The couple wasted no time and immediately set off for the Blue Sky Welfare Institute. Little did they know, there were people even faster than them. As soon as the terms “Song Family,” “young master,” and “switched at birth” started to surface, reporters who caught wind of the situation had already entered the welfare institute under the guise of donating supplies.

Not long ago, when Luo Yunqing heroically saved someone from a knife-wielding thug, reporters had come twice, but there weren’t as many as this time. They were all here for the freshly revealed true young master of the Song Family, hoping to dig up some juicy details.

However, upon arrival, they were shocked by this unique welfare institute, exclaiming in disbelief, “I can’t believe there’s such a welfare institute in Yanjing!”

The institute housed 27 children, more than half of whom were not in good health. There were those who were deaf, blind, or had polio… and even one who was born with HIV. The environment wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t great either, with an air of poverty both inside and out.

Every corner of the inner and outer walls was filled with various vegetables and fruits, and the simple three-story building formed a circle. Boys and girls lived separately, and with not enough beds, the younger ones had to share a small bed. Their clothes were mostly donations from kind-hearted people, half-new and half-old, but at least they were clean, with holes sewn up with needle and thread.

When the first group of people arrived, Luo Yunqing was in the courtyard mending clothes for a six-year-old boy. His 1.8-meter frame was awkwardly perched on a low stool, with the morning light falling on his jet-black hair, giving him a soft glow. His hands were skillful, and the hole was soon sewn into a pink butterfly.

“Click!” The shutter sound came unexpectedly.

“Sorry,” the man awkwardly scratched his neck and put down the camera, “I saw your embroidery and thought it looked pretty good.”

Sewing clothes is simple, as long as you have hands. But embroidering a butterfly is not an easy task.

Luo Yunqing quickly glanced at the reporter’s badge on his chest, grabbed the sides of the clothing, and openly displayed the butterfly, “A kind aunt taught me this.”

“You…” The man opened his mouth and immediately noticed the difference in his voice. He was a stutterer.

Luo Yunqing pretended not to understand, tilting his head in confusion. His clear, bright black eyes looked straight at him, piercing into his heart.

The man swallowed his words and couldn’t help but raise the camera again, this time asking properly, “Can I take a picture of you?”

Luo Yunqing didn’t hesitate at all, snipped off the excess thread, dressed the little boy, and smiled shyly and purely at the camera.

After the photo was taken, he asked, “Can you take one of me and my brother too?”

The quiet little boy beside him had his eyes closed the whole time, and only then did the man notice he couldn’t see. After hesitating for two seconds, he nodded.

As they were taking the photo, two luxury cars with sleek bodies and exquisite craftsmanship slowly stopped in front of the welfare institute. Almost as soon as they stopped, the car doors opened immediately.

Lin Wenting rushed out with red eyes, crying out before she even saw anyone, “Ah Qing!”

Fortunately, Luo Yunqing was easy to recognize. No matter how many people there were, he could be spotted at a glance.

Luo Yunqing turned around, and the fragrant woman hugged him tightly, sobbing, “My child, you’ve suffered.”

Lin Wenting, once the most beautiful woman in Yanjing in her youth, even now, with age, could still soften the hearts of many present with her red eyes.

If this were their first meeting… Luo Yunqing might have softened too. But the truth is always so disappointing.

When he saw Song Jingguo get out of the car, Luo Yunqing’s pupils contracted, and he stretched his neck, laughing maniacally in his heart. Then he hugged Lin Wenting, closed his eyes, and a tear slipped down his cheek.

Filled with caution and probing, he softly called, “Mom?”

Lin Wenting was stunned, nodding repeatedly, “Yes, it’s Mom, it’s Mom! I’m sorry, Ah Qing, I’m sorry, Mom is late.”

Yes, too late.

“Yunqing.” Amidst the tearful cries, the elegant and gentle President Song finally staggered over, accompanied by two bodyguards.

Lin Wenting reluctantly let go, making room for him, tightly clutching his right arm. Perhaps she had forgotten that just a few days ago, this arm had shielded her from three knife wounds, and the injuries hadn’t healed yet. But this pain was nothing compared to the past life.

