Liu Yutong stood in place, watching as several black cars escorted the ambulance away. Only then did she turn around, preparing to get into her car and leave.
However, just as she reached the car door, a child's tearful voice caught her attention.
"I want my daddy! Grandma, let me go! I want to go find Daddy! Daddy is lying there so cold..."
Liu Yutong's steps halted, and she looked towards the source of the sound.
Outside the police tape not far away, a little girl of about four or five years old, her hair tied into two crooked little pigtails, was being held tightly by an elderly woman.
The little girl's face was red from crying, her beautiful big eyes brimming with tears. Her small hands kept reaching towards the figure that had just been lifted from the driver's seat by the rescuers and covered with a white cloth.
"Daddy! Daddy! Get up!"
"Daddy..."
The elderly woman holding the little girl also had red-rimmed eyes. Clutching the child tightly to prevent her from rushing over, she choked back sobs as she comforted her, "Yaya, don't cry, don't cry... Daddy is tired, he's asleep..."
"You're lying! Daddy would never sleep on the ground! Daddy promised to bring me a little cake tonight! Daddy never lies to Yaya!" The little girl pounded the woman's arm with her tiny fists, crying even harder.
"Daddy, get up! Yaya doesn't want cake anymore! Yaya wants Daddy! Daddy, please get up!"
"..........."
Those childish cries of "Daddy" were like icy knives, piercing the hearts of every bystander present, including Liu Yutong's.
It seemed she suddenly realized that she wasn't entirely without responsibility for what had happened to this child's father.
After sending someone to briefly inquire with the elderly woman, she learned that the little girl had no other close relatives left; she had become a complete orphan.
The elderly woman was the girl's neighbor. She had brought Yaya to see her father one last time after learning of the accident.
Usually, when the girl's father was out driving his taxi, he would entrust the child to her care. The woman's grandson and Yaya were classmates in kindergarten. The two families had grown close because of the children. Coupled with the woman's kind heart and pity for the father-daughter pair, she often helped pick up and drop off Yaya.
Now, with Yaya's father gone, the child would either be sent to an orphanage or placed with a slightly closer blood relative like an uncle or aunt.
But according to the woman, Yaya's relatives never associated with them; looking down on them for being poor and fearing they would be a burden, they had long since kept their distance.
Yaya's mother had passed away years ago from cancer, leaving behind a large debt that the girl's father had spent many years driving a taxi to repay.
Not long after that, however, Yaya's father was diagnosed with stomach cancer, said to be caused by irregular eating and sleeping habits.
He had no intention of treating it. He only wanted to save as much money as he could in his remaining days for his daughter, so her future wouldn't be too difficult...
The member of the Wanlong Society reporting this to Liu Yutong couldn't hold back his tears by this point.
"Miss, that little girl has really had it too hard!"
After listening, Liu Yutong also couldn't help but turn her head away.
"Yun Cheng!"
"Here!"
"Give to that child anonymously..."
Liu Yutong initially wanted to say she would donate some money to the child to ensure she would never have to worry about food and clothing, but the words stopped at her lips.
Then, she made a decision.
She walked directly over to the girl who was still crying and fussing, whom even the police officers couldn't calm down.
Perhaps because of the cool, powerful aura she carried, the voices of the surrounding onlookers unconsciously lowered.
Even the neighbor comforting Yaya noticed this suddenly approaching young woman of exceptional presence and became flustered.
Mainly because this woman was followed by a group of men in black, which was rather intimidating.
Liu Yutong crouched down in front of the little girl, looking at her tear-streaked face.
Yaya also seemed to sense something different about this suddenly appearing beautiful older sister. Shrinking slightly into the neighbor's embrace, her sobs quieted a little.
Liu Yutong extended a hand and said gently, "Yaya, Daddy has gone to a very faraway place and can't come back to be with Yaya for a while. Would Yaya be willing to come with me?"
"I can take you to the amusement park, buy you lots and lots of dolls, and cake."
Yaya looked at her through teary, blurred eyes, her little mouth quivering, then looked again in the direction of the ambulance.
"Daddy..."
Liu Yutong wasn't impatient. She kept her hand outstretched, waiting for the little girl to decide.
If this child was willing to come with her, then she would take her in. If she wasn't willing, then she would fund her through university.
Yaya looked once more towards her father being loaded into the vehicle, then looked back at the gentle, beautiful sister before her. After a moment of hesitation, she slowly raised her small hand and placed it in Liu Yutong's palm.
Liu Yutong smiled faintly, stood up, and took her hand.
"Yaya, let's go."
Before leaving, she also looked once more towards the ambulance and whispered, "Rest easy. Your princess will have me from now on."
