When the elderly dean came in, she saw Su YuanHeng's desolate and lonely silhouette. Following the direction of his gaze, her sight set on the exact same spot of when he first appeared at the orphanage.
[FLASHBACK]
The elderly dean very quietly sighed. In that year, it was the spot where she found the chilling cold Su YuanHeng with his little body curled up in the corner of the orphanage's gates with his tiny hands tightly gripping onto a big scarf.
She carried him to the orphanage and used thick blankets and warm porridge to coax him to wake up. However, Su YuanHeng had a high fever; his mind was in the midst of unconsciousness. But still, he used that soft and weakened voice of a child to cry out, "..... I need to wait for my daddy. Let me go outside...wu-wu...I won't leave... Xiao Li will listen. Xiao Li will wait for daddy...wu-wu..I can't see daddy from here...I need to wait for my daddy... "
He was so persistent, tinged with the stubbornness of a child. Even though he was sick, he still struggled continuously, refusing to listen to anyone. He just quietly got up and weakly walked out the door wearing his pajamas.
If he wasn't discovered in time by someone, he would have almost lost his life on that cold winter night.
The elderly dean had no choice but to put him on the second floor with a view out a wide open window, yet still had some shade in the room. She told him that he could see outside from here and would also be able to see his father. She and other children could help him wait for his father. If his father returned, he could wave from here and his father would definitely see him.
But she already knew that his father, like all the other helpless parents, would never return.
The little child believed it. After he had recovered a bit, he would lean on the window all day, looking out without blinking his eyes.
The elderly dean had never met a child more stubborn than him in these many years. After a few months, many four-year olds would slowly forget their loved ones who had abandoned them. However, Su YuanHeng did not leave the orphanage until he was ten, and even then, he had never forgotten his promise.
For many chillingly cold nights, the elderly dean would often find him secretly wearing heavy layers of coats, heading toward the gates of the orphanage, sitting on the old tarnished steps waiting for an entire night.
[END OF FLASHBACK]
"Xiao Li, ahh no, should I be calling you by your new name? YuanHeng, returning this time, how long do you plan to stay?"
Su YuanHeng came back to his senses, smiled and responded, "Mother Dean can call me whatever you want. It doesn't bother me. I'd like to stay here for a period of time. Would that be too much of an inconvenience?"
Before he came, he had called the hospital. BeiTang MinQian surely had great influence. He was able to help him request an entire month off. It seems that being a major shareholder of the hospital is really different. His accumulated vacation leave for a year is not even this long.
He wanted to take this opportunity to rest and think carefully about his relationship with BeiTang MinQian. Also, he has not returned for many years so he wanted to spend some time here.
The elderly dean laughed, "Of course it's fine. How could it be an inconvenience? You've donated a lot of money and things to the orphanage for so many years. Everybody is very grateful to you. The children have sent you cards every year, did you get them?"
"I got them."
"Only two of the oldest children stay in this room, a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old. The 16-year old was admitted to the Academy of Fine Arts and has left for school. There is no vacant room in the orphanage. Are you fine with sharing a room with him?"
"That's fine. Didn't I use to live here? Thank you, Dean Mother," Su YuanHeng said with a smile.
Thus, he ended up staying in the orphanage.
During the day, the older children of the orphanage would go to school. Su YuanHeng, the elderly dean and several staff would take care of the younger children. In the evening, all the children would be back and the orphanage would liven up. Su YuanHeng played with them, made up games and tutored them on their homework.
He is a doctor so when there is a sick child, there was no need to go far. He personally provided the care. With his good temperament, handsome appearance, and warming friendliness, he is born with the natural affinity to people. So as a result, he was well loved by everyone in the orphanage.
Su YuanHeng liked this kind of lifestyle a lot. He very much appreciated the peace and tranquility from this place. Unknowingly, he had stayed for more than half a month. Initially, he was depressingly distressed over matters involving himself and BeiTang MinQian. But after a while, these matters were gradually forgotten and he was able to completely relax.
The orphanage is located in a simple and quiet town. There is no hustling and bustling of a big city. For this reason, there are rarely any disturbances or scandals. Su YuanHeng did not specially pay attention to any news relating to BeiTang MinQian. In the first few days, he held onto a thin ray of anticipation, wondering if BeiTang MinQian would come to find him. But seeing no movements for a few days, he gradually gave up.
Sure enough...that heartless person...
Su YuanHeng knew that BeiTang MinQian is a man of his words (t/n). This superior young master most detest other people objecting him. This time, after such a long separation, he (BeiTang MinQian) had wholeheartedly returned wanting to reunite with him, but he (Su YuanHeng) ended up leaving without saying good-bye. BeiTang MinQian is likely furious at this moment, so how could Su YuanHeng expect him to come find him?
