Reporter Du Wen arrived at the Good Luck Orphanage in the morning carrying a bag of chocolates refreshed.
since his interview program began.
Du Wen is extremely busy. From the Spring Festival to now, he has visited a total of thirty-one orphanages in various districts of Yangon. He wrote almost 5,000 words in the writing outline alone. After submitting it to the editorial department, The response has been great.
After the editor-in-chief read it, he praised it greatly.
In particular, the photo of a local middle school student dancing with an AIDS girl is topical and artistic, but does not carry the same ethical and political risks as some shots documenting famine and war.
Simply one of the newspaper’s favorite shots.
If this kind of photo works well, it will definitely be aimed at journalism awards.
The editor-in-chief looked at the developed photos and almost smiled from ear to ear.
Drug orphans are a big problem in Myanmar.
After discussion in the editorial department, it was immediately agreed that a few weeks before this year’s International Anti-Drug Day, a relevant special issue would be published in the name of Myanmar Mirror to publish Du Wen’s news report.
The premise is that the finished content of his reports is of sufficient quality.
This is a special issue!
Even Du Wen did not expect that he would have the opportunity to publish a special issue.
Paper media magazines are divided into three types: regular issues, supplements and special issues.
Supplements are mostly found in magazines and periodicals, and the content quality is low. Special issues are different. Only major international news or various national anniversaries will allow newspapers to publish special special issues.
This is a special page that is much heavier than the regular front page headlines.
"Myanmar Mirror" is the most important national newspaper in Myanmar. The newspapers it publishes will quickly reach tens of millions of people across the country. Even the major political leaders may not be able to get special editions.
The reason why the editorial department gave Du Wen this opportunity was not only because the cover photo he chose was very good.
Mainly because this year happens to be the 25th anniversary of the special issue published by the editorial department of "Myanmar Mirror" after the Golden Triangle drug lord Khun Sa surrendered to the government.
It can be regarded as a retrospective follow-up report on the pain caused by the drug war on a generation.
The topic selection of the report, the right timing, and the touching news photo, all three of which were missing, prevented Du Wen from getting the chance to publish a special issue. It can only be said that it is the result of hard work and luck.
Du Wen is now in pain and happiness.
The press release of a special issue must contain a large number of interviews with people related to the event, and the content can easily add up to more than 100,000 words. His liver started to hurt when he calculated the deadline for submission.
If the other reporters and writers in the editorial department, whose eyes started to glow green when they heard about the special issue, could also join in and follow the news with him.
Du Wen was not willing to kill him.
Investigative reporters are a very hard and high-risk profession. Those who have been shot, those who have been jailed, those who have been sapped, and those who have been tied up in sacks and thrown into the river... At times like this, as long as you use your pen more often, special issues will be published on running materials. If your liver hurts a little, just hurt a little.
Du Wen often visits the Good Luck Orphanage these days.
This orphanage is operating under financial constraints but has a good reputation. The volunteers who come and go are very diverse, ranging from underage middle school students to grandmothers in their 60s and 70s.
It is convenient for him to do interviews on the character’s background story.
After Du Wen arrived at the orphanage, he did some casual work as usual for a while, then began to wander around the yard. If he saw someone he found interesting, he would go over and have a chat.
The chocolate he prepared was just for this purpose.
When I was studying in the journalism department, the teacher taught me interview tips. A man would hand over a cigarette, and a woman or child would hand over chocolates. It was easy to build a closer relationship.
The chocolates Du Wen brought were all brought back from abroad by colleagues in the editorial department. They were not valuable, but fortunately there was a circle of colorful foreign letters on the outside. In third world countries like Yangon, imported chocolate is sometimes more useful than Marlboro cigarettes.
He went around a lot today and chatted a lot about his seventh aunt and eighth aunt, but there wasn't much really valuable news.
Du Wen was a little irritable, and saw in the corner of the yard, the Dulwich Middle School student who always came here, holding a dirty, fat baby that looked about five or six years old in his arms, babbling head to head with him. Say something.
This lens is not bad either.
It is not suitable to bring a professional camera for a secret interview. Du Wen first took out his mobile phone and secretly took a few photos, and then walked over pretending to be casual.
He has always been interested in and quite fond of this middle school student named Gu Weijing.
Unfortunately, this guy is usually very silent.
Except when dealing with children, he is not very willing to talk and just paints alone.
Most of Du Wen's information about the other party was obtained through the female director of the orphanage.
"Brother, brother, do you want some chocolate?" He took out a bar of milk-flavored Toblerone and handed it over.
Du Wen could only try to get close.
He was a rich boy from an aristocratic school like Dewey, and he had seen it before, so he didn't expect his little trick of giving chocolates to be of any use.
but,
This time, Gu Weijing did not refuse as usual.
