Chapter 9 “Little Fish Orphanage”

Chapter 9: "Little Fish Orphanage"

At first, no one dared to eat breakfast at the orphanage.

But hunger and exhaustion were too much to bear, especially with five whole days still to go. After going back and forth for a while, they finally threw caution to the wind and ate the bowl of vegetable congee set before them.

While they were eating, the children also sat in their own seats, wolfing down their food.

It seemed as if the children didn't care about their arrival at all.

Though they didn't know why, the adults all let out a sigh of relief, then began to dawdle, eating slowly while quietly swapping intel.

Despite fighting and scheming against each other last night, once daylight came, even ghosts could turn into humans—let alone these adults, who were already skilled in superficial pleasantries and deceitful games.

Even if they hated each other to the core, on the surface they could still smile and chat amicably.

At the farthest seat diagonally across from them, Little Fish put down her spoon, rubbed her round little belly, pulled her hands back, and was the first to leave her seat.

As soon as she moved, the other children in the small dining hall followed suit.

"Sister, I ate it all," Little Fish said, holding up her spotlessly clean bowl and walking up to Panpan, raising it high, eagerly waiting for praise.

Panpan took the bowl. The seven-year-old girl only shyly pursed her lips in a smile at the newcomer, couldn't bring herself to say a word of praise.

Little Fish wasn't disappointed. After eating her fill, she thought the whole world was adorable and wonderful, so instead of receiving praise, she turned to compliment the other children who were walking over with their bowls.

"Luo Luo, great job!"

"Tongtong, you left your bowl spotless!"

"Sister Sangye, did you get enough? There's still a little left in the pot~"

"Xiaoyin, you're such a good girl~"

"..."

The players stared in astonishment as Little Fish, her eyes crinkling into crescents, praised from the heart every child who walked past to hand in their bowls. They momentarily wondered if Little Fish was some kind of compliment machine reincarnated.

How is she so good at this?

Someone couldn't help picturing a weird scene: holding an empty bowl and walking over themselves, only to be showered with a torrent of heartfelt praise?

They had no idea if that would happen, but they had indeed finished their own bowls.

Players: Well, uh...

Should they go over? That was a pressing issue staring them in the face.

All the bowls from the children who could walk had been collected.

For those who couldn't walk, Sangye had brought their bowls over as well.

In Little Fish Orphanage, all fifteen children, including Tongtong, had finished breakfast.

Now only...

A group of children turned their heads in unison to look at the adults holding their empty bowls.

"Haven't they finished yet?" Luo Luo muttered softly.

"So slow, slower than Yangyang's eating~" Yang Yang was no longer soaking wet from last night.

Hearing the children's murmurs clearly, the players somehow sensed a dangerous chill creeping down their spines. No longer hesitating, with Qi Jing taking the lead, they all stood up and walked over with their bowls.

Little Fish watched as Qi Jing, relying on his height, walked right past her and handed his empty bowl directly to Sister Panpan. A hint of confusion flickered in her clear eyes.

Huh?

She was a little puzzled, but only a little.

She quietly watched the adults hand over their bowls, and just as they all let out a collective sigh of relief and prepared to leave, Little Fish, who had been quiet all along, asked in confusion, "Are you just leaving like that?"

The players' retreating footsteps suddenly halted.

When they turned around stiffly, Little Fish pointed at the wooden basin by her feet, which held the porridge bowls. She looked at Qi Jing, her voice soft: "Mr. Volunteer, do you expect us kids to wash the bowls you ate from?"

Her eyes were large and bright, the clear depths reflecting the players' expressions shifting from fear to confusion to embarrassment.

Qi Jing shook his head awkwardly, saying no, and carried the bowls, basin, and spoons outside along with another player.

The adults worked quickly, but not very carefully.

Panpan looked at the three small bowls the players had broken, her expression growing solemn.

"We only have this many bowls. After this, three people won't get lunch."

The little girl's worried tone left the players, who were already anxious about breaking the bowls, on the verge of tears.

They didn't mean to, but first, they really didn't know how to wash dishes, and second... they were also testing the waters, right?

They never expected the result of their testing would be that they couldn't eat.

They washed the last few bowls super carefully.

When the entire breakfast segment finally ended, the oppressive, cold, judging stares of the children that had made the players feel like needles pricking their backs disappeared too.

Sangye held Little Fish's tiny, soft hand and smiled at the players, who were heaving long sighs of relief, "We have class later. Let me show you around."

