Chapter 81

Chapter 81

Clang!

A stainless steel tray hit the floor.

Everyone looked over.

It was the Caregiver Uncle, who had just finished his meal. As he stood up with his tray, he had accidentally bumped into a cleaning worker.

“Sorry,” the Caregiver Uncle muttered, pulling the brim of his hat lower. He bent down to pick up the tray and quickly left the scene.

The Cleaning Lady in the orange uniform nodded with a dull, wooden expression. “No matter.”

Her lips twitched into a stiff, awkward smirk.

After speaking, she twisted her neck mechanically, turning her gaze toward Jiang Li.

This cleaning worker’s demeanor was exactly like that of a human-sized puppet.

She opened her mouth, revealing teeth stained with blood and filth, and gave Jiang Li and the other two a “friendly” smile.

Before she could get any closer, Jiang Li immediately stood up, grabbed her tray, and bolted!

Rule 3 of the [Sunshine Orphanage – Activity Rules]:

[The orphanage does not have cleaning workers. If you have already seen a cleaning worker, please find the Caregiver immediately; he knows how to leave safely.]

Damn it…

In the cafeteria, most people had already finished eating and left!

Jiang Li scanned the room.

Without her noticing, the cafeteria had suddenly become filled with cleaning workers!

They were all dressed in orange uniforms, moving slowly through various parts of the hall.

Some cleaning workers had their backs turned, hunched over as they gorged themselves on something.

Bright red juice dripped from their elbows onto the floor.

Jiang Li’s heart sank.

She had walked right into a nest of Aberrations!

A child’s strength was simply too weak.

Now… there was only one way left.

Jiang Li spotted a sturdy figure in the corner. She hurriedly set down her tray and ran toward him.

The Caregiver Uncle was crouching on the ground, tying his shoelaces.

While he was dawdling, Jiang Li managed to catch up to him. The Black Kid and the Little Shota followed close behind her, confused but keeping pace.

The Caregiver Uncle stood up.

He pulled a bottle of black perfume from his pocket.

Then, he pressed the nozzle and sprayed it all over himself.

Once finished, the Caregiver Uncle casually placed the bottle on a counter and walked away.

Jiang Li quickly grabbed the perfume and, mimicking the uncle, sprayed it all over herself and the boys.

As soon as the three of them were finished, the cleaning workers who had been closing in seemed to lose their sense of direction instantly.

They stood there dazed for a few seconds before continuing to shuffle aimlessly in other directions.

Jiang Li took the perfume with her.

Her expression was a bit complicated.

The Caregiver Uncle was wearing all-black, low-cut rain boots.

Those kinds of boots didn’t even have laces to tie.

So why did the Caregiver Uncle pretend to tie them?

He was stalling for time, intentionally waiting for them so he could leave the black perfume for Jiang Li and the others.

He was helping them.

But… why would he do that?

***

By the afternoon, Jiang Li, Yingying, and the two boys were taken to the Reception Hall on the first floor of the wooden building.

The four children stood in a neat row across from the coffee table in the hall.

Footsteps echoed from the entrance.

Immediately after, the short-haired woman with glasses from the orphanage led a couple inside, out of the curtain of rain.

The couple wagged their tails, shaking the rainwater off their bodies.

Jiang Li focused her gaze.

They… were actually a pair of rats!

“Mr. Diao, Mrs. Diao, please, come in,” the short-haired woman greeted the Rat Couple warmly.

The short-haired woman said apologetically, “Our orphanage’s conditions are quite humble compared to your Binjiang Villa. Please, bear with us.”

“Vice Dean, you’re being too polite!” Mrs. Rat made small talk with a smile. “My husband and I both came from humble beginnings. We aren’t that picky.”
The short-haired woman serving as the Vice Dean smiled even more broadly after hearing Mrs. Rat’s words.

She led the Rat Couple to the sofas in the lobby to sit down. Pointing at Jiang Li and the other three, she introduced them:

“Mr. Diao, Mrs. Diao, these four are our children who excel in all areas. Please take a look at their files first; they are all very well-behaved.”

The Vice Dean quickly poured two cups of tea for the Rat Couple.

Mr. Rat flipped through the files a couple of times and stopped when he reached Yingying’s page.

He extended a long, sharp fingernail and pointed at the page. “This child is quite good.”

Mr. Rat looked up at the sweet and obedient-looking Yingying across from him.

“Yingying, let Uncle ask you a question. If you had three pieces of cheese to share among four rats, how would you divide them?”

Yingying thought for a moment, then her eyes curved into a sweet smile.

“Uncle~ I would cut the cheese into different-sized pieces based on their body size, and then distribute them according to how big they are.”

Mr. Rat nodded, looking very satisfied.

He turned to his wife and said, “Honey, I think this Yingying is quite good. Not only is she pure, but she’s also quite clever.”

Beside him, Mrs. Rat glanced over and pursed her lips in dissatisfaction.

A woman’s intuition told her that the look in Yingying’s eyes was anything but pure.

Mrs. Rat flipped through the files and stopped when she saw Jiang Li’s page.

“Lili…” Mrs. Rat looked up at Jiang Li. “You’re Lili, right?”

Jiang Li smiled and nodded.

“What a lovely child, it’s a pity she’s a mute,” Mrs. Rat muttered to herself.

“Then tell me, what is your answer to the question just now? You can write it down.”

Mrs. Rat kept her head down, flipping through the files in her hands without even looking at Jiang Li.

Jiang Li took out a pen and paper.

She hesitated.

Could being adopted by this Rat Couple really lead to clearing the level?

But why did she feel that the corruption on this Rat Couple was even more severe than what was in the Orphanage?

Jiang Li held the pen, the tip resting on the paper for a long time without writing an answer.

The Black Kid stood right next to Jiang Li.

Thinking she couldn’t come up with an answer, he leaned in quietly and whispered a reminder.

“Lili… you can say you’ll divide it into four equal portions by weight.”

The Black Kid’s voice was very low.

Since Jiang Li wanted to be adopted, he still wanted to give her a helping hand.

Jiang Li froze for a few seconds.

She thought back to the incident at lunch when the Caregiver Uncle had knocked over the food tray.

At that time, the topic of conversation at their table was exactly about whether they wanted to be adopted in the afternoon.

Back then, the Black Kid was saying:

“Lili wants to go. Anyway, if one of us goes, we can keep Lili company.”

The Caregiver Uncle… could he have intentionally knocked over the tray because of that?

Think about it: why would a man who was highly alert and carried black perfume with him-

Under what circumstances would he actively collide with a ‘dangerous cleaning worker’?

With his level of alertness, how could he possibly be distracted!

There must have been something he wanted to warn others about by deliberately making noise.

However, for some reason, he might not have been able to say it directly.

Jiang Li quickly pulled her thoughts back.

With a trembling hand, she wrote down a line of text.

The Black Kid leaned over to take a look, his eyes widening in surprise.

Jiang Li’s answer was handed to the Rat Couple.

After Mr. Rat and Mrs. Rat read it, they exchanged a look, their faces instantly turning pale.

The paper read:

“I would use a stool to beat one rat to death, because rats deserve to die anyway.”

This was originally the answer in Yingying’s heart.