# 1161
Chapter 1162: The Li Family Problem
The sky grew dark, and savory aromas drifted from the Cold Mountain Orphanage.
Cao Yuan and An Qingyu set up a round table under the shed in the courtyard. The children carried steaming dishes from the kitchen, laughing as they placed them on the table.
"Wu Quan! Come eat! Why are you spacing out again?"
Li Xiaoyan noticed Wu Quan standing under the eaves by the rain curtain, gazing up at the sky. She pouted and called out to him.
Wu Quan snapped back to reality and walked silently to the table, sitting down like a silent statue.
"Geez Xiaoyan, why did you call him? He's just a block of wood." Qian Cheng sat down next to Liu Xiaoyan. "If he wants to be alone, let him be alone."
Cao Yuan sat down next to Wu Quan, glanced at him, and patted his shoulder.
"What's wrong? Something on your mind?"
"...No."
Wu Quan kept his head down as he answered.
"During the teenage years, there are always many troubles and setbacks that can easily make one withdraw into oneself. I was like that too." Cao Yuan spoke earnestly, trying to comfort him. "But some things, once they happen, cannot be changed. We still need to learn to let go."
Wu Quan continued to keep his head down, silent.
"Come on, come on! Time to eat! Come try my cooking!"
Old Man Liu emerged from the kitchen carrying a plate of braised pork belly, setting it right in the center of the round table. His gaze swept across the room and stopped on an empty seat.
"Where is he?"
"Qiye went out for a smoke. He'll be right back." Baili Pangpang answered promptly.
"Smoking? That's not good to do often, you know. It's bad for the lungs!" Old Man Liu muttered. "Shen boy used to like smoking too. No matter how much I scolded him, he wouldn't listen... Tsk, when you guys head back, help me convince him too."
Baili Pangpang froze for a moment. "No problem."
Just as they were talking, Lin Qiye walked in through the door, holding a black umbrella.
"There you are? Come, let's eat!" Old Man Liu said.
Lin Qiye exchanged a subtle nod with Baili Pangpang, then sat down at the table.
"I just threw together a few dishes. Not sure if they'll suit your tastes, but give them a try!"
Everyone picked up their chopsticks.
"Big Brother, can you tell us more about Qingzhu-gege?"
"Yeah, Brother! Is he very impressive in the military?"
"Qingzhu-gege can fight ten people at once!"
Liu Xiaoyan and the others spoke one after another, gazing eagerly at Lin Qiye. The latter smiled helplessly, contemplated for a moment, then began speaking in a measured tone:
"Brother Wrench... Oh right, Shen Qingzhu, after joining the military, earned multiple major commendations. The most noteworthy one was an undercover operation against a drug trafficking organization called the 【Believers】..."
As Lin Qiye spoke, the hearts of everyone at Cold Mountain Orphanage rose and fell with the story. For a moment, no one even noticed the food on the table. Only Wu Quan, sitting in the corner, seemed somewhat distracted.
"So thrilling!"
"Qingzhu-gege is so amazing! He destroyed the entire trafficking ring all by himself!"
"Of course! Qingzhu-gege is the best. Back in Linjiang City, who could beat Qingzhu-gege in a fight? He wasn't even afraid of fire, so why would he be afraid of drug dealers?"
The children chattered excitedly.
"Fire?" An Qingyu looked puzzled.
"Oh, it was a fire." Old Man Liu took a sip of baijiu. "About four years ago, we had an accidental fire here. The back courtyard was almost completely burned down. We were all trapped inside and almost died from the smoke.
It was Shen boy and Wu Quan, who had gone out to buy groceries, who rushed back in time. They charged into the burning building and saved us one by one. I still don't know how it happened, but one moment everything went dark in my head, and then the fire just went out."
"We were all terrified at the time." Liu Xiaoyan patted her chest, still shuddering at the memory. "I still remember, Wu Quan was left outside the burning building and kept crying, crying so loudly. His voice was hoarse the next day."
"That Wu Quan back then was such a coward!" Qian Cheng laughed.
"Don't you dare say that? You were trapped inside the burning building and you were so scared you wet yourself."
"Liu, Liu Xiaoyan! Don't make things up!"
"Hmph, who's making things up?"
...
After dinner, Old Man Liu prepared a few rooms for Lin Qiye and the others, then took the children back to sleep.
When this orphanage was originally built, Old Man Liu had set up a small dormitory. Several bunk beds were arranged in a room of just a few dozen square meters, enough to sleep all the children.
Old Man Liu used to have his own bedroom, but reportedly, after that fire four years ago, he didn't dare let the children sleep alone anymore. So he moved into the dormitory and slept on the bunk beds with the children.
There were three small rooms behind the courtyard. Lin Qiye and the four others decided the room assignments through rock-paper-scissors. In the end, Lin Qiye and An Qingyu each got their own room, while Cao Yuan shared a room with Baili Pangpang. Jiang Er's main body was in the trunk at the edge of the urban area, so there was no concern about sleeping arrangements.
But at Lin Qiye's summons, everyone gathered in his room.
"Qiye, how did it go?" Baili Pangpang asked.
"Director Liu was indeed beaten." Lin Qiye said slowly. "Although I disabled all the thugs who laid hands on him, the problem hasn't been solved... Ultimately, those troublemakers were just hired thugs working for the Li family. Even if we get rid of this batch, they'll just hire others."
"We can't buy them out either... What about taking the legal route? Or asking Night Watch headquarters to intervene?"
"That won't work." An Qingyu immediately shook her head.
"The Li Group wants to demolish this old urban district. All the permits and approvals are already in order, and the compensation is quite fair. It's completely legal and legitimate. Even if we try to make an issue out of their hiring people to force the demolition, that's not enough to bring down the entire group. At most, they'll pay some fines or punish a scapegoat they've prepared."
"Then there's no other way?"
Everyone fell silent.
After a long while, Cao Yuan tentatively spoke up: "What if we go to the Li Group..."
"Night Watch is an organization that protects the country, and it only handles supernatural-related events. Without any justification or evidence, taking action against a private enterprise would result in disciplinary action." Lin Qiye cut him off directly.
He paused for a moment, then continued:
"I'll figure something out. It's late now. Go back to your rooms and get some sleep. We're leaving early tomorrow to head back to the capital."
Everyone exchanged glances and could only leave reluctantly.
Once everyone had gone, Lin Qiye turned off the light, lay down on the hard plank bed, and slowly closed his eyes.
Night deepened.
A hazy mist mixed with the dense rain, filling the space between heaven and earth.
After an unknown amount of time, Lin Qiye's eyes opened. He glanced at the pitch-black courtyard outside the window, then his figure dissolved into the night and vanished into the darkness.