Chapter 82
Chapter 82
“Ahem!” The Vice Dean cleared her throat, clenching her fist. She turned her head slightly and shot Jiang Li a subtle, sharp glare.
Jiang Li’s response was a blatant refusal to be adopted by the Rat Couple. She had deliberately danced all over the very landmines they were trying to avoid.
Seeing the Rat Couple’s faces turn pale with indignation, the Vice Dean hurriedly tried to smooth things over.
“Mr. Diao, Mrs. Diao, she’s just a child who doesn’t know any better. Please, be the bigger people and don’t take it to heart.”
With the Vice Dean intervening like that, the Rat Couple couldn’t very well keep dwelling on the matter.
Mrs. Rat smacked her lips. “Lili… she really isn’t quite the right fit. Yingying is gentle enough, though; she’ll do.”
Mr. Rat nodded in agreement.
After this little interlude, the Vice Dean tried to persuade the Rat Couple to adopt a boy as well.
Both boys currently in the Orphanage were about to turn seven. If she could send one more out, it would mean one less death within the Orphanage’s walls.
The Rat Couple had originally been quite fond of the Black Kid. Aside from his dark complexion, he looked quite handsome. The Little Shota, on the other hand, had a cleft lip that was far too detrimental to his appearance.
The Rat Couple discussed it briefly before smiling at the Black Kid.
“You’re Zhuangzhuang, right? Do you want to come with us?”
The Black Kid kept his head down, picking at his fingers. Given the current situation, Lili had definitely been disqualified. He stole a glance at Jiang Li, feeling uncertain.
“I… I don’t know,” the Black Kid managed to squeeze out.
Mrs. Rat followed up, “Then why don’t you answer the question the gentleman asked earlier?”
Both Mrs. Rat and Mr. Rat stared at the Black Kid with soft, encouraging gazes, urging him to give a good answer.
However, following Jiang Li’s line of sight, the Black Kid noticed the business card in Mr. Rat’s hand. On the back of that card were several messy scribbles in watercolor.
The front of the card was likely intact, which was why Mr. Rat hadn’t noticed it yet.
The Black Kid’s mind went blank when he saw the graffiti. He had only seen that kind of random scribbling when he was very young. It was a common habit for children-grabbing a marker and drawing on whatever they could find.
But… hadn’t they said this Rat Couple had no children?
Then how could Mr. Rat’s business card have been drawn on by a child?
In that instant, the Black Kid suddenly understood why Jiang Li had given such an abnormal answer.
“What’s wrong, Zhuangzhuang?” Mrs. Rat asked, her expression turning strange as the Black Kid remained silent.
The Black Kid withdrew his gaze and looked up at them. This time, there was a spark of resolve in his eyes.
“I hate rats. I won’t share a single piece of cheese with them.”
The Black Kid’s answer plunged the atmosphere into silence once again.
The Vice Dean was nearly dying of rage. Lili and Zhuangzhuang-these two kids were impossible to help!
This ‘mutual selection’ process came to an end with everyone harboring their own hidden agendas. In the end, the Rat Couple took Yingying and the Little Shota.
As Yingying was leaving, she deliberately pleaded for Jiang Li in front of the Rat Couple.
“Sir, Ma’am… I think Lili is actually quite nice. She’s just a bit extreme. Are you really not going to take her?”
Hearing those words, Jiang Li clicked her tongue inwardly. This was no time for ‘kind’ pleas. She didn’t want to go at all!
There was clearly something wrong with this Rat Couple. Between the detail of the scribbled business card and the Caregiver Uncle’s deliberate warning, Jiang Li would have to be truly stupid not to see the problem.
And then there was Yingying. She clearly hated rats to death, yet she insisted on putting on this act of being a saint. Since she was so determined to go, then so be it.
Once she went, she’d never be heard from again.
Yingying and the Little Shota were led away.
The adoption paperwork had not yet been officially processed.
