Chapter 20: V Chapter Update

Chapter 20: V Chapter Update

Shen Juanjuan walked a long distance and finally saw the orphanage illuminated by lights. He just needed to pass through the graveyard at the back and crawl through the hole in the fence.

Afraid of being discovered by the caretakers, he dared not shout to boost his courage, instead clutching the plastic rope tightly and quickening his pace silently.

The lights from the orphanage cast shadows over the small graves, looking different from during the day, making him feel as if each one could explode, with a child ghost wielding an iron bar jumping out.

"…I look like I'm in the little class, but I might actually be in the big class, so I'm very good at fighting. You won't be able to beat me, so let's not fight…"

Shen Juanjuan muttered under his breath, walking past the graveyard with his legs pressed together. When he finally reached his destination and squatted down to pry the loose iron bar, his arms were trembling.

Shen Juanjuan crawled into the orphanage. Although he didn't know what time it was, the cafeteria was already lit up, with figures moving behind the windows, making everything feel safe.

He hurried into the dormitory building and had just reached his room when he heard a caretaker's voice behind him.

"Who's that? Little class student, why are you getting up so early?"

Shen Juanjuan was startled and froze, staring only at the door in front of him.

"What are you doing outside your room? Turn around, turn around."

Shen Juanjuan stiffly turned around, staring blankly at the caretaker.

Two caretakers stood at the entrance of the corridor; one held a brass bell and asked in confusion, "Shen Juanjuan?"

"Ah?" Shen Juanjuan recognized him as Manager Chen.

Manager Chen approached, "We haven't rung the bell yet, but you're already dressed and wearing your hat?"

"Ah?" Shen Juanjuan continued to respond mechanically.

"What 'ah' are you saying? Are you this dirty because you didn't wash your face last night? Or did you go somewhere again? How can your face be so dirty?"

Shen Juanjuan looked up at him, blinking his eyes.

Another caretaker whispered, "Is he sleepwalking? Look, he's still dazed. Last month, someone was sleepwalking around the playground at night."

Manager Chen observed Shen Juanjuan, "Sleepwalking? It looks like he rolled around in the dirt all night."

The other caretaker pushed open the door to Room 16, seeing the children sound asleep, with a messy pile of blankets on an empty bed.

"Go inside. It's time to get up anyway. Go fold your blanket and wash your hands and face."

Shen Juanjuan entered the room, frequently glancing at the caretakers' faces. One child woke up at the sound and, upon seeing Shen Juanjuan, quickly sat up, "Shen Juanjuan, you're back?"

Other children also woke up upon hearing Shen Juanjuan's name, looking at him and then at the two caretakers.

"Back? Do you know when he left the dorm? Does he usually go out at night?" Manager Chen asked.

The children didn't know how to answer; some nodded, while others shook their heads.

"Is he sleepwalking?" another caretaker asked, "Like sleeping but getting up and walking around as if awake?"

The children continued nodding and shaking their heads.

The other caretaker said, "They're too young and sleep deeply. Even if Shen Juanjuan was sleepwalking, they wouldn't know."

Manager Chen looked at Shen Juanjuan suspiciously but never imagined such a small child would leave the orphanage and spend the night outside alone.

"Let's ask the night watchman about last night. We need to be more vigilant and have the night watchman patrol more often to prevent any accidents."

"Okay."

Seeing the two caretakers about to leave, Shen Juanjuan's heart finally relaxed, the blankness on his face disappearing. Cleverly, he added, "Yes, I was sleepwalking. They don't know I was sleepwalking, but I knew. I started sleepwalking yesterday afternoon."

"What?" The two caretakers stopped.

Shen Juanjuan continued, "I won't cause trouble. While sleepwalking, I took a rope and hit ghosts as I walked." He had already discarded the rope and now mimed the actions with empty hands, "See? If a ghost came, I'd hit it dead."

The caretakers exchanged glances. Manager Chen crouched down, looking at him gently, "Shen Juanjuan, you say you started sleepwalking yesterday afternoon. Where did you go? How did you hit ghosts with a rope? Tell us carefully."

