Orphan's new year

"Ling, Must you go to work abroad today? Tomorrow is the new year you know?" Ling's wife asked.

"No, work is more important," he replied as he walked out of his room.

Ling was always working during holiday, he could not even remember the last time he spent time with his family.

"I'm doing this for my family, they will be happier if I can make more money," he justified himself each time.

He could hear the sound of his son and daughter playing together, he did not say his goodbye as he knew they would throw a tantrum if he left for work.

He was about to reach for his shoes on the floor when he felt someone bumped his back, he could hear his son's voice. It seems he was running from his sister before he bumped into him.

Ling lost his balance and hit his head hard on the wall, he could feel his consciousness fading while his family tried to ask if he was alright.

"Ah?!" he shouted while he regained his consciousness, he looked around to find himself in an unfamiliar room.

"Ling, you are awake?'' A little boy's voice could be heard beside him, when he looked at him he found the boy unfamiliar as well.

"Huh? Who are you?" he asked but to his surprise, his voice was also unfamiliar to him.

He hurriedly got up to find himself actually inside a little boy's body, he was around ten years old as his son and daughter.

"Ling, are you ok? Did you hit your head too hard?" the unfamiliar boy asked.

"Where is this?" he asked the boy instead of answering.

"the orphan house, where else do you think?" the boy retorted before pulling him to the door.

"What is the hurry?" he asked.

"Tomorrow is Chinese New Year, your grandpa would pick you up in the evening so you can spend it with them," the boy pointed out but he seems not that happy.

"Eh? How about you?" he asked the boy.

"you don't need to sympathize with me, unlike you, I don't have anyone just like everyone else, we don't have a family to visit or spend time with, at most, we will get an extra egg for dinner," the boy explained.

Ling got taken aback by that, "Wait? Is every year like this?" he asked.

"Of course, what do you expect us to do when we don't have anyone to spend time with?" the boy asked.

Ling was speechless, to think such a young kid would be so lonely in the new year, he felt pity about them.

The day continued as Ling live the life of an orphan, he studied, did chores, and helped with younger kids.

He was really heartbroken when he found out how lonely they were, they might appear happily playing with each other but deep down he could feel their yearning for a family.

"If I don't have a family then I might adopt them," he thought.

Suddenly a man's voice pulled him out of his thought, "Ling, your grandpa is here," the man said as he took him to meet an old man.

"Ling, how was your day with your friend?" the old man asked.

He did not get the chance to answer when the old man continued, "You must be lonely right? Now, go back to your family before they become lonely too."

Ling could feel that the old man actually had a hidden meaning behind his word. Suddenly, he felt sleepy and lost consciousness within a few seconds.

"Dad are you ok?" a little girl's voice woke him up from his slumber.

"Huh?" he opened his eyes to find his daughter looking worriedly at him.

"Ah, yeah, Dad is fine don't worry," he reassured the little girl with a smile.

"I will call mom," she said as she left the room.

Ling looked to the side to find his son was looking at the floor in guilt, "I'm sorry dad," he said.

"It's ok, but you should be careful next time," he told the boy.

"un..." he replied.

Once they finished talking, Ling's wife came into the room, "Ling are you ok?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm ok. I'm perfectly fine now," he said as he got up from the bed.

"Are you still going for work even after fainting?" she asked in worry.

"of..." he was about to say of course he will but he suddenly remembered his experience as an orphan, he did not want his kids to feel like an orphan because of him.

"No, let's celebrate the new year together," he said with a smile.

"Ah? Really? Who are we visiting?" his wife asked in excitement.

"What do you think about an orphanage?" he asked with a smile.