Chapter 105: Charity
"Where is Sister Yun?"
"She went back, and probably won't come again."
"Why? Does she dislike me?"
"She dislikes me," Bai Wei said as he gently patted Sakurai Shiru's head. "Once you're healthy again, you can also go and find her. Her intentions are not evil."
Sakurai Shiru didn't understand very well and asked, "Why?"
"You don't need a reason to dislike someone. When you don't like that person, even their breathing feels wrong," Bai Wei explained slowly. "Eventually, it becomes a habit that you can't change."
Sakurai Shiru hugged her teddy bear and said, "But I like Uncle and Sister. It's been a long time since someone came to talk to me. Her hands feel cool, and it feels really nice when she touches me."
Bai Wei chuckled and asked, "Why do you call me Uncle, but call her Sister?"
"I don't know," Sakurai Shiru tilted her head and said, "Should I call you big brother?"
"No need, but next time you can try calling her Aunt Yun," Bai Wei continued teasing playfully.
Sakurai Shiru didn't fall for it. She said, "Uncle, do you think I'm silly?"
After talking for a while, the medical staff entered the room and began preparing for a physical examination. The nurses pulled the curtains and asked him to wait outside the door.
A doctor called Bai Wei into the office and said, "Mr. Sakurai hasn't arrived yet. If you can reach him, could you please pass along a message? It's about Sakurai Shiru's health condition."
"Okay, you speak."
"To be honest, the situation is very bad. Her health keeps getting worse. In the past, she could rely on powerful medicine to manage it, but now it only provides temporary relief. Continuing with the medication won't make much difference," the doctor said. "I'm not an expert in this field, but as far as I know, her illness is not the only case. It has happened before, and most people didn't survive for long. She is one of the few who has managed to hold on for three years, but it will be difficult for her to survive this year."
Bai Wei nodded, saying, "Being able to hold on for three years is indeed a remarkable achievement."
Once someone is afflicted with Blood Moon Disease, they generally don't survive past the winter of that same year.
"This is also thanks to Doctor Kurosawa," the doctor on duty said. "She has a deep understanding of this illness, knowing how to care for and treat it effectively. She was the one who discovered the appropriate medications for each stage. Without her, Sakurai Shiru wouldn't have been able to hold on for so long."
"Kurosawa?"
"Yes, she is the main doctor, but she recently went out of town. It will take her a week to come back. Unexpectedly, just a few days after she left, the condition worsened rapidly," the doctor on duty scratched his head. "We can't even reach her… Hopefully, you can inform Mr. Sakurai about the situation and ask him to spend more time with his daughter."
After listening, Sakurai was about to leave when she heard the doctor on duty speak up, "By the way, there might be someone from a 'charity fund' coming later. You need to be careful and make sure to remind Sakurai not to agree to their requests."
He intentionally lowered his voice.
"What does this mean?" Bai Wei asked, pressing for an answer.
"I can't go into details right now," the doctor on duty looked uneasy and hesitated before saying, "It will involve certain business matters… just remember not to agree to it."
Bai Wei left the office and his medical check-up was done. Sakurai Shiru was feeling alright, in good spirits.
He planned to spend more time taking care of her, not in a rush to explain everything clearly. He took out a fruit sword and started cutting the apple into the shape of a rabbit.
Bai Wei knew a lot of interesting stories from all over the world. He could easily come up with one and share it with Sakurai Shiru.
But suddenly, an unexpected visitor interrupted Bai Wei's story just as he was in the middle of telling it.
A group of people entered the hospital room. The one in front was wearing a deep yellow overcoat. Behind them, a young man wearing a thick suit followed closely. And trailing behind were two middle-aged men carrying briefcases, appearing like brokers.
Bai Wei looked at each person one by one, but there was no exclamation mark above the heads of the first few people he observed.
Sakurai Shiru felt a little scared and shrunk back. Being stared at by these people, she instinctively felt afraid of strangers.
"Inspector, Inspector, smile, smile…" whispered the young man in the suit in his ear.
The leader, a bulky man in an overcoat, seemed to want to show a friendly expression, but he failed several times in his attempts.
"Cough!" The young man behind quickly stepped forward and, acting familiar, said, "Hello, we are from the Metropolitan Police Department. This here is Detective Matsushita, and I'm Takagi."
"Nice to meet you," Detective Matsushita said in a deep, imposing voice. His words were directed towards Sakurai Shiru.
Detective Matsushita became disappointed when he saw the little girl's shoulders tremble in response.
Bai Wei set down the fruit tray and reached out his hand. "Hello," he said, "I am Bai Wei from the Ming Country."
Detective Matsushita heard that Bai Wei was from the Ming Country. He became a little more serious. It was rare to come across young men from the Ming Country living abroad.
After shaking hands, Takagi asked, "May I know your relationship with her…?"
"I have talked with her father before, so we are acquainted."
