Raising Orphans, Not Assassins

It was nearing midnight, and Chen Ye lay in bed, the cold mechanical sound of the system ringing in his ears.

【Ding!】

【Daily Settlement:】

【Today, Chen Da Ming woke up early to fetch water, training his strength, earning 10 points.】

【You noticed Da Ming waking up early to work, felt sorry for him, and told him to go back to sleep, earning 5 points.】

【You took Da Ming to the morning market for wontons, earning 5 points.】

【Chen Da Ming broke a porcelain bowl, training his strength, earning 5 points.】

【Chen Da Ming ate too much, earning 5 points.】 {ED:Lol}

【Chen Da Ming was captured by Fengyu Tower, broke down the prison door, and escaped, earning 50 points.】

【Chen Da Ming reunited with you, earning 10 points.】

【As a token of gratitude, Chen Da Ming gave you a pink round fan, earning 50 points.】

【You applied medicine for Chen Da Ming, earning 5 points.】

【You granted Chen Da Ming the attribute "Great Wisdom Appears Foolish," making him smarter, earning 10 points.】

【Chen Da Ming ate too much at dinner, earning 5 points.】

【You took Chen Da Ming to read "Water Margin," teaching him literacy, earning 5 points.】

【You taught Chen Da Ming personal hygiene, earning 5 points.】

【Ding!】

【You adopted a second orphan: Xiao Lian, earning 200 points.】

【You taught Xiao Lian how to use seasonings, earning 5 points.】

【Xiao Lian learned cooking methods, earning 5 points.】

【Xiao Lian watched the manual “Jing Hua Zhi" and had some insights, earning 20 points.】

【Ding!】

【Chen Da Ming's gratitude towards you has increased!】

【Total points: 350】

Daily settlement is complete, and Chen Ye's total points have reached 931.

Then, the system displayed Chen Da Ming's information box.

【Name: Chen Da Ming】

【ID: 0001】

【Gender: Male】

【Age: 10】

【Current Skills: Strong Physique, Great Wisdom Appears Foolish】

【Current Gratitude: 65%】

Seeing the gratitude level increase by 5%, Chen Ye smiled.

‘This kid Da Ming, although a bit silly, is indeed a good child.’

Chen Ye pulled up the daily settlement again, carefully examining Xiao Lian's part.

"Xiao Lian actually has a scroll? Where did she get it from?"

Chen Ye pondered, becoming more curious about Xiao Lian's background.

"Are the actions she took before being adopted not counted in the daily settlement?"

After dealing with the settlement information, he checked the task updates.

【Task: Establish future career development direction for orphans (0/2)】

【Task Reward: 1000 points, chance to draw Orphan Skill *2】

Chen Ye rubbed his chin, considering the difficulty of the task.

"This task is a bit challenging, hmm..."

"Well, I'll think about it later. Time for bed."

Putting aside the thoughts in his mind, Chen Ye drifted off to sleep.

Some time passed.

Cock-a-doodle-doo~

Cock-a-doodle-doo~

The continuous crowing of roosters echoed through the city of Yuhang once again.

"Here we go again!"

Chen Ye, showing a reluctant expression, wriggled in bed for a moment, then listened to the faint movements in the courtyard, widening his eyes.

"Da Ming?" Chen Ye called out.

From the nearby small bed came the innocent voice, "Dad?"

‘Is it not Da Ming?’

Chen Ye listened closely and indeed heard the faint sound of something rubbing in the courtyard.

It sounded like...

The sound of sweeping.

‘No way, another early riser?’

Chen Ye got out of bed, put on his clothes, and went out to the courtyard.

There he saw Xiao Lian, dressed in a light blue dress, holding a broom in her delicate hands, sweeping the ground.

A thin mist enveloped the air, and the sound of sweeping echoed with a rustle. A faint dust cloud rose from the ground.

Hearing movement behind her, Xiao Lian turned to look at Chen Ye, a bright smile on her pretty little face as she crisply greeted, “Director."

The young girl's hair was styled in a traditional maiden's bun, her figure slender, adding a touch of ancient beauty in the hazy mist.

Chen Ye was momentarily stunned, then regained his senses, somewhat puzzled. "Xiao Lian, what are you..."

"Sweeping the courtyard. Master Zhu said: 'Rise at dawn, sweep the courtyard, keep it clean inside and out.'"

Xiao Lian held the broom, explaining as she swept, "I've already heated up breakfast. It'll be ready in a while."

At these words, Chen Ye couldn't help but twitch his mouth a couple of times. He couldn't help feeling a twinge of guilt.

Ancient people used to rise early, unlike him, who kept sleeping until the sun shone on his buttocks.

Chen Ye opened his mouth, wanting to tell Xiao Lian to stop and go back to rest, but seeing that Xiao Lian was almost done sweeping and breakfast was almost ready, he couldn't bring himself to say it.

Ah...

Chen Ye sighed inwardly.

What a torment.

Get up, get up.

Chen Ye turned to go back to his room to change clothes. Suddenly, he paused, turned back, and asked, "Xiao Lian, have you... been to a private school?"

"No... just learned... learned a bit from... from my family."

The girl's clear voice came through.

Chen Ye nodded at her response, finding Xiao Lian's background somewhat intriguing.

Ordinary commoners wouldn't have access to things like "Master Zhu's sayings."

Chen Ye pushed the door and went back into the room.

Unseen by him, Xiao Lian tightly gripped the broom, blue veins bulging on her fair little hand.

A few seconds later, Xiao Lian continued to sweep the courtyard, keeping it clean.

...

"Come on, Da Ming, follow my rhythm, one-two-three-four, two-two-three-four, three-two-three-four, four-two-three-four, let's do it again..."

"Good, next is chest expansion exercise, one-two-three-four..."

Chen Ye led Da Ming in doing radio exercises in the middle of the courtyard.

Xiao Lian stood on the side, watching the odd yet somewhat graceful movements of the two, a look of wanting to laugh but restraining herself.

Chen Ye noticed Xiao Lian and invited her, "Xiao Lian, do you want to join us in the radio exercises?"

Blushing, Xiao Lian shook her head and quickly retreated into the study.

These strange movements didn't look like martial arts at all, and she didn't want to learn.

It was no use.

Chen Ye did the exercises with Da Ming a few times, sweating all over. In the slightly chilly morning, steam rose from his body.

"Da Ming, from now on, do this twice every morning. You got a lot of the moves wrong just now."

Chen Ye patted Da Ming's shoulder, smiling.

Da Ming smiled foolishly, silent.

He didn't think the moves just now were bad at all; on the contrary, he found them quite fun.

Chen Ye's purpose in doing radio exercises with Da Ming was actually quite profound. He found that the daily settlement points were mainly from exercises. Doing exercises with the children every day increased interaction, resulting in more points during settlement.

Chen Ye stretched his body a few times and admonished Da Ming, "Da Ming, exercise more when you have free time."

"When you're hungry, we'll eat. Director has money, so don't worry about eating."

With Da Ming's 【Strong Physique】skill, the more he exercised, the better.

Chen Ye also checked Da Ming's shoulder injury again, seeing that the bruising had faded considerably from yesterday, he finally felt relieved.

Through yesterday's daily settlement, Chen Ye learned that the injury was from Da Ming bumping into the cell door.

Presumably, the people at the Fengyu Tower placed the children temporarily in the house, considering their age and strength, the cell door shouldn't have been too sturdy.

That Da Ming could come back this time was also considered lucky.