ATDIWR Chapter 80

Chapter 80 Zhao Zhen’s Connection with R Country and Support Issues

Yuan Mingan led Fu Xin by the hand and walked out of the house. Seeing Ji An standing by the door listening to the conversation outside, she said, “Mr. Ji, why aren’t you coming in?”

Ji An pointed outside and said, “Those two women outside are the little boy’s mother and grandmother.”

“Ah?” Yuan Mingan was clearly unaware beforehand. She said confusedly, “They told me that they found the child by the roadside, and seeing he was pitiful, they sent him here. Because of this connection, they often come to see the little boy. I thought the children in the orphanage lacked love, and it’s good for someone to care about them, so I didn’t stop it.”

Ji An shook his head, “They also demand nutrient solutions from the little boy. The little boy saved three doses over five days, but they still thought it wasn’t enough and slapped the little boy.”

Because of her own daughter, it could be said that all children were Yuan Mingan’s bottom line. She instantly became very angry, like an old hen protecting her chicks. “I knew that child had been here for over a month, yet there was no meat on his face at all. Clearly, other children gain weight in just three weeks. A few days ago, that child looked like he was about to faint, and only recovered after drinking the nutrient solution. I asked him at the time why he didn’t drink the nutrient solution in time, but the child refused to say. I thought he had been wandering for a long time and was scared of starvation, so he would subconsciously hoard food, thinking he would be fine after staying here for a while. I never expected it was because of those two women. Do those two even have any shame!”

Yuan Mingan pushed the door open angrily and shouted, “What are you doing?”

The two women trembled in fear. Ji An saw the old woman quickly stuff the nutrient solution into her sleeve.

“Nothing, just came to see the child.” The old woman put on a fawning and obsequious face, without a trace of the arrogance she had just shown when telling the little boy she would report Yuan Mingan. “We are, after all, this child’s saviors, and we have some connection. We come to see the child when we have time because we hope he can live well. You say, isn’t that right…” The old woman nudged her daughter-in-law with her elbow.

The daughter-in-law smiled humbly and fawningly at Yuan Mingan, “Yes, we just came to see him. The child also wants us to visit him, right…”

The young woman thought she was being discreet as she pinched the child’s arm hard twice. The child didn’t dare to cry out in pain. To avoid being pinched again, he said, “Mom Yuan, I want them to visit me.”

Ji An walked down from the stairs, pulled up the little boy’s sleeve, and the bluish finger marks were clearly left on the little boy’s arm. “This is how you treat him. Why do you think he would want you to visit him? Is it because you make him not eat his fill every day, but save his nutrient solution for you, or is it because of your blood relation as his mother and grandmother?”

The old woman stiffened slightly, her expression unnatural. She sheepishly denied, “I don’t know what this young man is talking about. You can’t just slander me because we had a small disagreement before!”

“Right.” The old woman said this, as if she had caught some handle. “Sister, don’t listen to his nonsense. He is deliberately slandering me because of our past conflict. This person’s character is questionable. You don’t know, he even hooked up with that tenant of mine before. Who doesn’t know my tenant is a slut, a hidden prostitute, who specifically does that dirty business. Maybe they are already sleeping together now.”

The old woman pinched her nose in disgust, as if she smelled something strange on Ji An. She fanned the air and deliberately stepped back two paces. “This kind of person, Sister, I kindly advise you to stay away from him. He might even have some disease!”

The young woman also moved back two steps, as if getting close to Ji An would infect her with a strange disease.

Yuan Mingan’s eyes widened. She pointed at Ji An and said in disbelief, “You two are truly fearless in your ignorance. Do you know who he is? How dare you slander him like this!”

Confusion was in the two women’s eyes, but then the old woman showed an indifferent expression, murmuring softly, “He hasn’t even grown pubic hair, how powerful could he be? He just looks a bit handsome. It’s because he awakened an ability, otherwise with that looks that invite trouble, who knows where he would end up, how he would be played with…”

Yuan Mingan heard the old woman’s murmuring getting more and more excessive and interrupted, “I’m telling you, he is the hero who single-handedly rescued all the children from the human traffickers! He is also a researcher at our Base! The spatial storage item you can never afford in your lifetime was developed by him!”

Spatial storage items are valuable things, and low-level people like the old woman naturally couldn’t afford them, but it was impossible not to have heard of such a popular item. The old woman had even privately slandered spatial storage items, saying that they could never be as magical as the rumors claimed, that it must be exaggerated publicity, specially designed to deceive rich people. No matter how she gossiped privately, the old woman clearly knew one fact in her heart: the developer of spatial storage items must be a very, very rich person!