Shen Juanjuan opened his mouth, then saw Tang Yuanyuan winking at him from across the room, covering her own mouth. Realizing she wanted him to stay silent, he closed his mouth and placed his hands behind his back.

"Come on, tell us," the other caretaker urged.

Shen Juanjuan turned to look at the other children, and the caretaker said, "Don't look at them, just tell us yourself."

"He was here yesterday afternoon, he's talking nonsense," Tang Yuanyuan suddenly spoke up, pointing to the empty bed with the messy blankets, "He was sleeping all night."

"He, he was hitting ghosts here, lots of ghosts," Chen Hongliang sat up on the edge of his bed, "He used the rope to stab the ghosts to death."

"But ropes can't stab ghosts," Lin Duozhi hastily added, fearing the caretaker would catch Chen Hongliang's mistake, "He used the rope to strangle the ghosts, tying them up and hiding them under the bed—not mine."

The children chattered excitedly, and Shen Juanjuan quickly corrected, "I used psychic attacks. Psychic attacks! Everywhere! They attack on their own!"

The caretakers, overwhelmed by the children's nonsense, felt their heads spinning, "Let's go. They're too young and don't know what's happening. They're all talking nonsense."

As the caretakers left, the children continued arguing about the imaginary ghost-fighting in the dormitory, growing increasingly heated until the wake-up bell began ringing.

Ding ding ding...

"Wake up, everyone. Get up immediately."

Tang Yuanyuan interrupted them first, "Wake up, go wash your faces and brush your teeth. Breakfast is ready."

"Oh, hurry up and get up for breakfast. We need to rush for the water faucet, or the little class students from Room 15 will take it."

In the morning, the water faucets were mostly occupied by the big class students, leaving the little class students to use only the ones in the far corner. Though they dared not compete with the big class students, they fiercely competed among themselves for who would use the faucets first.

Shen Juanjuan walked to Lin Duozhi's bed and helped him tie his shoelaces. Lin Duozhi asked, "Why did you come back? Wang Zhusheng's brother didn't look for you, but I don't know if he secretly did. Last night, I went to his dormitory door to see what he was doing and almost got caught."

Shen Juanjuan now didn't care about Wang Zhusheng's brother; he only asked, "I'm not sick right now, but can I go to the medical office to get some medicine?"

"Why do you need medicine?" Lin Duozhi asked.

Shen Juanjuan leaned closer, lowering his voice but unable to hide his excitement: "My brother is here."

Lin Duozhi looked confused.

"The brother from Cloud Peak, the one who gave us the black bundles and my scarf."

Lin Duozhi's mouth gaped open in shock.

Shen Juanjuan continued, "He came to see me from Cloud Peak on a garbage shuttle and ended up being thrown down as garbage. He twisted his ankle on the garbage mountain." After a moment, he added, "Maybe it happened when I pushed him down the garbage mountain."

Lin Duozhi sharply picked up on the key point: "So, was he thrown down as garbage or did he come to see you on a garbage shuttle?"

"How can I explain this to you? He came to see me but ended up being thrown down as garbage." Shen Juanjuan frowned, seeing that Lin Duozhi still didn't understand, and waved his hand. "You're too dumb; you can't even count."

"I can clearly count to ten; you can only count one, two, three." Lin Duozhi stood up, disgruntled. "Where is he now?"

"He's in my office, waiting for me to bring back medicine."

Lin Duozhi thought for a moment. "The medical office won't give medicine to others; you have to say you're sick."

"Okay, I'll go now."

Shen Juanjuan turned around immediately, but Lin Duozhi called him back. "Wait a bit, let's eat first."

"Oh no, but I'm worried," Shen Juanjuan said anxiously, pacing in small steps.

"But your brother needs to eat too."

Shen Juanjuan realized, "Right, my brother needs to eat too. I need to bring him food and water; there's no water in my office."

Yu Datou and Wang Xiaoxi, who had been checking the water room, returned with news that Wang Zhusheng's brother wasn't there. Shen Juanjuan then went to brush his teeth and wash his face. When he returned to the dormitory, he took out a large yellow-green women's handbag from under his bed.

