Blessings from Chen Youliang +1+1+1... Recruitment Information from the Great Northwest

A few minutes earlier.

Chen Youliang had been going around the orphanage, holding chicken legs in one hand and five-yuan bills in the other as he questioned the “Pokémon” inside about Ye Cheng’s whereabouts.

He was not the only one doing so. The middle-aged woman with the face full of jowls was also making the rounds, chicken legs and five-yuan bills in hand, asking about Ye Cheng.

She was already completely terrified, and her legs had begun to give out beneath her.

Unlike Chen Youliang, who had seen plenty of the world—though in this case, “seen plenty of the world” was only relative to the middle-aged woman with the jowly face—even he had been so frightened by today’s spectacle that his brain had short-circuited several times. Needless to say, a crude middle-aged woman with little experience or ability, who only knew how to bully the weak, was even more terrified.

The middle-aged woman with the jowly face was a distant relative on Chen Youliang’s wife’s side. She had previously made a living farming at home.

She had no other real skills, but she was exceptionally good at arguing and had a loud voice. Most importantly, she never used logic!

Any one of those three qualities was enough to make her unbeatable. With all three combined, she was invincible in every fight!

The most important rule of arguing was never to bring your brain into it. The moment you started thinking, you would fall behind. As luck would have it, the middle-aged woman with the jowly face had never attended school for even a day and had no idea what a brain was supposed to be used for.

She did, however, love throwing her weight around at home, bossing around her college-educated son and daughter, and occasionally cursing her spineless husband. What a wonderful life!

After bowing her head for her entire life, she had finally been able to hold it high in front of her own family!

By sheer coincidence, she had come to the orphanage—and had fallen in love with the feeling on her very first day.

Apart from Chen Youliang, she was the local emperor here. A single look from her was enough to make the disabled children in the orphanage tremble in fear. Here, her word was law!

Except when absolutely necessary, Chen Youliang spent very little time at the orphanage. Most of the time, he went off to enjoy his lavish lifestyle.

The middle-aged woman with the jowly face was the real manager here. She was also the “black face” who worked with Chen Youliang—the one who delivered the slap while someone else offered the candy.

She never felt the slightest bit of guilt about it. On the contrary, she found it rather exhilarating. If she was in a bad mood, she would slap someone. If she thought someone was ugly, she would slap them. Sometimes she would pinch people or forbid them from eating…

Within the narrow limits of her authority, she did everything she could to make life difficult for others. That was the most genuine portrait of a certain kind of person at the bottom of society.

At home, they would endlessly magnify the tiny bit of authority they held over their children, enjoying themselves more and more. In the orphanage, where she controlled several hundred disabled children who dared not resist, it was even better.

She was practically a local emperor!

As a result, everyone in the orphanage was terrified of her, and the middle-aged woman with the jowly face thoroughly enjoyed that feeling.

A semiclosed orphanage was, in a sense, a miniature society. Once those in power lost control, things inevitably became what they were now…

All that remained was fear.

The same methods and the same words worked perfectly when spoken by Chen Youliang, but when the middle-aged woman with the jowly face used them, the result was completely different.

A scattered handful of people stood in line before her, all with their heads lowered. Every now and then, they would glance up to take a look, but the moment they met the middle-aged woman’s eyes, they would hurriedly lower their heads again, trembling as they backed away.

Under ordinary circumstances, the middle-aged woman with the jowly face might have enjoyed herself and continued cursing and hitting them.

But now…

She could feel the increasingly cold gazes surrounding her. Her heart gave a jolt, and sweat broke out across her forehead. In desperation, she grabbed the nearest child—a boy missing two fingers—and pulled him over.

“Do you know anything about that brain-damaged… Ahem, about your Brother Cheng?”

She had almost blurted out “brain-damaged lunatic,” the way she usually referred to Ye Cheng in private. She only whispered it when there were few people around; she would never dare say it to his face in public.

If word reached Ye Cheng’s ears, her good days would be over. Ye Cheng did not play games—if he wanted to deal with someone, he really dealt with them.

Even Chen Youliang, whom she considered incredibly powerful, had never been able to gain the upper hand against Ye Cheng. Needless to say, she stood no chance.

Besides, Ye Cheng was a lunatic.

Even the wicked needed someone wicked enough to keep them in check. A bully like the middle-aged woman with the jowly face only dared to pick on the weak. When she encountered someone like Ye Cheng, she became more cowardly than anyone else and did not even dare speak loudly.

Whenever Ye Cheng came to the orphanage, she would hide. If they happened to meet, she would greet him with a smile, and most of the time, she would take a detour to avoid him.

The boy missing two fingers was around seven or eight years old and rather timid. He had wanted a chicken leg, but there were too many people lining up at Chen Youliang’s side, so he had finally worked up the courage to come over and answer a question in exchange for one.

Only children from poor families understood the temptation of a chicken leg.

As it happened, poor children were the one thing this place had no shortage of. No—that was not quite right. Children from poor families at least still had a home. Here in the orphanage, all they had left was poverty.

A chicken leg was something they only dared dream about. They could eat one only when an important person donated money to the orphanage or when government officials came for an inspection.

“I… I don’t know…”

The little boy missing two fingers spoke in a voice that trembled with tears, on the verge of crying. When the friends behind him saw what was happening, they all ran away without hesitation.

The boy had always been timid. It was only because his friends had encouraged and egged him on that he had mustered the courage to come over for a chicken leg. Now, when he turned around, he discovered that every one of them had fled.

