Chapter 209: The underground floor was removed, revealing a passage that was only wide enough for one person...
Life Orphanage.
At nine o'clock in the morning, after finishing breakfast and washing clothes for the children, the director and the auntie who is responsible for cooking and taking care of the children finally have a chance to relax for a while. They prepare lunch and chat with the children in the front yard reading aloud. The whole orphanage looks peaceful and leisurely.
Until there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" The kitchen aunt poured a basin of water into the vegetable garden, opened the door with the basin in her hand, and saw a group of tall and fierce young men.
The aunt was startled. Seeing their tall and big appearance, she could not help but step back, worried that they were here to cause trouble, so she asked carefully: "Who are you..."
Xiao Ma showed his ID: "Provincial Public Security Bureau criminal police, come here to investigate the case, is your dean here?"
"Criminal police?" Auntie's eyes widened. After she understood what they said, she nodded hurriedly: "Yes, yes, yes, yes!"
She turned around and shouted, "Dean! Dean! Someone is looking for you!"
The orphanage consists of two bungalows. The front yard is where the children study, eat and play, while the back yard is for rest and the director's office.
Hearing the noise, the dean rushed over and asked, "Who is it?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw several tall men standing in front of the door. His eyes paused, and then he stepped forward and said, "This is..."
Auntie moved her mouth and said, "They said...the police from the province?"
The dean's eyes flashed, and he quickly stepped forward and said, "Oh, officers, I'm sorry, I was busy just now and came a little late!"
He asked tentatively: "I didn't receive any advance notice. I don't know why you guys are here..."
Yan Haifeng said calmly: "We have a murder case here, which is related to your hospital. Come and check it out."
Murder? The dean's eyelids twitched, and he asked in confusion, "What murder case? Nothing has happened here... here recently."
Yan Haifeng said: "The situation is serious, and I can't say more for now. I hope Dean Feng can cooperate."
Feng Shiyou of course cooperated and nodded continuously: "You tell me, tell me what you want me to do, tell me!"
Yan Haifeng looked around and took in everything that was happening in the yard.
On the left side of the yard is a row of amusement facilities, and on the right side is a vegetable plot, where daily edible vegetables such as onions, garlic, and peppers are densely planted. In the classroom next door, one could hear the teacher teaching students.
The whole yard looks full of life.
Yan Haifeng retracted his gaze: "Director Feng, please introduce this orphanage to us."
Feng Shiyou quickly agreed, and walked with them while saying, "This orphanage has only been around for a few years, and it's not very large. After all, there is a government-run welfare home. We don't take in many children. At most, we take in a few children when the government welfare home can't take in all the children."
"As you can see, the yard is divided into two buildings, the front is where the children study and cook and eat, and the back is the accommodation area."
Yan Haifeng walked and asked: "How many children are there in the courtyard now?"
Feng Shiyou said: "Not many, 23."
"Including some of my staff, there are less than thirty people."
"It's not really that big." Yan Haifeng said, "As a privately funded orphanage, how is your financial situation?"
Feng Shiyou smiled: "Our financial situation is not bad. The boss is kind-hearted and allocates some money every month. It's not a lot, but it allows the children to have meat every now and then, and there is some extra money for medical treatment when they are sick."
Yan Haifeng nodded upon hearing this: "That's good indeed."
Feng Shiyou sighed: "Yes, as an abandoned child, it is indeed good to have such a life."
Yan Haifeng tilted his head to look at him: "Seeing Dean Feng like this, I am deeply touched."
Feng Shiyou laughed out loud: "To be honest, I was also an orphan when I was young. My parents passed away early, and I grew up eating at many people's homes. So when I see these children now, I can relate to them."
Yan Haifeng looked at him meaningfully: "It sounds like Dean Feng is a responsible person. I think the children who come here are doing well."
Feng Shiyou smiled modestly: "It's okay, at least I did my best."
Yan Haifeng understood, and then looked at the small building in front of the yard and asked, "The children are in class now, can we take a look outside?"
Feng Shiyou said without hesitation: "Of course."
Shen Qingye wondered: "Won't it disturb their classes?"
Feng Shiyou laughed and said, "No, no, we often have superiors come to inspect, and the children are used to it."
