Stock Up For Natural Disasters And Cubs Survive – CH64

Chapter 64

The little black dog’s ears shot straight up at once: Likes me?

Watching the little black dog’s tail spin at helicopter speed, the border collie puppy in Guanguan’s arms was stunned.

This dog looked very easy to fool.

“Puppy Brother, don’t be mad at Little Apricot. Guanguan has Brother, and Mingming and Xiaotiao to play with. Little Apricot doesn’t have a doggy friend.”

Guanguan shuffled closer to the wildly excited black dog, whose tail was wagging like crazy. “Look, Little Apricot is a good baby.”

The little black dog gave a soft bark, arching its back.

The little gray dog twitched its ears, lifted its pretty little head, and barked twice.

To Guanguan, that meant the two puppies had made up.

Just then, a rich smell drifted out from the wooden cabin.

“Guanguan?” Director Wang pushed open the wooden door and smiled. “Lunch is ready. Come with Grandpa and take food to Brother and the uncles.”

“Coming!”

The moment he heard food, Guanguan wiped at his drool and trotted over.

He curiously looked at the little bamboo basket in Grandpa’s hand, his eyes bright. “Grandpa, it smells so good!”

“It’s layered savory pancakes. Back at the orphanage, you could eat three at one meal.”

Director Wang rubbed Guanguan’s head. “Here, you carry the basket. Grandpa will carry the bowls, chopsticks, and thermos.”

Inside the thermos was hot vegetable soup.

Guanguan obediently took the little bamboo basket. “Grandpa, Little Apricot and Puppy Brother haven’t eaten yet!”

Director Wang said, “Then wait a bit. Grandpa will make them powdered milk and soaked dog food.”

At first, when Director Wang saw Mr. Yi taking out goat milk powder to feed the puppies, he had felt awful about it.

Only after hearing Mr. Yi explain that all this milk powder had been gathered specifically from pet stores, and that these two dogs would be a great help protecting the farm in the future, did he let it go.

In his eyes, Mr. Yi and Mr. Shen were the leaders here. He was just an old man with four children. He couldn’t afford to make people dislike him, so he said nothing.

The border collie puppy and the little black dog wanted to follow them too, but the moment they smelled the fragrant bowls of milk, they buried their heads and drank furiously.

From far away, Wei Guanguan’s babyish singing voice could already be heard. Wei Cheng stood on tiptoe and looked ahead, smiling. “Guanguan’s here.”

“Brother!”

They had been apart all afternoon, so Guanguan excitedly threw himself at him, tipping his head back. “Brother, Guanguan missed you!”

“Brother missed you too. I kept worrying whether you’d be bored by yourself.”

Wei Cheng hurriedly took the little bamboo basket from his hands and smiled. “You didn’t bother Grandpa Director, did you?”

Guanguan shook his head. “Nope. Guanguan was playing with the puppies.”

“Our Guanguan is so good.”

Rebuilding the main gate was no easy task. It had to meet certain requirements for both strength and height.

Fortunately, they had enough stainless steel plates and concrete.

The small mortar mixer they had found near the construction site by Qingyuan Guesthouse had also finally come in handy.

They simply wiped their hands and faces clean of mud and dust, then sat right on the ground to eat.

Although Director Wang hadn’t used much oil in his layered savory pancakes, they were still soft, flaky, and not greasy at all. Paired with a bowl of steaming salty seaweed soup, the meal felt deeply comforting.

Guanguan bit into a fragrant pancake, stuffing both cheeks full. “Brother, the pancake is so yummy.”

Wei Cheng chewed and smiled. “Grandpa Director’s cooking is good. How many do you want, Guanguan?”

Guanguan held up little fingers. “Three!”

Shen Zheng laughed too. “Back in college, I used to eat these kinds of layered pancakes all the time. After graduation, I hardly ever had them again. I never thought I’d get to taste this old-fashioned craft again.”

Yi Qi, Mingming, and the others were too busy eating to say anything.

“Director Wang really makes good pancakes. Our whole family gets to benefit too,” Chen Fangshun, sitting a bit farther away, chimed in.

Hearing everyone praise him, Director Wang smiled a little. “As long as you all like them. We don’t have much oil at home. If there were more oil, they’d taste even better.”

After eating, the adults went back to work, while Director Wang returned to the core area carrying the bowls and chopsticks.

Guanguan, Mingming, and the others played Watermelon Ball on the nearby pasture.

At first the children were playing happily, but later it changed.

According to the order, Xiaotiao kicked the ball to Guanguan, Guanguan kicked it to Chen Xiaoming, and Chen Xiaoming was supposed to pass it to Mingming beside him.

But several times in a row, he kept kicking the ball back to Guanguan instead.

