Chapter 1680 — Leaving a Letter Behind
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
In truth, had the old director not wanted to find a quieter place and rebuild the orphanage? Of course she had. But rebuilding took money—wishing alone would not do it. Truth to tell, if Li Cihua had simply picked some out-of-the-way plot of land and put an orphanage on it, the old director would have agreed to the swap.
Location was of no use to these children, and the old director only wished them to live a little better.
Yet a plot of land was of no use whatsoever to the old director either. Still, she knew that holding out might provoke Li Cihua, might provoke Zhao Qibing, and who could say what men like that would do once provoked.
To spare Yu Xiaoke worry, the old director had not told her of the matter; she had negotiated with Li Cihua alone—even Xiao Ken knew nothing.
At this moment, Xiao Ken had been summoned by Yu Xiaoke, who was now giving him her last instructions.
"Xiao Ken, you've grown up too. From now on, the orphanage is in your hands—you'll assist the old director and keep it all in order!" Yu Xiaoke said to him gravely.
Xiao Ken was rather bewildered. Yu Xiaoke had called him over without warning, and he had no idea what it was about; now her blunt opening left him utterly at a loss. "Sister Xiaoke, I've been helping you and the old director run the orphanage all along, haven't I?"
"Yes. But from now on... it will be only you," Yu Xiaoke said with a sigh. "Your sister Xiaoke may not be able to help you anymore..."
"What? Sister Xiaoke, are you leaving the orphanage?" Xiao Ken stared. "Are you... getting married?"
As he said it, a pang of disappointment rose in him. Yu Xiaoke was a goddess in the eyes of the older boys, but a goddess only—none of them dared harbor improper thoughts about her.
"Something like that, I suppose..." Yu Xiaoke nodded. "You must promise me, Xiao Ken—take good care of the little brothers and sisters in the orphanage from now on."
"All right... then, Sister Xiaoke, will you still come back often?" Xiao Ken could not bear to let her go.
"I... may not be able to come back at all..." Yu Xiaoke pondered a moment, then decided to speak the truth. Xiao Ken had grown up; he was a sensible boy, and above all a loyal one who knew how to repay kindness.
So if she told him, he would surely understand what was in her heart at this moment.
"Not come back? What do you mean?" The more he listened, the more Xiao Ken felt something was wrong. He pressed her at once: "Sister Xiaoke, what are you really trying to say? Why does it sound like you're marching off to the execution ground?"
Xiao Ken had only meant it as a joke; he never imagined he had hit the mark exactly.
"Heh, it's about the same, really." Yu Xiaoke nodded. "Xiao Ken, this time your sister Xiaoke is actually going to save someone..."
"Save someone? Who?" Xiao Ken asked, puzzled.
"Someone who was very, very good to me—and whom I like very much as well. He's the prince on the white horse in my heart, I suppose..." And with that, Yu Xiaoke told Xiao Ken the whole business of the tomb raiding, in careful detail...
She had never told even the old director all of it in such detail; she had deliberately concealed that faint, ambiguous tenderness between herself and the Male Thief. But now she hid nothing from Xiao Ken—everything that had been pent up in her heart for so long, she poured out to him all at once.
This time Yu Xiaoke had made up her mind, and there was no turning back; so she had to lay out the reasons plainly.
"What? Sister Xiaoke, you're going to storm the execution ground? You don't want to live?" Xiao Ken's eyes went wide. "Even if the Male Thief helped you before, you can't do something so foolish! If you go, can you ever come back? You won't save him—you'll only throw your own life away with his!"