Chapter 83 Lin Xixi's Adoption Issues
Inside the conference room.
At this moment, Instructor Yang Jianguo sat at the head of the table, while the criminal police team led by Long Hao sat below.
"The case regarding Lin Xixi can basically be declared closed."
"She is only five years old, not yet at the age to bear legal responsibility. According to regulations, she will need regular psychological check-ups in the future to prevent similar incidents from happening again."
"But that is not the main purpose of this meeting."
After Yang Jianguo finished speaking, discussions broke out below.
Just now, Long Hao had suddenly approached him, wanting to discuss Lin Xixi's future whereabouts.
Normally, their criminal investigation team was only responsible for handling cases, not for dealing with children's welfare.
However, someone in Lin Xixi's situation could only be sent to an orphanage. Because she had killed her father—even though there were reasons—it was tacitly understood that she had lost the chance to be adopted.
No family would ever adopt Xiao Xi.
No matter how justified the reasons or how pitiful the child was!
That was the reality!
"Instructor, do you mean we should look for a suitable candidate among ourselves?"
An officer below raised a question.
Yang Jianguo glanced at Long Hao and then nodded.
"We all know Xiao Xi's situation and whether she has psychological issues. I'm just letting everyone sit down and discuss it. If there really is no one suitable..."
"At least we can say we did our best."
Yang Jianguo explained.
Names then began to ring out in the conference room.
But they were all rejected one by one.
After several rounds, they still couldn't reach a conclusion.
"Chen Mo, I see that Xiao Xi is quite close to you. Do you have any thoughts on this?"
Yang Jianguo's gaze fell on Chen Mo, who hadn't spoken the entire time.
Suddenly being called out, Chen Mo snapped back to reality.
"I do, but I can't."
He shook his head.
In his past life, he had raised a small Golden Retriever. It was very cute; whenever he touched its little head, it would stick out its tongue and lick his hand.
But on the third day, he gave it away.
Because watching someone else raise a pet and raising one yourself are two different concepts.
In the morning, he would rush to work and not even have time to eat himself, yet he had to use warm water to soak the dog food to help the Golden Retriever digest it.
When he got home, he would see poop everywhere in the room and have to drag his exhausted body to clean it up.
These were all things an owner should do.
But it also made Chen Mo deeply realize that 'liking' something does not equal being able to take 'responsibility' for it.
He couldn't even raise a small Golden Retriever, let alone a living, breathing human being.
The word 'responsibility' is truly heavy.
"Haha, I understand. After all, you don't even have a girlfriend yet."
He then shifted his gaze back to the faces of everyone below.
Seeing that no one continued to speak, this discussion came to an end.
"Since we can't find a suitable adopter, we'll follow the standard procedure..."
Just as Yang Jianguo finished speaking.
There was a knock on the conference room door.
Before anyone could shout 'Come in'.
A man wearing a suit, a large gold watch on his wrist, and a gold necklace around his neck rushed in.
The newcomer was none other than Song Wei.
"Hello, leaders, hello, officers. I've been listening outside the door for a long time."
"Since no one is willing to adopt Xiao Xi, I am!"
Song Wei bowed slightly, his hands clasped together with a forced smile on his face, looking very humble.
"You!?"
Seeing him suddenly rush in and say something so unreasonable, Long Hao immediately rejected the idea.
This guy's character could be seen from his style of doing things.
Throwing rats and cockroaches into other people's restaurants—could he be any kind of good person?
Handing Xiao Xi over to him would leave everyone uneasy.
"Is it okay?"
Song Wei's face held a look of anticipation.
He had seen Lin Xixi just now.
She looked so much like her!
She looked too much like Feng Juan.
"You don't have the qualifications for adoption. You've been to prison, and then there's your method of pushing out other shopkeepers. If you were us, would you be willing to hand a child over to you?"
Long Hao shook his head repeatedly.
Handing her over to him would be like pushing Xiao Xi into a fire pit.
But Chen Mo's expression fell into thought.
He had a different view.