In the landfill, he often saw bags, some of which were still intact. He chose the brightly colored ones and distributed them to the other children in the dormitory. Sometimes they would all wear them while playing on the playground, creating a colorful scene.

He also grabbed his own water bottle, which had lost its paint and had a dent in the middle, but the lid still sealed tightly, making it usable.

All the senior students, including Wang Zhusheng's brother, were in the cafeteria. Shen Juanjuan didn't dare to go, so Lin Duozhi helped him get food while he went to the medical office.

The medical officer carried a bowl of corn porridge, slurping as he opened the door. Before he could step inside, he saw a child standing there, wearing a somewhat funny wool cap and staring at him with wide eyes.

"How did you get in here?" the medical officer was surprised.

Shen Juanjuan smelled the fragrant corn porridge and swallowed, saying, "I slipped in when you opened the door."

"So quickly... What's wrong? Where does it hurt?"

"My leg is twisted and swollen, and I have a fever, like this." Shen Juanjuan clenched his fists, shivering and gritting his teeth.

The medical officer put down the bowl and touched his forehead. "No fever, your temperature is normal."

Shen Juanjuan pointed to his thigh, urgently saying, "I do have a fever, and my leg is very swollen. Can you give me some ointment patches and tablets, those sour ones?"

"Swollen thigh? Take off your pants and let me see."

Shen Juanjuan started to take off his pants, mimicking Chu Ya by closing his eyes, frowning, and letting out a painful groan.

The officer suspected he might have a real injury and pulled down his pants, only to see perfectly fine, unmarked legs.

He pressed Shen Juanjuan's thigh, and each time, Shen Juanjuan closed his eyes and screamed. Finally, the officer stopped, and after a moment, Shen Juanjuan peeked open his eyes, meeting the officer's gaze.

"What class are you in? What's your name? Why are you pretending to be sick to get medicine?"

"...I, I am sick," Shen Juanjuan's voice became softer.

"You're not sick at all, and your leg is perfectly fine."

"I am sick. My leg will swell soon, and it will hurt when I take off my pants." Shen Juanjuan touched his forehead, swaying slightly. "I'll have a fever soon too."

The medical officer impatiently pointed to the door. "Go back, quickly."

Seeing Shen Juanjuan standing still, he said, "Not going back? Then I'll call your supervisor to take you away."

Shen Juanjuan pouted. "Then, can you give me the medicine and let the supervisor take me away? Don't send me to the punishment room, just let me go hungry, okay?"

"Out, out, out." The medical officer lifted Shen Juanjuan by the collar and dragged him towards the door. "How greedy are you? Even trying to trick me into giving you medicine?"

Stumbling outside, Shen Juanjuan pleaded, "I'm not tricking you for myself."

"Then who is it for?"

"...It's for my brother," Shen Juanjuan admitted softly.

The medical officer's anger grew. "You're all orphans; where did you get a brother? Unless your brother is also in the orphanage, he should come get the medicine himself."

Shen Juanjuan was left in the hallway, and the door slammed shut. He slowly approached the door, wanting to push it but hesitating.

But Chu Ya was lying in the office waiting, and without medicine, it wouldn't do. He pressed his face against the door and whispered, "Do you want marbles? I'll give you all my marbles. I originally had one, two, three, one, two, three, but now I'm missing one. If you want them, I can find more. They're beautiful, and you'll like them. I'll also give you the colorful papers and cookies, all of them."

There was no response from inside, so Shen Juanjuan raised his voice. "Medical officer, please give me the medicine and punish me. Do you want bags? Nice bags, I can give you—"

The door suddenly opened, and Shen Juanjuan stumbled, steadying himself. He saw the medical officer standing in the doorway.

The medical officer asked, "Are you getting medicine for your brother?"

"Uh-huh." Shen Juanjuan nodded. "My brother isn't at the orphanage; he can't walk either, both his legs are injured. He's still running a fever and shaking uncontrollably."

"Where is he now?"

Shen Juanjuan didn't know which direction the dump was in, so he pointed randomly. "Over there."

"Over there?" The medical supervisor looked to the right. "That's Keke Town."

