Chapter 70

Chapter 70

Before dawn, several energy lamps hung over the open ground, and a pot of boiling water simmered over the fire. The children lined up to use the toilet and then returned to brush their teeth and wash their faces.

After washing up, the administrators distributed heated bean cakes, and the students stood in place to eat breakfast, refilling their water bottles with hot water after finishing.

Lin Duozhi also emerged from his tent this morning, standing outside with Shen Juanjuan and the others to eat his bean cake. His hand was wrapped in thick bandages, and he chewed in small bites, hiding that hand behind his back whenever someone passed by.

Liu Sijin stood there too, tilting her head to look at Lin Duozhi’s hand, gently touching it before he could pull it back: "It looks good like that."

Shen Juanjuan smiled in surprise: "Doesn’t it? It really does, all white and fluffy, just like my raccoon."

"It must not be cold," said Chen Hongliang.

Tang Yuanyuan agreed: "It’s both beautiful and warm."

Wang Xiaoxi: "I want a hand like that too."

Yu Datou swallowed a bite of bean cake: "Mm-hmm."

Lin Duozhi didn’t say anything, only smiled with pursed lips, but when someone else passed by, he no longer hid his hand behind his back.

"Did you break your fingers yourself?" Liu Sijin asked.

Lin Duozhi nodded lightly.

"Why?"

This time, Lin Duozhi spoke louder: "My hands are now the same as yours, so I can go to Cloud Peak in the future."

"Don’t go to Cloud Peak, it’s not good at all. My sister doesn’t even let me go there anymore," Liu Sijin advised.

Shen Juanjuan raised his hand to Lin Duozhi’s shoulder, still chewing, and mumbled: "My brother says Cloud Peak is bad too, don’t go. There won’t be me there, only Wang Zhusheng, who will steal your things if you go."

Lin Duozhi said: "I’ll take you with me."

"You can’t, didn’t Wang Zhusheng fail to take his brother away?" Tang Yuanyuan said.

Lin Duozhi held his bean cake, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

The children quickly finished breakfast and went back into the tents. Shen Juanjuan also went to find Chu Ya, who was helping distribute meals. Lin Duozhi ate the slowest; everyone had dispersed, but he remained, taking small bites.

While eating, he looked around and saw Wang Chengcai sitting alone on a patch of snow, also eating his bean cake with his head down.

Wang Chengcai’s hair was messy, with snowflakes clinging to the tips of his tousled hair. He tore off a large piece of the bean cake with his teeth, chewing almost viciously, the veins on his neck standing out. But swallowing seemed almost impossible, as if he used all his strength to no avail, so he grabbed a handful of snow and stuffed it into his mouth.

Lin Duozhi had slept next to Wang Chengcai last night. After a whole night, none of the terrifying scenes he imagined had happened. Now, he felt both fear and curiosity towards Wang Chengcai, watching him secretly.

He didn’t know why Wang Chengcai always cried, crying while lying on the stretcher, and even in the tent. He cried more sorrowfully than when his fingers hurt.

Lin Duozhi didn’t want Wang Chengcai to notice him watching, so he walked to a corner of the tent, standing in a relatively hidden spot. On the other side of the tent corner, two older students were whispering, unaware of Lin Duozhi’s presence, and their conversation reached his ears.

"Chief Administrator Chen told us to keep an eye on Wang Chengcai, to make sure nothing happens to him."

"He must be suffering terribly. Wang Zhusheng was killed by the people from Cloud Peak, how could he bear it?"

"I still feel like it’s a dream. They said we’d have a better life at Cloud Peak, but it turned out they took us there to kill us. Why?"

"Shh, keep it down, don’t talk about it."

"Let’s go help with the meal distribution."

...

The two older students left, but Lin Duozhi remained where he was. His face turned pale, his eyes staring blankly ahead, and the bean cake in his hand fell to the ground.

He slowly sat down against the tent wall, hugging his knees and burying his face between them. Moments later, his shoulders began to tremble, and soft sobs escaped.

After breakfast, the administrators folded the tents and packed up, while the students put on raincoats and shoe covers, preparing to continue their journey.

Lin Duozhi was placed back in the stretcher, and the administrator asked Wang Chengcai to sit in it too, but he refused. Seeing his condition, the administrator, worried, forced him to lie down in the stretcher.

This area was desolate, and Keke Mountain was home to many mutants. The orphanage had a total of fifteen automatic rifles, twelve of which were brought on this trip, with the remaining three left behind to guard against mutant attacks. The administrators were constantly vigilant, hanging the guns over their shoulders.

