The Star Planter

Zhou Yi felt a pang in his nose from these words.

"Mom Director, I won't let you down. I'll work even harder from now on and be a role model for the children."

"You're already very good. Honestly, I wish you could live a more relaxed life. Maybe I'm just an ordinary woman without many ambitions, but it feels like the higher you climb, the harder it gets. You suffered so much as a child. If you can be happy and carefree in the future, that would make me very glad."

Like most parents, a parent who truly loves their child doesn't necessarily wish for them to become a dragon among men. Simply seeing them happy and well-provided for is enough to bring a parent contentment.

That Zhou Yi had come this far already filled her with immense, immense pride.

As noon approached, the director insisted on cooking herself, and no one could dissuade her.

Fortunately, Xia Qiuzhi went along to help, which put Zhou Yi somewhat at ease.

The little girl called Little Yezi kept sneaking glances at Zhou Yi. When he looked back, she would shyly lower her head.

Zhou Yi walked over, picked her up, and asked, "Is it that classroom, Little Yezi?"

Little Yezi was tiny, but not skinny; her cheeks were still chubby, showing how well the director took care of them all.

She pointed at the classroom and nodded. "This one. We have class there."

Zhou Yi carried her to the outside of the classroom. Inside, some of the older children were having a lesson.

Zhou Yi waited outside until their class was over before going in.

The children inside called out as soon as they saw him:

"It's that brother from TV!"

"Handsome brother is here!"

"Is he Little Yezi's brother? Why is he holding Little Yezi?"

...

Compared to the two kids shouting loudly, most of the children were rather shy.

They just whispered to each other, but their eyes never left Zhou Yi.

The female teacher at the podium also visibly paused for a moment upon seeing Zhou Yi before walking over to shake his hand.

Zhou Yi shook the teacher's hand with one arm while still holding Little Yezi with the other.

After they exchanged a few words, Teacher Fang turned on the TV for Zhou Yi to see.

"The director said you're a role model for the orphanage and wanted to give everyone some encouragement. So during breaks, we play your news clips, interviews, and singing videos."

Zhou Yi looked at the TV. There were news reports about some awards he had won, mostly released by Huaihai University, which he himself hadn't paid much attention to.

There were also interviews from his competitions abroad, records of his awards, and group photos.

Besides these, there were videos of him playing the piano, singing, and so on...

It seemed every piece of information about him that could be found online was there.

Among them were many, many news articles Zhou Yi had never seen before.

Teacher Fang said with a smile, "The director cares about you so much. She mentions you often. She reads and re-reads all those articles about your competitions, group photos, videos, even the promotional posts from marketing accounts, and sometimes she even wipes away tears secretly while reading."

Zhou Yi was deeply moved. He asked, "When did the director learn to use Weibo? I haven't even seen some of these news pieces."

Teacher Fang said helplessly, "There was a period when you were getting heavily criticized on Weibo. A teacher told the director, and she was extremely worried. She didn't dare ask you about it, so she learned how to use Weibo and even went to counter the negative comments for you. I don't know how she managed to find all those posts."

Zhou Yi frowned, regretting not having visited the orphanage more often to see her.

The thought of the nearly sixty-year-old director wearing glasses and learning how to use Weibo made his heart ache again.

For someone nearly sixty, some struggle to use WeChat smoothly, let alone navigate Weibo.

Zhou Yi guessed she must have searched for and recorded every Weibo post related to him.

What must she have felt when she saw those nasty, critical posts?

"Do you have the director's Weibo ID?"

"Yes, I do. Back when she didn't know how to post pictures, she asked me to help her post one once. Let me find it for you."

Teacher Fang found the director's Weibo ID on her phone, and Zhou Yi searched for it on his.

The ID was called "The Star Planter."

When Zhou Yi opened it, he saw the director's Weibo only had one post, which was the picture Teacher Fang mentioned.

It was a photo of Zhou Yi and the director taken on the day he made his donation.