Having said that, he led everyone outside the classroom and watched through the window as the children learned the most basic pinyin.
Xiao Wu looked at it for a moment, then suddenly frowned and said, "I see there are eighteen or nineteen children here, and they all seem to be around five or six years old?"
Feng Shiyou said, "Yes, yes. Most of the children here are about five or six years old."
Xiao Ma wondered, "Aren't there any older children?"
Feng Shiyou explained: "Because our hospital was established only five or six years ago, we took in a number of children in the first two years. Most of them were infants under one year old. Over the past few years, they have grown to this age."
Xiao Ma was puzzled: "Why are there only babies under one year old? There are no older children?"
Feng Shiyou smiled bitterly: "What the police officers don't know is that this is a privately-run orphanage after all. Of course, there are older children who have lost their relatives in accidents, but in their case, the community will generally send them to government welfare institutions, not to us."
He pursed his lips and said, "When we first started here, we didn't have many children. Later, I don't know who started it, but someone threw a girl who was only a few days old at the gate of our courtyard. What could we do? Didn't we have to raise her? The news spread, and during that period of time, many people came to our place to dump their children. Some of the parents were caught, and some were not. There was nothing we could do."
"Later, we hired a security guard and raised a few dogs to stop this situation. But we had already taken in so many people, so we just kept them like this."
"It's also because the children are of similar age. Instead of sending them to kindergarten one by one, which is a waste of money, it's better to hire a teacher. So these children are studying here."
Xiao Wu asked: "Didn't you say before that there are 23 children in the hospital now? Where are the other children now?"
Feng Shiyou said, "Oh, there are two more who are still young, they are twins, their parents died in an accident. But they still have direct relatives, but their grandparents don't have a very good relationship with their parents and are unwilling to raise them. In the end, they wanted to send them to an orphanage. But their situation did not meet the acceptance standards of the city welfare home, so after a long struggle, they were finally sent to us."
"I felt sorry for them and I had no choice but to accept it."
"What about the remaining two?"
"The remaining two are of age and are in primary school." Feng Shiyou said with a smile.
Shen Qingye and Yue Lingchuan looked at each other, both with some hesitation in their expressions.
In primary school?
The children in the classroom are full of energy and are reading pinyin loudly with the teacher. Occasionally, a few naughty kids noticed the person by the window. They would turn their heads to take a look from time to time, then quickly look away. Their movements were sneaky and they were extremely active.
No matter how I think about it, they are different from the children Xia Tingyi described.
Shen Qingye moved his fingers slightly.
Just then, the bell rang for the end of get out of class, and the children became visibly excited. The young female teacher teaching at the podium also noticed the dean, but she did not restrain them and let them move freely.
The children ran out one by one, and when they met Feng Shiyou at the door, they would stop and say hello. Feng Shiyou also smiled gently and introduced them:
"These are all uncles and aunts from the police station, they are all police officers! Xiaoyong, didn't you say you wanted to be a police officer in the future? You must study hard!"
In front of them was a chubby little boy, about five or six years old, clean from head to toe, with bright and lively eyes. He was looking at them intently, his expression full of excitement.
He straightened his back and saluted them with a not-so-correct posture: "Hello, uncle and aunt!"
Everyone looked serious and returned his greeting. Seeing the child's eyes getting brighter and brighter, Yan Haifeng reached out and patted his head: "Study hard."
"Yes!" the little boy answered loudly. After getting the dean's permission, he ran to the amusement facilities nearby and played with other children.
Shen Qingye and others were watching here. The children were playing and jumping around, looking very lively.
Although they are in an orphanage, it is clear that their lives are carefree.
Yue Lingchuan said: "These children seem very lively."
Feng Shiyou said: "Since we have raised them, we should do our best to provide them with a good environment."
"Even if we don't talk about making them richer materially, at least we can make them happy every day."
Yan Haifeng looked at him: "President Feng is very responsible."
Feng Shiyou laughed: "Haha, with what the police officer said, all my efforts over the years are worthwhile!"
Xiao Ma asked curiously, "The children are so good, why doesn't anyone adopt them?"
