Mirror Flower · Qingming (Middle)
Xing Rui entered carrying a bowl of Huafeng instant noodles, interrupting the standoff.
The fragrance wafted over with the heat, Yong Shisi sniffed it, feeling somewhat tempted.
She thought for a moment, then uttered her first Earthly word, "Thank you!"
Then he took the bowl of Three Delicacies Noodles from Xing Rui, whose raised hand remained suspended in mid-air.
"--No, I made it for myself!"
Xiong Yupan couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Zhao Weimin waved his hand at Xing Rui.
"Make yourself another bowl, and bring me one too."
"--good."
Ultimately, Zhao Weimin confirmed that Yong Shisi could understand some of his words, but only very slowly.
It seems like they are learning and adapting.
"Foreigners?" Zhao Weimin frowned.
But the Yong Shisi negates this judgment.
During their hesitant conversation, Yong Shisi said she didn't see the big rock explode. She simply saw people gathering and went over out of curiosity to watch the spectacle.
Then, when asked about her identity, Yong Shisi simply gave a cute smile and remained silent.
Having at least eaten and drunk her fill, she felt she should be kinder to those who had provided the food.
Zhao Weimin questioned them repeatedly but didn't get any useful information.
"Comprehend Languages" continues to drain one's mental energy; this is a typical example of excessive information intake.
Yong Shisi looked exhausted.
She deeply regretted judging the world based on the level of education of the Eden People.
"Little Bear, don't you have a spare bed in your dorm? Take her there for the night," Zhao Weimin suggested.
"Okay," Xiong Yupan replied.
Police officers are provided with dormitories for rest during their shifts or standby duties due to their needs for night shifts or emergency response.
It can't compare to living at home, but it still has all the basic living necessities.
Xiong Yupan's apartment is a double room.
Two single beds were placed against the two walls on either side, and a wooden table was placed between them by the window. A double-door wardrobe stood in the corner, with a police uniform and several civilian clothes hanging on it.
There was a plastic basin under the table, and a half-burnt mosquito coil on the windowsill.
Yong Shisi looked around.
There are many items, and I don't recognize many of the small objects. I can only determine their function by observing how others use them.
The room has an attached bathroom with a water heater.
Xiong Yupan took out an old T-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts from the closet.
Wear this tonight and sleep here.
She put the clothes on the bed and then pointed to the bathroom.
"Bath."
Yong Shisi didn't move, Xiong Yupan sighed and went by herself.
There is a door, but it cannot block the Penetrating Vision.
Yong Shisi watched Xiong Yupan turned on the water valve, and hot water sprayed from the showerhead.
And as expected, there was no fluctuation of fire-based spells.
****
After Xiong Yupan showering, Yong Shisi followed suit and took a nice, relaxing shower.
After being doused with hot water, even my headache subsided considerably.
When she came out, Xiong Yupan had already dried her hair.
She helped Yong Shisi dry his hair, and the fragrant scent of shampoo wafted out.
Xiong Yupan originally wanted to chat, but considering the ten-second reflection delay at Jiao Shisi, she ultimately gave up.
Yong Shisi lay on the bed; the mattress here was much softer than in the hospital.
She felt herself sinking into it, and then being supported by a soft force.
Even without Magic Power, the humans of this world can still use light, heat, and ice to create mobile mounts and build houses hundreds of meters tall.
Even the richness of the food's flavor far surpasses the highest form of communion in Eden.
This is completely different from the idea before Yong Shisi.
A world where Magicules was so depleted it was almost a desert; I had originally thought it would be a primeval wilderness.
Xiong Yupan lay on her side with her back to her, her breathing gradually becoming steady.
Yong Shisi couldn't understand it. Did this woman really dare to sleep in the same room with someone of unknown origin?
She pulled the blanket over herself and raised a finger.
A faint trace of Magic Power flashed across her fingertips, then spread outwards, transforming into tiny marks.
"Alert Spell"—anything that enters her range will immediately wake her up.
