Chapter 10
In the morning, Teacher Xiaomei finally came back.
She was accompanied by her husband and their daughter Yuanyuan, who had just turned one.
Teacher Xiaomei’s husband was a math teacher at an ordinary elementary school in the city. Because both sides’ parents suffered from “rich people’s illnesses” that would not kill them but cost a great deal of money, Teacher Xiaomei had no choice but to leave her own family and come to the welfare home in Changyang Town, Fengshui District, to work as a live-in supervisor.
As for their daughter Yuanyuan, she was being looked after by both sets of grandparents.
Director Wang chatted with Teacher Xiaomei’s husband, while Guanguan and several other children stood around nibbling watermelon and watching Yuanyuan gnaw on her little hands.
Guanguan looked at the watermelon in his own hand, then broke off a tiny triangle piece. “Baby eat.”
Yuanyuan’s little mouth kept going “ah-ah-ah,” and in the end she blew a big spit bubble.
Teacher Xiaomei wiped Yuanyuan’s drool. “Thank you, Guanguan, but Yuanyuan is too little. She can’t eat it. You eat it instead.”
“So pitiful.”
Guanguan bit off the sweet, juicy tip of the watermelon with a crunch, then tilted his head toward Teacher Xiaomei. “Why does Yuanyuan keep making noise?”
Teacher Xiaomei smiled. “Yuanyuan still can’t talk, but she wants to play with big brother Guanguan, so she can only make sounds like this.”
“Big brother? Guanguan is a big brother too?”
Guanguan’s eyes lit up. He did not dare touch Yuanyuan, only her stroller, and proudly said, “Yuanyuan, grow up fast. Big brother will play with you!”
Before long, Teacher Xiaomei’s husband was about to take Yuanyuan back.
Teacher Xiaomei was very reluctant to part with her. She hugged and kissed her daughter again and again, her eyes reddening as she said, “Yuanyuan, Mommy will come home to see you next month.”
Yuanyuan cried so hard she could barely catch her breath, making everyone at the welfare home ache with pity.
Even after the father and daughter left, Teacher Xiaomei stood at the door watching for a long time.
“Teacher.”
Teacher Xiaomei turned around and saw the sensible new child.
She wiped her eyes. “Wei Cheng, why aren’t you eating watermelon with the others?”
“Teacher, I already ate.”
Ever since Teacher Xiaomei’s husband and daughter had come to the welfare home, Wei Cheng had kept his distance.
In his previous life, he had seen Yuanyuan’s corpse with his own eyes.
He was thinking about what method he could use to save the lives of this father and daughter.
Teacher Xiaomei definitely would not resign on her own, and Director Wang trusted her greatly. In his absence, he absolutely would not allow her to resign rashly. So for now, the only thing to do was help Teacher Xiaomei and her husband stockpile more formula milk and medicine…
Wei Cheng knowingly asked, “Teacher, why don’t you look for a job in the city? That way you’d be closer to Yuanyuan and Uncle Fang.”
Teacher Xiaomei gave a bitter smile. Of the jobs currently available to her, only the welfare home offered the best salary.
But she could not discuss these things with an eight-year-old child, so she sincerely said, “Working here is pretty good. Guanguan and the others are very cute and very pitiful, and I also really like this job.”
Wei Cheng nodded and then said, “Teacher, when I was in school, I heard my classmates say their moms and dads livestream after work and make a lot of money. You could livestream at the welfare home too.”
Teacher Xiaomei froze for a moment and touched the birthmark on her face. “Who would even watch a teacher like me livestreaming? And besides, I don’t know how to talk…”
“Teacher, the birthmark on your face doesn’t affect your charm at all. Your singing is so nice. If you livestream, it’ll definitely become popular. And since the content of the welfare home’s stream would mainly focus on us, if you make a lot of money, you could buy a small car and go see Yuanyuan often. Life at our welfare home could get better too, right?”
Teacher Xiaomei opened her mouth. “Minors aren’t allowed on camera, and even if we want to livestream, we’d have to discuss it with the director. Don’t let how harsh he is with you kids fool you—he really cares about your safety and privacy…”
Wei Cheng had already thought through this problem. Smiling, he said, “We don’t have to appear on camera. You could livestream teaching us songs, or point the camera at us while we do homework. That should be okay, right?”
Teacher Xiaomei was somewhat tempted, yet also hesitant. She wavered. “I’d have to discuss it with the director…”
“Don’t hesitate.” Wei Cheng said, “I heard Grandpa Director is going to the capital in a couple of days.”
Between pushing and persuading, Wei Cheng finally managed to send Teacher Xiaomei to Director Wang’s office door.
Teacher Xiaomei did not come out until nearly ten minutes later.
Wei Cheng immediately asked, “Teacher, did Grandpa Director agree?”
Teacher Xiaomei was a little excited. “Mm, the director agreed. The tips we receive will be split fifty-fifty between me and the welfare home. But the condition is that your faces can’t be shown, and the welfare home’s address can’t be revealed…”
Wei Cheng let out a sigh of relief. “That’s great!”
