Chapter 1680 — Leaving a Letter Behind

In truth, had the old director not wanted to find a quieter place and rebuild the orphanage? Of course she had. But rebuilding took money—wishing alone would not do it. Truth to tell, if Li Cihua had simply picked some out-of-the-way plot of land and put an orphanage on it, the old director would have agreed to the swap.

Location was of no use to these children, and the old director only wished them to live a little better.

Yet a plot of land was of no use whatsoever to the old director either. Still, she knew that holding out might provoke Li Cihua, might provoke Zhao Qibing, and who could say what men like that would do once provoked.

To spare Yu Xiaoke worry, the old director had not told her of the matter; she had negotiated with Li Cihua alone—even Xiao Ken knew nothing.

At this moment, Xiao Ken had been summoned by Yu Xiaoke, who was now giving him her last instructions.

"Xiao Ken, you've grown up too. From now on, the orphanage is in your hands—you'll assist the old director and keep it all in order!" Yu Xiaoke said to him gravely.

Xiao Ken was rather bewildered. Yu Xiaoke had called him over without warning, and he had no idea what it was about; now her blunt opening left him utterly at a loss. "Sister Xiaoke, I've been helping you and the old director run the orphanage all along, haven't I?"

"Yes. But from now on... it will be only you," Yu Xiaoke said with a sigh. "Your sister Xiaoke may not be able to help you anymore..."

"What? Sister Xiaoke, are you leaving the orphanage?" Xiao Ken stared. "Are you... getting married?"

As he said it, a pang of disappointment rose in him. Yu Xiaoke was a goddess in the eyes of the older boys, but a goddess only—none of them dared harbor improper thoughts about her.

"Something like that, I suppose..." Yu Xiaoke nodded. "You must promise me, Xiao Ken—take good care of the little brothers and sisters in the orphanage from now on."

"All right... then, Sister Xiaoke, will you still come back often?" Xiao Ken could not bear to let her go.

"I... may not be able to come back at all..." Yu Xiaoke pondered a moment, then decided to speak the truth. Xiao Ken had grown up; he was a sensible boy, and above all a loyal one who knew how to repay kindness.

So if she told him, he would surely understand what was in her heart at this moment.

"Not come back? What do you mean?" The more he listened, the more Xiao Ken felt something was wrong. He pressed her at once: "Sister Xiaoke, what are you really trying to say? Why does it sound like you're marching off to the execution ground?"

Xiao Ken had only meant it as a joke; he never imagined he had hit the mark exactly.

"Heh, it's about the same, really." Yu Xiaoke nodded. "Xiao Ken, this time your sister Xiaoke is actually going to save someone..."

"Save someone? Who?" Xiao Ken asked, puzzled.

"Someone who was very, very good to me—and whom I like very much as well. He's the prince on the white horse in my heart, I suppose..." And with that, Yu Xiaoke told Xiao Ken the whole business of the tomb raiding, in careful detail...

She had never told even the old director all of it in such detail; she had deliberately concealed that faint, ambiguous tenderness between herself and the Male Thief. But now she hid nothing from Xiao Ken—everything that had been pent up in her heart for so long, she poured out to him all at once.

This time Yu Xiaoke had made up her mind, and there was no turning back; so she had to lay out the reasons plainly.

"What? Sister Xiaoke, you're going to storm the execution ground? You don't want to live?" Xiao Ken's eyes went wide. "Even if the Male Thief helped you before, you can't do something so foolish! If you go, can you ever come back? You won't save him—you'll only throw your own life away with his!"

"Heh, I thought that through long ago..." Yu Xiaoke shook her head with a trace of helplessness. "I know that with my present strength, saving him is next to impossible. But if I don't go, I'll never get past it for the rest of my life. If I die, then I die. I love him; to die for him is what I'm willing to do. Xiao Ken, you're still young—you don't understand what it means to love someone..."

"Who says I don't!" Xiao Ken flushed scarlet and cried out in alarm. "I love you, Sister Xiaoke, and I don't want you to go throw your life away!"

"That's not the same..." Yu Xiaoke smiled. "Xiao Ken, that kind of love is only admiration and attachment. When I'm gone, you'll be the backbone of the orphanage, and those children will admire and love you just the same. And now that things at the orphanage have settled down, I can go with a quiet heart."

"But..." Xiao Ken knew her character: she was stubborn and strong, and once she set her mind on something she would see it through and never turn back. Yet he truly did not want her to go to her death. If she went, she was fated never to return. So he said: "Sister Xiaoke, isn't your boyfriend Brother Wei Zhao? Have you given him up for someone else? Brother Wei Zhao is so good—why must you love a Male Thief who's nothing but a phantom?"

"Wei Zhao... heh, that was only a misunderstanding." Yu Xiaoke shook her head. "There's nothing between him and me. Wei Zhao is a good man, but he always looked down on me, and I feel nothing for him. The Male Thief is different. I love him!"

"I... you... Sister Xiaoke, have you told the old director?" Xiao Ken truly was at his wit's end, and could only invoke the old director's name, hoping she might talk Yu Xiaoke out of this foolishness.

"Don't tell the old director about this. I'll leave her a letter—you can pass it on to her for me..." Yu Xiaoke pondered a moment. She knew the old director doted on her as though she were her own daughter, and that if the old director learned of this, she would certainly insist on sharing the danger with her.

But Yu Xiaoke did not want that, so she meant to leave first and explain afterward. The orphanage could do without her now—Xiao Ken could take her place—but it could never do without the old director.

So Yu Xiaoke said to Xiao Ken with great solemnity: "Xiao Ken, you're the eldest of these children and the most sensible of them. You understand that if the old director learns of this, she will certainly come along with me. Since there's danger, can you let her go?"

"But..." Hearing her words, Xiao Ken knew she was telling the truth, and it left him torn. On one hand he did not want Yu Xiaoke to take the risk; on the other, he knew her character—what she had decided to do, she would do through a thousand hardships.

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