Chapter 108: They Performed Beyond Expectations

On the third day after bringing Little Jingsi back to the orphanage, the police officer who had been in contact with Lu Qingqiang delivered all the adoption paperwork to her.

From that point on, Little Jingsi officially became the eighteenth child at the orphanage.

Previously, Lu Qingqiang had asked Doctor Xue about Little Jingsi’s condition and when would be the best time to schedule his surgery.

Doctor Xue told her: one week later.

During this week, they needed to take good care of him—feeding him milk on time, letting him get sunlight, and so on.

Lu Qingqiang assigned the task of caring for Little Jingsi to Aunt Liu and Liu Shufen, Zhang Haiping’s wife.

Liu Shufen and her husband had always been responsible for taking care of the animals and maintaining the fruit trees on the mountain.

The job wasn’t particularly light, but it wasn’t overly heavy either.

At the end of October, they weren’t especially busy, so they could still find some spare time.

Of course, Lu Qingqiang didn’t let Aunt Liu and Liu Shufen do all this work for nothing.

On top of their original salaries, she added an extra three thousand yuan per month for each of them.

All expenses related to the child were fully covered by the orphanage.

Formula milk, diapers, medical treatment fees, daily necessities—everything was paid for by Lu Qingqiang.

When the other residents of the orphanage weren’t busy, they would also go over to help take care of Little Jingsi, talk to him, or play with him.

In just these three short days, Little Jingsi had already become the beloved little darling of the entire orphanage.

Everyone adored him.

Generally speaking, he never cried or fussed on his own.

When someone held him, he never resisted.

He would often flash everyone with an utterly adorable smile—one so charming it completely won over everyone in the orphanage.

The children at the orphanage would frequently run over to gather around him.

They’d tell him stories, talk to him (even if they weren’t sure whether he could understand), and sometimes sneakily poke his cheek with a finger or gently touch his tiny hands and feet.

Everyone eagerly volunteered to prepare his formula.

The crib he was sleeping in had been arranged and sent over by Mrs. Lu.

It was a wooden crib, neither too big nor too small, perfectly sized once fitted with a baby mattress and other essentials.

Colorful baby mobiles hung above the bed.

Whenever the orphanage kids visited Little Jingsi, they loved playing with those mobiles the most.

On the day his birth mother—the woman in black—was cremated and buried, Lu Qingqiang brought Little Jingsi along to attend the ceremony.

Standing before Ms. Yu’s tombstone, Lu Qingqiang bowed respectfully while holding Little Jingsi in her arms.

The moment she bent forward, Little Jingsi suddenly let out a heart-wrenching wail.

He cried so desperately that he was gasping for breath, his voice hoarse from screaming.

Tears streamed down his fair, tender face.

He nearly passed out from crying so hard.

It wasn’t until Lu Qingqiang followed the system’s prompt and pressed several acupoints on him that she finally managed to soothe him to sleep.

After returning from the cemetery, Little Jingsi remained quiet for a full three days.

During those three days, he neither cried nor fussed, and even stopped smiling. He simply ate and slept, slept and ate.

He had become a completely emotionless little baby.

Doctor Feng was extremely worried. She ran every possible check on him and pored over books on infant psychology, searching for answers…

In the end, it was only after Lu Qingqiang held him close and murmured to him at length that he finally returned to normal.

Soon enough, the day of Little Jingsi’s surgery arrived.

Lu Qingqiang, Doctor Feng, Aunt Liu, and the others all went to the hospital to accompany him through the operation.

The surgery lasted over three hours.

During those three hours, Doctor Feng and Aunt Liu were beside themselves with anxiety.

Lu Qingqiang, however, remained relatively calm.

She knew that, according to the original storyline, Little Jingsi would definitely be cured.

This time, they’d simply moved his recovery forward significantly compared to his previous life.

Moreover, throughout the past week, she had secretly given him diluted Spirit Spring Water whenever no one was paying attention.

Spirit Spring Water contained spiritual energy.

