Recaps

Mo Fei practiced Tai Chi to get control of his newly enhanced strength, then taught Lina how to judge heat while baking bread and making soup. The chapter ended with the children gathered at the table, eager to eat breakfast.

• Mo Fei practiced Tai Chi in the orphanage courtyard to adjust to his increased strength.
• Lina baked bread while Mo Fei taught her to feel the oven's heat and control the flame.
• Mo Fei praised Mia for chopping vegetables and Lucy for washing them, encouraging both girls.
• At Lina's request, Mo Fei demonstrated how to make vegetable soup and explained how to adjust the heat.
• Lina helped bake bread with a browned crust, and the children gathered expectantly as breakfast was served.

Mo Fei diagnosed Zane with congenital heart disease and began treating him with daily massages, nutrition, and Tai Chi. Zane chose to keep fighting for his life, and the other children joined the morning Tai Chi practice.

• After the children praised Lina's bread, Mo Fei called Zane to his room and concluded that Zane had congenital heart disease.
• Mo Fei promised to massage Zane daily and give him milk to support his health.
• Zane remembered the people who had cared for him and feared being abandoned, but Mo Fei's help gave him hope, and he told Mo Fei that he wanted to live.
• The system reported that Zane's trust in Mo Fei had increased significantly, and Mo Fei began massaging him.
• Mo Fei later taught Zane Tai Chi to help his condition, and Lucy, Jimmy, and the other children joined the morning practice while Lina and Mia stopped.

In spring 1927, Mo Fei learned that the children were content despite missing Christmas, while baby Tom became the orphanage’s “Lucky Star” and recovered from a mild fever. The bread workshop owner blamed Mo Fei’s bread sales for his falling profits and headed to the orphanage to confront him.

• Aisha’s question made Mo Fei realize he had missed Christmas, but Jimmy told him the children were already living the happiness they had once hoped for.
• The children nicknamed Tom the “Lucky Star of the Orphanage” after his presence seemed to boost bread sales.
• Mo Fei treated Tom’s mild fever and warned Jimmy to be more careful caring for the baby.
• The bread workshop owner investigated his declining sales, learned that Mo Orphanage was selling bread, and decided to confront Mo Fei.
• As Aiwen, Boer, and Kyle cleaned up outside the orphanage, the workshop owner approached with an ill-intentioned look.

Miles Archer, a bakery owner, came to the orphanage looking to profit from Mo Fei’s bread business. After Aiwen stood his ground until Mo Fei arrived, Miles accused the orphanage of breaking the rules and demanded compensation.

• Aiwen recognized the hostile visitor as a possible threat and sent Boer and Kyle inside to find Mo Fei.
• Aiwen recalled how Mrs. Field had once driven off extortionists and how Mo Fei had later used his family connections to keep them away.
• Miles considered turning the orphanage into a bakery kitchen and using its space and workers for his own business.
• Mo Fei arrived, asked the visitor who he was, and learned that he was Miles Archer, a bakery owner.
• Miles accused Mo Fei of illegally selling bread and demanded that he stop and compensate him for his losses.

Mo Fei confronted Miles, a bakery owner who threatened the orphanage over its bread sales, and used Tai Chi to send him sprawling in the mud. Miles fled after vowing revenge, and Mo Fei reassured Aiwen while privately deciding to prepare for further trouble.

• Mo Fei mocked Miles for blaming his declining sales on the orphanage and refusing to improve his own baking.
• Miles threatened to have the orphanage attacked, but Mo Fei calmly challenged him to try.
• Miles shoved at Mo Fei, who evaded him and used Tai Chi to throw him off balance and onto his knees in the mud.
• Miles threatened revenge and hurried away, while Mo Fei chose not to pursue him because the children were watching.
• Mo Fei reassured the worried Aiwen and returned to the orphanage with the children, while privately planning for Miles to strike back by other means.

Mo Fei secretly investigated Miles and learned that he and his cook planned to use city officials and false rumors to drive the orphanage out of the bread business. He considered asking a young noblewoman he had met for protection, but had not yet decided whether to approach her.

