The Yellow-Haired Villain in Soaring Phoenix’s Novels Also Desires Happiness - Chapter 202
127. The Tenderness of a Young Girl
Lota Orphanage.
In the morning mist, the matron peeked out from behind the door, cautiously looking at the man in a black suit before her.
“Sir… may I ask who you are looking for?”
“Hello.”
Mu En took off his top hat and politely greeted her:
“I am Bruce Wayne, a… philanthropist.”
“Philanthropist?”
The matron still had a look of suspicion, but when Mu En handed her a gilded card, her doubts and indifference melted away like winter snow.
The card bore official certification, detailing how many schools this gentleman named Bruce had helped build, how many supplies he had donated. He even personally distributed food to the hungry poor in the lower city during winter, earning the affection of the underprivileged—a rare and benevolent nobleman.
The matron immediately adopted a warm demeanor, respectfully welcoming Mu En inside.
“Ah, sir, why didn’t you give us a heads-up? We haven’t prepared anything yet.”
“Isn’t this how I can see the true state of this orphanage? This will determine the extent of my donation.”
Mu En smiled as he followed the matron into the orphanage.
Then his smile gradually froze.
Outside, obscured by tall walls, he could not see.
But upon entering the gate, he discovered that this orphanage… was truly dilapidated.
At the end of the wide courtyard stood a row of houses made of mud, lined up neatly, but time had left indelible marks on the buildings. The walls were full of cracks, most of the glass was shattered, covered with newspaper, and there were several large holes in the roof, simply covered with thatch.
Only the courtyard was spacious enough, dotted with many trees and rudimentary play equipment.
Could these houses really withstand the winter?
“Why is it so run-down?”
Mu En frowned, a bit angry. “The orphanage should have funding from above, right?”
“That funding… is too little.”
The old woman tugged at her tattered apron, speaking hesitantly:
“And besides, the funding has been decreasing year by year. Those in charge think our orphanage has no real need to exist. Every year, hardly anyone comes to adopt the orphans. If it weren’t for the kind-hearted people who have been donating money over the years, this orphanage would have closed down long ago.”
“No one comes to adopt the orphans?”
Mu En was puzzled, just about to ask, when a clear bell rang out in the courtyard.
Then the entire orphanage fully awakened. A few minutes later, one by one, the children, rubbing their sleepy eyes, walked out from their rooms into a small side room where the waiting old women helped them begin to wash up.
“What is this…”
Mu En’s heart tightened, for in his line of sight, all the children had varying degrees of disabilities.
Missing hands.
Missing feet.
Blindness.
Deafness.
Cleft lips.
Albinism.
As these children passed by Mu En, he realized he did not see a single normal, or rather, whole person.
“Is this the reason no one adopts them?”
Mu En suddenly understood. How could a group of disabled children be adopted?
But then his heart ached,
“These children can only stay until they’re eleven?”
“Do you know, sir?”
The old woman showed a bitter and self-reproachful expression, her eyes reddening as she said:
“There’s nothing we can do. Ensuring they can safely spend their childhood is already the limit of what we can achieve.”
“I see.”
Mu En couldn’t help but sigh.
Just as this old woman said, for this impoverished orphanage, this was all they could do; they could not be too demanding.
This was the limitation of the times.
“Are all the children in this orphanage disabled?”
“Yes, they are all children that other orphanages are unwilling to take in, each with some physical defect, more or less.”
Only accepting children that other orphanages refuse, those with flaws?
That senior…
No, to be precise, although the senior is physically whole, she is perhaps the most flawed child in this orphanage.
Next, Mu En followed the matron as she guided him through the place. The physically challenged orphans looked at him, this rare guest, with great curiosity. Mu En smiled slightly and, as if performing a magic trick, produced a large amount of candies, snacks, and toys. Soon, the whole orphanage was filled with the sound of children’s laughter.
However, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a little girl hiding far away, seemingly unwilling to come closer.
…
Later, Mu En was brought before an old lady whose hair had turned completely white; she was the head of this orphanage.
After a round of self-introduction, Mu En directly stated his purpose.
“I want to investigate someone.”
“Who?”
“Anna Carver.”
“…What is your relationship with her?”
“A friend.”
“A friend?”
The headmistress showed a somewhat surprised expression and looked deeply at Mu En.
“What a surprise, that child who always keeps her heart closed actually has a friend.
Moreover, from the looks of you, it seems like it’s more than just a friendship.”
The headmistress, with her practiced insight, seemed to have anticipated this and handed a stack of documents to Mu En.
“Actually, there’s nothing much to investigate. That child in the orphanage was simply someone who didn’t fit in at all, very reclusive, but when alone, she could be a wildly ordinary girl.”
“No, what you’re saying, headmistress, is already quite rare for an ordinary girl.”
Mu En chuckled and began to flip through the documents.
The file wasn’t thick; it was just a simple record of the girl.
The girl recorded within was exactly like the one the senior spoke of, sneaking out in the morning to play wildly before returning.
She would spend her earnings on candies and give them to the matrons to distribute, yet she never interacted with the other children in the orphanage.
