Chapter 3
The rain last night had not been heavy, and today was still a bright, sunny day.
This was the first truly peaceful sleep Wei Cheng had gotten in the ten years since the apocalypse.
He did not have to endure brutal extreme weather or zombie hordes that could break through the door at any moment. He did not have to guard against companions more terrifying than zombies. Most importantly, the little brother he had lost and found again was by his side.
With his eyes still closed, he reached out to feel around by the bed. The moment his hand touched empty space, he woke up instantly—could this so-called rebirth have all just been an empty dream?
He sat up and saw, beneath the bed piled high with miscellaneous junk, a fluffy-haired little child sitting there quietly dressing himself.
From the back, he looked like a little gas canister.
Wei Cheng pressed hard on his trembling left hand, and only then did his heart settle back into place.
Wang Xiaotiao was still snoring away. Wei Cheng walked over and said softly, “Guanguan, big brother will help you get dressed.”
“My own clothes, I wear myself!”
Guanguan pushed aside the hair that was getting in his way with his little hand. His two round cheeks were flushed red from the heat as he huffed and puffed, pulling on socks covered in fuzz balls.
Wei Cheng noticed the comb beside him, missing several teeth. “Then how about big brother combs your hair?”
Guanguan nodded happily. “Okay, okay!” Teacher Xiaomei was very busy in the mornings; she would only be able to comb Guanguan’s hair after she finished serving food.
Afraid of scratching Guanguan’s scalp, Wei Cheng had no choice but to hold down the broken side of the comb and use the intact part to gently comb the child’s hair. Guanguan’s hair was on the lighter side, very fine and soft to the touch. Every morning after waking up, it turned fluffy and messy, and a few little curls always refused to behave. He had to keep brushing them back for quite a while before they would stay in place and stop covering the child’s eyes.
After combing for a bit, he saw Guanguan lift up his little face and say, “Big brother, when you comb hair, it feels nice. Teacher Xiaomei is nice too. Grandpa Director is not nice!”
Wei Cheng understood. The child was saying that Director Wang used too much force when he combed his hair.
“Then from now on, big brother will comb your hair every day and won’t let Grandpa Director do it.”
“Really?”
Guanguan’s round eyes lit up. “Big brother won’t scold Guanguan’s hair for looking like a little chickie nest?”
Wei Cheng smiled again. “It doesn’t look like a little chickie nest. It looks like a cute little lamb.”
“Where is the little lamb?” Guanguan asked innocently. “Can we raise a little lamb on Guanguan’s head?”
“Little lambs have to be raised in a sheep pen. On Guanguan’s head, you can only raise hair, not little sheep. Later on…” Wei Cheng said softly, “Big brother can take you back to our old home in the countryside and raise little sheep.”
In his previous life, it seemed his little brother had never truly seen a lamb…
It took quite a while before Guanguan’s little curls were finally brushed into obedience. Just then, the door was pushed open from outside, and several older children banged loudly on iron basins.
“Wake up! Wake up! Wang Xiaotiao, get up already!”
Zhou Zihao suddenly yanked Wang Xiaotiao’s blanket away, clearly intending to tease the little boy again. But when he saw Wei Cheng staring at him coldly, he froze for a moment, then pulled a face at Wei Cheng and Guanguan. The children behind him burst out laughing a couple of times, and the group ran off noisily to the next dorm room.
There was breakfast after waking up, so Wang Xiaotiao did not laze in bed either. He pulled on his clothes in a hurry and followed Wei Cheng and Guanguan to the washroom.
Every child had a small plastic basin containing a toothbrush, a mug, and a towel.
The washroom was already full of children. In the far corner was a little wooden stool. Guanguan skillfully dragged it over and stood on it. The first time he turned on the faucet, he opened it too far, and icy water splashed everywhere, soaking his little blue T-shirt printed with cartoon animals. He quickly stood on tiptoe and turned the faucet down a little.
Wei Cheng glanced at the little wooden stool wobbling on the slippery concrete floor and quickly walked over. “Big brother will help you get water.”
Guanguan shook his head. “My own things, I do myself!”
With toothpaste foam all over his mouth, Wang Xiaotiao mumbled, “Grandpa Director says everyone has to take care of themselves. Nobody will stay with anybody forever. Maybe you’re standing here today, and tomorrow you’ll get adopted and leave!”
