Mo Jinxi was still hesitant but felt that it was reasonable after hearing what s.h.i.+ Tou and Tian Tian said. He would be spending more time with his grandfather and grandmother in the future and would not have a lot of chances to come back to the orphanage.
He said, "Grandmother, I would like to stay and spend a bit more time with the old Princ.i.p.al and my siblings. I won"t have a lot of chances to do so after I go back with you all."
Liang Xiulin wanted to object but Police Chief Mo spoke first, "Sure, you have a point."
Mo Jinxi saw Police Chief Mo in the news before, and he had also learned about him from his ideological and political education subject in school. His teacher had shown videos too.
For somebody who was always stern looking in the eyes of the public or during private moments, Mo Jinxi was exceptionally happy to receive his validation and his little face beamed with a huge smile immediately. The little face who looked perturbed and helpless now bloomed with happiness since Lin Chu stepping into the house.
Since Police Chief Mo had already said so, Liang Xiulin could not object. She was reluctant to speak anymore, and her face took on a ghastly expression.
Mo Jinxi saw it, he hesitated for a while before climbing down the couch. He walked over carefully to Liang Xiulin and raised his head to look at her.
Liang Xiulin"s ghastly expression softened when she saw Mo Jin Xi. She smiled and fondled his little head.
Mo Jinxi smiled carefully at Liang Xiulin and raised his little hand to gently tug at the corner of her blouse twice.
"What is it?" Liang Xiulin asked in a soft and gentle voice.
"Grand…grandmother." Unlike earlier, it was Mo Jinxi who greeted first this time.
Even though he still felt a bit scared, it was already a major improvement for him.
At that moment, Liang Xiulin felt that she could agree to whatever Mo Jinxi might request.
"I want to stay back and spend a bit more time with the old Princ.i.p.al and the younger brothers and sisters. Is that alright?" Mo Jinxi asked. His head was raised, his voice was not loud, but he did not sound shy, only bashful and cute like that was unique to how a child would sound.
Mo Jinxi was looking at her earnestly, his tone of voice negotiating, Liang Xiulin could not bear to reject his request.
"I won"t have lots of opportunities next time, I am going to stay with Grandfather and Grandmother, right? Then I won"t always be seeing the old Princ.i.p.al and my brothers and sisters," Mo Jinxi said, and he started to sob.
His initial joy of having a family swept away, only thoughts of him leaving the old Princ.i.p.al and his familiar little friends saddened him and he felt a fear of the unknown for a new family.
He had never expected to be adopted and had never felt envious when he saw the younger children being adopted.
There was the old Princ.i.p.al and his familiar friends here. The orphanage was like a home to him and there was no difference.
Leaving here would mean leaving home.
When Lin Chu wanted to adopt him earlier, he did not feel like his because he had always treated Lin Chu as part of his family. When staying with family, there is no need to feel scared or adapt as it was part and parcel of being a family.
However, he felt strange toward Police Chief Mo and Liang Xiulin, and could not help feeling affected
Liang Xiu Lin sighed and replied, "You…if you want to stay, then stay."
Mo Jinxi beamed, showing his little white teeth. The feelings of cautiousness and restrained seemed to have disappeared slightly.
"Thank you, Grandmother," Mo Jinxi thanked and released his tug on her blouse.
Even though it was just a tug on the corner of her blouse, Liang Xiulin could not help but feel disappointed when Mo Jinxi released it. She caught Mo Jinxi"s hand and said, "Let Grandmother know if you lack anything here. The procedure would be done quickly, and Grandmother will bring you home as soon as possible."
Lin Chu heard what she said and felt uncomfortable in her heart. It sounded as if Mo Jinxi felt grieved staying here.
The old Princ.i.p.al also felt slightly hurt hearing it. She lowered her head and sighed quietly but did not say anything.
Mo Jinxi was still naïve and did not detect what was wrong with her words, but he replied honestly, "Nothing is lacking here. I am very comfortable staying here. The old Princ.i.p.al loves me a lot like Grandmother. Chu Chu visits often and always brings us gifts."
Liang Xiulin listened to him in disdain.
She felt that Mo Jinxi was a simple little child. He felt that it was good even if being treated just a little better, however, how could this be compared with a family"s constant care?
No matter how good the old Princ.i.p.al was, he was not the only child she took care of and there were times that she might not cope too. As for Lin Chu, in Liang Xiulin"s eyes, it was because she pitied the orphanage"s children. Regardless if she was sincerely charitable or just doing it for reputation, it was still all a superficial act.
She would visit occasionally and bring some little gifts, and Mo Jinxi would feel grat.i.tude for such little acts and felt that Lin Chu treated him very well.
He was indeed a little kid, so easy to be satisfied.
Liang Xiulin had heard of how Mo Jinxi was wronged in school. That time, Mo Jinxi could potentially be her grandson, and even though she was angry after hearing about the incident, she could still hold her anger.
