The social welfare organization for children that Shang Ke and Feng Juan had entered was located on the southwest coast of the UK. Including them, there were twenty-one orphans. Although the residence's conditions were normal, it had all the necessary facilities. Not only were there specialized nurses, but there were also psychiatrists and social workers who periodically came to check on the orphans' living circumstances.
Shang Ke and Feng Juan's circumstances were particularly special as they had been illegally kidnapped abroad and their identities were not confirmed. They would not be able to enter the adoption system for a year. In other words, they could only live in the orphanage for a year, and even if someone wanted to adopt them, they could only wait until the next year.
A large portion of the orphans within the orphanage were disabled to some degree. As two healthy and attractive boys, Shang Ke and Feng Juan were like cranes in a flock of chicken.
The dean gave them a small room, with four beds along with sets of sheets . Only two of the beds had their sheets done, while the other two were empty.
"Children, this will be your room. Do you two like it?" the dean said to Shang Ke and Feng Juan with a smile.
Feng Juan held Shang Ke's hand, his face stiff as he remained mute.
Shang Ke raised his head and smiled at her, saying, "We like it a lot. Thank you dean."
He had spoken in Chinese, and although the dean didn't understand his words, she roughly understood his meaning.
After she had them settled in, she spoke a few words before leaving.
Shang Ke pulled Feng Juan into the room and closed the door behind them. He turned around and smiled at him. "We will live here from now on."
Feng Juan watched as he set his bookbag by the bed, before spreading out on the bed. His relaxed appearance dissipated much of his uneasy mood.
Feng Juan laid down beside Shang Ke, tilting his head to gaze at his smile. He felt that, so long as he accompanied Shang Ke, there was nothing to be afraid of.
"Keke, can I sleep with you at night?" Feng Juan looked at the bed on the opposite side of the room with some loathing.
"Alright." Shang Ke spread out his arms to check the width of the bed and laughed. "This bed is large enough for the two of us to sleep together."
A large smile immediately bloomed on Feng Juan's face.
Shang Ke couldn't resist the urge and pinched his cheeks, praising, "Not bad. Smile more often, or your face will become stuck."
With his three worlds of experience, he felt that the reason why this guy became a cold face Yama was because of his facial muscles' lack of use in his childhood.
Feng Juan gave Shang Ke a glance before turning his head away, no longer paying attention to him.
That night, Feng Juan got into Shang Ke' bedsheets right after washing up. The two of them stuck close together, and their first night at the orphanage passed smoothly.
Their life at the orphanage wasn't as dry and dull as they had imagined.
Because of the language barrier, the dean arranged another teacher to teach them English in addition to their regular lessons. This teacher's name was Rima, a woman of over forty. She wasn't one of the orphanage's staff members, but a volunteer.
When she first landed eyes on Shang Ke and Feng Juan, Rima took a liking to them. Originally, she was only in charge of teaching them English, but later on she monopolized all of their courses.
Rima noticed that the two of them had a lot of individuality. One was often silent, but was clever and polite. Once he smiled, it was like feeling a warm wind in spring. The other was cold and serious, and there was always some vigilance in his eyes. However, he was very diligent, and his ability to learn was very strong.
Perhaps it was because of their past experiences, but the two of them held mature airs that children their age did not have.
With Rima's care, Shang Ke and Feng Juan's life at the orphanage was simple, yet rich. Unfortunately, this sort of simplicity was destroyed a month later.
Shang Ke and Feng Juan were helping by cleaning up the lawn's trash when he suddenly felt two intense gazes aimed at them. His brow jumped a little before he calmly looked around him, without leaking his intentions. He discovered the figure of someone dashing past the outside of the courtyard.
Shang Ke frowned a little, a trace of doubt arising in his heart. Perhaps those people still hadn't relaxed their guard against them? They were just two children. Did they need to be so guarded?
The following two days, Shang Ke repeatedly saw a suspicious figure, and he could finally confirm his guess.
According to the original developments, the original Bruno was adopted by a family not even a year later, so he did not know whether Feng Juan had been attacked afterwards. The System also did not give such information. But from the looks of it, he had experienced a series of unexpected accidents in his childhood.
If his guess was correct, then they could not continue to stay at the orphanage. This was not just for Feng Juan, but it was also for the other people in the orphanage.
Shang Ke borrowed the dean's phone and made a call to Detetive Rowan.
"Shang, I didn't think that you would call me." Rowan's tone was very light and spirited as he asked, "Did you miss me?"
Shang Ke only replied with one line, "Detective Rowan, I think we are being monitored by someone."
That very afternoon, Rowan sent out a couple people in civilian clothing to guard the outside of the orphanage, and they really found a suspicious person. However, when they wanted to follow him, that person managed to escape and did not reappear for several days.
But this did not mean that Shang Ke and Feng Juan were safe. After informing the higher ups, Rowan took the two children away from the orphanage and had them live at his own house.
Rowan did not understand why that organization watched the two children so much and refused to let them go. Even if they knew something, they likely wouldn't be able to offer much useful information. They were young and wouldn't remember much, not to mention the language barrier.
Just what were those people worried about?
"Shang, since you can understand English, could you tell us everything you know?" Rowan seriously looked at Shang Ke.
"I don't know what to tell you guys." Shang Ke and Feng Juan sat together on one chair, surrounded by five to six adults.
When Rowan and the others heard his fluent english, their eyes twitched.
"Can you talk about where you came from?"