She walked ahead, holding Little Fish's hand, like an adult who could protect others from the elements.

Little Fish kept glancing up at her, listening to her explain to the grown-ups what each place was.

Sangye held Little Fish's hand tightly, and Little Fish didn't pull away or cut in, following quietly the whole way.

The orphanage wasn't big or small; they finished the tour in no time.

Just as Sangye said they needed to go back to class, the familiar chime of the system notification went off in the players' ears again.

[Prospective adopters, please draw your real-time identities and immerse yourself in roleplay.]

A crooked slip container appeared in front of each player, containing several paper slips.

There was also one in front of Little Fish.

But besides her, no one—human or ghost—could see it.

Little Fish reached out and tapped it.

The container rattled, and soon a paper slip fell out. When she unfolded the crumpled page, it had two simple words written on it: orphan.

Xiaoyu was silent.

She could already recognize a few characters.

The two characters for 'orphan' were etched into her soul.

The little girl pouted unhappily, her smile completely gone.

Even Sister Octopus' voice didn't cheer her up, because that slip of paper was kind of mean.

Xiaoyu kept her head down gloomily in silence, while the players behind her had varied expressions.

Sang Ye, oblivious to all this, continued to lead them to the art room.

This morning they had art class.

The moment they entered the classroom, the children already gathered there all turned to look at the player who had drawn the "Art Teacher" identity.

Zhang Hui walked to the 'stage', scowling.

"Good morning, teacher~"

"Good morning, teacher~~"

"Teacher..."

The children's drawn-out tones seemed warped as Zhang Hui adjusted his expression and barely managed to stay calm: "Good morning."

"Teacher," Panpan raised her hand and thoughtfully reminded the flustered adult standing at the podium, "Can you hand out the brushes and paper to us first?"

Zhang Hui, grateful for the hint, gave Panpan a thankful look, then found the brushes and paper and distributed them to the children.

Some of the other players sat in the empty seats behind the children, while others had already quietly left the classroom to explore the orphanage, searching for any clues that might help them clear the instance quickly.

Even though the main storyline had already given them the conditions for clearing the instance, players not only had to meet those conditions but also needed to find possible unspoken rules in this instance, as well as uncover the true reason why this orphanage had become an instance.

Only then could they clear it more smoothly and safely.

Xiaoyu understood none of these "common sense" concepts.

She obediently sat among the children, took the pencil and white paper handed out by the art teacher, and held the pencil with ease, burying her head in drawing and scribbling on the paper.

Just because she was obedient didn't mean all the children were.

So while Xiaoyu's stick figure had only drawn a head, a little head peeked over from beside her, tilting curiously to stare at the head on her paper, asking, "What are you drawing?"

It was a boy.

A boy who, when leaning close, smelled strongly of soil.

But he was clean and healthy.

His name was Song Pingan, and he was 7 years old.

He and Bai Ye were the only two boys in Xiaoyu's orphanage.

Xiaoyu looked at him, then at the stick figure head she'd just drawn, and replied, "I'm drawing a little sun."

As she spoke, she continued to hold the pencil and added a body and limbs beneath the stick figure's head.

Song Pingan felt that the new little sister Xiaoyu was brushing him off.

But he didn't dare argue, so he just silently returned to his seat, feeling upset.

Tongtong, who had overheard their conversation, turned her head to look at Xiaoyu's drawing, her little face wrinkled in confusion: "Xiaoyu, that's obviously a person!"

How could a person and a sun be the same?

Xiaoyu: "...This is a little sun."

Hearing this, Song Pingan's eyes lit up slightly, feeling much better and less sad.

It seemed Xiaoyu hadn't been brushing him off after all.

So he quietly leaned his head back over again.

Xiaoyu didn't feel nervous about being stared at; she continued with her "masterpiece."

Now that the stick figure had hands and feet, she started adding hair to its head.

Strand after strand of hair, dense and winding, hanging down all the way to the stick figure's hands and feet.

Tongtong, looking from the other side, couldn't figure it out.

But Song Pingan saw it clearly at once.

"That's Yang Yang!" His voice rose a bit in surprise.

The named Yang Yang came over curiously and saw herself in Xiaoyu's drawing.

Xiaoyu nodded, pointing at Yang Yang on the paper and emphasizing to Song Pingan: "She's a little sun."

Yang Yang: "..."

Her face was red, eyes bright, and she was so excited that she wanted to reach out right then and carefully peel that ugly little stick figure from Xiaoyu's paper and preserve it forever!

