With the orphanage's finances about to slip into the red, Yu Xiaoke was utterly at a loss.

The commission she had posted earlier on the Thief Sect's website had still not been taken up by anyone. Even if she wanted to earn some money on the side, she had no way to go about it. All she could do was sit on her bed and heave sighs at the heavens.

"Xiaoke, why the long face? The kitchen's already cooked, so why aren't you eating? The children are all waiting for you!" The old director pushed open the door of Yu Xiaoke's room and came in.

"Director, I'm not eating. I'm not hungry. You all go ahead," Yu Xiaoke said, shaking her head.

With Yu Xiaoke's source of income cut off, life at the orphanage grew harder by the day, and the food got worse and worse. Nearly every meal now was potatoes stewed with cabbage, and the portions had shrunk a good deal besides.

The orphanage's last few thousand yuan had gone to buying potatoes, cabbage, and some rice and flour in bulk from a wholesale depot. That sort of thing kept well, and buying in bulk brought the price down.

It was all leftover stock from the previous autumn. The new vegetables would be coming in soon, so the vendors were unloading it cheap, by the lot.

Cheap as the vegetables were, rice and flour were dear. At meals Yu Xiaoke ate as much vegetable as she could and as little grain as possible, until the very sight of it turned her stomach. Today she truly could not face it, and skipping a meal would save a little grain besides.

"Xiaoke, look how thin you've grown. How can you not be hungry? If you ruin your health, what will become of the children?" How could the old director not know what was on Yu Xiaoke's mind? But was she any different? Watching the rice and flour dwindle day by day, she too worried in secret; yet worry or no worry, she could not let Yu Xiaoke go without food.

"All right, then. I'll go eat a little..." Yu Xiaoke nodded.

But the harder things got, the more they went wrong. Misfortunes never come singly, as the saying goes. The orphanage had no money, and it was precisely at this moneyless moment that money was needed.

Not long after the meal, one of the children came down with acute appendicitis from playing ball.

Yu Xiaoke and Xiao Ken rushed the child to the hospital, and only there did Yu Xiaoke suddenly remember: she had no money.

Over the past while, the orphanage's entire savings had been spent. In Yu Xiaoke's hands there was not a single cent in cash.

These days hospitals were no charity. Without money there would be no surgery. That much Yu Xiaoke knew perfectly well.

Fortunately, she knew a few people at the hospital, Nurse Wang among them. But knowing people did not mean escaping the bill. The most Yu Xiaoke could do was ask Nurse Wang to put in a word so that the child with appendicitis could have the operation first, while she went off to scrape the money together and pay afterward.

Even that was enough to make Yu Xiaoke grateful. Watching the sick child wheeled into the operating room, she finally let out a breath and said to Nurse Wang beside her, "Nurse Wang, I really have to thank you for this."

"It's nothing, just a small favor. But Xiaoke, you still need to pay the medical fees as soon as you can. If the hospital leadership comes down on me, I can't bear that responsibility," Nurse Wang said.

"I know, Nurse Wang. I was in such a hurry that I came out without any money. I'll go home and fetch it right now." Yu Xiaoke did not reveal her predicament. Nurse Wang had already helped so much; how could she burden her further?

Nurse Wang was only an ordinary nurse, her monthly salary hardly high. Yu Xiaoke could not bring herself to ask her for a loan.

"That's fine, then. I'll be off. I've still got things to see to, and I'm the only one in the duty room, so I can't be away too long." Nurse Wang thought nothing more of it. She knew Yu Xiaoke's profession, and so to her mind Yu Xiaoke was not short of money.

"Yes, go on then. We'll be fine here," Yu Xiaoke said with a nod.

Only after Nurse Wang was out of sight did Yu Xiaoke sigh and turn to Xiao Ken. "Xiao Ken, you stay here and keep watch. I'll go back to the orphanage and get some money."

"Xiaoke, you don't have to lie to me. I know, really I do. The orphanage has no money left, doesn't it?" Xiao Ken hesitated, then looked at Yu Xiaoke.

"So you know." Yu Xiaoke gave a slight nod and did not deny it. Xiao Ken was the oldest child at the orphanage, already mature in his thinking, so naturally he could sense that something was amiss there.

"Yes, Xiaoke. Is there anything I can do to help?" Xiao Ken raised his head and asked, summoning his courage.

In his heart he had long been secretly in love with Yu Xiaoke, though he knew he was not good enough for her. Still, the children of the orphanage had looked up to Yu Xiaoke as a goddess and an idol since they were small, and that was only natural. Even knowing it was hopeless, Xiao Ken wished he could share some of her burdens.

"No need. You stay here and keep a close eye on things. I'll go get some money." Yu Xiaoke waved a hand. In her eyes, Xiao Ken would always be a child.

Xiao Ken nodded, a trace of disappointment in his eyes. Sure enough, Yu Xiaoke would always treat him as a child.

"All right, I'll stay here. Come back soon, Xiaoke," Xiao Ken nodded in answer.

Yu Xiaoke quickly ran out of the hospital. Seeing the patrol police stationed every few steps along the street, she felt a surge of despair. So much, then, for her plan to steal a purse.

In fact, if she wanted to steal money, she did not have to go out onto the street. The hospital was the best place of all, for plenty of people there carried cash. But Yu Xiaoke was not one of those utterly wicked thieves; she had her own code. She could not bring herself to steal from the people in that hospital. Most of them had come to pay medical fees for family or friends. Rob them, and what were they to do? That little bit of money might be the very thing keeping their loved one alive.

So Yu Xiaoke resolutely left the hospital and wandered the streets with no particular destination.

Without quite realizing it, she drifted along with the flow of people and arrived at the train station. Once, this place had been her paradise. The station of old had swarmed with scalpers, thuggish vendors who tyrannized the market, and unlicensed black cabs that made a specialty of fleecing out-of-town tourists. Every one of them had been fair game to Yu Xiaoke.

Stealing from people like that cost her not the slightest pang of conscience. The money in their pockets was ill-gotten, and she felt no guilt at all in taking it.

But now there was nothing left to skim at the train station. With police patrolling the area, how would those scalpers, thuggish vendors, and black cabs dare operate nearby? They were breaking the law to begin with; they had all they could do just to stay hidden.

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