Wei Cheng lowered his eyes. “But I will always stay with Guanguan.”
He lifted Guanguan down from the stool and filled a mug full of water. “Open your mouth. Big brother will brush your teeth.”
Guanguan suddenly seemed a little dazed and did not open his mouth.
Wei Cheng softened his voice even more. “You’re too little. You don’t know how to brush your teeth properly. Big brother will help you brush them well, otherwise little worms will grow in them later.”
Guanguan immediately opened his mouth. “Big brother brush, big brother brush, Guanguan’s teeth don’t want to be neighbors with worms.”
Wei Cheng smiled. “Okay, big brother will brush them well!”
By the time he had finished brushing Guanguan’s teeth and washing his face, all the children had already left the washroom. Wang Xiaotiao was getting frantic. “We have to hurry, or breakfast will all get snatched up!”
Wei Cheng said, “You and Guanguan go eat first. I’ll head over after I finish washing up.”
Wang Xiaotiao grabbed Guanguan’s hand and was just about to leave, but Guanguan stuck close to Wei Cheng’s leg and would not move. “Guanguan wants to go with big brother!”
Sometimes a child’s trust was just that simple.
All it took was a box of low-quality yogurt, or one moment of wholehearted companionship.
Wei Cheng glanced at Guanguan. “Wang Xiaotiao, you go first. I’ll bring Guanguan over in a minute. If Zhou Zihao dares to steal Guanguan’s food, just tell him I won’t let him off!”
Wang Xiaotiao trusted Wei Cheng’s words completely. Even though this big kid had only been here for three days, he was taller than Zhou Zihao, the toughest one here, and just looking at him made it seem like nobody would dare bully him.
Wei Cheng sped up his toothbrushing. Guanguan’s little round belly pressed against the washstand as he anxiously supervised him. “Big brother, brush slowly, brush well! What if tooth worms run out and bite Guanguan?”
Wei Cheng nearly spat out his toothpaste foam from laughing. Even though he hurried, he still brushed for the full three minutes.
“Big brother.” Guanguan tugged on Wei Cheng’s hand.
Wei Cheng held both his and Guanguan’s washbasins. “What is it? Hungry? You go to the cafeteria first. I’ll hang up the basins and towels and then come find you?”
Guanguan tugged on his hand again. “Guanguan wants to tell you a secret!”
“A secret?”
Wei Cheng crouched down and smiled. “What secret?”
Guanguan looked left and right, then used his chubby little hand to cover one of his brother’s ears, so the secret could not run out through there. Then he pressed his mouth to the other ear and whispered very softly, “Teacher Xiaomei says other people aren’t allowed to hug us. But you hugged Guanguan today. Guanguan liked it. Guanguan is happy.”
Wei Cheng froze for a moment, and his eyes grew hot.
He suddenly thought he knew why the Guanguan of his previous life had liked following him around so much.
Children in the welfare home were not allowed to be hugged. Once they had been hugged, they would keep longing to be hugged. They would grow attached to volunteers or kindhearted people. But no one would hug them forever, and in the end that was another kind of hurt.
Wei Cheng pulled Guanguan tightly into his arms and rubbed his little head. “Mm. Big brother will never leave Guanguan. Big brother will always protect Guanguan, hug Guanguan. Big brother will forever be Guanguan’s one and only family.”
Guanguan’s round eyes widened little by little, and he was so stunned that he could not speak.
“Come on, big brother will take you to eat!”
This morning, every child got one big strawberry.
Teacher Xiaomei said, “These strawberries were shared by Guanguan with everyone, so everyone has to thank Guanguan, understand?”
Where would the children of the welfare home ever have seen strawberries this fresh and plump? They were overjoyed. “Thank you, Guanguan!”
Guanguan’s little face turned rosy red, and under the table his little feet swung happily.
Wei Cheng glanced at the child and thought to himself, what a good little baby who loved sharing.
As Teacher Xiaomei watched Guanguan hug the strawberry and take huge bites out of it, she thought of how yesterday Guanguan had handed over the snacks and fruit in his backpack for her to distribute. In the bottom pocket of the bag, she had discovered a red envelope containing one thousand yuan.
