Chapter 18: Feng Xinyue

Seeing the sudden turn of events, Zhang Wei was stunned. He never expected this little girl to cause such an extreme reaction from Yu Lei. Nonetheless, he smiled widely, knowing that his plan was working out even better than he had hoped.

The next turn of events however surprised everyone.

The young girl’s eyes darted nervously between Yu Lei and Zhang Wei before she made her move. With a fierce determination in her eyes, she broke free from Yu Lei’s embrace, surprising her with her strength.

Yu Lei stood there in disbelief, her mouth agape as the girl ran towards Zhang Wei. Her heart sank as she realized that the girl’s affection was not for her but for Zhang Wei.

The girl hugged Zhang Wei’s waist tightly, seeking refuge from Yu Lei’s grasp. She looked up at him with a mixture of fear and desperation in her eyes, as if pleading with him to protect her from Yu Lei’s grasp.

Zhang Wei was taken aback by the sudden turn of events and looked down at the girl in surprise. He could feel her small, trembling body against his own and couldn’t help but gaze downwards. “Weren’t you scared of me a moment ago?” he asked softly.

His words caused her to flinch, and she tightened her grip around him. Zhang Wei nodded, “So she is still scared,” he concluded.

He understood the situation perfectly, but Yu Lei was still puzzled.

How could the girl fear Zhang Wei but still run to him?

To her, it was like someone doing self-harm upon themselves.

“What’s wrong with her?” she asked.

Zhang Wei cleared his throat and said confidently, “She’s in a toxic relationship!”

Yu Lei rolled her eyes in disbelief, but upon closer inspection, it indeed appeared to be the case. The girl’s fear of Yu Lei and trust in Zhang Wei was a clear indication of an unhealthy attachment.

Although Zhang Wei had been harsh with her just moments ago, the girl still instinctively ran to him for safety. Yu Lei couldn’t help but feel a mix of emotions; anger at the girl’s abuser, sadness for the girl’s suffering, and admiration for Zhang Wei’s compassion.

Yu Lei looked at the girl clinging to Zhang Wei, and let out a wry smile. In the end, she sighed and left the matter to him. “Why did you call me here?” she asked, curious about Zhang Wei’s intentions.

Zhang Wei also remembered his original intention for bringing Yu Lei here. He nodded and pointed at the little girl clinging to him. “We are adopting her,” he said firmly.

“… What did you say again?” Yu Lei blinked her eyes, she can’t help but think that she misheard him.

Zhang Wei repeated, “We are adopting her.”

This time, Yu Lei was confirmed there was nothing wrong with her ears, she can’t help but press her lips together in silence.

After a while, she sighed and asked. “Why?”

She can’t understand we’re do her husband get this weird ideas from?

Why adopt child all of a sudden?

Wasn’t he against it?

And even if they are going to adopt one, why a nearly grown up girl?

Yu Lei peeked and found the white haired girl nervously looking at her, the little girl was still wary of her, observing her appearance once again, Yu Lei can’t help but think, that this girl was too adorable, even she herself doesn’t look this cute in her teens.

Next moment, she can’t help but laugh at herself, as she was unconsciously comparing herself to a junior.

Zhang Wei did not have any genuine reason to adopt her at all, he can only shrug and leave the choice to Yu Lei.

If she is convinced like this, then it is fine, else he have the other way to convince her.

Yu Lei saw the seriousness in his eyes and soon sighed in defeat.

“Okay-okay, we will adopt her.” she shook her head with a helpless voice.

In Yu Lei eyes, Zhang Wei was pitying this little girl, and got excessive emotional to the point, that he was ready to adopt that girl.

Even though Yu Lei wanted to complain about it, she found it amusing, so she let it be for now, she will use this to tease him later.

With the decision now made, Zhang Wei couldn’t help but break into a smile as he cradled the young girl in his arms.

He caught her small hand and led her towards the paperwork, with Yu Lei following closely behind.

As she observed their interaction, Yu Lei found herself experiencing a mixed range of emotions. On one hand, she was delighted that the little girl would finally have a safe and supportive home.

On the other hand, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that Zhang Wei was being too impulsive in his decision.

