"Director, Director, you're back!"
"Thank goodness, the Director's back! Everything's all right now!"
The children's chatter sounded exceptionally pleasant at that moment.
The two veterans had noticed Mo Fei coming in long before, but at his signal, they had made no other sound, letting his return become a surprise.
The children were not the only ones who were happy. When Mrs. Field saw him walk in safe and sound, the weight on her heart finally lifted.
Although Mo Fei had kept saying there would be no problem, who could really be sure?
After all, to many people, those at city hall were no different from savage beasts. Keeping contact with them to a minimum was the best way to stay out of trouble.
But now...
Mo Fei had returned safely and did not seem to have suffered any harm, which changed Mrs. Field's opinion of him a little.
This man seemed to have changed a great deal, but it was a change for the better.
Once the children had been completely reassured, Mrs. Field prepared to say goodbye. After all, she still had her tailor shop to look after, and the two veterans also needed to return to the tavern and explain the situation to Vil-V.
"Thank you so much for your help. I'll remember this..."
Mo Fei was deeply moved by their help in his hour of need and took it firmly to heart. He had the system, and one day he would be able to repay their kindness.
"No need to be so polite! Director Mo, we feel for these children too. We've seen everything you've done all these years. Heaven won't keep treating such a good man unfairly forever..."
Mrs. Field's words stirred something in Mo Fei's heart. Perhaps his transmigration was like heaven seeing the original Mo Fei's plight and launching a service to play on his behalf.
At the thought, he almost laughed.
Once all the visitors had left, the orphanage grew even livelier, with the children opening up and asking endless questions.
Now Mo Fei really was a little troubled. He did not want to repeat himself over and over, so he offered:
"All right, all right, stop asking. I'll tell you the whole story at dinner tonight. As for now, you need to get busy. Those who need to hoe, go hoe. Those who need to feed the cow, go feed her. Those who need to wash clothes, go wash clothes... get moving!"
"Okay!"
The children answered with even more enthusiasm than before.
"Aiwen, stay a moment. I have something to tell you!"
After the other children left, Mo Fei took Aiwen over to sit where they had been sewing earlier. He picked up the so-called lucky bird Kyle had sewn and stared at it, a little lost in thought.
"It looks like Kyle's lucky bird really worked. Good luck is coming our way!"
This remark, coming out of nowhere, left Aiwen baffled.
"Remember that young noble lady from the weekend? It was entirely thanks to their help that I got out of this unscathed..."
Then Mo Fei told him some things he would not be telling the other children.
These included his dealings with the nobles and how he had earned Earl Winter's appreciation.
"Then how should we treat that young lady from now on? Should we give her bread for free?"
Aiwen's naive approach almost made Mo Fei laugh.
"They don't need that little bit of money. That young lady might have done all this purely out of simple kindness. We can't give them any material reward in return, but in certain areas, perhaps we can offer something useful..."
As he reached the main point, Mo Fei's tone grew much more serious, and Aiwen straightened up too.
"First, from now on, when you go out to play with Aisha from time to time, remember to spread the word that the Winter family's young lady is kindhearted and cares for the poor at the bottom of society... second, remember to carefully gather any rumors about the Winter family. Especially when you go to the West End alone, remember to keep your ears open..."
"Since we're indebted to them now, we need to repay them. Understand?"
Aiwen took Mo Fei's words to heart and nodded firmly. "I understand. I'll remember all of this. I won't forget a thing..."
"Good boy. You can tell Lina some of it too, but don't tell the other children yet. They're still too young. With some things, I'm afraid they might end up making matters worse instead..."
"Mm..."
At dinner that evening, Mo Fei told the entire story with dramatic twists and turns. One moment, the adjudicators at city hall were making things difficult for him at every turn; the next, he was arguing his case with sound reasoning, casting himself as a formidable figure who had taken on a whole assembly in a war of words.
The children listened with fascination, wishing they could have experienced it themselves.
At the end, Mo Fei added, "Do you know what the most important prerequisite for doing all this is?"
At this question, some children answered courage, others answered logic, and some even answered a loud voice... it was enough to make people laugh.
He still gave them his own view. "Knowledge is still the most important thing. If you don't know those obscure regulations, how can you find a reasonable angle to argue your case? That's why knowledge is the key..."
Along with Mo Fei's story, this idea went straight into the children's hearts, planting a seed there that waited to sprout at any moment.
While the orphanage was filled with joy, Miles was nowhere near as happy.
Not long after returning to his shop, just as he was about to go out and ask his brother-in-law how things had gone, something happened.
A group of Black Snake Gang thugs charged straight in and began cursing him nonstop.
"You damned bastard, your information was completely wrong! Why were those old bastards from the Veterans' Tavern at the orphanage? Those guys are a huge pain. Good thing no contraband was found, or else..."
After entering, they cursed while smashing the utensils around them. Baking trays and porcelain bowls were hurled to the floor, while the cooks had slipped away the moment they realized things were going wrong.
Miles was the only one left in the room.
One hotheaded fellow even tried to step forward and beat him, but another man who had come with them stopped him.
That man looked no friendlier, though. "We'll swallow this loss. Next time something comes up, this price won't be enough to settle it... let's go!"
After their show of force, the group turned and left the room. One man, however, was still dissatisfied, so before leaving, he spat directly onto the glass by the entrance.
Miles had long since been stunned by this turn of events, his face turning frighteningly pale and flushed by turns.
But it was not over yet.
While he was still wondering how things had ended up this way, his sister stormed in with a slap mark on her face.
Seeing the mess all over the floor, she did not help clean up. Instead, she walked straight over to him and slapped him.
"Are you trying to get me killed? What on earth have you been doing? Why did you get Dalian into this kind of trouble? He hardly ever gets so furious with me... hurry up and apologize! If your brother-in-law won't forgive me, I'm cutting ties with you!"
With that, she turned away resentfully. Spotting a loaf of bread on the floor, she stomped it completely flat.
Miles was utterly dumbfounded.
His eyes held not only surprise, but intense bewilderment.
How was this possible? He had clearly investigated it. How could a run-down orphanage cause such enormous problems?