Panic spread rapidly through his heart. The timidity that had been lingering in his eyes instantly transformed into terror.

He remembered the time he had been beaten by the middle-aged woman with the jowly face for saying the wrong thing. With a heart-rending cry, he crouched on the ground and covered his head with both hands.

“I don’t want it! I don’t want to eat it anymore! Don’t hit me!”

His voice was filled with indescribable fear and despair, along with a child’s heartfelt plea.

In an instant, everyone in the orphanage turned to look.

The middle-aged woman with the jowly face: “???”

“I—I didn’t hit you! Don’t make things up!” she stammered in panic.

Especially when she felt countless eyes fixed on her, fear began to spread through her as well.

She had never imagined that the boomerang would come flying back at her so precisely at this moment.

“What’s going on?”

Su Su snapped back to reality at the sound of the boy’s terrified, heart-rending scream. She knitted her brows and looked toward the pair in the distance: one large and one small, with one crouched on the ground, covering his head and looking utterly pitiful, while the other stood frozen in place with a chicken leg in hand.

“Did you hit him?” Su Su arched her brows, and her gaze toward the middle-aged woman grew dangerous.

They dared to hit someone right in front of so many people. What would they do when no one else was around?

Shen Ming, who had remained silent while recording the data, frowned at the sight… Hitting people was not good.

“Are you really that tough?”

Shen Qinghan had somehow arrived in front of the middle-aged woman with the fleshy face.

The moment Shen Qinghan moved, the entire Du family in the room stopped what they were doing and crowded over. In less than half a minute, they had assembled.

A terrifying pressure, as immense as a mountain, bore down on the fleshy-faced middle-aged woman. She was so frightened that she plopped down onto the floor, her obese body trembling uncontrollably.

Hearing the childlike voice nearby, the woman seemed to have grasped her last lifeline.

“Tell them! Hurry up and explain! I didn’t hit you just now! Tell them!!!”

Her voice was distorted by panic, becoming sharp and grating. It further aggravated the already terrified little boy.

“No, no, you didn’t hit me. You didn’t hit me. Boo-hoo…”

The little boy, who was missing two fingers, crouched on the floor and kept repeating himself.

“See? He said it! I didn’t hit him! You all heard him! I really didn’t hit him!” the fleshy-faced middle-aged woman said excitedly, looking around.

But before long, her heart sank. Once the initial excitement of her wild joy faded, she realized… this was no statement proving her innocence at all. It was simply a reenactment of the crime!

Threatening the victim!

The fleshy-faced middle-aged woman: “…”

“Why are you wasting your breath on her, Young Master? Anyone can see that this vicious woman isn’t a good person. Look how terrified she’s made that child. There are quite a few bruises and fingernail marks on him, too. For all we know, she was the one who pinched him…”

The Dormitory Aunt had somehow emerged from an inconspicuous corner.

As she spoke, she walked over to the little boy trembling on the floor and pointed out the bruises and fingernail marks on his body in front of everyone.

“Tsk… She’s already getting on in years, and she’s been a mother herself. She might even be a grandmother by now. How could she be so cruel?”

Shen Ming took a look, his tone somewhat cold.

Lin Tianxiong’s expression was far from pleasant—indeed, his face had darkened. He knew that Chen Youliang might exploit the children at the welfare institute, but with Ye Cheng there, he had assumed Chen Youliang wouldn’t dare go too far.

Who would have thought… that right under his nose, someone had actually been committing such atrocities?

A considerable part of the responsibility for the injuries these children had suffered lay with him, Lin Tianxiong. It was his dereliction of duty!

In the face of absolute facts and evidence, all explanations seemed pale and feeble. What was more, the woman was now completely terrified and had no idea how to explain herself. She had never seen such a scene before.

“I didn’t! I really didn’t hit him just now! He’s lying! I didn’t do it!!!”

“Let go of me! Let go! I’m calling the police! I’ll have them arrest all of you…”

The fleshy-faced middle-aged woman was dragged away by a group of Du family members. A pale yellow trail appeared on the floor and continued all the way out of the welfare institute… toward the woods.

Her vicious screams and shrieks, as shrill as those of a shrew, grew fainter and fainter…

Finally…

“Hi-yah!!!”

The Dormitory Aunt’s high-pitched battle cry echoed through the woods. It was followed closely by the middle-aged woman’s muffled sobs. Her mouth had been stuffed with a foul-smelling sock, leaving her unable even to scream.

Chen Youliang: “…”

He felt somewhat relieved. Fortunately, he had never personally laid a hand on those extraordinary little monsters at the welfare institute. Otherwise, he would have…

Gulp.

As though he had thought of something, fear appeared in Chen Youliang’s eyes. His pupils contracted, and his entire body began to tremble.

That bastard Ye, you absolutely have to live to a ripe old age!

At the same time.

In the great northwest,

inside a crude, makeshift treehouse, Ye Cheng was looking through job postings when a string of pitch-black, twisted characters suddenly appeared before him.

[Chen Youliang’s blessings +1+1+1…]

Ye Cheng: “???”

What the hell?

Whose blessings?

Ye Cheng abruptly sat up and tossed the recruitment flyer in his hand aside…

Under the glow of the lamplight, the information on the flyer could just barely be made out…

“Now Hiring!”

“Sanatorium attendant. Requirements: male, physically strong, good-natured, presentable, and free of bad habits…”

“Room and board provided, three meals a day, salary…”

“Location: Western Theater Command, First Sanatorium…”

“Application phone number…”