• Mo Fei left the orphanage at night and inspected Miles's poorly maintained bakery oven.
• Mo Fei overheard Miles explain that the Iron Hand Gang's ties to the orphanage made it risky to use gang violence.
• Miles and his cook plotted to report the orphanage to city hall and spread rumors that Mo Fei exploited the children.
• Mo Fei realized Mrs. Field could help counter the rumors, while a noble backer might protect the orphanage from the authorities.
• Mo Fei thought of seeking help from a kindhearted young noblewoman he had met before.

Mo Fei and Aiwen sold bread in the West End, where a noble young lady noticed Aiwen and stopped her carriage to buy their remaining loaves. The encounter ended with the young lady and her maid impressed by Aiwen’s manners and Mo Fei’s care for the children.

• Mo Fei and Aiwen arrived late in the West End and still had two loaves left as the sun began to set.
• A noble young lady spotted Aiwen from her carriage and asked her maid to call him over.
• Mo Fei reassured Aiwen and sent him to speak with the young lady while he stayed back.
• Aiwen introduced himself, explained that he lived at the Mo Orphanage, and offered the bread for ten pence a loaf.
• The young lady bought both remaining loaves, and Aiwen carefully accepted the payment and returned the change.

Aiwen refused to accept the noblewoman’s change as charity, so Colleen Winter gave him a deposit for fine white bread instead. After tasting the orphanage’s bread on the journey home, Colleen remembered Aiwen and the Mo Orphanage.

• Aiwen explained that the children earned their living by selling bread rather than accepting handouts, and Colleen asked him to bring fine white bread the following week.
• Colleen returned the change as a deposit, and Aiwen promised to bring the bread at the agreed time.
• Mo Fei recognized Colleen as Earl Winter’s daughter and resolved to make the white bread well, hoping the connection could help the orphanage.
• In the carriage, Molly inspected the brown bread and judged its quality surprisingly high before giving a broken loaf to the coachman to dispose of.
• After the play, Colleen ate some of the remaining loaf, enjoyed its distinctive flavor, and remembered Aiwen and the Mo Orphanage.

Miss Colleen bought Mo Fei’s exquisite white bread from Aiwen and arranged to buy another loaf the following week. After tasting it, she asked her household cooks to recreate it, but their failure made Earl Winter remember Mo Fei.

• Aiwen offered Miss Colleen the white bread Mo Fei had made, and Molly inspected it before asking its price.
• Aiwen told Molly the bread cost three pounds to make and offered it for four, which she paid without objection.
• When Aiwen tried to return last week’s deposit, Colleen told him to keep it for her next purchase and said she would return the following week.
• Colleen tasted the bread on the way to the theater and was so taken with its flavor that the evening’s play seemed lackluster.
• Colleen told her father about Mo Fei and Aiwen, then asked the household cooks to recreate the bread.
• The cooks failed to fully reproduce the bread the next day, giving Earl Winter a reason to remember Mo Fei.

Mo Fei let the rumors Miles had stirred up spread rather than defend the orphanage, hoping to draw out Miles’s next move. The slander cut bread sales in half, and the chapter ended with Mo Fei and Aiwen facing hostile looks at the market.

• Mo Fei learned that rumors accused him of abusing the children, training them to steal, and exploiting them for labor.
• Mrs. Field told Mo Fei how Miles had used false accusations and gang intimidation to drive rival bakeries out of business.
• Mo Fei asked Mrs. Field and his supportive neighbors not to clear his name yet, intending to wait for Miles to reveal his next move.
• As the rumors halved bread sales, Mo Fei reduced local sales and sent Aiwen, Boer, and the others to sell bread in the West End.
• Mo Fei took Aiwen to the market, where the people’s murmurs and contemptuous looks filled Aiwen with anger and confusion.

Mo Fei tried to reassure Aiwen as rumors and neighborhood hostility threatened the orphanage, while Miles accused him of illegal bread sales. Three days later, officials arrived with a warrant and ordered Mo Fei to accompany them for questioning.