After doing all this, Yong Shisi closed his eyes.
She had only planned to take a short nap, but her body felt refreshed after her bath, enveloped in the soft bed and blankets. The faint hum of the air conditioner's outdoor unit came from the window, and she could hear another person breathing evenly beside her.
The tension that had been building since I came into this world has unconsciously begun to ease.
Yong Shisi quickly fell asleep.
****
The next day, everyone went to work.
Yong Shisi was taken to the interrogation room again, this time by a slightly stern officer named Ding Yueli.
"Little sister, since you can speak, you have an obligation to tell us your true identity and cooperate with the police." Ding Yueli said to Yong Shisi face.
Yong Shisi rubbed his head.
After resting for so long, her headache has eased considerably.
Speak slowly.
He answered slowly with Yong Shisi.
"Or, write."
Ding Yueli coughed lightly and exchanged a glance with Xiong Yupan, who was taking notes beside him.
Xiong Yupan copied down the questions she had just asked and handed them to Yong Shisi.
I carefully identified each character in the character Yong Shisi and understood its meaning.
"I will cooperate," Yong Shisi replied.
"Name?" Ding Yueli asked.
In the legends of this world, there is also a mythical beast called Luduan, described as having "rhinoceros horns, a lion's body, and a dragon's back," and capable of "traveling 18,000 li a day."
Yong Shisi wrote down the character "Lu", but she quickly crossed it out.
She didn't like the name at all, or rather, it was just the experimental subject number she was given.
Yong Shisi turned his head and looked out the window of the interrogation room.
A gentle morning breeze blew, and several large-leaved banyan trees stood outside the window, their leaves glossy, with black cables running through them from utility poles.
A deep rumble came from high above.
Yong Shisi raised his eyes and saw a huge white "alchemy iron bird" steadily climbing up.
Looking further up, there is an almost crystal-clear blue.
She often looked up at the sky.
But above Eden, the gaze of Jörmungandr always looms, coldly looking down upon all living beings with a suffocating oppression.
Here, only a few wisps of white clouds float by, and the sky seems endlessly high.
The vast, clear blue sky is the most beautiful scenery.
Yong Shisi the language he absorbed, he found a word.
"Qingming."
Yong Shisi wrote on the paper, his strokes somewhat clumsy.
There is a surname "Qing", but using "Ming" in a given name sounds strange.
Ding Yueli smiled, realizing the source of the story.
"The Qingming stretches endlessly, its depths unfathomable," is a line from "A Farewell to Tianmu Mountain in a Dream."
Qingming, a vast and deep expanse.
Yong Shisi didn't fully understand, only catching the words "Qingming," and nodded slightly.
Ding Yueli didn't dwell on it and continued to inquire about the girl who called herself "Qingming's" background, as well as the process and details of her appearance at the mahogany furniture factory explosion site.
Next to the interrogation room, Zhao Weimin frowned.
Knowing Li Bai's poems is quite contradictory to her clumsy handwriting and halting spoken language.
Furthermore, from yesterday until now, or rather, from the moment we first met until now, the target's language skills seem to be improving rapidly.
The only explanation is that Qingming was faking it.
But Zhao Weimin had a gut feeling that it didn't seem like it.
Her bewilderment when she couldn't understand, and her bewilderment at her slow reaction, were all too real.
It also serves no purpose whatsoever.
Zhao Weimin wrote down this point of doubt in his notebook.
There are three other organized records above:
1. The target has athletic abilities beyond his age, suggesting he may have received professional sports training, or even have a background in combat sports.
2. Appeared at the scene of a bizarre explosion, without any clothes or belongings (except for a wooden pendant), and with unusually clean skin and hair.
3. More than 48 hours have passed since the discovery, and no family member has reported it to the police.
****
Qingming's interrogation record filled an entire page.
Zhao Weimin scanned it carefully; it offered little insight, her identity remained unclear, and when asked, she simply said she had forgotten.
I searched the household registration system for the name "Qingming" but couldn't find any matching information.
However, Zhao Weimin quickly got busy because the expert team had provided a new direction for the analysis of the bombing case.
A case briefing was convened quickly.
"Liquid oxygen explosives?" Xing Rui asked in surprise, "Can liquid oxygen be used to make explosives?"
"Any combustible material with a porous structure, when immersed in liquid oxygen, becomes an explosive," the expert team explained.
He first explained in detail the principle of liquid oxygen explosives.
"The combustible medium immersed in liquid oxygen burns and releases heat; the excess liquid oxygen vaporizes instantly, thus expanding and crushing the rock."
Liquid oxygen explosives have exceptional safety features and are easy to operate with, making them widely used in many production environments.
"Its detonation velocity is only one-twentieth that of ordinary explosives, so the released shock wave and vibration are relatively small, which is consistent with the characteristics of the incident at the scene."
"The key is one," experts emphasize.
"It's not polluted!"
The curtains in the meeting room were drawn, and several photos of the scene were displayed on the projection screen. One of them was a feng shui stone that had been broken, with the broken surfaces marked with red circles.
The expert took a pen and made some dots on the photo.
"After a liquid oxygen explosive detonates, the residual oxidizer evaporates rapidly. If the flammable medium used by the suspect is also unusual, it will be impossible to extract any characteristic substances from the scene."
Experts told everyone.
"Although some details still don't match."
"But this is the most likely scenario based on our analysis!"
****
An explosion is a heinous event at any time, so everyone quickly assigned tasks and began investigating the source and storage conditions of the liquid oxygen.
Liquid oxygen has a wide range of applications, mainly in medical oxygen supply, metallurgy, chemical industry, and some engineering fields.
Zhao Weimin and Xing Rui were in a group, driving a Santana to a quarry in the suburbs.
The law stipulates that liquid oxygen explosives are prohibited from use in underground mining operations, but they can still be used in open-pit mining.
"Xing Rui, when are you going to get your driver's license?" Zhao Weimin asked, gripping the steering wheel.
"Hehe." Xing Rui chuckled, "Master, I've just been busy."
"Even when you're busy, you have to learn," Zhao Weimin scolded, "So that every time you go on a field mission, someone else will be your driver!"
After leaving the main road, the Santana drove along the bumpy mountain road until it encountered an excavator loading Crushed Stone onto a dump truck.
The quarry owner had already been notified and was waiting by the roadside wearing a hard hat.
"Liquid oxygen is very safe. If there's a dud, there's no need to clean it up. Just wait 10-15 minutes for the liquid oxygen to evaporate." The quarry owner led the two men to the stainless steel vacuum storage tank.
"So, the amount of liquid oxygen used in production is not fixed?" Zhao Weimin asked.
"It doesn't matter, it's cheap!" the shop owner said enthusiastically.
"A ton of liquid oxygen costs less than 300 yuan."
"You can use any flammable material you like to fill it in."
"Burning cotton is a luxury." He kicked at a sack beside him, revealing a pile of black powder. "We just use ground coal, four hundred yuan a ton."
"So cheap?" Xing Rui was taken aback when he heard this.
The boss held up three fingers, "Spread out like this, the cost of blasting one ton of rock is only two or three yuan!"
With a ton of Crushed Stone selling for only a few dozen yuan, they naturally try their best to cut every penny of cost.
Xing Rui checked the quarry's approval procedures and procurement records and found no problems.
"Is there anyone who can take the liquid oxygen out of here and use it elsewhere?" Zhao Weimin asked.
"Oh!!" The boss immediately realized, "You're here because of the bombing at the mahogany furniture factory, aren't you!"
He had obviously already heard about it.
"Then this person must have a double-walled vacuum insulated storage tank."
He told the two of them.
"Didn't I just say that once this thing is taken out of the storage tank, it only takes 10-15 minutes for it to become ineffective?"
Liquid oxygen has a boiling point of -183 degrees Celsius and dissipates rapidly when exposed to air.
However, specialized storage tanks can reduce the evaporation rate of liquid oxygen storage to 0.5% per day.
The shop owner patted the jar.
"This is special equipment, strictly regulated, and it all has a serial number."
The furniture factory is far from the quarry, making transportation without specialized insulation equipment impractical.
Zhao Weimin nodded, carefully noted down the relevant information in his notebook, and finally summarized it:
The investigation will focus on entities or individuals with small-scale storage and transportation capabilities and abnormal records of liquid oxygen procurement and usage.
****
Next, Zhao Weimin and Xing Rui visited an oxygen repackaging plant used for oxygen cutting.
Workers packaged industrial oxygen into rows of blue steel cylinders, then mixed it with acetylene and sold it to nearby users.
No problems were found here either.
Just as they were about to head to the next location, Zhao Weimin's mobile phone rang; it was Xiong Yupan calling.
Zhao Weimin was delighted upon hearing this.
"The criminal has been caught?"
"Yes, the market supervision department is also conducting a joint investigation this time," she told Zhao Weimin.
"During their inspection of Moutai Gas Co., Ltd., they discovered that they were suspected of selling industrial oxygen as medical oxygen to hospitals."
"Our entourage immediately brought the boss and those responsible back."
Medical oxygen has higher requirements for production and testing, and its price is approximately 500 yuan per ton.
They sell inferior goods as superior ones, making a profit of two to three hundred yuan per ton.
As for the patients, many of them don't understand that the faint smell of oxygen is abnormal.
Even many patients who need oxygen may not be fully conscious.
Ironically, the harmful components are not obvious, which can only be described as extremely unethical.
Zhao Weimin frowned.
"What does this have to do with the bombing?"
Xiong Yupan used the office landline and explained the situation to Zhao Weimin from her office.
"The boss of a certain company refused to admit to using industrial oxygen as a substitute, even resorting to sophistry and instructing his employees to destroy evidence."
"But during questioning, he confessed that he personally carried out the stone explosion at the furniture factory!"
Zhao Weimin's eyes widened.
"No, is there something wrong with him?"
"The person has already signed and put their fingerprint on it," Xiong Yupan, sticking out her tongue.
Behind her, Qingming concealed his fingers in his sleeve, a faint, dark light emanating from his fingertips just fading away.
It was a mental spell; she forcibly manipulated a "scapegoat" to confess and take the blame for smashing the large rock in the furniture factory.
But that guy doesn't seem to be a good person either; he deserved what he got, which is probably a good thing.
The Qingming Heart Path conceals its merits and fame.
****
The "bombing of the mahogany furniture factory" ended quickly.
Despite the fact that the boss's account of many details of the scene contained errors and omissions, and that the timing of the crime did not quite match up.
Even without considering that the witness is his relative, he has an alibi.
Zhao Weimin also believed there were many suspicious points, but the suspect confessed.
And there is another crucial point:
Moutai Gas Co., Ltd. does indeed possess small-scale cryogenic storage and transportation equipment, thus meeting the requirements for committing the crime.
"If only we had a telescope here too," Zhao Weimin remarked with a sigh.
In this era, a very small number of cities in China have begun to build large-scale urban video surveillance systems. Cameras are deployed on roads, intersections, and key areas, and the images are collected and reviewed.
It is currently in the pilot phase.
In this case, if this kind of cover were available, we could know exactly what vehicles and people went to the mahogany furniture factory; everything would be crystal clear.
Unfortunately, no.
As the case entered its later stages, relevant personnel were taken into custody in accordance with the law, and materials were beginning to be transferred to the procuratorate.
Zhao Weimin's team was able to find time to begin dealing with Qingming's matter.
"Still no matching police report?" he asked Xing Rui.
Xing Rui nodded.
It's been almost a week.
During this time, because of Zhao Weimin's stubborn suspicion, he kept Qingming at the bureau and did not send him to the shelter.
"The DNA comparison didn't find a match," Xiong Yupan.