Since Guanguan was farther away, he had to kick very hard to send the ball back toward Mingming. But each time, Chen Xiaoming intercepted it and kicked it far away again.

Mingming pressed his lips together, his eyes reddening in confusion.

It didn’t quite count as bullying Guanguan, but…

“That’s not right, that’s not right!”

Looking at the Watermelon Ball rolling back to his feet again, Guanguan picked it up and said very seriously, “Little friend, you have to kick the ball to Brother Mingming!”

Chen Xiaoming lifted his chin slightly. “Oh, I forgot.”

Guanguan waved his hand. “Then don’t forget next time!”

But when it happened again, Chen Xiaoming still only kicked the ball to Guanguan and Wang Xiaotiao.

Now Guanguan was getting mad. Brother Mingming hadn’t even gotten to kick yet!

He picked up the ball all at once and put his hands on his hips angrily. “Little friend, why did you forget again!”

Wang Xiaotiao waved his fist. “Chen Xiaoming! Why are you so stupid! Don’t you know Brother Mingming? You’re supposed to kick the ball to the person next to you!”

Here, Guanguan was the shortest, and Mingming the second shortest, so Chen Xiaoming had never really seen Mingming as an older brother, even though he was a year older. And on top of that, this mute kid had the same name as him. How annoying!

Guanguan nodded hard. “You have to kick it to the person next to you!”

Now Chen Xiaoming got temperamental too. He sat down on the grass and tilted his head. “My mom said you’re Uncle Yi’s and Uncle Shen’s kid. She told me to coax you into playing, but she never told me to play with other kids. You kids are way too childish. I don’t want to play anymore!”

Guanguan shook his head. “I’m Brother’s child. I’m not Uncle Yi’s and Uncle Shen’s child!”

“Guanguan is a child from Sunshine Home Orphanage!” Wang Xiaotiao shouted too.

Neither Guanguan nor Wang Xiaotiao understood what Chen Xiaoming really meant, but Mingming, who was mature and sharp, understood immediately.

Chen Xiaoming’s mother had noticed how especially close Uncle Yi and Uncle Shen were to Guanguan, so she guessed Guanguan must be the child they had taken in. Naturally, she wanted Chen Xiaoming to become good friends with Guanguan, so that their family could stay here for good!

Mingming puffed out his cheeks and clenched his small fists. He was going to tell Brother Chengcheng!

Chen Xiaoming looked unconcerned. “I don’t care whose kid you are. You’re all kids without a dad or mom anyway.”

For children in an orphanage, dad and mom were forbidden words.

Those words instantly made both Mingming’s and Wang Xiaotiao’s eyes turn red.

Wang Xiaotiao clenched his fists, almost crying. “We have Director Grandpa and Teacher Xiaomei!”

Chen Xiaoming sneered. “Who doesn’t? I’ve got a Chinese teacher, a math teacher, and an English teacher! Not only do I have grandpa and grandma, I also have maternal grandma and grandpa!”

Guanguan looked at Brother Mingming and Xiaotiao, both on the verge of tears. He threw the ball aside, stood in front of them, and said fiercely, “Guanguan has Brother too! Guanguan’s brother is super amazing!”

“What’s so great about a brother? I’ve got tons of cousins…” Chen Xiaoming rolled his eyes. “I can’t explain things to you kids without moms. Do you even know what a mom is? Moms are different from brothers, uncles, and Director Grandpa. A person can only have one mom. In this world, only moms are good. Kids without moms are just little grass growing on the ground.”

He ground his foot against the grass. “See? You three are grass like that.”

Wei Cheng, who was sorting steel nails, frowned. Had he just heard Guanguan crying?

Not long after, he saw a small, chubby figure stumbling toward the gate.

The crying grew closer and closer.

Wei Cheng’s eyes sharpened. Throwing down the nails, he ran over at once. “Guanguan!”

Yi Qi and the others dropped what they were doing too. “Guanguan’s crying?”

Chen Fangshun and Li Rui exchanged panicked looks.

Surely their unlucky son hadn’t gotten full for a few days and started acting like a mule again?

Wei Cheng swept crying Guanguan into his arms. His eyelids were red, and his face a mess of tears. Wei Cheng’s heart twisted in pain. “What happened, Guanguan? Tell Brother. Who hit you? Where does it hurt? Tell Brother?”

Guanguan cried against Brother’s chest, fat tears hanging on his cheeks, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand as he sobbed. “Little… little friend bullied… bullied Guanguan for not having a mommy… Why doesn’t Guanguan have a mommy…”

Wei Cheng felt like crying himself at those words.

He had never spoken to Guanguan about fathers and mothers before. The reason was exactly that he feared the little child would ask what a mom and dad were, where they were, and when they would come to find Guanguan.