She had only posted once, but she had left many, many comments—so many that Zhou Yi's eyes completely welled up.

Under almost every Weibo post criticizing Zhou Yi, there was a comment from her.

But her wording was civil, which made it stand out awkwardly from the usual Weibo atmosphere. She didn't sound like a fan nor a casual observer, making her comments seem odd, and no one paid them any attention.

Some comments were also attacking her. Who knows how many vile messages must have filled her Weibo inbox.

"It turns out in this world, there are also people who love you unconditionally."

077 suddenly said this, and Zhou Yi choked up.

She had never proactively said much to Zhou Yi. Only during holidays when Zhou Yi greeted her would she chat with him for a bit, perhaps afraid of disturbing him.

"No wonder last month she told me not to care about other people's opinions."

Zhou Yi murmured to himself.

Teacher Fang also sighed with emotion. "The director is a reserved person. She doesn't like to wear her feelings on her sleeve, but the love in her heart runs deeper than we can ever imagine. That's why everyone respects and loves her so much."

After leaving the classroom, Zhou Yi looked at this small orphanage and felt he should do what he could.

At the very least, he couldn't let the director work so hard anymore.

Zhou Yi decided to donate ten million to the orphanage, and then another ten million to establish a Hope Primary School.

He wanted all the children from the orphanage to be able to attend school, and he would also sponsor them through university.

When Zhou Yi shared this idea with the director, she tried to dissuade him for quite a while.

But Zhou Yi was determined. The director couldn't talk him out of it, and Xia Qiuzhi also helped Zhou Yi persuade her. In the end, the director had no choice but to agree.

Tears streaming down her face, she held Zhou Yi's hand and said, "Xiao Yi, I know you've become successful, but building a school and supporting the orphanage really don't require that much money. Donating one or two million would be more than enough."

Zhou Yi shook his head. "That won't do. There needs to be extra money in the account at the very least, so the children can have a better life, and you won't have to worry so much anymore. You can rest well and take care of your health."

The director was too moved to speak, just looking at Zhou Yi with profound gratification.

She contacted the media again to arrange an interview for Zhou Yi. This time, Zhou Yi refused, but the director wouldn't hear of it.

"Xiao Yi, I know you're doing this out of genuine kindness, not for show. But when you do good, you should let people know. After all, you're a public figure now. Publicizing this only brings benefits, no harm. Listen to me, no more refusing."

"Besides, chances to see you will be fewer in the future. I want to take a few more photos with you."

The director said this cheerfully, and Zhou Yi could only accept.

As expected, Zhou Yi appeared on Huaihai TV again.

This time, the photo of him was very ordinary. Standing between the director and Xia Qiuzhi, he was no different from the Zhou Yi of the past.

But it made the director and Xia Qiuzhi feel a sense of closeness and happiness.

Let this be considered as him doing a little something for the original owner.

The news of Zhou Yi's donation made it to the hot search list that evening, yet the comments below were surprisingly mild, with far fewer people criticizing him.

[Zhou Yi is genuinely a good person. He hasn't forgotten his roots. Even after achieving success, he hasn't hidden the fact that he grew up in an orphanage.]

[Exactly. When he went back to the orphanage, he dressed very simply, not at all like his public persona. He's such a sincere and kind-hearted person. I love him even more now, sob.]

[This clearly looks like a genuine donation visit. Unlike some celebrities who dress for the red carpet even when doing charity work.]

[I heard from a reporter on-site that Zhou Yi initially refused interviews. It was only after the orphanage director persuaded him for a long time that he agreed.]

[I went and watched Teacher Fang's interview. She mentioned the director uses Weibo. I searched for that ID, and just one glance made me burst into tears.]

[Oh my goodness, 'The Star Planter'... All the children at the Star Orphanage are like stars she has planted.]

[Sob, all the comments on her Weibo are about Zhou Yi. I saw the director's hair is graying at the temples. I can only imagine how heartbroken and anxious a parent would feel seeing their child being attacked like that.]