Chapter 77: Self‑Sacrifice to Save Another

Seeing the items Su Ruo and her group brought, the old dean's eyes welled up with emotion; nowadays times are hard, and the orphans' lives are becoming increasingly difficult.

With winter approaching, the children still had no winter coats, and the old dean grew so anxious his hair turned white with worry.

The orphans' previous cotton coats had been passed down from child to child, each garment sewn and patched repeatedly, and they could no longer keep out the cold.

Seeing the children shivering from the cold, the old dean wanted to make them new cotton clothes, but now the children could barely eat, let alone afford new coats.

The clothes Su Ruo and her group sent were nothing less than a timely rain; the old dean saw that although most were dresses, there were a few thick cotton coats—though they were girls' wear, to him a garment was good as long as it kept out the cold, regardless of whether it was for a boy or a girl.

The children were also delighted, especially the little girls, who had never seen so many pretty clothes; though still shy, their eyes betrayed hope, while the boys stared at the pastries on the cart, unconsciously swallowing saliva.

No matter how excited they felt, not one of them stepped forward to grab; they all waited quietly and obediently there, making one's heart ache.

Seeing these children, Su Ruo felt an indescribable sorrow, but aside from giving them a little help, she was utterly powerless to change their situation.

Zhou Feng instinctively tightened his grip on his wife's hand, fearing that seeing these children would remind her of their lost daughter.

But Bai Xinya remained calm; she and An'an divided the pastries on the cart according to the number of children and handed them out one by one.

Seeing his wife unharmed, Zhou Feng also relaxed, went over to discuss the children's living conditions with the dean, and promised that the county would later increase their subsidies so that every child could at least eat enough and stay warm.

After learning Zhou Feng's identity, the old dean bowed deeply; in his heart, Zhou Feng was nothing less than the children's savior—without him, he wouldn't know how to get the orphans through this winter.

Zhou Feng quickly helped the old dean up: "Dean, you don't need to do this; it's our work that fell short, causing you and the children to suffer."

Zhou Feng felt guilty in his heart; he had been too busy with work to notice the orphanage, and if Su Ruo hadn't brought them today, he wouldn't have known the orphans were living in such hardship.

Zhou Feng promised that the county would henceforth send monthly grain and vegetables to the children, and as he left he gave them 200 yuan.

Seeing Zhou Feng's actions, Su Ruo was not surprised at all; she knew he was inherently an official who served the people wholeheartedly, and she believed that with his help the orphans' lives would improve somewhat.

Su Ruo silently left 100 yuan for the old dean and then they departed; on the way back no one spoke, for anyone who saw those emaciated children could not help but be moved.

But if today's visit could improve the children's living conditions, it would be worthwhile; An'an also, without meaning to, had helped these children and earned herself a blessing.

Su Ruo broke the silence first, saying: "Let's go to the state-run hotel for a meal!"

Having more time to be with An'an naturally pleased Bai Xinya, so she readily agreed; since the wife consented, Zhou Feng had no reason to refuse.

They all went to the state-run hotel together, ordered four dishes—two meat, two vegetable—but Bai Xinya spent the whole time serving food to An'an, barely eating herself; her face wore a loving smile, as if watching An'an eat was her greatest happiness.

Su Ruo and Zhou Feng saw this and did not stop it; after the meal Su Ruo rose to pay the bill, when a waiter carrying a hot water flask passed by their table, suddenly slipped, lunged forward, and spilled all the water from the flask, scalding hot water pouring toward An'an.

Seeing this, Bai Xinya immediately pulled An'an close to her chest, using her own back to shield An'an from all the splashing hot water.

When it was over, Bai Xinya seemed to feel no pain at all, anxiously asking An'an: "Does it hurt? Were you scalded anywhere?"

Su Ruo had always been wary of Bai Xinya because of past events, but this scene deeply moved her; to risk one's own safety to shield another with one's body is something only a mother does for her child.

Su Ruo believed that at this moment Bai Xinya truly regarded An'an as her own child.

But these thoughts flashed by in an instant; Su Ruo immediately went up to Bai Xinya, pulled her to the back kitchen, and kept rinsing her burned areas with cold water.

At this point Bai Xinya's burned skin had already broken out in dense blisters, looking terrifying.

Seeing his wife's injuries, Zhou Feng felt heartbroken beyond words; he knew how much she feared pain and how much she loved her beauty, and just thinking that her back might bear such a large scar filled him with relentless regret and self‑reproach.

Zhou Feng thought it was because he had been too slow, failing to protect his wife and letting her get hurt; he wished he himself were the one injured instead.

Bai Xinya, however, remained strong, repeatedly comforting An'an: "Auntie's fine, not the slightest pain." She feared the incident would frighten An'an.

An'an reached out her little hand to wipe the cold sweat beading on Bai Xinya's forehead.

She said: "If it hurts, you can cry; my mother's medical skills are superb, she will surely cure you."

Bai Xinya, who had been desperately holding back her tears, could no longer restrain herself upon hearing An'an's words, and she burst into tears while holding An'an.

Su Ruo and Zhou Feng watched silently, neither stopping nor urging her, for they knew Bai Xinya needed to vent, and letting her cry was actually good for her.

The waiter who had just caused the accident was now terrified, tears streaming down her face as she kept apologizing to Su Ruo and the others, saying: "Sorry."

The waiter was only about seventeen or eighteen, having just started work at the hotel not long ago; this incident had already left her utterly panicked.

The waiter was a rural girl who had barely managed to get this job; if she were made to pay compensation, her parents would surely beat her to death.

Although Zhou Feng felt resentful, he also knew the waiter had not acted intentionally, so he sternly told her to be careful in her future work and let the matter drop.

When the waiter heard Zhou Feng say she need not pay, she immediately prepared to kneel and kowtow to him, but Zhou Feng stopped her.

Given his status, if he really let this little girl kowtow to him and word got to his rivals, he had no idea how they would twist it against him.

Su Ruo rinsed Bai Xinya with cold water for half an hour before she and Zhou Feng took her to the nearest hospital; the doctor, while applying burn ointment to Bai Xinya, furrowed his brow anxiously and said: "You need to be mentally prepared—such a severe burn will definitely leave a scar."