Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Hearing Wang Zhusheng's loud crying, Wang Chengcai said impatiently, "What are you wailing about again? You're always crying for no reason."

Wang Zhusheng walked towards his brother with his eyes closed, sobbing, "My eyes, Shen Juanjuan hit me and I'm blind now..."

Seeing him like this, Wang Chengcai quickly got up, "Stay still." Then he ran over, pried open Wang Zhusheng's eyelids to look inside, and blew into them.

"Brother, I'm blind, waaah, I'm blind."

"You're not blind, it was just sand in your eyes, I've blown it out."

Wang Chengcai was both shocked and furious, wanting to overturn those rotten tables and drag Shen Juanjuan out from underneath. But seeing Wang Zhusheng covered in sand, sobbing uncontrollably, he had to hold back his anger and lead him to the washroom to rinse off.

As soon as they left, the children from Dormitory 16 rushed over, "Shen Juanjuan, did you hit Wang Zhusheng?"

"Wow, you're so brave, Wang Zhusheng's brother is right here, and you dared to hit him."

"Oh no, Wang Zhusheng's brother will definitely seek revenge."

"A very strong revenge."

...

Shen Juanjuan remained silent, sitting in the desk compartment with his lips pressed together, his hand that had thrown the sand hidden behind his back, slowly rubbing it on his clothes.

"But it doesn't matter anyway, whether you hit Wang Zhusheng or not, his brother is after you," Lin Duozhi also crawled into the desk compartment and comfortingly squeezed Shen Juanjuan's hand. "If you didn't hit Wang Zhusheng, his brother would still want to kill you; if you did, he'd still want to kill you. It's just two more holes, no big deal."

Shen Juanjuan touched his chest, his face turning slightly pale, but he didn't cry, only whispering, "I'm not afraid, it's just a few more holes, here and here."

"Just hide until his brother forgets about it," Tang Yuanyuan suggested.

"Yes, we'll keep watch for you," Yu Datou said in a deep voice.

Wang Xiaoxi glanced at Chen Hongliang with dissatisfaction, "Back at the cafeteria, they hadn't noticed you yet, but Chen Hongliang was shouting for you to run, which alerted them and they saw you."

Chen Hongliang protested, "I was keeping watch, I was speaking very quietly, I wasn't shouting."

Tang Yuanyuan pondered, "From now on, don't let Chen Hongliang keep watch."

"Why can't I keep watch? I want to keep watch."

While Chen Hongliang was defending himself, the sound of a car approached, and the children immediately turned their heads to look.

"Is it Cloud Peak coming to select someone?"

"It won't be that fast, we just had selections, we have to wait a long time," Tang Yuanyuan said.

Shen Juanjuan perked up, "It's to deliver an ugly baby."

"What if today they bring a pretty baby?"

The children curiously rushed to the front courtyard to see, while Lin Duozhi stayed behind with Shen Juanjuan who didn't dare go out.

"My brother is still waiting for me, I want to leave..." Shen Juanjuan felt the sweet potato in his bag.

"Wait a bit longer, once Wang Zhusheng and the others return to the dormitory, you can sneak away."

"Okay."

Just as they were talking, a sharp whistle sounded from the playground, followed by the manager's voice through a megaphone, "All students return to your dormitories, all students must return to your dormitories immediately, inspections are starting..."

"We need to go back to the dormitory, there's an inspection!" Seeing Lin Duozhi crawling out of the hole, Shen Juanjuan panicked, "What do I do? What do I do?"

"Go back to the dormitory, there's an inspection. Don't worry, Wang Zhusheng's brother has to go back too, he won't come after you," Lin Duozhi said.

Thinking it made sense, Shen Juanjuan immediately crawled out of the desk compartment and went back to the dormitory with Lin Duozhi.

The dormitory building was in chaos, with children running everywhere, but they quickly returned to their rooms, and the whistles and megaphone sounds stopped.

The children from Dormitory 16 crowded around the window, and Shen Juanjuan peeked out too. He saw three military vehicles parked outside the orphanage gate, and several officers standing on the playground, talking to the managers.

"I heard them say they're here to find someone," Tang Yuanyuan said.

"Who are they looking for?"

"Don't know, probably a bad person."

Shen Juanjuan wiped the fog from the glass, "Are they looking for Wang Zhusheng's brother? He's a bad person."

"Take him away, take him away quickly."

The orphanage gate slowly closed, and the officers split into groups, each led by a manager to different places such as the cafeteria, staff quarters, and storage areas. Three officers followed Manager Chen and two other managers towards the student dormitory building.

When the sound of boots echoed in the hallway, the entire dormitory building fell silent.

"Now calling roll, everyone respond when you hear your name. Dormitory 1, Liu Chen."

"Here."

"Say 'present.'"

"Present."

"Wang Xiuxiu."

