Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Apart from the sound of rain, there was no other movement around. Shen Juanjuan stood nervously, his toes curling into a tight ball.

“I’m not afraid of ghosts. If I catch one, I’ll tear it to shreds! No questions asked, just rip it apart!” Shen Juanjuan glared at the corners of the courtyard, his tone certain as if he knew the ghost was hiding there but didn’t bother to catch it.

But when he turned back, his face was full of panic. He quickly walked towards the bathroom to get a raincoat and find Shen Miaomiao.

"Don't think I don't know you, you thick-skinned ghost. Stay hidden; if you come out, I'll beat you!" Shen Juanjuan took down the raincoat hanging on the door and shouted outside.

The raincoat was a hooded style. After putting his head through, he couldn’t find the exit, just like when wearing a T-shirt. His heart raced, but the more anxious he became, the harder it was to find the way out, and sweat trickled down his back.

"Don’t make me hit you... I know you’re there... Stay hidden!"

As Shen Juanjuan struggled with the raincoat, he suddenly froze. Through the transparent plastic, he saw a dark shape appear in the middle of the courtyard.

Although only a vague outline, he recognized the long table and its four legs.

Shen Juanjuan stared blankly through the raincoat, making no reaction, watching the table stand in the courtyard before disappearing from view.

The courtyard once again became empty, with only raindrops hitting the ground, creating dense puddles.

Shen Juanjuan blinked slowly, then blinked again. In the next moment, the dark shape reappeared under the eaves, closer than before.

Thump, thump, thump...

Shen Juanjuan’s rapid heartbeat drowned out the sound of rain, and his breathing grew heavier.

The Black Wolf circled around the courtyard, observing Shen Juanjuan. It occasionally bared its teeth at him, then quickly closed its mouth and turned its head away. Its eyes flickered between impulsiveness and hesitation, pacing back and forth, its long black tail lashing the rain.

When it turned its head again, a glint of mischief flashed in its eyes, and it moved even closer to Shen Juanjuan.

With the raincoat over his head, Shen Juanjuan’s eyes darted behind the transparent film, gripping an iron rod leaning against the wall.

When the table disappeared and reappeared closer to him, he could no longer bear the fear and suddenly let out a deafening cry.

The Black Wolf, which had lifted one paw but hadn’t yet put it down, trembled all over. Its ears flattened against its head, and its fur bristled. It seemed startled by the sudden sharp cry and froze, standing under the eaves with its paw raised.

"Waa..."

Shen Juanjuan rushed out of the bathroom, raising the iron rod and striking the Black Wolf: "Beat you to death! Beat you to death!"

Bang! Bang!

The Black Wolf’s body shook twice.

"Waa..."

Shen Juanjuan quickly struck the Black Wolf twice, then dropped the iron rod and ran out. The Black Wolf, startled by his cries, hadn’t recovered and watched him dash past, racing through the courtyard, into the alley, and out the gate.

"Waa waa..." The cries quickly faded away in the alley.

The Black Wolf finally reacted, baring its teeth fiercely and chasing after the cries. But as soon as it reached the end of the alley, it saw someone in the distance and immediately skidded to a stop, leaving deep tracks in the muddy street.

It leaped onto the roof and fled towards the town center, disappearing among the buildings after a few bounds.

Chu Ya wrapped the quilt in plastic film, left the supermarket, locked the main door, and pushed his wheelchair onto the street. Just then, he heard Shen Juanjuan’s cries.

The cries were piercing and made his heart tighten. He hurriedly wheeled back.

But Shen Juanjuan’s cries were moving and soon appeared at the alley entrance. Wrapped haphazardly in the raincoat, with his entire head covered, only his legs visible as they moved rapidly towards Chu Ya.

"Waa... Shen Miaomiao... Waa..."

Seeing Shen Juanjuan running like a cannonball, his cries strong and clear, Chu Ya finally realized he was unharmed and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Shen Miaomiao, Shen Miaomiao..." Shen Juanjuan stumbled almost falling.

"Slow down!"

"Waa..."

"Take it easy, slow down!"

Seeing Chu Ya, Shen Juanjuan calmed down a bit and slowed his pace. As he ran, he cried out, "The ghost carrying the table, waa, the ghost hiding behind the table, waa."

Reaching Chu Ya, Shen Juanjuan threw himself into his arms and began recounting what had happened. His emotions were too intense, causing him to stutter and cough.

