Chapter 607: Holy Ground
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Xia Ling lowered her head and felt the gold words with her white fingers.
How many years had pa.s.sed…
Many turbulent years had pa.s.sed, but the first meeting was still the first meeting. It was clearly imprinted in her heart, and she couldn’t forget it even in her next life.
She turned around, lifted her head, and looked at a small building nearby. The second floor was the Head of the orphanage’s office. Sunlight was reflected from floor-to-ceiling windows. Behind the window was a s.p.a.cious and quiet s.p.a.ce. No one was there.
In her heart, the tall man who was as beautiful as a G.o.d appeared.
On that day, he stood silently behind the floor-to-ceiling window wearing a tight black suit as he overlooked the garden and observed her. She was being chased by people and only glanced at him from a distance before she had to flee in another direction. However, it was the one glimpse that became a curse of two lifetimes.
“Xiao Ling, come, go home with me.”
However, now, the building was there, but the person was missing.
The person who said those words was no longer by her side.
She stopped looking at the building and said softly, “It’s all in the past.” Time had caused the intimate love affair and cruel bloodl.u.s.t to become emotional reside in her heart. Sometimes, she would be triggered and would feel some pain, but that was it.
She turned around to leave this place.
Li Lei placed his hands in his pockets and did not keep up with her pace at first until he watched her figure disappear into the depths of the trail covered by irises. Only then did he slowly started walking.
However, he went in the opposite direction.
“How much does it cost to get rid of the monument where Pei Ziheng and Xia Ling met?” In the Head of the orphanage’s office, Li Lei asked the Head.
The old Head was very surprised. “Why do you want to get rid of it?” It was not easy to generate income in the orphanage. It was rare that they could make use of the celebrity effect and create a monument of the first place Pei Ziheng and Xia Ling met. Every day, many fans would gather there to take pictures to commemorate the prodigy, Xia Ling.
Li Lei did not explain further. He only asked, “How much will it cost?”
“Mr. Li, this is not a question of money.” The old Head trembled. With a wrinkled face, he looked at Li Lei earnestly. “This monument is simply a way to generate income for the orphanage, and all the children here also place their hopes on it. All of the children dream of being as lucky as Xia Ling and meet a rich adopter who loves them so that they can rebuild their lives. Li Lei, you can’t take away the hopes of the children.”
Li Lei was speechless. Who knew that getting rid of a stone monument was so difficult?
However, if he did not remove it, he would have to deal with the thorns in his heart.
The old Head walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and pointed to the stone monument downstairs. “Mr. Li, look, that child is whispering to the stone monument. She is called Xiao Feng and has spinocerebellar ataxia. Her condition is deteriorating every day, and she can’t live longer than a few years… It’s possible that she won’t be able to be adopted forever and will die in this orphanage. However, she hasn’t given up yet. Every day, she prays for a miracle to happen and hopes that someone like Pei Ziheng would descend from the sky. Just like Xia Ling and her seriously ill sister Xia Yu, she hopes that he would take her away. This stone monument is her only hope. Mr. Li, we can’t take away the children’s only hope.”
The old Head looked at him carefully and worriedly.
He was old and saw many types of people. He deeply understood that these powerful and rich people were not as kind as they appeared to be. Although he didn’t know why Mr. Li wanted to get rid of the monument, he knew that these people were unscrupulous in order to achieve their goals.
He was very worried.
Li Lei could see that the old Head was very uneasy, so he said very gently, “Please don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt the orphanage.” This was the place that gave Xiao Ling shelter in the past. From the words and actions of Xiao Ling, he could tell that she really respected the head of the orphanage as he had been kind to her in the past.
How could he harm Xiao Ling’s benefactor? Well, except for Pei Ziheng.
He comforted the old Head and thought about it. “How about this, I’ll use the money to change this monument into a monument forest. I will carve all of the names of the children who left this place on it and the names of their adopters. In this case, won’t this bring more hope for the children?”
The old Head did not expect him to say that and was startled. Finally, he said, “Ok.”
This was indeed a good idea. Letting the children see how many children joined happy families would be able to give them more hope in their long wait.
However, why would Mr. Li do this?
The old Head feared that it was because the single monument of Pei Ziheng and Xia Ling was an eyesore to him. However, he was not linked at all to their relations.h.i.+p. Why would it be an eyesore to Mr. Li? The old Head was puzzled.
Li Lei was pleased after the head of the orphanage agreed to his suggestion and left his office.
Although he couldn’t remove the stone monument, he could minimize the specialty of the place. From now on, Pei Ziheng was just one of the thousands of adopters in the orphanage and no different from the other adopters. So what if that was their first meeting place?
After a year and a half, who would remember? Hahaha.
He happily whistled and looked for Xia Ling.
Xia Ling was completely oblivious to what he just did behind her back. At this time, she was sitting on the steps and teaching the children to sing.
The midsummer greenery was lush.
Her voice was more pleasant than summer itself.
Li Lei stood beside the door and quietly listened. Looking at the girl’s beautiful side-view, suddenly, he genuinely thanked Pei Ziheng. He thanked him for not cheris.h.i.+ng her. Thanks to him, he was able to benefit.
He really wanted to praise Pei Ziheng.
After staying in the orphanage for an entire day, Xia Ling finally said goodbye to the children and followed Li Lei back. Li Lei drove her home and said to her, “In the future, if you want to see them, I’ll send you there again.”
She smiled, agreed, and kissed him goodbye in front of the fence.
Not far away, in another villa, a man held the jade-white railing as he stood at an inconspicuous place. He looked at the two people kiss expressionlessly. His fingers tightened, and the veins at the back of his hand were exposed.
“Mister…” Nanny Zhou did not dare to advise him but still bravely said, “You should go in. You’ve already been standing here for a long time. The wind is strong, and it’s easy to catch a cold.” The news said that Miss Ye and Big Boss Li of Skyart Entertainment went to do charity work together. They went to the orphanage that Mister adopted Miss Xia Ling from. Thus, Mister went berserk and insisted on staying at the terrace to wait for Miss Ye to return.
Nanny Zhou didn’t know what he was waiting for.
Even Pei Ziheng didn’t know. Why did his Xiao Ling bring another man to the place they first met? Did she forget that she said…
She said that it was holy ground, a place that only belonged to both of them.