Chapter 9
The sound of money being collected came one after another. Guanguan, still drowsy and bleary-eyed, was shaking his little head so hard it was almost like a rattle drum.
“All right, all right, stop shaking. If you keep shaking like that, you are going to give yourself a concussion.”
Wei Cheng pulled up the system panel and lightly tapped the little speaker icon in the upper-right corner of the screen.
A slash appeared across the speaker, and the sound of money collection stopped abruptly.
Wei Cheng said with a smile, “I really wish this kind of sweet burden could happen every day.”
Guanguan rubbed his now-quiet ears and counted on his round, chubby little fingers. “Brother, do we have more money-money than four hundred and twenty thousand now?”
920 Twisty Coins… plus the 10 Twisty Coins they had left from before, and the 10 Twisty Coins they earned yesterday from teaching Guanguan ten Chinese characters, they now had a total of 940 Twisty Coins!
Converted into money, that meant 940,000 yuan! If they used this sum to stock up on supplies, their escape Twisty Car should also be able to level up quickly! And now, besides the most important rice, flour, and staple foods, they could finally spare some money to stockpile more meat and medicine too.
Rice and flour could sustain life. Meat and medicine could sustain health. To them, all of these were indispensable supplies.
Wei Cheng tapped the little hand that was so plump it had dimples in it and spoke in Guanguan’s way of thinking. “That is right. We now have two lots of four hundred and twenty thousand money-money.”
Put that way, Guanguan immediately understood. “Wow! That is really, really a lot of money!”
Once Director Wang came back, the children no longer had the luxury of sleeping in. Before long, Mingming and Wang Xiaotiao, who had been sleeping soundly, were jolted awake by the deafening clang of the gong.
“Get up! Wash up! Come out and do exercises!”
All the children were afraid of Director Wang. The moment they heard his voice, none of them dared stay still.
Wang Xiaotiao yawned as he pulled on his T-shirt. “When Director Wang comes back, we get meat to eat. When Director Wang comes back, we also have to do exercises…”
“Doing exercises is a good thing. It helps build up your body.”
Wei Cheng helped Guanguan get dressed, then said to the three of them, “From now on, even if Director Wang is not here, we still have to exercise and move around properly.”
“Guanguan likes doing exercises!”
Guanguan wriggled his whole little self out of the dark collar of his shirt, his hair sticking up everywhere like a fluffy little kitten.
His eyes were shining, and he looked a little proud. “Teacher Xiaomei said only the babies who do the best get to stand in the first row. Guanguan is in the first row every time!”
Was that not because Guanguan was the shortest?
Wei Cheng swallowed his laughter and smoothed down his little curls, tying them into a tiny sprout ponytail. “That is right. Guanguan does the best, so you lead the exercises. That is why you stand in the first row and lead everyone.”
The moment Guanguan heard that, he grabbed his brother’s clothes with both hands, his eyes sparkling like stars. “That is right! That is right! Exactly!”
Wang Xiaotiao opened his mouth wide. “So that is why! I was wondering why Guanguan is always at the very front!”
Mingming glanced at him and secretly smiled.
Director Wang stood in front of the old building holding an old-fashioned speaker, and the older children were already lined up.
Guanguan shuffled forward in tiny steps to the very front, then looked at Director Wang seriously. “Guanguan is ready!”
Director Wang glanced at him. “Very enthusiastic today. Worth praising.”
With Director Wang supervising, even the older children in the back did not dare slack off. They all did the routine extremely seriously.
Wei Cheng was tall, so he stood in the last row. But his gaze stayed fixed on Guanguan the whole time, dancing with complete abandon, only knowing to wiggle his head and shake his butt. He thought to himself that Teacher Xiaomei had been right to put Guanguan in the first row.
Otherwise, this little snot-nosed bean who drifted side to side would definitely have been kicked flying by the older kids.
The moment the music stopped, Guanguan came panting over to Wei Cheng. “Brother, brother, did Guanguan dance well?”
“You danced very well. But were you dancing with your eyes closed?”
Guanguan’s eyes went round. “Brother, you are so amazing!”
No wonder the kid had nearly danced half a mile away.
Wei Cheng smiled and said, “You already dance very well. There is no need to do it with your eyes closed. Be careful not to fall.”
Director Wang suddenly walked over. “Wei Cheng, come out with me after breakfast.”
Wei Cheng froze for a moment, then still nodded. “Okay, Director Grandpa.”
“Director Grandpa, where are you going? Guanguan wants to go too!” Guanguan pressed himself tightly against Wei Cheng’s leg, like he was afraid Director Wang was going to send him away.
“You stay home obediently with the other children. I will bring you watermelon when I come back.”
Guanguan lowered his head and timidly kicked a pebble with his little foot.
Wei Cheng rubbed Guanguan’s head. “It is okay. Brother is just going out with Director Grandpa for a while. I will be back soon.”
Guanguan looked at Director Grandpa, then at Wei Cheng, and reluctantly said, “Okay then.”
After breakfast, Wei Cheng got into Director Wang’s old van.
Guanguan, who had been fooling around with Wang Xiaotiao and the others, came running over at some point. He squeezed his little face between the bars of the iron gate and looked pitiful. “Brother, come back, okay!”
Wei Cheng’s heart softened terribly. He almost wanted to tell Guanguan to go wait for him in their “secret base,” but he was afraid someone might discover it by accident, so he could only wave to him. “Brother will be back in a little while.”
