November 2005.

At that time, the Yancheng Welfare Institute was only composed of a few multi-story buildings, covering a large area, and the environment inside the institution was far less superior than it is now. However, the wall was tall and deep, not careless, and separated the inside and outside of the courtyard into two.

world.

Since some personnel in the welfare home, especially some children, have special and sensitive situations, to prevent risks, the hospital will generally refuse to accept single-person visits unless the visiting individual can meet the hospital's almost harsh requirements.

Visiting conditions. For example, the visitor must have a social worker certificate, or be a senior volunteer, etc.

On this day, a visitor came to Yancheng Welfare Home who was able to enter the hospital smoothly. Her name was Li Mei. She carried a small bag of various documents. Not only did she have a professional social worker certificate, but also many community, street, and Yancheng welfare documents.

Various volunteer certificates were issued to her by social welfare institutions in various counties and districts, as well as various honorary certificates such as "Excellent Volunteer" and "The Most Beautiful Volunteer".

Gui Ying, who was in charge of the reception, was very enthusiastic. Whether it was then or now, there were very few people with professional social work certificates. At the same time, due to the special nature of the work in the home, manpower was always tight and the work was stressed. At the same time, the welfare home's staff

Personnel, especially children, will feel very warm after being visited once. When the person leaves, they will feel particularly lost, which invisibly increases the psychological damage. Therefore, individuals like Li Mei, who have the dual identities of senior volunteers and professional social workers,

Visitors are more welcomed by the welfare home than those who occasionally make a hasty collective visit to express condolences in the form of gifts of materials.

Although she knew that Li Mei in front of her should be very familiar with the environment of the orphanage, as usual, Gui Ying still enthusiastically led Li Mei to get familiar with it in the yard.

The first thing they went to was Building 1, the innermost building. The appearance of this building was not much different from that of an ordinary kindergarten, but it was eerily quiet.

"The children in the worst condition in the hospital live here." Gui Ying stood in front of the security door on the first floor. While taking out the key, she paid attention to Li Mei. Seeing that she did not look around or look nervous, she felt more reassured.

, while opening the door, he said: "The floors are divided according to age. The higher you go, the older the children are."

Li Mei smiled and nodded with a normal expression, following closely behind Gui Ying.

"There are 31 children on this floor, but there are only two staff members. There is no way, there are not enough manpower. It is not that we can't hire people, but that we can't hire professional and caring people like you. We don't dare to hire ordinary people."

Gui Ying said.

Li Mei noticed that among the more than 20 children, none of them were healthy. There were children with cerebral palsy who rolled their eyes and drooled while lying on the bed; there were children with mental retardation who made strange screams from time to time.

There was a hermaphrodite baby lying silently with his eyes open; there was also a baby with no canthus or membrane, so he couldn't see anything and kept opening and closing his mouth in the blink of an eye.

When several children saw Gui Ying, they drooled and said inarticulately: "Auntie, I want to eat Shaqima..."

Gui Ying patiently coaxed these children back, then turned around and explained to Li Mei: "There was a group of teachers and students from the university who visited here before and gave a lot of snacks and Sha Qima. These children were always thinking about Sha Qi.

The taste of Ma."

There was a boy with normal intelligence but disabled legs. He seemed very happy when he saw Li Mei. He desperately held on to the window sill and tried to stand up to show her.

"This is Aunt Li. She may come to take care of you in the future." Gui Ying said to the child.

The child was very disappointed and immediately sat on the bed motionless and did not say hello to Li Mei.

After the two returned to the corridor, Gui Ying quietly said to Li Mei: "That child is very smart and thinks you are here to adopt and adopt the child."

Li Mei nodded and said nothing.

One floor further up, there is also a security door at the stairwell.

On this floor, there are only 6 bedrooms and 14 children, all of whom have cerebral palsy.

"They look like children, but they are actually fifteen or sixteen years old." Gui Ying said softly to Li Mei in the corridor.

These children are obviously already in adolescence, but they only have the body of a child. They are either lying on the bed or sitting in a children's chair, rolling their eyes and drooling. Their skin is pale and bloodless, and they all have shaved heads.

A sixteen-year-old girl saw Gui Ying and Li Mei coming in. She stood up repeatedly with a slightly weird smile, maybe she wanted to say hello to Li Mei. Li Mei sat on the edge of the bed, stretched out her hand, and thought

Help her, but the little girl held Li Mei's hand tightly with her little hand and refused to let go for a long time. Li Mei couldn't see her smile, only her eyes were full of emotional and complex emotions.

.Li Mei touched her head, like coaxing a baby in swaddling clothes, and comforted her before leaving.

