Chapter 220 – Getting on Track

This was the children’s first meal in the Valley. After a night of hasty relocation and the brief chaos and excitement of arriving at their new home, they gathered around the large dining table on the Platform. The staff dispatched by the Special Operations Bureau to the Valley had prepared steaming hot buns, rice porridge, and hot soup. Given the rush, it could hardly be called a lavish meal, but a hot breakfast at a time like this was more than enough to put everyone at ease.

Yu Sheng sat at one end of the long dining table — which was genuinely very long — with Hu Li seated to his right and Ailin perched on the table itself. The youngest children, led by their older brothers and sisters, arranged themselves along both sides of the table in the same seating order they’d used at the Orphanage, with small plates already set before them. The “Guardians” worked alongside the staff, carrying large soup pots and steamer baskets to the table trip after trip, then began serving food to everyone.

The little ones found all of this novel and exciting. This open valley was utterly different from the old, run-down Orphanage and the cramped City scenery they were used to. Sitting outdoors in such a wide-open space, gathered around a super enormous table eating alongside the adults — that was an entirely new experience. Even these unusually well-behaved and disciplined children of the Fairy Tale organization couldn’t help chattering non-stop.

Of course, it wasn’t just the children who found things novel — the batch of staff the Special Operations Bureau had sent over found it rather novel too. If nothing else, they’d certainly never seen a dining table fifty meters long…

Little Red Riding Hood finished helping serve the children, then walked over and sat down beside Yu Sheng, unable to help muttering under her breath: “Seriously, don’t you think this table is a bit over the top…”

“I just wanted the first meal to have a sense of ceremony,” Yu Sheng said, feeling rather embarrassed himself. “You know, getting everyone together at one table.”

“Sure, plenty of ceremony — maybe spare a thought for the people doing the serving,” Little Red Riding Hood pursed her lips, then stood up, grabbed a piping hot bun, blew on it hard, and stuffed it into her mouth for a huge bite. “Ah hot hot hot hot…”

“It just came out of the steamer, how could it not be hot?” Yu Sheng found it rather amusing. The Little Red Riding Hood he usually saw always wore a stern face with a precociously mature expression, but now that they’d spent more time together, he’d discovered that this “Guardian” who looked after a huge group of younger siblings actually had quite a childish side to her. “Eat slowly.”

Little Red Riding Hood sucked in air through her teeth while glancing up at Hu Li across the table, who was wolfing down buns two bites at a time: “I only took a big bite because I saw her eating so fast — I thought they’d already cooled down.”

“…She’s a cultivator. When she eats barbecue, she sandwiches a piece of burning charcoal between two slices of pork belly and swallows it whole. You’re using her as a reference?”

“…My mistake.”

Yu Sheng laughed helplessly, and then heard his phone ringing from his pocket. He hurriedly pulled it out — the caller’s name was Baili Qing.

After connecting, that female Bureau Chief’s cool, crisp voice came through immediately: “Open a Door connecting to the Special Operations Bureau underground parking garage — the Council’s staff assigned to the Orphanage have arrived.”

“Uh… oh, right, okay.”

Perhaps because he’d been up all night and his brain was a bit sluggish, Yu Sheng needed a moment before remembering what this was about. He hastily agreed while standing up to prepare to open the Door, and after hanging up the phone — this time confirming it was actually hung up — he couldn’t help whispering to Ailin: “Is it just me, or did Baili Qing’s voice on the phone just now sound a bit… cheerful?”

Ailin tugged on Yu Sheng’s hair: “Obviously. It’s five-thirty in the morning right now, and she finally gets to call you outside of work hours to rush you into doing something — normally it’s you filing a single report that makes the entire Special Operations Bureau jump out of their seats. Now she gets to come pester you to open a Door instead. If it were me, I’d be laughing right to your face.”

Yu Sheng frowned: “…Is it really that extreme?”

“That’s what my Spiritual Intuition says.”

Clearly, the biggest thing Ailin and Yu Sheng had in common was that neither of their Spiritual Intuitions ever focused on anything productive.

By this time, Yu Sheng had already extended his hand into the air. “Connecting” to the Special Operations Bureau was second nature to him by now, and since he only needed to bring a few people through, the Door didn’t need to be very large. In the blink of an eye, a phantasmal Door materialized in the air — and then with a slight exertion of effort, he pulled that Door open from thin air.

The children all turned to look curiously in his direction. A smile had already blossomed across Yu Sheng’s face as he cheerfully waved to everyone: “Look who’s here!”

The nearest little bean sprout was the first to leap off the bench: “It’s Teacher Su!”

Familiar faces appeared one by one on the Platform — these “teachers” from the Council who had accompanied the Orphanage children for years wore smiles on their faces. They had received urgent notice from their superiors early this morning and had rushed over immediately.

