Chapter 37

Chapter 37

After seeing Shen Juanjuan off, Chu Ya returned to the small courtyard to clean up. Estimating that it was about time for Shen Juanjuan to return, he went out onto the street and waited in a spot where he could see the main road but remain hidden.

It wasn't long before the child appeared, walking through the heavy rain. He pursed his lips, and his wheelchair moved forward half a step, his eyes brightening considerably.

However, he immediately noticed something was amiss. The child's head hung low, shoulders slumped, looking listless. It wasn't until he got closer and heard Chu Ya call him Shen Juanjuan that he suddenly lifted his head, revealing a delighted smile.

"Shen Miaomiao!"

"Let's go ahead."

Both reached the entrance of the landfill. Shen Juanjuan rushed into Chu Ya's arms, hugging his neck tightly.

Seeing that even though he wore a raincoat, his forehead was still wet, Chu Ya patted his back. "The rain is heavy; let's go back first."

But Shen Juanjuan held on tight, resting his chin on Chu Ya's shoulder, unmoving and silent.

Chu Ya glanced down at him and said no more, allowing him to hold on. They remained in this position in the rain, only the sound of raindrops hitting the raincoat breaking the silence.

After a while, Shen Juanjuan seemed to feel better and slowly released his grip. Chu Ya then placed him in front of the wheelchair and pushed it back.

"I won't play with them anymore," Shen Juanjuan said softly. Chu Ya heard him and asked, "Who?"

Shen Juanjuan waved a hand in the air. "We're not friends anymore."

"Those kids in your dormitory?"

Shen Juanjuan recounted what had happened, albeit in a jumbled manner, but Chu Ya managed to understand.

"They don't want to play with me, and I don't want to play with them either," Shen Juanjuan said.

Shen Juanjuan's mood didn't improve much after returning. Chu Ya cut the baked bean cakes into small pieces, but Shen Juanjuan only ate two before declaring he was full. In the afternoon, Chu Ya took him to wander around the town center, pushing the wheelchair down a gentle slope, which cheered him up again.

Early the next morning, the garbage transporter arrived at the landfill, its rumbling noise reaching their house in Mixin Town.

Shen Juanjuan jumped out of bed, barefoot, and ran to the window. "New garbage has arrived; there must be lots of new treasures." Then he turned to Chu Ya and said, "There will definitely be some nice treasures, maybe even marbles."

Chu Ya helped him get dressed, and he continued to dream aloud: "Today, we might find cookies with white cream in the middle, so delicious and sweet."

"Lift your arm."

Shen Juanjuan lifted his arm, still talking nonstop: "Those cookies are really tasty. I'll pick up many, many of them for you and take them to—"

He suddenly stopped, looking down as Chu Ya dressed him, his body swaying slightly.

"I won't give them any; only Lin Duozhi and Liu Sijin will get some," he muttered, pouting.

Chu Ya finished dressing him, and the transporter had already left. Shen Juanjuan eagerly headed for the door, but Chu Ya held him back.

"Put on your coveralls and cover pants."

Shen Juanjuan impatiently responded, "Can't I skip it? I need to hurry to work."

Chu Ya unfolded the freshly washed coveralls. "Have you ever seen anyone working without their uniform?"

Shen Juanjuan nodded understandingly when he met Chu Ya's gaze. "Of course not. Everyone who works wears a uniform. Working without one would be ridiculous."

"Yes, so put them on."

Once Shen Juanjuan had his coveralls on, he tried to run outside, but Chu Ya called out again, "Wait."

"What is it?"

Chu Ya pushed the plate with the heated bean cakes. "Eat the bean cakes first. After you finish, I'll go with you."

Pushing Chu Ya's wheelchair, Shen Juanjuan happily walked down the alley. Working with Shen Miaomiao was the happiest thing.

Chu Ya also wore a set of surgical scrubs over his clothes, holding a long stick with an iron hook at the end.

Although the rain had stopped, puddles still covered the road. Shen Juanjuan's oversized pants legs rubbed against each other, making a rustling sound.

Chu Ya brought Shen Juanjuan in front of him and bent down to roll up his pant legs. As he did, Shen Juanjuan leaned on his back, peeking out.

"Shen Miaomiao, that dirty spot on your wrist has grown bigger."

"What?" Chu Ya straightened up after rolling up the pant legs.

Shen Juanjuan picked up his left hand and rubbed the black spot on his wrist. "Why can't it be removed? It's getting bigger..."

