Looking at the unfamiliar street he was currently walking at, he knew that he was still far from the place that he was supposed to be. He asked around the place after arriving in Taiwan but got information that is either partial or not good. Some fisherman he immediately asked right after getting on land told him the place he described was three hours from the place he was previously at. Three hours later he arrived in the town his parents told him about but still can’t find the orphanage he was supposed to go. Another hour passed and he was in the marketplace when he overheard something.

“Sister Clarence, have you heard? Brother Johnny came today. I thought he was supposed to come only before Christmas? Isn’t it just February?”

A tattered kid asked a nun-like figure who is both young and fair.

“Yin Zi, I heard. But don’t you want to know why? If you want to know then ask him himself. Come on, I’ll be coming back to the orphanage after doing groceries. You should come with me.”

“Yaay! Sister Clarence is sure pretty. Are you truly going to be a nun someday?” Little Yin Zi asked.

“If it is going to be willed by the heavens, then who am I to decline? You’re still young Yin Zi so you would not understand but one day you will.”

“Okay Sister Clarence.”

Hearing this Weizhou approached the one called Sister Clarence.

“Good afternoon Sister.” Weizhou greeted and then lowered his head.

“Good afternoon brother.” She responded.

“I overheard what you guys were talking about, and you are from Saint Francis Orphanage, is that right?”

“Yes, we are. However, you do not sound native here, are you from the mainland?” Sister Clarence asked.

“I am from Shanghai and I heard from my parents that I am adopted and thus was adopted here in this town particularly in S.F. Orphanage. Here is my proof.”

Weizhou showed to the person called sister Clarence his certificate of foundling and his picture as a baby with the old lady Zi Ling and his adoptive parents.

“I recognize this person. That is the late Old Lady Zi Ling. She is dead already but that was indeed the old S.F. Orphanage building back when it was still in town when it was destroyed by the fire 10 years ago, we relocated by the foot of the mountains and only go back in town for things like groceries and stuff. You can come with me later after my errand.”

Sister Clarence told and then let Weizhou follow her here and there. Half an hour later, she was done with her errands and lead little Yin Zi and Weizhou into an old pickup truck.

“You drive this thing?” Weizhou confusedly asked.

“Yes, we are not that well supported by the government and would only rely on donations by some sponsors or sometimes by the children who was raised by the orphanage. So we could only drive this old pickup.” She nicely said.

“Sister Clarence, if you don’t mind, let me drive. You’ve been walking the entire day here and there. Let me help you this one time.”

“I guess I can’t say no to that can I?” Hearing that, Weizhou smiled and Sister Clarence handed the keys to him and started to drive the old car. She would instruct Weizhou where to go and a few minutes later he found himself in a sweet looking valley where Mansion-like house were standing. And no one could deny the scenery here is superb.

“The government acquired this property for us after the fire but after that, left us on our own so I guess the government still helped out though they did not continue their help after that, atleast we still made it this far.” Sister Clarence explained why they were located in such a beautiful place that could pass as a villa.

Weizhou now understands why he could not find the orphanage back in the town.

“Sister Clarence,” Little yinzi said excitedly. “I will look for Brother Johnny now!”

“Okay little Yinzi. Be careful do not run around okay?”

“Okay!”

“Mister Weizhou, please wait for me here, I will just deliver this in the pantry. After that, I will bring you to the Mother Superior.”

“Let me help you deliver those.”

“I’m sorry, you’re a guest and we do not allow guest do our work here so just please enjoy the scenery for a while. I will not take long.” Sister Clarence hurriedly spoke and went to the direction of the pantry.

The air here in this valley were breezy. But not enough to cause chills. Just the right temperature. And beautiful trees were all around. Surrounding the orphan were many types of plants. Some were vegetables and some were flowers. And although Weizhou cannot see the river, he can still hear the stream from far away.

This place were far from an orphanage. This is just simply a rich man’s escape pod. But of course, the Taiwanese government acquired it making it still a government property so Weizhou guessed this was previously owned by some massively rich guy who donated it to charity or this was previously owned by a fraudulent person who got caught in his schemes and was forced to surrender all of his properties to the government. Either way, no one could deny this place is simply heavenly.

Weizhou found himself a bench and pulled out his journal. Being a poet and appreciating this scenery here, he cannot help but to jot all of the beautiful things he saw and then take his cell phone to get some of the pictures to show to his adoptive parents later.

He took one shot after another. Went from places to places that he found interesting and then took a picture of anything that caught his eyes.

He was so focused on taking pictures when suddenly a man’s voice startled him.

“Hey.” The man said which startled Weizhou and almost drop his cell. Looking at the man, He realized this was the same person from the ferry boat he went in last night.

“Aren’t you Mister Huang Jingyu the photographer guy?” Weizhou asked.

“Shhh…” Jingyu hushed. “I am known as Brother Johnny here in this place.”

“You are that brother Johnny!”

“Well I guess I am.”

“You’re a priest, right?”

“Who said that? Just because I am called brother here doesn’t mean I am a priest.” Jingyu laughed. “I usually volunteer here every Christmas time.”

“But it’s just February.” Weizhou pointed out.

“As you said. I ran away from home.” Jingyu told Weizhou.

“Why run here?” Weizhou curiously asked.

“Why not? I mean look at it. It’s just too nice. I consider this place my second home.” Jingyu said.

Weizhou agreed. This place is way too nice. Too good to be true as some would say. If someone told Weizhou that this place was taken out directly from a fairytale then he would not hesitate but believe that person. Maybe some other place would be nicer but no other valley could look as nice as this.

“Can I see the pictures you took?” Jingyu asked Weizhou.

Weizhou did not say anything and just handed his phone to Jingyu.

Jingyu went through all of the photos he just took and after a while he spoke.

“Not bad, you really has an artistic side in you. Your takes was good but if you want to really pursue photography, then get at least a digital camera with you.”

“What’s wrong with my phone?” Weizhou asked.”

“You see…” Jingyu pulled out a rather small digital camera and pointed at Weizhou as his subject. “There’s a term in photography called ‘bokeh’.”

Jingyu showed the screen to Weizhou.

“It’s an effect of the lens when you just want to capture the picture of your subject. And the rest is rather just a blur.”

Bokeh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh

The picture that Jingyu took could be imagined as the photo above.

Orphanage could be imagined as this picture: