Welfare Institute

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A drizzle fell.

It pattered against the car, muffled by the soft, soothing piano music. Everything was quiet, save for the windshield wipers slowly sweeping across the window.

Gu Shen sat in the passenger seat. Through his sleeve, he breathed warm air onto his palm and wiped the side window, watching the high-rises flow backward and the isolation belt grow ever emptier. The car entered the highway and headed toward the remote, desolate outskirts.

"Five Old Mountains... why were they going somewhere so remote?"

Nan Jin's trench coat had been taken off and folded on the back seat. She did not wear that tight combat suit beneath her coat at all times. For an informal, casual outing like today, she wore a snow-white shirt with washed jeans.

Perhaps because of her well-proportioned figure, the shirt stretched tight across her body. Her red hair was tied into a bun, making her seem completely unrelated to a violent maniac. She looked more like an intellectual, gentle Senior Sister.

"You read my file, didn't you? You should know," Gu Shen said softly, holding a sleeping Orange Cat in his arms. "That's where I grew up."

Nan Jin froze for a moment.

Of course she knew Gu Shen had grown up in an orphanage... but the name of that orphanage was...

"Morning Light Orphanage." Gu Shen scratched his head. "It's a pretty tacky name, so it's normal if you couldn't remember it. The man who sponsored the orphanage was named Zhou Chenguang, so they named it after him."

Morning Light Orphanage was located in a very remote place. On the map, its marker lay near a ravine in the Five Old Mountains. From Da Teng City, it was a three-and-a-half-hour drive.

"Didn't Senior Sister say those guys from the Assessment Team were coming? Since I had to hide, I thought I might as well hide farther away." Gu Shen smiled as he stroked the Orange Cat's golden fur. "There probably isn't anywhere more remote than the Five Old Mountains. Even if they read my file, they probably wouldn't come all this way."

"And besides..." Gu Shen said quietly, "the granny at the orphanage was very good to me. It's been two years, and I still haven't made anything of myself, so I was too embarrassed to go back."

Nan Jin nodded, showing that she understood.

The trunk was packed with fresh fruit, organic vegetables, two cases of milk, and a large basket of eggs.

"Later, I thought about it. I really shouldn't have been like that. No matter how I was doing, I should've gone back to see Granny and the others." Gu Shen spoke softly. "It's just that whenever I remembered the scene when I left, I felt ashamed... Granny had looked so certain when she said I was smart, that I would definitely do well in the future and make something of myself."

"Haven't you already made something of yourself?" Nan Jin said seriously. "For salaried workers in Da Teng City, earning ten thousand a month is already impressive. You have five hundred thousand sitting in your account now. That's what they could save in ten years."

"...The way you put it, I suddenly feel like I'm actually pretty amazing." Gu Shen adjusted his seat and leaned back. He muttered, "But this money has nothing to do with me, does it? It's like winning the jackpot in a lottery. It came out of nowhere."

"Don't say that. This is what you earned by selling yourself. It's completely different from winning the lottery." Nan Jin raised a brow. "If you insist on making a comparison, think of it as the fee paid long ago for a courtesan's first night. The guests who fancied her threw down fortunes. They thought you were worth that money, so you were worth that money."

"Five hundred thousand... I really am valuable." Gu Shen counted on his fingers and asked worriedly, "If I don't get an S rank, Mr. Shu won't make me spit the money back out, will he?"

Nan Jin nearly laughed out loud when she heard that.

"Five hundred thousand is nothing." She waved a hand. "Just work hard with Senior Brother and Senior Sister. This little money doesn't amount to much."

"That's good..."

Gu Shen paused, then slowly said, "I'm planning to donate all of this money. Is that okay?"

As he said this, he kept watching Nan Jin, looking somewhat nervous.

The bad woman focused intently on driving, seemingly not noticing Gu Shen's scrutiny at all. She said blandly, "Of course. It's your money now. How you spend it is your freedom, and you don't need my approval. But if I remember correctly, you don't have much savings yourself, do you? This money could buy you a lot of things. Are you really going to donate all of it?"

"I still have some money in my account, and there's nothing I particularly need to buy anyway... You pay my rent, and food and drink are included too..."

Gu Shen did not sound very confident when he said that.

He only had a pitiful few thousand left in his account.