"Take it slow, I can understand." Chu Ya patted his back.

"The table was on the courtyard wall, did you know? The table, the table was on the courtyard wall, cough, cough..."

"Take it slow, no rush." Chu Ya said helplessly.

"It, it, it—"

"Alright, calm down for half a minute before speaking."

"Cough, it, it—"

"Shh, be quiet."

After being ordered to be silent for half a minute, Shen Juanjuan finally calmed down. When he spoke again, he was less agitated.

"He started hiding here." Shen Juanjuan ran to the side. "This is the courtyard wall, he hid behind the table." He crouched down. "He was hiding behind the table, I knew it."

Chu Ya frowned slightly, trying to understand every word he said.

"Was it the courtyard wall or the table?"

Shen Juanjuan pursed his lips: "The table on the wall of the courtyard."

"......Go on."

"Then the table disappeared." Shen Juanjuan looked around, "I searched and searched, and the table was in the yard."

"......Yeah, describe the table to me carefully," Chu Ya said.

"It was tall, big, a black table, long and round."

"Long and round?"

Shen Juanjuan gestured, and Chu Ya realized: "Rectangular."

"Not very rectangular, a bit chubby."

"Oval-shaped top with a rectangular base," Chu Ya added, then asked: "Did you see it clearly?"

"Saw it clearly, no, didn't see it clearly, saw it clearly..." Shen Juanjuan shook his head and nodded, "Anyway, the ghost was hiding behind the table."

"It would disappear, reappear, disappear, reappear..." Shen Juanjuan kept running around, sometimes tense, sometimes alert, and sometimes standing still and dazed.

Chu Ya: "......"

"Alright, let's go home first. You can tell me while we walk."

Although Chu Ya found the idea of a table appearing and disappearing absurd, he knew Shen Juanjuan had been genuinely frightened, so he listened patiently.

"I understand, keep going. You saw a table that appeared and disappeared."

Last time, Shen Juanjuan claimed to have seen a ghost, which Chu Ya knew was actually the Black Wolf. But this time, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't connect a rectangular table with the Black Wolf. After much thought, he concluded that the heavy rain and mist might have caused objects to appear and disappear, leading Shen Juanjuan to think the table was moving.

"There's nothing to worry about. There are no ghosts in this world; you must have seen things due to the mist," Chu Ya explained.

"Hmm..." Shen Juanjuan drew out the sound, "How can there be no ghosts? Our orphanage's backyard is full of them, every night."

"You just heard others say that. Have you seen them yourself?"

Shen Juanjuan glanced at him sidelong: "I've seen them. Just now, the table ghost."

"That wasn't a ghost; you were seeing things."

"Hmm... How can there be no ghosts?"

The conversation went in circles, and Chu Ya couldn't continue. Shen Juanjuan's sidelong glance was annoying. He reminded himself that the child couldn't even count and hadn't been exposed to scientific knowledge.

The rain lasted all day and night. The next morning, before Shen Juanjuan woke up, Chu Ya wheeled himself to the dump.

The new garbage piled up like mountains, and Chu Ya started sorting through it with a stick before the rain could soak everything.

He brought the garbage back, washed each piece under the tap, then woke Shen Juanjuan up. While Shen Juanjuan was getting ready, Chu Ya heated the last two buns and organized Shen Juanjuan's bag.

After breakfast, Chu Ya took Shen Juanjuan out. When they passed through the curtain of rain, they found the Black Wolf in the field.

It seemed relaxed, wandering around as if attracted by Keke Mountain, not looking their way. It only turned its gaze when Chu Ya approached, showing a hint of surprise on its furry face.

Chu Ya didn't expose the overly dramatic encounter, instead saying to the Black Wolf: "You're here. I'm heading forward. Are you coming with me?"

Shen Juanjuan, who couldn't see the Black Wolf, replied: "I'm coming with you."

The Black Wolf didn't react but followed at a distance as Chu Ya wheeled forward. It still looked like it was just wandering and showed a surprised look when Chu Ya turned to look.

Director Liu and Manager Chen stood by a window on the second floor, watching Shen Juanjuan appear at the entrance of the backyard and quickly run across the playground to the dining hall.

"All the kids in his dormitory are covering for him. At night, the blankets are spread out, and shoes are placed in front of the bed," Manager Chen said sternly.

