"I didn’t donate a specific amount," Luo Jun said without looking up.
"Facilities, then?" Chen Huihong inquired.
"No," Luo Jun was already playing a shooting ga, "I covered all the dical and educational expenses for the children at the orphanage."
Everyone was shocked: !
Qu Jing was so surprised her eyes widened, and with her not showing many facial features, that made it particularly noticeable: "But there are children at the orphanage with congenital heart disease, severe cerebral palsy, moderate cerebral palsy, mild cerebral palsy, hearing impairnts, visual impairnts, and two cases of polio."
"Your director already introduced those to earlier," Luo Jun continued to proficiently play his ga. "She wanted to pick one or two to sponsor, but since picking was troubleso, I decided to sponsor them all."
Qin Huai took a deep breath, feeling it was urgent to introduce Director Qin’s WeChat to Luo Jun.
"But my money won’t be spent in vain. I’ll co regularly to check if it’s being used appropriately. Xiao Qu and Xiao Qin, you two will accompany for inspections. I’ll check the accounts, and you two can do your volunteer work." Luo Jun assigned tasks to Qin Huai and Qu Jing very clearly.
In his mind, Qin Huai silently gave Luo Jun a thumbs-up. This is what it ans to silently accomplish significant deeds.
When you have money, you can truly do whatever you want.
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