Chapter 895 - 895: The Pitiful Child
Looking at the little boy's appearance, it seemed like he hadn't eaten for days. Ye Qing initially wanted to ask who had brought him here, but seeing his pitiful state, there wasn't time for questions. He hurriedly led the boy into the school and arranged for someone to prepare food for him.
At the same time, in a small noodle shop at the end of the street, Ding San from Tianhui City was quietly watching the situation unfold. The noodle shop where Ding San was hiding was relatively secluded and packed with people, so even Ye Qing didn't notice him there.
The little boy was none other than Ding San's son. Seeing his son being taken into the orphanage by Ye Qing, Ding San felt a wave of relief wash over him, but his heart twisted in pain. Although his son now had a place to live, it also meant that from this moment on, he would officially become an orphan. No matter how well the orphanage cared for him, as a father, Ding San still felt uneasy.
He sat silently at the table for a while, forcing himself to escape the feelings of heartbreak. Ding San quietly reached for the dagger tucked at his waist and murmured to himself in a low voice, "Son, I'm sorry. It's not that your dad doesn't want you, but I have a lot of things that I need to do."
Clenching his teeth, Ding San stood up, paid for the bowl of noodles and decisively left the noodle shop, heading back to Tianhui City with unwavering determination.
At the orphanage, Ye Qing brought the boy inside and arranged for him to have a meal. Fang Tingyun was busy inside, and when she saw the little boy's pitiful state, she couldn't help but feel a wave of compassion. She quickly took him to wash up and change into clean clothes. After tidying him up, the boy instantly looked pink-cheeked and adorable. However, likely due to malnutrition, he appeared quite frail. Wearing the new clothes, they seemed oversized on him, making him look rather comical.
Ye Qing was sitting in the hall. When he saw the little boy come out dressed in the clean clothes, he couldn't help but sigh softly. The child looked healthy and cute—what kind of cruel parents could bear to abandon him?
The boy walked into the living room and saw a cleaning lady tidying up the dishes by the table. He quickly ran over and exclaimed anxiously, "Wait a moment!"
Unfortunately, he was already too late—the cleaning lady had just thrown the remaining scraps of food into the trash bin. Upon seeing this, the boy hurriedly ran to the bin and, ignoring its filthiness, reached in to scoop out the discarded food.
"Oh no, child, what are you doing!" The cleaning lady quickly snatched the food from his hands and said, "This is dirty! You've just cleaned yourself up and changed into new clothes—don't get yourself dirty again!"
The boy looked at the food tossed back into the trash in bewilderment and said softly, "But… but this food can still be eaten…"
"Food that's been thrown in the trash can't be eaten anymore," Fang Tingyun replied quickly. "It's already dirty, and eating it would make you sick. Please don't do this again in the future!"
"I won't get sick!" The boy stubbornly looked at Fang Tingyun and said, "I've always eaten this kind of food, and I've never gotten sick."
Upon hearing this, everyone in the room froze. Fang Tingyun glanced at Ye Qing, who also had a bewildered expression. It was his first time meeting the boy, and he had no idea what his story truly was. However, the words the boy spoke made everyone's hearts ache with pity.
"You've eaten food from the trash before?" Fang Tingyun crouched down and looked at the boy's frail face, her heart filled with even more compassion. Holding the boy's hand, she asked, "Why would you eat food from the trash bin?"
The boy replied, "Because I was hungry…"
"If you're hungry, you should eat at home. Aren't your parents at home?" Fang Tingyun asked curiously.
"They said my grandpa, grandma, mom, and sister all went far, far away to Heaven, and my dad was taken away. No one wants me anymore, and I don't have a home either," the boy said. As he spoke, his lips started to tremble, and he said, "But they're lying… My dad came back later… They wouldn't just abandon me!"
The child's innocent words moved the cleaning lady deeply, filling her with compassion. She crouched down, hugged the boy, and said, "Oh my, what kind of parents would be so heartless? Such a lovely child—how could they just abandon you like that? If I knew, I'd round up those parents and shoot them! How could they let you eat from the trash bin?"
Fang Tingyun looked over at Ye Qing. She understood that the boy might not grasp the concept of "going to Heaven," but she understood its meaning. Had this child lost all his family members except for his father? But even if there was only one person left, shouldn't that person take care of him properly? How could they let him eat discarded food?