The young woman looked at Ji An in surprise, then silently moved back two steps, also smoothing her scattered hair at the temples, revealing her face which she thought was beautiful, and looked shyly at Ji An. She thought she had done all this very secretly, but everything was seen by the old woman. The old woman fiercely pinched the young woman’s arm, and that wasn’t all. She fiercely twisted it three hundred and sixty degrees, as if to twist off a piece of flesh from the young woman’s arm.

The young woman cried out in pain, tears in her eyes, and looked pitifully at Ji An.

Ji An’s face was stern, and his eyes didn’t even glance at the two women’s little actions.

Yuan Mingan continued, “To be honest with you, this orphanage was originally initiated by Mr. Ji. At that time, Mr. Ji’s idea was to personally bear all the expenses of the orphanage. Later, our Commander thought this should be the responsibility of the Base, so the Base took over. But even so, Mr. Ji still donates a huge amount of wealth to the orphanage every year in his personal capacity. Even the nutrient solutions that all the children in the orphanage eat are purchased by Mr. Ji with his own funds.”

Yuan Mingan raised her chin, standing on the stairs and looking down at the old woman, saying, “I’m telling you all this because I want to tell you that Mr. Ji is not someone you can casually smear! Also, if Mr. Ji had a prejudice against you and didn’t want to take in the child you sent, he wouldn’t need any reason at all, it would just be a matter of one sentence. Do you understand!”

The old woman understood, and was speechless, not daring to say anything.

Ji An couldn’t search their bodies directly, but he had mental power. He directly used his mental power to cut open the cuff of the old woman’s sleeve, and the nutrient solution she had hurriedly stuffed in fell to the ground. The old woman bent down in a panic to pick them up, but Yuan Mingan was faster. She walked over in a few steps, picked up the nutrient solutions on the ground that the old woman hadn’t had time to pick up, and snatched the one she had picked up from the old woman’s hand.

“Give them back to me!” The old woman shouted and pounced wildly at Yuan Mingan, as if Yuan Mingan was taking her life, not just taking back what belonged to the orphanage.

Ji An unleashed a mental-type ability, directly knocking the old woman who was pouncing on Yuan Mingan to the ground. Ji An looked coldly at the old woman and said, “Who gave you the guts to dare to attack a Power User!”

The old woman seemed to realize at this point that the two people in front of her were not the ordinary neighbors without abilities whom she could casually hit and scold. The old woman realized she couldn’t win, and didn’t get up. She just lay on the ground, crying and howling, playing the rogue. “I don’t want to live anymore, let me die! Everyone, come see! There’s a Power User here bullying people with power! The Base rules clearly state that Power Users cannot arbitrarily use special privileges against ordinary people, but this person actually dares to do this! Is no one going to do anything about it? I’m going to report him with my real name!”

Ji An’s eyes were filled with icy snow. “I advise you to get up immediately!”

But the old woman thought Ji An was scared and looked at Ji An triumphantly, saying, “Using abilities against ordinary people in the Base will get you kicked out. What, are you scared now? I’m telling you, it’s too late!” The old woman held up three fingers triumphantly to Ji An. “You have to compensate me with thirty, no, three hundred doses of nutrient solution. Only then will this matter be over. Otherwise, I’ll report you to the patrol team!”

Ji An’s eyes were as cold as a hundred-year-old iceberg in the South Pole. He walked towards the old woman step by step. His imposing manner scared the old woman into shrinking back involuntarily. “What are you doing? I’m telling you, even if you kill me, you won’t get away with it. Our Base is the most strictly disciplined base.”

However, Ji An was not going to kill her, but held an ID card in front of the old woman. “You can read, right? See what’s written on it?”

The old woman’s eyes were dim and she couldn’t see clearly. The young woman read word by word, “With this card, not restricted by Article 32 of the Base regulations, abilities can be used against ordinary people. If determined to be dangerous, can kill first and report later. The safety of the person holding this ID card is the top priority!”

When the young woman read this, she and the old woman were scared pale, and looked at Ji An in horror at the same time. Ji An smiled at this point, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes, revealing a chill.

The old woman and the young woman trembled with fear at this smile. The old woman no longer dared to play the rogue and quickly climbed up from the ground. Ignoring the young woman, she ran towards home as if fleeing. The young woman saw her mother-in-law running away and followed, also trying to escape.