However, after confirming that Mo Jinxi was her grandchild, her emotions changed and she wanted to go to the school and berate the school princ.i.p.al and every teacher there and make sure that they take good care of Mo Jinxi.
She felt that if Lin Chu was sincere, she should transfer Mo Jinxi to Jixia Academy.
Jixia Academy is under the Qi Family, and Yan Beicheng is Qi Chengzhi"s friend. Given the close relations.h.i.+p amongst the members of the Eight Dominant Families, it should be very easy to transfer Mo Jinxi to Jixia Academy.
Hence, to her, Lin Chu might have treated Mo Jinxi well, but it was done so selectively and did not treat him like how a real family would.
However, she did not know that it was not that Lin Chu did not want to transfer Mo Jinxi to another school.
It was because of Jixia Academy and its environment. Elite Cla.s.ses were only available in Jixia Academy"s Junior High School and Senior High School, and only accept students from all over the country who were exceptionally excellent regardless of family and background status. They did not just look at academic results, but rather from all aspects.
You could be excellent in an aspect and be accepted into Jixia Academy.
However, such excellency would need to be comparable countrywide and was able to stand out significantly.
For example, some students might be interested in physics, some might be better in chemistry, and some might be talented in maths; the student should not only be skilled in answering questions or follow textbook theories but must be able to apply his or her learnings in experiments and form his or her own opinions and insights regardless of the final results. The student must be independent and stand out without relying on textbook knowledge only.
Jixia Academy would only accept such excellent students and would not charge tuition fees and other fees. Not only that, but Jixia Academy would also support them in their research studies and send them to renowned inst.i.tutions.
Other than this type of cla.s.s, the other cla.s.ses in primary school and other grades were all attended by children from n.o.ble families.
Not every child from these n.o.ble families had good manners; unlike Yan Ningbai, who could get along easily as long as you are good-tempered. Most of the children looked down on commoners. Most of them would not purposely look for trouble due to their ident.i.ty, but the stuck-up ones would look down at you with a contemptuous att.i.tude and it would hurt just like a verbal insult.
Those in the Elite Cla.s.ses were not in their boundaries of being looked down at. This was because they grew up in an environment where talent played significant importance.
Even though they knew that students in the Elite Cla.s.ses might not be material wealthy, but they would treat them friendly and respect them as talents and not looked down at them.
This sort of hierarchy concept only existed in the normal cla.s.ses, just like how the n.o.ble families would also have their own strong and weak cla.s.sifications.
Mo Jinxi would not be able to join the Elite Cla.s.s, and even if Yan Beicheng were good friends with Qi Chengzhi, no exceptions could be made.
If they were to forcefully let Mo Jinxi join the normal cla.s.s together with the children from the n.o.ble families, he might be bullied due to his background as an orphan. Without a background, he would not even be on par with even the children from the smallest n.o.ble families and the verbal bullying that he would get might be worse than his current school.
These children from n.o.ble families were also smarter than common children. This was not because they were born to be smart, but due to their upbringing, they were nurtured to be more astute and calculative than the common children.
If they were to bully Mo Jinxi, they would make sure that they would not be caught red-handed. The teachers in the school would also care more for the students" background status and might be scared to reprimand the children. There would not be much different than the school that Mo Jinxi was currently studying at.
The school that Mo Jinxi was currently studying at, there might be students who bullied him, but he also had his circle of friends. s.h.i.+ Tou was studying in Primary One in the same school.
If he were to join Jixia Academy, it would be a new and strange environment. Mo Jinxi only knew Yan Ningbai, and he would have to start everything all over again.
However, if Mo Jinxi were to transfer to Jixia Academy as a grandchild of the Mo Family, the situation would be different from the current one.
Liang Xiulin had only thought of what would be good for Mo Jinxi and overlooked this aspect.
Upon hearing what Mo Jinxi said, Liang Xiulin smiled and fondled his head without saying anything.
The Mo Family stayed till 10 pm. It was getting very late and Mo Jinxi discreetly yawned a few times by the side.
It was then they thought of the child having to attend school the next day and would have to sleep early and only got up to leave.
Before departing, Liang Xiulin was still feeling very reluctant to leave. She reached into her unbranded handbag fis.h.i.+ng for something.
Because of Police Chief Mo"s ident.i.ty, she was now considered a public figure too. The country was very particular in how a public figure behaved superficially. Private matters aside, if the general public were to spot a public figure wearing branded items, they would criticize both in speech and writing.
Hence Liang Xiulin"s clothes and items were custom made. It was not cheap, but one would not be able to find any brand labels on it. This was the same for her bags.
She took out her purse and searched in it for a while. She only had 2,000 Yuan in cash. She frowned, unsure if it was because she felt that the money was not enough and took it all out and handed it to the old Princ.i.p.al. She said, "I did not bring enough money out today. Take this first and buy some good food for the child. I will come again tomorrow and bring more money and some items."