It could subtly boost Little Jingsi’s immunity and gradually repair the various issues within his body.

The daily meals at the orphanage also contained small amounts of Spirit Spring Water.

Sometimes, they even used diluted Spirit Spring Water to irrigate the vegetables they grew.

Combined with Master Zhao’s exceptional culinary skills, this was why anyone who had tasted the orphanage’s food would rave about it endlessly and never forget it.

Over time, everyone at the orphanage had unknowingly grown stronger (their immunity improved, and with proper nutrition, they were able to fully realize their natural potential).

That was why, despite the passage of so much time, not a single person at the orphanage had fallen ill.

Outside, outbreaks of Influenza A and B were raging severely.

Yet everyone inside the orphanage remained perfectly healthy and enjoyed their meals with hearty appetites.

Finally, the operating room door opened.

Medical staff wheeled Little Jingsi out from the surgery suite.

“How is he, Doctor? How did it go?” Aunt Liu rushed forward the moment she saw them emerge, unable to contain her urgency.

Lu Qingqiang and Doctor Feng followed closely behind.

“Don’t worry—the surgery was a complete success,” the doctor said.

“As long as he gets proper rest afterward, he’ll fully recover and be just like any ordinary child.”

“Also, during the operation, we noticed that the signs of his developmental delays are gradually disappearing.”

“However, we can’t confirm this for certain yet—we’ll need to continue observing him.”

As Doctor Xue spoke these words, clear confusion still lingered in her eyes.

Logically speaking, even if the surgery succeeded for a child like Little Jingsi, there should still be a recovery period afterward.

Moreover, previous examination reports had clearly indicated developmental delays.

Yet now, not only had the surgery gone astonishingly smoothly, but those negative symptoms were already vanishing.

This truly baffled her.

Could it be that during this surgery, they had somehow performed beyond their usual capabilities?

After all, surgical outcomes depended not only on the patient’s condition but also on the surgeon’s performance in the moment.

Well, no need to rush—once back at the hospital, she’d thoroughly review Little Jingsi’s medical records again.

See if we can open a research project specifically targeting his illness.

If we could even publish an academic paper based on this, that would be even better.

“What does that mean?” Aunt Liu didn’t quite understand.

Doctor Feng let out a sigh of relief and explained, “It means that, in all likelihood, Little Jingsi will be able to live just like any normal child in the future.”

“Really? That’s absolutely wonderful!” Upon hearing this, Aunt Liu immediately broke into a wide smile.

During Little Jingsi’s hospital recovery period, Lu Qingqiang arranged for Aunt Liu to stay at the hospital and take care of him.

Of course, one person alone would definitely be overwhelmed.

So, she also rehired the same aunt who had previously helped take care of Xiao Hui to assist with his care.

For now, Little Jingsi’s situation had settled down.

Lu Qingqiang then began thinking about leading everyone to plant vegetables in the greenhouse at the back courtyard.

Oh, by the way—over the past few days, Wang Yong, who had previously called her saying he wanted to buy vegetables, had been coming by every other day to purchase some.

However, what he bought was always either da cong (large green onions) or freshly harvested napa cabbage.

According to Wang Yong, he and his wife had both quit their jobs and were now running a street stall selling scallion oil noodles and scallion pancakes.

The green onions they used came directly from the orphanage.

The orphanage’s green onions were not only fresh and crisp, but when made into scallion oil for noodles or used directly in pancakes, the flavor was incredibly delicious—so good it was almost unbelievable.

In any case, business at Wang Yong’s new little stall was thriving.

No matter how many bowls of scallion oil noodles or how many scallion pancakes they made each day, everything sold out quickly.

As for the napa cabbage, Wang Yong and his wife sliced it into thin shreds and served it as a complimentary cold side dish.

Every customer who came for noodles received a small dish of it.

In fact, some people even wanted to buy the shredded cabbage directly from Wang Yong, saying that their complimentary cabbage side dish was truly exceptionally tasty and appetite-stimulating.