DA chapter 35

 

Lin Jia opened the door and the director stepped forward immediately, looking concerned. Before the director could ask about the situation, Lin Jia spoke up: “Director, I’ll stay at the Welfare Institute.”

The director became angry at once. “Why?”

“You are usually very sensible, so why are you suddenly throwing a tantrum at this time? Do you know what you’ve missed?” The director spoke in a tone of bitter disappointment, as if disappointed that iron had not become steel. “Quick! Uncle and Aunt are still here. Go quickly and tell them you are willing to go with them and become their child!”

Seeing that Lin Jia remained indifferent, the director became anxious. She felt like she had no way out and wanted to reach out and drag Lin Jia away, but Lin Jia lightly avoided her.

The director became even more anxious. “You child! You child! Do you know that this place is dangerous? Do you want to stay here?”

Lin Jia noticed that no matter how anxious the director became, she avoided speaking clearly about the danger and wouldn’t reveal much.

Since that was the case, there was no need to continue looking for clues from the director.

In any case, he had already found almost all of the Soup Base.

However, the director kept persuading him as if she would not stop unless he agreed. Feeling helpless, Lin Jia said: “As you said, the Welfare Institute is dangerous, so I want to stay and face the danger with you. If I abandon you because I’m afraid, do you think all the children at the Welfare Institute are like that?”

The director fell silent at once.

She turned her head and looked at the others. Everyone nodded and immediately agreed with him.

Xiao Yao agreed the loudest, saying, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I hate that kind of person the most. I won’t be that kind of person. I don’t want to be adopted. I’ll stay and accompany the director.”

The others also all nodded: “We all want to stay.”

Behind the crowd, Yan Xu laughed once. He was increasingly interested in Lin Jia.

A dangerous kind of interesting.

Do you think he’s being nice to you? No, this just happens to be a dangerous signal he was releasing.

Deputy Chen tilted his head and said to Yan Xu, “What’s going on with him?”

Deputy Chen could also naturally tell that Lin Jia had been passive all along, even when cooperation was necessary, he sought out Yan Xu. But now, he was alone in the reception room and had said so much to the director.

He believed Lin Jia had found the Soup Base.

“Asking me? I don’t know what trick he’s playing either,” Yan Xu said meaningfully, “The one acquainted with his first love is Deputy Chen. Why not ask him personally? Maybe, for the sake of his late husband, he’ll reveal everything.”

Deputy Chen frowned: “Don’t talk nonsense.”

Yan Xu hadn’t slept well the past few days and yawned several times in a row. “Based on my understanding of him, if he had only found a clue, he wouldn’t stand out. He probably found the Soup Base. That’s a good thing. As long as we pour the Soup Base onto Fishman’s face, we can leave Fish Belly.”

Deputy Chen’s expression eased a little. After a while: “Based on your understanding of him?”

His tone was unclear. “You’re very interested in him?”

Yan Xu withdrew his gaze, and the smile on his face gradually faded. “Yeah, I should have been enjoying my vacation at home, but instead, I got dragged into Fish Belly. I have to take out the one who harms people, right?”

Everyone spoke one after another, leaving the director speechless for a long while. After quite some time, she lowered her eyes. “If you want to stay, then stay. Do whatever you want.”

She relented, no longer forcing Lin Jia to be adopted by that couple nor asking anyone else among them to replace him.

Thump… Thump… Thump…

The director leaned on her cane and turned toward her office.

Compared to when she first appeared, the sound of the cane had become slow and gentle, as if each sound contained a multitude of words. With her back to everyone, she let out a long sigh.

No one noticed that tears were already streaming down her face.

After the director left, Xiao Yao hurried over to Lin Jia and asked in a low voice, “You scared me to death just now. Are you okay, Brother Jia?”

When that couple chose Lin Jia, Xiao Yao’s heart almost jumped into his throat. Before entering Fish Belly, Boss Zhou had instructed him repeatedly to guarantee Lin Jia’s safety as much as possible.

Sharp Knife had fallen, but the team still needed to eat and survive in the Underwater Wold. They needed people who could enter Fish Belly and obtain the fish spirit.

Honestly, Xiao Yao felt that entering Fish Belly this time was just muddling through. If Lin Jia got dragged into it because of him, Xiao Yao would have had no way to explain it to Boss Zhou.

