Chapter 17: Where are your parents?

“Is he alright?” Leng Mei asked with concern.

Zhang Wei snapped out of his reverie, “Oh no, I’m not alright at all. Seeing a beautiful woman like you made me forget everything else around me,” he said with a smile and a wink. Leng Mei blushed slightly and turned away, attempting to conceal her smile.

‘This boy! Where does he get the nerve to tease an old lady!’ Leng Yan panicked at the sight of her mother blushing.

Instantly, Leng Mei regained her composure and laughed, “You certainly have a silver tongue.”

Zhang Wei then remembered his original purpose; he had planned to pretend to be an ignorant master and cause trouble for this old lady, Guo Jian.

However, with Leng Yan nearby, that appeared impossible.

He got straight to the point, “Miss Guo, I want to take her home. Do you have any problem with that?”

Guo Jian was angered again and prepared to scold him, but suddenly Leng Mei interjected, “You’re adopting a child!”

Her hands clasped together in excitement. A man who cares for and loves children was just what she wanted for her daughter.

Zhang Wei casually nodded, “Yes.”

Initially, he had thought to leave the little girl alone, but now he was determined to take her home at any cost.

She must have some connection to him; otherwise, the system wouldn’t be so dramatic.

Interestingly, neither Leng Mei nor Leng Yan had noticed the small girl until now. It was as if they glanced at her for a second, were surprised by her beauty, and then forgot her the next minute.

[Host, are you serious?]

“Yes, I am,” Zhang Wei confirmed.

The system sighed, realizing that stopping the host from doing something had the complete opposite effect.

Guo Jian and Leng Yan were left stunned by the sudden revelation.

The latter didn’t care much, but the former was unwilling to accept it. She snorted, “You need to be married first. We don’t hand over a girl child to a single male parent.”

Zhang Wei shook his head, “Didn’t you hear our conversation? I am married!”

Guo Jian was taken aback, as she had indeed heard about it but had soon forgotten.

Still, she couldn’t help but complain, “You need to be married for at least two years before you can apply for adoption.”

Zhang Wei shrugged, “It’s already been two years.”

His response left the women around him suspicious. He hardly looked 23-25 years old. Did he get married right after university or during university itself?

Regardless, it wasn’t something they should inquire about.

Leng Yan grew frustrated, “What is your problem? Why are you purposefully making trouble for him?”

She directed her question at Guo Jian.

Zhang Wei raised an eyebrow; he never thought a woman like her would speak up for him.

Guo Jian panicked, realizing that she was deliberately causing trouble for him.

“I will call the owner right now,” she said as she rushed to the backside.

Upon seeing Zhang Wei’s strange gaze, Leng Yan became flustered. “Don’t look at me like that! I just don’t like that woman,” she said.

Leng Mei added, “She’s lying! Yan loves children, and that lady purposely causing trouble in the adoption process must have angered her!”

Leng Yan narrowed her gaze, wondering why she had to tell everything to him.

Zhang Wei didn’t care either way.

“By the way, which child are you applying for?” asked Leng Yan curiously.

After seeing Zhang Wei pointing to the girl in the corner, she couldn’t help but feel weird. “Isn’t she too old for you two?” Should they adopt a two- or three-year-old?

Leng Mei shared similar feelings, but she felt that Zhang Wei had other reasons for it.

He indeed had his reasons.

Zhang Wei felt a bit confused, ‘Can’t they see her beautiful face?’

The reactions of Leng Mei and Leng Yan were too normal, further confirming his suspicion that the girl was unusual.

[They can see her, host. But the girl has a strange spell surrounding her that makes people ignore her existence. It’s like a defense mechanism cast by her.]

Hearing the system’s explanation, Zhang Wei wasn’t too surprised.

The girl had been strange from the beginning.

========

Status

Name: Feng Xinyue (Celestial Princess)

Age: One billion+

Other status: Inaccessible [Host’s strength is too weak to access it.]

Remarks: Powers sealed by the will of the world.

==========

‘What the heck is this?’ Zhang Wei thought.

[I told you, she’s trouble!]

Zhang Wei couldn’t help but agree with the system’s words; she indeed looked like trouble from every angle.

‘What does it mean that her power is sealed?’

The system contemplated whether it should tell Zhang Wei about it or not, but in the end, it briefly explained.

