The next morning, Su Xiahe was groggily shaken awake by Meng Wanxing.
Rubbing her eyes, she mumbled listlessly, “What’s wrong?”
Meng Wanxing had also just woken up not long ago. “A-He, quick, check the school group announcement.”
Su Xiahe picked up her phone and scrolled through the announcement.
[
Our university has received support from a charitable enterprise, which will provide financial aid subsidies to students with outstanding academic performance.
Approved students can receive a monthly subsidy of 1,000 yuan.
Application requirements:
Outstanding academic performance, with all passing grades in major courses
A minimum of 180 credits
Students from financially disadvantaged families
Students who meet the above requirements and are in need are encouraged to apply actively, and must submit the application form to their class counselor before ****April 21st.
Attachment: Financial Aid Application Form.doc
]
“Done reading?” Meng Wanxing excitedly shook Su Xiahe’s arm.
Su Xiahe nodded. “Done.”
Meng Wanxing quickly said, “See, there are only two days left before the deadline. You should go apply right away.”
Seeing that monthly subsidy of 1,000 yuan, Su Xiahe had to admit—she was indeed tempted.
Although the amount wasn’t much, with this money, she could at least slowly pay back the relatives who had lent her money before.
She said, “Let’s apply together.”
Meng Wanxing shook her head helplessly. “Look at the first requirement—all passing grades in major courses…”
Her grades were an absolute mess.
Although Meng Wanxing’s family wasn’t extremely wealthy, they were fairly well-off, so she didn’t need to compete for this financial aid anyway.
“Oh.”
Su Xiahe took another serious look at the application requirements, then thought of something. “But my credits don’t seem to be enough. The requirement is 180 credits or above.”
Meng Wanxing asked, “How many are you short?”
Su Xiahe opened her personal info and glanced at it. “Still 20 credits short.”
Su Xiahe had all passing grades in her major courses, and the total credits from those courses added up to 160.
Meng Wanxing let out a sigh of relief. “I thought it was a lot more! Just 20 credits short—that’s easy. You just need to earn enough credits within these two days.”
“How can I earn credits in two days?”
Meng Wanxing opened her computer and carefully read through the rules for earning credits in the system.
She scanned from top to bottom for a while, and finally her brows relaxed. “Hmm… A-He, you can do volunteer work. Completing one volunteer activity adds 25 credits.”
Su Xiahe leaned in to look as well, murmuring, “Volunteer work?”
Meng Wanxing nodded. “I looked through everything, and this is currently the simplest and fastest way to earn credits.”
Su Xiahe’s eyes also swept across the screen for a long time. Indeed, only volunteer work seemed reliable.
The other options were either joining a club, joining the student union, or taking an elective course.
None of those were things that could be done within two days.
“Go wash up first,” Meng Wanxing urged. “I’ll help you look for volunteer activities you can sign up for.”
“Oh, okay.”
With only two days left, Su Xiahe needed to hurry and earn 20 more credits to apply for the financial aid subsidy.
When Su Xiahe came out of the bathroom, Meng Wanxing rushed over with her laptop.
“A-He, I picked out a few volunteer activities for you. Take a look—which one do you want to go to?”
Su Xiahe quickly glanced at the volunteer activities listed on the screen. “I’ll go with the second one.”
It was going to the street park to take care of stray dogs and cats.
“OK, I’ll sign you up then.”
Su Xiahe’s eyes turned serious. “Wanxing, thank you.”
Meng Wanxing smiled. “Pfft, no need to thank me.”
She lowered her head and continued filling in the volunteer registration information.
Speaking of which, the reason Meng Wanxing was so good to Su Xiahe was because of something that happened in their freshman year.
Meng Wanxing had almost been violated by a drunk vagrant, and luckily Su Xiahe had saved her just in time.
Although Meng Wanxing was rescued, Su Xiahe was stabbed by the vagrant and ended up in the hospital for two weeks.
That was why Meng Wanxing felt both grateful and protective of Su Xiahe.
