Shanghai Children’s Welfare Institute.
When Lin Fan reached, he realized Liu Xiao Tian was there as well. “You guys are here too?”
Liu Xiao Tian saw Master Lin and instantly smiled. “Master Lin, what are you all doing here? Right now, we’re assigning the children to their rooms. At the same time, we’re checking for any hidden dangers in the institute.
“We’re not doing much, just bringing some gifts and helping to brighten the children’s moods,” said Lin Fan with a smile. He then pointed to the cars behind. “Those are the shop owners from Cloud Street. When they heard about this incident, they all wanted to come and help. It wouldn’t be a problem, would it?”
Liu Xiao Tian laughed and waved his hand hurriedly, “How could it be a problem? They’re more than welcome. We were just lacking manpower. Now that they’re here, we can share the load.”
“Alright, you don’t need to worry about us. We’ll unload the stuff and distribute them to the children. Oh right, have any more parents been contacted?” asked Lin Fan.
Liu Xiao Tian nodded. “Thanks to the help of the volunteers, we’ve managed to contact some more parents. They’re already rushing here. This matter needs to be taken care of slowly. It can’t be rushed. About the incident that day, I’ve thought it through. That’s a special case. If these parents don’t want their children, then let’s wait till these children grow up and become promising individuals. We’ll see if these parents regret it.
Lin Fan smiled. “Chief Liu… No, I should call you Inspector Liu now. Your thinking seems flawed, why does it sounds like you’re sore?”
Liu Xiao Tian burst into laughter, then patted Lin Fan on the shoulder. “Alright, alright, I was just kidding. I’ll leave your side up to you then. Hey, that’s the welfare institute’s director. Director Huang, let me introduce someone to you!”
Liu Xiao Tian called out to their front. At that moment, Director Huang, who was standing there, heard his voice and rushed over hurriedly, with a face full of smiles. Her welfare institute was moving in the right direction and it was all thanks to the kindness of the people in society.
“Director Huang, this is Master Lin. The man who contributed greatly to the raid on the human traffickers,” Liu Xiao Tian introduced.
Director Huang was in her fifties, slightly plump and with a kind-looking face. She smiled and said, “Ahh, I know of Master Lin. Nice to meet you, Master Lin.”
Lin Fan shook hands with her., “You are too courteous, Director Huang. Just call me Lin Fan. I brought some gifts here with my neighbors today. And I was also thinking of having some fun with the children. I hope it’s not a disturbance to you all.
Director Huang waved her hand. “Of course not. You are more than welcome. How could you call it a disturbance?”
Lin Fan looked and Director Huang and broke into a smile. He did a reading of Director Huang’s fortune. Nowadays, it was hard to judge a book by its cover. Especially in this situation, Lin Fan didn’t want those poor children to fall into the wrong hands once more. However, the result turned out well. This Director Huang was very kind-hearted. In her lifetime, she wouldn’t get married, nor would she have children. She would just devote her life to serving the Children’s Welfare Institute.
Director Huang left for a moment.
Liu Xiao Tian asked with a smile, “You were staring at Director Huang just now. Were you trying to see what kind of person she was?”
Lin Fan gave a short laugh but didn’t say anything. However, how could Liu Xiao Tian not know? He knew how amazing Master Lin’s fortune-telling was. Someone else might not have believed it but he definitely believed it. Liu Xiao Tian said, “If it was someone else, I wouldn’t dare to guarantee it but this Director Huang is someone I absolutely trust.”
Lin Fan replied, “Yep, she really is pretty good. Alright, let us split ways and get to work. I’ll be making a feast today and it’s really stressful.”
Liu Xiao Tian was startled. “You?”
Lin Fan nodded. “What’s wrong? Could it be that there’s an issue with that? You’ll know how skillful I am in a while. However, I’m afraid I will be dead tired later on.”
After some more chatter with Liu Xiao Tian, Lin Fan headed back to the cars. He spoke about the process of unloading the stuff from the trucks and brought them inside. What made Lin Fan surprised was that that wealthy Wang Ming Yang lifted the items with greater ease than anyone else. It was slightly scary.