The medical supervisor knew that although the orphanage housed orphans, some of them had siblings. Presumably, this child in front of him was one such case—living in the orphanage while his older brother remained in Keke Town.

The medical supervisor also came from Keke Town and understood the situation there well. Without asking more questions, he turned into the house and opened the medicine cabinet nearby.

There weren't many medicines in the cabinet, just some common ones. He took out a bottle of anti-inflammatory pills, carefully poured out twelve tablets, then grabbed a paper box and counted out twelve patches.

Shen Juanjuan stretched his neck to watch, his gaze following the medicine bottle.

The medical supervisor put the pills and patches into a small box and handed it to Shen Juanjuan. "Here, take it. Take two tablets a day, one each time, and apply one patch to each leg daily."

"Thank you, Medical Supervisor." Shen Juanjuan carefully took the box, shook it by his ear, and slowly smiled when he heard the sound inside. He looked up at the supervisor and said, "I'll bring you marbles and colorful papers tomorrow, okay? I don't have them with me now." Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cookie. "Here, eat this first."

"I don't want the cookie or any marbles or colorful papers. Go on, go quickly." The medical supervisor waved him away.

Shen Juanjuan asked, "You don't want these? What do you want then? I can find you stools or chairs. How about bottles? Do you want beautiful bottles to store your medicine? They're much prettier than these bottles."

He pondered for a moment. "If you want garbage people, they might be hard to find. You need really good luck, like mine."

"I don't want anything. Where do you plan to look? Listen, you're not allowed to leave the orphanage, or I'll tell the supervisor." The medical supervisor warned, "Keke Town is far away, behind the mountains. Go to the logistics department; someone drives there every day. Ask them to deliver the medicine to your brother. By the way, don't say it's medicine; just say it's... marbles."

Shen Juanjuan bid farewell to the medical supervisor and headed to the cafeteria. He didn't dare enter directly but tiptoed to peek through the window, calling out softly to the children in the dormitory.

Tang Yuanyuan saw him first and immediately nudged Lin Duozhi beside her; several children gathered at the window.

"Here, these are three bean cakes. You only have two, so you won't have enough. I'm giving you my share too." Lin Duozhi handed over three dark bean cakes, and Shen Juanjuan quickly accepted them, putting them in his bag. Then he pulled out a water bottle and handed it to him. "Fill this with water for me."

Lin Duozhi went to fill the water bottle, and Tang Yuanyuan passed out an old dented water bottle. "This is Lin Duozhi's water bottle. I filled it with corn porridge."

"Wow, you're so amazing, you can put porridge in a water bottle." Chen Hongliang admired from the side.

The supervisor serving food on the platform noticed sharply, "Who's putting porridge in a water bottle? Who? You can only eat here, no taking food away!"

"Hush..." Tang Yuanyuan immediately shushed Chen Hongliang. "Don't talk!"

Chen Hongliang immediately covered his mouth.

Lin Duozhi quickly filled the water bottle and handed it to Shen Juanjuan. Wang Xiaoxi approached, sounding serious and alert. "Wang Zhusheng's brother has looked this way twice."

"Three times," corrected Yu Datou, who was also keeping watch.

"I think if he looks once more, he'll discover the revenge plan of the younger kids and find Shen Juanjuan."

"Quick, go, hurry up and go." Lin Duozhi urged Shen Juanjuan.

Shen Juanjuan adjusted his backpack, remembering the medical supervisor's instructions. "Take two tablets a day, one each time, and apply one patch to each leg daily. What does that mean?"

"It means stick the tablet on the patch and apply one daily."

"No, it means take one tablet twice a day."

"How can you take one tablet twice?"

Tang Yuanyuan interrupted the children's argument. "It means take the tablets twice a day, one each time, and change the patch daily for both legs."

"I understand now. Tang Yuanyuan, you're so smart." Shen Juanjuan nodded in agreement, pulling out three cookies and passing them through the window. "Eat these. I'll come back during the next mealtime."

The cookies were quickly taken away, and Shen Juanjuan hurried toward the broken fence, hearing the sounds of children fighting over the cookies behind him.

