Chapter 10 “Little Fish Orphanage”

Chapter 10: "Little Fish Orphanage"

Tongtong followed the player for a short distance, then suddenly stopped again.

Under the player's puzzled gaze, she let go and ran back, casually wiping her hands on her clothes, then stood on tiptoe, leaning on Little Fish's shoulder, and whispered in her ear, "Little Fish, remember you're a living person too~"

After saying that, she grasped Little Fish's warm fingers and led her toward the player.

This action was like a strange switch; soon, the remaining six players were each surrounded by one to three children, demanding they hold their hands to go wash up.

Admittedly, during the day, this group of kids had a very strong sense of being alive. Even though everyone knew in their hearts that they were ghosts, under the sunlight, these children had warmth and shadows, and normal people simply couldn't ignore their pitiful pleas.

Cheng Jingjia still had Bai Ye on her mind.

Not just out of concern, but because Bai Ye was the "target" she had chosen herself.

As things stood, the prerequisite for obtaining a little red flower seemed to be gaining the children's favor. After secretly observing all the children present and carefully weighing her options, Cheng Jingjia had settled on Bai Ye as her target.

First, because Bai Ye looked the most fragile and harmless, being relatively young and lacking in lethality—even at night, his broken limbs would severely hinder his pursuit speed.

Second, because a child who was less capable of taking care of himself than ordinary, normal kids would need more care. Once she seized the opportunity to gain his favor through this process of attending to him, she would at least have a way to secure little red flowers, making it easier to observe and select the next child to "win over."

In horror game instances, everyone relied on their own skills. Cheng Jingjia was confident in her reasoning and judgment. Even though she had been scared out of her wits the night before—because she was afraid of ghosts—today, in the daylight, her mind was clear and her thoughts were smooth. The only thing she hadn't anticipated was Little Fish, the instance boss, fiercely intervening.

Even the push she had just received had initially felt like a stumble; she didn't think a child could have that much strength.

But now, Cheng Jingjia subtly rubbed the spot where she had been pushed, grimacing and inhaling sharply from the pain.

It hurt—that push felt like it had shifted all the organs in her abdomen!

Standing still for a while to recover, Cheng Jingjia suddenly realized that not a single child had gathered around her.

Her heart sank. She looked up at Little Fish, who had already walked away.

Was this boss's deterrent power in the orphanage really that strong?

She also noticed that ever since Little Fish had sternly warned the players not to carry these children, not only had the players themselves become more cautious, but among the dozen or so children, not a single one—except for Bai Ye—had proactively reached out to be carried.

Perhaps it was more than that.

Following the others to the washing area, Cheng Jingjia immediately spotted Bai Ye, curled up quietly on the side with his broken limbs.

No one was paying him any attention.

After Little Fish had clearly expressed her dislike for him, neither the children nor the players dared to approach him in her presence.

A group of children were being led by adults to line up and wash their hands. The kids were lively, chattering like happy little birds, sharing strange stories or asking questions with the adults. Only Bai Ye huddled alone in the corner, like a piece of trash carelessly discarded and ignored.

Seeing this, Cheng Jingjia found it unbearably jarring.

She even began to wonder if the instance might be about bullying within the orphanage, with the real boss being Bai Ye, while Little Fish and the other children were the antagonists.

Such thoughts only flashed through her mind. Cheng Jingjia's heart churned with unease, but she dared not act recklessly before understanding the situation fully.

So, she forced herself to ignore Bai Ye, shrinking in the corner.

After all the children except Bai Ye had obediently washed their hands under the faucet, Little Fish shook off the wet droplets from her hands and walked toward the curled-up child.

Nearly all the players present were secretly watching her every move. Holding their breath, they observed, wondering if she was going to bully Bai Ye again.

After all, there were quite a few players who shared Cheng Jingjia's thoughts; everyone suspected that besides Little Fish, Bai Ye might also be an important NPC ghost in this orphanage.

Under the scrutiny of many gazes, Little Fish stopped in front of Bai Ye.

"Bai Ye, do you want to wash your hands?" the little girl asked seriously.

Bai Ye looked up, meeting her eyes, unable to hide the gloom within.

"Why did you ruin my plans?" His voice was no longer low; instead, it carried a sharp edge.

Little Fish looked into his resentful eyes, her small face remaining calm—even indifferent.

In a soft voice, she said, "I didn't ruin your plans. You're just too stupid."

Too stupid to go eagerly clinging to those adults at the first contact.

Bai Ye's pale, gaunt face twisted for a moment, as if he couldn't believe she could be so brazen after doing such a thing.

"You... cough, cough..." Bai Ye choked on his anger, opening his mouth to retort, but the pent-up breath got stuck in his throat, causing him to wheeze. He curled up even tighter, coughing dully, like a dying shrimp.