Ye Qing had already learned about some of this while he was outside. However, he hadn't heard of the boy's claim that his father had been taken away. Looking at the boy, Ye Qing asked, "You said earlier that your dad was taken—who took him?"
"Bad guys!" the boy replied directly. In his six or seven years of life, he might not yet understand the complexity of good and bad. However, the people who took his father away were undoubtedly "bad guys" in his mind.
"What kind of bad guys?" Ye Qing pressed. "What do other people call them?"
"Uh…" The boy thought for a moment and replied, "They… They say my dad was taken by the police, but I think they weren't real police. Police officers are good people, but these guys are bad. They took my dad away and even hit me, hit my grandpa, hit my grandma, and killed our dog, Big Yellow. They're not good people—they're not police!"
Ye Qing frowned. According to the boy's words, the ones who took his father were likely police officers. Regardless of what crime his father may have committed, these police officers hitting elderly people and children was unquestionably wrong. Ye Qing had already lost his positive impression of these officers.
"How can police officers hit people?" The cleaning lady burst out angrily. "Hitting even children—how is this different from banditry? No, even bandits wouldn't be this evil! Only those depraved Japanese could do something so inhumane!"
Fang Tingyun turned to Ye Qing and said, "Ye, something must have happened to this boy's family. Should we look for his relatives and find out what's going on? If… If they really can't afford to raise him, what do you think about letting our orphanage take him in?"
Ye Qing's heart ached. If this were before, there would have been no issue at all. He had taken in so many children already—adding one more wouldn't make a difference. But now, with the orphanage about to shut down, what right did he have to talk about taking in more children?
"Let him stay here for now," Ye Qing said softly. "I'll send someone to investigate his family's current situation. Tingyun, I might be busy for the next couple of days, so please take care of him for me!"
Fang Tingyun nodded and replied, "Leave it to me, Ye. I'll definitely take good care of him!"
Entrusting the boy to Fang Tingyun, Ye Qing felt genuinely reassured. He had originally planned to stay longer to learn more from the boy, but it was time for him to head to Dongzhou. Ye Qing wasn't driving this time; he was taking the train instead, so he had to leave according to the train schedule.
To keep a low profile, Ye Qing avoided having anyone send him off and took a cab to the train station by himself. When he arrived, ticket checks hadn't started yet. Ye Qing found a secluded spot in the waiting room and hid there, as though intentionally trying to avoid being seen.
But even hiding as discreetly as possible didn't help much. In the waiting hall, there were still several pairs of eyes secretly watching him. The mercenaries had been tailing Ye Qing all the way and had already marked him as a must-kill target!
The train departed at around 10 a.m., and Ye Qing reached Dongzhou by about 2 p.m. Luckily, the train was crowded, so the mercenaries never found an opportunity to take action, allowing Ye Qing to arrive safely.
Once there, Ye Qing left the station and immediately hailed a cab, heading straight for Liu Changping's residence.
Liu Changping lived in the Provincial Police Department's family compound. This compound was expansive, with several private courtyards designated for key provincial leaders. Liu Changping's home was situated within one of these courtyards. After all, Liu Changping was currently the top figure in the Provincial Police Department!
Getting into the compound wasn't easy. At the entrance, Ye Qing contacted Liu Changping first. However, Liu Changping wasn't home, but his daughter, Zhou Guiting—now renamed Liu Yating—was.
Upon hearing that Ye Qing had arrived, Liu Yating quickly came out of the house to meet him at the gate.
It had been one or two months since they had last seen each other. Liu Yating, who had been gravely ill and teetering on the edge of death back in Xishan City, now looked vibrant and radiant. Liu Yating was actually a beautiful young woman, but she had suffered greatly in Xishan City, enduring endless hardship and mistreatment, which explained her haggard appearance then. Now, back with her father, both Liu Changping and his wife doted on Liu Yating immensely. After all, the couple had gone their whole lives without children, and now they had one—a daughter. Even though Liu Yating was Liu Changping's illegitimate child, she was still his own flesh and blood. Liu Changping's wife treated Liu Yating with particular care, fully embracing her as her own daughter.
As a result, Liu Yating was now living well in this compound. Everyone in the Provincial Police Department family complex knew that she was Director Liu's long-lost daughter, and they treated her with great respect. When Liu Yating came to the gate to meet Ye Qing, the guards at the entrance also showed Ye Qing much more deference.