But she obediently cupped her face and continued watching Sister Xiaoyu draw.

More and more children gathered around.

Xiaoyu's drawing gradually took shape.

A row of little stick figures holding hands, all swallowed up inside a big fish, singing silly songs.

"This is Yang Yang, this is Xiaoyin, this is..." Luo Luo counted one by one, and when she got to Tongtong at the end, she stopped, confused, and asked Xiaoyu, who was still drawing, "Why is one missing?"

Who was missing?

Xiaoyu.

Xiaoyu put down her brush, pointed at the big fish that had swallowed all the children in the drawing, and proudly declared with her hands on her hips: "Because I'm this big, big fish! I've swallowed you all into my belly, so you all have to listen to me and be eaten by me!"

After hearing this, Xiaoyin made a gesture of being eaten, then opened her little arms and hugged herself, looking up at Xiaoyu with sparkling, hopeful eyes.

Xiaoyu understood what she meant.

So did the other children.

And then the children, who had been dazed a moment ago, all burst into joy.

Tongtong proudly announced, "Xiaoyu is the best Xiaoyu! We'll all be good and let you eat us, because you'll definitely protect us forever, just like this big fish!"

Xiaoyin nodded emphatically in agreement.

Luo Luo was grinning from ear to ear.

None of the children doubted that Xiaoyu really wanted to eat them.

Because these kids were all singing inside the big fish.

Only happy and joyful children would sing happily like that...

Kids especially love to sing when they feel protected and happy.

The adults who had watched everything: "..."

"That doesn't seem right?" someone muttered under their breath.

"Instead of being off, I feel like the boss is giving us a hint about the story? Could there be some hidden storyline?"

"Does the ending mean she actually eats all these kids???" The player began to speculate wildly.

"...That can't be. I think she really wants to protect these kids," Cheng Jingjia said, looking at the children's naive, bright, cheerful faces, unable to bring herself to assume the worst.

Even though she had been scared out of her wits by Xiaoyu and these kids just last night.

The players whispered among themselves, while Zhang Hui up front could only stand awkwardly on the stage.

But soon, he wouldn't have such leisurely moments.

After the kids checked out Xiaoyu's "masterpiece," they all dove into their drawings.

Soon, they all held up their drawings and rushed over to surround Zhang Hui.

"Teacher, look at my drawing! I drew you!"

"Teacher, teacher, I drew you too! See, does it look like you?"

"Teacher, I drew the clouds in the sky and the grass on the ground, and a little house..."

"Teacher..."

"..."

Zhang Hui felt his head start spinning; the children's chattering, enthusiastic voices were about to overwhelm him. He had to shout to get them to quiet down.

The moment his voice sounded, the art room fell silent.

The children all looked at him in silence, their little hands still holding up their drawings.

Sang Ye reminded the stunned Zhang Hui, "Teacher, you need to grade our drawings and pick the top three."

Xiaoyu was the first to hand her drawing to the teacher, looking up at him with a smile: "Teacher, can you give me a lot of points?"

Zhang Hui took the drawing and nodded stiffly.

With Xiaoyu taking the lead, the other kids also pushed their drawings toward him, each demanding top scores.

At that moment, a player from the back also came forward with a piece of paper and handed her drawing to Zhang Hui.

Zhang Hui gave a puzzled look.

"My character is an orphan," Zhao Yu said to him with a smile.

So whatever lessons and assignments the orphans had to do, she had to do as well.

With the drawings collected, class was over for now.

The children all left the art room to play outside, leaving the group of players in the room, not sure what to do.

Someone yawned and asked drowsily, "If daytime is always like this, does that mean we're safe during the day?"

If it's safe, he wanted to catch up on sleep.

Qi Jing frowned thoughtfully and said, "In theory, that should be the case, but we can't let our guard down either. The main quest requires us to get at least five little red flowers from the children. Maybe what we should focus on now isn't sleeping, but earning their trust and approval?"

"Then first, we need to figure out exactly how to get the little red flowers."

Cheng Jingjia looked at the kids outside and gradually came up with an idea.

"Everyone's on their own," Qi Jing said. "No matter what method you use, you deal with the consequences yourself."

Outside, Xiaoyu sat on the steps with a drawing book, soaking up the warm sunlight. It wasn't harsh, just making her narrow her eyes slightly in contentment.

Tongtong sat next to her, also soaking up the sun.

Then came Luo Luo, Xiaoyin...

Gradually, the two rows of steps were filled with children.