Upon arriving at the counter, they saw a fat man and Guo Jian approaching them. The middle-aged man introduced himself and extended his hand towards Yu Lei, “I am Song Hu, representative of this orphanage. It is a CSR initiative under the Song group of industries.”

Zhang Wei nodded, and took the handshake, in behalf of Yu Lei. Song Hu eyebrows twitched in annoyance, he clicked his tongue secretly.

Zhang Wei noticed the annoyance on Song Hu’s face but pretended not to notice. Meanwhile, Yu Lei and Guo Jian saw right through Song Hu’s intentions. Yu Lei’s eyes flickered as she heard the name “Song group,” recognizing them as one of Lin Group’s competitors.

“Hey, can you do anything about him? He’s a rival in our business,” she whispered to Zhang Wei, not liking the way Song Hu had approached her and seeing an opportunity to use the situation to their advantage.

Zhang Wei smirked, already planning to teach Song Hu a lesson before they left.

Faced with the awkward silence, Song Hu coughed and got straight to business. “So, which child are you applying for?” he asked, his eyes scanning over Feng Xinyue’s figure.

For a moment, he couldn’t help but freeze in his tracks, thinking, ‘How could I have never seen her before?’

His eyes glowed with desire, and he was genuinely confused as to how he had missed a girl like her.

Seeing the unrestrained lust in his eyes, Zhang Wei couldn’t help but think, ‘She’s a child, for god’s sake, you fat pig.’

[Host should refrain from making hypocritical comments], the system added.

‘I’m a villain, he’s not,’ Zhang Wei spoke in his defense.

The system had no reply for Zhang Wei.

He did behave like a villain…

Despite knowing that the innocent girl was a powerhouse capable of destroying this small world, the system couldn’t help but think it was morally wrong to take advantage of her.

But wasn’t this what villains did?

Take advantage of others’ helplessness?

With the signatures of both Zhang Wei and Yu Lei, the formalities were nearly completed.

The name of the little girl was Feng Xinyue. She had been spotted alone in the wilderness by a female high school teacher, who brought her to the orphanage about a month ago. The teacher was the only one who came regularly to visit Feng Xinyue. Apart from her, almost no one knew anything about Feng Xinyue. She ate quietly when food arrived, took her bath alone, and spent the rest of her time alone.

After listening to Guo Jian’s account of Feng Xinyue’s routine for the past month, Yu Lei couldn’t help but look at Feng Xinyue with a complicated look.

Zhang Wei restrained his urge to laugh. He didn’t pity Feng Xinyue in the least; in fact, he was impressed by the magic she cast on everyone to ignore her existence for so long. He didn’t even have an idea how long she had been in this world.

When had she actually arrived here? Was it a few months ago or a few years ago?

The more Zhang Wei thought about it, the more intrigued he became by Feng Xinyue’s mysterious existence. 𝚘𝔳𝓵xt.𝗇𝓔t

Just as the paperwork was nearing completion, Song Hu suddenly threw a wrench in the process. “We can’t hand her over to you guys,” he announced.

Zhang Wei frowned, suspecting that the fat pig was intentionally trying to sabotage the proceedings. He had already anticipated this kind of behavior from him.

Sensing the suspicious glares directed at him, Song Hu quickly tried to explain himself. As it turned out, there was a critical problem with Feng Xinyue’s paperwork: she had no official ID.

Despite a thorough search of the database, there was no record of her birth. As a result, the matter had to be taken to court to produce a proper identity for her. Until this was resolved, they could not legally hand over Feng Xinyue to her new guardians.

After completing his explanation, Song Hu glanced at Zhang Wei and spoke, “Actually, there is still a way. If this young man is willing to come with me to the back, we can discuss it.”

Zhang Wei chuckled to himself, knowing that this was what he had been waiting for all along.

Yu Lei raised an eyebrow, suspicious of what they could possibly discuss in private that couldn’t be discussed in front of the camera. Guo Jian suggested they wait for the normal procedures to be completed, but Zhang Wei had already walked to the back without paying attention to them.

Song Hu smirked as he followed behind Zhang Wei. He knew that both Zhang Wei and Yu Lei were wealthy and saw this as a good opportunity to fill his pockets.

As for Feng Xinyue, he could only show desire but dared not to break the law. He was only a sidekick in the Song family and knew that if he did something like that, the old man would banish him.