On Thursday afternoon, Zhao Yu went to Donghai Special Education School as a volunteer.
She has been there several times, so she was familiar with the members of the association who organized this event and also with some of the students in the school.
They are not professional teachers, and volunteer activities are very simple, just bring some gifts to the children, give them encouragement and love, and spend a pleasant afternoon with them.
While the care and love given by each volunteer to the children, are natural and true feelings, the purpose of participating in these activities may not be so pure for everyone.
Some are college students who come for extracurricular credits, some are civil servants and public institution employees who have to come because their job required them to.
And Zhao Yu came, for a man.
"Sister Zhao Yu, are you also an art student? How come you paint so well?"
Listening to the exclamation coming from behind, Zhao Yu glanced back and smiled modestly. "No, I learned it randomly on my own. My artwork is nothing compared to you real art students."
She was talking to a female college student who came to volunteer together, named Qin Yi, because she knew that she worked in a famous jewelry company, and Qin Yi, who studied jewelry design, loved her to inquire about Huacan.
"No way? You're much better than me, right Xiaoxiao?" Qin Yi realized only after had finished speaking then reached out to the tablet and wrote down 3 words "Looks good right?" and handed it to the eight-year-old boy.
The boy immediately nodded when he saw it and smiled and gave Zhao Yu a thumbs up.
His name is Qu Sixiao. He has severe congenital deafness and muteness, and has no way of being treated. Even the hearing aids are useless so volunteers who do not know sign language can only communicate with him like this. Fortunately, although the speed at which his learning progressed was slow, he already knew a lot of simple words.
As school was almost over, one after another, guardians came to pick up the children and Qu Sixiao was no exception. But this time, it was not his mother who came to pick him up, but a tall and handsome young man.
Seeing the man from a distance, Qin Yi was suddenly excited, pulling Zhao Yu's sleeves in excitement and whispering in excitement, "Look, you look so handsome, so stylish!"
Zhao Yu glanced in the direction she had signaled, and joked. "Don't be idiots, they are here to pick up Qu Sixiao, it must be his father, there's no show here."
Qin Yi instantly bowed his head: "Yes, the famous grass has its own master, alas!"
However, Zhao Yu knew that that man was not Qu Sixiao's father, and that he was single. But even though the grass has no master, it followed someone.
His sweetheart was Zhuang Yiqing.
Zhao Yu had heard of the name Ji Sui a long time ago, and knew that his father was the deceased trusted officer of Zhuang Zhibo – Zhuang Yiqing's grandfather when he was still the chairman of Lanxi.
His father died to save Zhuang Zhibo and the five-year-old Ji Ran was then raised by Zhuang Zhibo as his grandson. Therefore, Ji Sui and Zhuang Yiqing, who are the same age, are typical childhood sweethearts. Even Zhuang Zhibo wanted to make an appointment for the two when he was alive. But the fates were cruel, and Ji Sui to Zhuang Yiqing, became just a spare tire.
But since this spare tire gave Zhuang Yiqing his heart, Zhao Yu also wanted to grab it. She wanted to block all of Zhuang Yiqing's retreat routes.
At the side of the car, Qu Sixiao didn't know what Ji Sui was saying in sign language, and happily passed the painting up in his hand, and pointed in the direction of Zhao Yu and Qin Yi. Ji Sui glanced over here, holding Qu Si Xiao walked over slowly.
"Xiaoxiao told me that a sister drew a picture for him, so I must come to thank you too."
Looking at the painting in Ji Sui's hand, Zhao Yu looked embarrassed: "The teacher said that Xiaoxiao was unhappy recently. I saw his paintings and guessed that he missed his dad. I don't know what his dad looks like, so I just painted it casually. The result is nothing like you. My artwork is still so poor, maybe it's more abstract."
Ji Sui smiled and said, "I am not his father. It's not about looking alike or not. This painting is very beautiful. He likes it very much. Thank you."
"So you're not his father, then you mar…" Qin Yi's eyes beamed, probably because he wanted to ask him if he was married, but after speaking, he felt wrong and immediately took it back.
