Chapter 7
There weren’t too many students on the bus, a small bus almost filled to capacity. The students looked out the windows, chattering amongst themselves.
Lu Yichuan sat in the front row by the window, looking at the road below, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper.
Gao Zhilan, sitting next to him, explained, “This is an industrial area, steel mills, coal mines… so heavy pollution is normal.”
Zhao Shuo leaned forward over the back of the seat. “Why would they build an orphanage in an industrial area?”
“This area used to be quite well-developed. There were many industrial parks, and many people came here to work. It was quite prosperous, so it wasn’t strange to have an orphanage here.” Gao Zhilan’s gaze swept across the window. The dense steel buildings were under a dark sky, unclear whether from clouds or smog. “It’s a pity that after so many years, it has become like this…”
The bus continued forward, stopping when it reached the creeper-covered wall.
The students filed out of the bus.
The rain fell steadily, and the rusty iron gate exuded a metallic smell in the dampness.
Lu Yichuan was the last to get off. While the others went to the trunk to unload the supplies, he stood motionless at the entrance, holding an umbrella.
The rain gradually intensified, splattering against the umbrella, converging into silvery threads that fell and splashed onto the grayish-black ground, instantly coating the tips of his white shoes with mud.
The smell of engine oil and coal dust in the air became stronger.
Zhao Shuo stood beside him, complaining, “Damn! This place is really dirty. I knew I shouldn’t have come. Wouldn’t it have been better to sleep comfortably in the dorm?”
He then glanced at Lu Yichuan. “You don’t usually like participating in these kinds of activities, do you? Why did you come this time?”
Lu Yichuan, in his pristine white shirt, stood in front of the dilapidated iron gate, his features refined, his posture upright, like a green bamboo stalk, his expression indifferent.
“I had nothing better to do, so I came to take a look.”
Zhao Shuo didn’t question whether he really had nothing better to do.
Although he and Lu Yichuan were from the same department and seemed to have a good relationship, attending classes together, the longer they spent together, the more Zhao Shuo felt that Lu Yichuan wasn’t as harmless as he appeared. When interacting with him, although Zhao Shuo appeared careless, he always remained cautious.
This was the reason why he had always been able to stay by Lu Yichuan’s side.
Gao Zhilan came over from behind, carrying a stack of new clothes. Seeing the two of them chatting without any intention of helping, her face fell. Just as she was about to speak, the closed iron gate creaked open.
Three people emerged. In the middle was an elderly man with white hair, walking unsteadily, flanked by a man and a woman.
Gao Zhilan shoved the clothes into Zhao Shuo’s arms and smiled at the old man. “Hello, Director. I’m the president of the A University Student Union. We’ve brought our classmates here today to make a small contribution to the children.”
The trunk of the bus was packed full of clothes, shoes, textbooks, extracurricular books, toys… a jumble of items, but all things the children needed.
The director’s eyes were moist. “Good, good…Thank you. You are all good children, so thoughtful…”
Lu Yichuan looked past the open iron gate and saw a peach tree in bud, dozens of children rubbing their eyes, standing in the courtyard in the rain.
And behind the children, under a large elm tree that would take two people to hug, lay a white cat.
Seemingly unfamiliar with so many people, the white cat, having just woken up, looked at the group of children in a daze, then, as if sensing his gaze, turned its head and looked at him.
Their eyes met.
Lu Yichuan tightened his grip on the umbrella, an indescribable feeling creeping into his heart. He couldn’t say what it was, it had been like this since last night, compelling him to go against his own wishes, ask for leave from the café, and come to this place he had never been to before.
But even after arriving, his mood didn’t improve.
He scanned his surroundings, as if searching for something, but he didn’t know what he was looking for.
Outside, the wind and rain were bleak. There was an emptiness in his heart, and when the cold wind blew in, the hollowness echoed with an icy chill.
So he fixed his gaze back on the cat.
Even in the rain, the white cat was still beautiful, its heterochromatic eyes, one yellow and one blue, like sparkling gems. It sat gracefully, looking at him curiously.
A woman appeared beside Lu Yichuan. Seeing where he was looking, she smiled and explained, “That’s a stray cat that snuck into the orphanage today. A beautiful white cat. I don’t know what its owner was thinking, abandoning it.”
Lu Yichuan looked away, towards the tall elm tree. “It looks very clean, not like a stray at all.”
“Yes…” The woman sighed almost imperceptibly. “The other cat that was with it is much more pitiful. So small, covered in dirt, and so seriously ill, I’m afraid it won’t live much longer.”
The refined man turned slightly, his gaze falling on the woman. “It has a companion?”
“Yes,” the woman said. “They probably beg for food together. That little cat is very sensible. It knows it’s dirty and afraid of being scolded, so it never comes out. It only appears after the white cat has eaten. It’s such a pity…”
Lu Yichuan’s fingertips, gripping the umbrella handle, turned white, either from the cold wind or something else.
