Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Feng Chen reached out for Yan Bubu, who instead of offering his hand, suddenly lifted the hem of Feng Chen's T-shirt.

Caught off guard, Feng Chen's shirt lifted, revealing a back marred with bruises.

"What are you doing?" Feng Chen quickly slapped Yan Bubu's hand away, lowered his shirt, and turned to see Yan Bubu staring at him, a mix of surprise and sadness on his face.

Feng Chen paused, then softened his tone, "Let's go, everyone else is lining up. We should join them."

On the right side of the square, they found the designated area for Nest A, Section C, where two long lines had formed, with Wu You and two assistants busy checking temperatures.

Yan Bubu lined up next to Feng Chen, surveying the surroundings and noticed a medical officer in a white coat and glasses busily attending to tasks in Nest B.

"Brother, I'll be back in a moment," Yan Bubu said, releasing Feng Chen's hand and quickly making his way through the crowd towards Nest B.

The medical officer, after reviewing a data sheet handed to him, gave some instructions and moved to check the temperature measurements. After several rounds, he noticed a young boy persistently following him but didn't pay much mind.

Distracted, the medical officer dropped several pages of the data sheet. Bending to pick them up, he found the boy squatting beside him, helping.

"Kid, where are your parents? It's too crowded here, don't wander around," the medical officer said, adjusting his glasses as he looked at the handsome boy.

After handing back the data sheet, Yan Bubu remained silent, his gaze filled with unease.

Sensing his demeanor, the officer lowered his voice, "Do you need something from me?"

Finally, Yan Bubu spoke, his voice small but clear, "…My name is Fan Renjing. My brother was just bumped into. He has bruises on his back. We have medicine, but it's in our room, and we can't go back to get it now..."

The medicine he referred to were the two bottles of Vitamin C and digestive pills they always kept in the room.

Understanding, the medical officer immediately called to a passing soldier, "Wait, do you have any medicine for external injuries? Something to promote blood circulation and reduce bruising. Give it to this boy, and then head to the medical station, I'll give you another bottle there."

Yan Bubu gratefully accepted the small glass medicine bottle from the soldier, thanking both him and the medical officer.

"Go on, find your brother," the medical officer said, patting his head.

Yan Bubu quickly returned to Nest A, Section C, and seeing Feng Chen looking around, hurried through the crowd, tugging at his sleeve: "I'm here."

Feng Chen, about to search for him, scolded upon seeing Yan Bubu approach: "Why did you run off? Can't you see it's crowded? What if someone has another episode like earlier? What would you do then?"

Unperturbed, Yan Bubu just revealed the medicine bottle he had been holding behind his back and presented it to him: "Look, I found this medicine for you."

Feng Chen didn't even glance at the bottle, turning away with a stern face. Yan Bubu placed the bottle in his overalls' chest pocket, tried to hold Feng Chen's hand, but was shaken off.

Yan Bubu tried to hold his hand again, this time playfully scratching his palm with his index finger. Feng Chen didn't shake him off this time, instead gripping his hand back.

As Yan Bubu moved forward with the queue, he heard someone crying to his left. He turned and saw a chubby boy in the adjacent line, being held by his father, crying loudly.

The close distance and good lighting allowed Yan Bubu to see the boy's trembling uvula with each sob. He also noticed the boy's shiny teeth, but one of the lower teeth was missing, leaving a noticeable gap.

Yan Bubu was about to look away but then paused.

— Wait, a gap?

Realizing the gap was due to a missing tooth, Yan Bubu's eyes lit up with delight, almost bursting into laughter.

The chubby boy, crying, looked over and met Yan Bubu's gaze.

Yan Bubu waved at him, unable to contain his joy, and exaggeratedly mouthed: "Hey, gap-tooth."

The chubby boy gasped, stopping his tears abruptly and buried his face in his father's embrace, whimpering silently and in pain.

His father, somewhat helplessly, said: "It's just two teeth knocked out on the metal frame, it's alright, stop crying."