Luo Yunqing didn’t need to expose anything in front of so many eyes and camera lenses, so he let his biological father scrutinize him from head to toe like merchandise. He needed to enter the Song Family, for Pei Yanli, for his grandmother, for the brothers and sisters in the welfare institute, and most importantly… for himself!

“Qing’er, you’ve been wronged all these years.” A strange hand patted his shoulder, and the father and son repeated the same few words. They never got tired of saying it, but Luo Yunqing was tired of hearing it.

He slightly lifted his eyelids, and the similar pair of phoenix eyes glanced at Song Jingguo’s face before quickly lowering them, shaking his head, “Not wronged, just… just thought you didn’t want me.”

His voice trembled with grievance.

Song Jingguo glanced at the surrounding cameras and sighed, “How could we not want you? Dad is investigating this matter. When your mom gave birth to you in the hospital, there was an earthquake in Yanjing.”

He didn’t finish, and there was no need to finish, “In the end, it’s our fault for not protecting you, letting you stay here…”

“Grandma and the director treated me well.”

When the Song couple arrived, Director Qu had already come out, standing at the door to avoid disturbing their family reunion.

Hearing Xiao Luo seem to call her, she pushed through the crowd and approached. The elderly lady wasn’t tall, looking up to greet them, “It’s hot outside, everyone come inside and sit for a while.”

The director’s office was on the first floor, with large open windows and a desk with a pot of beans waiting to be picked. Besides that, there was a whole wall of books, each with varying degrees of bent corners.

The elderly lady warmly poured two cups of warm water. Knowing that Luo Yunqing had found his biological parents, she had prepared all the materials for when he was sent to the welfare institute, including his birth certificate and the death certificates of his parents.

“Xiao Luo is sensible and obedient, and he studies well. These are the awards and certificates he earned over the years.” The elderly lady unzipped a plastic folder, pulling out a thick stack, her eyes crinkling with pride.

“And also…”

“Director Qu.” Before she could continue, Song Jingguo rubbed his forehead and interrupted, “Yunqing is our son. We came today to take him back.”

An authoritative tone that brooked no refusal.

The elderly lady slowly closed the plastic folder, nodding in agreement, “Of course.”

After a moment of silence, she stood up, opened the desk drawer, and took out some printed documents, her voice noticeably lower, “According to procedure, when a child is found, we need to make a record here. Please check if there are any issues, and if not, sign here.”

Then she smiled at Luo Yunqing, “Xiao Luo, your parents are here to pick you up. Go pack your things.”

Luo Yunqing lived upstairs. Returning to his room, he found two brand new, well-fitting outfits on the small single bed, with an additional five hundred yuan stuffed in the pocket.

“Grandma…”

Knock, knock. The door was knocked once, paused, then knocked again.

Xiao Feng poked his head in, “Xiao Luo gege!”

Luo Yunqing quickly wiped his eyes, “Xiao Feng, why are you here? Aren’t they giving out food in the classroom?”

“Yeah, there’s a lot of good food today.” Xiao Feng rummaged around and pulled out two big bags of milk candies, stuffing them into his hands, “Here! Gege’s favorite!”

“Wow, so many candies.” Luo Yunqing squatted down and hugged his outstretched hands, “Thank you, Xiao Feng.”

Xiao Feng grinned, his features all over the place. But soon, he lowered his head, sullenly, “Gege is leaving, right?”

He had seen it from behind the door, the aunt in the pretty dress hugging gege, and gege calling her “Mom.”

Gege was going to leave with Mom.

“Gege will come back… will come back to see you. By then, I’ll bring… bring more and more candies.”

“I don’t want it!” The hands that couldn’t hold the candies tightly hugged Luo Yunqing’s neck, “I just want gege, please don’t go.”

“Gege… doesn’t want to leave Xiao Feng either.”

But in the past life, because he couldn’t let go, he ended up with nothing.

Luo Yunqing hugged him tightly, then gently pushed him away, “But gege has to go.”

“Why?”

Gege didn’t look happy at all.

The cicadas were chirping loudly in the trees, and Luo Yunqing looked out the window, his tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxing, “Gege wants to meet someone, someone very, very good.”

