17
After the hot pot, everyone dispersed. As Evelyn was returning to her room, Robert called out to her.
“Evie, I need to talk to you.”
Moments later, Evelyn sat with Robert on a bench at the edge of the playground.
“Evie, won’t you join the delegation next week?”
Robert’s voice held regret. He’d watched Evelyn grow up, knew the sweat and tears she’d shed to escape the mountains. She’d finally left, returning to this school, even registering her hukou here; leaving again would be difficult.
When he learned The Wolfe Corporation was sending someone, he’d been thrilled, immediately thinking of Evelyn.
She was so capable; if she impressed the visitors, she might get noticed, transferred to a better school, and move her hukou. She was so young; she shouldn’t waste her youth in this little village.
Evelyn appreciated his kindness but wouldn’t go.
She used the same words to refuse, saying her heart belonged here, it was her home, and she wouldn’t leave.
want
Moreover-“I don’t want to see him again.”
That was the real reason; she didn’t want to see the man who’d repeatedly deceived and hurt her for Charlotte.
Not seeing each other was their final end.
Robert sighed deeply, his eyes filled with regret, but respected her decision.
As he rose to leave, Evelyn stopped him. “Don’t tell anyone I’m here. Please.”
If Sebastian came and saw her, it would be troublesome.
Robert didn’t turn around, just waving his hand. “Don’t worry, I know what to do.”
Days later, The Wolfe Corporation’s motorcade appeared on the winding mountain road. Before they reached the mountains, Evelyn and Lola left for a nearby town to buy supplies.
In the back of a car in the motorcade, Sebastian looked at the endless winding mountains, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
Was this where Evelyn had lived?
While calling to intensify the search for Evelyn, his assistant knocked, handing him the Wolfe Foundation’s funding review for the Among the projects, Sebastian immediately spotted the mountain school.
quarter.
ལོ་51/13ར་ག
The Wolfe Foundation mostly funded environmental protection and healthcare for the poor; few schools received funding; the field was already saturated.
It was better to allocate those funds to areas with greater need.
But as Sebastian was about to cross out the project, he suddenly remembered something and asked for Evelyn’s hometown address.
The assistant initially mentioned the orphanage where Evelyn had briefly lived, then quickly corrected himself, revealing the name of her childhood school–the one in the project proposal.
Sebastian, ignoring everything else, instructed the assistant to contact Robert, arranging a site visit and discussing investment details.
He wanted to get information on Evelyn from Robert.
Sebastian had assumed Evelyn was an orphan with no relatives; he hadn’t considered this approach.
Now knowing she had close ties, they might know her whereabouts.
She valued relationships and wouldn’t avoid contact.
A week later, Sebastian’s motorcade arrived.
After hours of bumpy driving, they finally reached Evelyn’s school.
Sebastian got out of the car, gazing at the renovated school. Though changed, its underlying poverty was still evident.
Evelyn had lived in such harsh conditions for over ten years.