He had never planned to show his face on a livestream anyway. Reminding people to stock up was already a sensitive matter. Showing his face would be like burying a time bomb for himself.
Because he could not guarantee that in the future he would not run into someone who had watched their livestream.
Director Wang held a brief meeting.
The first matter was that tomorrow morning, Zhou Zihao’s family would come to take him and the others home. That would leave only Guanguan, Wei Cheng, Mingming, Wang Xiaotiao, and the little girl Qiqi in the welfare home.
The second matter was about his upcoming business trip out of town. While he was away, Teacher Xiaomei and Doctor Chen would be responsible for the welfare home’s affairs, and he had also hired a security guard who would soon start work.
Wei Cheng noticed that Li Yun, the woman who had been cooking, was nowhere to be seen. On second thought, Director Wang had already stocked up on grain, flour, oil, and meat that afternoon, even locking part of it away in the basement to prevent anyone with ulterior motives from reselling it. In that case, the biggest source of profit at the welfare home was gone, so Li Yun naturally would not want to linger there any longer.
Only five children remained at the welfare home now, and Teacher Xiaomei and Doctor Chen could manage just fine.
Doctor Chen and Director Wang took the older children to pack up their things, while Teacher Xiaomei nervously took out her phone and opened her livestream account. She cleared her throat. “Children, what song do you want to learn today? Teacher will teach you.”
She told herself not to be nervous. The ones entering now were probably just bot followers.
The moment they heard they would be learning a new nursery rhyme, the children all sat properly.
Guanguan sat down especially quickly and obediently, raising his little chubby arm high. “Teacher, Guanguan wants to learn Grandpa Director’s phone song.”
Teacher Xiaomei was stunned. The director’s phone song… his ringtone?
She asked, “Phoenix Legend’s The Hottest Ethnic Style?”
Guanguan did not know how to sing it, but he knew how to hum. In his milky little voice, yet perfectly on beat, he hummed, “Deng deng, deng deng deng!”
Wei Cheng, sitting in the back, held back a laugh. Guanguan really knew how to put on a show.
Wang Xiaotiao raised his hand high too. “Teacher, but I want to learn Stir-Fried Radish!”
Teacher Xiaomei glanced at the livestream phone, and sure enough, people were already commenting.
[Is this a kindergarten teacher? The children’s voices are so healing.]
[The Hottest Ethnic Style? Truly conquering generation after generation.]
[Hahaha, my little brother loves The Hottest Ethnic Style. Teacher, teach the children that one.]
[Let’s learn The Hottest Ethnic Style first, then Stir-Fried Radish, okay? I already heard the first little kid humming it—Teacher should go in order.]
[Yes, go in order!]
Someone had even tipped ten lily flowers.
Wang Xiaotiao shouted, “Stir-Fried Radish! ”
Guanguan shouted too, “Deng deng deng!”
As the two little boys argued, they started butting heads at each other like calves.
[Hahaha, the kids are too cute.] Twenty bouquets of fireworks accompanied that comment.
The screen kept filling with:
[Go in order!]
Teacher Xiaomei was surprised and delighted. She opened the spare phone and said, “We’ll go in order. First The Hottest Ethnic Style, then Stir-Fried Radish.”
The moment the familiar melody started playing, Guanguan’s bloodline seemed to awaken instantly. He violently wriggled free from the scuffle with Wang Xiaotiao.
Guanguan waved his arms and danced around, singing loudly along, “Deng deng, deng deng deng, deng deng deng, deng deng deng deng!”
[I’m crying. At an age when he can’t even control his pee yet, he actually managed to control the rhythm!]
[From the sounds of this, he must be super cute aaahhh.]
[Is he a chubby baby? Is he a chubby baby?]
[Teacher, could you maybe post some videos of the kids? I really want to know if this baby is snow-white and adorable!]
[Teacher, is it convenient to say which kindergarten this is?]
Once Teacher Xiaomei became focused on teaching the children to sing, she stopped paying attention to the livestream.
When the two songs were finished, she discovered that the livestream audience had actually reached over ten thousand viewers.
The number of likes was also climbing at a terrifying speed.
Cute, childlike gifts were flooding the screen too.
Teacher Xiaomei thought for a moment and said, “Children, how about each of us says thank you to the older brothers, older sisters, uncles, and aunties who gave us gifts?”
Other than Wei Cheng, none of the children knew where these uncles, aunties, and gifts had come from, but since Teacher Xiaomei told them to thank them, they obediently listened.
Wei Cheng, being the oldest child there, gave a short thank-you speech.
The lively Wang Xiaotiao held onto Mingming’s shoulder and said, “Mingming and I thank you. Mingming and I are good friends!”
Finally it was Guanguan’s turn, who had clearly been itching for it.
Guanguan stood beneath the phone and gave two adorable little “hello, hello” sounds. “Hewwo.”