The old Princ.i.p.al frowned too. She pursed her lips slightly, expressing her unhappiness in her heart. She had always been polite and gentle and did not pull her face and only said, "The child does not lack anything here. The orphanage receives lots of donations regardless if it is from the Yan Family or other n.o.ble families. Due to some matters which happened previously, we are quite famous as well and donations from the general public had never ceased. The children are well clothed and well fed just like any other families and we made sure the children are well taken care of."
Teacher w.a.n.g and Teacher Yuan both had a ghastly expression on their faces.
What did this Madam Mo mean?
Did she think they did not treat Mo Jinxi well?
She gave money to them to buy good food for Mo Jinxi, but it was only for him alone? What about the other children? Would they have to stare at him when he ate alone?
The first time that Yan Beicheng visited, because of his relations.h.i.+p with Lin Chu, he signed a cheque for the orphanage. Lin Chu might be concerned with Mo Jinxi the most, but she also made sure to treat the other children fairly. Every time she visited with gifts, she would make sure everybody received one and she did not anything additional to Mo Jinxi.
As for Old Lady Yan, ever since she knew of the orphanage"s existence, she would occasionally swing by to give some gifts to the children. The gifts were not expensive items and were mostly functional, however, the number of items that she gave was not little and hence they would add up to be expensive too.
Not only that, but she would also call for the ladies from the other n.o.ble families to donate too.
Teacher Yuan, Teacher w.a.n.g, and the old Princ.i.p.al did not frown upon on how little money Liang Xiulin gave. The orphanage"s donation did not only come from n.o.ble families. In fact, thanks to Lin Chu, the n.o.ble families were now aware of the orphanage"s existence.
Regardless before or after Lin Chu knew Yan Beicheng, the orphanage had all the while received donations from the general public. Some were from university students, some were from working a.d.u.l.ts, and some were from retired elders. These people were not like the n.o.ble families who donated a huge amount every time. They donated according to their economic means, some donated a few hundred every time, some donated a few thousand, some donated clothes, books, and other items and its value varied.
However, they were all donated from the heart. Many a little makes a mickle, the donation was not specifically made to a child.
However, it was obvious that Liang Xiulin had only wanted to give to Mo Jinxi. It was not because the old Princ.i.p.al and the others felt that the money Liang Xiulin gave was too little, it was because of her att.i.tude.
If they were to accept it, what would the other children think?
Mo Jinxi truly did not lack 2,000 Yuan worth of goods!
In Liang Xiulin"s eyes, how shabbily did they treat Mo Jinxi?
It was ironic that Liang Xiulin always appeared in the news together with Police Chief Mo and visited all around the country. In the news, she did a lot of charities and visited the poor children, how could she be so narrow-minded in private?
Liang Xiulin"s smile stiffened for a while. She was already not happy with how things did not turn out to her expectations tonight. Mo Jinxi was not ill-treated, and she was comforted.
However, Mo Jinxi had strong feelings for the orphanage and was not willing to follow her home. This made her very unhappy.
Now that she wanted to give some money to buy her grandson some good stuff, the other party refused to accept her offer.
"I did not mean anything. I am aware the child was not ill-treated here. Despite that, he still does not have his own pocket money to buy himself some snacks, unlike other children. The money is for the child to buy additional food," Liang Xiulin insisted with a stiff smile.
The old Princ.i.p.al did not care who Liang Xiulin was. Even with Police Chief Mo and his senior officer t.i.tle, he would not deliberately make it difficult for the orphanage and made the innocent children uncomfortable, would he?
The old Princ.i.p.al replied bluntly, "This is an orphanage, not a nursery. I know you love Jinxi dearly. You can love him however you want when he goes home with you. But here, there is no need to disa.s.sociate him from the other children. This would set a bad example and would not resonate well with the children."
Liang Xiulin"s smile stiffened further. She chuckled drily, and replied to the old Princ.i.p.al, "I was rus.h.i.+ng out and did not bring enough cash, otherwise I would have given more."
She was implying that the old Princ.i.p.al felt that the money she gave was too little and hence refused to accept it.
This time, the old Princ.i.p.al"s facial expression turned cold.
In any case, she was a respected person in society with fame and prestige, how could she do such a low-cla.s.s act!
Lin Chu now did not know if it would be good or bad if Mo Jinxi were to follow them back.
Police Chief Mo and Mo Jingsheng looked to be mature and steady persons and would set a good example for the child. However, both of them were always busy with their work, hence Mo Jinxi would be spending most of his time with Liang Xiulin. Seeing how Liang Xiulin acted tonight, would she be a bad influence for Mo Jinxi?
The old Princ.i.p.al simply pursed her lips. She did not speak and turned completely cold.