“Do I look like something is wrong with me?” Lin Jia wasn’t concerned about Xiao Yao’s belated concern.

The others looked at Lin Jia. Zhang Tudou hesitated and said, “Lin Jia, do you have any clues?”

Xiao Wei, who had been chosen the day before, refused to say anything. However, Lin Jia had helped them avoid being adopted by the couple, so they wanted to see if he was willing to share any information.

Lin Jia said, “Fish Spirit, I’ll take ninety percent. You can split the remaining ten percent yourselves.”

Everyone’s expression changed.

Yan Xu looked deeply at Lin Jia. Black-hearted.

Xiao Yao was overjoyed. If Lin Jia said this, then he had found the Soup Base. Although Xiao Yao had not gained any advantage in the last Fish Belly, he felt great once the situation changed!

Fish spirit from a three-star cloud layers! Ninety percent! At least Sharp Knife wouldn’t need to enter Fish Belly for three months.

The others looked ugly. They went to the three-star Fish Belly for fish spirit. If they were only going to get ten percent, why go to a three-star Fish Belly?

“You found the Soup Base?” Zhang Tudou asked.
“Yes, we didn’t contribute much, but there are so many of us. Taking only ten percent is a bit too… Everyone survives in the Underwater Wold, understand each other a little.”

Zhang Tudou was an old fox. He spotted the two people from the Management Office behind the crowd and immediately used his authority to pressure the others. “Perfect! Captain Yan and Deputy Chen are here. Why don’t we let them judge fairly?”

“You’re dreaming.” Xiao Yao cursed. “Judge fairly? You people contributed nothing. Giving you ten percent of the fish spirit should make you secretly happy. And you still want Captain Yan and Deputy Chen to judge fairly? From the beginning, Captain Yan said those two from the Management Office don’t handle fish spirit distribution.”

“How far the Fishman has mutated—don’t you already know that in your hearts?” Xiao Yao had already struck a fighting pose. “If you lose your life, do you still want fish spirit? Do you want this ten percent of fish spirit or not? If not, forget it.”

Zhang Tudou ignored Xiao Yao and looked at Yan Xu.

Lin Jia tilted his head and glanced at Yan Xu, saying lightly, “This ten percent fish spirit is given to you for the sake of Captain Yan and Deputy Chen.”

Yan Xu, who had just wanted to stir up some trouble, “…”

Ha.

Lin Jia had already said everything. What else could he say?

Yan Xu said: “In my opinion, only those who contribute get rewarded.”

Zhang Tudou: “…”

The others looked at each other. With Yan Xu there, they didn’t dare do anything, much less snatch it directly like before.

“Forget it.”

Ten percent, then ten percent. The fish spirit of a three-star Fish Belly was certainly greater than that of a one-star Fish Belly. However, Zhang Tudou felt stifled inside when he thought that even this ten percent still had to be shared with others.

If the Management Office weren’t here, he didn’t think he couldn’t seize the fish spirit. But there was no way—Yan Xu’s revolver intimidated them.

Now that someone had found the Soup Base, the next step was to tell the Fishman about it.

The cat waiting in the shade quietly approached Lin Jia while everyone’s attention was elsewhere.

The Fishman’s mutation was indeed very fast. There was no longer any human-like part on its body. Fins had grown on its back, and its cheeks began opening and closing like a fish’s, pulling the skin into bulges and hollows.

Only then did everyone realize how timely it was that Lin Jia found the Soup Base at that moment. It could not be any later—if it were later, forget getting ten percent fish spirit, they would even lose their lives.

Life was naturally more important than fish spirit. They had also come to the Fish Belly in order to survive. With this mindset, they strangely accepted Lin Jia’s distribution.

They all looked forward to hearing Lin Jia explain the Soup Base and hoped he would answer correctly. Otherwise, the Fishman would kill whoever answered incorrectly, while the others would remain inside the Fish Belly. However, judging by the Fishman’s current state, he would completely mutate in just a few hours.

Under everyone’s gaze, Lin Jia opened his mouth. “Is the little girl related to the ghost?”

Everyone paused; even Xiao Yao froze.

Deputy Chen frowned, and only Yan Xu had an unclear smile on his face.