Gu Weijing glanced at the fat boy sitting on his lap, looked at the chocolate with longing eyes, and took the chocolate.
He tore open the foil wrapper, broke off a piece and stuffed it into the doll's mouth.
"What's going on with this child?"
Seeing something going on, Du Wen came over and started chatting.
He randomly found a topic to learn about Gu Weijing, but this fat boy did not look normal.
Children who develop early often start learning to speak around ten months old.
At his age, he can start elementary school, but the fat baby in the other person's hand still mumbles and cannot speak clearly.
"His name is [Bu Dao]." Gu Weijing sighed while holding the fat baby.
Many orphans here were abandoned at the door of the orphanage without even their own names.
Burmese cultural tradition has no surnames, and naming is also relatively casual.
The abbess used to name them after flowers.
Just like the little jasmine girl, Budao is the Burmese transliteration of the rosewood, the national flower of Myanmar.
"I took him to the doctor and he was diagnosed with autism and mild language impairment. In theory, he can achieve the same effect as a normal child through companionship and special intervention and correction treatment, but..."
Gu Weijing shrugged.
Specialized treatments for autistic children are actually very developed in the world, but they are very expensive.
In developed countries in Europe and the United States, a professional three-hour one-on-one autism correction class with a child expert starts at US$1,000, and requires three classes a week.
It’s enough to make middle-class people who don’t buy relevant insurance tremble.
Not to mention Myanmar.
The language barrier is not like Jasmine's AIDS, which has special funding from the United Nations. The cost of such treatment is beyond the reach of an orphanage.
We can only ask volunteers to accompany us more.
"Budao, thank the uncle who gave you the chocolate?"
Gu Weijing lifted the fat child high and faced Du Wen on the side.
The little guy looked very reluctant to speak, and Gu Weijing was not in a hurry. He patiently reminded him several times before the baby muttered something softly.
"I want to draw a picture. It looks like you are fine now. Can you give him a hug?"
Gu Weijing felt that he knew enough about the little model to start writing, so he asked Du Wen on the side.
Du Wen, who wanted to get closer to Gu Weijing, did not refuse.
Gu Weijing took out his drawing board and pen, and handed the chocolate that Du Wen just gave him back to the reporter.
"After talking to Budao for a while, reward him with a chocolate. Hmm... give him three at most. The dean said he needs to change his teeth." Gu Weijing gently patted the fat baby away and stretched it out to grab the sharpener. With his little hand holding the knife, he began to outline Budao's appearance on the drawing paper.
He is also a child. Fatty has autism, but he is quite curious.
At least when Gu Weijing was painting, his behavior was far less good than that of little Jasmine, and he always liked to scratch her.
He painted Jasmine and never had to ask other volunteers to help look after Jasmine.
Du Wen tried to talk to the fat kid for a while and then wanted to give up. Budao was very reluctant to speak, and when he did speak, he was mumbling so vaguely that he couldn't understand it at all.
"You have to talk more to get candy."
Gu Weijing raised his pen and said something to the fat baby first.
Then he turned to look at Du Wen and explained: "He is worried about you asking for chocolate. Be patient, and you can actually understand what Budao is saying."
"His pronunciation is different from normal children." Gu Weijing demonstrated: "I will teach you that his retroflex sounds like 'azole', a plosive sound..."
Du Wen actually admired this Dulwich middle school student.
No matter which one of the two statements is more correct: being rich is unkind or being rich has a conscience, this boy is indeed very patient with all the children in the orphanage.
As a reporter, Du Wen knows better that compared to many formulaic main theme reports and show-like charity donations, this kind of story full of warm details is the news that can move readers more.
"It's true that good people are rewarded. A special report in the Myanmar Mirror made the mayor of Yangon cry with envy."
I dare not say anything else.
A high school student like this who can be on the cover of a major national news special issue by doing good deeds in an orphanage. Even if your grades are like shit, you can get a full scholarship of less than 100,000 US dollars to attend top European and American universities such as Stanford and Cambridge. Very relaxing thing.
After graduation, various NGOs (non-profit organizations) are rushing to hire you with high salaries. NGO only means that the organization itself is non-profit, and the salaries of senior managers are not low.
As long as you don't make big mistakes, it is no exaggeration to say that one report will last you a lifetime.
"Hmph, you look so cool and cold. Kid, if you know what I'm doing, I'm afraid you'll be so excited that you'll hold my thigh and cry in pain to express your gratitude!" Du Wen felt smug in his heart.
"Brother, I heard from the dean that your family runs a gallery? There isn't a big gallery business in Yangon, right?"
Du Wen chatted: "Is that the 'Golden Village' or the 'Guli Gallery' on Diplomat Avenue?"
Investigative reporters who travel the streets are as familiar with a city as taxi drivers, especially in areas related to the cultural industry.
He casually gave the names of several of the largest galleries in Yangon.