"Oh? Are you quite close?" Matsushita asked.
"Watching him go through life and death, it seemed like he would still be connected to me for some time even after death."
"It seems like your relationship is quite strong. It's rare for Sakurai to have a social connection like you," Matsushita expressed surprise. His investigation revealed that Sakurai had a broken marriage, deceived everyone around him for money, and had extremely poor interpersonal relationships - all for the sake of his daughter's medical expenses.
Takagi also felt relieved and whispered to Matsushita, "This is good news, Detective. We should go outside to talk where there are grown-ups around."
"Can we talk privately?" Detective Matsushita nodded in agreement.
When Bai Wei stood up to follow them outside, Sakurai Shiru tugged on his sleeve and anxiously asked, "Is it about my dad?"
Bai Wei didn't know how to answer, but he gently touched her hair and said, "I'll come back later and tell you."
Outside the door, the two of them, holding their bags, took a step back and kept their distance from Detective Matsushita.
Detective Matsushita instinctively wanted to light up a cigarette, but when he saw the sign of the hospital, he put the cigarette back.
"Bai Wei, right…little brother, I just have to tell you, Sakurai Akira has passed away."
For grown-ups, there's no need to beat around the bush. Just be straightforward about it.
"Oh, I see."
"You didn't seem surprised."
"Who made a living through deceit wouldn't live for long," Bai Wei calmly said, "Borrowing money from the underground was only digging his own grave."
"That's true, but he passed away, leaving his daughter all alone and suffering from a serious illness," Takagi sighed deeply. "When we first found out about this, we felt really troubled and wondered how to explain the situation to his family. Thankfully, we can rely on you to convey the message…"
"Idiot," Detective Matsushita tapped Takagi on the back of his head. "Can you say something like that to someone's face? It's very rude!"
"Sorry," Takagi apologized, playing along with Matsushita's act.
"My subordinate may be a bit rough, but he means well. We're not sure how to explain, so we hope you can help us convey the message," Detective Matsushita paused. "Actually, it might be better not to say anything. Keeping it a secret is fine. We have fulfilled our obligation to inform, and what you say next is up to you… Are you staying here with some sort of intention?"
"Is the adoption process difficult?"
"No, it's not complicated at all!" Takagi quickly pulled out a business card. "I have a friend there who can help, just give me a call!"
Bai Wei accepted the business card and said, "Thank you."
"How could it be?" Detective Takagi exclaimed excitedly. "Sakurai Shiru is in a really bad situation, and it seems like not many people are willing to adopt her. Meeting you is truly a stroke of luck. This is the best news I've heard all day!"
Detective Matsushita's expression also relaxed a lot compared to when he entered the room.
Although they knew they didn't have any responsibility for it, they still felt sorry and guilty when they saw the tragic scenes of homes being destroyed and fathers losing their daughters. Now that things have taken a turn for the better, it is certainly a great thing. They felt grateful and relieved, letting go of their guilt. It is a unique ability of intelligent beings to empathize with others.
The two detectives were in a great mood, so they also casually mentioned how the case was resolved.
Heita didn't mention Bai Wei, and the case was classified as a robbery and murder, with both the robber and the killer perishing. This straightforward conclusion was very typical of the Yingzhou Police Department.
Before the two detectives left, they looked at the two people holding a bag and said, "You need to be careful with the person over there. If there's any trouble, contact us anytime."
The detectives rode the elevator and left.
Bai Wei returned to the area outside the hospital room, and after waiting for a long time, the person carrying the bag finally approached.
"Hello, excuse me for interrupting. We are from the 'Happiness Charity Fund'. We would like to talk to you about sponsorship…"
"I'm not interested," Bai Wei said, not bothering to pay attention to them. This illness wasn't about money anyway.
"Don't say that," the persistent person with the bag said, "Medical expenses here are incredibly expensive. You need money to get treated." They continued to pester, determined to follow Bai Wei into the hospital room.
Bai Wei stopped walking and said, "I, have no shortage of money."
"But isn't it good to have more money?" The person with the bag opened it and took out a paper contract. "Take a look, this charity fund is giving it for free… a large sum of money, and you don't have to give anything in return. It's for charity."
Bai Wei didn't take it, he simply stared at the hypocritical smile of the person with the bag. His expression resembled someone he had once betrayed, what was his name again?
Forgot…
But when he thought about that person, his mood actually improved a bit. He raised his hand and took the paper, immediately the person with the bag showed a satisfied smile, saying, "Take a look."
Bai Wei quickly skimmed through many contract terms and asked, "Charity fund?"
"Yes, it's a charity fund," the person with the bag confirmed.
His gaze stopped at the last page that said, "After death, the body is automatically donated to the Happiness Charity Fund."
"What a wonderful charity foundation!"
PS1: Volume 12 has been published on Amazon (https://amzn.to/3S1DXsU).
PS2: Volume 13 will be translated within 1 week.