Feng Chen noticed Yan Bubu's actions and glanced over, asking, "What's going on?"

Yan Bubu, beaming with joy, laughed: "Nothing, hee hee, it's nothing."

Conducting temperature checks on nearly twenty thousand people was no easy task. By three in the morning, only half were checked, and it would likely take until morning to complete them all.

Despite the large crowd in the square, there was a heavy, somber silence. Exhausted, Yan Bubu stood in line, leaning on Feng Chen, gradually sliding down until he sat on his feet, falling asleep.

When the line moved forward, Feng Chen shifted his feet: "Yan Bubu, move a bit."

Yan Bubu, with his head resting against Feng Chen's leg, slept soundly with his mouth slightly open, his eyelids not even twitching.

"Sleeping like a pig," Feng Chen muttered softly, yet he didn't wake him. Instead, he gently lifted Yan Bubu by the shoulders, moved a few steps forward, and then let him continue sleeping on his feet.

As they reached the front of the line, Wu You glanced at Feng Chen and peered at Yan Bubu, sleeping on his feet, asking with concern, "Everything was alright earlier?"

"It was fine," Feng Chen replied.

Feng Chen began his temperature check. As the thermometer approached his forehead, a flicker of nervousness crossed his mind, only subsiding when he saw the green digits on the screen: 36°C. He reached out to wake Yan Bubu.

Wu You hurriedly intervened, "Don't wake him up, I'll come over and check."

Approaching with the thermometer, Wu You checked Yan Bubu's temperature, then smiled affectionately at the sleeping child, "Look at him, sleeping so peacefully."

Feng Chen also looked down at Yan Bubu, gently wiping away a smudge from his cheek, bid farewell to Wu You, and carried Yan Bubu towards the beehive-like building.

Once back in their room, Feng Chen, too tired to shower, rinsed his face and feet with hot water, cleaned Yan Bubu's face, stripped off his dirty clothes, and tucked him into a blanket.

As he prepared to throw the dirty clothes into a basin, a small bottle fell from Yan Bubu's overalls and rolled to the corner. Remembering it was the medicine Yan Bubu had found for him, Feng Chen picked it up.

The bottle, smooth and unlabelled, gave away its contents through the familiar scent upon opening. Feng Chen recognized it as military-grade external medicine.

Observing the milky ointment for a moment, he approached the bed, removed his shirt, scooped a small amount, and applied it to his back.

The cool ointment on his skin immediately alleviated much of the soreness and pain.

After applying the ointment and dressing in clean clothes, Feng Chen quietly turned off the lights and lay down beside Yan Bubu.

In the silence, the sound of someone crying in another room filtered through the door, like a slender rope winding tightly around the heart, squeezing out a bitter sorrow.

Feng Chen lay flat with his eyes closed, feeling an oppressive heaviness in his chest, which only began to dissipate when he heard Yan Bubu's snoring beside him.

He reached out, found Yan Bubu's hand, and gently held it in his, gradually falling asleep amidst the intermittent sounds of crying.

In the following days, the atmosphere in the hive grew tense. The chatter in the dining hall ceased; people silently queued for their meals and left just as quietly.

As General Lin had said, everyone's credit points were down to a mere hundred, and yet, no one signed up for work at the temperature-controlled plantation. It seemed everyone was waiting, watching, observing what others would do.

Feng Chen and Yan Bubu had resorted to having only one meal a day at lunchtime, and even then, they couldn’t finish it, saving half for dinner, barely scraping through the day.

Feng Chen knew this was not a solution. Even eating once a day, they would spend one hundred and fifty points a month, not to mention the twenty-point rent. But whenever he mentioned the idea of working for the army to Yan Bubu, Yan Bubu would cling to him in terror, refusing to let him go.

Since the earthquake, Yan Bubu had become extremely clingy, never leaving Feng Chen's side for more than an hour. Even when Feng Chen showered, Yan Bubu would wait outside the curtain, seeming to feel safe only when close to Feng Chen.

