Vol. 2 - Ch. 1 - Two Years

Time flew like an arrow, and years passed in the blink of an eye. Autumn faded into winter, winter gave way to autumn. Just like that two years went by in a flash.

First Year of Zhenghe, Twelfth Month, Twenty-Ninth Day Winter. The day before New Year's Eve.

In the spacious courtyard of the Yuhang Orphanage which span over a hundred square meters, a piercing scream echoed,

"Oink! Oink!"

A domesticated pig, weighing well over forty catties, was tied down on a long bench. Its ears were droopy, with four legs stretched taut, it let out desperate squeals.

The next moment—

A small wooden stick, stained with pig dung, was ruthlessly shoved into the pig's nostril.

At that, the pig’s cries turned even more tragic.

"Oink! Oink! Oink!"

Beside the pig squatted a little girl, dressed in a red robe embroidered with peony patterns and wrapped in a snow-white scarf, looking as delicate as a porcelain doll.

Her tiny hands gripped the filthy wooden stick and jabbed at the pig’s nostrils once—twice.

"Oink! Oink! Oink!"

The poor pig wailed incessantly, tears streaming down its eyes. Her face brimmed with excitement at the sight. She giggled uncontrollably and called out, "Daddy! Daddy!"

"Piggy is crying!"

Not far from the pig, a young man sat on a small stool. He was dressed in a white robe, draped with a snow-white fox-fur cloak.

In his hands, he held a long butcher’s knife, sharpening it against a whetstone—one stroke after another.

Every so often, he scooped a bowl of water from the nearby bucket and poured it over the whetstone.

His mind seemed elsewhere, lost in thought.

Seeing that her father was ignoring her, the little girl wrinkled her tiny nose, pouted, and started walking toward him—still holding the filthy stick.

When Chen Ye finally noticed his daughter wielding that thing, he snapped out of his thoughts.

With a pained expression, he quickly said, "Xiao Fu, put that down! It’s dirty!"

Xiao Fu puffed up her little cheeks and waved the stick. "Daddy! Piggy was crying just now!"

Chen Ye sighed helplessly and nodded. "Yes, I saw."

Xiao Fu’s chubby little face brightened with a smile. Innocently, she asked, "Daddy, why do piggies cry?"

"Because you hurt it," Chen Ye patiently explained.

"Xiao Fu… how about we give Piggy a quick end? In just a quarter of an hour, you’ve pulled its tail, twisted its ears, and shoved a stick into its nose. If it could endure all that without crying, I would have considered sparing its life."

Xiao Fu tilted her head, looking puzzled, still clutching the filthy stick.

"Oink! Oink!"

The pitiful pig tied to the bench howled in agreement, as if it understood Chen Ye’s words.

Chen Ye let out a soft sigh, set down the butcher’s knife, and walked toward the struggling pig.

He placed a firm palm on its head.

The next second—

The pig, which had been wailing moments ago, suddenly slumped to the side. Its stiff limbs trembled once before going completely limp.

The world fell silent.

Xiao Fu’s big, round eyes widened, mist gathering within them.

"Pig… Piggy died?"

Her voice wavered with an impending sob. "Daddy! Piggy is dead!"

Chen Ye’s mouth twitched. He quickly walked over and patted her head, soothing her.

"Piggy isn’t dead, sweetheart. It’s just asleep."

Xiao Fu’s crying stopped instantly. She blinked twice, her voice lifting with joy.

"Really?"

Chen Ye nodded.

"Yay! Piggy isn’t dead!"

Overjoyed, Xiao Fu waved her filthy stick and ran back to the pig. Squatting beside it, she resumed poking its nose.

Watching this, Chen Ye silently mourned for the poor pig.

Perhaps dying would’ve been the kinder fate…

His gaze softened as he looked at Xiao Fu, a mix of fondness and nostalgia filling his eyes.

He turned his head up toward the clear blue sky.

Time passed so quickly.

Xiao Fu had grown from a chubby one-and-a-half-year-old to a lively three-year-old—soon to be four.

Da Ming was almost thirteen.

Xiao Sheng had just turned fourteen.

Xiao Lian would be seventeen after the new year.

Chen Ye sat back on his stool, resuming his sharpening of the butcher’s knife.

Two years…

So much had happened.

First, the orphanage.

Chen Ye had purchased four neighboring residential courtyards. He had combined and renovated them, turning them into one large compound.

Now, the Yuhang Orphanage has seven private rooms and ten dormitory rooms, all surrounding a spacious courtyard.

The study, classrooms, and kitchen had all been refurbished.

Everything was flourishing, improving by the day.

In these two years, besides the original children—Da Ming, Xiao Lian, Xiao Fu, and Sun Sheng—thirteen more had joined the orphanage.

Eight girls and five boys, the oldest being eight, the youngest not even a year old.

Most of these children had physical disabilities or illnesses.

They had been abandoned by their families.

To care for them, Chen Ye had hired four young maidservants.

