Bai Wuxin returned with a ten jin bag of chestnuts and casually handed it to Xiao Lang, who was playing with the children in the courtyard, saying, "Go ahead and distribute these."
"Thank you, Brother Wuxin." Xiao Lang sniffed, inhaling the fragrant aroma of the chestnuts into his lungs, and with a slight bow toward the white-clothed youth, he reached out to take the bag of chestnuts.
"Brother Wuxin, the director said she saw you come back and wants a word with you, she asks you to visit her office."
Bai Wuxin nodded, his face expressionless, and walked toward the back courtyard.
Laughter and the clamor of children fighting over chestnuts followed him.
Bai Wuxin passed through the corridor to the backyard, where the orphanage staff and director lived.
Bai Wuxin headed directly to the northeast corner where, because of its remote location and the adjacent buildings towering over it, sunlight was scarce, creating an environment that was perennially dark, damp, and cold, giving it a mysterious and terrifying appearance.
Moreover, an old lady with a reclusive nature lived there, and the orphanage’s children jokingly called it the "Ghost House."
Bai Wuxin stood at the door of the Ghost House and knocked. The thick door produced a dull sound.
Modern technology had sufficiently advanced, and various doors and advanced locks were constantly being developed, but the orphanage still maintained its original, ancient appearance.
The door was made of Elephant Blood Wood from New Star. Despite decades of exposure to wind and rain and the ravages of time, the wood still retained a blood-like red color.
"Come in," a raspy female voice called from inside.
Bai Wuxin pushed the door open and saw the old lady sitting at her desk, writing. He asked, "Director, did you want to see me?"
The old lady was petite and gaunt, appearing somewhat out of place at the large desk as though the chair might swallow half her body.
She dropped her pen, casually grabbed a large cigar from the ashtray next to her, and took a fierce puff. After slowly blowing out a large plume of smoke, she looked up at Bai Wuxin and asked, "How did it go? Was everything smooth?"
"He got hurt, easy to handle," answered Bai Wuxin, not inclined to elaborate on the task.
He disliked speaking, even more so wasting words.
"Getting hurt is good," the old lady said. "This isn’t a martial arts sparring; the more injured he is, the better... it’s best if he’s barely breathing... It doesn’t matter whether the cat is black or white; a good cat is one that catches the rat."
"Understood," replied Bai Wuxin indifferently.
"Did you see him?" the old lady asked, her eyes fixed on Bai Wuxin. "That young man?"
"Hmm? Did Lu Yu introduce you?"
"Then how did you meet him?"
"While buying chestnuts."
"Oh," nodded the old lady, aware that Bai Wuxin always brought some snacks for the children at the orphanage whenever he returned from a mission. "What do you think of him?"
Bai Wuxin remained silent.
The old lady looked puzzled as she studied Bai Wuxin, "A young man so difficult for even you to assess... unfathomable?"
"What? Can’t find the words?"
The old lady jumped down from the tall oak chair and paced around the room, saying, "That doesn’t make sense. Someone Lu Yu approves of shouldn’t be too bad..."
Bai Wuxin looked at the old lady and asked, "Director, are we truly pinning our hopes on him?"
"No, on all of you," she said firmly. "We don’t have any other choice. We had completely lost hope, but then Lu Yu returned, and he said there was still a spark. As long as that spark isn’t extinguished, we still have a chance."
"Otherwise, once we are all gone, all those grudges will truly vanish. All those wronged, those treated unjustly... will be forever pinned to a column of shame. Humiliated and despised."
"Even if I am the only one left, I will kill them all." Bai Wuxin’s voice was cold, his eyes filled with hatred.
The old lady shook her head, "Vengeance by one is too exhausting, a group united has strength... He is the one who can gather all that strength."
Thinking of Tang Fei sincerely and earnestly saying to the chestnut seller, "What a handsome young man," Bai Wuxin was filled with doubt: Is this really the person the director has high hopes for to gather all our strength?
Could they have mistaken someone else?
Tang Fei didn’t care what others were thinking, he was just living his life the way he wanted, in his own favored style.
The burdens were heavy, with too many enemies, and life was exhausting; he knew he needed to regulate himself well.
Otherwise, depression could easily develop.
He heard that many young people on New Star were getting depression nowadays, even some who had just started middle school were already to taking antidepressants by the bottle...
The hardships of Old Land had given him a resilient, optimistic, and active attitude towards life, which, in simpler terms, meant trying by all means to live fiercely.
Tang Fei returned to his small courtyard with the chestnuts, and as he opened the gate, Little Fatty was bare-chested, splitting rocks in the yard.