Today, after getting their lunch, Feng Chen pulled over a small cabinet to use as a table, and they sat side by side on the bed to eat.

Lifting the lid of the lunch box, it contained only half a box of rice, along with the omnipresent stir-fried bean sprouts and tofu.

Soybeans were easy to store, and bean sprouts and tofu were soy products, so these were the staple dishes lately. The rice portion was pitifully small, but even that small amount had to be saved for dinner.

After spooning a mouthful of rice, Yan Bubu noticed Feng Chen just staring at his lunch box and stopped eating. He bit his spoon, pondered for a moment, then offered his lunch box, saying, "Brother, you eat it. I can’t finish it."

Feng Chen turned, his gaze falling on the lunch box and then slowly moving up along the hand to look at Yan Bubu.

Although Yan Bubu never complained of hunger, always claiming he was full, just a week had passed and his stomach had visibly thinned, his cheeks had become sharper, making his eyes appear larger.

"You eat it, I don't think I can," Yan Bubu said, his mouth saying one thing, but he involuntarily swallowed.

Feng Chen didn’t reach for the lunch box, instead he said, "Yan Bubu, I still think I should go work on the surface."

"No! You can’t go!" Yan Bubu’s expression changed abruptly.

Feng Chen said, "The work isn't that dangerous. Otherwise, how could so many soldiers have survived?"

"No, no, only if you take me with you," Yan Bubu put down his lunch box and anxiously wrapped his arms around Feng Chen's waist.

Feng Chen pried off the hands coiled around his waist, "That's impossible. Anyone going out must wear a thermal suit. You heard Uncle Wu, the army doesn’t allow anyone under ten to go to the surface."

"Then don’t go, brother, please don’t go," Yan Bubu clung to him again, looking on the verge of tears.

Feng Chen asked, "If I don't go, what will we eat?"

"I won’t eat, I’ll give all my food to you."

"Won’t you starve then?"

"I'm not afraid of starving."

Feng Chen: “……”

The next day at noon, when they were getting their food in the dining hall, a commotion suddenly erupted at the serving window.

A burly man, pointing at his lunch box, angrily shouted at the serving lady, "The buns used to be as big as my fist, now they've shrunk by half. Are you trying to starve us to death?"

The lady was also aggrieved, "I'd like to make the buns as big as a basin, but do we have that much flour?"

The people around no longer remained silent, jumping in with their accusations.

"We can't survive like this. We only have a hundred points, and the food keeps decreasing. Isn’t this an attempt to starve us?"

"I would have been better off dying in the earthquake, a quick end, rather than slowly starving like this."

"Our whole family eats only one meal, and the kids are crying from hunger."

……

"What's all this noise? What are you arguing about?" Wu You strode in from the entrance, pointing at the people and scolding, "In these times, our food reserves are dwindling. Be grateful for whatever food you get. You're all shouting louder than the next, but do you have the guts to go to the plantation and grow the food yourself? Other sectors have volunteers already, and ours is lagging with not a single applicant."

With a loud bang, the burly man who started the argument kicked over a stool, "Fine, I'll go. I'm single anyway. Better to die out there than starve in here."

Initially stern, Wu You quickly pulled out a booklet from behind and uncapped a pen, "What's your name?"

Caught off guard by his preparedness, the man hesitated before responding, "Liu Siming."

"And how do you spell that?"

"Si as in 'thought', Ming as in 'engrave'."

"Liu... Si... Ming..." Wu You finished registering, slipped the booklet back, "Come with me, Liu Siming. In ten minutes, the transport to the plantation departs. You’ve just made it in time."

Thus, Liu Siming found himself unexpectedly following Wu You out of the cafeteria, with others stopping their meal to watch his departure.

Feng Chen silently finished his meal and returned to their room with Yan Bubu. After putting Yan Bubu to nap, he quietly left the room.

