Stock Up For Natural Disasters And Cubs Survive – CH80

Chapter 80

The six boys, still dizzy and disoriented, followed the old man into the farm.

When the heavy, towering steel gate slammed shut behind them with a deep, shuddering clang, their hearts jumped.

J-just like that, they were being allowed to stay?

As he walked, Director Wang said, “There are five wooden cabins left outside the core area of the farm. Two of you will share a room. You’ll stay in isolation in the cabins for the next two days. Your backpacks need to be handed over for inspection, but they’ll be returned afterward. Someone will bring you blankets, food, and water in a bit.”

The boys stared blankly at the lush green farm. On the slope in the distance, there seemed to be a structure surrounded by steel walls.

The boy in the No. 8 jersey, the one who had seen Chengcheng and Guanguan twice before, eighteen-year-old Lin Xiangfeng, withdrew his gaze and swallowed with difficulty. “G-Grandpa… if that little chubby kid says we can come in, then we can come in? Will that uncle—the one who fired the gun—come back and…”

At the time, they hadn’t heard clearly what the older boy and those three men had been saying. In the few seconds they’d been stunned, they had only seen the tall, grim-faced man in the black T-shirt shoot the three of them dead.

Their first impression had made them assume that uncle was the one in charge of the farm.

Director Wang smiled kindly. “Guanguan can make that decision too.”

In the old man’s eyes, since Mr. Shen hadn’t objected to letting the boys stay, then Guanguan and Chengcheng were indeed allowed to decide.

“No way! That adorable little chubby dumpling really is the farm owner!” one of the boys blurted out.

The six boys were divided into three cabins, two per room. It was summer, and the cabins had been kept open for ventilation, so there wasn’t much smell inside.

Once the old man collected their backpacks, a woman and a little girl soon arrived, bringing them blankets and food.

The boy sharing a room with Lin Xiangfeng was named Zhao Bin.

Holding a basket full of things, Zhao Bin sweetly said, “Thank you, pretty auntie. Thank you, cute little sister.”

Su Min smiled. “Just call me Auntie Su Min.”

She patted her daughter’s head. “Xiaoyue, thank you brother for saying you’re cute.”

Sun Xiaoyue had filled out a bit lately and wasn’t as shy around strangers anymore. She lifted her little face and said, “Thank you brother for saying I’m cute!”

After they heard the door lock from the outside, Zhao Bin, who was nearly fainting from hunger, immediately dug through the big bamboo basket.

Under the thin summer quilt and the mat, he found six bottles of mineral water, two rolls of toilet paper, two sets of toiletries, and… a bag full of warm corn and plain steamed buns.

Zhao Bin twisted open a bottle of water and handed it to Lin Xiangfeng, who was sitting on a stool in a daze. “Here, drink. Your lips are pale from thirst.”

Lin Xiangfeng took the bottle and gulped down half of it in one go, and then a fragrant ear of cooked corn was shoved into his hand.

While wolfing down his own corn, bits flying everywhere, Zhao Bin talked with his mouth full, “Eat already! I’m seriously starving to death!”

Lin Xiangfeng took the corn. The moment he bit into the first mouthful, tears slid down his face.

At this time of year in the past, his grandparents would always come to Changyang Town early in the morning in their little car.

Their heavy woven sacks would be filled with fresh corn still damp with dew.

His mother would be home taking care of his newborn baby sister, while he and his father would be waiting at the bus station bright and early for Grandpa and Grandma…

This corn tasted exactly like the one from Grandma’s house.

This was the third time he had seen those two children.

The first time had been when they were collecting bottles. The second time had been when he saw them handing out flyers. He had even shared the flyers not only in his brothers’ group chat, but also in the family group chat.

His name had been given to him by his great-grandfather. The old man believed that cause and effect always led to a destined meeting one day, and hoped he would keep doing good deeds and always hold himself to that standard.

He had never expected that those tiny acts of kindness would truly lead to this “meeting” today.

Zhao Bin saw that Lin Xiangfeng was crying, and his own eyes reddened too. Corn still stuffed in his cheeks, he said thickly, “Don’t cry. We have to survive first, so we can go back to Changyang and find our families. Waaaah, I miss my mom…”

Lin Xiangfeng nodded hard. He wiped away his tears with his sleeve, then lowered his head and kept chewing his corn without another word.

Survive. He had to survive.

—

“So those six boys are staying?”

After Yi Qi and Sun Dali finished dealing with the traitor’s corpse, they heard the news too.

