"Hello?"
Hey, Mr. Yan, is the ceremony over at your end? "
"Soon."
"Where are we going to eat after this?"
"Stay in school." This was also arranged in advance by the Propaganda Department. Shen's group will have a simple lunch with the children in the school cafeteria, and the press conference will be followed and filmed live, which is of great significance.
"Master Yan, I have a very important situation..." Liu Sijie's voice was urgent, and Shen Yan also listened.
He knew that if it wasn't something very important, he wouldn't call him at this time. But mid-sentence, the connection suddenly got disconnected. Shen Yan was about to call back when he found that there was no signal.
The signal was cut off at the right time. Shen Yan looked at his phone helplessly. What was he going to tell him
Just as he was thinking about it, the principal came over and said to him, "The weather station said it will snow in the afternoon, and it looks like the weather is going to change."
"Oh!" Shen Yan's mind was still on Liu Sijie's phone call. He felt a little irritated, and the wind was strong around him, so he took his phone and walked to the other side of the classroom.
Liu Sijie said that he had something very important. His signal was not good and he was not finished yet. He might as well ask Xia Yu to call the post office and ask.
There were kids running around.
Just as someone shouted from behind, Shen Yan'an turned around and saw a middle-level cadre of the Shen family waving to him on the platform, "I need you to come over and take a group photo!"
Several reporters had already set up their cameras, and Shen Yan could only go back the same way, where a few naughty boys were playing and playing.
"Master Yan?"
"What?"
"Smile!" the middle-level cadre reminded him. Shen Yan rubbed his forehead with his hand and smiled at the camera, but he felt inexplicably empty in his heart. It felt like something was passing by and he couldn't catch it. It is intangible, just like the empty plateau in front of me, endless barrenness.
After the group photo was taken, Shen Yan accepted some impromptu interviews. It was already one o'clock in the afternoon. She claimed to have lunch with the children. In fact, it was impossible. Everything was arranged in advance by the organizer. Most of the children had already After lunch, a few obedient and sensible people were left to eat with Shen Yan and others, all for the sake of the camera. After that, we took a few group photos and interviewed the assisted children. The children spoke tremblingly in front of the camera. I don’t know how many times I have recited it beforehand.
It was past four o'clock in the afternoon when a set of procedures was completed. The wind outside the window became even stronger. A group of people sitting in the room could hear the sound of wind coming through the cracks in the wall.
One of Shen's middle-level cadres held tightly to the giant backpack he had brought along the way, but secretly asked the people walking next to him, "This wind sounds so scary. When can we leave this ghost place?"
"I don't know, it's going to snow."
"The sun is still shining in the morning, I don't believe it will snow."
"Why don't you believe it? The climate on the plateau is abnormal. The sun will be strong one second and there will be violent storms and snow the next." The person who spoke was a staff member of Shen's Propaganda Department. The leader shrugged disapprovingly. As a result, as soon as the two of them finished speaking, Ajian hurriedly came to the door. He ran in hurriedly.
"headmaster!"
Yoshikura stood up from the table with his pipe in hand: "What should I say? Can you leave?"
"I'm afraid I won't be able to walk. It has started to snow in the mountains and the wind is strong. I'm afraid something might happen on the road."
"Ah?" The middle-level cadre screamed, "I don't want to live in this damn place." After that, he glared at the propaganda department employee next to him, "It's all down to you, crow's mouth!"
The county leader was a little embarrassed after hearing this, and pulled Yoshikura aside, "How can I stay overnight if I can't leave?"
"Why don't you live in the school dormitory?"
"Nonsense, how can we let them live in the dormitory?"
"Why can't we live here? The children can live here, but they can't live here?" Yoshikura was also straight-tempered and said whatever he wanted. His high-pitched voice made the atmosphere even more tense. The county leaders couldn't resist him, and they were worried that something might happen on the road.
"How can we live with so many people?"
"Let's squeeze in. If it doesn't work, Ajian and I will sleep in the classroom with a quilt."
After much discussion, he decided to stay temporarily. The county leader came over to ask Shen Yan for his opinion. Shen Yan sat at the window and looked at the sky outside. It was getting dark. Occasionally, a few snowflakes fell, and they were quickly blown away by the wind. .
"We'll talk about it later." He was still thinking about Liu Sijie's phone call.
As a result, we waited for more than half an hour. The wind became stronger and stronger, and the light snow turned into a blizzard. It seemed that we would not be able to leave. The county leaders also suggested that we stay one night. After all, safety comes first.
The middle-level cadre's heart was broken when he gave the order. He hugged his large backpack and screamed, "I don't live in the dormitory. I brought a sleeping bag. I will find a way to solve it myself!"
He also saw the situation in the dormitory just now when he followed the reporter to take pictures. Not to mention the dirty and crowded beds, even the walls were leaky, and he had to be crowded with a bunch of children. He would not want to live in that kind of place, so here he is. I was glad that I had traveled thousands of miles to carry my sleeping bag.
Yoshikura arranged for Ajian to prepare dinner, and asked someone to cook a large pot of noodles for everyone to keep out the cold. Seeing that it was completely dark outside, the children lined up and started to eat in the canteen.
