Qi Ji lowered his head slightly and found that the two children were not very old, about eight or nine years old. They were very thin and a little shorter than healthy peers, which was obviously caused by long-term malnutrition.
The clothes are old and wrinkled, and the shape is slightly deformed and loose. It's obvious that they have been worn for a long time and washed many times.
"Miss, this is June," the woman said, holding the hands of the two children, one in each hand, "and this is Dick."
Every time she read out a name, she looked at the corresponding person.
Joan is a girl and Dick is a boy.
"Hello," Qi Ji nodded to the two children. His tone and attitude were very polite. He did not show any arrogance just because they were from the bottom of society. "You can call me Yao Liuliu."
"One six six..."
The woman was slightly stunned when she heard this name that didn't sound like a name, but she quickly realized that it was some kind of nickname that was deliberately chosen in order to get closer to the child and make herself seem more lovable and approachable.
"But you're already cute enough, you don't need a nickname..."
Although she didn't see the little girl's face clearly, she always felt that she was a very beautiful child. Just standing with her and chatting with her, she could feel physical and mental joy, as if she was healed.
After suppressing her chaotic thoughts, the woman pulled the two children to make way for her and said with an apologetic smile:
"Miss, please come in. The room is very dirty, please don't mind."
Qi Ji walked into the house with the storybook under his arm, watched the woman close the door, and then sat on the small stool next to the table:
"Your family is so poor, why do you still hire a teacher?"
To be honest, after seeing this family's financial situation, Qi Ji felt embarrassed to ask for any compensation.
"Uh..." The woman lowered her head in shame, but soon her eyes became firm:
"I don't want them to be in this kind of environment forever. I want them to be educated so that they can find a good job in a bank or school when they grow up, instead of being a laundry worker or cleaner like me..."
Her language is poor and her words are quite plain.
Qi Ji recalled the sign she had held at the rally this morning. The words on it were crooked, just a few lines, and there were stroke and spelling errors.
I guess this woman herself is not very literate, and she spent a long time reading the brand from an old newspaper before she could barely copy it down.
"Sister, you are amazing too!"
Hearing the woman's slightly inferior and ashamed words, the little boy Dick hurriedly grabbed the hem of her skirt and comforted her in a very affirmative tone.
The little girl, Joan, turned her gaze towards Qi Ji who was sitting in front of her and said loudly in a very confident tone:
"Teacher, don't look down on me. I can read and do multiplication!"
At this moment, the three people simultaneously revealed a smile full of hope and expectation. It was a wonderful yearning for a better life. There was no evidence, but they firmly believed it.
Facing the subtle emotions of the three people, Qi Ji did not make any comments. He just sighed slightly, took out the storybook from under his arm, and spread it out on the table:
"If it's convenient, let's start now."
Chapter 209: Faceless Man
In the next hour, Qi Ji asked the two children to recognize words in the book, and preliminarily determined their levels, and quickly developed a corresponding teaching plan in his mind.
The two children were in high spirits and seemed to really enjoy learning, which surprised Qi Ji a little.
After all, in her previous life, she rarely met people who truly regarded learning as a pleasure.
Even those top students in the class who always rank in the top ten in every exam rarely regard studying as an "entertainment activity" that can bring them pleasure.
Their elder sister, the woman, had been standing at the edge of the room during the whole process, her eyes full of smiles and gentleness, watching her younger siblings.
After another ten minutes, she stepped forward and carefully interrupted Qi Ji's teaching:
"Miss, my working hours have come to an end and I have to leave home... Can you help me look after the children? I will include this time in my salary."
Perhaps it was because Qi Ji's voice and the vaguely revealed body outline were too cute and harmless. She didn't know why, but she was completely unable to be wary of the little girl in the cloak and handed the task of taking care of the child to her without any worry.
Although to her, they had only known each other for less than half a day.
Qi Ji put down the story book and nodded:
"Okay, I'll stay with them until you come back."
"Thank you!"
The woman thanked him gratefully and left the apartment.
"Teacher, are we still learning?"
The little girl, Qiong, came up to Qi Ji and pointed at the story book spread out on the table and said:
"There are so many words I don't recognize here! I really want to know!"
The boy Dick was also jumping around excitedly:
"I want to know what it's saying, not just recognize the words!"
So energetic...
Qi Ji smiled and put the book away, tucking it back under his armpit:
"That's all for today."
She could sense that the two little guys were actually a little sleepy. More than an hour of continuous study had made them even more mentally exhausted.
Although he seems full of energy and vitality on the surface, in fact, if he continues teaching, it will only reduce the teaching efficiency and will not make much sense.
Therefore, Qi Ji simply ended the course.
Anyway, she didn't come here today to start formal teaching, she just wanted to understand the children's basic level. Now her goal has been achieved.
Seeing Qi Ji take the book back, the two children immediately showed a disappointed expression, but they were very sensible and did not argue. Instead, they immediately accepted her decision:
"That's it..."
"All right……"
Seeing the two little guys looking a little depressed, Qi Ji couldn't bear it, so he stood up and said:
"How about I take you guys out to play? Do you have any friends? You can go find them to play with."
She was not worried about any problems or dangers that might arise if she took the children out without permission.
In fact, the safest place in the entire Sunset Harbor is next to Qi Ji.
As for the safety of their home, she would leave a mini puppet in case of any accidents, so there was no need to worry.
"Okay!"
"Great!"
Joan and Dick's eyes lit up instantly and they ran to the door with great interest.