Chu Ya had forgotten about the black spot on his wrist, but now he noticed it had changed shape, no longer a dot or an oval but a short black line about a centimeter long.

He frowned, studying it for a moment, until Shen Juanjuan reached out to wipe it away, causing him to suddenly pull his hand back.

"Don't wipe it," Chu Ya pulled down his sleeve, covering the black line. "Go, you should start working."

At the base of the garbage mountain, Shen Juanjuan couldn't wait to climb up, holding the small stick Chu Ya had prepared for him, ready to show off his skills.

"I found a treasure right away!" Shen Juanjuan excitedly held up the item in his hand. "Flowered pants, flowered pants."

Chu Ya looked at the piece of white cloth with tiny flowers and recognized it as someone's discarded underwear. His expression changed several times.

"Throw it away," Chu Ya said.

Shen Juanjuan examined the item in his hand with delight. "Why throw it away? I want to wear these flowered pants; they look so nice."

"These are someone else's discarded underwear."

"I know, they're big shorts," Shen Juanjuan said, unperturbed.

Chu Ya saw him about to put the underwear into the bag he was carrying, and said, "This isn't good-looking at all?"

"Not good-looking? Not good-looking at all? You think these flowers aren't good-looking?" Shen Juanjuan was incredulous.

"None of those patterns are quantum beasts. What's good-looking about them?" Chu Ya was also puzzled.

"..."

"These patterns are really ugly, didn't you notice?" Chu Ya stared at the fabric in Shen Juanjuan's hand, his tone filled with disdain, "Too ugly."

Shen Juanjuan looked at the underwear again and suddenly found it unappealing, so he threw it away decisively, "Too ugly."

Shen Juanjuan climbed up and down the garbage mountain while Chu Ya used a hooked stick to dig. After a while, he stopped and took out a pair of pliers from under his wheelchair to fiddle with something.

Shen Juanjuan eventually found some cookies. He slid down the garbage pile and held the bag up, excitedly calling out to Chu Ya, "I found food, delicious food."

"Here." Shen Juanjuan handed the item to Chu Ya, panting but full of joy.

Chu Ya put down what he was doing and looked at the half-bag of cookies Shen Juanjuan was holding. The packaging was soaked with liquid, possibly rainwater or something else, and the remaining cookies were swollen and partially dissolved at the edges.

Chu Ya picked up the cookie bag with two fingers, and Shen Juanjuan eagerly urged him, "Have one, taste it."

"I'll try it later. Watch me make something first." Chu Ya placed the cookie bag on the ground next to his wheelchair and, seeing Shen Juanjuan tilt his head to look, extended his right hand in front of him.

Shen Juanjuan's gaze fell on his hand, where he saw two paper tubes and a piece of wire.

"What's this?" Shen Juanjuan's attention was immediately drawn.

"It's a telescope, not finished yet."

"Oh, a telescope... But isn't this just wire?"

"Not finished yet."

While Shen Juanjuan was looking at what he had in his hand, Chu Ya used the stick to push the cookies further away and then buried them deep in the garbage without drawing attention.

The wire and paper tubes did not hold Shen Juanjuan's interest for long; he turned to look for his cookies again, circling around the wheelchair.

"Where are the cookies?" he asked.

"I ate them."

Shen Juanjuan stared at him suspiciously, "You haven't eaten anything."

"I just ate them." Chu Ya remained calm.

Shen Juanjuan reached out to pry open Chu Ya's mouth to check if he had eaten them, but Chu Ya leaned back. Shen Juanjuan then looked under the wheelchair, searching for any gaps behind Chu Ya.

"You didn't eat anything. Where did they go? Where are the cookies?" he continued to ask.

Chu Ya had no choice but to say, "Sorry, those cookies couldn't be eaten. I actually threw them away."

Shen Juanjuan immediately wanted to search the garbage pile, but Chu Ya held him back, "Don't go!"

"Those were cookies—"

"The cookies were bad, can't be eaten."

Shen Juanjuan pulled his hand free and walked angrily towards the garbage pile. Chu Ya said, "I already crushed those cookies; you won't find them."

Shen Juanjuan turned to look at Chu Ya, then kicked a nearby plastic bottle in frustration, shouting loudly, "Ah!!!"

He panted heavily, his chest rising and falling, and then began swinging a small stick wildly, striking the garbage fiercely.

"My cookies! My cookies! Cookies!"

Chu Ya watched him silently for a moment, then continued working on his project. After a while, Shen Juanjuan glanced at Chu Ya, seeing that he wasn't looking, and continued hitting the garbage.

