novelraw Chapter 145: Exposure
Chapter 145: Exposure
In Cheng He's room, several small heads huddled together, all looking at the old mobile phone in Xu Zisheng's hand.
"Beep—"
The battered flip phone flashed twice, then displayed a bright red low battery warning, momentarily lacking even the power to start up.
Let alone checking the information inside.
The three of them: ...
"Out of battery?" Cheng He frowned slightly. He didn't question Xu Zisheng, nor did he immediately press him for answers.
After all, Xu Zisheng had chosen to go back and help Yang Qianqian earlier, so they shouldn't excessively trouble or doubt him.
Information-providing items in the Gui Yi world always had various issues, and with such a short time interval, Xu Zisheng might genuinely not have had time to look.
But if that were the case, their efforts tonight might be in vain.
There were indeed sockets by the beds in the student dormitory building, but who knew if they worked?They might just be decorations. In this eerie orphanage, could anything be normal?
"What the—" Yang Qianqian naturally understood the situation. Judging by how Xu Zisheng had just taken out the phone to share with them, he probably hadn't examined it carefully.
"Did you..." Now Cheng He could only hope that Xu Zisheng had seen the information inside and could extract some clues from it.
Then he watched as Xu Zisheng, like performing magic, produced a charging cable from his hand, walked to the bedside, and plugged it in.
Connected to the phone, the screen lit up briefly twice but soon dimmed again.
After 11 PM in the orphanage, everything became abnormal. There might have been electricity during the day, but at night, it was uncertain.
But this didn't stump Xu Zisheng. He took out some electronic tools, removed the socket panel, and began modifying the internal wiring structure with his instruments.
Cheng He: ???
Yang Qianqian: ???
They silently watched Xu Zisheng tinker for a while until finally, the battered phone actually started charging.
Truly an eye-opener.
Was his identity in the real world an electrician or something?
Or was he in a related profession?
Pushing aside the chaotic thoughts in his mind, Cheng He composed himself. Before the phone could power on, he should first analyze the materials he obtained from the security booth.
"Recent restaurant inspections in Lancheng undergoing rectification..."
"This year's first snow will fall in XX County..."
"Voluntary blood donation..."
Cheng He slightly opened his eyes, his pupils completely black without whites, emitting a faint red glow. Then the materials he had just read appeared before him like holographic projections.
He scrolled through the newspaper news layouts while speaking, "Only two mentions related to this welfare home appeared in the newspapers..."
"One is about this construction materials company heavily investing in charity. The company's leader is an elderly woman who seems to have long been a famous philanthropist. This orphanage is one of those receiving support..."
"The other discusses student studies. A student from a certain high school reportedly chose suicide by jumping off a bridge due to excessive academic pressure, physical disability, and low self-esteem. The student was adopted from this orphanage..."
Cheng He paused.
The photo in the second report about that student was torn off along with some text information, making the news incomplete.
It was unclear whether it was accidental or if someone intentionally removed it.
"These two are all I could find."
"Construction materials company, elderly woman, famous philanthropist?..." Xu Zisheng murmured softly, feeling these pieces of information strangely familiar.
"Are there any other related news? Or perhaps a photo of that philanthropist?"
Cheng He stiffened slightly. Xu Zisheng asking this likely meant he had made some discovery.
"Let me think, there seem to be two more articles..."
He raised his hand and waved gently, the information before him slowly twisting, blurring, and transforming, revealing new text.
One appeared in the finance section, the other in the entertainment section.
"Another industry giant competing with the construction materials company exposed that the other party believed in superstitious feng shui and mystical studies during their early rise, claiming their architectural designs always had issues..."
"Shocking! VIP hospital room reveals presence of a certain industry charity magnate's biological grandson. According to reliable sources, he may be unable to inherit the company..."
Xu Zisheng examined them carefully and finally noticed something in the somewhat blurry black-and-white photo.
The construction materials company's leader, that philanthropist who rarely left photographic records, was the elderly woman who adopted the girl Xiao Le.
He couldn't be mistaken.
Surname Zhang, with a sick grandson—both matched the information he had glimpsed at the beginning of the old phone's messages.
The sender of those messages was the orphanage girl Xiao Le.
And from their observations over the past two days, she had always been inseparable from the other three boys.
If she was adopted and left, and wanted to send a phone to communicate with the children remaining in the orphanage, it should be for one of those three boys.
The 'it' mentioned by the cleaner should be one of those three boys!
Next, they just needed to check the information inside the battered phone to determine which one was the most well-behaved child.
The ragged flip phone finally lit up again, but no matter how much they charged it, the battery level remained at ten percent, unable to increase further.
But this was enough.
The group huddled together again, opening the messages. The messages weren't long, mainly consisting of Xiao Le sending one-sided messages.
But from Xiao Le's messages, it seemed the phone's owner had replied to each one, though those messages were probably deleted now.
"I heard the city sports team went for a competition a few days ago. I also messaged Xiao Xuan—he said he would participate too! He got selected! I knew he could do it!..."
The information indeed mentioned that Xiao Xuan was in the municipal sports team and left the orphanage a year before Xiao Le.
The scope narrowed again!
"You will always be the best... Without you, what would we do..."
"I've been reading many books recently about nursing knowledge. I hope I can help too. I wonder if Xiao Fan's leg has improved..."
"What should I do? Xiao Xuan messaged me saying he got injured during the competition, seems serious. I really want to visit him..."
"Now only you two remain in the institution..."
"Xiao Xuan said he had surgery! Should be fine now, just feels less energetic, probably not fully rested yet..."
"How about you? How have you been recently?..."
"Was Xiao Fan taken away too?..."
"My brother... well, Grandma Zhang won't let me call him that... his illness worsened, lying in bed, terrifyingly thin..."
"...Heavenly Match..."
After mentioning 'Heavenly Match,' Xiao Le's messages abruptly stopped.
None of the people present were fools.
By process of elimination, the name that never appeared in the message exchanges was the most well-behaved child in this orphanage.
The boy with the birthmark on his face and a slight limp?
The truth seemed within reach. Xu Zisheng narrowed his eyes, inexplicably feeling something was off, but couldn't pinpoint what exactly.
The answer came suddenly, yet wasn't easily obtained.
But a sense of incongruity spontaneously arose.
The room fell silent for a moment.
If they confirmed that the boy 'Xiao Yong' was the most well-behaved child, then their next task would be to take him away from here.
'Leave the gates of this prison city'—that's what the system panel required.
So what should they do then?
Simply take him to the gate, and once he steps outside the institution, would that suffice?
As for the third requirement—restoring the complete truth of the story.
Everyone had a rough idea.
This wasn't difficult to deduce.
This orphanage might be involved in some gray industry chains.
Those phrases in the materials about cultivation value and adoption value—just thinking slightly deeper revealed some clues.
They might be able to leave this instance tomorrow.
He needed to take this opportunity to learn more, so when leaving here, he could better handle official matters.
He wondered if these two in front of him could reveal anything.
He indirectly inquired how Cheng He and Yang Qianqian entered this instance.
When Xu Zisheng finally heard the words 'pyramid scheme organization,' he completely froze.