"No." Gu Weijing shook his head.
"no?"
Du Wen was puzzled. There were only a few high-end galleries in Yangon.
He couldn't remember any great gallery worthy of its praise.
Could it be that the family's business is in another city?
Wait, actually it’s not like there’s no real big business.
An idea suddenly flashed into the mind of the well-informed reporter.
Du Wen took a small step back, and the hand holding the fat boy couldn't help but tighten a little.
"You...you are not Brother Hao's nephew, are you?" His expression was extremely complicated at this time.
"That's not true."
Gu Weijing raised his head and glanced at Du Wen, knowing that the other party had a different idea. A well-known underworld godfather like Brother Hao is something that ordinary people are not afraid of.
"Our gallery is called Gu's Painting and Calligraphy Shop. It is located on the bank of the Yangon River. Compared with the two galleries you mentioned, it does more Chinese painting business. If you are interested, you can go and have a look." Gu Weijing casually said I brought business to my family's shop.
Du Wen picked up his phone and searched on Google Maps.
He looked at the store introduction and display window above, and was relieved to find that it was a small private gallery.
If the son of a mafia tycoon is keen on charity, it would be too darkly humorous for this kind of news report to be published.
"It doesn't look like the income is much."
Du Wen looked at the store homepage on Google Maps.
With a very small storefront, normally the income of a small gallery like this is not very high.
"Your parents are willing to send you to Dulwich College." He made an insidious comment about Gu Weijing's family background.
"It's very expensive, but I have a scholarship. Is there any problem?"
Gu Weijing was surprised that he had met this volunteer wearing glasses several times, and he always seemed to be very interested in him.
"No no."
Du Wen waved his hand with a smile.
He was not too satisfied with this answer, and Du Wen was going to ask someone through his connections to check whether he could get the Dulwich scholarship list.
It's better to be poor, it's better to be poorer.
If what this guy said is true, a good student with excellent moral character and a scholarship bonus will naturally resonate with ordinary people more than a rich man who is kind and charitable.
Gu Weijing finished the line drawing sketch in his hand and successfully achieved the evaluation of "feeling something in the heart".
As the completion progress in the taskbar increased by one, he put the pen drawing into a folder on his side.
Gu Weijing is currently collecting character materials for the art exhibition, and he can also speed up the completion of the line drawing task.
"Uncle, why do you always come to the orphanage?"
He took out another piece of sketch paper. There can't be only children in the orphanage. These volunteers also need to collect model materials.
"Oh...my girlfriend is a teacher who pursues DINKism, but I quite like children."
Du Wen repeated the resume he designed in his mind and said casually.
The so-called "DINK" refers to couples who do not want to have children.
This reason is common among orphanage volunteers.
While Gu Weijing was painting, he chatted with the uncle all the time.
He always felt that what the other person told was not the truth, as if he was memorizing a script. At least he couldn't quite find the emotion of the uncle in his writing.
He didn't ask any more questions.
Although this uncle is a bit eccentric, he always likes to be close to him. But those who are willing to come to the orphanage should not be bad people.
Even if you are an internet celebrity who just comes to check in and post on social media, there is nothing wrong with the donation and help being genuine.
"The painting is good, can you give me this painting?" Du Wen was a little moved when he looked at the lifelike appearance of himself painted by Gu Weijing.
"If you want it, ask the dean to donate fifteen US dollars or thirty thousand kyats, and this painting will be yours."
Gu Weijing did not agree or refuse directly.
It is very common to encounter models from the audience who ask for works when collecting works. Direct rejection can easily lead to unpleasantness.
Gu Weijing doesn't care about the money, but if you are ambitious and determined to be a serious artist, it is not a good thing to have a large number of works leaked before becoming famous.
In order to maintain the scarcity of art, many great painters only put a few works on the market every year.
Gu Weijing was far from ready to consider this, but he didn't want to give away his paintings to others just for asking.
Therefore, there is a threshold of fifteen dollars.
My grandfather Gu Tongxiang’s first painting in his life was sold for this price.
Most ordinary people would not think that a middle school student's work is worth this price. This helped Gu Weijing get rid of most of the requests.
"15 US dollars? The street artist sketching people in front of the Shwedagon Pagoda only sells a painting for 2 US dollars. You are so evil, little brother."
really,
Du Wen was a little unhappy when he heard the price.
Fifteen dollars is not a small amount of money here.
His monthly newspaper salary is less than a thousand dollars, which is definitely a high income in Myanmar. Many workers in factories near the Good Luck Orphanage can only earn one-tenth of this.
But an unknown student sketch would cost him more than half a day's salary, and Du Wen was still unwilling to be taken advantage of.
"Uncle, I didn't want to sell the painting at first. You don't have to buy it."
"Tch, if you don't want it, don't." Du Wen raised his head and became arrogant.
(End of chapter)
