When Cao Yuan saw that the child was looking at him without any avoidance or fear in his eyes, his heavy mood eased a little.

He walked up to the boy, squatted down, and asked as kindly as possible:

“Aren’t you afraid of me?”

“Why should I be afraid of you?” the boy said calmly, “I’ve seen people who look more ferocious than you. It’s no big deal.”

Hearing this, Cao Yuan was in a good mood.

"What's your name? How old are you?"

"Wuquan, fifteen years old."

"Fourteen years old... and in school?"

"Third grade."

"Third grade? It's time to prepare for the high school entrance exam, right? Don't you have to go to school today?"

"Today is Sunday, no need to go to school."

"That's right... good kid, study hard, you will definitely have a bright future."

Cao Yuan nodded repeatedly in praise.

Cao Yuan chatted for a few words and was about to stand up when Wu Quan suddenly asked:

"Brother Qingzhu...are you really carrying out a secret mission?"

Cao Yuan's eyes narrowed, then he smiled and said, "Yes, why do you ask?"

Wuquan's dark eyes stared at Cao Yuan for a long time:

"……oh."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Quan turned around, walked into the room, and closed the door behind him.

"Cao Yuan, come here." Just as Cao Yuan sighed, An Qingyu poked his head out from another door and waved at him.

Cao Yuan walked over and asked, "What's wrong?"

“Look at this.”

Cao Yuan walked into the room and saw four or five children sitting on the rubber mat in the middle of the room playing. An Qingyu was standing alone in front of a white wall, with his chin supported by one hand, as if he was thinking about something.

Cao Yuan followed An Qingyu's gaze and found that the wall in front of him was covered with all kinds of crooked and colorful graffiti.

Each graffiti style is different. There are flying blue birds, black cars, red crosses, and little painters holding brushes and palettes...

Next to these different graffiti, there are names written crookedly, as if they were written by children.

"What is this?" Cao Yuan asked.

"It's the children's career dream wall." An Qingyu pushed his glasses and said,

“They told me that every child living in this orphanage would draw here what they wanted to do or who they wanted to be in the future.

The girl in the red jacket is called Li Xiaoyan. The red cross on the wall was drawn by her. Her future dream is to become a nurse.

And the boy who is playing with the racing car model is called Qian Cheng, and his dream is to become a racing driver...

But what I really want you to see is this.”

An Qingyu pointed to the center of the wall.

Cao Yuan looked in the direction of his fingertips and was slightly startled.

In the center of the graffiti wall, three neat characters were written in the brightest red:

——Shen Qingzhu.

Although the strokes are a bit childish, the strangest thing is that there is no graffiti around the name.

"What about Brother Zha's dream?" Cao Yuan asked puzzledly.

"He once had no dreams." An Qingyu said helplessly, "Or rather, his dream was to become himself..."

"...It is indeed his character."

Cao Yuan sighed, his eyes slightly shifted to Shen Qingzhu's name.

It was a black umbrella. I don’t know if it was a coincidence, but the umbrella’s surface completely covered Shen Qingzhu’s name, as if to protect it under the umbrella ribs.

In the corner of this black umbrella, there are two small words written:

Wuquan.

The cold boy's face immediately appeared in Cao Yuan's mind.

"This kid..." he muttered to himself.

"What's wrong?" An Qingyu asked when he saw Cao Yuan looked strange.

"……nothing."

Cao Yuan retracted his gaze and said, "Should we help them deal with the demolition issue?"

"Qiye and Pangpang are already doing it."

An Qingyu turned his head and looked at the two figures communicating outside the window.

…

Dense raindrops dripped from the eaves like a curtain, and the misty water vapor gradually submerged the vision.

"What happened?"

Lin Qiye looked at Baili Pangpang who seemed to be hesitant to speak and asked puzzledly.

"Qiye, this Li Group is a bit tricky." Baili Pangpang's face was a little solemn.

"This real estate company is not as simple as those local small enterprises. It is very large in scale. Although it is not as large as our Baili Group, it can still be ranked in the top five in Daxia, and it is even a leading company in the southern market.

It is not impossible to acquire the company through commercial means... but it will definitely not be as simple as acquiring a few small companies before. It will take at least a year to prepare.

I have asked the public relations team to try to negotiate with the Li family to see if they can give up the Linjiang land, but the possibility is not high. After all, in the south, the Li family is the local boss. "

"One year..." Lin Qiye sighed.

With a one-year buffer period, this orphanage may not be able to sustain for that long. Moreover, it is unfair to Baili Pangpang and the group behind him to have the Baili Group spend so much manpower and financial resources on this matter.

"Let's talk about it after Dean Liu comes back."

"Um."

"...But, does it take so long just to buy some groceries?"

Lin Qiye glanced at the time, feeling a little confused.

"It's normal for an old man to walk slower on a rainy day... Look, isn't he back?"

Lin Qiye turned his head and saw Old Man Liu walking slowly in from the iron gate with a fully loaded plastic bag and an umbrella. His clothes were soaked and there was some mud on the corners, as if he had been rubbed somewhere.

“Grandpa is back!”

Li Xiaoyan saw this scene from the window and immediately ran out of the house with other children. She took the plastic bag and umbrella for him and ran to the kitchen laughing.

"Grandpa Liu, what are we having for dinner today?"

"Wow! It's pork belly! I see a big piece of pork belly!"

"And roast chicken? It smells so good..."

"Stupid Qian Cheng! Don't eat secretly! Go to the kitchen and wait for grandpa to finish cooking!"

"Run slower, don't fall...a bunch of little bastards." Old man Liu slowly walked under the eaves, waved his umbrella, looked at the children running away, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

He patted the mud off his clothes and glanced at Lin Qiye and the others.

"Pack up, I'll cook the meal soon, and we'll eat together. We don't need a few pairs of chopsticks from you.

It's raining today, it won't stop for a while, I'll make a few beds for you after dinner, and we can leave tomorrow morning."

After saying that, without waiting for Lin Qiye and others to refuse, Old Man Liu hurriedly walked into the room to change his clothes.

Cao Yuan and the others, who were clearly arranged for no apparent reason, looked at each other and smiled helplessly.

"I'll go and help." Cao Yuan stood up and followed Old Man Liu into the kitchen.

"Although this old man looks fierce, he seems to have a good heart." Baili Pangpang sighed.

He turned around and was about to say something, but saw that Lin Qiye's brows were tightly furrowed.

"What's wrong?"

"Something's wrong." Lin Qiye narrowed his eyes and looked at the direction where Old Man Liu left.

"He has injuries...on his body."