• Mo Fei comforted Aiwen, explaining that the neighbors were avoiding trouble rather than necessarily believing the rumors.
• Miles publicly taunted Mo Fei and implied he might become violent, but Mo Fei warned the neighbors that suspicions should be reported to the police and city government.
• Miles accused the orphanage of selling bread without a permit and raised concerns about food safety, so Mo Fei took Aiwen back without revealing his preparations.
• Aiwen worried that the orphanage would have to stop selling bread, and Mo Fei promised he had a solution.
• Three days later, a uniformed official presented Mo Fei with an investigation warrant over unregulated commercial activity, and Aiwen turned pale as he heard the accusation.

Mo Fei was taken from the orphanage for questioning after a complaint, leaving Aiwen in charge of the children and telling him to seek Mrs. Field’s help. During interrogation, Mo Fei defended the orphanage’s bread sales as legitimate labor, but the examiners raised further accusations, and he relied on the hope that the young lady of the Winter family would intervene.

• Mo Fei asked the investigators for time to settle the children, then reminded Aiwen to have Lina care for them and seek Mrs. Field’s help if needed.
• Aiwen promised to look after everyone, and Mo Fei reassured him that he would return before leaving with the investigators.
• Dylan Kennedy stopped Harvey from manhandling Mo Fei, and the investigators escorted Mo Fei away in a carriage.
• At the interrogation, Mo Fei argued that selling bread to obtain necessities complied with the orphanage rules.
• The examiners challenged Mo Fei with accusations of exploiting the children, overcharging customers, violence, and mistreating the children.
• Mo Fei suspected that the hearing was biased and counted on the young lady of the Winter family to intervene.

Mo Fei asked Miss Colleen to help the orphanage secure permission to sell bread, and her reply gave him hope. After learning about the orphanage’s hardship, Colleen began investigating the matter and studying imperial law.

• Mo Fei sent Miss Colleen a letter explaining that officials might stop the orphanage from selling bread and asking her to speak to inspectors.
• Colleen read the letter while Molly learned that city hall officials had taken the orphanage’s relief funds.
• Colleen learned that Mo Fei had raised nine children and became distracted during a play, then left early.
• Colleen sent Molly to investigate and went to her father’s study to read a book of imperial law.
• The Earl heard that Colleen had returned early and was studying, then waited for Molly to return.

After learning about the orphanage’s troubles, Colleen discussed a solution with the Earl, who taught her to use the city’s rules and influential allies rather than simply punish officials. Colleen sent the plan to Mo Fei, who recognized the Earl’s family’s strategy and agreed to cooperate, confident he could handle the danger if needed.

• Molly told the Earl that Colleen had investigated the orphanage and might have searched his study for information about the law.
• The Earl guided Colleen to see that corrupt city officials caused the orphanage’s troubles and that punishing them might not improve the children’s lives.
• The Earl proposed that a merchant sell the orphanage’s bread and donate the proceeds, giving the orphanage legal income and protection.
• The Earl advised Colleen to wait until Mo Fei was taken away before stepping in, so her help would have the greatest effect.
• Colleen sent Mo Fei a letter with the plan, and Mo Fei recognized the Earl’s family’s intentions and accepted their cooperation.
• Mo Fei remained calm because he had Belief Points to upgrade skills and believed he could escape prison if necessary.

Earl Winter intervened to free Mo Fei from the false accusations at city hall, then arranged for him to run a bakery whose profits would support the orphanage. Mo Fei agreed to manage the business and help publicize the charity before returning home.

• Earl Winter's butler arrived at city hall and said Mo Fei had acted on the Earl's orders, prompting the judge to dismiss all complaints.
• Butler Morgan escorted Mo Fei to Earl Winter's residence, where Molly greeted him and he waited while the Earl spoke with Colleen.
• Earl Winter asked what should come next, and Mo Fei thanked him for his help and offered to follow reasonable instructions.
• Colleen proposed opening a bakery in Earl Winter's name, with Mo Fei supplying and selling bread and all profits donated to the orphanage in her name.
• Mo Fei agreed to keep records, promote Colleen's charity and Earl Winter's generosity, and settle the matter without further trouble before returning home.

