Wild Creatures

Chapter 145

The days were passing faster than Wei Ying could count. Now there was only one week of school left for the boys before they broke up for the Christmas holiday.

Wei Ying had been thinking it was the perfect time to have them switch schools as well. Their current school was too far away from either the Lan Manor, Lan Zhan's flat (try as he might, Wei Ying was having a severe difficulty thinking of it as his, too), and what was soon to become their new home, the ex-ranch.

If they had to uproot the kids at all, it should be done as soon as possible, when they were young enough to make new friends, and the disruption to their education would cause the minimum problems.

Any free time Wei Ying had, in between looking after the boys and the new baby girls, was spent finishing his book with Lan Zhan, and scoping out places of education around their new homes.

Uncle Qiren had made it clear that while they might move out to their new home, their rooms in the manor were staying, and that was that. He also pointed out how useful they would be when (not 'if') the boys came to visit/stay.

Meanwhile, Wei Ying was going to get ready for Christmas.

This year, he was going to lavish their children with attention, and also presents, but in a good way. A-Yuan had never really complained about their finances and about them never having enough funds for the extraneous things not immediately related to their survival.

But Wei Ying was sure his first ever baby must have felt sad when he saw other kids asking and getting expensive toys whenever they wanted them. So he had a plan.

XiChen had moved mountains to get the old Town Hall repaired and renovated in time for Christmas. With the added funds Wei Ying was able to help him with, their now joint charity company had finished the Homeless People Centre at the Town Hall and was working on a second one across town.

On Christmas eve, earlier in the afternoon, the whole family had visited the old Town Hall where new guests were arriving every day. So far, they were able to provide a permanent residence for up to fifty people, above the soup kitchen which regularly fed two hundred plus people every single day.

Wei Ying and Lan Zhan agreed that teaching the children how to look after others before themselves was a gift well-learned, and they wanted to do it every year.

There was also a local orphanage that they visited on the Friday before the Christmas weekend.

That came about in the most surprising way.

Uncle Qiren was napping with Juhua and Meihua upstairs in the manor, and Wei Ying was helping the boys with their homework, while discussing the homeless shelter with Lan Zhan, when JingYi asked them a question.

"A-Die, you know there are grown ups without a home? Are there children like that too? Like me and A-Yuan, but you and Baba helped us."

While he gathered his thoughts and tried to make better sense of his question, Wei Ying was quietly shocked. He supposed he shouldn't have been; after all, both JingYi and A-Yuan were aware of their situation and knew they were adopted, and that should have prepared Wei Ying somewhat for this extension of the topic.

"Are you asking us about kids without parents?" Lan Zhan asks him, glancing at Wei Ying for help, and buying himself some time to answer.

"Yes!" JingYi looks relieved that he's understood.

"What happens to them?" A-Yuan asks, anxiously.

"There are places that take them in. They're called orphanages." Wei Ying says, picking him up.

JingYi goes to Lan Zhan to climb onto his lap.

"But what happens at Christmas for them? Who buys them presents?" They want to know.