When Wang Ming Yang saw those skeptic eyes of Lin Fan, he chuckled, “Back then, before I became wealthy, I moved bricks at construction sites. Even those Indian laborers were no match for me. Take a good look.”
Lin Fan laughed. Successful people aren’t successful for no reason, and Wang Ming Yang was no exception. Many people were envious of him for having such a high net worth at such a young age but nobody knew how much pain he had suffered before he became successful.
The shop owners took the toys, clothes, and stationery and gave them to the children. To the children, they were still stuck in the darkness and they became nervous and fearful when they saw these strangers. They didn’t even smile. However, the loving shop owners had enough patience to slowly interact with the children.
Meanwhile, Lin Fan just got to the kitchen.
This time, he was going to use the large wok. If he hadn’t attained the Ba Gua Zhang skill, he might not have had the strength to do it but now, there was nothing to worry about.
In the kitchen, some of the elderly lady chefs saw this youngster enter and were curious. They knew that there were volunteers around helping out, but it was a first for someone to enter the kitchen.
Lin Fan nodded at the elderly ladies. “Could I trouble you all to help me wash the vegetables? I’ll be cooking today.”
That day, he had to do his best and make a unique Jiangsu meal.
Moreover, the ingredients had all been handpicked by Lin Fan. He prepared all the ingredients that he wanted to cook with, then started to work on them.
With the children’s tastes in consideration, Lin Fan specially chose a few dishes. For example, chicken in tomato sauce, saute pork fillet shreds, fried fish with pine nuts and other tasty dishes were the main dishes for the meal.
The elderly ladies washed the vegetables while Lin Fan held the vegetable knife in his hands. On the chopping board, he sliced without making a sound and it was insanely quick. Those elderly ladies, who had still been doubtful of him at first, were all stunned when they saw this scene. They knew then that they could never compete with his skill.
Lin Fan piled up all the cut vegetables. To most chefs, it would be difficult to control the taste of the dish using this large wok but to Lin Fan, it wasn’t a problem at all.
One after another, extremely delicious and priceless Jiangsu dishes were born for the first time at the Children’s Welfare Institute. And in the kitchen, the only witnesses were those elderly ladies.
The ones who had the opportunity to taste them, however, were the children. This, to Lin Fan, was a meaningful thing.
Outside.
The shop owners each had two children with them. They were parents themselves, so naturally, they could feel the changes in the children’s hearts. They were very different as compared to typical children.
They didn’t like to talk. Their facial expressions and their eyes were covered in fear and anxiety. Especially when the shop owners accidentally made loud sounds when they put down the gifts, the children would be startled and lose their heads.
The canteen had already been decorated. It was like a theme park. The children sat in front of the tables as the shop owners and the volunteers chatted with them. Some of the shop owners and volunteers, when they saw the physical disabilities of the children, felt sorrowful but they held the tears. They didn’t want to show it in front of the children.
One of the shop owners was all smiles as he stepped on stage. “Let us invite two tigers onto the stage…”
It was a performance programme for the children.
Then, a child looked up and said nervously, “Two tigers, I’ve seen that before…”
The shop owner on stage was startled. He wanted to give these children a pleasant surprise. He smiled and said, “This is different, one of these tigers has no buttocks and one of them is invisible.”
Meanwhile, the shop owners who were about to step on stage to perform were stunned. They cursed in their hearts. What kind of trick is that? Wasn’t it just one with no eyes and one with no ears?
What’s that about one with no buttocks and another invisible one?
But since it had already been said, they could only summon up their courage and go on stage.
The shop owners wearing their tiger costumes went on stage, “Woof woof! I’m the tiger with no buttocks.”
The other shop owner went on stage too, baring his teeth and brandishing his claws, “Meow! I’m the invisible tiger…”
Some of the nervous children were amused. “That’s not the sound that tigers make…”
“That’s a little dog’s bark”
“That’s a cat’s sound.”
The shop owners below the stage with the children were all amused too. What kind of clowns were they? Still, when they saw that the children had relaxed a bit, they were all smiles.
Not long after. A pungent fragrance suddenly filled the canteen.
“It’s time to eat…”