They were currently in the “Trial Adoption” phase.
In one day’s time, if no issues arose, the Rat Couple would sign the papers, and the adoption contract would officially take effect.
Tonight, the Rat Couple was to take the two children back to their home to get acquainted with the new environment.
Before they left, the Black Kid made a point of going over to the Little Shota to whisper something in his ear.
He told the Little Shota to be careful.
He felt like there was something wrong with that Rat Couple.
After seeing the Rat Couple off, the Vice Dean returned.
Her expression was quite unpleasant.
She looked at Jiang Li and the Black Kid, her head throbbing with anger.
“You two! I worked so hard to get you this opportunity, and you don’t even know how to cherish it?!”
The Black Kid hung his head, looking utterly dejected.
Jiang Li, however, maintained an indifferent expression.
The more the Vice Dean looked at these two children, the angrier she became.
She summoned Jiang Li and the Black Kid’s Caregiver-Aunt Xiaoyu.
“Take them and teach them a lesson! They’re so disobedient, they’re going to be the death of me!” The Vice Dean pulled a long face and stormed off in a huff.
Aunt Xiaoyu wore a look of schadenfreude. “Oh! Look who’s in trouble.”
She went to the Toilet and brought back two buckets of clean water along with two rags.
Aunt Xiaoyu stood with her hands on her hips, speaking excitedly, “Mistakes must be punished!
“Your punishment is to clean the Third Floor.
“Especially the last room, the Funeral Hall. It hasn’t been tidied up in ages. I’m leaving it to you!”
Jiang Li recalled the second rule of the Sunshine Orphanage Activity Guidelines:
[You can trust any Caregiver in the orphanage. They may not help you, but they will certainly not harm you.]
This Caregiver, Aunt Xiaoyu, indeed did not harm them directly.
However, she was always finding ways to indirectly lead Jiang Li to her death.
Jiang Li glanced at Aunt Xiaoyu’s shoulder.
A red armband had appeared there.
As she suspected, it was Aunt Xiaoyu’s turn to be on duty today, meaning she was the one responsible for cleaning the Orphanage.
As it turned out, Aunt Xiaoyu wanted to slack off and was using this opportunity to dump the work on Jiang Li and the boy.
At the same time, she wanted to mess with Jiang Li.
The Black Kid beside her instantly wilted the moment he heard they had to clean the Funeral Hall.
“Aunt Xiaoyu, didn’t you say… that Funeral Hall contains people who died of Red Eye Disease? I don’t want to go,” the Black Kid said with a long face.
Seeing the Black Kid beg for mercy, Aunt Xiaoyu’s Eyes lit up, and the corners of her mouth curled into an even more excited grin!
She said gleefully, “That’s perfect! Just the two of you go then! It’s settled.”
Aunt Xiaoyu clapped her hands and plopped down on the sofa in the lobby.
The Black Kid opened his mouth to say something more.
But Jiang Li tugged at him and shook her head.
The Black Kid didn’t know that Aunt Xiaoyu had long since been replaced.
Pleading with this Aberration now was a complete waste of effort.
Jiang Li remembered Rule 5 of the Cabin Rules:
[The last room on the Third Floor is a Funeral Hall. Please be sure not to mistake it for a dormitory.]
As long as they kept firmly in mind that the room was a Funeral Hall and not a dormitory, there shouldn’t be any major problems.
Jiang Li and the Black Kid carried the water buckets up the creaking wooden stairs from the lobby to the Third Floor.
They stood before the last room and set the buckets down.
Jiang Li wrote a note for the Black Kid:
“Silently repeat three times: This is a Funeral Hall, this is not a dormitory.”
The Black Kid followed her instructions, though he was confused.
Then, both of them looked up at the Red Door simultaneously.
At that moment, the Red Door trembled slightly and opened just a crack from the inside.
From the pitch-black gap in the doorway, a deathly pale hand reached out.
That hand… held out a set of rules.