On the third floor lived a girl of about twenty years old, with normal intelligence, but suffering from "porcelain doll" syndrome. Her skin was pale, smooth, and even reflective. Except for one arm that could move, the rest of her body was distorted.

With.

When Gui Ying covered her with a quilt, she woke up. She moved a little, and the corner of the quilt on her lower body moved inward, revealing a curled leg with a shocking surgical suture scar.

When she saw Li Mei in front of her, she burst into tears and cried, just like a child of several years old.

Under the comfort of Gui Ying and Li Mei, she quickly stopped crying, then raised her only movable hand to shake hands with Li Mei, muttering a few tones in her mouth. Li Mei stretched out her hand, and she

He held Li Mei's hand tightly and refused to let go for a long time.

Her hands were very cold, very soft, and very small.

"This child has never gotten out of bed and walked around since she was born." After coming out, Gui Ying said softly: "She knows everything and can feel the love of others. Every time she sees a new face coming to visit, she will be very excited.

.Although she has lost the ability to express herself, her emotions are the same as those of us normal people."

The next two floors were empty, but the stairs were still locked.

Building No. 2 is full of elderly people with "three noes", and there are not as many children as there are.

Building 3, which is slightly outside, is full of normal children, and they basically go to the nearest school. When they go to school, the welfare home will arrange staff to pick them up and drop them off based on the children's age and needs. At this time, the staff

It's more about acting as their parents and making them look no different from other children.

In this building, in addition to about twenty children who are still in kindergarten, elementary school, and junior high school, there are also several children who are in high school and college. Since they are all attending school, they will not come back until winter and summer vacations.

At this time, it was time to study in the afternoon, and the entire Building 3 was deserted.

There is a row of honor walls erected in the open space outside the building. Children who have excelled in their studies and made significant progress will have their photos and names posted on the wall. The photos on the wall include those who have successfully passed university, and those who have completed vocational high school.

There are also children who have got jobs, as well as primary and secondary school students who have been rated as "Three Good Students" or "Excellent Class Leaders" by the school.

Gui Ying pointed to the photo of one of the children and said: "This child is the smartest and best-learned in our school, and he will definitely be the most promising in the future."

Li Mei took a closer look and saw that the child in the photo had thick eyebrows, big eyes, red lips and white teeth, and a bright smile. She also smiled and said, "This child is lovable at first sight."

Gui Ying said with a very proud smile: "He is the 'star of hope' of our hospital."

Li Mei echoed with a smile, couldn't help but look at it a few more times, and then remembered the child's name - Li Zhudao.

On the same day, Li Mei started volunteering in the hospital. Whether it was with the children or the elderly, Li Mei's communication and nursing work were impeccable.

It wasn't until eight or nine o'clock at night that Li Mei was finished with her work for the day. Seeing that it was getting too late, Gui Ying simply packed up an unused office room in the courtyard and used it as Li Mei's living room.

No one expected that Li Mei had been working in the orphanage for more than ten years. She always went out to "work" in the early morning, returned to the institution to do volunteer work in the evening, and slept in her own living room at night. Except when she was sick.

Or she was not feeling well, and occasionally there was a gap of a few days, because her two children who were out of town came home to reunite with her. Li Mei's volunteer career in the welfare home has truly lasted for more than ten years.

She worked meticulously, was conscientious, and worked hard without complaint. Both the children and the elderly spoke highly of her, and the hospital management also acquiesced to her "privilege" of treating the orphanage as her own home.

After the large-scale expansion of the hospital, the hospital leaders even held a special meeting to discuss whether to retain her personal "living room". In the end, they unanimously agreed that she had made a "special contribution" to the hospital and that her "living room" should be reserved.

Keep it and keep it until she applies for cancellation.

As for what Li Mei's "job" is, the hospital and Gui Ying have verbally understood it, but have never verified it. What they care more about is that such a "most beautiful volunteer" who is down-to-earth and willing to work is really rare.

Please. At the same time, neither the hospital nor Gui Ying knew the exact names of Li Mei’s two children and their specific whereabouts.

At that time, Li Zhudao was studying in school and preparing for the college entrance examination with all his strength. He hurried back to the courtyard during the winter vacation and spent the New Year. As for such a new person in the courtyard, he had no idea at all. After the college entrance examination, he

He went out to work again during the summer vacation. After receiving the admission notice from the police academy, he returned to the academy again. After that, he went to school and started working, so he had less and less time to come back. Occasionally, he heard that there was a person in the academy who persisted in doing this job for many years.

I am a volunteer, but I have never been introduced to him by anyone.

Perhaps Li Zhudao had an inadvertent meeting with Li Mei in the hospital, but he did not know which one he had met was "Li Mei". After all, with the development of the times and the progress of society, those who care about the Social Welfare Institute
Chapter completed!