“That’s right, your beloved Teacher Su — plus Teacher Li and Teacher Sun, along with your beloved winter break homework…”

One of the teachers cheerfully greeted the children, then showed off the supplies piled on the camping cart she’d pulled along, delivering the wonderful news that even “camping” out in the Valley didn’t excuse them from their regular tutoring sessions.

A chorus of wailing instantly erupted from the little heads lining both sides of the long table — accompanied by the adults’ gleeful schadenfreude.

“Thank goodness I don’t have to do the same as them…” Little Red Riding Hood muttered under her breath.

But before she even finished speaking, Teacher Su walked over toward her and casually set a large bag on the table: “Your homeroom teacher asked me to bring you this — even on leave, you still have to do your homework. And here are the practice exam papers for the end-of-month mock exam. We’re counting on your self-discipline. When you’re done, I’ll deliver them for you.”

Little Red Riding Hood: “…”

“Snow White, Rapunzel, and those of you over there — don’t you laugh. This cart is for you. Before we came, the Council specifically arranged to contact the teachers from each of your schools and classes. Come get your homework, plus the end-of-month mock exam papers.”

Instantly, a joyous atmosphere filled both sides of the long table.

At any rate, Yu Sheng was having quite a good time watching from the side.

But after he’d had his laugh, he still reminded everyone from nearby: “Eat first, eat first. The children were dragged out of bed at two-thirty in the morning and are only now getting a hot meal. After eating, they still need to settle in and rest — homework and tutoring can wait until later. You all come eat too, it’s just a few extra pairs of chopsticks — once you’re done, I’ll show you around the place.”

With all this commotion, by the time everyone finished eating and Yu Sheng had taken the Council’s “employees” on a full tour around the camp, it was already past nine in the morning.

The second batch of construction workers arranged by the Special Operations Bureau entered the Valley at the agreed-upon time, replacing the first batch who had been working since the previous evening, and continued the finishing work on the settlement while preparing to begin other planned construction projects.

The settlement itself was essentially complete.

Standing on a rise near the Platform, Yu Sheng gazed out at the neat, brand-new “camp.” He watched as the older members of Fairy Tale, guided by the construction workers, familiarized themselves with the various facilities, receiving keys to critical equipment like the generator and water pump. Beside them, the roofs of the white prefab buildings gleamed brilliantly under the clear sky. The paved paths were neat and spacious. Older children walked along the pathways between buildings alongside the teachers, carrying bundled daily necessities. The King was leading a squad of royal guards through the camp, rounding up little children and herding them back to their rooms to sleep — and every now and then, an adult would stop with a look of exasperation to explain to some little one why they needed to sleep even though it was daytime…

In all fairness, the settlement couldn’t exactly be called beautiful or grand. But simply looking at it gave one a comforting sense of “ease.” It fully met all the living needs of an entire orphanage’s worth of people. There were surely many inconveniences still, but from the looks of it… Little Red Riding Hood and the others were already starting to like this place.

As for Yu Sheng, he was happier than anyone right now.

Directly “connected” to this valley as he was, he could almost feel the shift in the Valley’s “atmosphere.” The change was subtle — if he had to put it into words, it was as though beneath this eternally clear and bright blue sky, a simple yet vibrant “town” had now appeared. A flourishing vitality sprouted from this brand-new little town, slowly “nourishing” this place.

Yu Sheng felt that he liked this vitality, liked the changes in the Valley, liked this “nourishment.” It seemed to let him feel more keenly that he was “alive” — and this sense of being “alive” felt even more real than his own heartbeat.

He didn’t understand what this feeling was about, but the happiness in his heart told him it was a good thing.

Then Yu Sheng withdrew his gaze and looked toward the area near the Portal Platform.

The newly built pump houses and generator rooms sat between the camp and the Portal Platform. Workers were now extending pipes and power lines outward, connecting them to another construction site at the edge of the Platform.

This was the agreement Yu Sheng and Baili Qing had previously established: The Lodge would open this valley and the crash site within it to the Special Operations Bureau for research, and in return, the Bureau would provide funding and manpower to complete a series of construction projects in the Valley — including solving the water and electricity issues, setting up a smart vegetable greenhouse, and so on…

The nightmare overflow incident at the Orphanage had been an unexpected situation, but now everything seemed to be rapidly improving — and getting on track.

In a cheerful, relaxed mood, Yu Sheng returned to No. 66 Wutong Road. Before the Special Operations Bureau called again to ask him to open a Door, he was going to get some proper sleep.

Hu Li lent him a tail to hold, Ailin promised that her rebar-and-stone body wouldn’t suddenly jump onto the bed this time, the room temperature was just right, and after drawing the curtains, the room’s brightness was perfect — there couldn’t be a better environment for catching up on sleep. That’s what Yu Sheng thought.

Then he hugged the warm, toasty fox tail and happily closed his eyes.

When he opened them again — oh boy, the Black Forest.

The sound of an infant crying filled his ears.

Yu Sheng: “…Fuck.”

(End of Chapter)