Oh no! My yandere school beauty is so clingy!

The two stepped outside, the warm sunlight shining down on them.

Shen Yu took out his phone and searched on the map again.

Searching for "Xiangyangyuan" directly on the navigation app yielded no results. He could only rely on the vague information Su Linxue had given him about "the southernmost town" to zoom in on the map and carefully search the southern edge of the city.

There are indeed several places marked with town names over there, which look a bit far from the city center.

"Let's check the bus station in the south first... there are buses from there to the towns below... we'll ask which town it is when we get there..."

"Okay, whatever you say!" Lin Anran nodded and naturally took his arm.

She was dressed in casual clothes today, carrying a small crossbody bag, and her face showed a sense of novelty and anticipation for going out, just like she was going on a short trip.

The two walked to the nearby subway station, bought tickets, and boarded a line heading south.

As the subway travels underground through the city, you can initially see bustling street scenes and tall buildings outside the window, but as you go further south, the number of people in the carriage seems to gradually decrease, and the scenery outside the window begins to change.

High-rise buildings are gradually being replaced by large factories.

After sitting for nearly an hour, the announcement came out the name of the final stop.

Shen Yu pulled Lin Anran off the bus with the flow of people.

Stepping out of the subway station, a completely different atmosphere greeted me.

Unlike the bustling city center, this place is less crowded and noisy; the roads are wider and the traffic is much less.

"It feels...like I've arrived in another city," Lin Anran muttered softly as she looked around.

She grew up in the north of the city and rarely came to such a southern place.

"Yes, a little."

Shen Yu also looked around. There was a sense of time slowly flowing by here.

He took out his phone and checked his location again.

"The bus station should be not far ahead. Let's walk over and take a look."

The two walked along the somewhat deserted street.

After walking for a while, we indeed saw a long-distance bus station that looked quite old.

The storefront is small, and the lettering on the signboard is somewhat faded.

Several minibuses were parked in the yard, with different town names painted on their bodies.

Shen Yu led Lin Anran into the dimly lit ticket hall.

There weren't many people inside, and a few windows were open, with ticket sellers lazily looking at their phones or newspapers behind the glass.

Shen Yu walked to a window and knocked on the glass.

"Hello, could you please tell me which bus routes go to the towns down south?"

The ticket seller, a middle-aged woman, looked up at him, then glanced at Lin Anran beside him, somewhat puzzled.

She then named several towns, speaking quickly with a heavy local accent.

Shen Yu listened carefully, and two of the town names seemed to match the southernmost towns he had seen on the map before.

He wrote down the name and then asked:

"Excuse me, when is the next bus to Liuhe Town?"

The ticket seller glanced at the clock on the wall:

"Liuhe, wait another twenty minutes or so, we'll leave once most people have boarded. It'll be that blue one outside."

"Okay, thank you." Shen Yu thanked him and bought two tickets to Liuhe Town.

Liuhe Town is a town that appears to be relatively central on the map, within the approximate area he has identified.

He planned to go there first, and then use that town as a base to inquire about the "Sunrise Courtyard" in the surrounding area.

Although it's still like finding a needle in a haystack, at least we have a concrete starting point.

Holding two thin tickets stamped with red seals, Shen Yu led Lin Anran out of the ticket hall and into the courtyard to wait for the train.

The blue minibus was parked there quietly, the door open, and the driver was dozing off in the driver's seat.

After waiting for about twenty minutes, several more villagers carrying large and small bags boarded the minibus, and it finally started moving slowly.

The car bumped along the uneven asphalt road, and the scenery outside the window gradually changed from scattered factories on the outskirts of the city to vast fields and low-lying villages.

Lin Anran sat by the window, her forehead pressed against the glass, watching curiously as the fields rushed past and the occasional cattle and sheep appeared outside.

Shen Yu leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes to rest, but his heart was far from calm.

Liuhe Town, Xiangyang Courtyard... these names swirled in his mind.

The car moved along and stopped frequently, dropping off a few people at several roadside stalls and then getting on a few more.

About forty minutes later, the car entered a slightly bustling town and finally stopped at a fork in the road with a sign that read "Liuhe Town".

"We've arrived at Liuhe!" the driver shouted at the top of his lungs.