…

The Song couple stayed at the welfare institute for the entire day, leaving with Luo Yunqing as evening approached. In the rearview mirror, the white-haired director chased after them, clutching the savings card he had left under his pillow along with the five hundred yuan. The card contained not only the money he had earned delivering food over the past month but also the two hundred thousand given by Song Moyan.

With today’s media coverage, he believed that even if he left, the welfare institute could survive. It was just those kids, usually obedient, who dared to run after the car. Fortunately, the teachers managed to grab them back…

“Gege!”

“Xiao Luo gege!!”

Luo Yunqing pressed his lips tightly, forcing himself to look away. A hand reached over and held his.

After just one day at the welfare institute, Lin Wenting couldn’t take it anymore. It was hard to imagine how he had endured all these years, “The room, Mom has had it cleaned up. From now on… Mom will never lose you again.”

Luo Yunqing lowered his gaze to her hands, nails painted a bright red. In the past life, it was these hands that pointed at him, screaming, “I’d rather not have a son like you,” when he refused to marry for Song Xuechen. Two years later, when he knelt and begged her to save his grandmother, she walked past coldly…

A smile curved his lips, and Luo Yunqing gently held her hands, speaking in an extremely calm tone, “Mom, you have to keep your word this time.”

Otherwise, I won’t want you.

“Okay, okay!”

Lin Wenting said “okay” several times. Before the words faded, she received a call from Song Xuechen. At the same time, Song Jingguo looked over.

“Mom, answer it.” Luo Yunqing squeezed the small ceramic in his hand, barely audible as he chuckled, “Maybe Xiao Xue gege has something to say.”

Lin Wenting was initially worried he might mind, but hearing this, she quietly breathed a sigh of relief, answering the call just before it was about to hang up.

Song Xuechen’s voice faintly came through the receiver. Lin Wenting replied a few times:

“Almost home.”

“With your brother Yunqing.”

“Really, you have a gift for your brother.”

Luo Yunqing suddenly tightened his grip on the ceramic, his lips curving slightly.

…

As they entered Longwan No. 1 in Beicheng, the sky had completely darkened. On both sides of the asphalt road, every two meters stood a street lamp in the style of 1990s Europe, extending all the way to the Song Family’s entrance.

The extended Bentley Mulsanne drove past, and the heavy gate slowly opened from the inside. A teenager in a French ruffled shirt ran out, his hair barely reaching his ears, slightly curly and brown, exuding a sweet berry scent, clearly someone who grew up in a honey pot.

In contrast, Luo Yunqing wore a simple white T-shirt and black pants, his hair uncut for months, exuding an air of poverty, with only a black handbag by his side.

“Xiao Qing, we meet again. Do you remember me?” Song Xuechen fluttered over like a butterfly.

He was slightly shorter than Luo Yunqing, at 175 cm, needing to look up at him. With Song Jingguo’s explanation at the welfare institute and Song Moyan’s public relations efforts, the online perception of him as the fake young master had improved significantly.

He was merely switched at birth during the earthquake, nothing more. The misfortunes Luo Yunqing faced had nothing to do with him.

Staring at this delicate, fair face, remembering the scars he had left on him before jumping into the sea, Luo Yunqing couldn’t help but smile, “Of course, I remember. We just met not long ago.”

“Good, you remember!”

Song Xuechen responded with a bright smile. After a thorough look, he noticed the wrinkled T-shirt and pants, showing disdain, “Xiao Qing, you only brought a bag? So little luggage.”

“And this.” Luo Yunqing raised his hand, extending the ceramic he had held all the way, “This is for Xiao Xue… Xiao Xue gege.”

The rabbit ceramic, not even the size of a palm, was uneven and bumpy. Song Xuechen frowned, feigning confusion, “What’s this?”

“This, this, this is…”

“This is something Ah Qing made especially for you,” Lin Wenting came over, explaining for the stuttering person, “He spent the whole afternoon on it.”

Though it wasn’t pretty, it was a token of goodwill, and no matter what, it had to be accepted.

Song Xuechen pursed his lips, reluctantly extending his hand. But before he could catch it, the ceramic fell to the ground, and the ugly, pitted rabbit shattered into pieces.

“Little rabbit!”

Luo Yunqing exclaimed, his eyes instantly turning red, “Xiao Xue… Xiao Xue gege, even if you don’t like me, don’t break things.”