Chapter 77: Adoption

The cold wind swept down the street, kicking up a few withered, yellow parasol leaves.

It had been exactly sixty days since the Yuleyuan case broke.

Inside the rented apartment, the heating was turned up high.

Lin Xuan sat at his desk, a transparent waterproof document folder spread open before him.

He sorted through the paper materials on the desk one by one.

An asset flow certificate issued by the bank, a comprehensive physical examination report from a top-tier municipal hospital, a single and unmarried certificate issued by the subdistrict office, a no-criminal-record certificate stamped by the local police station.

Finally, he picked up a commendation letter bearing the bright red official seal of the Public Security Bureau.

That was the certificate of acting bravely for a just cause and assisting in solving the case, specially approved by the municipal bureau after the cross-province child-trafficking case at the Yuleyuan was cracked.

This piece of paper was the stepping stone to open the special adoption channel.

Lin Xuan smoothed out all the materials, put them into the document folder, and pulled the sealing strip closed.

Xiao Sizi wore a cream-white down jacket, standing by the desk. She held a thermos cup in both hands; steam rose from the rim, blurring her brows and eyes.

Lin Xuan stood up, took the black coat from the back of the chair, and put it on.

"Sixty days have passed. The missing-person public notice period has expired. No one has come forward to claim her."

He zipped up his coat, lowered his head, and met Xiao Sizi's eyes.

"Let's go, to the Civil Affairs Bureau," Lin Xuan said.

Xiao Sizi set down the thermos cup and grabbed the hem of Lin Xuan's coat.

……

Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau.

Adoption Registration Office.

The light inside the hall was bright.

Only a handful of people sat on the row of chairs.

Far fewer people handled adoption business than marriage or divorce.

Lin Xuan, holding Xiao Sizi's hand, walked up to Window Number Three.

He pressed the ticket-dispensing machine.

The electronic screen scrolled, and the voice broadcast sounded.

Lin Xuan pulled out the chair in front of the window and sat down.

Xiao Sizi leaned against his leg.

Her little eyes kept glancing curiously at the person behind the Glass partition of the counter.

Behind the counter sat a middle-aged female clerk.

The name on her badge read: Li Ping.

Li Ping pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose and looked at Lin Xuan.

Then she glanced at Xiao Sizi beside him.

"What business are you here to handle?" Li Ping's voice was formal.

"Adoption registration." Lin Xuan pushed the thick, transparent document folder through the groove at the bottom of the Glass.

Li Ping unzipped it and pulled out that thick stack of materials.

She flipped through them quickly; the paper made a "rustle" of friction.

When she turned to the single-status certificate and the photocopy of the ID card, Li Ping's movements stopped.

Her gaze took on a sharply scrutinizing quality.

"Twenty-six years old, unmarried single male."

"According to Article 1102 of the Civil Code, when an unmarried person adopts a child of the opposite sex, the age difference between the adopter and the adoptee must be at least forty full years."

"Your condition falls far short of that."

"You don't meet the basic hard requirements."

She pushed the materials forward, preparing to return them.

Lin Xuan simply tapped the commendation letter with the Public Security Bureau's red seal at the very bottom of the stack.

"This is a certificate issued by the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the municipal bureau."

"In the '9·15 Yuleyuan Cross-Province Child-Trafficking Case' two months ago, this child was a core assistant."

"The municipal bureau classified her as a special case of an abandoned infant for her, and the provincial department approved a green channel."

Li Ping's movements paused.

She pulled out that commendation letter and read it word by word.

After reading it, the doubt faded from her eyes.

What followed was an even more detailed procedural interrogation.

The specially approved channel did not mean a lowering of standards; rather, it meant an even stricter review of assets and background.

Li Ping opened Lin Xuan's bank statements and asset certificate.

"The specially approved channel can waive the age difference, but adoption is no child's play."

Immediately read Chapter 77: Adoption, and unlock today's excitement.

"Raising a child—education, medical care, daily life—everywhere is an expense."

"Your bank flow is seven digits; your financial strength is sufficient."

"But you don't have a fixed employer paying social security. How can you guarantee the time to accompany the child's growth?"

Lin Xuan was well prepared and answered fluently: "I do freelance work, cultural relic appraisal and restoration."

"My workplace is right at home. I have twenty-four-hour control over my schedule."

Li Ping continued verifying the physical examination report and the certificate of no criminal record.

She asked in great detail, ranging from family medical history to daily routines.

She even asked how Lin Xuan would handle the property distribution regarding an adopted girl if he married and had children in the future.

Lin Xuan answered each question one by one.

His logic was rigorous, with no evasive words.

This was an interrogation lasting forty minutes.

In the Ming Dynasty's Fengtian Hall.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the dragon throne.

Below the hall, Guo Huan, the Minister of Revenue, held a tablet in his hands; his back was already soaked with cold sweat.

"Do you understand?" Zhu Yuanzhang pointed at the mountain of modern forms on the Sky Screen, his voice echoing through the hall.

Guo Huan's knees went soft, and he knelt on the blue bricks.

"Your subject... your subject understands." Guo Huan swallowed, his voice trembling. "The laws of that future era, nominally for adopting children, are actually the government investigating people's assets!"

"Checking their money and grain, checking their contracts, checking their illnesses, even checking whether their ancestors committed crimes—all investigated with crystal clarity!"

In ancient times, adoption and succession were private matters within the clan.

The clan elder nodded, opened the ancestral hall, revised the genealogy, and a single banquet could determine a person's identity and belonging.

The government offices had no way to intervene and no power to verify.

This led to the extreme expansion of ancient clan power.

Concealing population, evading taxes, and privately buying and selling slaves all occurred under the protection of the clans.

In that future dynasty, no family and no elder could privately decide a person's identity.

All changes in population and belonging must undergo layer upon layer of stripping and verification by state laws.

The state's control over the grassroots population reached an unprecedented extreme state.

"Royal power does not extend to the county level; this is the ghost story those great families have been fooling me with for thousands of years!"

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly stood up, his dragon robe whipping up a strong wind.

He strode down the Danbi steps and stopped before Guo Huan.

"The government of that future era can reach into every commoner's money bag and clarify every commoner's background."

"A single piece of paper stamped with a red seal can determine a person's life, death, and belonging." Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes burned with fanaticism. "Guo Huan!"

"Your subject is here!"

"Issue my decree: revise the Ming Dynasty's Yellow Register!"

"Emulate the detailed clauses of that future era."

"For all people under heaven, any birth, old age, sickness, death, succession, or adoption must be reported to the Ministry of Revenue for verification."

"If a clan elder dares to privately alter the genealogy to determine a person's identity again, they shall be punished for deceiving the monarch, with their family confiscated and exterminated!"

The Tang Dynasty timeline.

Zhangsun Wuji watched the female official named Li Ping in the Sky Screen interrogating Lin Xuan repeatedly.

He let out a long sigh of relief.

Zhangsun Wuji faced Li Shimin and clasped his hands in a bow.

"Your Majesty, the laws of that future era are strict; though they appear cumbersome, they protect the princess at every turn."

"Such rigorous scrutiny is enough to prove that Lin Xuan is not a treacherous villain."

"If his background were not clean, he would absolutely not pass this hurdle."

Li Shimin laughed in exasperation: "Do I need you to tell me this?"

"If Mr. Lin had ill intentions, would he have saved Xiao Sizi from fire and water time and again?"

"If I were still worried about him, would I have had a statue built for him?"

Zhangsun Wuji smiled awkwardly, then quickly lowered his head and withdrew.