"I am a street urchin." One line prevented them from digging any deeper into his history.
"Who did you learn your english from?" Rowan asked again.
"A wandering performing artist from the UK," Shang Ke replied without even a change in his expression. "I lived with him for a period of time."
"What about Feng Juan?" Rowan moved his sight to Feng Juan.
Feng Juan understood his question and replied, "Besides my name, I don't remember anything else."
Professor Ramson translated for them.
Rowan rubbed his brows. If he didn't know that the two sitting before him were children, he would almost believe that they were lying.
"Shang, how long did you guys stay on the boat? Who did you guys see, or did anything special happen?" Rowan went back to questioning them.
Shang Ke seriously thought for a moment before shaking his head.
"Don't be impatient." Rowan crouched by Shan Ke and gently said, "Shang, close your eyes."
Shang Ke slowly closed his eyes.
"Alright, let's think back about it." Rowan's tone was light as he slowly said, "You and the other children are together on a boat, shut in a room. The surroundings are pitch black..."
Shang Ke was not a real child and naturally knew that Rowan was trying to guide his memory. He searched through the original's memory for a moment, and then his body went stiff.
A narrow, sealed room, crowded, muggy air, foul smells. The rocking of the ship, someone vomiting, someone losing control of their bladder or bowels, someone groaning in pain... a different boy or girl being taken away every day, and when they returned, they would be injured all over, to the point that they didn't look human. And, some never returned.
As if he could suddenly feel the original's despair and fear, he opened his eyes, covered in a layer of mist. He stared at them silently, as if saying, Please, don't ask again.
He didn't shed any tears, but it gave everyone the feeling as though he was silently crying.
"Don't ask anymore!" Feng Juan swiftly got up and coldly said, "We don't know anything!"
They stared at the children blankly, some awkward, some apologetic, and the questioning naturally did not continue.
After everyone left, Rowan awkwardly asked the two children, "Are you guys hungry? What do you guys want to eat? I can go order something."
Rowan was a bachelor, discernable with just one look at his messy and trash-filled house. They really wanted to know how his commanding officer allowed him to take the two children back with him. Was he not afraid that he would lead them to their deaths?
Shang Ke calmed his mind for a moment before speaking, "I saw a supermarket close by on the way here. Why don't we go buy some ingredients and cook ourselves?"
"Ugh, I can't cook too well." He didn't care if he ate the food he makes himself, but if he fed it to the two kids, they would probably have food poisoning for a few days.
"I can." Shang Ke sincerely expressed, "To thank you for your care, let me take care of the meals in the future."
"You?" Rowan looked at him with an expression of doubt.
After Shang Ke made a grand dinner, Rowan could only be dumbstruck and happy beyond words as he accepted this "delicious" reality.
Not only that, but Shang Ke also thoroughly cleaned Rowan's doghouse. In just two hours, it was completely refreshed, and ready for new life.
Rowan felt that he could hear his house crying tears of joy...
"The water's done. You guys can come in and take a bath," Rowan called out from the bathroom. All the household duties were taken care of by Shang Ke, so he might as well prepare the bath.
Two children who appeared carved from jade quickly appeared in front of Rowan, and he suddenly thought to himself that raising a couple children like these seemed pretty good.
Feng Juan was cold like always, and took his clothes off without hesitation. He stepped into the bathtub, before sitting on one side and waiting for Shang Ke.
Shang Ke also took off his shirt, revealing his thin body.
Rowan was just about to leave the bathroom when he caught sight of his body from the corner of his eyes, and immediately froze on the spot. On that small body were all sorts of scars. There were those of burns, whips, knives, as well as other unrecognizable scars.
Rowan had already seen the picture of his scars from the hospital, but seeing it in person, he felt more emotional. This child had suffered unimaginable torment before. All of his scars were like an accusation of the world's cruelty.
"Detective Rowan, what's wrong?" Shang Ke raised his head to gaze at the frozen Rowan.
Rowan looked into his eyes. They didn't contain any resentment or timidness, but were pure and beautiful.
"Keke." Feng Juan placed his hands on the edge of the bathtub and stared relentlessly at Rowan, thinking to himself, Vulgar Uncle, haven't you seen enough! Hurry up and get out!
Shang Ke heard Feng Juan call for him and did not bother with Rowan anymore. He ran over to bathe with Feng Juan.
The two of them helped each other wash their backs and hair, happily busy.
Rowan faintly smiled at the sight and left the bathroom.
The next day, Rowan arranged for another police officer to protect the two of them, before taking Shang Ke's delicious breakfast and rushing to the police department. In the past, he would either not eat breakfast or just randomly eat something to settle his stomach. Now that he had Shang Ke, he suddenly felt that life was wonderful.
Shang Ke obtained Rowan's consent to freely use the computer in his study. As such, the first thing he did after eating breakfast was to open the computer and check its configuration and internet information.
Shang Ke only had intermediate level hacker skills, and could barely be called an expert. However, he now discovered how superior his skills were, as this world's technical knowledge was behind his by seven years. Seven years within the field of technology was a difference of heaven and earth.
For example, in Shang Ke's eyes, the computer's firewall had hundreds of holes. If he exploited these leaks, then he could easily hack into another person's computer. Of course, large companies or a division related to the government would be much more difficult to slip into.
Shang Ke did not plan to exploit his ability in order to cause trouble online. He only wanted to create a protective umbrella for him and Feng Juan, gathering all the information he could on their enemies and covering their traces from the internet's monitoring.