Chapter 29: Qian Qi's Mischief

This main building of the orphanage has five floors.

The first floor consists of several multi-purpose rooms. Some are filled with toys—whether donated or purchased, it is hard to tell—while others contain primers for various age groups. Everything is kept tidy, without a hint of clutter.

One room is quite unique: the nursery. It is carpeted with soft mattresses, where three children, seemingly only one or two years old, crawl about, occasionally letting out happy giggles. An elderly woman cares for them nearby. When she sees Qian Qi, the resistance in her eyes is palpable, yet she still offers a slight nod. Qian Qi acknowledges her, ignoring the woman's look of surprise, and heads straight for the second floor.

The second floor is the activity space for the kindergarten-aged children. At that moment, they are sitting bolt upright in their classroom. Everything is quiet, yet those adorable little eyes cannot help but dart toward the door. Especially when they spot Qian Qi, their innocent, clear eyes are filled with a mix of fear and excitement.

The teacher in the classroom is taking roll call. "Xiao Min? Xiao An? Where have those two run off to? I hope they don't run into Qian Qi..."

No sooner has she finished speaking than she sees Qian Qi standing in the doorway.

The teacher: "..."

The teacher lowers her head silently, pretending not to see her.

Qian Qi: "..."

Qian Qi turns away silently, intending to check the third floor. As soon as she is out of the children's sight, the classroom erupts in a buzz of conversation. "Is that the Qian Qi the older kids were talking about?"

"She really is scary! She looks like a villain!"

"Will she eat us?"

"You're stupid! Only monsters eat people; humans don't eat humans!"

"What if she's a monster that can turn into a human? Maybe she does eat people!"

"Wow! That's very possible!"

Qian Qi, who heard every word: "..."

Don't be angry, don't be angry; children say the darndest things!

Fuming, Qian Qi heads up to the third floor.

The third floor contains classrooms for children of different ages, while the fourth and fifth floors are dormitories. There are five staff members in total, plus a cook who handles the meals, leaving no extra personnel.

Compared to the second floor, the children on the third floor seem much more composed, especially the middle-schoolers. Their eyes, when looking at Qian Qi, hold not only fear but also thinly veiled contempt.

Qian Qi is not so kind toward the middle-schoolers. She makes a menacing face and then draws a hand sharply across her throat.

"What are you looking at? Keep staring and I'll beat you up!"

The children scatter instantly like startled birds.

[Wow... you are so childish.]

Qian Qi huffs and turns to head downstairs, only to find two little heads peeking around the stairwell—the same two children who had been eavesdropping earlier. They stare at her with curiosity, but upon realizing they have been spotted, they quickly scurry downstairs.

Qian Qi scratches her head and cannot help but ask the system, "Tong-zi, are they actually afraid of my face, or is it that..."

Did the original owner really do something so atrocious that they are this terrified?

[Please face the reality: whether it's the original owner or you, you are both scoundrels. ^_^]

Qian Qi: "..."

Qian Qi heads downstairs, feeling dejected. Just as she prepares to head to the dining hall, she notices the three children from earlier have returned to the washbasin, scrubbing away at clothes that clearly do not belong to them.

She takes a bite of the banana in her hand, squats down beside them, and asks, tilting her chin, "Hey, buddies, need a hand?"

Qian Qi's sudden appearance startles the three children. They instinctively clutch the clothes tighter, their bodies stiffening noticeably, unsure of what to say. Only the slightly bolder boy shakes his head in a hurry. "No, no, we can wash them ourselves."

Who in this compound doesn't know about Qian Qi's brute strength? If they let her wash clothes, who knows how many of the younger children's garments she would ruin! Besides, she doesn't even wash them as clean as a machine!

Dragging the large washbasin, the three children retreat silently and begin scrubbing with even more vigor, hoping to finish the younger kids' laundry quickly so they can hide.

"Tch, fine," Qian Qi says, feeling stung but too proud to show it. "I was just asking."

She takes another bite of her banana. "Let me ask you something: is the director good to you?"