“Stop!” Ji An called out to them. “You are not allowed to harass this child again in the future!”

The old woman was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on and refused. “Why? That’s my grandson!”

Ji An sneered, “Then you can take him home and raise him!”

The old woman craned her neck. “Isn’t it because our family can’t afford to raise him? If we could afford to, I wouldn’t have been willing to send him to your broken place to suffer the pain of separation!”

“The Base pays to help you raise the child, and then when the child is capable of earning money, you turn around and claim him back? How can you think like that without any effort?” Ji An scoffed.

The young woman’s eyes were full of tears, and she looked pitifully at Ji An, “Anyway, your place is for raising children. You are doing good deeds no matter what, and it doesn’t hurt to have one more child, right? Big brother, I know you are a good person, just help me!”

The old woman glared fiercely at her daughter-in-law, but did not interrupt the young woman’s words.

Ji An said, “I will tell you clearly today, the Base orphanage will absolutely not raise children for anyone. This child is sent to the orphanage, and his identity will be that of an orphan with no parents from now on. He will not have the obligation to support his biological parents. In the future, if the biological parents harass him, the Base can prosecute the biological parents for the crime of abandonment.”

“Why? We are his family!” The old woman’s voice was sharp. “He has to support us! What you say doesn’t count! The Base doesn’t have this law!”

“Now it does.” Ji An said, “I will propose it to the Base, and don’t worry, it will definitely pass. This orphanage was established at my suggestion. I can dissolve it on the spot with one sentence, let alone such a small matter. I hadn’t thought of this before, thank you for reminding me!”

The old woman had no recourse. She couldn’t fight, and if she played the rogue, they could directly beat her to death. She could only glare angrily at Ji An.

The young woman cried softly, “You can’t do this to me. To you, he is just a child, just one more mouth to feed…”

Ji An sneered, “So what? Why should the Base raise children for you for free? What have you contributed to the Base? A bunch of leeches who only know how to suck blood off people!”

Ji An said to the old woman and the young woman, “Now you have two choices. Either take the child away now and return all the nutrient solutions he has eaten and you have taken from the orphanage. Or leave the child at the orphanage, and you are not allowed to harass the child again in the future. When the child grows up, he will not support you for a single day.”

The old woman said, “Why should we return what he has eaten?”

“Just based on the fact that you expect him to support you in the future!”

The old woman still wanted to say something, but meeting Ji An’s icy eyes, she didn’t dare to argue anymore. “Don’t return them, don’t return them, we don’t have them. At most, we won’t come to see him in the future.” With that, the old woman tugged at the young woman’s collar and walked towards home.

Ji An stood behind the two and directly exposed the old woman’s little trick. “Don’t think that you can just wait for the child to grow up and then come back to ask him for support. I will go back and propose to the Base, and the law will be released within a few days. By then, if you come back to harass the child and say these things to him, the orphanage will have the right to prosecute you for the crime of abandonment! Likewise, in the future, when the child grows up, if you dare to harass the child, the orphanage will still have the right to prosecute you. Don’t worry, I will definitely fight for the maximum sentence for you.”

The old woman glared at Ji An, pointing at the little boy and said, “You tell him that you are willing to support us!”

The little boy was about to nod, but Ji An said, “He doesn’t have that right. He was raised by the orphanage. He still owes the orphanage the money they spent raising him and hasn’t paid it back. What right does he have to make decisions for the orphanage? He can’t control whether the orphanage prosecutes you, and he has no right to. As for him, whatever money the orphanage spent on him, he will have to repay it with interest when he grows up.”

“You are not raising him for free, you still have to repay!” The old woman had an expression of being deceived.

“Of course, there is no free lunch in this world!” Ji An had thought about this long before opening the orphanage.

After the children grow up, they have to repay the orphanage for their upbringing every month, but the amount will be determined based on each child’s income at the time, so that the children won’t go hungry. This way, they can cultivate a grateful heart and not take the help of others for granted. As for children who have an opinion about this, Ji An can only say that they should be made to repay the money even more. A person who doesn’t know how to be grateful can only be considered an ungrateful wretch raised by the orphanage.

Also, the issue of supporting parents, this mother-in-law and daughter-in-law really gave Ji An a good reminder. This must be passed into law. Otherwise, in The Apocalypse, there will only be more people like this pair of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, who try to abandon their children at the orphanage, and then claim them back when they grow up to get their filial support! Why? This is unfair to the children, and even more unfair to the orphanage that raised them!