"Granny messaged me a few days ago, saying the orphanage walls were still leaking and the roof had collapsed again. When I was six, the roof was still made of mud bricks. It leaked all the time back then too. If we were unlucky and the roof broke during the rainy season, we couldn't study or sleep for an entire day." Gu Shen sighed. "Senior Sister, you're a young lady born in the Great Capital District. You wouldn't understand that feeling... Anyway, it was awful. Back then, I often shoveled water while gritting my teeth and thinking that when I had money, I would build Granny the biggest, prettiest house and fix the best roof!"

"..."

Nan Jin fell silent for a while.

She had originally wanted to say something in rebuttal to Gu Shen's words... but she eventually realized she had nothing to say, because Gu Shen was right. She had been born in the Great Capital District, the most prosperous and affluent place on the Eastern Continent.

Land there was worth its weight in gold, and skyscrapers soared into the clouds. No matter how hard one looked through that cold forest of steel, one would never find the shabby mud-brick houses Gu Shen spoke of.

"Didn't the Council provide funding every year?" Nan Jin asked quietly. "And there were foundations too..."

"That's why I said you don't understand hunger and suffering, Senior Sister..." Gu Shen laughed carelessly. "I believe all that funding was put to good use. But there will always be places in this world that the light cannot reach."

"The year I left, Granny happily told me that someone had sent the orphanage a large sum of money. Thanks to it, the house was rebuilt, with white brick walls and red tiles. It looked beautiful. But unfortunately, the quality wasn't as good as imagined. If it got too cold, the water pipes froze and cracked easily, so leaks still happened often." Gu Shen counted on his fingers again. "I calculated it for Granny. Hiring a reliable construction crew to inspect everything inside and out and renovate it all would cost a fair amount. Better to add a little more money... With a little more money, all the problems could be solved."

He rambled earnestly, and Nan Jin listened earnestly.

"Having money is great... Adding money can solve everything." Gu Shen sighed in satisfaction. "The money on this card is just about enough to fulfill that old promise."

"If it isn't enough, I can help. Consider it my small contribution." Nan Jin lowered her eyes and said softly, "Actually, I'm a little richer than you think."

Gu Shen froze.

Was this the legendary rich beauty with long legs and the power of money?

She was just too fierce. He couldn't afford to provoke her.

"No, no, the money I got for selling myself is completely enough. If I owed you another favor, I wouldn't know how to repay it." Gu Shen smiled and politely declined. "Thanks for the offer."

Nan Jin said nothing and simply continued driving.

The Orange Cat, which had been lazily sprawled across Gu Shen's lap, slowly opened its eyes. A faint glimmer shone from its narrow pupils.

It flicked its tail and let out a quiet meow.

Nan Jin glanced at the Orange Cat and smiled. "You're awake?"

Acting completely out of character, the Orange Cat ignored her and buried its head in Gu Shen's arms.

Gu Shen gave an awkward smile.

His body stiffened slightly, because that meow had sounded like Chu Ling's faintly annoyed voice in his ears.

"Pah!"

Because of the special training these past few days, Gu Shen had left early and returned late every day. A certain cat at home had waited around in boredom. By the time Gu Shen finally returned at night, ate its cat food, and analyzed intelligence, it only took a few minutes before Gu Shen was exhausted and snoring soundly.

The special training was finally over, and they could go out. Chu Ling had specifically asked Gu Shen to bring her along... or rather, to bring this cat along.

She wanted to follow Gu Shen outside for a walk.

Although the apartment was theoretically safe, Gu Shen had learned from the Fire Disaster Case, when it had once been attacked by a Transcendent. So he decided to take her with him.

At that very moment, Truth Ruler was tightly bound to his forearm beneath his sleeve with two loops of tape... The ruler had now become an indispensable item that Gu Shen kept close to his body.

Other than during training, when it was inconvenient to carry and easy to discover, he always kept it with him.

With Truth Ruler, he had the confidence to deal with sudden Transcendent incidents.

And the Orange Cat's feline language could be converted into human speech.

Gu Shen was a little surprised that Chu Ling had come online at this moment.

On second thought, she had heard the conversation between him and Nan Jin just now... Could she have misunderstood that "pah"?

Gu Shen rubbed the Orange Cat's head.

"Hmph!"

It ignored him, resolutely shaking off his hand. It sprang over his shoulder and darted to the back seat, taking over half of it before curling up comfortably.