Feng Shiyou sighed: "This is a private orphanage. Compared to here, everyone should want to go to the city welfare home."
"There were quite a few couples who came here before, but it seems like they were not meant to be together. Either they didn't like the child, or the child didn't like them."
"I think that's fine. I can afford it anyway, so I'll just go with the flow."
Everyone looked at each other in surprise. The lively and cheerful children, the harmonious atmosphere of the staff, and the director in front of them who was open and truly loved the children.
No matter how you look at it, it's just an ordinary orphanage, even better than some government-run orphanages.
Could it be that they really made a mistake?
Yue Lingchuan glanced at Shen Qingye, who pursed her lips and shook her head slightly at him, indicating that she didn't hear any sound either.
Yan Haifeng looked around and asked, "Can we go into other rooms and take a look?"
Feng Shiyou said: "Of course."
He led them and introduced them one by one: "This is where the children have classes. Because they are still young, we only hired one teacher to teach them some pinyin, numbers and handicrafts. The children are still young and can't sit still, so they are usually allowed to attend one class and then play outside for 20 minutes. There are only three or four classes a day."
"This is where the children usually play indoors. When it rains and it's hard to go out, they usually play here, do handicrafts, etc."
"This is the kitchen. It's not very big, but luckily we don't have too many children here."
"Oh, this is a small bathroom for the children, separate for boys and girls. There's a big bathroom at the end of the corridor, which is usually used by us staff."
Everyone walked and looked until they saw a locked small room in the corner. Xiao Wu asked, "What is this? Why is it locked?"
Feng Shiyou said, "Oh, this is a small house, usually used to store firewood and some sundries."
"As the police comrades have seen, we have a lot of people here, so we still use earthen stoves and big pots for cooking, which is more convenient. In winter, we will store some dead branches or collect corn stalks and peanut vines from the countryside to burn."
"The reason I locked it is because it's too messy inside. If I don't lock it, the naughty kids will always run in to play and get covered in dust. I have no choice but to lock it."
Shen Qingye asked: "Can I go in and take a look?"
"This..." Feng Shiyou hesitated: "Do we really want to go in? It's so messy in there?"
Yue Lingchuan said: "It's okay, we'll just take a look."
"Okay then." Feng Shiyou agreed and asked someone to bring the key over. As he opened the door, he said, "Officers, please be careful. It's quite dusty here."
The wooden door creaked open and several beams of light poured into the dim room, making the entire room clearly visible.
Yan Haifeng and others walked in, but Shen Qingye stopped in his tracks the moment the door opened.
Yue Lingchuan looked at her with inquiring eyes. Shen Qingye frowned, nodded slowly, and pointed downwards.
[Below, below. 】
[Hurry up and save them, those children, down there...]
The room was indeed very messy, with firewood piled up on one side; on the other side, there were all kinds of broken and cracked tables, chairs and benches, filling the room up.
Yan Haifeng and others walked in and looked around, while Feng Shiyou stood beside them, explaining to them the origins of those messy things.
Which child broke it, which child tripped, which child bumped into the corner of the table...
Shen Qingye walked lightly, looked around, and finally his eyes slowly fell on a pull-cord light switch on the left wall.
There is a push button switch at the door of the house. This pull-cord switch has obviously not been used for a long time, and the hanging pull cord looks black. Shen Qingye's eyes slowly moved upwards and fell on the small round box at the top of the pull rope.
It doesn't seem that dirty there...
Yan Haifeng and others were looking around, while Shen Qingye took two steps forward, raised his hand and touched the round box, then pushed it inwards with a little force.
No response.
[It’s that box. It’s that box! 】
[Feng Shiyou would always fiddle with the box and it would open up!] 】
Shen Qingye frowned slightly, and Feng Shiyou beside her turned his head and saw her movements, his pupils suddenly shrank——
"Stop, you can't—"
Before he finished speaking, he heard a "click" and the next moment, a slight rumbling sound suddenly rang out!
Everyone looked and saw that under the table in the corner with one leg missing, the floor slowly moved away, revealing a hole that was only big enough for one person to pass through.
And below the opening is a staircase leading straight down!
Feng Shiyou's face suddenly changed!
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