So Ji An planned to propose that those who have not fulfilled their obligation to raise their children should not enjoy the children’s obligation to provide support. If they force the issue, the orphanage or the Base can prosecute the parents for abandonment. If they want their children to support them, they can first go in and stay for a few years. Of course, don’t think that staying in for a few years means they can come out and enjoy the children’s prosperity. That is impossible. The children still don’t need to provide support. If they keep harassing, they go back in. This is also to prevent some children from achieving great things, and those shameless parents think that staying in for a few years and then coming out to enjoy their children’s wealth and status is a worthwhile deal.

However, considering that this is The Apocalypse and raising children is indeed difficult, Ji An plans to propose to the orphanage that they can accept children with biological parents, on the condition that once the child enters the orphanage, they sever legal ties with their parents and have no obligation to support them in the future. Parents who truly love their children but cannot afford to raise them will definitely be willing. Those who are unwilling must have some ulterior motive.

Although Ji An had made things clear to the old woman and the young woman, neither of them took the little boy away. Ji An turned around and hugged the little boy, his voice no longer icy cold like a glacier. “Let’s go back. You heard our conversation just now. From now on, you have no relationship with them! You don’t need to save nutrient solutions for them in the future, and you definitely don’t need to support them when you grow up!”

The old woman and the young woman heard Ji An’s words and glared at him angrily, but no one dared to say anything. The little boy wiped his tears and looked at the two women who still didn’t plan to take him away after hearing all this, and nodded.

“From now on, the orphanage is your home. You only need to repay it when you grow up.” Ji An closed the orphanage gate, blocking the two women’s view.

Little Rose and Little Stone were already waiting, holding the little tiger cub and the big tiger. As soon as Ji An returned, they pounced on him. Ji An grinned from ear to ear, and his bad mood instantly vanished. After asking Little Stone and Little Rose about their studies and abilities, Ji An gave the big tiger some spiritual spring water diluted with ordinary water.

At this time, Yuan Mingan could no longer wait. She looked at Ji An expectantly, “Mr. Ji, did you borrow the treatment capsule?” Yuan Mingan didn’t know that the treatment capsule was invented by Ji An and thought he had borrowed it from the inventor.

Ji An said, “I brought it. The severed limbs I collected for the children before have also been cultured. I’ve brought them all. I will let all the children come out in a while, especially those rescued from human traffickers. They must be present.”

“What are you planning to do?”

Ji An said, “Since they refuse to speak, we will force them. Only children who actively speak up can receive treatment.”

“But won’t that be…”

“There are no buts.” Ji An said firmly, “Do you know how crazy people outside are for nutrient solution treatment now? This is such a rare opportunity, these children can get it so easily, but they are unwilling to just say ‘I want it’. If we don’t correct them in time and they develop the bad habit of getting everything handed to them without speaking up, they will be even more unwilling to speak in the future and will just take things for granted.”

Ji An looked at Yuan Mingan, “They are very pitiful, but we didn’t cause this, and neither did the orphanage. On the contrary, the orphanage and we are their benefactors. We don’t owe them anything; they owe us. We can slowly heal their psychological trauma, but we also need to teach them what gratitude is.”

“Okay, I will listen to you.”

Yuan Mingan gathered the children. Ji An publicly released the treatment capsule. The children recognized this thing. They had seen it on TV and knew that it could help them recover lost limbs. They all stared at Ji An with expectant eyes.

Ji An deliberately pretended not to see and then said to the children below, “This is a treatment capsule. I’m sure you all know what it does. Now, whoever wants treatment, raise your hand and sign up.”

“Me!” Fu Xin raised her hand and spoke up with Yuan Mingan’s encouragement.

Ji An smiled, his voice gentle, “Okay, come up now.”

Fu Xin was a little scared, but Yuan Mingan encouraged her. Fu Xin finally walked up and lay down in the treatment capsule herself. The treatment time was very short, only a few minutes. Fu Xin who came out again was a complete and healthy child.

Since she could remember, Fu Xin didn’t know what it felt like to have two legs and two arms. This was her first time experiencing complete limbs. She only felt that the feeling was very wonderful, very good, a happiness she couldn’t describe.