Director Liu laughed: "They're just kids. Helping each other is normal."

"But what if they encounter bad people?" Manager Chen gritted his teeth. "No, after this, everyone in the dormitory will be punished."

"Okay, punishment, punishment," Director Liu patted his shoulder, "Moderate punishment."

When the iron buckets filled with breakfast were brought into the dining hall, all the children cheered.

"Cake! Today we're having cake."

"We had buns yesterday, cake today."

The cakes were made by mixing a small amount of flour with soybean flour and steaming them into round cakes. Although they were only slightly better than soybean cakes, they were enough to excite the children in the orphanage.

"Shen Juanjuan, we're having cake today. If I get three, I'll trade one with you."

Shen Juanjuan nodded understandingly: "I know."

Manager Chen gave out two cakes per person during distribution. As the children passed Shen Juanjuan, who was still in line, they whispered: "You won't get three."

"But the cakes are so big, one is enough to fill you up. I can still trade one with you."

"I can trade half a cake."

"I'll trade more than half."

But when Shen Juanjuan got his food, Manager Chen whispered to him: "Come to my office later for more food."

"Ha!" Shen Juanjuan's eyes sparkled, "Okay, I'll come later."

Half an hour later, Shen Juanjuan tightly held his bag as he walked towards Mixin Town. As he approached the rain curtain, he was delighted to see Chu Ya in the field, gazing at the rain curtain, lost in thought.

He tiptoed behind Chu Ya and suddenly jumped out, hands raised beside his head: "Ha!"

Chu Ya looked at him and reached out to take his shoulder bag. "Let's go back."

"Did you get scared? Did you get scared?"

"I did get scared."

"Then why didn't you scream?!"

Chu Ya spoke calmly: "Scream."

"You screamed wrong."

"Then let's make do with that."

By the time they returned to the small courtyard, it was already noon. Shen Juanjuan saw Chu Ya place the shoulder bag on the small table and hurriedly took out the flatbreads inside. "I didn't trade with them, but I still gave them all my treasures. Look at this flatbread; it's really delicious, just a little short of being as good as buns."

Chu Ya looked at the bag full of flatbreads and asked in confusion, "You didn't trade with them, so where did these come from?"

"They were given to me by Manager Chen."

Chu Ya hesitated for a moment. "Do you mean that the other kids only got two flatbreads, but he gave you so many?"

"Yeah, he gave me so many." Shen Juanjuan counted one by one, "One, two, three, one, two, three..."

Chu Ya pressed further, "Why did he give you so many flatbreads?"

Shen Juanjuan exclaimed, scratching his chin in confusion, "Because he wanted to give them to me."

"Where did yesterday's buns come from?" Chu Ya asked.

"They were also given to me by Manager Chen." Shen Juanjuan thought for a moment and added, "And Dean Liu too."

"Why did they give them to you?"

"Because I asked them for them." Shen Juanjuan blinked innocently.

No matter how Chu Ya questioned him, Shen Juanjuan couldn't explain much. After being asked repeatedly, he started making up stories, saying it was because he was the king of lice.

Chu Ya looked at the pile of flatbreads, touched the outer layer of the sterile bag, and asked, "Did they personally put the buns and flatbreads into this bag?"

"Yes."

"Didn't they ask you anything?"

"They did ask."

"What did they ask?"

"They asked if it was enough," Shen Juanjuan replied.

Chu Ya had a general idea in his mind.

Gu Lin's people had searched the orphanage for him several times. Dean Liu and Manager Chen must have known about his existence after noticing Shen Juanjuan's abnormal behavior. However, they didn't take any action and, judging from the current situation, hadn't reported to Gu Lin. Instead, they gave Shen Juanjuan so much food.

Chu Ya had only met Dean Liu once, during the inspection of the orphanage. Apart from the usual pleasantries, there had been no other conversation. He felt that Dean Liu treated him kindly because of his father, Chu Chengyu.

Regardless of whether it was due to his father, he felt grateful and believed that Dean Liu and those others were not on the same side. He could tell him about the discoveries at White Castle to prevent more children from being selected to go to Cloud Peak.

"These are delicious. You should eat them; we both like these flatbreads." Shen Juanjuan stuffed his mouth while handing Chu Ya a water bottle, mumbling, "Drink some water, don't choke."

Chu Ya took the water bottle, looking at his puffed cheeks, and sighed inwardly.