"Don't bite so big a piece."

"This is mine; I bit it first."

...

Soon, Tang Yuanyuan and Chen Hongliang started fighting again.

The soil around Mixin Town, soaked by rain, was soft. Looking at Mixin Town during the day, Shen Juanjuan found it less frightening than at night, wondering why he had been so scared before.

He ran through the dump, splashing through puddles, and the mud on his cotton shoes was washed clean. He rushed to the tin shack, seeing the door tightly shut, and quickly circled to the wall, relieved to see the cement bricks still blocking the hole.

Shen Juanjuan pushed open the door and tiptoed to Chu Ya's side.

Chu Ya was still in the same position as when he left, his face flushed, the blanket half-drawn, revealing a trembling body, and his chest rising and falling rapidly. Shen Juanjuan touched his forehead, finding it still burning hot.

"Are you feeling terrible? Is it very bad? I brought you medicine; you'll get better after taking it. There are also patches for your legs. Shall we apply them first? ... Shall we? Shall we?" He whispered in Chu Ya's ear, answering himself, "Okay, let's apply them first."

Shen Juanjuan took off his bag and placed it on the sofa, then took out a patch from the medicine box and gently lifted the blanket covering Chu Ya's legs.

The exposed thighs seemed even more swollen, the skin darker, more shocking than what he had seen the previous night.

Shen Juanjuan, who had previously received treatment from the medical supervisor, wasn't sure of the steps and directly applied the patch to Chu Ya's leg. After failing twice, he realized there was a transparent film.

The transparent film was tightly adhered, making it difficult for him to handle. He examined it under the light but couldn't find an opening, so he tried to peel it off with his fingers.

After futilely trying for a while, his breathing grew rapid, and sweat broke out on his forehead. Suddenly, he shouted in frustration and angrily threw the patch on the sofa.

"Are you a bad thing? Why must you be like this! My brother's legs hurt a lot. Why won't you let me apply the patch?"

Shen Juanjuan angrily stomped his foot, pointing at the patch and cursing, his chest heaving. After a moment, he looked down at Chu Ya, saw the deformed legs, and silently picked up the patch again, trying to peel it off with his fingers and teeth.

Every now and then, he would shout in frustration, even tearing off his hat and throwing it on the bed.

Shen Juanjuan gnawed the ointment tube until it was wet, and one corner finally opened. He quickly pinched the transparent film and peeled it off in one piece.

He carefully applied the ointment to Chu Ya's right thigh, glancing at his face as he did so to make sure he wasn't feeling any pain before continuing.

Having gained experience with the first application, Shen Juanjuan quickly applied the second patch of ointment to Chu Ya's other leg.

Next came the medication. After giving Chu Ya some water, Shen Juanjuan used a small spoon to pry open his teeth and dropped the pill into his mouth.

The pill lay motionless on Chu Ya's tongue, neither swallowed nor spit out.

"Come on, swallow it. It's good."

Squatting beside him, Shen Juanjuan urged for a moment, but seeing no response, he pried open Chu Ya's teeth again and used his finger to hook out the pill.

"Is it bitter?" Shen Juanjuan licked the pill, smacking his lips. "Not bitter, not sour, tasteless, like soybean cake... it's good, why won't you swallow it?"

He then put the pill back into Chu Ya's mouth. "Quick, take a bite."

The pill remained stuck to Chu Ya's dry tongue. Shen Juanjuan thought for a moment, then fetched his water bottle from his bag, poured some water into the cap, blew on it to cool it down, and fed it to Chu Ya.

Although Chu Ya was unconscious, his throat moved slightly, making a swallowing gesture. Shen Juanjuan immediately checked his mouth and found that while the water had been swallowed, the pill still clung to his tongue.

"Oh... why won't it go down..."

Anxious, Shen Juanjuan lowered the spoon to keep Chu Ya's teeth open, leaned close, and blew into his throat. "Hoo... hoo..."

He puffed his cheeks and blew several times, but the pill remained stuck at the back of Chu Ya's throat. He raised his right hand, looking at his short fingers and deciding they weren't long enough. He needed a small stick to push it down.