She thought carefully about the matter and felt that this red envelope probably had not come from the Qiao family. It was more likely from that driver who had always handled the adoption and return procedures.
Logically, this money should have been handed over to the director. But Mingming, who was in the hospital, was seriously ill, and Director Wang had gone to the city hospital last night. Right now, everything at the welfare home was being managed by the director’s son and daughter-in-law. If she handed over this money, it definitely would not end up being spent on the children.
This money could not be turned over for the time being.
After breakfast, the children exercised as usual to help digest their food. After that, Teacher Xiaomei led the children of the Sunflower Little Class in learning nursery rhymes and recognizing characters. As for the children in first grade and above, they gathered together to do their summer homework.
But Wei Cheng had absolutely no mood to keep pretending, with his nineteen-year-old soul, to be an eight-year-old child doing elementary school exercises.
In his previous life, while searching for his little brother, he had met quite a few kind people, including a married couple who were university professors. Wei Cheng had lived with them for nearly five years, and they had taught him a great deal of knowledge and practical life skills.
Now Guanguan already trusted him. What he had to do was take Guanguan back to the countryside on the very day before the apocalypse truly arrived. Otherwise, if two children suddenly disappeared from the welfare home, it would definitely alert the government. While he still had time, he should first make a trip back to the countryside by himself.
Wei Cheng had thought that after being tormented by ten years of apocalypse, he had become cold-blooded and heartless, with only Guanguan left as his obsession. But if he really did nothing at all and simply took Guanguan away, his heart could not settle.
At noon, the meal bell suddenly rang, and the children cheered and ran out of the classroom.
Guanguan was full of enthusiasm. He glanced at Wei Cheng, who was still sitting unmoving at his seat, then walked over and stood on tiptoe with his hands on the table, tilting his head as he said, “Big brother, when it comes to eating, you have to hurry, hurry and grow strong!”
Wei Cheng looked at Guanguan’s innocent little face. “Okay, let’s go eat.”
The cafeteria was too hot, so at lunchtime the children chose to eat in the open area in front of the building.
Lunch was rice topped with tomato and scrambled egg, with one bright green floret of broccoli on top.
Guanguan used his spoon to stir the rice and toppings together, then took a big bite of the sweet-and-sour rice. With every bite, he skillfully avoided the broccoli.
He glanced at Wang Xiaotiao, who was also wolfing down his food, then his eyes shifted. He pointed toward the sky and said, “Look, Ultraman!”
Wang Xiaotiao turned his head with his spoon in his mouth. “Huh? Where?”
Guanguan scratched his little cheek. “Flew away.”
Wang Xiaotiao gave an “oh” and kept shoveling food into his mouth.
Guanguan obediently carried his clean little bowl over to Teacher Xiaomei, who praised him. “Guanguan is amazing! You ate all your vegetables and all your rice!”
Guanguan nodded guiltily. “Guanguan is as amazing as Xiaotiao!”
Teacher Xiaomei smiled. “Don’t run around right after eating. I brought your wiggle car downstairs for you. Go take a look.”
“Wiggle car!”
Guanguan wanted to run, but then remembered Teacher Xiaomei did not allow running, so he quickly shuffled over on his short little legs toward the slide. Sure enough, he saw his own little cloud wiggle car!
He quickly climbed on and rode it straight toward the other side of the yard.
When Wei Cheng came out of the restroom, he saw Guanguan wobbling toward him on the little car.
He had just been about to loudly warn him to play more carefully, when Guanguan suddenly slammed on the brakes right in front of him in the most adorably clumsy way.
“Hewwo!”
Guanguan smoothed down his little curls and lifted his double-layered chin. “Would you like to sit in Guanguan’s back seat and go for a ride?”
Wei Cheng glanced at the little cloud wiggle car, which looked as though it had already passed through eight owners, and thought to himself: if someone of his weight sat on it, would it collapse? But if he refused, would Guanguan think he looked down on it?
He hesitated, then nodded. “It’s fine, but…”
At that moment, a sharp ding sounded at both his and Guanguan’s ears!
[Binding successful! Welcome to the Wiggle Car Safe House!]
[House Owner: Guanguan]
[The House Owner’s Only Bound Person: Wei Cheng]
