After Chang Jianyi gave the mutant potion to Xu Xing, her basic mission was completed. However, Chang Jianyi did not leave immediately. Instead, she said to Xu Xing, "Since I'm already here, I heard that life in the orphanage is quite difficult. I'll stay and take a look. Don't reveal that I'm here, so as not to frighten the child."
Xu Xing didn't understand but nodded and said, "Okay, then let's go upstairs. It will be free activity time soon, and these children won't leave the orphanage's grounds. This is their home!"
With this answer, Chang Jianyi had the opportunity to observe the children in the orphanage. The children here were all under fourteen years old. Once they turned fourteen, they had to face life's setbacks independently. The age they left the orphanage was also around junior high school.
As for the children who left the orphanage, Shen Feng did not abandon them. These children were assigned to various departments to intern with older employees. For those who were slow to learn, they were sent to factories to work, which was enough to support themselves.
Chang Jianyi stood on the rooftop, holding a telescope, and began to observe the crowd below. Then she asked, "By the way, I heard you have a girl named Hua Jingran here?"
The girl Chang Jianyi inquired about, Hua Jingran, was naturally the object of her younger brother Chang Haojie's affection. Chang Jianyi had never met her before, only knowing that she was a child from the orphanage and that she had a decent name.
When Xu Xing heard the question, she pondered for a moment and said, "Hua Jingran, I remember. She came here a little over a year ago. At that time, she was already an orphan and walked to the door to request entry. Her academic performance was alright. If we continue to cultivate her, she will definitely become a qualified employee in the future!"
Upon hearing this answer, Chang Jianyi couldn't help but show a sarcastic smile. "A qualified employee? That won't do!"
Chang Jianyi needed to observe her future sister-in-law, but she learned from Xu Xing that the girl's ability was only to become a qualified employee. This wouldn't do. How could her brother, the vice-city lord, marry an ordinary girl? Especially in this era, mediocrity was unacceptable!
In the orphanage, most matters were actually managed by Wu Yelian. Xu Xing was, after all, only a junior high school student, and her ability to manage a group of children was insufficient. Wu Yelian did a better job in this regard, and she knew more about the children here.
At this moment, Wu Yelian immediately recalled that the eldest young master often came to the orphanage. It seemed that the eldest young master stayed with Hua Jingran. Connecting these two events, it meant that the vice-city lord's arrival here was definitely not simple!
"Xing'er, go get some drinks quickly. Madam is already here, we can't show no hospitality, can we?" Wu Yelian, fearing that her daughter might say something inappropriate, quickly sent her away, preventing her from rambling further.
Xu Xing also suddenly remembered that Madam was here now, and she didn't even know the proper way to entertain guests. It was truly inexcusable.
So Xu Xing quickly said, "Please wait a moment, I'll go get drinks and fruit right away. We don't have any snacks here, so I won't get any!"
After speaking, Xu Xing immediately went to find drinks and fruit, leaving her mother to accompany the vice-city lord on the rooftop, watching the students who had just finished their classes in the courtyard.
The orphanage actually had teachers for instruction. If one was illiterate, many jobs would be impossible for ordinary people to undertake. There would be no illiterate people employed in the City Lord's mansion.
Children at this age were lively and active, and they soon ran into the courtyard to move around. Chang Jianyi first saw two familiar figures, the siblings Wang Xiqiang and Wang Xiran. These siblings were brought to the base to live by Shen Feng at a very early age, and Wang Xiran was responsible for taking care of Yu Renshu at the time.
"Counting the time, in a few more years, these two little ones will also leave the orphanage. Time flies so fast!" Chang Jianyi said to Luo Qing with a smile.
Luo Qing also quickly nodded and said, "I remember Wang Xiqiang used to say he wanted to join the Self-Help Association. I wonder if he still has that idea?"
While the two were chatting, Wu Yelian saw a girl sitting under a tree in the distance and immediately pointed to her, saying, "Madam, look over there, that's Hua Jingran under the tree! She's always alone."
Upon hearing the news about Hua Jingran, Chang Jianyi immediately became interested and looked towards the girl under the tree. She then saw a solitary girl sitting under the tree. She was wearing simple clothes and was not particularly elaborately dressed. However, even without makeup, she gave off a quiet and petite impression.
Chang Jianyi's first impression of Hua Jingran was that she was an ordinary girl, with delicate features and a decent appearance. She wasn't an unattractive girl.
"Her appearance is alright, her features are delicate, her figure is slender, she's not an ugly monster. However, I'm here to observe her inner qualities. Her appearance is not within my consideration!" Chang Jianyi thought to herself.
Chang Jianyi also knew one thing: if it was really impossible, she couldn't forcefully change her brother's preferences. If he insisted on marrying someone he liked, she would just have to accept it. As for her abilities, they could be cultivated later. It wasn't necessary for her to be an extraordinary person from birth!