Shen Juanjuan rummaged through a pile of items on the ground and found a red plastic stick. Originally a popsicle stick, it had been thrown into the trash and then retrieved by him from the landfill.

With his left hand holding the spoon that kept Chu Ya's teeth open, Shen Juanjuan raised the popsicle stick with his right. But just as he reached Chu Ya's mouth, he stopped in surprise.

Chu Ya had somehow woken up and was staring at him with open eyes.

Shen Juanjuan froze for a moment before asking excitedly, "You're awake?"

Chu Ya lay flat, seemingly awake, but his eyes were bloodshot and unfocused, with no clear focus.

Shen Juanjuan was both happy and nervous, smiling awkwardly. "Ha, ha, you were taking your medicine, but you wouldn't swallow it. I was going to help you eat it, ha."

He tilted his head, stretched out his hands, and twisted them in front of him, smiling shyly at Chu Ya. After a while, he held the popsicle stick in front of Chu Ya. "Here, this is what I was going to use to help you."

Chu Ya's scattered gaze finally focused on the popsicle stick, then slowly turned to Shen Juanjuan, though his eyes remained dull and vacant.

But in the next moment, he slightly opened his mouth, letting the spoon fall to the side of his head, and made a swallowing gesture, swallowing the pill.

After swallowing the pill and spitting out the spoon, Chu Ya seemed to have used all his strength and closed his eyes again, falling back into unconsciousness.

Shen Juanjuan waited a bit, blushing, but Chu Ya didn't open his eyes again. His excitement and smile faded as he crawled closer to Chu Ya and looked at his face.

"Brother, brother."

After calling out several times with a hint of disappointment, Shen Juanjuan whispered, "You fell asleep again..."

Though Chu Ya had fallen back into a coma, the brief moment of consciousness had made Shen Juanjuan very happy. After watching Chu Ya for a while, he remembered they hadn't eaten breakfast and quickly brought out the pot of corn porridge and soybean cakes.

Pouring some corn porridge into the lid, Shen Juanjuan used the spoon to pry open Chu Ya's teeth and fed it to him bit by bit.

Perhaps because he had woken up once, Chu Ya, despite being unconscious, began swallowing unconsciously and soon drank half the pot of corn porridge.

When he clenched his teeth around the spoon and refused to open his mouth, Shen Juanjuan set aside the porridge and picked up a soybean cake.

Biting off a chunk of the soybean cake and spitting it into his palm, Shen Juanjuan said, "Now I'm feeding you the soybean cake. Don't bite the spoon. This cake is big, you can't chew it, so I'll break it into smaller pieces and spit it to you."

He might as well not have said anything; after hearing this, Chu Ya tightened his jaw even more, grinding the spoon between his teeth with a faint clicking sound.

Unable to pry open Chu Ya's mouth and afraid of hurting his teeth, Shen Juanjuan gave up.

"Don't you like soybean cake? It's good too, though not as good as corn porridge." Shen Juanjuan swallowed, then covered the remaining half pot of corn porridge.

He stared at the pot for a few seconds, opened the lid, sniffed deeply a few times, and then screwed it shut again.

Shen Juanjuan decided that since Chu Ya didn't seem to like soybean cake, he would leave the corn porridge for him and eat the soybean cake himself.

As Chu Ya's jaw relaxed and the spoon fell, Shen Juanjuan put away the spoon and sat beside him, munching on the soybean cake. He watched Chu Ya's face, eating happily and glancing over occasionally.

"Mmm..." The soybean cake was hard, and Shen Juanjuan took a large bite, shaking his head as he tore it apart, making wolf-like sounds.

After biting off a large chunk, he smacked his lips and loudly sniffed, drawing back the snot that was about to drip into his mouth.

"The soybean cake is really good... you really don't want to eat it... Aaaah... your eyelashes are so long. They say mine are long too, but I can't see them myself. Yours are really long... Huh..."

As Shen Juanjuan sniffled again, he noticed Chu Ya's eyebrows twitch slightly. He stopped abruptly, holding his breath and watching closely, but Chu Ya remained lying flat, expressionless.

