The journey to Area No. 9 was even longer than the trip to Area No. 7.
Qin Siyang had assumed that areas with similar numbers would be next to one another.
Only later did he learn that areas numbered above Area No. 100 were roughly adjacent. Those below Area No. 100 followed no such pattern.
For example, Area No. 7 was surrounded by Area No. 23, Area No. 39, Area No. 55, and Area No. 80.
Area No. 9, meanwhile, was more than a day's drive from Area No. 7.
Including overnight stops, it took Qin Siyang and Li Tianming nearly a week to reach their destination.
As on their way into Area No. 7, they passed several thick glass walls on the road to Area No. 9.
Qin Siyang wondered just who those glass walls were meant to separate.
After they arrived in Area No. 9, the driver dropped them off at the entrance to [Yucai Kindergarten], as requested.
The kindergarten entrance had two iron gates decorated with lively, adorable pictures: cartoon Three-Winged Flying Fish, anthropomorphic thousand-foot mushrooms, and the like.
It was around two in the afternoon, and the kindergarten had yet to let out.
The kindergarten was brightly lit, and Li Tianming and Qin Siyang could hear the children's happy laughter as they played games on the playground.
They walked up to the gatehouse. The guard inside glanced at them, assuming the older man and the young man had come to pick up a child.
"Is this your first day picking up your child? School doesn't let out for another two hours."
"No, we're here to see Director Zhang."
"You're here to see Director Zhang?"
"Yes."
"Wait a moment. I'll check."
The guard made a phone call, then opened the iron gates and let them in.
**Beep,