Regarding the matter of awakening lightning abilities after transformation

"I really like it..." Gu Cheng opened her mouth, wanting to say something.

"What's wrong?" Su Wanxi put down the piano lid, her long black hair casually draped over her shoulders.

"...Listen to this piece of music."

Just like someone in my head said... she chickened out, completely chickened out.

“I also really like this piece, especially its first movement.”

“It’s not Alaska, it’s Ballad of Adeline, or you could call it ‘Poem to Adeline’,” Su Wanxi explained with a smile. She didn’t want Gu Cheng to recite the song as Ballad of Alaska for the rest of his life.

It does sound cute.

"...I understand." It turned out she hadn't pronounced it correctly for so long, and the shame made Gu Cheng's face blush even more.

Su Wanxi squeezed it hard; it still had that soft, chewy texture that made her want to keep touching it.

"Remember not to mispronounce it next time."

"Ah."

......

It was almost eleven o'clock when Gu Cheng got home. She quickly took a shower and then crawled into bed.

Su Wanxi originally wanted her to stay overnight at the villa, where there were vacant rooms, but Gu Cheng declined, citing the need to change clothes as the reason.

"Why don't you say?" Gu Chengyan asked her.

"...Too early."

Section 65, Chapter Sixty-Four: What I Had Forgotten

The pen tip scratched softly on the paper, and the elegant handwriting exuded a delicate fragrance of ink.

The old man had a white beard, a straight nose with gold-rimmed glasses, slightly sunken eyes, and wrinkles around his eyes.

Outside the window, there are lush green trees, and the occasional sound of children playing can be heard.

"Knock knock..." A series of rhythmic knocks sounded on the door. Dean Xu took off his glasses and sat up straight, holding onto the handle.

"Please come in."

She was a young woman in her early twenties with a ponytail, wearing a baseball cap, and had a beautiful figure.

"Long time no see..." Dean Xu took off his glasses and rubbed his sore eyes.

"Okay." Gu Cheng nodded and locked the door from the inside.

Sitting opposite each other, Dean Xu poured a cup of hot tea for the guest.

How have you been lately?

"It's pretty good, much better than I imagined." Three months ago, they sat facing each other like this, and at that time, Gu Cheng's eyes were filled with panic and confusion.

As for now... those eyes are clear and bright, like a clear spring.

He seemed to be in good spirits... Dean Xu nodded slightly, his brows gradually relaxing: "I understand. If there's anything you're not used to, feel free to tell me."

"Okay," Gu Cheng replied.

The two tacitly avoided topics related to the Hermit Bureau, and simply chatted about trivial matters of daily life.

Director Xu mentioned the recent new policies, which have led to more and more people paying attention to the welfare home. In addition to doing volunteer work, they have also spontaneously organized donations, which, together with the funds provided by the government, are just enough to build another dormitory building.

"It's getting better..." Gu Cheng held a teacup, smiled and nodded. As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw the construction team behind her. What used to be a wasteland now had the basic foundation.

"This is great..." It felt like an eternity even though it had only been a few months. As she talked to herself, she pulled a bank card out of her bag.

"There's 40,000 yuan in here, enough to buy some furniture for the kids." After two months of work, plus extra bonuses for handling cases, the Hermit Bureau paid her nearly 70,000 yuan in total. Apart from major expenses like rent and clothes, Gu Cheng had been very frugal. She kept over 10,000 yuan for herself, and put the rest into the bank card on her desk.

"Forty thousand?" Dean Xu's heart sank. How could Gu Cheng, a girl with only a high school education, have gotten so much money in just three months? He had watched Gu Chengyan grow up and knew that Gu Cheng would never do anything that would compromise her dignity.

"Is your current job... very dangerous?" After hesitating for a moment, Dean Xu still asked another question.

"...Well, I guess you could say that." He usually handles supernatural events and occasionally gets involved in gang fights; there's always some risk involved.

"Take it back." Rough fingers pressed the bank card, then slowly pushed it back to Gu Cheng's chest.

"That's too much..." Dean Xu shook his head, thinking that having this heart to give back was enough.

"When poor, one should cultivate one's own virtue; when successful, one should benefit all under heaven." Gu Cheng said, blinking her eyes as she spoke. This was a principle that Dean Xu had taught her.

"Hehe, you're quite good at applying what you've learned."

"Of course, you don't even know where it came from." Gu Cheng crossed her arms, showing no intention of taking the card.

Dean Xu: "Have you bought a house?"

Gu Cheng: "I didn't buy it."

Do you have a car?

"No..." Her voice trailed off.

"Then take the money back. Save up the 40,000 yuan and make a down payment on a house." This was the first step towards a goal of helping others. Dean Xu chuckled and scolded Gu Cheng, finally dissuading her from her idea.

