bookrandom Chapter 76 This Ordinary Day
Chapter 76 This Ordinary Day
It was summer of 201x, and it was an ordinary day.
As usual, Shen Xi carried her schoolbag and ran back to the orphanage after school.
"You two brats, stop right there!!"
The kindergarten director was very old, with gray hair and a slightly swollen body. She was wriggling and chasing after the two little kids, trying to beat them up.
Shen Xi went inside, skillfully locked the door from the inside, and quickly walked towards the two five- or six-year-old children. She casually threw her blue schoolbag onto the rack where salted radishes were drying.
The radish rack was smashed and was on the verge of collapse.
When the two children saw her coming, they ran even faster, shouting as they ran.
"Aaaaaah, the Great Demon King is coming to get us! Run!!"
Shen Xi's reputation as a "devil" in the orphanage over the years was well-deserved. She strode over expressionlessly, grabbed them by the collar, and despite the children's desperate struggles, dragged them to the headmistress.
"You two brats, you've been making a mess around my radish trellis the whole time, I don't know what's so interesting about that?"
The kindergarten director's old, chapped fingers poked their foreheads with a look of exasperation. The two children, somewhat afraid of Shen Xi, lowered their heads and said, "Grandma, we know we were wrong."
"Alright, alright, now that you know you're wrong, go do your homework and study properly, do you hear me!"
The headmistress patiently lectured the two children, but when she saw them making faces at Shen Xi, she pretended to hit them.
"Why did you come back today? Did you get upset at school? If you did, tell your mother-in-law. I'm going to the school to teach those people who bullied you a lesson."
The kindergarten director stared at Shen Xi with her dim old eyes, nervously afraid that she was lying and would be bullied for no reason.
Shen Xi shook her head. She simply felt sorry for her mother-in-law, who was too tired. She was the first child to be taken in and grew up with her mother-in-law. She watched her mother-in-law's long, black hair be cut into her current short, gray hair.
In her heart, her mother-in-law was like a towering tree, but even a tree grows old eventually.
"Grandma, I'm not going to study anymore. Can I come back and help you?" Shen Xi looked at her mother-in-law's increasingly hunched figure and felt a pang of sadness and unease.
"No, you have to study hard. What can you do if you don't study now? Your life will be better if you study hard."
This was the first time the kindergarten director had been so strict with her; she wanted her to study hard.
Shen Xi relied entirely on her mother-in-law's meager pension from elementary school onwards. Elementary school was compulsory and the fees weren't much, but there were several younger children in the orphanage who needed to be supported, making life quite difficult.
Fortunately, Shen Xi lived up to expectations and ranked second in the city when she took the junior high school entrance exam. Many schools personally went to the orphanage to find her grandmother. When the principals came in, they couldn't believe that she came from an orphanage. They were very surprised.
One of the schools explicitly stated that if Shen Xi was willing to attend their school, they would waive her tuition and textbook fees for three years, and mentioned that she would not have to pay any miscellaneous fees, and even mentioned that there would be subsidies.
This condition was really great for Shen Xi, and she was able to continue her studies all the way up to high school.
Later, when she entered high school, she happened to get up in the middle of the night and saw the light on in her mother-in-law's room. She quietly peeked through the crack under the window and saw her mother-in-law holding her old box, counting crumpled money, sighing as she counted. The old woman's brows were full of worry.
The mother-in-law had no children; Shen Xi was her first child.
Fortunately, not long after, the principal told Shen Xi that someone was willing to sponsor her.
The donor never showed up; he only sent one letter, which was quite strange.
The investors didn't tell her to study hard.
I only wrote one sentence: Little friend, be happy every day.
At this point, Shen Xi only wanted more money, and she really liked investors' money.
Shen Xi knew that her mother-in-law was unwilling to let her drop out of school, which was to be expected. However, her mother-in-law had burned her foot a while ago and had difficulty walking these past few days, let alone taking care of several children.
Most of the children here are sensible, but a few are occasionally mischievous and like to play hide-and-seek with the radish trellis. The area outside the orphanage is very small; the yard is only big enough to fit one large trellis, and there is a small space left behind that is just big enough for people to walk through.
The mother-in-law smiled broadly, her eyes barely visible. Supported by Shen Xi, she asked with a smile, "I heard you won first prize in the math competition this time. I used to be educated too, but I wasn't as good as our Xi Xi!"
Shen Xi pouted proudly, "Right? I'm a very good student. When I get a good job in the future, I'll take you and your younger siblings on a trip to see the sights and eat whatever you want."
The mother-in-law loved Shen Xi very much and treated her very well. Under the old bed board, there were all the certificates of merit that Shen Xi had won for her studies, each one folded neatly.
In the past, when Shen Xi was very young, whenever someone wanted to adopt a child, her mother-in-law would praise Shen Xi to the skies and want her to be adopted. But Shen Xi was very rebellious and refused to leave no matter what.
I've stayed here for over a decade.
Today is the day Shen Xi's competition outside the province ends. She made a special detour to come back and see her mother-in-law. A few days ago, when she heard her younger sister say that her mother-in-law had burned her foot at the hotel where she was preparing for the exam, Shen Xi secretly cried for a long time and was absent-minded during the competition.
My mother-in-law is old, and she's terrified that something might happen to her relative.
During the first few days of summer vacation, Shen Xi stayed in her mother-in-law's room every day, applying medicine to her feet on time.
To save money and because she was afraid that no one would take care of the children, the mother-in-law dragged her feet to the pharmacy to buy the cheapest burn ointment and secretly applied it herself when she got home.
Shen Xi was unwilling and wanted to take her to the hospital in town to see a doctor, but she couldn't persuade her mother-in-law to listen to her at all. She could only use the money she had saved to buy other medicines to use together with the burn ointment.
When Shen Xi saw the blisters on her mother-in-law's feet, tears streamed down her face. She clenched her teeth tightly, thinking, "I will definitely make something of myself in the future and give them a good life."
Her younger siblings are still young, but she has grown up and can support the family.
That year, the college entrance examination results were released. Although Shen Xi was not the top scorer, he still did very well and was admitted to the highest university.
Sometimes things don't go as planned.
When the admission notices arrived that day, the school notified Shen Xi to pick them up. Halfway there, she saw that the sky was foggy and it was probably going to rain soon.
She hurriedly gathered the clothes and had her younger siblings take them back to her room to hang them up to dry.
Shen Xi walked quickly to the school to pick up her admission notice.
But on her way home, Shen Xi's heart was pounding anxiously. The closer she got to home, the more afraid she became. She started running, running faster and faster towards home.
At the street corner outside the orphanage, many people wearing raincoats and holding umbrellas stood there, surrounding the area.
Someone on the street recognized Shen Xi, and their eyes were filled with sympathy.
"Xixi, come quickly and see..."
As if sensing something, Shen Xi weakly threw away her umbrella. Rain soaked her pale face, and she staggered into the crowd.
Her cries were piercing, "Grandma! Grandma!"
The elderly woman with gray hair did not respond to her for the first time. She lay silently on the cement ground, her hands, aged like tree bark, still tightly gripping the blue cake bag. The white cake was smashed on the ground, flowing messily with blood.
"What exactly happened? Who did this? Where's the ambulance? Please save her, I beg you, save my mother-in-law."
"Someone, please save her!"