Shen Zheng looked worried. “What happened? Why is Guanguan crying… Huh? Where are Mingming and Xiaotiao?”

Mingming and Xiaotiao came running over crying too, with Chen Xiaoming following behind unwillingly.

Shen Zheng scooped up the two wailing children and shouted to Yi Qi, “Go get Director Wang!”

Chen Fangshun grabbed Chen Xiaoming and smacked his butt twice without another word. “Did you bully the younger boys? Speak! Apologize to them!”

Li Rui, protective of her child, pulled him behind her. “What are you doing? You’re hitting him without even asking what happened?”

“I’m not apologizing!” Chen Xiaoming stiffened his neck. “They really don’t have dads and moms. I didn’t say anything wrong! I don’t want to play with these little brats. They’re not my classmates from elementary school. I don’t want to play with them! You were the ones who forced me to play with them!”

As he spoke, Chen Xiaoming started crying loudly too.

Wei Cheng shot the family a cold look, then turned and strode toward the core area carrying Guanguan, who was crying so hard he was hiccupping.

He ran right into Director Wang and Yi Qi on the way.

Director Wang was frantic. “Why is Guanguan crying too?” Ever since Guanguan came to the orphanage, he had rarely cried. Other children missed their parents; Guanguan had always just looked blankly innocent.

Yi Qi supported Director Wang and said, “Guanguan has his brother. Go check on Mingming and Xiaotiao. Mingming is so well-behaved, but he’s crying so hard too…”

After returning to the wooden cabin, Wei Cheng took Guanguan straight into the safehouse. Sitting on the sofa with the child in his arms, he said softly, “Don’t cry, Guanguan. Brother is your mom. Brother is also your dad. Brother is still your brother. Brother can be anyone Guanguan needs, because Brother can also give Guanguan all the love of every family member.”

Guanguan lifted wet, tear-filled eyes. His thick lashes were clumped together with tears. “But… but little friend’s daddy and mommy are… are two people.”

Wei Cheng pulled a soft tissue from the coffee table and wiped the tears from the child’s face. “Brother alone can give Guanguan the love of two people. Isn’t Brother very amazing?”

Guanguan’s little belly rose and fell twice from crying. He seemed to understand. “Brother is very amazing.”

“Stop crying. When you cry, Brother wants to cry too.”

Wei Cheng gave a small smile. “If anyone dares say again that Guanguan doesn’t have a dad or mom, Guanguan tells Brother, and Brother will go beat him up.”

Guanguan wiped the tears off his cheeks and nodded his little head fiercely. “Beat him up, scold him! Guanguan’s brother is dad and mommy! You’re the one without a dad or mommy!”

Wei Cheng smiled. “That’s my Guanguan. That’s exactly how you should be fierce with him.”

After being watered with tears, Guanguan’s face looked even more like a pink, fluffy peach. He clenched his little fists and, in a slow, light tone, as if he were just learning to talk for the first time, said, “Mommy.”

Then Guanguan got excited again. “Brother!”

Wei Cheng’s eyes reddened a little at those words. “Good Guanguan.”

Guanguan stood up from Brother’s lap, threw himself around Brother’s neck, and stomped his feet in excitement. His whole little body radiated happiness. “Guanguan has a mommy! Guanguan has a daddy! Guanguan has the best brother!”

Wei Cheng watched TV with Guanguan for a while. Before long, Guanguan forgot all about what had happened on the grassland and sat on the sofa in a chubby little lump, completely absorbed in his cartoon.

When the little soldier Fink began singing the ending theme, Guanguan’s soft snoring started too.

Wei Cheng carried Guanguan to the little bed and let him rest. Then he sat by the bed and looked at him for a long while.

After thinking about the existence of the system, another thought arose in his heart.

Would Guanguan… really have a mom and dad?

—

Wei Cheng left the core area and went straight to the wooden cabin where Chen Fangshun’s family was staying.

Yi Qi saw him and hurried over. “Shen Zheng and Director Wang are comforting Mingming and Xiaotiao. Xiaotiao said—well, Mingming gestured—that Chen Xiaoming’s mom told him to spend more time playing with Guanguan, so during Watermelon Ball he only passed to Guanguan. Then later they argued a few words, and Chen Xiaoming started saying the three of them had no moms and were little grass on the ground.”

When they reached the cabin, angry shouting was coming from inside.

It was Li Rui crying and yelling, “What right do you have to hit the child! What right do you have to say I can’t raise him right? When I was carrying him around to see doctors, you were still in prison stomping a sewing machine! If the apocalypse hadn’t happened, you’d never have gotten out even if you died!”

Author’s Note:
Who says Guanguan doesn’t have a mommy! [angry] [angry] [angry]

Click here to download the full novel (PDF & EPUB)