In fact, if one had to say, there was no one in this world more suitable to be the adopter than Song Wei.
First, this guy was willing to commit a second crime and kill for her mother.
This showed that Feng Juan's status in his heart was extremely high.
Out of love for the house, he naturally wouldn't treat Xiao Xi poorly.
It's like if you really like your girlfriend, you will naturally have a lot of goodwill toward her family.
Second, Song Wei's imprisonment wasn't because there was something wrong with him as a person. The main reason was that he wanted to use fire to scare Liu Lin, but accidentally ignited Willow catkins, causing the fire to go out of control. He wasn't a heinous murderer himself.
And Lin Xixi's situation was very similar to his. She wasn't a bad person by nature, but she had the stain of murder, which made her unadoptable.
If Song Wei could do business uprightly, this person really would be the perfect choice for Xiao Xi.
Of course, everything still had to be decided by the child herself.
"Officer, one person can never fully understand another."
"I went to prison for killing because of Lin Xixi's mother. If you use murder to say I'm unqualified, I think you're being biased."
Song Wei began to reason.
Seeing that the captain before him was listening, he hurriedly added:
"I have indeed used improper means in business these past few years, but it was just a bit unethical; it didn't reach the level of breaking the law, did it?"
"If you agree to let me adopt the child Xiao Xi, I will move to a different city, change my job, and raise her safely and steadily."
As he spoke, he swept his expectant gaze across the faces of everyone in the conference room.
Hoping someone could say a word for him.
He had no intention of ever getting married in this life.
But they say having a child can provide for you in old age.
He had previously intended to adopt a child. He had made a lot of money over the years, and handing the money to a child before he died would be considered living a fulfilling life.
And compared to just adopting any random child.
Deep down, he liked Xiao Xi more.
Others might be afraid of her.
But he wasn't.
Because if Xiao Xi hadn't done it, he would have.
Their goals were the same!
"Ahem."
Yang Jianguo, sitting at the head of the table, gave a light cough.
"This matter primarily depends on Xiao Xi's opinion. Then we will consider your situation."
One sentence clarified the current point of focus.
No matter how well Song Wei spoke or how suitable he was.
It all had to pass Xiao Xi's consent first.
"I've actually already asked..."
A smile appeared on Song Wei's face as he scratched his head.
Then he shouted toward the door a few times.
A moment later, Xiao Xi pushed open the door and walked in.
The first thing she said upon entering was that she was willing to go with Uncle Song Wei.
"Xiao Xi, did you know him before?"
Chen Mo saw that the look in her eyes wasn't right and raised a question.
Under Xiao Xi's explanation, everyone present also understood the situation.
In fact, when Song Wei recognized Feng Juan, he felt both love and hate for Lin Xixi.
He loved that this girl looked so much like her mother, but hated that she wasn't his own child.
Therefore, he would often take advantage of when Lin Dahai was at work and not at home to secretly buy snacks for Lin Xixi to eat.
Feng Juan also tacitly allowed this.
After all, children have cravings, and the family owed so much debt that there was no extra money to buy things for Xiao Xi.
Over time, as Song Wei also had a cheerful personality, he gradually became familiar with Xiao Xi.
"Xiao Xi, are you sure?"
"Mm-hmm, I'm sure. Mama said I can trust Uncle Song."
...
Half an hour later.
A business van stopped at the entrance of the Municipal Bureau.
"Brother Chen Mo, can you squat down?"
"Of course."
Chen Mo leaned his ear over, thinking she wanted to whisper a secret.
But he didn't hear any words; instead, he felt a warmth on his cheek.
She must have kissed him, right?
Chen Mo turned his head back, but Xiao Xi had already run into the business van.
"Leave the paperwork to us."
"But Xiao Xi's check-up reports and status must be reported to our Municipal Bureau strictly according to requirements!" Long Hao sternly reminded Song Wei.
"Don't worry, as long as you let me adopt Xiao Xi, I'll do whatever you tell me to!"
Song Wei turned back to look into the car and then let out a happy laugh.