After eating two pieces of soybean cake, Shen Juanjuan put the remaining piece back in his bag to eat later. With nothing else to do and no new garbage arriving, he gathered some treasures he had found previously and showed them to Chu Ya one by one.

"This cup is flattened, but it's pretty. Look here. Do you know what's on it? It's a fish. Have you seen a fish? I've seen them in cartoons. It has no hands or feet, maybe its foot is hurt, like yours, only swimming in water... This is the sea, which is a lot of water, many pots full of water to make a sea..."

After introducing the cup and placing it on the ground, Shen Juanjuan prepared to pick up the next item. There was a brief silence in the room, but he heard Chu Ya murmuring softly.

Shen Juanjuan turned sharply and saw Chu Ya's face contorted in pain, his head turning from side to side.

"Are you awake?"

Shen Juanjuan pressed his ear to Chu Ya's mouth, unable to hear clearly, but caught the word "mom."

He slowly lifted his head, staring at Chu Ya, seeing two tears glistening at the corners of his eyes, rolling down into his hair.

"Dad... mom..." Tears continued to flow from Chu Ya's eyes, his voice muffled and mixed with intermittent sobs.

Shen Juanjuan knew that he was only a few months old when his parents died, and someone had taken him to the Angel Orphanage.

An old caretaker once gestured to him: "When you were brought in, you were this small, barely longer than a chopstick. I gave you your name because I saw you wrapped in a little blanket, curled up into a ball, frozen blue and without even a cry. So I named you Shen Juanjuan."

"Why not call me Rou Juanjuan, Tang Juanjuan, or Baozi Juanjuan?"

The old caretaker said, "The child registered before you was surnamed Shen, and I was too lazy to think of another name, so I just made you Shen as well."

Shen Juanjuan was somewhat dissatisfied: "Why didn't you ask me when you named me? I don't like this name. I want a cool name, like Chen Baolong, or maybe Wang Zhusheng's brother. If not, just Wang Zhusheng would be fine."

He disliked Wang Zhusheng, thinking the name wasn't impressive, but it represented having an unreasonable yet fiercely protective older brother.

Shen Juanjuan had never seen what his parents looked like; he only knew what his brother was like. To him, parents were just a title, far less meaningful than his brother, who filled him with longing.

But the new children at the orphanage would cry until their voices were hoarse, insisting on their parents. He worried that Chu Ya might also cry continuously, until his voice was raw and his eyes swollen shut. Feeling helpless, he reached out to touch Chu Ya's hand.

As soon as his hand touched Chu Ya's, it was grabbed firmly.

Chu Ya's palm was burning hot. Even though he was unconscious, he held Shen Juanjuan's hand tightly with great strength. Shen Juanjuan winced from the pain and tried to pull his hand away, but Chu Ya pressed it against his chest.

"Mom... Mom..."

Chu Ya's lips were cracked and dry, his intermittent cries filled with vulnerability and a child's longing. He was very different from the boy Shen Juanjuan remembered, who always held his chin high, wearing a sharp, well-tailored coat.

He was just a new child at the orphanage, crying for his parents.

Shen Juanjuan felt a pang in his heart, his eyes quickly filling with tears. He sniffled and used his other hand to wipe Chu Ya's tears: "Don't cry, don't cry."

"Mom... Hurts..." Chu Ya turned his head and rubbed against Shen Juanjuan's hand.

Through his tears, Shen Juanjuan said, "Did you mistake me for someone else? I might not be your mom. Don't cry, you just took some medicine, you'll feel better soon."

Holding Chu Ya's head, Shen Juanjuan wondered why he was crying more than Chu Ya. When Chu Ya finally calmed down, Shen Juanjuan was still sobbing uncontrollably.

Until he felt the heat radiating from Chu Ya's head, like holding a freshly cooked sweet potato, he realized Chu Ya's fever had worsened.

Lin Duozhi often had fevers, and the children in Room 16 would use cold towels to bring down his temperature under the caretakers' instructions.

Shen Juanjuan needed to do the same for Chu Ya.

He usually hated washing his face and would never pick up a towel, which he disliked. After searching the room, he eventually removed the tie around his neck.