Seeming to find it a foolish question, they look at her with an indescribable expression before lowering their heads again, scrubbing as they reply, "Director Mom is the best."

"Is there nothing bad about her?" Qian Qi, accustomed to their attitude, grows thick-skinned, even reaching out to ruffle their hair. "Tell me about it. If you give me the details, I'll give you some candy."

She pulls a handful of candy from her pocket—something she had bought on her way over.

The three children look at Qian Qi with that same indescribable expression again.

[Wow, you scumbag... what are you teaching these kids!]

"Director Mom isn't bad at all; you're the bad one!" A little boy, clearly unable to stand hearing Xiang Wenyun badmouthed, glares at Qian Qi with red-rimmed eyes. "Director Mom is the best to you, she even sent you to college, and you still want to speak ill of her!"

"Qian Qi is terrible! You didn't even come back to visit Director Mom during the New Year! She even cried!"

"Don't talk to us! If you want to hit us, just do it, we hate you the most anyway."

The three children take turns lashing out at her, their stubborn faces upturned, eyes red with perceived injustice. Qian Qi feels a pang of regret for asking so directly.

"Alright, alright, Qian Qi is bad, Qian Qi is wrong, I'm sorry." Qian Qi ruffles their hair, sighing inwardly as she watches them instinctively squeeze their eyes shut in fear.

"Here, big sister was wrong. This is your compensation." She stuffs the candy into their hands and stands up, intending to go elsewhere.

Behind her, the three boys look at the candy in their hands, glancing at each other.

"Did... Qian Qi just apologize?"

They blink, filled with disbelief. In their memory, Qian Qi always had a foul temper, often made the little ones cry, and never apologized.

However...

"You don't think these are chili candies, do you?" the first boy asks with concern.

The second boy: "You try it first..."

The first boy: "No, no, the youngest goes first..."

The second boy points to the third: "He's the youngest, let him eat it first!"

The third boy: "..." I may be young, but I'm not stupid!

A few minutes later, the third boy carefully puts the candy in his mouth, his sparkling eyes suddenly narrowing.

"It's sweet."

"Whoa, it really is candy~"

"So good, so sweet!"

The three children look up at the clear blue sky, feeling that today’s mood is exceptionally sweet.

If only... if only the days ahead could be as sweet as today.

————

The orphanage consists of two buildings: the main building and the dining hall. The front yard is where laundry and bedding are hung to dry, the east side features a small playground, and the backyard houses a decent-sized vegetable garden. It is meticulously tended, filled with fresh greens and tomatoes.

Seeing the vegetable garden, Qian Qi feels a sense of familiarity. The backyard of her orphanage in her previous life also had a vegetable garden. After outgrowing her mischievous phase, she would often help the director mother manage it, and over time, she developed an interest in farming.

After her college entrance exam results came out, she wanted to major in agriculture, but farming wouldn't lead to quick riches or help the orphanage. It was the director mother who told her that if she could get into an agricultural research institute after graduation, the orphanage would have a better reputation and attract more funding. That was why she decided to apply to the agricultural college.

Thinking back, that was probably just an excuse she used because she wanted to attend her favorite university.

Back then, the director mother paid for her schooling out of her own pocket. Fortunately, she worked hard and often received scholarships. Her mentor even said that with her talent and diligence, getting into an agricultural research institute would be no problem.

Thinking of this, Qian Qi feels a twinge of pain in her heart. She strolls through the garden, and the thought of the director mother learning of her sudden death makes her chest ache.

In her distraction, she trips over something and falls forward, her face heading straight for Mother Earth.

Cruelly, a black, sharp object is protruding from the ground right where her face is about to land!

Damn it!

Her face is already a mess; she cannot afford to be disfigured!

In the blink of an eye, she kicks off the ground and lunges forward, shifting the target of the sharp object to her chest.

She even remembers to provide sound effects: "Ah, ouch, ouch, ouch—I'm dying!"

However, the expected pain does not come.

This fall has, in fact, led her into another space.