Chapter 33: Choice (1)
Every morning, from Monday to Wednesday, at 7 a.m. sharp, Lin Zhao Xi stopped by Zhuan Zhu Lane. In the afternoon, she went to the park and \”played\” with Old Lin for a while, before returning to the orphanage.
She wasn’t in a hurry to win him over. For one thing, Old Lin was cold-natured, and for another, she wanted to savor the moment. In the past she knew, Old Lin had always been a loving father. Now, while their father-daughter bond was severed, she could see a side of Old Lin he’d never shown her. Dispirited, cranky, headstrong, withdrawn…
Lin Zhao Xi even thought that the reason she was granted the chance to come to this world might be to explore a past that Old Lin never mentioned.
When she left the orphanage on Wednesday morning, Mrs. Lin, who had been taking care of them, finally noticed the issue with her leaving early and returning late to the orphanage every day, and personally asked her to return after her extracurricular class.
After her usual \”Pardon me,\” to the Chihuahua next door, a startling bark struck the air. Finalizing the routine, she knocked on Old Lin\’s door.
She had already \”paid respects\” to Old Lin for four days, and his attitude never changed: you annoy me → can you get out → forget it, you scare me → I’m begging you → get out!
So the cycle repeated, with Lin Zhao Xi always stopping at the right time.
For many days now, Old Lin had been in charge of making breakfast in the morning. He would wait for her to finish eating before angrily throwing her out of the house. Firm in speech but soft in heart, just like her father.
Although Old Lin cooked every day, he neither used oil nor salt. There was still a long way to go before he’d see her as his daughter. So, lately, the only thing that brought her a little excitement was her teacher’s announcement. After their Wednesday afternoon extracurricular class, the teacher announced the list of students who would participate in the Jin Cup summer camp competition, according to their total score. She ranked third while Lu Zhihao ranked seventh. This Saturday, they would go to the experimental elementary school next door and take the summer camp selection exam together.
Returning to the orphanage, Lin Zhao Xi was quite happy, imagining how pleased the dean would be once she knew. But when she finally arrived, she remembered how Mrs. Lin had asked her to go home early. Was there something else going on?
In the orphanage’s parking lot, a black Buick dazzled under the sunlight.
The institution’s parking lot was small and the alley, narrow. Few people drove to work, so whenever the children saw any cars they didn’t recognize, they assumed a potential adopter had come.
The director\’s office.
As soon as Lin Zhao Xi came back, she was called to the dean’s office. She stood at the door. Before coming up, she had heard that a couple interested in adopting Lin Aimin had come.
She politely knocked on the door three times and waited for the dean to ask her to come in before pushing the door open.
A middle-aged couple was sitting on the wooden settee in the office.
The man and woman were both in their forties, wearing formal clothing. They looked very well-groomed, especially the lady, who wore a long black one-piece dress with a diamond necklace. The dress was probably meant to give off cold and elegant air, but it was offset by the lady’s warm and gentle temperament. It gave Lin Zhao Xi a good impression of her.
She looked at them, and they looked at her.
\”They are Professor Zhang and his wife, Professor Shen, who are preparing to adopt Lin Aimin.\”
There was no need for Mrs. Lin to introduce them. Lin Zhao Xi and Lin Aimin had secretly spied on the couple when they came and showed interest in Lin Aimin. The dean was particularly strict when screening potential adopters, preferring to keep a gaggle of children than to give them up for adoption willy-nilly, so the couple in front of her had to be good in all aspects.
Lin Zhao Xi cheerily nodded at the couple in greeting, \”Hello.\”
\”She is Lin Zhao Xi.\” Said the dean, calmly.
Lin Zhao Xi\’s heart jumped, a smile fixed on her face. She suddenly had a bad premonition…
Chapter 33: Choice (1)
Every morning, from Monday to Wednesday, at 7 a.m. sharp, Lin Zhao Xi stopped by Zhuan Zhu Lane. In the afternoon, she went to the park and \”played\” with Old Lin for a while, before returning to the orphanage.
She wasn’t in a hurry to win him over. For one thing, Old Lin was cold-natured, and for another, she wanted to savor the moment. In the past she knew, Old Lin had always been a loving father. Now, while their father-daughter bond was severed, she could see a side of Old Lin he’d never shown her. Dispirited, cranky, headstrong, withdrawn…
Lin Zhao Xi even thought that the reason she was granted the chance to come to this world might be to explore a past that Old Lin never mentioned.
When she left the orphanage on Wednesday morning, Mrs. Lin, who had been taking care of them, finally noticed the issue with her leaving early and returning late to the orphanage every day, and personally asked her to return after her extracurricular class.
After her usual \”Pardon me,\” to the Chihuahua next door, a startling bark struck the air. Finalizing the routine, she knocked on Old Lin\’s door.
She had already \”paid respects\” to Old Lin for four days, and his attitude never changed: you annoy me → can you get out → forget it, you scare me → I’m begging you → get out!
So the cycle repeated, with Lin Zhao Xi always stopping at the right time.
For many days now, Old Lin had been in charge of making breakfast in the morning. He would wait for her to finish eating before angrily throwing her out of the house. Firm in speech but soft in heart, just like her father.
Although Old Lin cooked every day, he neither used oil nor salt. There was still a long way to go before he’d see her as his daughter. So, lately, the only thing that brought her a little excitement was her teacher’s announcement. After their Wednesday afternoon extracurricular class, the teacher announced the list of students who would participate in the Jin Cup summer camp competition, according to their total score. She ranked third while Lu Zhihao ranked seventh. This Saturday, they would go to the experimental elementary school next door and take the summer camp selection exam together.
Returning to the orphanage, Lin Zhao Xi was quite happy, imagining how pleased the dean would be once she knew. But when she finally arrived, she remembered how Mrs. Lin had asked her to go home early. Was there something else going on?
In the orphanage’s parking lot, a black Buick dazzled under the sunlight.
The institution’s parking lot was small and the alley, narrow. Few people drove to work, so whenever the children saw any cars they didn’t recognize, they assumed a potential adopter had come.
The director\’s office.
As soon as Lin Zhao Xi came back, she was called to the dean’s office. She stood at the door. Before coming up, she had heard that a couple interested in adopting Lin Aimin had come.
She politely knocked on the door three times and waited for the dean to ask her to come in before pushing the door open.
A middle-aged couple was sitting on the wooden settee in the office.
The man and woman were both in their forties, wearing formal clothing. They looked very well-groomed, especially the lady, who wore a long black one-piece dress with a diamond necklace. The dress was probably meant to give off cold and elegant air, but it was offset by the lady’s warm and gentle temperament. It gave Lin Zhao Xi a good impression of her.
She looked at them, and they looked at her.
\”They are Professor Zhang and his wife, Professor Shen, who are preparing to adopt Lin Aimin.\”
There was no need for Mrs. Lin to introduce them. Lin Zhao Xi and Lin Aimin had secretly spied on the couple when they came and showed interest in Lin Aimin. The dean was particularly strict when screening potential adopters, preferring to keep a gaggle of children than to give them up for adoption willy-nilly, so the couple in front of her had to be good in all aspects.
Lin Zhao Xi cheerily nodded at the couple in greeting, \”Hello.\”
\”She is Lin Zhao Xi.\” Said the dean, calmly.
Lin Zhao Xi\’s heart jumped, a smile fixed on her face. She suddenly had a bad premonition…