Behind the row of tin houses was a pipe, but he wasn't sure if there was water, and he couldn't turn the rusty faucet.

Shen Juanjuan wandered around, standing on tiptoe, and found pools of water collected in the indentations of metal blocks. The blocks were stacked high, but many were scattered. Standing on cement bricks, he stretched his arm to dip the tie in the small puddles, then ran back to the tin house.

The cold tie quickly warmed on Chu Ya's forehead, so Shen Juanjuan had to run back repeatedly, climb onto the cement bricks, and re-dip the tie in the cold water.

He kept running back and forth, his hands red from the cold water, and after placing the tie on Chu Ya's forehead, he pressed his icy hands against Chu Ya's pale, bare chest.

"So warm, you're so warm. My hands are so cold, let me cool you down, and you can warm me... My ears are cold too, let me cool them down."

Exhausted, Shen Juanjuan leaned his head against Chu Ya's chest, listening to his rapid heartbeat caused by the fever.

His gaze fell on Chu Ya's arm, noticing a black dot on his wrist, assuming it was a speck of mud. He rubbed it with his finger.

But the black dot wouldn't come off. Getting closer, he thought it was a mole, and quite attractive.

Shen Juanjuan continued to apply the cold tie to Chu Ya's forehead and wipe his exposed body and arms. After a while, when Chu Ya's temperature dropped slightly, Shen Juanjuan noticed his hunger returning.

There was one bean cake and half a pot of corn porridge left from breakfast. He fed the porridge to Chu Ya, ate the bean cake himself, and drank half the water, considering it lunch.

In the afternoon, Chu Ya's fever subsided, and he no longer spoke incoherently, only sleeping deeply. Shen Juanjuan lay beside him, smoothing out the crease between his brows with his finger.

"Where are your parents? Are they dead too? Do you want to go to the orphanage with me? You like me so much, giving me your scarf and black buns to eat. I like you too and will treat you well."

After saying this, he silently mouthed to Chu Ya: "...Brother."

Shen Juanjuan began imagining Chu Ya joining the orphanage:

Standing in the line for the younger class, Wang Zhusheng would call him a bug, and he would call out to the older class: "Brother, look, Wang Zhusheng is glaring at me and calling me a bug~"

Shen Juanjuan imagined his voice loud enough for everyone in the dining hall to hear, and then Chu Ya would push through the crowd, lifting Wang Zhusheng by the collar: "You dung beetle, how dare you call my brother a bug?" Then pointing at Wang Zhusheng's brother hiding behind the crowd: "And you, big dung beetle!"

Shen Juanjuan laughed at the thought, excitedly getting up and mimicking Chu Ya, frowning and pointing: "I'll skewer you two dung beetles with an iron rod!"

It was already late afternoon, and Shen Juanjuan prepared to go to the orphanage for dinner. As usual, he locked the door, checked if the stones covering the hole in the wall were in place, and listened at the door to make sure Chu Ya wouldn't wake up and run away.

After a moment, everything seemed normal, so he returned to the orphanage, sneaking across the playground and hiding under the dining hall window.

"There's no corn porridge tonight, but there are sweet potatoes," Lin Duozhi passed a sweet potato through the window. "This is the food I got for you. I only have one, so I can't give you more."

Shen Juanjuan took the sweet potato: "Is there any radish soup?"

"No, we all drink boiled water."

Shen Juanjuan took off the empty water pot hanging around his neck: "Can you fill this with boiled water?"

Just as Lin Duozhi was about to take the pot, Wang Zhusheng's sharp voice rang out: "Brother, Shen Juanjuan is outside the window."

Shen Juanjuan shuddered, holding the pot and staring at Lin Duozhi. Lookout Wang Xiaoxi and Yu Datou rushed over: "Wang Zhusheng's brother is coming, he's coming."

Seeing Shen Juanjuan frozen, Tang Yuanyuan urged: "Run quickly, hide in the caretakers' building."

Shen Juanjuan snapped back to reality, not daring to get water, and ran to the other side of the playground toward the staff building with the empty water pot.