T/N, 說一不二, mean what he says; never make promise that can't be kept
Maybe, it's really time to break up...
Pondering over this, Su YuanHeng felt his heart trembling, as if it was being pricked by pins.
Oh well. It's better to get the pain over with rather than to prolong the agony. Or else, it would be like how it was with his Father...
During the days that Su YuanHeng stayed at the orphanage, he kept remembering the days when he was with his father.
At that time, he was not even four years old. He often saw his father drunk, shredding his own paintings slumping to the sofa bursting into tears. His mindset was extremely unstable. He would regret after he's awake, holding onto the shredded fragments and be lost in his own thoughts. Then, he would look as though he wanted to put them back together but couldn't. He'd frenziedly pick up the canvas and start to paint continuously.
At that time, he was young and didn't understand many things. As he grew up, he gradually came to understand and knew that his father was sad because of a man. In his father's album, in addition to the little him is full of another man's presence.
It was the back profile of a tall man; sometimes wearing a long trench coat, sometimes wearing an impeccable western suit. The image is always from the back or the side, always looking as if this person wanted to leave.
Of course he now understood that the man is his father's lover, maybe even his...
He didn't want to think nor dare to think. His father's depressing chaotic life and his abandonment is the nightmare of his life. But strangely, he did not hate his father.
After all, his father really did love him. Even if he was drunk to where he lost unconsciousness or went insane, he never once hit or scolded him. And even if he was at the lowest point in his life, not being able to sell even one painting and they could only afford to eat instant noodles for an entire month, he never forgot to add an egg to his bowl and give him a glass of milk in the mornings.
Although Su YuanHeng was young and living such chaotic life, he didn't feel that his life was harsh. As long as long as he had his father, he was content and happy. Occasionally on the weekends, his father would take him to the park to play as he painted. He would run freely in the grass. When he turned his head back to look at his father's thin figure standing in front of the canvas, looking up smiling at him, he felt like he's the happiest kid in the world.
Now, all is gone. It has became the most precious yet most painful memory in Su YuanHeng's mind.
He didn't want to be like his father, losing his soul because of a man; this father who eventually abandoned his son and went to a faraway place.
Su YuanHeng is very intelligent. Since childhood, he studied very hard. Several times, good-hearted people wanted to adopt him but he refused because of his stubbornness in wanting to wait for his father. However, he later realized that his father would never return for him. No matter how many cold winter nights or how long he waited on those cold steps, his father would never come back.
Then at ten years old, a man came to adopt him. This man is a surgeon with a wife that is terminally ill. They had a child ten years ago, but unfortunately the child died. His wife couldn't give birth again so he wanted to give his wife a final gift.
He said that he (Su YuanHeng) looked like him and that if his son was still still alive, he may look like him.
These words made Su YuanHeng's heart softened.
The man is tall with a warm temperament. When he (the man) left the orphanage, his long windbreaker was blown up by the autumn wind like it was rustling in the air.
This man's back profile was very much like the man who often appeared in his father's photo album. This also moved Su YuanHeng's heart. Although he had lost his father, maybe he can get another father.
For an entire six month, the man continuously came to the orphanage to see him, hoping that he would be willing to leave with him. Although, Su YuanHeng knew that his persistence is because he had searched for a long time, and finally found someone that look like him and most likely look like his son.
Then, Mother Dean's words completely shook him to his core. She said, "Xiao Li, you should go with him. You should have a happy family and a beautiful future. With Mr. Su, all of this could be accomplished. This way, when you are older, maybe one day, you would have the ability to find your father."
Su YuanHeng felt that he had suddenly grown up overnight. He gave up waiting and left with the man. He told himself that he would never be so stupid, putting all his emotions on a man that had abandoned him.
But he is that stupid. Now, he has put all his affections on a boy that he had fallen in love with at first sight ten years ago.
Su YuanHeng bitterly laughed. He knew that in this life, this is something that he couldn't change.
His adoptive father was nice to him. In order to cure his wife, he soon took the entire family to America.
After a year and a half, Su YuanHeng's adoptive mother passed away. During that time, he became interested in medicine.
His adoptive mother was a lovely woman, elegant and intelligent, with a good-natured heart but also often likes to joke around. Su YuanHeng loved her just like he did his adoptive father and hoped that she would live. However, brain cancer eventually took her life.
Therefore, Su YuanHeng decided to embark on the path of being a brain surgeon. This made his adoptive father felt extremely gratified.