In that era, DNA family databases did not have the comprehensive coverage that they have today, so it's normal that matches don't always occur.
"Qingming has clearly received excellent athletic training. Let's investigate him at the nearby sports schools," Zhao Weimin said.
"Okay," Xing Rui replied.
Zhao Weimin considered the situation in his mind. If Qingming still refused to reveal his true identity, then according to procedure, he got up and went to the bookshelf in the public area to look for relevant regulations, but he couldn't find them.
"Hey, where's that 'Law on the Protection of Minors'?" Zhao Weimin asked the clerk.
"Oh, that little girl took it," the other person replied.
Sure enough, in the lounge, Zhao Weimin saw Qingming sitting there flipping through a book.
There was also a stack of newspapers from the past few days next to her.
Besides the "Law on the Protection of Minors," Qingming was also flipping through a copy of the "Basic Norms for Rescue and Protection Institutions for Homeless Minors," document number Minfa [2006] 118.
Zhao Weimin frowned.
Over this period of time, Qingming has become extremely fluent in speech.
Now he's completely dropped the pretense and started reading newspapers and magazines right away.
Legal documents are difficult for even a normal 13-year-old girl to fully understand.
There's a joke that goes, "Those who seriously study the regulations are either practitioners or criminals."
"Of course, right now she should be a girl trying to obtain a 'brand new identity' through the rules," Zhao Weimin to himself.
Qingming saw Zhao Weimin.
Good afternoon, Lao Zhao. Have you eaten yet?
She gave a standard greeting.
"Not yet," Zhao Weimin said helplessly.
Qingming immediately put away the book and headed to the cafeteria with practiced ease.
"Shall we go together, Lao Zhao?"
It was indeed lunchtime, and Zhao Weimin and Qingming walked towards the cafeteria together.
"How have you been lately?" Zhao Weimin asked.
"It's fine," Qingming replied sincerely.
Compared to Eden, here you can get water just by turning on any valve, and some of it is even hot.
Press a switch on the wall and the lights above your head will turn on; if you feel hot, the fan will spin by itself, and the device called air conditioning can cool the whole room.
More importantly, they are ubiquitous and extremely commonplace.
There was also food.
Shrimp dumplings, rice noodle rolls, char siu, wonton noodles, egg tarts, and all sorts of other things that Qingming couldn't name.
Sugar and spices should never be skimped on.
Meat isn't something that only appears in sacrificial rites. The cafeteria staff thought she was young, so they would give her a couple more pieces in her bowl.
To be honest, compared to how much she flaunted it at the beginning, she's now a bit tired of seeing fatty meat.
Qingming even suspected that this public security agency might be High Rank noble agency.
After going out a few more times, I realized that the small shops along the street were pretty much the same.
Ordinary people in this world live lives that even the nobles of Eden could not imagine.
But these are all secondary.
Life here is unrestricted!
There were no four daily prayers, and no constant recitation of scriptures.
There is no need to clasp your hands together in prayer before eating, drinking, or going to bed.
At sunrise and sunset, there is no need to kneel and kowtow to the sun to welcome and bid farewell to the light.
In Eden, the prayers vary each day according to the stars.
If anything is omitted or wrong, one must be reprimanded, make up for it, and be given an additional set of penance rituals.
We don't want any of it here, absolutely none!
Qingming's heart leaped with joy!
****
In the cafeteria, the two met Xing Rui and Xiong Yupan and sat down at a table.
Two young people are discussing their fieldwork for the day after tomorrow.
Qingming caught a key word.
"Zhuhai Airshow, what's that?"
"You can see a lot of weapons and equipment on display, as well as air shows," Xing Rui explained. "We've been reassigned to provide support; we'll be there for a few days."
Qingming had already read the report in the newspaper and knew what kind of exhibition it was.
She wanted to understand the weapons and equipment of this world.
The forces we've encountered so far are law enforcement officers, but based on the information gathered, they are far from being the high-end combat force of this world.
"Can you take me with you?" Qingming asked.