At first, it was chaotic—messy and exhausting.

But over time, they had found their rhythm.

Two years passed in the blink of an eye.

Another major change was the system.

The system had never unlocked additional binding slots, meaning the thirteen new children couldn’t contribute points to Chen Ye.

His daily point accumulation depended solely on Xiao Fu.

And after two years, through an average daily gain of around 35 points, Chen Ye's total points had reached 30,000.

He spent 10,000 points to purchase a large collection of books from the system store.

The books covered a wide range of subjects, including encyclopedias, mathematics, language arts, classical literature, chemistry, and physics.

Chen Ye placed all these books in the study hall.

Originally, he had intended to hire a teacher from the academy to educate the children at the orphanage.

But after careful consideration, he abandoned that idea.

He chose to educate the children himself.

The cultural framework of Dawu was no different from that of ancient China in his past life.

It was primarily Confucian, with little variation in content.

Confucianism had its merits, but it also contained outdated ideals.

Chen Ye didn’t expect much from the children in his care—he simply wanted them to grow up safely.

However, he also hoped they would develop their own perspectives on the world, rather than becoming ignorant and easily manipulated.

Since many of them had physical disabilities, he wanted to teach them modern knowledge to help them accept their differences without feeling inferior.

It was his way of compensating for their misfortune.

With the remaining 20,000 points, Chen Ye drew four system traits:

[Horse Appraisal – Enhanced ability to evaluate horses; horses develop a faster affinity toward him.]

[Brewing – Improved talent in brewing; significantly increased knowledge of medicinal herbs and poisons.]

[Ziwu Mandarin Duck Axes – Greatly enhanced talent for using this unique weapon; all other weapon proficiencies significantly decreased.]

[Brick – Greatly enhanced talent for using bricks as a weapon; all other weapon proficiencies significantly decreased.]

Upon drawing these, Chen Ye was momentarily speechless.

The first two were normal enough, but the last two… what were these even supposed to be?

They weren’t easy to distribute.

After some thought, he decided to be fair and assigned them to four newly arrived children—Xiaowu, Xiaoliu, Xiaoqi, and Xiaoba.

Two boys, two girls. The oldest was seven, the youngest five.

Following the order of their arrival, he gave them simple numbered names for now.

Once they were older, he would give them proper names.

Apart from the system points, the progress of Da Ming and the others' profession-based quests had also changed.

[Da Ming’s logging progress: 82/100]

[Sun Sheng’s looting progress: 31/100]

Only Xiao Lian had completed her profession quest.

Her rewards included:

[5,000 system points, 500 taels of silver, One personal wish item]

With the 5,000 points, Chen Ye drew another system trait:

[Master Craftsman – Significantly enhanced ability to create fine objects; extremely picky about material quality.]

Originally, he had planned to assign this to one of the newly arrived orphans.

That was until the system delivered Xiao Lian’s wish item—a blueprint.

[Blueprint: Peacock Plume

Category: Mechanized Hidden Weapon

Inherent Traits: Qi-Piercing, Dazzling

Qi-Piercing: Projectiles fired from this weapon can penetrate inner energy barriers.

Dazzling: Anyone who witnesses its release will be mesmerized by its beauty.]

The moment he saw the name of the weapon, Chen Ye had no hesitation—he immediately assigned [Master Craftsman] to Xiao Lian.

Over the past two years, Xiao Lian had mastered movement techniques and Tang Sect hidden weapons.

She was now a solid Second-Rank expert.

Her only shortcoming was her inner energy.

Inner energy required time to cultivate. In two years, she had only accumulated 400 strands, still far from the 1,000 strands needed to reach Second Rank.

In the martial world, she had earned the title "Jade-Handed Asura".

Among Third-Rank and lower opponents, she was nearly invincible.

However, against a First-Rank expert, her hidden weapons couldn't even penetrate their protective qi barrier.

The gap between Second Rank, First Rank, and Grandmaster was immense—far greater than the leap between Third and Fourth Rank.

Three months ago, Chen Ye handed her the Peacock Plume blueprint.

The moment she saw it, Xiao Lian understood its brilliance.

She had been gathering materials ever since.

After three months, she had collected 70% of what was needed.

Once it was complete, even a First-Rank expert wouldn’t be able to intimidate her.

As for gratitude levels:

Da Ming and Sun Sheng’s gratitude: 85%

Xiao Lian’s gratitude: 90%

When Sun Sheng’s gratitude reached 80%, the system awarded Chen Ye one free trait draw as an orphanage director.

He drew the following trait:

[Gradual Healing – Immune to all illnesses; anyone within a 100-meter radius will gradually recover from any disease.]

This trait was another game-changer.

Any sick person within 100 meters would gradually recover, no matter the illness.

With this ability, Chen Ye managed to stabilize the conditions of a few seriously ill children at the orphanage.

Their conditions were steadily improving, and in time, they would make full recoveries.

In a sense, this ability was incredibly powerful.

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