Chapter 427 - Old Urchin.
Chapter 427: Old Urchin.
Half an hour later, Xiao Luo and Ji Siying arrived at the welfare home. Although it was called a ‘welfare home,’ it was just an enclosed courtyard, with a three-story house built on top of an area the size of two basketball courts.
It was aging and run-down, many places on the wall were decorated with cracks, and there were even several green vines creeping onto the walls.
There was a group of children sitting on stone benches bathed in the sun, eating porridge from the bowls in their hands. Upon a closer look, they were all girls, and they were all disabled! Some with deformed hands and feet, and some looked mentally abnormal… They were ragged (in terms of health condition), but at least, they appear to look clean and well put together.
“These little girls are orphans abandoned by their families. Some of them were born with brain atrophy, some were born with cataracts, and some can only live by blood transfusion. The parents who gave birth to them can’t afford such financial burden, so they are sent here. Besides these children you see here, there are dozens of others like them inside the Welfare Institute. There are adults who are unable to survive on their own, basically disabled, and people who can’t even walk. They can only stay in the bed in the room all day long.” Ji Siying briefly relayed the information she had gathered about the Welfare Institute.
The more Xiao Luo gazed at the place, the more his brows furrowed. He wondered if he was cold-blooded? When dealing with the enemy, of course he would be cold-blooded, BUT he did not lack morality. He could kill without blinking, BUT he could also feel sorrowful, just like what he was feeling now after he saw the condition of the welfare home.
At this time, an old man with white hair came out of the inner room. His clothes were patched, a pair of flip-flops were on his feet, his arm and legs were exposed, and his facial hair were all white.
It was the white-haired beggar, Hong Ji, whom he met that night!
When Hong Ji saw Xiao Luo, his expression immediately changed, and his eyes were filled with fear. He stared at Xiao Luo as if he was the enemy. “How did you find me? What are you … what are you going to do?”
He would never forget the night when Xiao Luo cut off his left arm.
“Don’t be nervous, I mean no harm.”
Xiao Luo came up to him and glanced at his dismembered arm. The place where the arm was supposed to be was now only a fluttering of fabric of the empty sleeve… His heart suddenly started to have mixed feelings. “Your left arm… I’m sorry!”
He then bowed deeply right after.
If he wasn’t aware of this Welfare Institute and didn’t know that Hong Ji was the director of this place, Xiao Luo wouldn’t be experiencing the complicated emotions he was feeling right now. He even felt regretful and a bit remorseful. He could be very evil to the wicked, but he couldn’t commit evil to this kind of philanthropic person. There was a saying: You can be evil, but please don’t be evil to a person who does good!
Hong Ji was stunned. He looked at Xiao Luo with wide eyes for a while before smiling lightly, “There is nothing to be sorry for. I took the initiative to provoke you. The fact that you didn’t kill me is already extraordinarily gracious. It is actually me who wants to say sorry. I actually acted as someone else’s hired hand… My broken arm completely woke me up and pulled me back from going down the wrong path. I think it was worth the price.”
“Old man, your words make me even more ashamed.” Xiao Luo wryly smiled.
Hong Ji could clearly see it and smiled heartily, “Young people should not dwell on the past, but instead look forward. Everything happens for a reason, and entanglement cannot be changed. If you always care about the past, how can you look forward to the future and go on with your life?”
“If nothing happened that night, I think we would’ve become friends.” Xiao Luo found this old urchin pleasing.
“Since you came here, we already are friends.” Hong Ji said.
“Are we?”
“Of course!”
Hong Ji smiled and then made a gesture of invitation to the back room. “Please, although this ‘shack’ is shabby, there is still tea for its guests.”
“You don’t hate me?” Xiao Luo looked at him.
Hong Ji shook his head and sighed, “What’s the use of hate? Can hate bring back my arm? Can ‘hate’ put food on the table to feed everyone in my Welfare Institute and clothed them?”
“Old man, you’re very interesting. Whether you are telling the truth or not, this card is for you. The password is six eight’s, this is just a little compensation.” Xiao Luo took a bank card from his pocket and handed it to Hong Ji.
“Young man, you need it to jump start your own career. You don’t have to do this. Take it back.” Hong Ji refused.
“Don’t you need it? The one million in this card should be enough to cover the expenses for your Welfare Institute for a long time. ” Xiao Luo frowned.
“What? One million?”
When Hong Ji heard the amount, he couldn’t help but gasp. And then, with an incredible speed, he snatched the card; *poof* like magic, the card truly disappeared. It was already put away. Hong Ji also complained, “Why didn’t you say this card has one million earlier, this old man almost rejected ‘one million’!”
Uh…
Xiao Luo and Ji Siying were stunned at how fast this old man changed faces. It was like flipping a page of a book. One second before, he was being very humble and polite, but the second after, he became a money addict! It was too unexpected.
“Old man, at least maintain the image of an elder…” Xiao Luo said in distress.
“Can the image of an elder be eaten as a meal? I originally thought that you were just a working class and didn’t have any money on hand. But now it seems that your identity should be a Big Boss. Moreover, didn’t you just say ‘compensation’? Give me another million dollars. The more money, the better. If you can, it is best to invest in rebuilding my Welfare Institute.” Hong Ji rubbed his hands together gleefully like a schemer in those cartoons. A crooked smile hung on his face.
A million dollars? Rebuild the Welfare Institute?
Xiao Luo’s guilt suddenly dissipated, he said jokingly, “Old man, aren’t you a little shameless?”
“Look at you, young man… You have to do this in society, otherwise you will lose many opportunities.” Hong Ji earnestly preached.
Xiao Luo didn’t pay any attention to him anymore. This guy was an old fox, he could change his stance so quickly.
“Old Hong, this old man is coming for you. Today we will decide on who will win and die!”
At that moment, a loud voice rang out which contained deep internal force, causing people’s eardrums to feel a slight throbbing.
At the same time, a figure broke in from outside the Welfare Institute like the wind. The figure was so fast that it left afterimages. The figure was a tall man attired in all white. He had a high nose and deep eyes, he was also white all over like Hong Ji. His eyes were like swords, and were very sharp.
“Old man, you came just in time. I was worried that there was nothing to vent my anger on!”
Hong Ji quickly put away his shameless and cunning side as he looked at the newcomer with a touch of madness.
“Then come on, it’s time to end… Wait, why is your left arm gone?” The old man asked in surprise.
“I thought that it was in the way, so I cut it off! Why? Since when did you start caring about me? Are you my son?”
Hong Ji cursed. He then took out the bank card again and turned to face Xiao Luo. “Young man, I’ll give this card back to you. Since you want to compensate me, then promise me one thing. If I am unfortunately killed by him, you must help me continue to maintain this Welfare Institute. Don’t let these people in my Welfare Institute be displaced and become poor children begging on the street. Although I am the leader of the Beggars’ Sect, I hope that there would be no more beggars…”