"It's not feasible in principle," Xing Rui said helplessly, his gaze turning to his master.
Zhao Weimin ate a couple of mouthfuls of rice, feeling somewhat helpless under the watchful eyes of the three people.
"Okay, I'll get her a ticket."
Qingming's eyes immediately curved into a smile.
"Thank you, Lao Zhao!"
***
Two days later, at the Zhuhai Airshow, in the viewing area.
Qingming up, a J-10 sped overhead, then suddenly pulled up. The thunderous roar of its engine followed a moment later, shaking the surrounding air.
She assessed the situation and realized that her flight speed was nowhere near that of the fighter jet.
It couldn't even reach the tail flame.
Not only her, but within the Clock Hand, only the Hairspring with its cheating abilities could do it.
After the air show ended, Qingming wandered around with a visitor's guidebook in hand.
On the tarmac, rows of aircraft of various shapes and sizes are neatly arranged.
JH-7, HY-6, J-8D, and other helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles that Qingming couldn't name.
Inside the exhibition hall, there are models of various cannons, radars, missiles, rockets, and spacecraft.
Steel, composite materials, wiring, machinery.
There are no magic crystals, no magic runes.
Qingming released his senses, but the feedback he received was still complete silence.
But these very things can unleash attacks far exceeding the speed of sound, detecting distances that even the strongest beings in Eden cannot reach within one percent of.
Perhaps a strong person like her is capable of dealing with these weapons and equipment.
However, the number of strong individuals in Eden is limited.
These pieces of equipment are merely exhibits; they can be mass-produced. What's even more frightening is that if one individual piece shows improvement, it means that the entire system can benefit from that improvement.
Ordinary humans, with training, can control it.
Qingming was utterly shocked.
This is a completely unfamiliar and terrifying power system!
****
The day after returning from the airshow, Qingming developed a high fever.
Qingming was immediately sent to the city hospital. At first, the doctor thought it was just a common cold, but unexpectedly, the more she was treated, the more diseases she contracted.
The patient experienced recurring high fever, followed by respiratory infection and then intestinal symptoms. Inflammatory markers were abnormally high in turn, eventually progressing to sepsis. Doctors initially suspected that Qingming had an immune system disorder, but after a series of tests, they could not find a completely explainable cause.
Qingming was rushed to the provincial central hospital, where he was admitted to the ICU and lay there for a full week.
When she was finally transferred to a regular ward, Xiong Yupan and Xing Rui went to see her. The girl had lost a lot of weight.
But he seemed to be in good spirits.
"What exactly happened to you?" Xing Rui asked curiously, "How come you have so many infections?"
No one quite understood, since the girl had been perfectly fine for the first few days they spent together, and the first hospital visit didn't reveal anything abnormal.
Qingming shook his head slightly.
She could roughly understand that she had been infected by a virus or bacteria from this world.
But there were many more things she couldn't understand.
When she traversed space, a large number of tiny organisms on her body surface and inside her body were washed away by the spatial storm.
Could it be related to this?
Qingming himself lacked affinity for the light element, and the medical equipment he carried was also damaged, making it impossible for him to use spells related to "curing diseases".
Therefore, she could only let the healers of this world treat her.
IV drip, blood draw, examination, medication--
Fortunately, these people did their best and really pulled her back from danger little by little.
Qingming was somewhat moved, but she was even more confused about what kind of world this was.
I am nothing more than an outsider of unknown origin.
Moreover, judging from what I've heard during this period, the treatment costs are quite high, but there have been people from the civil affairs department and the hospital coordinating the process.
She couldn't understand it.
Xiong Yupan looked at the girl's swollen arm from the syringe and felt a pang of heartache.
"Just say so if you're feeling unwell."
Qingming chuckled and shook his head.
"It's nothing, it's nothing."
That's the truth; it really isn't much.
Qingming is Old Humanity, meaning a human who has not evolved magical abilities.
They share the same origin as the Rift Tribe and Orcs of Taya, and also with these non-magical humans on Earth.
