Chapter 2663 — Visiting Yu Xiaoke

"It's like this... Mr. Lin, could you take me to see... my sister?" Though Yu Dake had said before that he did not want to disturb his sister's life, circumstances had changed. After returning, he could not help but worry about her and long for her, and he even wanted to meet her and acknowledge her as soon as possible!

And the reason he had come this time was to ask Wei Zhao to take him to see his sister—which was why he had been hemming and hawing, hesitating to speak.

"I see. Of course, no problem at all." Wei Zhao smiled, understanding Yu Dake's feelings. At the time, Yu Dake had said he did not want to see her, but once a thing like this became known, one could not help but think of it constantly; if he did not go to see her, he would never be at ease. So Wei Zhao said, "Tomorrow morning, then. It just so happens that I've raised a sum of money for her orphanage and was planning to wire it over. This way I can simply deliver the check to her in person."

"Tomorrow... could it be today?" Yu Dake asked cautiously. "I can't stay out too long—I'm afraid the Hidden Right family will get suspicious. If they learn I came to see Mr. Lin, they definitely won't let me off easily..."

"Today works too, then. Let's set out right now." Wei Zhao rose to his feet. "Yaoyao, Xiaoshu, I'm making a trip back to Songshan City—is there anything you need?"

"Hmm... it's getting colder and colder. Could you go back to the villa for us and find some winter clothes?" Gu Mengyao thought for a moment and asked.

"All right, I'll be off, then." With that, Wei Zhao left the villa together with Yu Dake, got into the car, and drove straight for Songshan City...

What Wei Zhao did not know was that on this road to Songshan City there was another traveler—one he knew somewhat: Tang Yuqi. Tang Yuqi had come back from overseas this time to fulfill a wish of his father's!

Tang Yuqi's father had once been a native of Songshan City, but as a child, because the family was poor, he had been given in adoption to a wealthy household. Not long after, that household emigrated overseas. In the blink of an eye, so many years had passed. Tang Yuqi's grandfather—that is, his father's adoptive father—had passed away, and Tang Yuqi's father was himself getting on in years. Old people long to return to their roots, but returning to one's roots depends on circumstances. Tang Yuqi's father still had a younger brother here; if he could find him, he planned to come back. If he could not, then upon returning he would know no one at all, and naturally there would be little point to it.

Of course, whether he came back or not was in fact secondary. The main thing was that he wanted to have family. He had been an adopted child, and overseas he had no relatives left. During festivals he felt rather lonely, and he was always fantasizing that his younger brother's family might come to visit overseas.

So Tang Yuqi took this very seriously. After landing in Donghai City and staying the night, he rented a car and headed for Songshan City.

Wei Zhao and Yu Dake arrived together at the Songshan City Orphanage. The moment the car entered the courtyard, Little Ken came running up joyfully. He happened to be at the parking lot by the gate directing the unloading of goods, and he was naturally delighted to see Wei Zhao arrive.

"Brother Wei Zhao!" Little Ken trotted over. "Are you looking for Sister Xiaoke?"

"Yes. Is she here?" Wei Zhao asked.

"She is, but at this hour she should be in her own dormitory. You can just go find her directly," Little Ken said.

"All right, then. Carry on with your work—I'll go look for her." Wei Zhao nodded and drove the car toward the orphanage's staff dormitories.

Originally, Yu Xiaoke and the old director could have designed a large set of rooms for themselves in the newly built staff dormitories. But when Lai the Fatso brought over the blueprints, both of them refused, and all the staff dormitories were built to the same size.

Because the orphanage had more and more children, many staff members had to be hired to care for them. And since the orphanage was a private institution, all expenses had to be borne by the old director and Yu Xiaoke themselves, so naturally they economized wherever they could, giving the extra room space to the newly arrived staff.

Wei Zhao knew all the security guards at the orphanage, and Yu Dake had come with Wei Zhao, so the two of them were not stopped at all and went straight upstairs.

"My sister still lives at the orphanage?" Along the way, Yu Dake had not dared to ask much. He only knew that Yu Xiaoke belonged to the orphanage, and that Wei Zhao had raised a large sum of money for it, but he did not know that this orphanage was run by Yu Xiaoke.

"At present, this orphanage is jointly run by Xiaoke and the old director. The child we just saw is called Little Ken—you could say he's Yu Xiaoke's assistant." Wei Zhao explained, "Your sister has a hard life. Every day she worries about the children's livelihood. Don't underestimate the orphanage's expenses—this is a place where money really flows away like water."

"Uh..." Yu Dake was stunned for a moment. Wei Zhao's words carried a lot of information, and he needed to digest them carefully. "You're saying that my sister is in charge of the entire operation of the orphanage? And she also has to run around for its expenses?"

"More or less." Wei Zhao nodded. "This time our school helped raise over a hundred million, and who knows how long that will last..."

"Over a hundred million and it won't last long?" Yu Dake's eyes went wide. "No way. How much can these children possibly spend? Even with several hundred kids, a few hundred thousand a month would be the absolute limit, wouldn't it?"

"Ha... You don't manage a household, so you don't know how dear firewood and rice are. If it were only food, perhaps it would be enough. But first of all, there aren't just a few hundred children here. As of the last time Xiaoke and I talked, the number of orphans here had already reached nearly ten thousand, and the vast majority are orphans brought in soon after birth with various congenital and acquired illnesses. The medical costs for these orphans are, I'd say, hundreds of times the food costs and more..." Wei Zhao sighed. He too felt that Yu Xiaoke had a hard lot. The orphanage had now entered a cycle of limitless expansion; more and more orphans with illnesses were being sent here, and given Yu Xiaoke's character, it was absolutely impossible for her to turn them away at the door. She could only keep expanding the orphanage's construction without limit.

Of course, Wei Zhao could in fact treat these sick orphans himself, but his time and energy were limited. Curing a single orphan might take anywhere from a few hours at least to several months at most. If he stayed at the orphanage to treat them continuously, he might save a great deal of money, but his cultivation would be delayed—that was simply not realistic.

"So that's how it is." Yu Dake nodded after hearing this, evidently doing some silent accounting in his heart. Tens of thousands of children, many of them ill—the expenditure was absolutely an astronomical figure!