Chapter 398 - A Hypocritical Occasion

“A business trip again?” Xia Yu heard roughly the phone talk on the side.

Shen Yan smiled and said, “My elder brother is busy with his personal matters recently and has no time for the company activity, while we can be devoted to the company business. It seems to be unfair to him.”

Xia Yu also smiled and said, “But a trip for the public welfare is worthwhile.”

“Exactly. I think so. Go for some preparation now. I guess that we have to leave tomorrow after the meeting in the Headquarters.” Shen Yan smiled and put his phone on his desk.

Shen Group had always been keen on the public welfare. On the one hand, it could enlarge their social influence. On the other hand, Shen Mo liked to carry out such things. About two years ago, he successfully persuaded Old Madame to donate money to build a Hope Primary School in Xinjiang and later a library in Qinghai. This time when Shen Yan went there, the media would also follow and interview on the way.

Usually, Shen Mo was the most active one to join such an activity. But now, he was pestered by Zhou Jiamin. Otherwise, Shen Yan wouldn’t have been given this opportunity by any means. It was the best approach to enhancing his personal image.

Though Shen Mo had some personal motives, Shen Yan was not treated unfairly.

Shen Yan understood it as well, so he accepted this task very willingly. They took the evening flight and arrived in Xining at night. After staying for one night in the hotel near the airport, they got on the vehicles arranged by the county to the school early the next morning.

The school was located in a very remote village of a county. When Shen Yan and others entered the county, the headmaster who was in charge of the reception on the side received a phone call from the vice-headmaster who was staying at the school. The voice on the other end of the line was apparently excited. “Are you here?”

The headmaster glanced at the range of the mountains in front of him and then answered, “Not yet. We are just entering the mountain area.”

After Shen Yan and others went into the mountain area, the road became rough. Plus, the vehicles sent by the county were not good enough. The leading vehicle was a Dongfeng SUV. Probably it was the best one that the county could provide. Behind it were a Wuling van and two pickups.

Shen Yan was sitting in the SUV, and Xia Yu was sitting next to him. The headmaster was in the front passenger seat.

The headmaster was a local person in his forties, named Ji Cang. He wore a ragged felt hat, and his hands were crossed in his cotton jacket sleeves. Sitting there, he looked like an aged man.

“Mr. Shen, are you used to this environment?”

Shen Yan was playing with his phone at that time because it couldn’t receive any signal since they went into the mountains. He didn’t hear what the old headmaster had said for a while. Until the headmaster gave an embarrassed laugh, he didn’t realize what was going on.

“Sorry! But what did you say just now?”

“I said that when we entered this mountain area, the altitude was above 3000 meters and I asked you whether you were used to this height.” The old headmaster said in Mandarin with a heavy accent.

Shen Yan failed to get any signal after a long-time endeavor, so he put down his phone and answered, “It’s OK.”

“Then it’s good for you. I’m most afraid that people from the city like you have altitude sickness here. Yesterday, a girl just came here and was sick soon in the evening.” The old headmaster began to laugh first with “ha-ha” while saying.

Shen Yan just said “uh-huh” and spoke no more. Xia Yu had never been to such a harsh and cold place like here before, either. Rubbing her frozen red hands, she hurried to ask, “That’s so serious. How’s she now?”

“Well! She was given some oxygen and lay there for a night.”

“Oh!” Xia Yu considered for a while and then patted the backpack on her knees. She felt lucky secretly and thought in her mind, “It’s lucky that I carry an oxygen bag with me.”

No one spoke in the later travel. Probably Xia Yu started to feel a little short of breath as the car had been running on the rough road for more than half an hour. When going out of the mountains, they could see a vast grass field outside the window. Several sparse yurts with prayer flags tied to the front door would come into their eyes from time to time. That was where the nomads lived.

“There is still snow on the mountain.” Xia Yu pointed to a mountain not far away. There was indeed some white snow covering the top.

The headmaster laughed. “It’s still winter here now.”