She was among the very few and most discriminated beings in Eden, her status was worse than that of pigs and dogs.
Jörmungandr attempted to merge the bloodline Yongduan the legendary beasts into other living beings in order to obtain individuals who could use spatial powers, but he repeatedly failed.
Ultimately, he drew inspiration from the orcs of the Taya World.
If a demon race cannot be fused, then use a non-demonic race.
Is it actually easier to write new content on a blank sheet of paper?
As a result, Qingming and her people were conscripted.
Ultimately, Jörmungandr acquired a group of "Half-Yongduan".
The process was bloody and cruel.
Qingming's number fourteen does not mean she was the fourteenth test subject, but rather the fourteenth to survive.
She didn't know how many people had died; she only knew that the Old Humanity race was almost extinct in Eden.
So compared to what Qingming had experienced, this period of ICU hospitalization was completely peaceful and sunny.
Xiong Yupan held up the apple she had brought and asked the nurse.
Can she eat fruit now?
The nurse shook her head.
"Let's start with some porridge and milk."
"Good!"
****
Qingming's illness struck like a landslide, but his recovery was not slow.
About a week later, she was lively and energetic again, able to eat one and a half boxed meals in one sitting.
Xing Rui processed her discharge from the hospital and took Qingming back to the police station.
By this time, all the investigation procedures regarding her had been completed, and as Zhao Weimin had predicted, all channels had yielded nothing.
Qingming appeared out of nowhere, like a visitor from outer space. No matter how hard the police tried, they couldn't find any trace of her origin.
"Wow, this girl is something else." Even one of the police officers involved in the investigation was convinced.
Zhao Weimin called Qingming over.
"Qingming, you've read the relevant regulations. Since you know them, I won't hide them from you," Zhao Weimin said.
"At this point, we can only assume your identity is unknown and will hand you over to the civil affairs department for resettlement."
"As is customary, they will register your identity and place your household registration under the name of the welfare institution."
Qingming smiled, which meant that she would obtain a legal identity in this world.
"Then what?"
Zhao Weimin held up two fingers.
"The primary destination is a regular child welfare institution."
"Secondly, if conditions are right, you can also contact SOS Children's Villages or similar organizations to see if they have the capacity to accept children."
He explained the difference to Qingming.
"The former generally involves centralized care in institutions, while the latter is closer to a family-style life."
"But no matter where you go, you need to go back to school."
There is so much unfamiliar knowledge in this world, Qingming needs to enroll in school to receive an education, which is exactly what she seeks.
Qingming nodded.
"Actually, either is fine, but please allow me to think about it and choose."
Zhao Weimin didn't finish speaking.
"There is a third option: the local civil affairs department will review and approve the application for family foster care in accordance with regulations."
"Family foster care?" Qingming frowned.
"It means entrusting children under the guardianship of the civil affairs department to qualified families for care through formal procedures."
"Compared to living in an institution, the living environment here will be closer to that of an ordinary family."
Qingming, however, looked at Zhao Weimin.
"Uncle Zhao, what are you trying to say?"
She now realizes that it was wrong to call him "Old Zhao" like everyone else.
Of course, calling him "Zhao Weimin" is also incorrect.
Zhao Weimin sat up straight.
"For example, I am a foster family that is willing to apply and meets the basic requirements."
He paused here.
"So, would you like to come to my house?"
Hearing this Xiong Yupan delighted.
"Say yes quickly!" she said to Qingming.
Old Zhao is a very good person!
"This is definitely much better than going to an orphanage or a children's village!"
Qingming narrowed his eyes.
This man was different from other police officers; he would often scrutinize her with a critical eye from an angle where she couldn't see him.
He would occasionally doodle or write in his notebook.
Zhao Weimin remained suspicious of Qingming, so he instinctively wanted to keep her within his sight.
Qingming chuckled softly, his eyebrows curving upwards.
"Okay, Uncle Zhao!"
"Then I'll trouble you to take care of me!"