Mo Fei returned safely to the orphanage after Earl Winter helped him, and the nobles’ involvement quickly reversed public opinion about him and the orphanage. He reunited with the children, who welcomed him home.

• Earl Winter became pleased with Mo Fei and saw him as a capable future helper for Colleen.
• Mrs. Field and Aisha arrived at the orphanage with two veteran bodyguards, who drove away the Black Snake Gang thugs before they could plant contraband.
• Miles saw Mo Fei return unharmed, grew alarmed, and slipped away while onlookers began praising Mo Fei and the orphanage.
• Mo Fei returned to find Mrs. Field teaching the children to sew, and Kyle explained that he had made a good-luck bird for Mo Fei.
• The children rushed to greet Mo Fei, who felt that the orphanage had become his home.

Mo Fei returned safely to the orphanage and told Aiwen how the Winter family’s young lady and Earl Winter had helped him, while urging the children to value knowledge. At Miles’s shop, the Black Snake Gang blamed him for giving them bad information, and his sister also turned on him over the trouble he had caused.

• Mo Fei reassured the orphanage children and thanked Mrs. Field and the veterans for helping him.
• Mo Fei told Aiwen about his dealings with the nobles and asked him to praise the Winter family’s young lady and gather rumors about the family.
• Mo Fei told the children how he had argued his case at city hall and explained that knowledge had helped him defend himself.
• The Black Snake Gang thugs stormed Miles’s shop, cursed him for misleading them, smashed the furnishings, and left after threatening him.
• Miles’s sister slapped him and blamed him for getting Dalian into trouble, leaving Miles bewildered about how the orphanage had caused such consequences.

Miles learned that Earl Winter’s involvement had made the Black Snake Gang wary, and Hei Shi planned to take Miles’s bakery and force him back into gang work. Unaware of Miles’s troubles, Mo Fei upgraded his Combat and Medicine skills, while Tom Riddle began watching him with curiosity.

• Miles found his sister’s home empty and heard from a neighbor that the couple had left looking meek and subdued.
• Miles visited Hei Shi at the Black Snake Gang’s headquarters, where his teacher scolded him and explained that Earl Winter’s intervention had changed the situation.
• Hei Shi told Miles that the Earl’s household wanted a storefront and planned to take Miles’s bakery as compensation, then ordered him to return to work for the gang.
• Mo Fei used his two Belief Points to raise Combat and Medicine from beginner to basic.
• Tom Riddle’s eyes changed from cold and lifeless to curious as Mo Fei made his upgrades.

Mo Fei planned how to raise Tom, whose unusually advanced development and interest in Kyle made him wonder whether Kyle was a wizard. He resolved to prepare Tom for magic, develop his Parseltongue, teach him true nobility and broaden his view of Muggles before Dumbledore might take him away.

• Tom showed unusually advanced behavior for a baby and reacted differently whenever Kyle approached.
• Mo Fei wondered whether Kyle was a wizard and considered how the era of Grindelwald and his Seer abilities might affect his plans.
• Mo Fei decided Tom did not need magical instruction yet and thought Kyle might provide wizarding textbooks once he started school.
• Mo Fei planned to expose Tom to venomous snakes so he could develop his Parseltongue while Mo Fei used the snakes to improve his medical skills.
• Mo Fei intended to teach Tom genuine noble conduct and broaden his understanding of Muggles so he could face Slytherin prejudice with confidence.

Mo Fei told the children a version of The Little Mermaid and used its warning about costly choices to prepare Mia for the possibility of adoption. As the orphanage’s bread business was about to resume, a Book of Admittance and a Quill of Acceptance recorded a child’s name in a distant castle.

• Mo Fei began telling the children stories at dinner and adapted The Little Mermaid, describing the mermaid’s bargain with the sea witch and her unhappy life among humans.
• The children debated the story, and Mo Fei warned them not to pursue choices whose costs they could not bear.
• Mo Fei told Mia to choose any adoptive family carefully, and reassured her that she could stay at the orphanage.
• The young lady of the Winter family received an apology from Miles and the others, and the bakery was repaired so the orphanage’s bread business could resume.
• A Book of Admittance and a Quill of Acceptance recorded a child’s name in a distant castle.