"Huh? Didn't you say this girl doesn't have many friends? Why is a child running over?" Chang Jianyi suddenly noticed that a girl had run over to Hua Jingran's side, seemingly telling her something, which immediately made Chang Jianyi curious.
Wu Yelian looked at the girl who had just appeared. She was wearing clean and tidy clothes, and the clothes were also colorful. At this moment, the girl walked to Hua Jingran under the tree and was saying something. Strangely, Wu Yelian realized she didn't recognize this newly appeared girl at all!
"Madam, this girl is not one of our orphanage children. I don't know where she came from, and I haven't seen her before!" Wu Yelian quickly said.
Luo Qing looked at the collapsed wall nearby. A group of workers were rebuilding the orphanage's wall. With no wall around, it was indeed very simple to enter. Moreover, these workers had no time to worry about whether children from outside were coming in; they were only responsible for construction.
"Since she's a child from outside, why don't I go drive her away?" Luo Qing then asked.
Chang Jianyi gently shook her head and said, "No need. She's just a little girl. I don't know when she ran in, and she won't pose any threat to me. Ignore her!"
However, immediately after, this strange little girl took out a gold ring from her body and directly placed it on Hua Jingran's hand, while saying something.
Hua Jingran looked at the gold ring that appeared on her hand and showed a look of astonishment for a moment. However, her face then showed a look of surprise. The presence of a gold ring on her fair finger was indeed captivating. More importantly, gold could be directly used as currency and had very high value!
Although this scene happened in the distance, Chang Jianyi was holding a telescope and was also a mutant ability user, so she saw this scene clearly. Upon seeing this, her expression immediately became somewhat uneasy.
Girls are all fond of beauty, so wearing gold and silver jewelry or diamond rings is very reasonable. These ornaments represent fashion. Which girl wants to become an ugly monster? However, abandoning other things for the sake of beauty is not appropriate.
"Madam, the drinks are here, some apple juice. It's sweet and sour, please don't dislike it!" At this moment, Xu Xing appeared with two cups of apple juice. It was still early autumn, and Yuzhou was very hot, being one of the four major furnace cities in China, the temperature was very high. Xu Xing thoughtfully put ice cubes in the cups.
"Let me try first!" Luo Qing did not hesitate, took a cup of juice and drank it. It was sour and sweet, and the taste was alright. It was quite rare to have such a drink in the summer!
After drinking, Luo Qing said to Chang Jianyi, "The juice is delicious. Madam, you should try it too!"
Luo Qing saying this meant that the juice was not poisonous, which was why Luo Qing said so.
Outside, no one could guarantee whether the food and water were poisonous. Even sea beasts could not withstand the attack of poison, let alone humans. No matter how powerful a mutant ability user was, their bodies were still human. They would surely die if poisoned. Luo Qing was also responsible for testing for poison at critical moments.
If Luo Qing said, "The taste is very good," it meant there was no poison. If Luo Qing said, "The taste is average," it meant there might be poison, but it couldn't be tasted. It could be that the food had gone bad, or it could be poisonous. If the food was truly poisonous, Luo Qing would arrest the person without hesitation.
However, Chang Jianyi's expression remained calm at Luo Qing's suggestion. She looked at the two girls under the tree in the distance without saying a word. She was no longer in the mood to drink juice.
Because, at this moment, the strange little girl had taken Hua Jingran to a nearby corner. This was a warehouse, and there were no people around. Staying here would indeed allow them to avoid the observation of others.
"Xu Xing, is there any way to get into the warehouse?" Chang Jianyi then asked.
Xu Xing heard the question and directly replied, "I have the warehouse key, and we can enter through the main door!"
It was clear that Xu Xing still had no idea of the vice-city lord's other intentions. She thought the vice-city lord simply wanted to inspect.
Wu Yelian quickly said, "There's a window behind the warehouse. Although the window is locked, I have the key here, and we can open the window directly!"
Compared to her daughter's dullness, Wu Yelian was much smarter. After all, she had experienced a lot. Seeing Chang Jianyi's actions, she guessed Chang Jianyi's true purpose and thus provided the correct answer!
Upon hearing this answer, Chang Jianyi nodded and was about to go downstairs. If she went down the stairs, she would definitely be exposed. Moreover, who in Yuzhou City didn't know Chang Jianyi's appearance? Once she went down, she would be recognized by the children here immediately, thus losing the opportunity for secret observation.
Chang Jianyi chose to leap down from the rooftop. Luo Qing followed closely behind, and the two then entered the warehouse.
Xu Xing saw this and couldn't help but feel confused. She didn't understand why the vice-city lord didn't take the stairs but instead went down from the rooftop. Was she worried about being discovered by the children here?
"Mom, what's going on? Is the vice-city lord trying to secretly inspect the warehouse? We haven't committed any corruption, what could she be looking for in the warehouse?" Xu Xing asked her mother, not understanding.
Wu Yelian looked at the naive girl helplessly, sighed, and said, "Alas, without me, how will you live in the future? With your simple mind, if someone says a few words, you'll be deceived!"