Fu Xin might not even know that her face was full of tears. She walked on two legs for the first time, staggering, but even so, she was very happy. She also tried to pick things up with her newly grown arms, and seeing her new arms hold things steadily, Fu Xin looked as if she had seen something amazing and new.

“Mom, look, look…” Fu Xin cried and laughed.

Yuan Mingan covered her mouth. “Mom sees it, Mom’s Fu Xin is a healthy child now, just like the other children.”

Little Stone and Little Rose ran up and said, “Sister Fu Xin, from now on you can play with us with rubber bands and balls, and you can also have physical education class! That’s great.”

Fu Xin was still a bit withdrawn. She didn’t dare to talk to Little Stone and Little Rose much and hid herself in Yuan Mingan’s arms. Yuan Mingan encouraged Fu Xin, saying, “Your younger sister and brother like you and invited you to play. You need to talk to them, otherwise they will be sad and think you don’t like them, and they will cry when they go back.”

Little Stone immediately said, “Yes, if I talk to you and you ignore me, I will be very sad.”

Yuan Mingan encouraged Fu Xin for a long time before Fu Xin said in a low voice, “Thank you.”

Little Rose, holding the little tiger cub that had grown quite a bit, smiled and said, “It’s okay, we like Sister Fu Xin and want to play with you.”

Fu Xin’s big eyes looked at Little Rose, and then at the little tiger cub in her arms, and she said softly, “Can I, can I pet it?”

Little Rose said, “Yes, it’s very well-behaved and doesn’t bite.”

Little Rose brought the little tiger cub closer. Fu Xin used her newly grown arm to pet the little tiger cub, and her eyes showed a look of wonder. At this time, the big tiger slowly walked over, wagging its tail, and rubbed against Fu Xin’s leg implicitly. Fu Xin felt it and stared with wide eyes.

Yuan Mingan knew that the blue-eyed winged tiger in the orphanage was intelligent and never harmed the children, sometimes even protecting them. She said, “Pet it, it also wants you to pet it.” It was clear that Fu Xin was very scared, but her desire to pet the fluffy ball won. She overcame her fear and stroked the big ball a couple of times.

Indeed, fluffy things are the best weapon to heal children’s psychological trauma. Ji An thought again, he should find a beast tamer to specially train a batch of mutated cats or dogs and bring them over, which might help the children’s mental health.

“Now, who else wants to be treated?” Ji An asked.

This time, the children just looked at Ji An, their mouths like clam shells, tightly shut, unwilling to make a sound. Ji An asked many times, but the children didn’t answer. The psychologist even encouraged them for a long time, but there was no effect. Ji An said, “Alright, since no one wants treatment, then I’ll put it away.”

After Ji An finished speaking, he actually got up to put away the treatment capsule. A little girl saw that Ji An was really leaving and became anxious. She overcame her psychological barrier and said, “I, I also want healthy limbs and eyes.” One of the little girl’s eyes had been blinded by the human traffickers. Ji An immediately put on a gentle smile. Yuan Mingan also walked over with Fu Xin and comforted the little girl in a soft voice.

The little girl lay down in the treatment capsule and came out in just a few minutes. The treated little girl saw her healthy and beautiful eyes and complete limbs in the mirror and cried loudly. Ji An, Yuan Mingan, Little Rose, and Little Stone all comforted her. She subsequently requested to pet the little tiger cub and the big tiger, and Ji An satisfied all her requests.

“Is there anyone else?” Ji An thought that after starting with two good examples, there would definitely be more. Who knew that the children’s desire was overflowing, but they just wouldn’t speak. Ji An sighed and turned around to put away the treatment capsule, truly not helping the other children.

The children’s disappointment was obvious, but they just wouldn’t speak. Something within reach, yet they wouldn’t even say a sound. Should people just hand it to them? What would the children do if they developed such a habit in the future?

Anyway, the treatment capsule was his. The children could receive treatment anytime they wanted. It didn’t matter at this moment. Ji An simply packed up and left. Little Stone, Little Rose, the little tiger cub, the blue-eyed winged tiger, and Yuan Mingan and her daughter saw him off at the door. When saying goodbye, Fu Xin, unexpectedly, thanked Ji An. Yuan Mingan shed tears of happiness again.

Ji An didn’t go home directly but went to the command center. He planned to discuss the issue of support between the children in the orphanage and their biological parents with Gu Jinsheng. Gu Jinsheng was very busy. Ji An waited for a long time before Gu Jinsheng finally managed to squeeze out some time to see Ji An.