Chu Ya calmly twisted the wire in his hands, never once looking up.

Shen Juanjuan hit the garbage a few more times before sneaking another glance at Chu Ya, finally giving up. He felt even worse now, not because of the cookies, but because Chu Ya hadn't looked at him once, hadn't yelled at him, or threatened to beat him if he kept causing trouble.

Shen Juanjuan moved to the side of the wheelchair and slowly sat down, deliberately bumping into Chu Ya's wheelchair, making it rock slightly.

"My cookies... My cookies..."

As he bumped the wheelchair, he turned to look at Chu Ya, who was wrapping colorful plastic paper around the paper tube. Despite the rocking of the wheelchair, Chu Ya didn't spare him a glance.

Shen Juanjuan turned away, disappointed, but suddenly heard a soft laugh behind him, as if someone couldn't help but chuckle lightly.

He quickly turned his head, staring intently at Chu Ya's face, but saw no change in his expression. Chu Ya was still looking at the paper tube, his eyes slightly lowered, as if the sound was just his imagination.

Shen Juanjuan stared at Chu Ya for a moment, until he was sure it wasn't him laughing, and then repeated his lamentation.

"My cookies... My cookies—"

Shen Juanjuan's lamentation gradually paused as he noticed Chu Ya's lips twitching slightly, finally unable to control themselves and curling upwards into a silent smile.

Chu Ya smiled and looked at Shen Juanjuan, his grin growing uncontrollable, and suddenly turned his head to the other side.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Shen Juanjuan's face slowly flushed with anger, and he lay flat on the semi-dry ground.

"Look, look, it's done. Look, Shen Juanjuan, look what I made."

Shen Juanjuan closed his eyes, feeling Chu Ya's fingers touching his face, and angrily swatted at him, missing. He then pulled the earflaps of his hat over his face.

"Wow, this thing can see so far. I can see houses in the distance. Hey, what's that? Hey?"

Hearing Chu Ya's exclamations, Shen Juanjuan's curiosity eventually overcame his anger, and he let go of the earflaps, peeking open his eyes. He saw Chu Ya holding a colorful, strange object, raising it to his eyes and looking into the distance.

"That's a supermarket, I can see the supermarket. Interesting." Chu Ya muttered to himself.

Shen Juanjuan stared at him for a few seconds, then slightly raised his head to look into the distance.

"Come, come and see, hurry up." Chu Ya extended his hand toward him.

Shen Juanjuan asked reluctantly, "What is that?"

"Didn't I just say? A telescope. Made for you."

"For me?"

"Of course."

Shen Juanjuan slowly stood up, and Chu Ya handed the telescope to him. "Look far away; you can see very far."

Shen Juanjuan leaned in to look through it, immediately captivated. "Is this, is this a telescope?"

"Yes."

"What is it for?"

Chu Ya smiled slightly. "To entertain kids."

"Oh, to entertain, entertaining kids." Shen Juanjuan nodded seriously.

"To keep you from throwing tantrums."

This telescope actually had no lenses and couldn't magnify anything, but the cylindrical shape did have some focusing effect, plus the psychological impact, so Shen Juanjuan nodded in agreement: "Re-really can see very far... Ha, really can see very far."

His face was full of excitement, and he forgot about the cookies: "I can see Lin Duozhi getting up, I see them washing their faces... I see the lice on King Louse's head..."

Shen Juanjuan played with the telescope for a while, and under Chu Ya's instructions, continued to collect empty bottles and paper tubes. Chu Ya made several more for him.

"So many? So many."

Shen Juanjuan touched the telescopes joyfully, holding each one up to his eyes. After making the last telescope, Chu Ya said, "Take these to give to the kids in your dormitory. That Lin Duozhi and Fang Fangyuan."

Shen Juanjuan hugged all the telescopes and turned away. "No."

"I made so many; you can't play with them all by yourself."

"But these are made for me." Shen Juanjuan murmured unwillingly, using his chin to hold one that was about to fall.

"I can make more for you later."

"No."

Chu Ya remained silent. Shen Juanjuan looked back warily, saw him staring at him, and quickly turned away, like a puppy guarding its food.

"Weren't you very sad yesterday? Saying the kids in your dormitory wouldn't play with you anymore. I made these telescopes so you could make up with them," Chu Ya said.

Shen Juanjuan opened his mouth but closed it again, finally saying, "It's me who doesn't want to play with them."