"Shen Juanjuan."

"Mmm."

"Can you do something for me?" Chu Ya lowered his eyes to look at the water bottle in his hand. "Tomorrow, find Dean Liu secretly and tell him a message quietly."

Shen Juanjuan stopped chewing and whispered, "A secret message? What should I say?"

"Just tell him, 'Don't be selected away, it's dangerous.'" Chu Ya put down the water bottle. "Remember?"

"Remembered."

After lunch, Chu Ya sat on the sofa, continuing to work on the unfinished jacket. Shen Juanjuan sat beside him, playing with a stuffed bear and babbling away.

Chu Ya looked up unconsciously and noticed that the Black Wolf, which had disappeared in the wilderness earlier, had reappeared. It wandered around the courtyard, inspecting the water trough and corners before settling under the eaves, lying down next to the door, and closing its eyes as if resting.

After a while, it got up discontentedly, picked up a nearby chair with its mouth, and moved it to the other end of the eaves before lying back down assertively.

The next day, the weather remained gloomy. When Chu Ya sent Shen Juanjuan to the orphanage, the Black Wolf, which had disappeared the previous night, appeared halfway along the road, following them at a distance.

When Shen Juanjuan went to collect breakfast, before Manager Chen could speak, he whispered in his ear, "I'll wait for you in your office, bring more food, okay."

Manager Chen glanced at him, seeing the child's face filled with understanding. "I won't make a sound, I'll wait quietly."

"Okay."

In the quiet room, Manager Chen stuffed bean cakes into the sterile bag, asking, "Why are you seeing Dean Liu?"

"I need to tell him something," Shen Juanjuan's eyes followed his hands.

"Dean Liu has gone to Cloud Peak. If you have something to say, tell me, and I'll pass it on."

"This message can only be told to him," Shen Juanjuan shook his head.

"Only to him?"

"Yes." Shen Juanjuan nodded solemnly.

Rong Chen turned his head and thought for a moment: "Alright, then give him a call, but only speak to him."

"Call, make a call?"

Rong Chen didn't notice the excitement in Shen Juanjuan's voice and took out his phone to start dialing. Once connected, he handed it over.

"I know how to make a call; you just put it to your ear and speak." Shen Juanjuan carefully took the phone, holding it with both hands to his ear. Before the other side could speak, he nervously shouted: "Hello, hello, hello."

Then he turned to look at Rong Chen.

"The person on the other end is Dean Liu; you can tell him what you need to say."

As soon as Rong Chen finished speaking, Shen Juanjuan said into the phone: "Hello, hello, don't get selected, it's dangerous."

When he said this, he lowered his voice and his expression suddenly became cold and serious, exactly like when Chu Ya had instructed him. Then he switched back to a cautious expression, held the phone with both hands, and tried to return it to Rong Chen.

Rong Chen was taken aback by his sudden change of expression: "That's it? You're done?"

"Mm, I'm done." Shen Juanjuan nodded. Seeing that his bean cake was already packed, he bid farewell to Rong Chen and left with his bag.

Rong Chen watched his back disappear through the door, raised the phone to his ear, and heard the continuous dial tone.

"Hello, Rong Chen, I didn't have my phone with me. Is there something going on at the institute?" Dean Liu's voice finally came through as the call connected.

Rong Chen hurriedly replied: "No, it's just that Shen Juanjuan was looking for you."

"What did he want?"

"He wanted to say something to you, but he left before the call connected." Rong Chen found it both amusing and exasperating.

"To say something to me? What did he want to say?"

Rong Chen laughed: "He just said, 'Don't get selected, it's dangerous.'"

While Rong Chen was laughing, Dean Liu remained silent. Rong Chen gradually realized something, stopped laughing, and his expression turned serious.

"Dean," he called out hoarsely.

Dean Liu still didn't respond, and the receiver only carried the sound of his slightly rapid breathing.

"Dean," Rong Chen gripped the phone tightly, "Is it, is it that someone... that person who made Shen Juanjuan pass the message?"

Dean Liu finally spoke, his voice hoarse: "Yes. We'll talk in detail when I get back."

"Okay."

Rong Chen hung up the phone and stared blankly ahead, lost in thought. It wasn't until he heard loud commotion from the playground that he rushed out the door, taking out his whistle and blowing: "No fighting! Who's fighting?"