Mu Lin glanced at Xiao Laipi with a slight smile and said, “There’s no particular reason—I’m just happy to do it! As for erasing his memory temporarily at the end, it’s to buy us some time for our upcoming actions. Now, I’m telling you all this, but you still won’t understand completely. When the time comes, you’ll know. Alright, let me take you somewhere right now.”
As Mu Lin spoke, he sharply turned the steering wheel of the car, quickly changing direction toward the outskirts. Soon, the car had left the city and slowly entered the narrow streets of the slums. Looking at the dirty surroundings, Xiao Laipi exclaimed in surprise, “Master, I never imagined there were places like this still existing here!”
Winter in London was cold and damp, and gusts of chilly wind kept the streets nearly deserted. Thus, it didn’t take long for Mu Lin and Xiao Laipi to reach their destination. A four-story building stood ahead of Mu Lin’s car.
It was a small four-story building. Due to its age, large sections of the outer walls had peeled off, and the concrete exterior had severely weathered, exposing steel bars like sharp teeth in a monster’s mouth. Most of the window frames were gone, replaced only by plastic sheeting. The entire structure looked as if it might collapse at any moment.
Mu Lin parked in front of the building, got out of the car, and started walking toward the entrance. Xiao Laipi followed suit, but hesitated slightly as he looked at the unstable structure.
“Master, why have you brought me here? Could there actually be people living inside such a place?” Xiao Laipi asked hesitantly.
Hearing this, Mu Lin turned around and looked at Xiao Laipi, his expression serious. “Xiao Laipi, would your master ever harm you? Don’t worry, everything will be fine!” With that, he turned again and entered the building.
With no choice, Xiao Laipi reluctantly followed Mu Lin inside. As soon as he stepped into the stairwell, Xiao Laipi was engulfed in darkness. Although he could see in the dark, the sudden change in lighting was still difficult to adjust to, so he paused for a moment to adapt. After all, there was no way Mu Lin could disappear in such a confined space.
After a while, Xiao Laipi opened his eyes and began to examine the surroundings. From the structure of the stairwell, he could tell it had once been an apartment building. Listening carefully, he could hear Mu Lin somewhere on the second floor. Xiao Laipi quickly climbed the stairs.
Upon entering a room on the second floor, Xiao Laipi saw Mu Lin speaking with an elderly Asian man. The old man had a pale complexion, gray hair, and a frail body. Although it was already winter, the man was wearing only light clothing and was sitting on the edge of his bed.
The room wasn’t very large, with minimal furniture: an iron bed with only a thin mattress and a worn-out blanket, an old desk, and a wooden chair. Since the windows were sealed with plastic sheeting and there was no heating, the room felt dim, cold, and damp. Xiao Laipi could hardly imagine how the old man could survive such a harsh winter here.
“Ha ha! Welcome, Mr. Jack. Please, sit down. I wonder what brings you here today? Or perhaps you have some difficulties that require my help?” the old man sat calmly on his bed, speaking in Mandarin. Mu Lin stood beside a chair that had been repaired multiple times.
“Ha ha! How could I dare to sit in front of Uncle Zhao? The thing is, Uncle Zhao, I’ve come to inform you that I’m ready to fulfill the promise I made last time. However, since I have many other matters to attend to, I plan to entrust this matter entirely to the Douglas Law Firm. Do you think this would be acceptable?” Mu Lin stood respectfully before the old man.
“Really?” The old man was so excited that he immediately stood up and limped toward Mu Lin, grabbing his sleeve and shaking it.
“Yes, really, Uncle Zhao. Please, sit back on the bed first,” Mu Lin respectfully helped the old man sit down again.
“Uncle Zhao, after I visited you last time, I asked the Douglas Law Firm to conduct a survey of the entire situation in London. I found that there are many orphanages like yours. However, those orphanages that mainly take in white British orphans receive government subsidies, so their conditions don’t concern me. But orphanages like yours, which mainly care for orphans of color, don’t receive government support. There are fourteen such orphanages in total, but yours is in the worst condition.
Moreover, I hope you won’t mind, but I also had someone investigate your personal situation. I know you yourself are an orphan, and you’ve remained single and childless all your life. You used to work as a chef at a Chinese restaurant, but later, seeing how pitiful these orphans were, you thought of your own childhood experiences and decided to use all your savings to support them.
Without you stepping up to take in these Chinese orphans, no one could have predicted what would have become of them, especially since you’ve been shouldering the costs alone for the past few years.
After returning home, I thought carefully about this and deeply admired your character. Therefore, I would like to invite you to supervise the use of these funds, starting from today. That way, you won’t have to keep working hard at the restaurant anymore to support these children.”
Mu Lin stood respectfully in front of the old man as he spoke.
“Oh, Mr. Jack, thank you so much for your trust in me, and thank you for what you’re planning to do for these children. However, I have a question for you. You’re a white man, and your money should naturally go to your own people. Are these Asian children really worth all this effort? Why are you doing this? What’s your real motive? And what are your conditions?” The old man gradually regained his composure and, rather than agreeing immediately, asked Mu Lin after careful consideration.
Faced with the old man’s probing questions, Mu Lin didn’t answer immediately. After a period of contemplation, he decided to tell the old man some of the truth to dispel his doubts.
“Uncle Zhao, let me tell you this: first, I’m not a bad person. I simply feel compassion for these orphans living in such miserable conditions and want to do something for them. Second, I deeply admire your character and am moved by your noble integrity. I’m inviting you to take charge without any conditions. Third, I myself am also an orphan, so I understand what you’ve done and feel I should also do my part. Finally, I can tell you this, but I must ask you to keep it a secret: I am also Chinese. Due to certain unavoidable circumstances, I’ve altered my appearance slightly. The face you see now is not my original appearance. Therefore, please rest assured, I have no conditions for doing this.”
Due to some special circumstances today, this chapter was uploaded a bit late—please accept my apologies. Also, thank you to the friend “Qiangshouhuo” for creating a group for this book. The group number is 51058931. Readers who enjoy this book are welcome to join. If circumstances permit, I will be available for discussions with everyone from 9 PM to 10 PM daily. Thank you all.
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