"Here—present."

...

Shen Juanjuan and the others squeezed to the dormitory entrance, looking toward Room 1. They saw three officers had already entered the room, while Manager Chen stood in the corridor outside, reading names from a roster.

The bolder children slipped out of their rooms to gather around him, and soon more joined them. The other two managers tried to push them back.

Soon they reached Room 16, where several children stood in the center of the room, chests puffed out, nervously watching the officer at the door.

"Tang Yuanyuan," the manager called out.

Tang Yuanyuan: "Here."

Shen Juanjuan: "Here."

"Shen Juanjuan, your name hasn't been called yet."

Shen Juanjuan nervously responded: "Understood."

"Chen Hongliang... Chen Hongliang? Don't just stare, answer when your name is called."

Chen Hongliang: "Yes."

Wang Xiaoxi: "Here."

"Here."

"Yes."

"If you don't hear your name, don't speak up. Only those whose names are called should respond." Manager Chen reminded again.

"Wang Xiaoxi, Wang Xiaoxi... Why are you crying?"

Shen Juanjuan: "Here."

Wang Xiaoxi sniffled: "Here."

Lin Duozhi: "Here."

"Yu Datou."

Lin Duozhi: "Here."

Shen Juanjuan: "Here."

Other children: "Yes."

Yu Datou remained silent.

Manager Chen was both amused and exasperated. Just as he was about to say something, the officer raised his hand to stop him: "It's fine if all the children are here; we don't need to call out names. Their ages won't match anyway."

"Yes, the person you're looking for is twelve years old, but these kids are only six. Look at how clueless they are; there's no way they could be impersonating anyone." Manager Chen laughed.

The children still stood in the center of the room. Suddenly, Shen Juanjuan caught something moving out of the corner of his eye. He looked closely and saw a bedsheet at the edge of a bed floating up, as if something invisible had crawled underneath.

"Ah, ah." Shen Juanjuan dared not shout, only whispering in surprise, repeatedly tugging on the nearby children.

The other children also noticed something strange. They watched as the bed sheets lifted themselves and the cabinet doors opened one by one, all of them stunned.

"Manager, Manager..."

"Manager! The cabinets, they're opening by themselves."

"We didn't open them; they opened by themselves."

Manager Chen stopped his conversation with the officer and turned around: "It's the quantum beasts of these government soldiers checking the room. It's normal that you can't see them."

So it's quantum beasts...

It's really quantum beasts!!

Although Shen Juanjuan often talked about releasing quantum beasts, this was the first time he had seen real ones! Apart from seeing the bed curtains and cabinet doors move, he still couldn't see what they looked like.

But he didn't find anything odd about this, since he had never seen the quantum beasts he himself released, let alone someone else's.

The other children were also excited, their eyes following every movement. Whenever something unusual happened, they would point and shout: Look, over there, quick look!

After finishing the inspection of Room 16, the officers prepared to head to the girls' area. But just as they turned, a sharp voice suddenly rang out in the hallway: "Shen Juanjuan is not here every night; he goes out."

Shen Juanjuan, who had been excitedly searching for the quantum beasts, froze in terror, not daring to move. The other children in the room also heard the voice and looked at Shen Juanjuan nervously.

The three officers paid no attention and continued walking with Manager Chen. Wang Zhusheng shouted again: "He, he goes out every night. He, he brings food to those outside."

Wang Zhusheng, nervous, stuttered as he spoke. The leading officer paused and slowly turned around.

"Who is Shen Juanjuan?" he asked.

Wang Zhusheng pointed to Room 16: "He's in there, the one wearing a hat."

Shen Juanjuan, face full of fear, met the gaze of the leading officer. Under his watchful eye, he slowly removed his hat and held it behind his back.

"Shen Juanjuan, do you leave the orphanage every night?" the leading officer walked up to Shen Juanjuan, bent down, and asked.

Shen Juanjuan looked up at him, mouth slightly open, eyes unmoving, completely frozen in fear.

Manager Chen also entered the dormitory, incredulous: "Do you go out every night?" Seeing Shen Juanjuan remain silent, he asked the other children: "Does he leave the orphanage every night?"

Everyone was stunned, but Tang Yuanyuan quickly recovered and whispered: "No."

Hearing her voice, the other children, including Shen Juanjuan, came back to life, their minds starting to work.

"No."

"No, he didn't go out."

"He was sleeping so deeply that he couldn’t be woken up, even to pee."

A manager asked in confusion, "Didn't they say there was a student sleepwalking a few days ago? Wasn't it Shen Juanjuan?"

"That, that, that..."

"Yes, it was him."

"But he didn’t go out."

"I did swim, I swam around the playground, and I swam really well."

"When he sleepwalks, he just goes to pee; he’s not impossible to wake up."

