Beauty and the Bodyguard

But, as long as the operation was still in place, Xiaoke wouldn’t be able to steal anything for income. Although she did get quite a bit of money earlier, it wasn’t enough for such a huge orphange! The prices nowadays were steep, and with so many mouths to feed, the money they had simply wasn’t enough!

Seeing the funds of the orphanage running out was painful, but there was nothing she could do!

The mission posted on the ‘Thieves Door’ website had yet to be accepted, and even if Xiaoke wanted to get some quick money, there weren’t any routes! She could only sigh on her bed.

“Xiaoke, why the long face? The food’s ready in the kitchen, why aren’t you eating? The kids are waiting for you!” The head of the orphanage walked in her room.

“Headmaster, I’m not hungry- you guys eat first,” Xiaoke shook her head.

The days at the orphanage were getting tighter and tighter now that she didn’t have an income to support them- the quality of food was getting lower as well, with each meal only consisting of potatoes and veggies. The amount was a lot smaller, too!

The final few thousands of the funds were used to get cheaper potatoes and white celery as well as noodles- these were all easier to store, and you got a better price if you bought them in big quantities.

They were also all leftover food from last spring, and the vendors were mass-selling the crops since the new ones were coming in soon.

Veggies were cheap, but the noodles weren’t. Xiaoke even tried to eat veggies and no carbs, but she today she just really didn’t want to only veggies today. Might as well not eat altogether, it’d save some money!

“Xiaoke, look at how skinny you are now- of course you’re hungry! What will the children do if your body fails?” The headmaster knew what Xiaoke was thinking, but she was the same as well- the noodles were getting less and less, and as troubled as she was, she couldn’t let Xiaoke starve!”

“Alright, I’ll eat a bit…” Xiaoke nodded.

But the more they were in this situation, the more trouble appeared- after all, trouble doesn’t come by itself. The orphanage had no money, yet they needed it right at this moment!

A while after eating, a kid was rushed to the hospital for appendicitis while he was playing ball!

Xiaoke brought Xiao Ken to the hospital, but only after reaching it did she realize that they didn’t have money!

They had already spent all the money in the safe fund of the orphanage, and she wasn’t holding any cash at all.

Hospitals these days weren’t charities- they needed money for operations, she knew this very well!

Luckily, Xiaoke knew some people in this hospital, like the nurse Wang sis, but it wasn’t like the operation would become free just because she knew people in here! The most she could do was ask Nurse Wang to tell the doctor to do the operation first while she tried to get money to pay it back!

Even if that was all that could be done, she’d be grateful! She sighed in relief as the kid got pushed into the operation room. She looked at the nurse, “Thank you so much, Nurse Wang!

“It’s nothing- but Ke, you should try to get the money as soon as possible- after all, if the hospital leader looks for someone to blame, I wouldn’t be able to shoulder it!” Nurse Wang said.

“I know, Nurse Wang- I just forgot the money in my rush, I’ll go get it now!” Xiaoke didn’t voice her situation- the nurse was already busy as is and she didn’t want to add trouble to her plate.

She was just a nurse, after all, and her salary wasn’t high- she couldn’t just ask her for money.

“Alright, I’ll leave first then- I still have something to do, I’m the only nurse on duty today,” Nurse Wang didn’t think much- she knew abut her job, and so she didn’t think that Xiaoke would lack money.

“Okay, see you then!” Xiaoke nodded.

She only sighed after the nurse left. She turned to Xiao Ken, “Xiao Ken, you stay here- I’ll go get some money from the orphanage.”

“Xiaoke sis, you don’t have to lie to me. Actually, I know that there’s no money left, right?” Xiao Ken said after some hesitation.

“Xiao Ken, you know already?” Xiao Ke nodded her head slightly, not denying. He was the eldest of the kids, and was already more mature- he could feel that there was something wrong.

“Yeah. Is there anything I could do?” Xiao Ken raised his head bravely.

In his heart, he’d always admired Xiaoke- but he knew that he wasn’t a good match for her. She was the goddess of all the kids in the orphanage since they were small, and he knew that this was an impossible dream. He only wanted to share some of the burden Xiaoke had.

“It’s fine- you stay here and take care, I’ll go get some money,” Xiaoke shook her head. Xiao Ken would always be a kid in her eyes.

He nodded, a little disappointed. As expected, Xiaoke still treated him like a child.

“Alright, I’ll wait here- you be safe, Xiaoke sis!” He nodded.

Xiaoke quickly ran out of the hospital, and felt despair as she looked at the policemen patrolling. It seemed like it was impossible to steal any wallets!

In actuality, she didn’t have to go to the streets to steal wallet- there was a great place right behind her, the hospital, filled with people with a lot of money. Xiaoke, however, wasn’t an evil person- she had her codes of honor, and she didn’t want to steal the money in the hospital. The money there was for the treatment of their loved ones- what would they do if it went missing? They needed it to save their loved ones!

And so, she left the hospital without hesitation, looking around on the streets.

Slowly, she reached the train station where there was a lot of people- this used to be her paradise, since there were a bunch of tyrants walking around here, bullying the vendors and scamming tourists. There were plenty targets here!

Stealing their money had no burden on her conscience- the money they earned wasn’t clean, and so she didn’t mind the theft.

But now, all of those people were gone? With all the police here, there wouldn’t be any of the bad guys she was used to! The things they were doing were illegal, after all- of course they’d be hiding!