"Teacher, we know a good friend. Can I go and play with her?" Qiong held the door handle and looked at Qi Ji with eyes full of joy. "I can also introduce the teacher to her! She will definitely like you very much!"
Qi Ji nodded with a smile:
"I'll go with you."
So, three people, one big and two small, left the old and dilapidated house together. Led by the two children, they walked through various remote and narrow alleys and headed towards a certain place.
"They are all small paths and shortcuts. It seems that these two little guys are very familiar with the nearby roads."
While chatting with them, Qi Ji glanced around casually and felt a little emotional for a moment.
"Children of poor families have to grow up early, and they probably run errands for their families to earn extra money..."
Through previous conversations with their sister, Qi Ji knew that she, Joan and Dick once had parents, but later their parents died of illness, and all the burdens of the family fell on the eldest sister.
She works at least three jobs a day, not only to supplement the family income, but also to provide education for her two young children so that they can have the opportunity to move up the social ladder.
However, Qi Ji knew that the chance of this happening was extremely slim.
If it weren't for Qi Ji, she wouldn't even be able to find a teacher willing to provide Chinese language instruction to the children, let alone further education.
When passion, fantasy and hope are extinguished by the tide of reality, no matter how great the ideal is, it will only lead to compromise and concession.
If everything had developed as it should, the best outcome for Joan and Dick would have been to find an unskilled physical job like their sister and support themselves with a meager income.
Day after day, year after year.
When you reach childbearing age, just find a decent opposite-sex partner to marry.
Then give birth to a bunch of messy kids.
Then they spend their last days in repetitive work and parenting, and pass away from illness or accident.
Then let your children enter the next reincarnation.
This cycle cannot be broken by hard work and diligence alone:
The best way to improve their situation is to learn skills and improve themselves, but the huge pressure of survival makes it impossible for them to spare time to study. Apart from eating and sleeping, they only work all day and have no energy for additional learning.
As a result, they can only become more and more ignorant and stupid, and can only do the most unskilled jobs, thus further consolidating their own poverty.
And the noblemen of the upper class always like to attribute all this to their own stupidity, laziness, short-sightedness, complacency with the status quo, unwillingness to strive, love of complaining, and lack of vision, courage and noble spirit.
They can also easily bring out various real examples of the stinginess, meanness, materialism, ignorance, cruelty, vulgarity, barbarity, unreasonableness, etc. of the lower class people to support their own judgment.
As a result, these people who are struggling at the bottom of society are labeled and stigmatized with lowliness and ignorance one after another, giving people the impression that their poverty and embarrassment are justified and self-inflicted.
As a result, it was ignored even more by rulers and managers.
"How many people are born to be liars, thieves, robbers, and vagrants? How many people are born to be gentle, respectable, well-educated, knowledgeable, ambitious, and hardworking?
"But one thing is certain, some people are born as the children of laundry workers, cleaners, and construction workers, while others are born as the children of nobles, big businessmen, and parliamentarians.
"Some people call this 'fate' and say it's all reasonable."
Amidst the involuntary sighs, Qi Ji suddenly realized.
She realized that the surrounding environment... seemed somewhat familiar!
"Teacher, we are almost there!" Joan jumped excitedly in front with a smile on her face. "Sister Claire is very smart. She can read and count, and she knows a lot of interesting knowledge. The teacher will definitely like her!"
Amid her enthusiastic laughter and joy, the three of them turned a corner and came to a neighborhood with quite a lot of greenery.
An iron fence covered with ivy and osmanthus flowers extends across the street, and a building with lively and warm colors stands behind the wall.
Stoner Orphanage!
Chapter 210 Return to the Orphanage
As the title says, here comes the fourth update.
=========================
Joan and Dick trotted toward the orphanage's fenced gate, skipping and jumping with excitement.
But before they passed through the double doors with iron bars, they keenly noticed something different.
The person guarding the gate was no longer the familiar, amiable old man, but a complete stranger.
A man wearing a red uniform with white stripes and a dark jazz hat on his head. He has regular features and a pleasing and gentle facial line.
For some reason, their pace slowed down involuntarily, and the cheerful smiles on their faces faded a little.
When the two of them and their "teacher" Qi Ji walked out of the corner across the street, the executor Richard, who was wearing a red uniform with white stripes and a jazz hat, cast his eyes over.
Seeing that the three people were walking towards the orphanage, he subconsciously became alert. He reached behind him with one hand silently, and his muscles slightly tensed.
"Excuse me, what can I do for you?"
He asked in a silent voice, holding the revolver on his waist with one hand.
Although the three men looked young, and the two younger ones were little kids of eight or nine years old, he did not let his guard down.
Because behind him are eleven poor children who escaped death from the cruel and vicious cultists. No one can be sure whether those cruel cultists have accomplices or whether they will retaliate.
——Yesterday, the executors and police officers easily subdued all the kidnappers who had lost their extraordinary people. After a brief inspection, the children were transferred to the Super Management Bureau for temporary placement.
The executors and other official extraordinary people from the Super Management Bureau conducted a comprehensive inspection of the orphanage, from the spiritual field to traceology and criminal investigation methods, leaving nothing out.
The result was nothing. The two extraordinary kidnappers were very cautious and did not leave any clues at the scene that could be tracked by divination.
The most important thing was that the final divine attack, which was launched by someone unknown, completely eliminated the possibility of using divination to search for the enemy.
——Divination is a branch of spiritualism. It can obtain the target’s current or past location and status through an object or scene related to the target.
For example, if a person often uses a towel, they can get various information about that person by fortune-telling with the towel.