"You want to work on the surface too? That's too dangerous, no, no," Wu You, sitting at a square table, set down his lunch box, shaking his head like a rattle, "I am indeed encouraging people to work on the surface, but only those who are strong and able-bodied. You're so young, how can you go to such a dangerous place?"

Standing before him, Feng Chen earnestly replied, "Uncle Wu, I'm in good physical condition, no worse than those adults."

"Still, it's not possible," Wu You sighed, "I know you and Jingjing have it tough, but there are suitable jobs for you here. Like collecting Lishi stones, three stones for five points. It's down to luck, not guaranteed every day, and you might not find one for days. But it's still safer than the surface, and you could earn a few dozen points a month, barely enough to get by. If you're interested, I can talk to the person in charge of the mine and get you in."

Feng Chen knew collecting Lishi stones would be much easier, but also that even with a few extra points each month, he and Yan Bubu would still struggle with hunger, so he shook his head, "I'd rather work on the surface."

Wu You looked up at him, "Qin Shen, you know Uncle Wu isn't a good man, and in these times, there's no room for good men. But I genuinely want you and Jingjing to have an easier life."

"Thank you, Uncle Wu, I appreciate your kindness," Feng Chen replied.

Seeing Feng Chen's calm but resolute gaze, Wu You sighed and said, "Alright, I'll put your name down. But if you change your mind, come to me anytime to cancel."

"Thank you, Uncle Wu."

Yan Bubu woke up from his nap to find Feng Chen sitting on the bed, tinkering with a piece of metal with small pliers. Though unsure what Feng Chen was doing, Yan Bubu quietly lay beside him, watching intently and with interest.

Feng Chen folded the largest iron piece upwards, creating an oval hollow iron ball. After attaching twisted wires to the ball, it began to take shape, resembling a creature with four slender limbs.

"Bibunu, ah! Is this Bibunu? Is it really Bibunu?" Yan Bubu's eyes widened in disbelief, suddenly leaping up from the bed, exclaiming in astonishment.

Without pausing, Feng Chen glued several small iron beads onto the iron ball. A Bibunu with discernible eyes and mouth vividly came to life in his palm.

"It's really Bibunu! Ah!!!" Yan Bubu covered his mouth, pacing excitedly on the bed.

"Stop jumping, the bed’s moving so much I can’t continue working."

Once Yan Bubu sat down at the bed’s edge, Feng Chen used sandpaper to polish Bibunu, removing the patchy rust until it shone with a soft gleam, then handed it to Yan Bubu.

Yan Bubu held his breath, gently touching Bibunu with a finger, as if afraid of damaging it, despite it being made of iron.

Then, holding it in both hands, he brought it close to his eyes, gazing intently.

"Do you like it?" Feng Chen, seeing his delight, still asked.

Yan Bubu nodded vigorously, smiling foolishly at Bibunu.

Feng Chen asked, "How does it compare to the Bibunu doll we saw in the trading hall?"

That doll had cost forty credit points, which he hadn't bought for Yan Bubu, resulting in Yan Bubu making a scene in the hall.

"That Bibunu was ugly." Yan Bubu kissed the round iron head in his hands, sincerely admiring, "This Bibunu is the most beautiful, incomparable to any other."

Feng Chen seemed quite pleased with this response, began to tidy up the remaining iron pieces and tools, and after organizing everything, sat beside Yan Bubu.

Yan Bubu, still caressing Bibunu, looked blissfully unsure of how to express his joy. When Feng Chen sat down beside him, he leaned his head against Feng Chen's shoulder and nuzzled, "Brother, you are so kind. I like you so much. I will serve you for my whole life—"

"Stop right there!" Feng Chen pushed his head away with a finger, "Sit properly, I have something to tell you."

"Okay, go ahead," Yan Bubu sat up attentively, turning to Feng Chen.

Feng Chen seemed reluctant to meet his gaze, looking away and focusing on the Bibunu in his arms, "Annoying little one, I'm going to work outside the settlement starting tomorrow. Don't be afraid, even if I'm not here, you won't be alone. Bibunu will be with you."