They looked like a row of lazy little cats sunbathing, each different and unique.

Xiaoyu, squeezed in the middle of the children, was propping her chin on her paint-stained hand, with a picture book she hadn't opened on her lap. Her eyes were vacant, lost in thought, her little mind somewhere else.

Yang Yang reached out a tiny hand to touch the light right in front of her, then thought for a moment, turned around, and used her small, slender body to shield Xiaoyu from the sun.

Bai Ye's view suddenly darkened too.

It was an adult.

Cheng Jingjia gave a warm, affectionate smile as she crouched down in front of Bai Ye, keeping a respectful distance. Her voice was gentle as she asked softly, "Little friend, your hands and face are covered in paint. Do you want your big sis to take you to wash them?"

Bai Ye instinctively pulled his foot back, which he had tried to hide under his long pants. He looked up, his delicate, pale little face expressionless, his eyes dark and unreadable as he stared at Cheng Jingjia's perfectly measured tenderness. After a moment, he hesitantly held out his little hand.

Cheng Jingjia felt a flash of joy and immediately reached out to lift up Bai Ye.

"Don't pick him up!" A cold child's voice came from beside them.

A familiar voice.

Cheng Jingjia shuddered instinctively and retracted her hand, looking at Xiaoyu in fear.

Xiaoyu's relaxed, comfortable expression disappeared completely. Her childish face tightened, making her look adorable yet stern.

The moment Cheng Jingjia met her gaze, she couldn't help but explain, "I-I just wanted to take him to wash his hands..."

Bai Ye also looked up at Xiaoyu, his eyes equally cold and still, but he remained silent.

Only his two small hands, which he had raised and spread open, slowly dropped, trembling and clenched tight behind his back.

Seeing this, Xiaoyu put on a stern expression, got up, handed the picture book to Tongtong, then stepped around Yang Yang and the other children who wanted to dissuade or were confused, walked up to Cheng Jingjia, reached out, and gave her a hard push.

"You are not allowed to hug him!" Xiaoyu warned again in an icy voice.

After saying that, she glared fiercely at the adult, then turned around, lowered her head, and said to Bai Ye, who quickly lowered his head to avoid eye contact, "Go on your own. Crawl over there."

Cheng Jingjia and the adults who heard the noise and came out to see what was happening all saw this and frowned deeply.

What is this?

Bullying in the orphanage?

Bai Ye slowly raised his head, silently exchanged a look with Xiaoyu for a moment, then suddenly looked past her and put on a look of utter grievance and timidity to Cheng Jingjia, who was staring blankly at the scene from behind him.

Just as Cheng Jingjia could no longer hold back and stepped forward to say something, he lowered his head again, and under the eyes of everyone, he used his hands to support himself on the ground, and dragged his frail, broken body forward inch by inch, in humiliation and pain.

Xiaoyu took a step back to make way for him.

The children on the steps all watched this scene quietly, without any empathy, but rather as if watching some interesting spectacle.

"All villains."

Seeing the strange expressions of these children, this phrase surfaced in Cheng Jingjia's mind.

This time, the way she looked at Xiaoyu had changed from the pure fear she felt before.

"None of you are to hug him." Xiaoyu looked up into the light, toward the adults standing behind the children.

Everyone: "..."

They silently looked at the small, pitiful back of the child named Bai Ye, then at Xiaoyu, whose behavior was so cruel. Their expressions varied, as did their thoughts.

"Uncle, I want to wash my hands too, can you take me?" Tongtong turned around, clutching the picture book Xiaoyu had handed to her, looked up at a player with a sweet and obedient smile.

While the player hesitated, Tongtong glanced back at Xiaoyu, who had lowered her eyes and stopped speaking, then brightly reminded the adult, "Uncle, I can walk by myself. I'm very well-behaved. You don't need to carry me, just hold my hand and lead me there~"

She reached out her small hand toward him, waiting eagerly.

The player hesitantly took her hand.

"Author's Note"

I'm here~ A long chapter, fierce little fish cub, poor little leaf.

For now, I'll settle on this name, and when the new cover is ready, I'll change it. For these few days, I'll temporarily use the old cover, which is like the idiom 'hanging a sheep's head and selling dog meat'—except here it's selling fish cub.

Also, before the story goes VIP, I may not update daily, so my dear readers, don't wait for updates before the story goes VIP. After VIP, if I don't update, I'll post a notice saying I'm taking a break.

Mwah~ Love you all!