He coughed so violently that his whole body trembled, his voice weak, yet it seemed to want to cough out his lungs, bones, and blood.

Even his originally pallid cheeks flushed red from the coughing, making him look utterly miserable.

Then, a small, slightly damp hand patted his bony back—slowly, gently, just the right pressure to disperse the trapped breath in his throat.

"..."

The coughing gradually subsided.

Bai Ye kept his head down, his unkempt hair falling over his gloomy, young brows. He clenched his fingers silently, a wet warmth gathering in his eyes.

"You're so dirty. Let me carry you to wash your hands," came the familiar childish voice.

Bai Ye abruptly looked up, the mist in his eyes not yet dissipated.

Little Fish had already leaned in, opening her arms to effortlessly pick up Bai Ye, who had only half a body.

Little Fish pressed her lips together, steadying Bai Ye, who was only half her size, and carried him over to the faucet under the shocked or suspicious gazes of many.

The sunlight was warm, the breeze gentle. The living aura of the little girl kept spreading toward Bai Ye. Suddenly, he tensed up nervously, trying to shift his mutilated parts away or hide them.

But doing so made him unsteady.

Little Fish freed one hand to grab the child who kept shrinking back, and despite his flustered dodging, she took his hand and guided it under the faucet.

"Little Fish, you can put him down now," Tongtong reminded, helping to turn on the tap.

Little Fish shook her head. "If I put him down, his hands will get dirty again after being washed."

She wasn't a germaphobe, but she hated doing things in vain.

"Bai Ye, hurry up and wash your hands!" Tongtong urged the boy, who was letting the water run over his curled fingers.

As if snapped back to reality, Bai Ye finally moved. With Little Fish's help to stabilize himself, he extended his two skinny little hands and meticulously scrubbed them clean.

His palms were nowhere near as soft and tender as those of other children; instead, both his fingertips and the fronts and backs of his hands had developed a layer of somewhat thick calluses.

That was because he had been using his hands instead of feet to move around on the ground for years. The floor of the orphanage was neither flat nor smooth, and as he crawled and dragged himself around the orphanage every day, even his arms had become more muscular than those of other children.

Little Fish patiently waited for him to finish washing his hands.

Then she steadily carried him back to the art room.

She set him back down in his seat. The desks in the art room were all very low, and the children sat directly on the floor or on mats. There were a few stools at the back of the classroom, but only a handful, and some were broken. No one fixed them, so no one used them.

Back on the mat, out of Little Fish's warm embrace full of life and warmth, Bai Ye finally felt a bit more at ease.

Just as Little Fish was about to turn and leave, he seemed to gather his courage and finally looked up to say "thank you" to her.

Then, as Little Fish paused, he asked her, "Aren't you afraid?"

Afraid of what?

It was like a riddle, but Little Fish guessed the answer precisely.

She shook her head and said to Bai Ye in a tone even more serious than before: "I'm not afraid, because I'm not an adult, and I won't become the mom or dad who can take you home."

"I'm just like you—I'm an orphan too."

As Little Fish finished speaking, she clearly saw the faint glimmer in Bai Ye's eyes gradually dim.

He became still and gloomy again, like a ghost.

Even in broad daylight, he looked like a ghost hiding in a dark corner, ready to scare someone to death.

Little Fish didn't care what he turned into. Tongtong took her hand and led her back to their original spot; their next class was about to start.

The second class was literacy.

The teacher was Cheng Jingjia.

Drawing on Zhang Hui's earlier experience, she stood at the podium with more ease than he had, and acted more like a true volunteer teacher.

She had brought a lot of literacy flashcards and taught the children new characters and words one by one.

Little Fish studied very earnestly.

She was only five years old, and Little Fish Orphanage didn't offer many opportunities for learning to read; she couldn't even count all the numbers or recite them smoothly.

Growing up in Little Fish Orphanage, she was still an illiterate little fish.

But she was very good at absorbing and digesting unfamiliar knowledge.

As soon as the teacher finished explaining a card in front of the class, she could remember the pinyin, the strokes, and even the word combinations for that character.

She wasn't the only one—the other children were also very attentive.

Even though, in this dungeon, they might have already seen these same flashcards hundreds of times with different players.

Cheng Jingjia finished teaching all the flashcards, and it was nearly noon. The system reminded her to interact with the students during class and to grade their classroom performance before the lesson ended.

For Cheng Jingjia, this was an excellent opportunity to interact with the children and build rapport.

"Author's Note"

Cheng Jingjia: ??? Rules for thee but not for me?

The innocence of adults has kept Little Fish from smiling for two whole chapters [Watermelon Emoji]

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