"Pretty sister!" The little girl who greeted Xia Yu saw Xia Yu and smiled at her.
Xia Yu also smiled with her and walked towards Shen Yan.
"Liu Sijie called me today and said that he had something very important to tell me, but before he could tell me urgently, the connection was disconnected due to signal problems." Shen Yan frowned and said in a low voice, "I don't know what that means. What happened next to me is really scary.”
"I think Liu Sijie will be able to find a way." Xia Yu looked at the heavy snow outside and comforted Shen Yan. Although she had the same idea as Shen Yan and believed that something big had happened, it was just useless to rush in this situation.
"I hope so." Shen Yan exhaled and looked at the dark outside.
Xia Yu glanced at the children who were queuing up to eat. Their little hands and faces were red from the cold, and they were holding a porcelain bowl carefully in both hands. Looking at Shen's employees who came with them, some could barely bear looking at these children, while others looked disgusted.
Because these children are not very big, and the weather is cold, some of them are so cold that their noses run out. They didn't wipe it with paper towels or handkerchiefs, they just sucked it in hard.
Some simply raise their arms and wipe them with their sleeves.
"It's so disgusting. Let alone eating and sleeping with these brats, it makes me sick." The middle-level cadre who had been complaining began to express his opinions again.
A leader from the county who accompanied me happened to hear it and was extremely embarrassed. They do have arrangements in the county, but isn't it impossible to leave
Xia Yu frowned and whispered to Shen Yan, "Since you are here to help the poor, don't be too poor. Who doesn't want to live a better life? Are these children willing?"
Having said this, Xia Yu paused and said, "This is a matter of housing, and the other thing is. Shen Yan, don't you think today's arrangement is too fake? It's a troubled time for the Shen family now. This time to smooth things over I want to restore Mr. Shen’s image, but if it’s too fake, I’m afraid it will backfire.”
"Do you think there is a problem?" Shen Yan asked back. They had done this before and there was nothing wrong with it.
"Don't you think there's a problem? Since we are helping the poor, we should sincerely care about them. Look at these children, they all smile sincerely at us." Xia Yu looked around and only I saw a reporter picking up a camera and taking pictures of a child.
Xia Yu touched Shen Yan's arm and said in a low voice, "You said the person the camera just photographed was the leader of our headquarters. Is there really no point in us coming here this time?"
Shen Yan nodded thoughtfully.
At this time, the little girl came to Xia Yu and said, "Beautiful sister, our classmates would like to invite you to have dinner with us?" The little girl had longing in her eyes.
"Okay!" Xia Yu stood up, holding the little girl's hand and walking together among her classmates.
The children seemed very excited and kept asking Xia Yu this and that. Xia Yu always answered with a smile. The children listened with great interest.
After eating together, Xia Yu washed the bowls with the children, and asked them to wash their hands with the hand sanitizer she brought, and then applied moisturizing cream and hand cream to them. Some had frostbite on their hands and feet. children, and even applied frostbite ointment to them personally.
"Miss Xia is so kind!" The old principal was really touched. Children like them in the mountains are not very particular. Xia Yu ate with them and washed their hands and feet. It was really rare.
"Buying fame and reputation!" The middle-level cadre who had previously complained about this and that was muttering to the side.
He thought that his voice was so small that no one could hear it, but Shen Yan's ears were so good that he heard it all. Walking up to him calmly, Shen Yan said to him in an unprecedented serious tone, "You also have children, right? If your children were among them, I don't know if you would say that."
The cadre blushed and lowered his head in shame.
But he was quite unconvinced. In the past, when he came here with Mr. Mo, they always had good food and good accommodation. He really had never suffered such a hard life.
"Mr. Shen, our conditions here are limited, and I have wronged you." The old principal came over and said apologetically to Shen Yan.
"What did the principal say? If the children don't feel aggrieved, how can we feel aggrieved?" Shen Yan looked at the children in front of him. Although the clothes were not ragged, they were not new clothes, let alone good clothes.
He couldn't help but sigh in his heart, especially when he saw that Xia Yu had used up a full bottle of frostbite ointment that had just been opened, and he was even more startled. How can I write if my hands are frostbitten
"Xia Yu, after you can contact the outside world tomorrow, call the company as soon as possible and ask them to send some hand cream and frostbite ointment for the children." Shen Yan said.
"Mr. Shen, thank you so much." The old principal excitedly held Shen Yan's hand. Isn't this what these children need
The children were very happy after hearing this, and the scene immediately burst into applause. Some reporters thought this was a rare touching scene, so they picked up their cameras and took pictures of the touching scene.
At this moment, Ajian ran in hurriedly with his cell phone.
"Principal, is Wu Xiaomin not back yet?"
"Wu Xiaomin?" the principal repeated. This Wu Xiaomin is a college student from the city who came to support the border and is a teacher in this school. Just now, the principal was busy receiving Shen Yan and his party and did not notice her presence.
Now when Ajian asked, he realized that he really didn't see her.
"Yes, she said she was going to see Quma's brother at noon, and she left after lunch!"
"This kid!" Yoshikura sighed loudly, threw down his cigarette bag and walked out.
Ajian hurriedly caught up and asked, "Where are you going?"