Chapter 1162
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
Chapter 1162 Li Family’s Dilemma
The sky was darkening, and the rich aroma of food wafted from the Hanshan 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! Dinner time! Why are you still daydreaming?”
Li Xiaoyan noticed Wu Quan standing under the eaves watching the sky and reminded him with pursed lips.
Wu Quan came back to his senses and walked to the table without a word, sitting down like a silent statue.
“Oh Xiaoyan, why bother calling him? He’s just a block of wood,” Qian Cheng said as he sat down beside Liu Xiaoyan. “If he wants to be alone, just let him be alone.”
Cao Yuan sat down next to Wu Quan, looked at him, and patted his shoulder:
“What’s wrong? Something on your mind?”
“…Nothing.”
Wu Quan answered with his head down.
“During adolescence, there are many troubles and obstacles that can make one withdraw. I used to be the same way,” Cao Yuan advised earnestly. “But some things, once they happen, cannot be changed. We should try to look at the bright side.”
Wu Quan kept his head down, remaining silent.
“Come on! Time to eat! Try my cooking skills!”
Old Liu carried a plate of braised pork, smiling as he walked out of the kitchen and placed it in the center of the round table. His gaze swept around, stopping at an empty seat.
“Where is he?”
“Seven Night went out for a smoke, he’ll be back soon,” Baili Pangpang promptly answered.
“Smoking? That’s not good to do regularly, it damages the lungs!” Old Liu grumbled. “Shen used to like smoking too, and never listened when I scolded him… tsk, when you go back, help me talk some sense into him.”
Baili Pangpang was stunned for a moment. “No problem.”
As everyone was talking, Lin Qiye walked in from outside, holding a black umbrella.
“You’re here? Let’s eat!” Old Liu said.
Lin Qiye exchanged glances with Baili Pangpang, nodded almost imperceptibly, then sat down at the table.
“I just made a few dishes, don’t know if they suit your taste, try them first!”
Everyone picked up their chopsticks.
“Big brother, tell us more about Brother Qingzhu!”
“Yes, brother, is he very impressive in the military?”
“Brother Qingzhu can fight ten people at once!”
Liu Xiaoyan and the others chattered away, looking expectantly at Lin Qiye, who smiled helplessly, pondered for a moment, then began:
“Zhuai Ge… I mean, Shen Qingzhu has repeatedly performed great deeds after joining the military. The most noteworthy was an undercover operation against a drug trafficking organization called [Believers]…”
As Lin Qiye narrated, everyone at Hanshan Orphanage became captivated, momentarily forgetting about the food on the table. Only Wu Quan, sitting in the corner, seemed somewhat distracted.
“How thrilling!”
“Brother Qingzhu is amazing! He destroyed an entire drug trafficking organization by himself!”
“Of course! Brother Qingzhu is the best. Back in Linjiang City, who could beat Brother Qingzhu in a fight? He wasn’t even afraid of the big fire, so why would he fear drug dealers?”
The children discussed excitedly.
“Big fire?” An Qingyu asked, confused.
“Oh, it was a fire,” Old Liu said, taking a sip of liquor. “About four years ago, we had an accidental fire here. The back courtyard was almost completely burned down. We were trapped inside, nearly suffocated by the smoke.
Later, Shen and Wu Quan, who had gone out to buy groceries, returned just in time and rushed into the fire to rescue us one by one. I don’t know what happened then, but I felt my head go dark, and then the fire was completely extinguished.”
“We were all terrified at the time,” Liu Xiaoyan patted her chest, still frightened by the memory. “I still remember Wu Quan, who was left outside the fire, crying so loudly that his voice became hoarse the next day.”
“Wu Quan was such a coward back then!” Qian Cheng laughed.
“You dare talk about him? When you were trapped in the fire, you were so scared you wet yourself.”
“Liu, Xiaoyan! Don’t make things up!”
“Hmph, who’s making things up?”
“…”
…
After dinner, Old Liu prepared several rooms for Lin Qiye and the others, then took the children back to sleep.
When building the orphanage years ago, Old Liu had created a small dormitory, a room of several dozen square meters with six or seven bunk beds, enough to accommodate all the children.
Old Liu used to have his own bedroom, but reportedly after the big fire four years ago, he didn’t dare let the children sleep alone, so he moved to the small dormitory to sleep in the bunk beds with them.
There were three small rooms at the back of the courtyard. Lin Qiye’s four-person team decided the allocation by playing 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. They didn’t need to worry about accommodation for Jiang Er, as her physical body was in the trunk at the edge of the urban area.
However, at Lin Qiye’s call, everyone gathered in his room.
“Seven Night, how’s the situation?” Baili Pangpang asked.
“Director Liu was indeed beaten up,” Lin Qiye said slowly. “Although I disabled all the thugs who did it, the problem isn’t solved… Ultimately, those troublemakers were just hired hands of the Li Corporation. Even if we eliminate this batch, they’ll just hire others.”
“Buying them out won’t work either… Should we go through legal channels? Or have the Night Watchmen headquarters intervene?”
“Not feasible,” An Qingyu immediately shook his head.
“Li Corporation wants to demolish this old urban area. All the procedures and permits are complete, and the relocation compensation is reasonable—completely legal and legitimate. Even if we make an issue of them hiring people to force demolition, this alone isn’t enough to bring down the entire corporation. At most, they’ll pay some fines or punish a scapegoat they put forward.”
“So there’s no other way?”
Everyone fell silent.
After a long while, Cao Yuan tentatively spoke up: “What if we go to Li Corporation…”
“The Night Watchmen are an organization that protects the country and only handles supernatural events. Taking action against a civilian enterprise without any reason or evidence would result in disciplinary action,” Lin Qiye interrupted Cao Yuan.
He paused briefly, then continued:
“I’ll figure something out for this matter. It’s getting late now, so let’s go back to our rooms and sleep. We’ll head back to Beijing early tomorrow morning.”
Everyone exchanged glances and reluctantly left.
After everyone had gone, Lin Qiye turned off the light, lay down on the hard plank bed, and slowly closed his eyes.
The night deepened.
Misty vapors mingled with dense raindrops, filling the sky and earth.
After some time, Lin Qiye opened his eyes, looked at the pitch-black courtyard outside the window, and his figure transformed into a shadow of the night, disappearing into the darkness.