There was nothing particularly special; nothing could be discerned from the documents.
“Senior… Has Anna ever returned after leaving the orphanage?” Mu En closed the file and asked softly.
“No.” The headmistress replied decisively.
“None?”
Mu En was taken aback.
This didn’t seem like the senior’s style.
“Not even once?”
“Of course not. Neither did she ever come back, nor did she send any money to the orphanage. Once she left, we had nothing to do with her, right?”
The director suddenly became indifferent.
“Mr. Bruce, even if you are Anna’s friend, if your purpose is not to donate to the orphanage, please do not waste our time. I have many matters regarding the children to attend to.”
“…No.”
Mu En fell silent for a moment, turning to look out the window, his palm repeatedly opening and closing, tightening into a fist as he whispered to himself.
He always felt that the director was hiding something.
“Please let me see again, just one more time.”
Behind the house was a vast expanse of farmland owned by the orphanage.
It was harvest season now. After breakfast, these children, some looking only three or four years old, others leaning on canes, and some even feeling their way forward, were all eagerly helping the caregivers gather the crops with various tools. Despite being a group of children abandoned by fate, they appeared quite cheerful, their faces lit up with innocent smiles.
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Mu En approached the edge of the field. When the children saw him, they immediately waved and shouted, “Mr. Bruce!”
Mu En smiled and nodded in response. It seemed that the candies and snacks he had given earlier had indeed earned him their affection.
But in Mu En’s heart, he wasn’t so happy.
Because the purpose of his visit remained elusive. Even though the old man had sent him to the orphanage to seek what might be the truth, how was he supposed to find it?
The senior had left this orphanage ten years ago, and the director said she had never returned, having long severed ties with this place. How could there possibly be any so-called “truth” here?
The recent incident had no connection to this orphanage, no matter how one looked at it.
“Looks like I have to give up?”
Rather than wasting time on such a fruitless endeavor, he might as well think about how to deal with Yue…
Huh?
The irritation in his heart, which was almost turning into murderous intent, suddenly made Mu En look toward a tree by the field.
In stark contrast to the harmonious atmosphere, a little girl in black sat alone under the tree, intently drawing something.
The people in the orphanage seemed to have long since grown accustomed to the little girl’s outcast behavior; even the caregivers completely ignored her blatant “laziness.”
“She is…”
Mu En recognized the little girl. When he was handing out candies and snacks, she was the only child who hadn’t been drawn in.
“I can’t shake the feeling… that something is off.”
……
……
“What are you drawing?”
The little girl looked up warily, glancing at the unfamiliar man beside her.
After a moment, she tucked her little feet beneath her and softly said:
“Cake.”
“Cake?”
Mu En’s gaze fell on the drawing board, his lips twitching.
He thought it was a grinding stone.
“Do you like cake?”
“Mm, I really like it. Cake is very sweet, very delicious, and blowing out candles is also very fun.”
“Then…”
Mu En flipped his palm, and a small cake, wafting a sweet aroma, appeared in his hand as if by magic.
Mu En shook his hand, revealing a wicked smile like an evil uncle luring a little girl.
“Do you want to eat it?”
“Wow… it smells so good.”
The little girl sucked on her finger, her eyes fixated on the small cake, nearly drooling.
But after a moment’s hesitation, she reluctantly withdrew her gaze.
“My sister said I shouldn’t eat things from strangers.”
“I’m not a stranger. Look at your little friends; didn’t they eat my things? They’re perfectly fine.”
“Well…”
The little girl hesitated again, fidgeting for quite a while, but ultimately couldn’t resist the temptation of the cake. She took the small cake from Mu En’s hand and began to eat it eagerly.
She ate it with delight, her cheeks puffing up like a squirrel, looking very cute.
Watching her, Mu En felt a significant amount of his own frustration dissipate.
Taking the opportunity while the little girl was eating the cake, Mu En began to examine the drawing in her hand.
Though it looked like a grinding stone at first glance, once he knew it was a cake, he realized it truly resembled one.
Colorful, with brown bits sprinkled on it, like chocolate, it was clearly a birthday cake that ordinary people in the lower city could hardly afford.
Hmm?
Wait a minute?
Birthday cake?
Mu En suddenly looked up, gazing at the dilapidated orphanage…
Does this orphanage really have the spare money to buy cakes for the children?
But this little girl said the cake was delicious and blowing out candles was fun, which meant she really had eaten it.
She just mentioned her sister.
As if grasping something, Mu En’s heart suddenly raced.
“Can I ask you a few questions, big brother?”
“Um…” The little girl nodded vaguely.
“How old are you this year?”
“Ten years old.”
Ten years old, almost old enough to leave the orphanage. It seems that among those children, there shouldn’t be anyone she could call ‘sister.’
In other words…
“Did you eat the cake on your birthday this year?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Was it your sister who bought you the cake?”
“Mm-hmm.”
The innocent little girl was still focused on savoring the cake, completely unaware that she was gradually falling into Mu En’s trap.
