"Bao Bei, hurry up!"
Bao Bei, rushed by Judy, tripped and fell hard along with the bucket of rags he was carrying.
"Ahh, what are you doing?!" Judy shouted in frustration. Looking at this scene, Timmy quickly began wiping up the spilled water with a rag.
"I'll take care of the bucket. Bao Bei, go ahead with Judy," Timmy said.
Bao Bei gave a quick bow and then took Judy's hand as they ran off together.
Three years had passed since Bao Bei was taken in by the church. Judy, who was a year older, was now four years old. He's about eight in human terms—and stood at 120 cm, a little short for his age.
Bao Bei who is now three years old had grown very little and had only just reached 70 cm in height.
Today was the special day when generous donors came to visit the church. It was something that happened only once a year. And whenever this day came, Judy would be in a bad mood all day long.
The church mostly survived through self-sufficiency, but in the poor village, donations and side income were almost nonexistent. The children lived day to day thanks to the produce and old clothes shared by the villagers, and the church relied heavily on the support of kind donors from the towns and cities.
So on this day, the children wore their cleanest and best clothes and lined up in front of the chapel to welcome the kind-looking men and women who had come to help.
When Bao Bei was younger and didn't understand much, he used to cheer with joy at the treats, clothes, toys, and picture books the donors brought with them.
But now, on his fourth time greeting these visitors, Bao Bei had started to understand the real reason behind their "kindness"—that their gifts were more about showing off their generosity and easing their own consciences than truly helping.
The carriages began to stop along the road, and well-dressed women and proud-looking men stepped down, smiling politely.
"Welcome, thank you for coming."
The children spoke together in unison, greeting the guests politely. The adults smiled as they walked into the chapel, where the head priest and the apprentice priest, Finnick, stood waiting with calm and welcoming expressions. He's dressed in formal robes.
Of course, some people truly came with kind hearts. But most of them came for social reasons, to show off their generosity, to feel good about themselves, or to look over the children like they were shopping.
A small child nervously stepped forward with a small bouquet of flowers he picked from the courtyard garden and offered it to a pale pink-haired woman with elegant dog ears as a welcome gift.
The classy and beautiful lady accepted the flowers with exaggerated delight, saying, "Oh my, thank you so much!" But after walking just a few steps, she turned around to the servant following behind her, pinched the bouquet between her fingers like it was dirty, and said, "Throw this away," handing it off carelessly.