They hadn’t even had breakfast before they’d been interrupted by the intruder, so now the whole family had gathered again in Shen Zheng’s cabin for breakfast.

The adults were eating boiled corn, the children grilled corn, each person with a bowl of millet porridge and two little dishes of pickles.

Wei Cheng took a sip of porridge and nodded. “Guanguan was the one who let them stay.”

With his mouth ringed in black soot, Guanguan gnawed on grilled corn and tilted his little face with a grin. “Baby’s the one who let them stay!”

Since it was Guanguan’s decision, Yi Qi had no objections. Sun Dali had even less to say—he was the type who just did whatever he was told.

After setting down his empty porridge bowl and wiping the corner of his mouth with a napkin, Wei Cheng smiled lightly. “Those six boys are all from Changyang Town. The oldest isn’t even past eighteen, and they’re all student athletes. Leaving them here is actually a good thing for the farm.”

A small thing revealed the bigger picture.

These boys were young, had a sense of right and wrong, and were hot-blooded in a good way. They had been so friendly even to two children collecting scrap. Their actual character couldn’t be that bad.

The farm needed people now, and it needed money too. They weren’t a bad choice at all.

And besides, the moment Guanguan had personally agreed to let them stay, 6,000 Twisty Coins had already been credited.

Their balance had once again gone above twenty thousand.

Shen Zheng asked curiously, “Once those boys are done with isolation, we definitely need to question them properly. I want to know exactly what kind of rumors are spreading about our farm outside.”

Not just Shen Zheng—everyone on the farm, old and young, was curious about that too.

After breakfast, the adults went back to rest, while the children got ready to go study with Director Wang.

Wei Cheng washed Guanguan up all over again. The child had eaten his grilled corn until he looked like Bear Two.

Dusting off the two little tufts of hair on Guanguan’s head, he said, “I’m cutting your hair tomorrow. It’s getting a bit long.”

“Brother has to make it look pretty,” Guanguan said, admiring himself in the mirror.

“Don’t worry.”

Wei Cheng lifted him down from the rainbow step stool. “All right, go pack your schoolbag. Brother will fill your water bottle.”

He went into the kitchen and filled the little dog-shaped cup with cool boiled water, then called out, “You left a lot of water yesterday. Don’t forget to drink water today.”

Instead of packing his schoolbag, Guanguan crouched by the stairs, dragging his feet and staring at Gray Cub and Black Xing Xing grooming each other.

Then he trotted over and hugged his brother. “Brotherrr.”

Wei Cheng looked down at the little cub hanging off his leg. “What is it?”

“What are you doing at home today?”

Wei Cheng thought for a moment. “Probably nothing much. Maybe I’ll keep going up the mountain with Uncle Yi and Uncle Shen to look for a water source.”

Guanguan’s peachy little face wobbled as he tugged at his brother’s shorts with both little paws, trying to climb up.

Wei Cheng almost had his shorts yanked down. He quickly set the water cup aside and bent to scoop the child up, bouncing him in his arms. “What, you don’t want to go to school today?”

Guanguan’s dark eyes darted around. “Baby wants to play with Brother!”

Wei Cheng laughed. “Then what about Grandpa Director?”

Guanguan pitifully and helplessly counted on his fingers. “Let Gray Cub go to school for Baby, and let Xing Xing go find water for Brother!”

The kid had faithfully carried his little schoolbag to class for five straight days, all because of that corn.

Sure enough, the moment he got to eat corn, he turned right into little truant Guanguan.

Wei Cheng chuckled. “Then we won’t go.”

Guanguan’s big bright eyes instantly curved into little crescents.

The baby was ecstatic inside, but on the outside he just pouted and pressed his lips together. “Oh dear, Brother raised your Guanguan into a little drifter.”

He was being joyful in a very roundabout way.

A mature little drama-king now.

Wei Cheng teased, “Guanguan already knows how to say ‘Repay a drop of kindness with a spring of gratitude.’ Skipping one day of literacy class once in a while won’t turn you into a little drifter.”

Guanguan could no longer hold it in. Covering his mouth, he giggled. “Then that’s just wonderful!”

Wei Cheng said, “Come on, let’s go find Grandpa Director.”

“Okay!”

With his little dog cup hanging from his neck, Guanguan strode grandly toward Director Wang’s cabin. The last time he’d looked this imposing had been every afternoon when school let out.

Inside the cabin, the clear sound of children reading aloud could already be heard.

Guanguan raised his little fist and knocked. “Grandpa, Brother says Guanguan never has to go to school again!”