Ji Sui ignored Qin Yi's reaction, but looked at Zhao Yu suspiciously: "Have we met before? I feel like you are very familiar."
Zhao Yu replied to him with the same expression: "When you say this, I also feel familiar, as if…"
After thinking hard for a long time, she asked, "Did we meet in America? I have been working in there for a few years, and I probably met you there."
Ji Sui replied: "Perhaps. I have occasionally traveled there over the past two years."
They did meet in America. It was a coincidence that Zhao Yu deliberately created to verify whether Ji Sui knew her face.
Although she had never seen Ji Sui before, she was not sure if he had seen her photos. If he could recognize her, she would definitely avoid him after returning home.
After all, Ji Sui is different from Ling Jianyuan. The Ling family will not mention Zhao Yu, let alone mention the incident three years ago, so she can appear in front of Ling Jianyuan without hesitation, but if Ji Sui saw her, he would most certainly tell Zhuang Yiqing.
Qu Sixiao gestured with sign language again, Zhao Yu couldn't understand, Ji Sui translated: "Xiaoxiao said that he likes you very much, and asked when you will visit him again."
Zhao Yu shook her head apologetically. "I don't know. I came with the association. It depends on when they organize activities next time. Besides, we don't only come here, but also often go to the orphanage. Maybe next time…"
Seeing the look full of expectations on the little boy's face, Zhao Yu paused, and changed her words. "If Xiaoxiao wants, will Auntie make some time to come see you ok?"
After reading Ji Sui's translation, Qu Sixiao was obviously very happy, and nodded to Zhao Yu.
After the event, all the volunteers dispersed and went home separately. Zhao Yu deliberately did not drive, and met up with Qin Yi to take a taxi. Ji Sui naturally offered to send them back.
Zhao Yu politely refused, but Qin Yi was too excitable, and grabbed Zhao Yu's arm and got into the car uncourteously.
Zhao Yu gave Qin Yi an "I understand" look, and consciously took Qu Sixiao to sit in the back row, leaving the co-pilot to Qin Yi.
Ji Sui didn't look like a talkative person, but to be polite, he still smiled and chatted with the two.
Qin Yi couldn't wait to ask about his situation. "You are not Xiaoxiao's father, then you are… his uncle?"
"Yeah." Ji Sui responded briefly without saying much.
Zhao Yu asked someone to check that Qu Sixiao's father and Ji Sui had previously served in the special forces together. Unfortunately, Qu Sixiao's father died in a mission. Afterwards, Ji Sui retired early, and had been helping Qu Sixiao mother and son, so she could find this The most favorable opportunity to approach him.
Qin Yi was about to return to the university town, got off the car before Zhao Yu, and when she left, the car fell silent again.
He probably felt the awkward silence and after a while, Ji Sui took the lead to speak. "Xiaoxiao's father had passed away. He misses his father very much. The paintings you painted for him fit the image of his father, so he was so happy."
Zhao Yu smiled. "I also looked at the paintings he usually drew, and guessed that his father is a soldier, and the paintings are actually regular portraits of soldiers."
After a pause, she asked curiously, "Are you also a soldier? Your temperament resembles one."
"I used to be, not anymore."
The small talk between the two strangers did not delve very deep, and the two chatted casually and politely, and soon arrived downstairs in Zhao Yu's apartment.
After getting off the driveway, she turned around and left, took two steps and turned around, smiling apologetically. "Sorry, I didn't bring my business card. Should I leave a phone number? If Xiaoxiao wants to see me, you can contact me. With my work, it's only during this period of holidays that I have time to volunteer everywhere with the association. When I get to work, I may not be free apart from the weekends."
Seeing that she had taken out her mobile phone and opened WeChat, Ji casually took her mobile phone and added her as a friend. "I want to thank you on behalf of Xiaoxiao and his mother."
"You don't need to be so polite, you should follow our association's official account by the way. Some charitable activities such as fundraising will be posted on it, and you can also participate."
"Okay."