[Hello, hello, baby!]
[This is killing me—does the baby look like a tiny figurine, all cute and little?!]
“Guanguan is me. Thank you, older brothers and sisters, uncles and aunties, for the gifts…”
His eyes curved into crescents, and he propped his peachy-pink chubby cheeks up with his little hands. In the children’s world, this was a gesture of blessing.
“Guanguan blesses you: study well and improve every day!”
[Hahaha, that really is a child’s blessing.]
[Okay okay, Auntie hasn’t heard that phrase in years!]
[Is the baby really little? His voice sounds so soft and babyish.]
By now, Teacher Xiaomei was no longer afraid of the camera, nor did she hide the birthmark on her face. Smiling, she said, “Yes, this baby is the youngest child here. He’s only three this year, but he’s very smart and very well-behaved.”
“All right, that’s it for today’s livestream. See you tomorrow morning!”
The moment the stream ended, Teacher Xiaomei discovered that her follower count had jumped to ten thousand, and after the split, the gifts had brought in four thousand yuan!
Children could not sit still for long. As soon as music class ended, Guanguan was dragged off by Wang Xiaotiao and the others to kick the watermelon ball.
Wei Cheng, however, did not leave. “Teacher, can we livestream a little longer tomorrow?”
Teacher Xiaomei said, “That’s possible, but we can’t just sing the whole time. Tomorrow we’ll livestream you all studying first, then teach singing afterward.”
Wei Cheng had achieved his goal and was about to go find Guanguan. Now, even if Guanguan was out of his sight for only a short while, Wei Cheng felt uneasy.
Unexpectedly, Teacher Xiaomei stopped him. “Wei Cheng, wait a moment.”
She looked around, then pulled a red envelope from her bag. “I found this in the backpack Guanguan brought back. The director was away those past few days, so I didn’t dare take it out. But after thinking about it these last two days, I feel this red envelope was probably given to him by the driver who kept bringing Guanguan back and forth. This was someone’s personal kindness meant specifically for Guanguan, and I think he should know it and remember it.”
“You’re only eight, but I always feel you’re very steady, nothing like an eight-year-old. Maybe that has something to do with your family upbringing. I heard that the idea of stocking up on grain and ordering vegetables was also yours, and today’s livestream too. I know you’re an extremely smart and good child. Keep this money for Guanguan. When he starts school later, use it to buy him a schoolbag and stationery.”
Wei Cheng thought for a moment, then took the red envelope. “All right. I’ll keep it for Guanguan.”
—
The next morning, Grandpa Director and Doctor Chen drove Zhou Zihao and the others away from the welfare home.
The welfare home suddenly felt empty.
Today was the last day of the basic mission. Their current balance was [930 Twisty Coins]. It had originally been 950, but yesterday they had stocked up on 20 sets of 50 desserts and cakes, which had cost 20 points total.
Perhaps the later it got, the harder it became. After stocking up on those desserts, there had not been the slightest change in the wiggle car’s transformation progress.
Today, they had to subtly remind as many people as possible to become aware of the need to stockpile.
The moment Teacher Xiaomei opened the livestream, many people flooded in.
Originally, everyone thought they would hear the little baby singing again today, but to their surprise, the camera was aimed at a desk.
A little boy’s hands were writing homework on paper.
[This little guy’s handwriting is so elegant.]
[Hand-model streamer, childhood version (not really)]
[Why do I think I hear chubby baby’s voice?]
[Wait, is this little dude writing an essay?]
[Hahaha, he’s writing an apocalypse essay? Why is he bringing up that illness from years ago out of nowhere? Now I’m actually scared!]
[Holy crap! I feel like I’m right there. Such good writing. This little guy is not simple.]
[Were things really that terrifying a few years ago? I actually forgot already… sigh.]
[What is happening? Watching the part where this little guy and his grandma stocked up at home, I’m weirdly fired up, kind of itching to do the same.]
[Me too…]
[Who understands me? After reading about how he and his grandma started growing vegetables after the city lockdown, I actually ordered twenty packs of vegetable seeds. (covers face laughing)]
[Hahaha, I ordered anti-toxic masks.]
[Better stock up on rice and flour. I don’t know why, but the more I read, the creepier it feels…]
[Has anyone noticed something? There’s been way more rain this year than usual…]
By the time Teacher Xiaomei had finished guiding the children through learning characters, she discovered that today’s livestream audience actually rivaled yesterday’s!
But meanwhile, system notifications kept popping into Wei Cheng’s mind.
[Congratulations! You successfully reminded 312 passersby to actively stock up, earning a total of 3120 Twisty Coins!]
[The number of people is continuing to surge…]
[Congratulations! Hidden mission activated! Complete it to receive 8000 Twisty Coins!]
Hearing the first number had already excited Wei Cheng enormously. But when he heard the second number, his pen slashed hard across the paper.
How much??!!
Eight million!
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