When adults said one thing, children could retell it as ten.

Director Wang froze. “Huh?”

A few steps behind, Wei Cheng said helplessly, “Grandpa, there’s not much going on this morning. I was thinking of taking the children out to play soccer, so maybe they don’t need to study today.”

The three children inside the room immediately perked up. They were all tempted.

Director Wang thought about it and then said, “All right. Then take the children out to play soccer.”

Mingming, Xiaotiao, and Xiaoyue cheered and immediately dropped their pencils, pouncing toward Chengcheng and Guanguan.

Hearing the children were going to play soccer, Yi Qi and Shen Zheng came over too.

There was a watchtower inside the core area, so it wasn’t very convenient to play there. Instead, they all went outside the core area and used stones to mark out two goalposts.

Shen Zheng took Mingming, Guanguan, and Xiaoyue. Yi Qi took Xiaotiao and Chengcheng.

Yi Qi said, “We’ve got four people, and they’ve got three and a half. We’re definitely winning!”

After counting them several times, Wang Xiaotiao said, “Uncle Yi, we have three people, and Uncle Shen’s side has four!”

Yi Qi laughed. “Chengcheng counts as two, and Guanguan counts as half.”

Shen Zheng spun the ball lightly and threw it toward Yi Qi, raising his chin as he retorted, “Hey, you’re not allowed to look down on our future superstar Guanguan!”

Hearing that, Guanguan lifted his little fists in front of his eyes and wagged them warningly. “One Uncle, don’t look down on Guanguan!”

Wei Cheng couldn’t help laughing, and Yi Qi laughed too. “Okay, okay, fair competition!”

Wang Xiaotiao was itching to start. “What happens if we lose? What happens if we lose?”

Yi Qi cleared his throat. “Whoever loses, the team captain has to agree to do one thing for the other side.”

Shen Zheng promptly hoisted up little chubby Guanguan. “Ours is Captain Guanguan.”

Guanguan’s feet wobbled in the air as he thrust up a fist fiercely. “A-da!”

Yi Qi coughed twice and pushed Chengcheng forward. “Chengcheng will be our captain.”

Wei Cheng shook his head with a low laugh. “Looks like Guanguan gets to skip class again.”

Yi Qi shook Chengcheng by the shoulders. “This is a match, first place comes before your brother. You can’t go easy on us, Captain Cheng.”

Wei Cheng spun the ball at his fingertips and glanced at him. “As long as you don’t go easy on us.”

This time it was a real soccer ball, not a tiny watermelon ball.

Guanguan’s chubby face was tense. He looked very nervous.

Seeing that, Shen Zheng said, “Guanguan, don’t be nervous.”

Holding Guanguan’s little leg, he gently nudged the ball. The soccer ball rolled forward a little. “Just kick it like this. Kick it farther. It’s basically the same as your watermelon ball.”

Guanguan nodded. “Learned it!”

On their side, Mingming was the goalkeeper. On the other side, Chengcheng was the goalkeeper.

With a nice opening pass from Uncle Shen, the field instantly grew lively.

Guanguan didn’t understand soccer at all. He just ran after the crowd everywhere, rolling around like a little gas canister.

Wherever there were lots of people, there was Guanguan!

When he saw Uncle Shen and One Uncle wrestling over the ball, Guanguan clenched his fists and charged over. “Guanguan’s here!”

Shen Zheng wrapped himself around Yi Qi’s waist. “Guanguan, quick, kick it, kick it!”

With his arms spread wide, Yi Qi was so delighted he could barely stop grinning. “Hey now, you can’t do that! Uncle Shen is fouling!”

Goalkeeper Wei Cheng: “…”

What had he just said?

At that moment, Xiaoyue had Wang Xiaotiao under control.

Only his brother was left guarding the other team’s goal.

Guanguan’s little face turned red with urgency. Hugging the ball, he wobbled over in front of his brother.

Just like Uncle Shen had taught him, he held onto his own little leg and gave the ball a gentle kick.

The soccer ball moved two centimeters.

Wei Cheng fought back a laugh. “Baby, we need sportsmanship. We have to be responsible to the other little players.”

Guanguan looked blank. “Huh?”

Then, in the next instant, the ball flew in a perfect arc and landed neatly inside Guanguan’s team’s goal.

Wang Xiaotiao cheered, “Yay! We scored!”

Guanguan flung himself into his brother’s arms. “Yay! Baby’s brother scored!”

Shen Zheng buried his face in his hand. “Captain Guanguan defected!”

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