"Who was upset all day?"

"Anyway, anyway, it wasn't me." Shen Juanjuan stubbornly replied.

He walked a few steps with the telescopes: "I can pick up cookies and bread for them, give them the best, give them anything. But not these, these are made for me." He glanced at Chu Ya, seeing him with a tight-lipped expression, and added angrily, "I'll only give the good stuff to Liu Sijin and Lin Duozhi."

Chu Ya was speechless. "What if I make a few more for you?"

"They would still be all mine!"

Shen Juanjuan returned to the orphanage, his bulging bag filled with the telescopes. He didn't want to give them away but wanted to show them off in the dormitory.

The only regret was that he couldn't say the telescopes were made by Shen Miaomiao.

When he returned to Dormitory 16, the children had just finished washing up and hadn't gone to the cafeteria yet. Lin Duozhi put his basin of toiletries under the bed and greeted him, "Shen Juanjuan."

"Lin Duozhi."

The other children looked at Shen Juanjuan but didn't speak.

Shen Juanjuan sat down on his bed with a cold face, took out a telescope, and called Lin Duozhi again.

Lin Duozhi turned around, and Shen Juanjuan looked through the paper tube, giving him a silly grin.

"What's this?"

"A telescope." Shen Juanjuan turned the paper tube toward the other children, noticing they were all looking at him, and spoke louder, "A telescope that can see very far."

Lin Duozhi sat next to him, looking through the other end of the tube, and the two children blinked at each other.

"Hehe."

"Hehe."

Shen Juanjuan then took out another telescope from his bag, speaking to Lin Duozhi but looking at the other children: "This one is for you."

"Do I get one too?"

"Yes, you're my good friend, this one is for you." Shen Juanjuan emphasized the words 'good friend' loudly and opened his bag wider, "Look, there are still many more inside."

"Where did you get them?"

Shen Juanjuan was about to answer when he remembered Chu Ya's instructions: "Don't ask, and if others ask you, don't tell them I gave it to you."

"Okay."

Lin Duozhi looked at the telescope with joy, while Shen Juanjuan proudly narrated to him, his eyes occasionally glancing at others.

The other children stared at the telescope but did not come forward to ask questions. Tang Yuanyuan put away her small basin and said she was going to the cafeteria; they then walked together toward the dormitory gate.

Suddenly, Shen Juanjuan didn't want to talk anymore. His mouth twitched twice, and he said disinterestedly to Lin Duozhi, "Let's go eat."

"Okay."

When Shen Juanjuan arrived at the cafeteria, he saw Liu Sijin. Unlike in the dormitory, he didn't show off loudly but secretly handed the telescope to her.

"It's for you."

"Wow, it looks great."

"Yeah... don't tell anyone I gave it to you."

"I know, your brother made it, right?" Liu Sijin was very perceptive.

"Mm, he made it with his neck tilted like this." Shen Juanjuan tilted his head as he spoke.

Liu Sijin was also delighted and showed the telescope to the girl beside her, who pursed her lips and said, "I don't care about things given by stinky men."

"Well, I didn't ask you to care, hmph."

"Hmph."

Shen Juanjuan stood in line, constantly looking at the other children gathered together talking, his lips tightly pressed together.

Behind him, Tang Yuanyuan told the others, "Today's bean cakes are so round, very round."

"Are they as round as the telescope?" Shen Juanjuan suddenly turned his head, his eyes fixed on the ground, slightly embarrassed.

"What do you mean?"

Shen Juanjuan took out a telescope and silently pulled Tang Yuanyuan's hand, placing it in her palm.

"Here, look, is this as round?" he asked softly.

Tang Yuanyuan looked at the telescope in her hand, then at Shen Juanjuan, and quietly replied, "Not as round as this."

"Mm, this telescope is really good. Hold it up and look... don't look at me, look far away."

"Wow, I can see so far."

The other children silently gathered around, and Shen Juanjuan gritted his teeth, giving them the remaining telescopes.

"I saw the director."

"I saw the quantum beast. It's making quacking noises."

"I saw Keke Town."

"I can see Cloud Peak."

Tang Yuanyuan put down the telescope and said to Shen Juanjuan, "Actually, I still opened your blanket for you last night."

"And I placed my shoes next to your bed," Chen Hongliang added.

"I folded your blanket this morning," Wang Xiaoxi said, holding Shen Juanjuan's hand.

The children reconciled, gathering closely again, laughing and chatting, showing each other their telescopes.