Shen Yu opened his eyes and patted Lin Anran beside him: "We've arrived, Ranran. Let's get off the bus."

"Um!"

The two got out of the car. The town was small, with a main street running through it. On both sides were three- or four-story buildings with various shops, such as hardware stores, grocery stores, barbershops, and small restaurants. The signs were of different ages and there were not many pedestrians or cars.

"Next... how do we ask?" Lin Anran looked around and asked in a low voice.

Shen Yu also looked around, his gaze landing on an old man who looked to be over sixty years old, sunbathing in front of his small shop on the street.

"Let's start by asking the older people; they might know more about it."

He took a deep breath, adjusted his expression, and led Lin Anran over.

"Sir, excuse me, I'd like to ask you about a place. Do you know if there used to be a place called Xiangyangyuan around here? It should have been an orphanage."

The old man was dozing off with his eyes half-closed when he heard this. He slowly opened his eyes, looked him and Lin Anran up and down, and seemed to be curious about the young couple's presence here.

"Xiangyangyuan?"

The old man squinted and thought for a while before pointing westward in the direction of the town with the old newspaper he was holding:

"Oh, there's one over there, I think, but I can't quite remember, there should be one."

The old man's words made Shen Yu and Lin Anran's hearts skip a beat at the same time!

"It really exists! It really exists!" Lin Anran subconsciously gripped Shen Yu's arm, her voice filled with a mixture of disbelief, surprise, and nervousness.

So easy? You just asked casually and actually got the answer? Isn't that incredibly lucky?

Shen Yu was also stunned, and for a moment forgot her surprise.

"Sir, are you sure? It's that... orphanage, the one called Xiangyang Orphanage?"

Shen Yu steadied himself and asked another question, afraid that he might have misheard or misunderstood something.

The old man seemed a little impatient with his question, and waved his rolled-up newspaper:

"It's over there, at the west end of town, in that cluster of old houses by the river. I think there's one there. Go and take a look yourself."

"Thank you, sir! Thank you so much!" Shen Yu quickly expressed his gratitude, gripping Lin Anran's hand tightly, his voice slightly trembling.

"Let's go take a look..."

Following the direction the old man pointed out, the two hurried towards the west end of the town.

The further west you go, the sparser and lower the buildings become on both sides of the street, and the road surface becomes less smooth than the main street.

After passing through a somewhat messy residential area, a small river, not very wide but with a gentle flow, came into view.

Across the river was a large, somewhat desolate open space with a few scattered rows of old-fashioned bungalows.

Not far from the riverbank, on a relatively regular slope, stands a wall. Inside the wall are several two- or three-story buildings that look newer and neater than the surrounding houses.

What made Shen Yu's breath catch in her throat was a brand-new blue sign with white lettering hanging on the white-painted wall of the enclosure facing their direction. The three large characters on it were crystal clear—

Xiangyang Children's Welfare Home

Look at the brand-new house number, the tidy building, and the faint sound of children's laughter coming from the courtyard... This place not only exists, but also seems to be still in operation?

Lin Anran also saw the sign. She subconsciously gripped his hand tighter, her fingertips exerting a slight force, as if trying to pull him back from some dazed state.

"Is...is this it?" She looked up at him, her voice soft and questioning.

Shen Yu's throat was dry. He closed his eyes tightly, then opened them again.

"The sign is new...and the name matches. Let's go take a look."

He took a deep breath before pulling Lin Anran along and walking towards the tightly closed courtyard gate.

Getting closer allows for a clearer view of the courtyard.

The buildings weren't particularly grand, but they were clean and tidy, with bright windows.

The yard has simple children's facilities such as slides and swings. Although they are a bit old, they are well maintained.

The small figures I just saw were children aged between four or five and seven or eight, playing something together and making clear, cheerful noises.

Not far away, a middle-aged woman dressed simply and wearing an apron was sitting on a small stool picking vegetables.

Shen Yu stood outside the tightly closed courtyard gate, looking at the peaceful and serene scene inside through the iron fence, and for a moment he didn't dare to raise his hand to knock on the door.

Lin Anran noticed the stiffness and coldness of his hands. She turned her head and whispered:

"Yuyu, knock on the door. We're already here anyway... let's go in and ask."