“Tut-tut!” Xia Yu put her thick scarf closer to her neck and asked no more.

They were delayed for a while because one of the vehicles broke down on the way. So, when they arrived at the school, it was already half past nine. A bunch of kids were waiting and welcoming at the gate, and all of them had colorful ribbons around their wrists.

The ribbons were prepared in advance by the Publicity Department of Shen Group. The school here cooperated with them and arranged for the kids to wave their little hands as soon as Shen Yan and his companions got out of the cars. Then the following journalists shot the scene. People of Shen Group walked through the middle of the kids who lined up on both sides, and the ribbons of love were dancing under the plateau sunshine. No shot would be lost in the camera.

What a beautiful scene! Children’s happy waves of laughter as well as Shen Group’s love sprinkled on the cold and barren highland.

Xia Yu hated such a hypocritical scene in her mind, but she also understood that it was needed for the publicity.

Now, it was about noon. The ultraviolet rays were the harshest of the daytime on the highland. The wind was so strong that it blew the kids’ clothes on the clothesline not far away up and down.

Xia Yu walked around the school and wandered near the dormitory unconsciously.

A young man was walking in her direction. Xia Yu guessed that he was a teacher here and smiled at him, greeting. “Hello!”

“Hello, I’m a substitute teacher at this school, and my name is Jian.” The man said, smiling.

“I am Xia Yu, from S city.” Xia Yu responded with a smile.

“It must have been a tired journey.” Jian said very politely.

“It’s fine. But you are so warm that all of your students and staff have come to welcome us. Is that necessary?” In Xia Yu’s view, it seemed that the whole school had gone out to welcome them.

“Absolutely necessary. Our school and the county government all think this is important.” Jian lifted and showed the things in his hands. Then Xia Yu found that he was holding two quilts.

“Why are you carrying the quilts?”

“It’s too windy outside, and the school leaders asked me to get something to keep off the wind.”

“To keep off the wind?”

“Yes.” Jian rushed away hurriedly after saying this, and Xia Yu was left, standing in the corridor alone.

At this moment, Xia Yu was standing in the veranda outside the dormitory building. In front of her was a large field of sand and stones, which was surrounded by a circle of loess wall. At one end of the field was a rusted basketball stand. This was the playground where the kids played at ordinary times.

Across the playground were two red brick bungalows, on the walls of which there were some dried vegetables. This was the dining hall of the school. In front of the dining hall was a brand-new three-story building, outer walls of which were painted blue. Large glass windows were installed and were sparkling under the sunshine. But it seemed that the building was a little antipathetic to the field of sand and stones as well as bungalows around there.

At that time, applause and music came through the other side. Probably, the line-up welcome was over now, and the next was to be the ceremony.

Xia Yu covered her head and face with her scarf and walked across the sand and stones to the library. She had no interest in all kinds of ceremonies. On her way, the wind was still fierce, but waves of applause in the distance could still be heard. It seemed that someone was giving a speech on the stage.

She just intended to have a look at the library. Walking through the alley beside the dining hall, she turned and saw a few rows of people in different heights on the open field without anything to block the sight. The kids were lining up to watch the ceremony.

Some distance ahead was the door of the newly built library. The organizers created an open space and set up a simple shed, near which stood a publicity board of this activity. The other end had been empty, but now some quilts were hanging there. In this way, the center area was surrounded to form a platform which could keep out wind and rain.

A row of people stood on the platform. They were people of Shen Group and some leaders of the county. She could not see clearly their faces because of the distance, but she could tell that the donation ceremony was going on there at this moment.

Someone handed over an enlarged cheque to Headmaster Ji Cang, who wore a felt hat. The journalists below the platform were clicking the shutters of their cameras quickly, and the county leaders on the side were clapping their hands heavily together with the kids. The atmosphere there was so high that Xia Yu could feel it at a distance.

After the donation ceremony was over, they began to distribute the care packages which were carried overnight on the platform. At this moment, the kids finally couldn’t stand still, and some of them started to run around.

