# 1158
Chapter 1159: Hanshan Orphanage
"Hmph, good thing Shen kid still remembers us. All these years without a single phone call—I thought besides sending money here every month, he'd never want to come back."
The old man brushed the iron filings off his hands, snorted, and turned to walk into the courtyard.
Lin Qiye and the others followed closely behind.
"By the way, where's Shen kid? Why didn't he come?"
"Oh, Shen Qingzhu is on a secret mission and can't get away." Lin Qiye answered without changing expression, then quickly steered the conversation, "What should we call you?"
"I surname Liu, and I'm the principal of this private orphanage." The old man adjusted his reading glasses.
Old Liu led Lin Qiye and the group through the narrow courtyard into the only old-style apartment in the complex.
The building wasn't tall, and felt cramped for young people like Lin Qiye. On the roughly textured old walls, light green paint had been carefully applied, with hand-painted red flowers dotted across them. Though worn, it had a pure, warm comfort.
The moment he crossed the threshold, Lin Qiye saw three or four children hiding behind the door, curiously yet fearfully打量着 them. The oldest was around twelve or thirteen, the youngest only seven or eight.
They wore old-fashioned but very warm padded jackets. Their faces were rosy and well-nourished.
Only a little boy in the corner seemed different—he was wearing only a thin gray hoodie in this weather, his face somewhat pale, and he appeared older than the other children.
"Back then, when Shen kid said he was going to join the military, I didn't believe it. With his terrible temper? Join the military? He'd probably be chased out by the instructors on the very first day."
Old Liu walked and muttered:
"Didn't expect he actually managed to stay... Eh, what's his rank in the army now?"
"He's an officer." Lin Qiye considered for a moment before answering. "He's earned many honors. This year he also trained a batch of new recruits and has very high prestige."
Old Liu turned into a small room that looked like an office, but besides a wooden table, a few benches, and a thick stack of newspapers piled in the corner, there was nothing else.
Old Liu brought out benches for everyone and sat down himself, grinning:
"Not bad, he didn't embarrass this principal."
"Principal Liu, how long have you been running this orphanage?" Baili Pangpang looked around and couldn't help but ask.
"Over thirty years now." Principal Liu unscrewed his thermos, blew away a few shriveled goji berries floating on the water, and said leisurely,
"Don't let my current state fool you. Back in the day, I was a fairly famous entrepreneur in Linjiang. I made good money by my thirties. Later, I fell seriously ill and came to see some things more clearly. I founded this orphanage to do some good deeds and accumulate merit.
Back then, Linjiang hadn't developed yet, and this place wasn't too remote either. Later, when the tall buildings went up, fewer and fewer people lived around here, and it gradually became a forgotten little backwater.
I'm not bragging, but in these thirty-plus years, the orphans who've left from my care number no less than seventy or eighty. Shen kid? I found him by the river twenty years ago."
Lin Qiye nodded thoughtfully:
"By the way, what was that about hoodlums you mentioned earlier?"
"This place is old, so naturally some people get ideas. Recently, wasn't some Li Group trying to do a real estate project here? They keep sending hoodlums and thugs to cause trouble. But it's nothing—I'm not afraid of them."
Old Liu took a sip of tea, saying calmly.
"They're just bullying with power! If Brother Qingzhu were here, which gangster in all of Linjiang would dare come cause trouble in East Temple Lane?!"
The little girl in the red padded jacket, who had been crouching by the door, immediately stood up and said angrily.
"That's right, when Brother Qingzhu was here, all the black market in Linjiang—who dared provoke us? Brother Qingzhu knocked their teeth right out!" The other children chimed in.
"Tch, little kids like you, what do you know about the black market? It's all that Shen kid who corrupted you." Old Liu gave them a glare.
"If that's the case, why don't you all just move?" Cao Yuan asked puzzled,
"This place is so old, moving to a new environment should be a good thing, right? Is it that the conditions they're offering aren't good enough?"
"Not really." Old Liu opened his mouth, as if wanting to say something, but didn't.
"Got it."
Lin Qiye nodded and gave Baili Pangpang beside him a look.
Baili Pangpang stood up, smiling as he said, "You all chat, I'll go make a phone call outside."
After Baili Pangpang left the room, Lin Qiye and the others continued talking. Outside, the overcast sky grew darker and darker, with faint lightning flickering among the clouds, as if a heavy storm was about to break.
"Oh no... It's going to rain again. I haven't bought the vegetables for dinner yet."
Seeing the weather changing outside, Principal Liu frowned, quickly stood up, grabbed an umbrella, and rushed out the door.
"Let us go buy them for you?" Lin Qiye immediately rose.
"No need, you young people wouldn't know how to buy vegetables... Listen to me, just stay here and keep these little brats company. Have dinner with us tonight before you leave, and顺便好好跟我讲讲，沈小子都在营里立了些啥功。"
The drizzling rain fell. Old Liu opened his umbrella, pushed open the iron gate, and hurried out.
In the Hanshan Orphanage, only Lin Qiye's group and the children were left facing each other.
Since Jiang Er's appearance was unusual, she had been hiding in the speaker by An Qingyu's waist in magnetic field form, her coffin body in the trunk outside the alley. So in the room, only Lin Qiye, Cao Yuan, and An Qingyu remained.
Just as Lin Qiye was racking his brain over how to communicate with these children, Baili Pangpang waved at him from outside the window with his phone:
"Qiye, come over here for a second."
Lin Qiye startled and stood up to go out.
Cao Yuan's gaze swept over the several young children before him. After much hesitation, he still tentatively opened his mouth:
"Do you..."
All the children immediately took a collective step back, their eyes full of fear as they looked at Cao Yuan. The little girl was almost scared to tears.
"No, I'm not a bad person... I..."
Cao Yuan, with his ferocious-looking face, desperately tried to explain, but the children quickly turned and ran into another small room, as if fleeing some flood or beast.
Cao Yuan: ...
An Qingyu stood up with a smile, patting Cao Yuan's shoulder:
"Don't lose heart. Looks are natural, but if you have needs in that department, I can give you a facelift when we get back..."
Under Cao Yuan's resentful gaze, An Qingyu followed the children into the small room. Soon, the sound of children giggling came from inside.
Cao Yuan sighed deeply.
Just then, his gaze locked with that of the only child in the corner who hadn't run away.