The children were frantically making excuses, but their young age showed as they answered questions haphazardly when their names were called. The three officers didn’t take their words seriously but asked out of caution. Now, they were all frowning.

Manager Chen said on the side, "Our welfare home is strictly managed, usually under closed management. The main gate is always locked to prevent these kids from running around. It's impossible for him to go out every night."

"I just kept swimming, swimming, swimming..." Shen Juanjuan closed his eyes and felt around with his hands in front of him.

The officers exchanged glances, said nothing more, and left the dormitory, heading towards the girls' area.

After they walked through the passage gate, Manager Chen turned to Wang Zhusheng and scolded him in a low voice, "Don’t you know what time it is? If you speak out of turn again, you’ll be put in the punishment room."

"I’m not lying," Wang Zhusheng said, his face turning red. He ignored his brother’s frantic signals from nearby and continued, "There’s a hole near the washroom. That iron bar can be removed, and people can crawl out. He must crawl out every night."

The three officers didn’t hear him, but the students standing in the passage did.

Boys and girls in the welfare home often fought, but they had an unspoken agreement: no matter how serious the conflict became, they would never inform on each other about the hole used to sneak out.

Everyone knew about the dump where they could find useful things. Girls sometimes found colorful hair ties—though many had their heads shaved, their hair would grow back eventually.

This was an unwritten rule in the welfare home, known even to the youngest students who never left. But now, Wang Zhusheng had blurted it out in front of everyone, including Manager Chen.

Several older students looked displeased, and Wang Chengcai jumped in anger, wishing he could drag Wang Zhusheng over for a beating.

Wang Zhusheng realized his mistake and nervously looked at his brother. Manager Chen scanned the children’s faces and understood most of the situation, sneering, "Good, so there’s a hole, huh? You wait."

After Manager Chen left, Wang Chengcai started beating his brother, and Wang Zhusheng’s cries echoed throughout the dormitory building. Children gathered to watch the commotion, and Shen Juanjuan pushed to the front, watching with great interest until Tang Yuanyuan pulled him back.

"If his brother sees you, you'll get beaten too."

Shen Juanjuan stood inside, listening to the commotion, itching to know more about how badly Wang Zhusheng was being beaten.

Although he wanted to listen more, he ultimately remembered Chu Ya and decided to slip out of the welfare home to return to the dump while the hallway was crowded.

"Brother, I was wrong. I won’t talk nonsense anymore. Waaah."

"What are you crying for? Get back to your dormitory!"

"Wang Chengcai, your brother betrayed our escape route. Just two hits? Is that it?"

"Should I kill him? He’s already crying. What more do you want? Anyone who’s not satisfied, come fight me!"

...

Shen Juanjuan took one last look before leaving the dormitory building, reluctantly. The three military vehicles had already started, leaving a trail of dust behind them.

Shen Juanjuan followed the wall to the storage room. As soon as he peeked out, he saw a manager and two older students standing by the broken fence, with a worker welding the iron bars shut.

The two older students stood with their heads down as the manager scolded them, "Still trying to crawl out here? We were looking for someone, and we caught you two..."

Shen Juanjuan quickly hid behind the storage room, waiting until everyone left before rushing to the broken fence.

But the iron bar had been welded shut, and despite his efforts, it wouldn’t budge. More older students arrived, kicking the iron bar in frustration before leaving dejectedly.

Shen Juanjuan tried every iron bar along the fence but finally gave up and went to the main gate. He held the sweet potato in his bag, circling the entrance, which eventually drew the attention of the guard.

"What are you doing here? It’s class time. All the younger students should be in class. Go back! Otherwise, I’ll call your manager to catch you."

With no hope of leaving and afraid to return to the dormitory for fear of Wang Zhusheng’s brother, Shen Juanjuan decided to go to the classroom.

The welfare home had few managers, and half were busy with infants, leaving teaching understaffed. When Shen Juanjuan entered the classroom, he saw only a few students, with a worker banging on the blackboard, shouting numbers. But the classroom was noisy, with two children fighting.

Not seeing Lin Duozhi or others, Shen Juanjuan found an empty seat. Just as he was about to sit down, he heard someone calling his name.

"Shen Juanjuan, Shen Juanjuan."

"Liu Sijin."

Liu Sijin sat nearby, and after greeting her, Shen Juanjuan sat down next to her. A little girl on Liu Sijin’s left rolled her eyes and pulled Liu Sijin away, saying, "A stinky boy is coming. Let’s move further away."

"He’s not a stinky boy; he’s my friend," Liu Sijin said.

Shen Juanjuan pushed away a child rolling around his feet and nodded in agreement, "I’m not a stinky boy." Seeing the little girl still glaring at him, he added, "I’m going to be the king of lice."

"One, two, three," the worker banged the ruler loudly, and the children read hesitantly, "One... Two... Three..."