Chu Ya was surrounded by a group of younger students, helping them put on their raincoats and shoe covers one by one. Finally, he whispered to Shen Juanjuan: "Do you want a hug?"

Shen Juanjuan glanced at the other children: "No, I can walk. I’m very good at walking."

Chu Ya said: "Call me if you get tired. I’ll lead the way at the front, so you’ll see me as soon as you look up."

Shen Juanjuan hesitated: "So I’ll see you every time I look up?"

"Yes."

Shen Juanjuan immediately looked up, then complained: "I can’t see you at all, there are other people in front."

"Stand a bit further out and stretch your neck, then you’ll see me."

"But you said I’d see you as soon as I look up."

"Alright, I misspoke. You need to stand out and look up to see me."

...

After calming Shen Juanjuan and the other younger students, Chu Ya headed to the front of the line. He hadn’t taken two steps when Black Wolf darted out from the side, flicking its tail to send a cloud of snow onto Shen Juanjuan’s face, and then quickly ran to the front before Shen Juanjuan could complain.

"Shen Miaomiao, Shen Wangwang threw snow at me, he did it," Shen Juanjuan shouted, his face covered in snow.

Chu Ya turned to look, then glanced at Black Wolf beside him.

The Black Wolf's eyes were full of innocence, confusion, and grievance.

Chu Ya said something to the back, but Shen Juanjuan didn't hear it clearly. However, he wasn't concerned about the outcome of his complaint; he just wanted Chu Ya to receive it. He saw the blurry figure of the Black Wolf turn its head and triumphantly shouted at it: "I told on you, I already told on you, you're in trouble."

The Black Wolf disdainfully turned around, and Shen Juanjuan returned to the group with satisfaction.

The wind and snow howled, leaving deep tracks on the snowy ground. Rong Chen stopped, straightened up, wiped the ice from his eyelashes, and pulled out a notebook with his frozen, stiff hands. He couldn't find the page with the route for a long time.

"Chu Ya, Chu Ya," he called out to Chu Ya, and several other managers nearby also came over.

Chu Ya was pushing a cart with the older students ahead. Hearing this, he turned back, while the Black Wolf continued moving forward. It had two ropes tied around its body, pulling a cart loaded with supplies, and three small children were riding on its back.

These were three children who were too exhausted to walk any further. They couldn't see the Black Wolf, only knowing that they were being carried through the air, their expressions a mix of excitement and tension.

"Is it much further to Crow Terrace?" Rong Chen asked, panting.

Chu Ya shook his head: "Still early."

"What? Still early?" one of the managers exclaimed in surprise, "We've been walking all morning, and we haven't even reached Crow Terrace yet?"

"Yes, actually, we are still halfway to Crow Terrace." Chu Ya pointed to the mountain peak on the left, "I've seen this place on the electronic map. It consists of two undulating peaks connected together, called Camel Peak."

Rong Chen said anxiously, "That's not good. Even if Cloud Peak finds this route in three days, we are walking too slowly and will still be at the foot of Keke Mountain. They will still discover us."

The manager sighed, "But there's nothing we can do. In such heavy snow, even adults have difficulty walking, let alone children."

Chu Ya looked into the distance and immediately saw Shen Juanjuan poking half his body out of the line, staring at him without blinking. As if tugged by the child he was holding, he quickly retreated and continued following the group forward.

Compared to the younger and middle classes who, though struggling, were still moving forward, the older class was much lazier. Several of them had already collapsed and lay motionless on the snowy ground.

"You see, they don't want to walk," the manager shook his head helplessly, "Some of the children are already complaining about wanting to return to the orphanage."

Another manager added, "They are older and have their own thoughts. Compared to the younger children, they are harder to fool."

"We must keep going, and we need to speed up. This dragging along won't work," Rong Chen said sternly.

The managers understood this and began to lift the older children up. One of them was as limp as a noodle, falling back to the ground after being lifted, and was hit hard with a ruler by the manager.

"Ouch, ouch, I'll walk, I'll walk, okay?" the older child covered his buttocks, lifting his legs high and running forward in a strange posture, which made everyone laugh.

Seeing the atmosphere improve, the manager cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted loudly, "Come on, let's sing! Shall we sing?"

"Yes!"

"Our lives are so happy, our songs are so loud." The manager led the singing with a loud voice, then shouted, "Ready, sing!"

"Our lives are so happy, our songs are so loud, angels gather here, sowing hope..."

Shen Juanjuan and Tang Yuanyuan held hands, each step sinking into the snow up to their ankles. They swayed unsteadily through the snow, singing loudly as they struggled forward.

