Page 268

"What era is it now? Who doesn’t know what orphanages are like, they are places where one doesn’t have to worry about food and drink..."

The voice was very harsh, and the atmosphere that Mei Hanqing had finally managed to evoke was immediately dispersed.

Upon hearing this jarring voice, Qiu Ruoxi and Ye Xunhuan immediately looked toward the source of the sound.

They saw a young man with an average appearance, but dressed in extremely luxurious clothes, standing in the middle of the banquet hall, his face wearing a mocking smile.

Instantly, the expressions on the faces of Ye Xunhuan and Qiu Ruoxi turned cold.

Mei Hanqing’s eyes had already flared with anger. She had guessed earlier that seeking donations was not going to be an easy task; convincing these wealthy people to part with their money was like cutting flesh from their bodies, and they were not likely to part with it willingly.

Though Mei Hanqing’s rage was at the brink of erupting, she still had to suppress her anger and managed to squeeze out a smile, saying, "Sir, I don’t know if you have read the news..."

"News?" the man laughed lightly, somewhat disdainfully, "How much of the news is even true?"

"Who here doesn’t know what Huaxia’s news is like? It’s always about the good, not the bad. If occasionally something bad is reported, it cannot withstand scrutiny for three days, then you find out it was fake!" the man said lightly. "Of course, some of it is true, but the fake far outweighs the real!"

"The scams nowadays are becoming very sophisticated, and with technology advancing, Photoshopping and such are too common."

"To give you the simplest example, a flat broad face can be Photoshopped into a pointed chin!"

Mei Hanqing’s teeth slowly clenched on her red lips: "Sir, if you have time, you could go and see for yourself, ask around and find out..."

"Is what you see with your own eyes the truth? Is what you hear from others the truth?" the man spoke dismissively. "Just like at the train stations, where you often see elderly people with children begging, constructing lies about their circumstances, hoping people will help them..."

Upon hearing the man’s words, even Mei Hanqing, who was accustomed to dealing with all kinds of people and adept at speaking, found herself at a loss for words at the moment.

At this point, everyone couldn’t help but start murmuring among themselves.

The speaker had no intention, but the listener had a mind. The man’s few words, falling into the ears of the audience, had slowly begun to suggest as if there was some dark undercurrent to the charity event organized by Qiu Ruoxi.

"Sir, don’t you think you are causing trouble without reason?" Mei Hanqing’s voice suddenly turned cold, and the smile on her face also froze!

"Causing trouble without reason?" the man sneered, "You are Mei Hanqing, right, the PR Director of the Royal Maps Group!"

"I know you are articulate, a capable general under Miss Qiu, handling all of Royal Maps Group’s public relations and external event planning. It’s not an exaggeration to say that you alone are holding up all of Royal Maps Group’s external affairs, right?"

"If I am not mistaken, this event was also orchestrated by you..."

"What do you mean?" Mei Hanqing slowly figured out the underlying message in the man’s words.

Just at that moment, Qiu Ruoxi suddenly stood up and said, "What, does Young Master Jiang think I am deceiving everyone here?"

The man referred to as Young Master Jiang by Qiu Ruoxi was named Jiang Kaishan, the second son, ranked just below Xu Mingzhe.

He had previously admired Qiu Ruoxi immensely but had faced many rebuffs from her, including an incident where she had directly thrown a glass of wine in his face!

This time, he was clearly here to cause trouble and seek revenge on Qiu Ruoxi.

"How could Miss Qiu possibly be deceiving us!" Jiang Kaishan said with a smile.

"Then what do you mean by this, Young Master Jiang?"

"I’m worried that Miss Qiu was deceived by someone, you know there are too many swindlers nowadays." Jiang Kaishan spoke softly, "By the way, isn’t there a place in Huaxia called something-village where everyone is a swindler?"

No sooner had Jiang Kaishan’s words fallen than a sudden and old voice came out.

"The host didn’t lie, and we didn’t deceive Miss Qiu. The children at our First Welfare Institute really can’t get enough food or clothing, can’t afford education, let alone medical care!"

The next moment, the old director staggered forward, holding the hands of several children as he slowly emerged from backstage, coming into everyone’s view.

The child whose hand was held by the old director was very familiar to Ye Xunhuan; she was Diudiu, the little girl who was chased by Cang Ao.

At that moment, Diudiu was clutching the old director’s hand tightly, her clear eyes filled with unmistakable tension and fear, her lips tightly pressed together.

Seeing this, Ye Xunhuan was stunned. Why had the director brought the children out?

This wasn’t the time for them to be onstage, was it?

Under the puzzled gaze of the audience, the old director, holding Diudiu and some other children’s hands, walked up to the podium, scanned the crowd, bowed deeply at 90 degrees, then said with a bitter smile on his face, "Everyone here today is either wealthy or noble, and here I am, an old man, causing you trouble!"

"We’ve been here a while, and according to Miss Qiu’s wishes, we were supposed to appear later, but I really couldn’t hold back anymore, I just had to step up and say something..."

"Just now, this gentleman said, how could a welfare home be like this!"

"Yes, the welfare home indeed shouldn’t be like this, and any other welfare home in Jiangzhong City is hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of times better than ours!"

"But I can tell this gentleman responsibly that our First Welfare Institute has always been like this. I am the director of the welfare home, and I have been since its establishment, for many decades now!"

"At first, life at the welfare home was passable, but for the past twenty years, our funds have been extremely tight. I, an unaccomplished old man, could only watch helplessly as the children suffered with me, unable to do anything. I am sorry to them..."

Saying this, the old director couldn’t help but tear up.

"You are all wealthy, I don’t know what kind of life you lead, because that kind of life, to people like us, is paradise, something we dare not even dream of or desire!"

"Because of the differences in class, you may not believe the old man’s words, but I can understand that!"

"It may have been inappropriate for me to come here today, but I’m worried, worried about these children, and afraid. I fear, that a hundred years from now, no one will take care of them, that a hundred years from now, the welfare home will have no money and no one to look after these poor children!" The old director cried silently, "When Miss Qiu appeared before me and said she wanted to help us, my heart was filled with an unprecedented sense of gratitude!"

"That way, the children can wear new clothes, no longer have to pick through trash, they can have enough to eat, they can go to school..."

Every word from the old director was laden with tears!

"For so many years, I have begged many people, but no one has ever been willing to help us, only Miss Qiu has come to help us, sincerely helping us..."

"I also know that Miss Qiu can afford to help the welfare home, but what Miss Qiu wants is for more people to pay attention to these children, to take care of them..."

And just at that moment, Mei Hanqing was already in tears, "Director, please don’t speak anymore, don’t..."

"No, I must speak!" the old director said firmly, shaking his head. "It’s my incompetence as the director that the children are suffering, but I cannot allow anyone to doubt us as swindlers. We’re not deceiving you for your money, nor will we allow anyone to slander our benefactor, the person who wants to help us!"

At that moment, the old director was like a foxtail, unable to blossom brightly, yet he still possessed his own toughness and staunch heart but could also depart at any moment!

In his twilight years, he bowed his head once more, mustering his last strength, so the children could survive, eat their fill.