“Isn’t he…saying…”

Someone wanted to say. Didn’t Lin Jia find the Soup Base? Why was he still asking the Fishman questions related to the little girl?

The newcomers’ faces turned pale, and several calculating veterans belatedly realized they had been tricked.

Lin Jia hadn’t found the Soup Base. He had thoughts about the Soup Base but still needed confirmation from the Fishman. Once the Fishman’s answer matched Lin Jia’s thoughts, Lin Jia would know where to find the Soup Base.

These last few questions must be the key to finding the Soup Base. Perhaps with these questions, they could smell the Soup Base too, but it would be too late. They had already agreed to the fish spirit distribution, and Yan Xu was guarding…

Lin Jia!

Several people viciously remembered Lin Jia’s name.

Everyone stared at the Fishman tightly. They had always wanted to verify whether the little girl was related to the ghost, but they lacked the courage to materialize the little girl and the ghost, so they kept delaying it.

If Lin Jia made a mistake with the Soup Base, the materialized little girl and ghost would take action against the remaining people.

Everyone cared very much about the Fishman’s answer.

The Fishman said: “Yes.”

Everyone let out a breath.

Lin Jia asked again. “Is the ghost the little girl’s mother?”

Everyone was stunned. Since they lacked the exploration process, they did not understand where Lin Jia’s question came from. However, since things had already progressed to this point, it was no longer important to understand where Lin Jia’s question came from. What mattered was the Fishman’s answer.

The Fishman said: “Yes.”

Everyone let out another breath.

Lin Jia asked the third question: “Does the ghost only appear at night?”

Everyone’s mood fluctuated, and each person’s expression changed. Why was there another Fishman question? Could Lin Jia actually do it?

Was there even a need to ask this question? The dean said there was danger only at night. Didn’t that mean the ghost only appeared at night?

Or had Lin Jia already confirmed the Soup Base and was treating today’s last safe question playfully? However, if Lin Jia answered incorrectly, they wouldn’t have the opportunity to ask the Fishman any more questions.

The Fishman grinned: “No.”

Instantly, everyone’s faces turned pale.

No? How could it be no?

Could the dean have lied to them? Bad! All their thoughts had revolved around the ghost appearing at night. Now, with the Fishman’s denial, didn’t that mean…

The Soup Base was wrong?

They looked at Lin Jia in a panic. They had used up the three Fishman questions. Lin Jia definitely wouldn’t give the wrong Soup Base now, but the Fishman was mutating. They couldn’t last until tomorrow!

However—

Lin Jia said: “I know the Soup Base.”

Everyone was shocked. The cat and Xiao Yao became uneasy. Once they reached the point of revealing the Soup Base, there was no turning back. Lin Jia had to answer correctly and completely; otherwise, it would be a dead end.

The Fishman stared at Lin Jia unhappily; the resentment in its eyes was almost impossible to hide.

Lin Jia said: “Xiao Ling was born in 2003. She lived with her single mother. Unfortunately, she and her mother were in a car accident in 2008. Her mother protected her, but Xiao Ling was sent to the Welfare Institute. Her mother couldn’t stop worrying about her, so she would appear after Xiao Ling fell asleep. She sang lullabies for Xiao Ling and protected her from being bullied. However, its existence put enormous pressure on the Welfare Institute. The dean wrote letters to the outside world asking for help, but the situation was never resolved. In 2010, Xiao Ling was adopted by a couple. The couple liked the obedient Xiao Ling very much. However, both Xiao Ling and the dean knew about the problem, so they both looked sad in that photo. As it turned out, the dean and Xiao Ling were not wrong to be worried. Whenever Xiao Ling appeared, so did the ghost. The ghost maintained its appearance from the car accident, which frightened the couple. No matter how much they loved Xiao Ling, they could only send her back to the Welfare Institute.”

“After returning to the Welfare Institute, the dean arranged for Xiao Ling to live on the top floor. The dean was responsible for the other children. Because the ghost would appear when Xiao Ling fell asleep, the dean would go to the top floor at intervals to prevent her from falling asleep.”

“She is a bad girl, she cannot sleep.” Lin Jia said.

“Wrong. She’s not a bad girl; she’s just an ordinary girl surrounded by maternal love.”

The Fishman froze, and the resentment in its eyes dispersed.

It stared at Lin Jia.

The next second, it collapsed with a loud crash.

 

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