"Well... let me save up some more." There's no rush, and money in a bank account can't just grow legs and run away.

"Yes." Dean Xu nodded with satisfaction.

......

After chatting for a long time and finishing their tea, Gu Cheng lowered her eyes and tugged at her chin muscles.

"Dean Xu, do you remember what I looked like when I was a child?" She put down her teacup, her gaze wandering.

"When I was little?"

"Yes, it was around the time I was first admitted to the hospital." Gu Cheng's memory was very poor, which only improved slightly after she became an ability user.

Dean Xu closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, lost in thought.

"It's taking a while, let me think about it carefully..."

"I remember... you were very thin back then, as thin as a stick." Besides being thin, Gu Chengyan also had many bruises on his body and lung problems. He was always coughing. He was okay during the day when someone was watching over him, but he would cough incessantly in the middle of the night, coughing up not only phlegm but also a lot of blood.

“During that time, you were very weak and often had to go to the infirmary.” Gu Cheng felt more and more anxious as she listened, not because of her own weakness at the time, but because she had forgotten all of this as she grew up.

"Do you want to continue listening?" Dean Xu looked at her with concern. The girl's shoulders trembled slightly, and her face was pale.

"Um...please continue." Her head was still spinning, but she managed a nonchalant smile.

"To be honest, you didn't get along well with your peers back then. You would stare at anyone who came near you, and you never ate or went to the toilet with anyone." Xu Dean's first impression of Gu Chengyan was that he was sickly and "alone".

"Me?" Taking a deep breath, Gu Cheng unconsciously covered her right cheek.

"Hmm." There are quite a few problem children in the orphanage, and Gu Chengyan is one of the more serious ones.

"About two weeks later, your health inexplicably improved, and your temper gradually calmed down. Only then did we dare to let you share a dormitory room with the other children." Dean Xu recounted the rest of the story, which almost completely overlapped with Gu Cheng's memories.

"Then... why did I come here in the first place?" The orphanage was Gu Cheng's home since she could remember, and she had thought about this question countless times but had never mentioned it to Director Xu.

"..." The old man was somewhat surprised, and tapped his fingers lightly on the glass tabletop.

"A policeman brought you here. I heard your house caught fire, but I don't know the exact cause..."

"Fire..." Lighters, tall buildings, everything seems to be connected.

"I understand, thank you Dean Xu." Gu Cheng tried to stand up, but staggered back into her chair.

Be careful not to fall.

"My legs are a little sore..." Gu Cheng rubbed her bruised knee and bit her lip.

"I'm going to take a walk in the yard..."

"Yes, let's play with the kids."

I glanced at my phone; it was 9:20. The children didn't have school on the weekend, so they should be playing games in the yard right now.

Leaving the reception room and walking past the lush flowerbeds, a green lawn comes into view.

The boys, wearing blue shirts printed with cartoon characters, huddled together in small groups, playing with toys. The girls, wearing cute little round hats and white dresses, sat leaning against the shade of the trees.

Taking out several packets of candy from her bag, Gu Cheng slowly walked forward, smiling as she extended her hand.

Would you like some candy?

Section 66, Chapter Sixty-Five: You Look a Lot Like Him

"Thank you, Juejue." The girl reached out her chubby little hand to take the candy, her words a little unclear because she was in the process of losing her baby teeth.

"Don't eat too much, you'll get cavities..." Gu Cheng reminded her.

"Mmm." The girl curled up the corners of her mouth, revealing a bright smile, with two shallow dimples on her tender cheeks.

Gu Cheng likes children, as long as they aren't too unruly.

For example, these adorable little ones in front of me wearing white tutu skirts... no, they're more like little angels who can be satisfied with just candy.

"There's more here." Some were given to each child, and the large bags of candy were quickly emptied.

"I'll come back next time."

"Mmm." The children gathered around, putting the candy wrappers into the plastic bag that had previously held the candy, each face beaming with a happy smile.

Gu Cheng squinted and slowly leaned against the shade of the tree, just like when she was a child.

Not far from her, Qin Jin, dressed in casual clothes, was lying on the rubber track playing marbles with the boys.

"Brother Qin, the glass bead next to the lawn is easier to hit."

"Yes, I'm watching." He lowered his body, his fingers touching the ground, aiming at the glass beads to make the trajectories align.

"Ding~" The marble was launched, and the glass ball that had been aimed at was knocked aside, sparkling in the sunlight.

"We won again! Brother Qin, there's more here..."

"You guys play, I have to go to work." After returning the marbles she had won to the children, Qin Jin put on an apron and picked up the gardening shears beside her.