After reading, Liu Sijin asked Shen Juanjuan, "Why are you in our class today?"

"Huh?" Shen Juanjuan looked confused.

"This is Class One. You’re not in Class One; you’re in Class Two. You should go back to your own classroom."

"Oh, this is Class One." Shen Juanjuan thought for a moment, "I won’t go back. I’m in Class One now."

"Okay."

Liu Sijin looked around, then moved her stool closer to Shen Juanjuan and whispered in his ear, "My sister told me they're looking for a big kid from Cloud Peak, a twelve-year-old big kid."

"Uh-huh," Shen Juanjuan replied blankly.

Liu Sijin stared at him for two seconds before continuing, "My sister also said the big kid they're looking for has an injured foot."

"Uh-huh."

Liu Sijin rolled her eyes, "Why are you so slow?"

Shen Juanjuan snapped to attention, "I'm very smart, almost as smart as Tang Yuanyuan."

"Didn't you say your brother's foot was injured? How old is he? Is he twelve? And didn't he come from Cloud Peak?" Liu Sijin urgently whispered in his ear, "They might be looking for your brother."

"Why would they want my brother?"

"I don't know, maybe they want to take him away." Liu Sijin lowered her voice, "But I haven't told anyone else, not even my sister."

Shen Juanjuan finally realized what was happening and sat there stunned, not moving even when a rolling child rested their head on his feet.

Those people want to take Shen Miaomiao?

They want to take my Shen Miaomiao!

No way! He's my brother, my Shen Miaomiao! I won't let anyone take him away from me!

Shen Juanjuan breathed heavily, his chest rising and falling rapidly, his fists clenched tightly. Seeing that Liu Sijin was still looking at him, after a moment of internal struggle, he tilted his head and said, "My brother's foot isn't injured; it's his neck that's broken. See, like this, his foot is fine."

I don't want to lie to you, Liu Sijin, but I'm too scared they'll take Shen Miaomiao away...

"A broken neck?" Liu Sijin opened her mouth wide.

The little girl nearby heard this and quickly asked, "Who? Who?"

"Yeah, a broken neck, but his foot is fine, runs super fast, I can't catch up. He's not from Cloud Peak either." Without waiting for Liu Sijin to ask more, Shen Juanjuan stood up hurriedly and said, "I'm going back."

Shen Juanjuan left the classroom, ignoring the possibility of being caught by Wang Zhusheng's brother, and rushed back to the dormitory in a panic.

Several kids were in the dormitory, none of them had gone to class. They were soaking the colorful paper Shen Juanjuan brought and sticking it on the glass, peeling it off once dry to make flat sheets.

"You didn't leave? Why did you come back?" Lin Duozhi asked quickly.

Shen Juanjuan told them about the blocked hole and then sat on his bed, lost in thought.

"What will you do now?" Tang Yuanyuan asked.

"I have to go out," Shen Juanjuan thought for a moment and corrected himself, "My brother's foot isn't injured, but his neck is broken."

"Huh?! Wouldn't a broken neck kill someone?"

"It doesn't kill him. But I have to go out, he hasn't eaten yet." Shen Juanjuan pointed to his shoulder bag.

The kids gathered around, chattering and offering ideas.

"Let's help you break that iron bar," Chen Hongliang suggested.

The kids all put their fingers to their lips, "Shh!"

"Shh!"

"Shh!!"

Shen Juanjuan shook his head, "Even the older kids couldn't kick it through." He emphasized, "That iron bar is harder than my brother's neck, just not as hard as his leg."

"Shh!" Chen Hongliang held up his finger.

Wang Xiaoxi suggested, "Say you have a stomachache and need to see a doctor in Keke Town."

Tang Yuanyuan immediately vetoed, "We have medical supervision here; they won't let him out unless it's very serious and we don't have the medicine. A long time ago, a kid sent to Keke Town for treatment died and was buried in the graveyard behind the yard; the director and supervisors cried."

"That won't work; Shen Juanjuan doesn't look like he's dying." Lin Duozhi grabbed Shen Juanjuan's hand, "Maybe you shouldn't go out."

Shen Juanjuan suddenly stood up from the bed, "No, I have to go out, or my brother will starve to death!"

"But you can't get out."

Shen Juanjuan sat down again, thinking hard but couldn't come up with a solution. He felt the sweet potatoes in his bag, feeling anxious and teary-eyed.

"How about digging a tunnel, like a mole," Yu Datou, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up.

"Yes! The mole in Lili's Adventure could dig tunnels."

"Right, it dug a tunnel connecting its home to the neighbor's."

"The neighbors were eating when they saw it... Hahaha... saw it... haha..."

"Haha..."

Digging a tunnel!

Shen Juanjuan was enlightened, his tear-soaked eyes suddenly brightened.