His eyes were like a sky full of stars, vast and boundless. They reflected a child’s yearning for this world, filled with ignorance and fearlessness. It was as if he could see all of the world with his own eyes if he put forth the courage.

This was a kind of simplicity that adults will never have and Lin Xin admired the boy for such innocence and fearlessness. She reached out and lightly flicked his forehead.

Lin Xinyu slightly furrowed his brows after being flicked, then looked up at her with a smile. The soft sunlight illuminated the blush on his face, revealing a boy who was filled with life and emotion at this moment. The smile on his face was like an ink painting that displayed the most beautiful work of art.

Lin Xin stared at him in a daze and couldn’t resist touching his face.

“Why is Lin Xinyu here?”

A gentle and deep voice broke the quiet moment.

Lin Xin lowered her hand and looked behind her. A man of about thirty years old rushed to their side without delay. He had a fine face, black-framed gla.s.ses, and wore a yellow s.h.i.+rt with white jeans. He had dark blue canvas shoes to complement the outfit, making him appear like a proper and fresh college graduate.

Lin Xin was still wondering who this man was until she heard Lin Xinyu call out his name, “Dean!”

Dean? Although Lin Xin had heard the word ‘dean’ from other people’s lips for more than ten days, she had never actually seen him. In her imagination, deans of orphanages were usually women, elderly mothers, or kind grandfathers.

She never expected him to be a young man around her age. (T/N: I think she means her actual previous life’s age)

Does this make any sense?

While Lin Xin was still wondering

wondering why a young man would actually have this kind of job, Lin Xinyu left her side and whispered, “Dean.”

The Dean saw Lin Xinyu’s obedient appearance when he approached. He reached out and touched the boy’s shoulder, “It’s cold outside. Since you have a bad heart, you shouldn’t run around too much.”

“Okay,” Lin Xinyu replied without emotion. He lowered his head and stopped talking.

“A few days ago, I went back to S City to buy some supplements. I left them in my room so you can come and take them when you need to,” the man said. His hand gently pinched Lin Xinyu’s cheek while saying in an endearing tone, “I’ve even brought home your favorite apples. This batch should last for a long time.”

His articulation was a like that of a college student who had just studied abroad. He spoke gently and his smooth hands and feet revealed him

revealed him to be someone with a good upbringing. Especially his hands–they were white and slender, without a single callus. Presumably, he did not do any housework since childhood, so he must have been raised in an intellectual family. How can such a man come to this remote town to become the dean of an orphanage?

And he was very kind to Lin Xinyu. It was no wonder Zhao Qiang would be jealous. Their one week of servings seemed to add up to a single decent meal; even the clothes the orphans wore were donated by well meaning public figures. Meanwhile, items like supplements and apples were considered luxury goods, but Lin Xinyu seemed to be enjoying most of these to himself.

Why would the Dean favor one more than the others?

Lin Xin watched him carefully but the Dean seemed to act as if she didn’t exist. He pinched the boy’s cheeks several

boy’s cheeks several times then pulled Lin Xinyu and began walking towards his room. After a few meters, the Dean suddenly remembered the girl’s presence.

He turned around showing a gentle smile and said, “It’s already dinner time. If you come late, you might not have anything left to eat.”

Lin Xinyu stood like a puppet to his right. His head was lowered down to his chest and he stood still. Just as the glow of the sun dimmed like an illusory color, he became the lifeless Lin Xinyu once again.

Lin Xin looked at the young man and Lin Xinyu in a trance; the boy’s sad expression came to her mind. Meanwhile, she found that the Deans’ actions and tone of voice was quite strange, but she couldn’t figure out why. The more she tried to think of it, the more of a headache it was so she decided to simply forget about the issue.