Mo Fei and the orphanage children prepared to welcome Miss Colleen and discuss their bread-selling business. Colleen arrived and began meeting the children, while her maid and bodyguard inspected the orphanage.

• Mo Fei prepared the orphanage with the children, baking white bread and making milk tea for Colleen’s visit.
• Colleen arrived by carriage and entered the orphanage, quietly remarking to Molly on how run-down the neighborhood was.
• Mo Fei welcomed Colleen and learned from her remarks that she seemed unfamiliar with the East End and poor people’s living conditions.
• Colleen asked the children to introduce themselves, and Aiwen introduced everyone.
• Molly checked the orphanage’s cleanliness while the bodyguard watched for danger and briefly felt uneasy near the swaddled child; both approved their inspection, pleasing Colleen.

Colleen considered supporting Mia’s theatrical prospects while arranging for the orphanage’s bread to be sold through the Bread Workshop. The plan was settled, and Colleen said she would visit weekly to eat fresh bread.

• Colleen saw Mia’s resemblance to a theater lead and began considering helping her enter the theater.
• Mo Fei deferred discussion of Mia and served Colleen fresh bread and milk tea, which she enjoyed.
• Colleen arranged for two people to manage the Bread Workshop and offered two children five pounds a week to help there.
• Colleen proposed that Mo Fei make two batches of bread daily, with production costs and bakery business settled weekly and donations made monthly.
• Colleen allowed Aiwen to keep selling small amounts of bread in the West End and said she would visit the orphanage each week for fresh bread.
• Mia told Colleen that the children liked how pretty and kind she was, and everyone laughed together.

After Colleen suggested Mia might have a future in theater, Mo Fei explained the opportunity and its difficulties while the children celebrated the orphanage’s prospects. Meanwhile, the Winter family renovated the bakery, and Miles quietly blamed the orphanage for losing control of it.

• Colleen left the orphanage after suggesting that Mia had potential for theater, and Mo Fei turned away curious neighbors.
• Mo Fei promised the children improvements to the orphanage and celebrated with bread and milk tea.
• Mo Fei explained theaters to Mia and the other children, describing both the possible rewards and the demanding training and uncertain roles.
• Mia hesitated over the opportunity, and Mo Fei left her to consider Colleen’s invitation without pressure.
• The Winter family remodeled the bakery and planned to move its ovens to the orphanage, while Miles watched resentfully and blamed the orphanage.

Mo Fei worked with Stefan and Kalai to establish Love Bread, a bakery supported by the Winter family, while involving the orphanage children in its business. As the shop prospered, Mo Fei began preparing Aiwen and the other children to face life beyond the orphanage.

• Stefan arrived from Earl Winter's household with a flatbed cart and an oven, and Mo Fei loaded the bread for delivery while discussing bakery plans with him.
• Mo Fei and Stefan agreed to focus on affordable black bread while also offering some higher-end breads, pastries, and steamed buns.
• Vil-V joked that Mo Fei was selling steamed buns meant for her tavern, whose business had grown after serving them with improved dishes.
• Mo Fei, Stefan, and Kalai named the shop Love Bread and displayed the Winter family crest after the earl's butler approved the sign.
• The orphanage's neighbors came to support the bakery, and Aiwen began learning sales and communication from Stefan while the other children took turns helping.

Mo Fei helped the orphanage prosper while arranging for Mia to study theater under the Winter family’s protection. A month before Kyle’s birthday, an owl delivered him a letter, confirming Mo Fei’s suspicions that Kyle was a wizard and raising new questions about his past.

• Mo Fei agreed that Mia could become a servant of the Winter family and study drama at the theater once she turned ten, and Colleen arranged for Molly to accompany her.
• Mo Fei cultivated wheat and pasture grass, improved his combat and medical skills, and taught the children to fight and recover from training.
• An owl tapped at the orphanage window and brought Kyle a letter sealed with wax.
• Mo Fei saw Kyle’s excited reaction and concluded that Kyle was a wizard, while wondering what he already knew about the letter and his background.