Headmaster Ji Cang and Jian began to keep the order, but very few kids paid attention to their shouting and yelling. Gradually, the lines were messed up. Some kids got their care packages and ran happily down from the platform but were stopped by the journalists for the request of taking a group photo on the half-way.

Those kids, untidy with running noses, pushed each other for fun. New schoolbags and cotton coats were held in their arms. When they were asked to take a photo, they showed their awkward and shy smiles to the cameras. The moment was frozen under the scorching sun. Xia Yu knew that these photos would be published in the newspapers and become a medal of charity that Shen Group took pride in.

“Pretty sister!” A little girl’s voice came.

Xia Yu stood still and saw a girl in blue knitwear running out of the crowd.

The little girl showed the care package which she just got to Xia Yu. “Look! I also got one.”

Xia Yu smiled and looked at the stuff in her arms. Those were just unified schoolbags and cotton coats that Shen Group arranged. Every kid had one set. But those little hands holding the care package made the viewer feel sad to look at.

“Does it hurt?” Xia Yu asked considerately and took the red and swollen hands of the little girl close to her. Her hands were full of chilblains, and there were a few cracks with blood streak oozing out of the hands.

The girl shook her head. “No!”

Xia Yu squatted down. She took out a pair of gloves from her pocket and put them on the hands of the little girl.

“Pretty sister, are you with them as well?” The little girl asked.

Xia Yu nodded. “Go back to your classroom as you have got your stuff. It’s too windy outside.”

“OK!” The little girl ran away with her stuff in her arms happily, but she suddenly turned back halfway.

“Pretty sister!”

“Yes?”

“I heard from Teacher Jian that you would come to my home this afternoon, right?” The kid’s eyes were full of expectation.

Xia Yu considered for a moment. It seemed that they were assigned to visit a boy indeed, but the girl said that it was her home. Probably, it was her little brother. She smiled. “Right! We will go to see your little brother.”

“Then can I go back with you?”

“No! You still have classes in the afternoon. If you skip classes, Headmaster Ji Cang will spank you.” Xia Yu scared her on purpose.

The little girl thought for a while and then said reluctantly, “All right. I won’t go back with you, but can you help me with one thing?”

“What?”

“My little brother…” she held the stuff in her hands and hesitated for a while, “he hasn’t gone to school for two months. My mother told me that he was weak and would not come to school for trouble.”

Xia Yu only felt that her heart was stung slightly and squatted down again in front of the girl. “Does he want to go to school?”

“Yes, he wants even in his dreams. So, can you talk to my mother and let my brother go to school?” No one knew why this little girl trusted Xia Yu so much. Maybe because she was one of the people who had come here to their aid. Maybe because Xia Yu had a kind look. This was why the little girl trusted her.

Xia Yu moved the hair in front of her eyes and then nodded. “OK. I’ll try.”

“Thank you!” The girl smiled under the sunshine, and her two canine teeth showed up. She took off the gloves and pulled out something from her pocket carefully.

“Please give these to my little brother.”

“What?” Xia Yu saw that her dirty chilblained hand was unfolded. There were three candies in her hand.

“A sister just gave these to me over there. I didn’t want to eat for myself. Please give these to my little brother. He likes candies.” Then she ran away after saying that, leaving Xia Yu alone with three warm toffees in her hand. She was just standing in situ.

Shen Yan was helping give out the care packages on the platform. The wind became stronger and stronger. The sun, which had been quite violent just now, was beginning to weaken gradually. The old headmaster saw that Shen Yan’s clothes were a little thin and yelled at him, “The weather is about to change. Go in the house and shelter yourself from the wind.”

“No need. Let’s first finish these.” Shen Yan answered. But his phone rang at this time, and it was from Liu Sijie.

“I’m sorry.” He motioned to the headmaster and then went out of the shed with his phone in his hand. He chose a less windy place and got through the call.