Although the boy's words weren't directed at her,
Su Ci felt uncomfortable no matter how she heard them.
Qin Shiyao also frowned.
How old are you, and you still need someone else to tie your shoelaces?
Hearing this, a flicker of struggle appeared in Lin Xiaoxiao's eyes, and she couldn't help but steal a glance at Su Ci.
Earlier in the office, Su Ci had acted as if she was considering the children of the Orphanage at every turn.
Su Ci must be a very loving person.
She would be interning at Changsheng Biotechnology in the future.
She couldn't leave a bad impression on Su Ci.
She pursed her lips and was about to squat down to tie the boy's shoelaces.
Seeing Lin Xiaoxiao's posture, the boy smiled smugly to himself and raised his chin arrogantly toward the three children beside him.
The other three children followed suit one after another.
"Lin Xiaoxiao, my hair hasn't been combed yet! Hurry up and help me comb it."
"Lin Xiaoxiao, I still have a pile of clothes in the dorm that haven't been washed! You have to remember to wash them."
"Lin Xiaoxiao, you should have been paid your salary by now! Hand over the money quickly; we want to buy new clothes and snacks."
The demands they made of Lin Xiaoxiao became more and more excessive, as if it were all natural, as if Lin Xiaoxiao was born owing them.
Listening to this, a nameless fire surged in Su Ci's heart.
Do children nowadays have no upbringing at all?
Is this the attitude for asking someone for a favor?
At the very least, the form of address should be respectful!
Is it that Lin Xiaoxiao was born owing them?
With those bossy looks, they might as well have written 'you are my servant' on their faces.
Su Ci looked at Lin Xiaoxiao's thin and lonely back in front of her.
At this moment, her small hands tightened and released, as if she were trying her best to suppress the surging emotions within her.
The sunny and cheerful Lin Xiaoxiao she had seen earlier had ceased to exist because of a few words from these Little Brats.
Su Ci knew this emotion was called anger.
With her intelligence, she could guess that Lin Xiaoxiao's endurance was likely due to her own presence.
She didn't want to show her negative side in front of her.
This instead highlighted how sensible Lin Xiaoxiao was.
So sensible it made one's heart ache.
In the original novel, there was almost no description of how Lin Xiaoxiao fared in the Orphanage; the writing focused more on Ye Chen's face-slapping antics.
She wasn't sure exactly how long Lin Xiaoxiao had suffered this kind of treatment in the Orphanage.
Was it one year, two years, three years, or even longer?
Su Ci glanced at the children hiding in the corners watching the show.
She actually saw a faint sense of expectation and longing on their faces.
They seemed to want to join in this disgusting game too.
To Su Ci, this was simply terrible beyond repair.
She seemed to see that little girl in a dark corner, licking her wounds alone.
Lin Xiaoxiao's body slowly squatted down.
The smile hanging on the tall boy's lips took on a different meaning, as if his scheme had succeeded.
As if hearing the Little Brats' arguments,
Li Changwei walked out of the office and saw the Little Brats and Lin Xiaoxiao, who was about to squat down.
He felt a great sense of foreboding in his heart.
He was well aware of how arrogant and overbearing these kids in the Orphanage usually were.
At first, he would offer a few rebukes.
After all, as the only one left in the Orphanage among the first batch of "priced to sell" children taken in by the Orphanage, Lin Xiaoxiao
Her only value to Li Changwei was to rely on her beautiful face to hook a wealthy man in the chaotic bars, providing him with another source of funding or connecting him with underground forces.
However, for some reason, Lin Xiaoxiao's work at the bar didn't achieve the results he wanted, and nothing terrible had even happened to her.
Gradually, he also lost patience with Lin Xiaoxiao.
His attitude toward these children's treatment of Lin Xiaoxiao also shifted to tacit consent.
For a commodity with no value, its remaining worth was to provide emotional value for commodities with future potential.
But now it was different; according to Su Ci's intent, Lin Xiaoxiao was going to intern at Changsheng Biotechnology.
And now these Little Brats were ordering Lin Xiaoxiao around right in front of Su Ci.
He didn't dare to imagine what would happen next.
He was just about to open his mouth to shout a stop: "You're all..."
Before he could finish, the words got stuck in his throat.
The tall boy also knew it wasn't right to show his joyful emotions in front of outsiders; his smile retracted, and he turned to put on an innocent look.
Right at that moment, a gust of sharp wind brushed past Lin Xiaoxiao's ear, along with a cool, fragrant scent.
Everyone could only see an afterimage and hear a crisp slapping sound.
The tall boy stumbled and fell to the ground.
His face burned with pain, and his hands instinctively went to his cheeks as he looked at the person who hit him with a stunned expression.
Su Ci turned her palm over and couldn't help but comment: "Not bad! Your skin is quite thick; the slap sounded truly crisp and pleasant."
That's right, it was Su Ci who couldn't hold back just now and gave the tall boy a slap.
However, she held back some strength, otherwise this child would already be brain dead.
In an instant, the entire place fell into a deathly silence.
Astonished expressions froze on the faces of the children, Lin Xiaoxiao, and Li Changwei.
They hadn't expected Su Ci's strike to be so swift and decisive.
She wasn't like the previous outside volunteers who would turn a blind eye or just give a verbal scolding.
While they were still trying to figure it out, three more crisp sounds rang out.
Slap!
Slap!
Slap!
Su Ci gave everyone no time to react, and regardless of the age of the four children in front of her, she gave each one a slap.
The speed was so fast that only afterimages could be caught.
"Waaaaah!!!"
The intense pain finally fed back through their nerves to their brains.
Two children under the age of ten had already burst into loud crying, breaking the momentary stagnant atmosphere.
The boy on the ground and another slightly older girl clearly knew that Su Ci had discovered their little schemes.
Their ignorant faces were full of innocence, and with tears almost bursting from their eyes, they appeared somewhat broken.
If an ordinary person saw this, they would likely criticize Su Ci for making a mountain out of a molehill.
The shock on Lin Xiaoxiao's face had not yet faded; she opened her mouth but couldn't make a sound.
Li Changwei's heart went cold, and he rushed forward to help the boy up, only sighing in relief after seeing the boy was mostly fine.
If Su Ci's slap had caused a real problem, he wouldn't even have a place to go to cry about it.
He turned his head, looking at the disinterested Su Ci with a hint of reproach:
"President Su, you were far too impulsive. What they did was indeed excessive, but they..."
"Director Li, are you going to say they are still just children? That they don't know any better?"
Su Ci let out a cold laugh and withdrew her hand.
She knew someone would use such an excuse to brush it off.
She also knew these four children held the same mentality, which was why they dared to put on such a show in front of her.
It seemed that with a single sentence—'They are still young, they are just children who don't understand anything, as an adult you should be more understanding'—
Others could be used as tools.
Lin Xiaoxiao could be placed on a moral high ground and eventually forced to comply helplessly.
But Su Ci did not have the habit of being used as a tool.
Nor would she miss any opportunity to gain favorability points.
"No matter how young these children are, they can speak and have their own consciousness. Do they really not know what they are doing?"
"If they don't know, then it proves Director Li's education is lacking and they have no upbringing. In that case, there should be no problem with me stepping in to teach them the principles of how to behave, right? Besides, I am a shareholder of the Orphanage."