“What’s wrong with it?”
“FIP, a highly fatal disease in cats. If it receives timely treatment, it might be okay, but for a stray cat, who would be willing to help it…”
Saying this, afraid that Lu Yichuan would think they were heartless, the woman explained, “This disease requires a lot of money for treatment. You know the situation at the orphanage; we simply don’t have the funds.”
The director led the students inside. Lu Yichuan stayed at the back, the woman by his side.
“By the way, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Su Ye. I grew up in this orphanage and now I’m here to help.”
Amidst the children’s chorus of “Hello, older brothers and sisters,” Lu Yichuan closed his umbrella and stepped through the iron gate.
“Lu Yichuan.”
As the woman walked beside him, in his peripheral vision, he saw that her left hand had only three fingers.
Noticing his gaze, Su Ye raised her hand and explained with a smile, “This is congenital. I was born with only three fingers, which is why my parents abandoned me.”
“Actually, there are many children like this in the orphanage.” Her gaze held an unreadable depth. “Those adorable children you see adopted in novels and TV shows are a minority. Here, most of the children have disabilities, physical or intellectual. We take in all the unwanted children.”
“So thank you very much. Regardless of your reasons, the supplies you donate are truly important to us.”
The man beside her maintained a composed posture, responding to her thanks with a perfectly measured smile. His smile was gentle, but Su Ye felt like it was a mask, and beneath the mask was an indifference she couldn’t understand.
“This is the effort of all the students in the university. We are just doing our small part. The students who are busy running around are the ones who deserve the most credit. I’m just here to take a look with them.”
Having struggled at the bottom for many years, Su Ye was much more perceptive than others. Seeing the man’s demeanor, she knew he probably didn’t want to talk to her, so she found an excuse to leave, giving Lu Yichuan some space.
Mist drifted in from the distant mountains, enveloping the steel city in a wispy white veil, empty and cold.
After the supplies were distributed, the director sent the children back to their dormitories and led the students on a tour of the orphanage. Although it was called a tour, the small orphanage could be seen in its entirety from the courtyard.
The director was old and needed to pause frequently. When he spoke, he looked at the old elm tree in the courtyard. “I planted this tree when I first arrived. Time flies. Batch after batch of children have left, and this tree has grown so big…”
In March, the branches had just started to sprout leaves. The elm tree’s new leaves hadn’t fully unfolded yet, the tender yellow buds clustered on the branches, bobbing incessantly in the rain.
Lu Yichuan then noticed that the white cat under the tree had disappeared. A string of messy paw prints led away towards a corner of the wall.
He stared at the paw prints, lost in thought, the emptiness in his heart growing.
The director’s voice continued, “But fortunately, the government is funding the construction of a new orphanage in the new district. The children will move there then, no longer needing to squeeze into this dilapidated place…”
…
The mist hadn’t dispersed when they left, and the previously clean bus was now splattered with black mud on its undercarriage.
Zhao Shuo shared an umbrella with Lu Yichuan, looking at the messy surroundings. He sighed sincerely, “It’s a good thing I don’t live here, otherwise I’d feel like my life was over every morning when I opened my eyes.”
Lu Yichuan turned his head again, looking at the inconspicuous dog hole in the corner of the wall.
He didn’t know what he was waiting for, but he didn’t move for a long time. So long that Zhao Shuo couldn’t help but nudge him. “Lu-ge, what are you looking at? We’re the only ones left who haven’t gotten on the bus.”
Gao Zhilan poked her head out of the bus door, staring at them. “What are you two doing? Come on up, let’s go. This place reeks of engine oil, it’s awful.”
Lu Yichuan closed his umbrella and chuckled. “Let’s go.”
They sat in the same seats as before. Gao Zhilan stood at the front, taking pictures with her phone. Lu Yichuan leaned against the window, his gaze drifting towards the other side of the road amidst Gao Zhilan’s boisterous chatter.
Across the street were a few deserted-looking restaurants, and directly opposite where the bus was parked was a small alley. The alley had many branches, and the road surface was bumpy, in stark contrast to the wide, smooth asphalt road outside.
The alley was surrounded by low, dilapidated houses, and garbage was strewn everywhere. A few children, carrying wooden sticks, ran out from a corner, as if searching for something.
Lu Yichuan straightened slightly.
Gao Zhilan rolled up a book, pretending it was a microphone. “Alright, let’s go!”
The bus engine started. Amidst the roar of the engine, across the road, Lu Yichuan seemed to hear the children’s arrogant, malicious laughter.
“It’s dead meat today…”
The bus drove forward through the rain. The mist on the distant mountains dispersed, the white of the wild pear blossoms standing out against the new green.
But this city of steel seemed to have no spring.