Meng Wanxing knew that Su Xiahe had no parents and had always lived with her grandfather, relying on each other.
She usually covered her tuition and fees through work-study programs she saved up for. Last month, her grandfather passed away, and she, who was already struggling to make ends meet, was now drowning in debt…
Thinking about this, Meng Wanxing felt a pang of sadness.
She had wanted to help Su Xiahe many times.
But she knew that Su Xiahe wasn’t the type to accept financial help from her.
Whatever she needed, she wanted to earn it through her own efforts.
Meng Wanxing clicked submit. “OK, I’ve signed you up.”
“Mm.”
Meng Wanxing looked apologetic. “But I can’t go with you to do the volunteer work today. That old man Lu is making me go to the studio.”
“It’s fine, I can go by myself,” Su Xiahe said as she packed up and slung her bag over her shoulder. “You just focus on your art.”
“Mm, I’ll send the address to your phone in a bit.”
“Mm.”
Meng Wanxing reminded her, “Oh, right, when you’re doing the volunteer work, remember to take some photos. You’ll need to upload them to the volunteer system later.”
“Got it.”
Su Xiahe left the dorm.
Street Park.
Su Xiahe walked along the forest path and spotted a stray dog curled up and shivering beneath a large banyan tree—a very small Labrador.
She hurried over and saw that the little Labrador’s leg was bleeding, though fortunately not too badly.
She crouched down, took out a disinfectant wipe from her bag, and cleaned the wound before wrapping the leg with a soft cotton cloth.
“Little one, how did you get hurt?”
The little Labrador stayed huddled in one spot, trembling all over, whimpering softly.
“Don’t be afraid of me. I won’t hurt you.”
She reached out and stroked the puppy’s head, but it only trembled harder.
She muttered to herself, “Do you have other injuries somewhere else?”
She wasn’t a veterinarian after all, so she couldn’t examine it more thoroughly.
“Little one, let big sister take you to the hospital.”
Just as she was about to pick up the puppy, it suddenly started barking wildly. Though its barks were loud, its body kept shrinking backward.
“What’s wrong with you?” She was startled back a few steps by its ferocity.
The puppy barked even more fiercely, but its gaze seemed fixed on something in the distance.
Su Xiahe followed its gaze and whipped her head around, spotting a tall man standing not far behind her.
He stood straight on the cobblestone path.
It was the man she’d encountered at the theater entrance last night.
Su Xiahe’s mind went blank for a moment again. “It’s you?”
The man looked at her and gave a slight nod.
Su Xiahe noticed he was also wearing the small red volunteer vest and blurted out, “You’re here volunteering too?”
The man nodded.
The dog by Su Xiahe’s feet barked fiercely.
The man asked, “What’s wrong with this puppy?”
Su Xiahe guessed, “It’s probably injured. I’m not sure why it’s so agitated.”
The dog thought: Why so agitated? Because I’ve spotted a bad guy, of course!
The man pondered briefly. “Should we take it to a pet hospital?”
Su Xiahe answered honestly, “That was my plan, but I’m not familiar with this area, and I don’t know where a pet hospital is.”
The man smiled warmly and gently. “I know this area fairly well. How about I take you both there?”
Su Xiahe crouched down and picked up the dog, her brows slightly furrowed as if hesitating, and didn’t respond.
As a mature adult, Su Xiahe had the proper wariness when a strange man offered to help her.
Seeing that the girl hadn’t responded, the man handed over a business card and introduced himself politely, “My name is Shen Jin. This is my card.”
Su Xiahe took the card and read the text on it: [Jiangcheng Hospital, Chief Physician of Neurosurgery, Shen Jin]
“Sorry, please allow me to verify first.”
The man nodded.
Su Xiahe turned aside and searched “Jiangcheng Hospital Neurosurgery” on her phone.
Shen Jin glanced at her without showing any reaction.
Quite cautious.
No matter. Take your time checking.
Big brother has all the patience in the world.