[… She comes from a higher world. Her power must be too great for this world to endure, so the will of the world forcefully sealed her powers. Normally, there are no side effects, but she must have tried resisting the will of the world and ended up in her current state due to the backlash.]

There were many words that caught Zhang Wei’s attention, but he knew the system wouldn’t elaborate now, so he asked what he could. ‘So she’s not a kid?’

[… She isn’t. She’s probably older than everyone here. Her body is like this due to the backlash from resisting the will of the world.]

Zhang Wei found the situation amusing.

So he was going to adopt a “child” even older than him?

What kind of fate was this?

Little did Zhang Wei know, his surprises weren’t going to end here.

In the future, he would laugh, remembering this day for ages to come.

Today was the day when a close relative of his was transformed into his daughter.

‘Why are others ignoring her?’ he asked.

[She has a defensive spell cast on her that makes anyone forget her existence if they don’t explicitly focus on her. She must have cast this on herself right before her body was reduced to this state. As for the host, it won’t work on you due to the system’s existence.]

Zhang Wei nodded.

This explanation was sufficient.

Seeing the unchanged look on Zhang Wei’s face, the system couldn’t help but show worry. [You aren’t going to change your decision even after this much information, host? She might not be alone. Your strength is too weak to fight celestial beings, and even the system might not be able to protect you.]

Zhang Wei shrugged. ‘Since I’m going to start a harem, isn’t a Celestial Princess the best candidate for it?’

[… Host, you’re joking, right?]

The system couldn’t fathom how Zhang Wei’s thought process worked.

Even if he wanted a harem, why start with a celestial being?

If that woman happened to regain her powers, she could obliterate him to ashes with just a glance.

There was one more thing that Zhang Wei didn’t tell the system: he felt something familiar with this woman, a connection that continually drew him to her.

He suspected that even the system vaguely knew of it, but wouldn’t tell him about it.

Thus, he decided to take a gamble.

Not to mention, he still didn’t know how he had acquired the system. 𝚘𝔳𝓵xt.𝗇𝓔t

Systems shouldn’t normally appear out of nowhere, should they?

He didn’t consider it a coincidence or luck.

There was more mystery to it than what appeared on the surface.

This girl might be the key to it all; how could he leave her alone here in this vulnerable state?

Zhang Wei was not someone who liked being controlled.

He loved controlling others.

After exchanging some pleasantries, Leng Mei and Leng Yan left in another direction.

The former began handing out gifts to the kids in the orphanage. Zhang Wei only glanced at them once and put them out of his mind for the time being.

He sent a message to Yu Lei before approaching the young girl again.

Her eyes showed a hint of panic, but she didn’t run away.

Even though she had lost her memories and power, she felt a sense of familiarity with Zhang Wei and chose not to flee.

…….

Yu Lei stepped out of the car and looked around.

“What is he doing here?” she wondered to herself.

Zhang Wei was not the type of person to visit these kinds of places. After receiving his text message, she had come straight from work, but to her surprise, he had called her to an orphanage. As she approached him, she could see that he was talking to a little girl.

A smile bloomed on her face, but when she heard their conversation, she was frozen in her tracks.

Zhang Wei picked up a small rock and showed it to Feng Xinyue, who looked at him with curious eyes.

“Do you know what the difference is between a rock and you?” he asked.

Feng Xinyue blinked her eyes in confusion.

“The rock has a purpose, but you don’t,” Zhang Wei spoke seriously, causing the little girl to flinch and look downcast.

As if this wasn’t enough, Zhang Wei added, “Where are your parents?”

Yu Lei couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She rushed over to Zhang Wei and scolded him. “What are you saying to her? She’s just a child!”

Zhang Wei shrugged his shoulders, “I’m just telling her the truth.”

Yu Lei couldn’t understand why Zhang Wei would be so harsh with a child, but before she could say anything else, Feng Xinyue spoke up.

“I don’t have any parents,” she said softly, indifferent about it.

Yu Lei’s heart broke for the little girl, and she pulled her into a hug. “Don’t worry, we’re here for you,” she whispered.

Zhang Wei might be the only person who goes to orphanage and ask random kids, ‘where are your parents?’

Yu Lei felt he had some kind of grudge against this girl.