"La la la, my warm home, la la la, where I grow—ouch." Shen Juanjuan tripped and fell into the snow.

He didn't get up immediately; his first reaction was to prop himself up and look ahead, immediately spotting Chu Ya among the backs of others.

Chu Ya was bent low, pushing a heavily loaded cart forward through the wind and snow. Shen Juanjuan stared at him for two seconds, swallowed the word "brother," and pulled Tang Yuanyuan up by her hand.

Shen Juanjuan continued walking, singing as he went, waving vigorously at Chu Ya whenever he turned back.

"...Our lives are so happy... my brother is watching me... la la la... I'm here... my warm home... watch me, watch me..."

The managers led the children in singing all the songs they knew, including the quacking of little ducks, and finally started shouting slogans, swinging their arms.

"Welfare Home, cheer up, Welfare Home, cheer up."

"Senior Class One, cheer up, Senior Class One, try hard."

"Junior Class One, cheer up, Junior Class One, try hard."

All the children seemed to be competing, straining their voices to drown out the other classes. Shen Juanjuan closed his eyes and stretched his neck, shouting, "Junior Class One, cheer up, Junior Class One, cheer up."

Wang Xiaoxi quickly corrected, "We are Junior Class Two, Shen Juanjuan, don't follow others."

"Oh, Junior Class Two, cheer up, Junior Class Two, cheer up."

Chen Hongliang also started shouting, and the Junior Class One in front of them soon followed his lead, also cheering for Junior Class Two.

Chu Ya walked at the front of the cart convoy. Though he appeared thin and frail, as a sentinel, he was the only one pushing his cart alone, while the other carts were pushed by managers and older students.

"One, two, three, one, two, three..."

The carts in front were stuck in the snow, and the managers and older students were struggling to pull them out. Wang Chengcai had jumped off his cart and was using his shoulder to push the handle, silently moving his feet forward.

"One, two, three, one, two, three..."

The cart slowly moved forward, and when it finally broke free from the snow pit, everyone lost control. The cart surged forward, and everyone ran a few steps before falling in a heap.

Wang Chengcai's cart also surged forward, and he fell face-first into the snow. Unlike the others, he didn't get up immediately but remained motionless, lying flat on the ground.

He felt so tired, as if all his strength had been drained during the push. He just wanted to lie there, lie until he fell asleep, never to wake up again.

Lin Duozhi noticed that the carts around him had moved forward, but his cart remained stationary. He quietly leaned forward to look outside.

He saw the manager who was originally pushing this cart helping other carts stuck in the snow, and Wang Chengcai lying face down in the snow beside the cart, motionless.

He wanted to call out but didn't dare, hoping someone else would notice the situation. But Wang Chengcai was on the left side of the cart, completely hidden from view, and no one noticed that someone was lying behind the cart.

Lin Duozhi stared at him for a moment, then finally leaned out, extending his hand to lightly tap Wang Chengcai's back, quickly retracting it.

He held his breath for a moment, seeing that Wang Chengcai still didn't move, and tapped his back again.

He felt a bit anxious, wondering if the man was already dead, so he poked him forcefully, several times in succession.

Wang Chengcai finally responded, lifting his head and bending his arms as if trying to crawl up from the snow. The moment Lin Duozhi saw him move, he quickly lay back on the cart, his body straight, hands tightly pressed against his sides.

He watched Wang Chengcai slowly walk to the back of the cart, grasp the handles, but then rub his face against his shoulder, wiping off the layer of snow to reveal eyes red from tears.

The cart swayed forward, and Lin Duozhi pretended to have his eyes closed, but kept peeking through his eyelids at Wang Chengcai.

Tears streamed continuously from Wang Chengcai's eyes, making them red and swollen. He had never understood why this man always cried, but now he finally did.

Suddenly, he no longer found this man so terrifying or fierce; he just felt pity. He had no younger brother and didn't know how it would feel if one died, but it must be very sad, even more so than when he learned that Cloud Peak had killed children.

Lying in the cart, Lin Duozhi let his thoughts wander, imagining what it would be like without his finger, and whether he would die if chosen for Cloud Peak.

No, he couldn't go to Cloud Peak! He couldn't die!

If he died, no older brother would grieve for him the way Wang Zhusheng's brother did.

Thinking of this, he felt a vague envy towards Wang Zhusheng.

The cart wheels were blocked by something, and Wang Chengcai, after looking down to find the obstacle without success, simply pushed harder, causing the cart to jolt over the small obstruction.

Inside the cart, Lin Duozhi was jolted up and down, biting his lip to stifle a cry of pain.