“Then… is your sister who bought you the cake named… Anna?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the little girl suddenly widened her round, glistening eyes, her adorable face showing a look of terror. The half-eaten cake fell to the ground, but she no longer cared about the sweet treat, grabbing the drawing board and trying to escape.
But how could Mu En let her run away?
“Don’t run, please, don’t run.”
Mu En pressed down on the little girl’s shoulder, his voice trembling as he said:
“I’m not a bad person. I’m your sister Anna’s friend, really, I’m her friend.”
“Friend?”
The little girl’s face was filled with suspicion.
Just as Mu En was at a loss for how to gain the little girl’s trust, she suddenly leaned closer to him, sniffing him a few times.
“The smell of my sister…”
The distrust in the little girl’s eyes gradually faded. “You smell like my sister.”
“Smell…”
Mu En was taken aback.
He had indeed been in close proximity to Anna, even to the point of negative distance contact.
But had he really been in the water for so long that he could still smell it?
“I remember that senior… Anna has a very keen sense of smell…”
Mu En suddenly recalled this small detail.
And this seemingly casual remark seemed to completely win the little girl’s trust back. She sat down again, blinking her eyes and saying:
“You know this… you really are my sister’s friend?”
“Hmm.”
Mu En nodded vigorously, then couldn’t help but reveal a mysterious smile:
“And in the future, we might not just be friends.”
“Not just friends?”
The little girl blinked in confusion, her innocent little mind unable to comprehend the meaning behind Mu En’s words.
“Let’s not talk about that for now.”
Mu En returned to the main topic, “Since you believe I am your sister’s friend now, can you continue answering my questions?”
The little girl thought for a moment: “Sister told me not to tell these things to others, but since you’re her friend, it should be okay.”
“On your birthday, the one who brought you cake was indeed Anna, right?”
“Mm.”
“Then when is your birthday?”
Mu En stared into the little girl’s eyes and asked a bit nervously.
“It’s…”
The little girl counted carefully on her fingers.
“Seven days ago.”
Seven days!
Mu En’s heart jolted.
It just so happened to be the first day of the open day, the day Taike Rod was killed!
“Was it at night?”
“Mm, because during the day, the nannies would find out.”
“Were you there for a long time?”
“Mm, a long time.”
Mu En suddenly lowered her head, looking at the strange cake on the drawing board, her face showing an expression that was unsure whether to cry or laugh.
At night.
That was exactly when Taike Rod was killed.
And this orphanage was far from where he was murdered.
Unless the senior could fly, it was impossible for her to traverse half the city in such a short time.
But this city was the capital, where flying was prohibited.
Which means…
The senior could not have killed Taike Rod; she had the perfect alibi.
“But why… doesn’t the senior just tell the truth?”
In the face of interrogation, when the silence was broken, she could have spoken honestly.
Such matters are not difficult to prove.
One must know that even for those suffering from snake transformation disease, whether or not they have committed murder, the consequences they face are worlds apart.
The truth of this one sentence is, for her, the difference between life and death.
But why…
“Could it be that…”
Suddenly.
Mu En seemed to have thought of something; he raised his head again to look at the little girl.
“Can you… stand up and turn around?”
The little girl tilted her head in confusion but still got up obediently and turned around.
The slightly shiny black skirt fluttered, making her look like a butterfly dancing gracefully.
At that moment, Mu En finally understood what the previous sense of incongruity was.
— This little girl is healthy.
But in this orphanage that only accepts disabled children, being healthy is the greatest form of disability.
So, even without lifting the little girl’s sleeves to reveal the bandages that accidentally showed when she turned, Mu En knew what this meant.
She… has snake transformation disease.
Just like the senior, she has snake transformation disease.
That’s why the senior didn’t reveal the truth.
Just like on a first date, even if she got scratched, she would still bandage the little cat’s wounds.
That girl, who clearly enjoyed mischief, teasing others, and playing pranks, yet was gentler than anyone else, had always been protecting this little girl.
……
……
“I have to go now.”
Mu En patted the little girl’s head.
“So soon?”
The little girl, who had completely “fallen” under Mu En’s cake onslaught, blinked reluctantly.
“Don’t worry, you’ll soon be able to eat cake often, but I can’t stay with you right now; I have something very important to do.”
“What is big brother going to do?” Unknowingly, the little girl had already used this affectionate term.
“Hmm, let me think about what I need to do…”
—
Mu En adjusted his top hat, peering through the brim, and looked up at the not-so-blinding sun.
A pleasant smile curved at the corners of his mouth:
“First, let’s go take out a few bad guys, hmm… those shouldn’t even be considered human, then stop the evil forces’ schemes. If we can take that thing down too, even better; if not… we’ll find someone to do it.
Finally… drag that lying, wicked woman back home, and give her a good spanking, the kind that keeps her in bed for days.”
“You’re not allowed to hit my sister!” The little girl bared her teeth, playfully fierce.
“Haha, I won’t hit her.”
Mu En lowered his head and pinched the little girl’s soft, chubby cheek.
“But making sure she can’t get out of bed for a few days? That’s a promise! I mean it, not even Jesus can stop me!”
“Not even the evil god can stop you.”
……
……