The car drove off. Looking through the rearview mirror, Wei Cheng could still see Guanguan clinging to the iron gate by himself, watching him.
Director Wang saw it too. “This child is rarely this clingy. Even when that family returned him, he was not this reluctant to let go.”
Wei Cheng said, “Ever since I came to the orphanage, I have treated Guanguan like my own little brother.”
Director Wang glanced at him, but said nothing more.
Wei Cheng had not expected Director Wang to bring him to the market.
Several bags of vegetables and a few jin of pork and chicken drumsticks were loaded into the trunk.
Only then did Director Wang speak. “From now on, you are the oldest child in the orphanage. You must take good care of your younger brothers and sisters. I know you are very smart and a good child. In a couple of days, I am going to the capital for a meeting. If things are not resolved, I will not be able to come back. So from now on, no matter who goes to buy groceries, you go with them. Help me keep track of how much money is spent. These last two years there have been fewer children in the orphanage, so there have also been fewer subsidies and donations. The little money left in the family cannot withstand other people’s messing around.”
Director Wang going to the city for a meeting was probably related to the orphanage’s subsidies and donations.
In his previous life, Director Wang had also left the orphanage around this same time. Perhaps things had not gone smoothly, because Director Wang only came back ten days before the extreme heat arrived. At that time, Wei Cheng had been withdrawn and cold, so Director Wang naturally had not entrusted him with these words.
Wei Cheng said, “Director Grandpa, I actually have an idea.”
“What idea?”
Wei Cheng said, “You can set aside a sum of money for emergencies. With the rest, could you stock up on more rice, flour, frozen meat, and eggs? Vegetables do not keep easily, so you could make an arrangement with the vendors to deliver a certain amount of vegetables to the orphanage every day. That way, even while you are away, you would not need to worry about the orphanage children not having food to eat.”
Director Wang paused in surprise. “I really am old. How did I never think of that?”
He patted Wei Cheng on the shoulder. “I will contact them right away and get rice and flour delivered.”
[Congratulations! You successfully reminded a passerby to actively stock up on supplies and earned 10 Twisty Coins!]
—
Director Wang was going to transport the rice and flour from the market, so Wei Cheng came back alone.
Doctor Chen opened the gate for him and took the large watermelon from his hands. “Well, this is rare. Director Wang actually bought watermelon.”
Then he looked around. “Director Wang did not come back with you?”
Wei Cheng shook his head and only said, “I do not know where he went.”
Doctor Chen did not say anything else. Carrying the watermelon, he went back inside the building.
At that moment, crying suddenly came from behind the old building.
It was Guanguan!
Wei Cheng immediately ran over and saw Zhou Zihao and several older kids sneaking out from the back.
Wei Cheng grabbed Zhou Zihao by the collar in one swift motion and said fiercely, “You hit Guanguan!”
Zhou Zihao was so startled he stammered, “I-I did not hit him!”
The other older kids had never seen such a scene before. They turned and ran off in an instant.
Guanguan, crying so hard his face looked like a little painted cat, walked over clutching his watermelon ball. The moment he saw his brother, he let out a wail and cried even harder.
Wei Cheng let go of Zhou Zihao’s collar and hugged Guanguan anxiously. “What happened? Did someone hit you? Where did they hit you?”
Guanguan wiped his tears with the back of his hand, crying so hard he hiccupped. “Th-they wanted to let the air out of my watermelon ball, and-and they said brother got chased away…”
So after Wei Cheng left with Director Wang, Guanguan had lost all interest in playing with Wang Xiaotiao and the others. He had stood alone at the iron gate holding his watermelon ball, waiting for his brother.
But watching those older children running around had scared him a little too, so he had carried his watermelon ball and hidden behind the old building.
In Guanguan’s mind, he and his brother had discovered their “secret base” behind the old building. To him, it felt very safe there. But he had not expected that group of older kids to secretly come there to smoke. They wanted Guanguan to leave, but there was no way he would be willing to leave that place…
“Brother did not leave. Brother just went with Director Grandpa to buy groceries. He even bought such a huge watermelon. How many pieces does Guanguan want to eat later?”
Tears slid down Guanguan’s cheeks as he held up his little hand and counted. “I want to eat free pieces.”
“Okay. Later we will ask Uncle Chen to cut you three pieces.”
Wei Cheng lifted Guanguan into his arms. “Brother will take you to teach them a lesson first.”
He led Guanguan to Zhou Zihao and the others’ dorm room. The moment he pushed the door open, all of them stood up guiltily.
Wei Cheng swept his gaze around the room, then reached over and searched the bed nearest to Zhou Zihao. Sure enough, under the pillow there was a pack of cheap cigarettes and a lighter.
Zhou Zihao panicked. “That is my stuff!”
Wei Cheng threw the cigarettes and lighter onto the floor and stomped on them hard a few times. In a cold voice, he said, “You care about your things, so why did you want to let the air out of the watermelon ball that Guanguan cares about?”
“I-I was just trying to scare him…”
“How old is he? How old are you? Are you three years old too? Do you not know that a three-year-old child will take everything seriously?”
Wei Cheng kicked the crushed cigarettes away and swept a cold glance across all of them. “Does bullying little children again and again make you feel psychologically satisfied? Does it make you feel like you are not the most miserable ones? I am not going to hit you. I will kindly remind you of one thing: judging from how you are now, your most miserable time has not even arrived yet.”
Wei Cheng carried Guanguan back to their dorm room and locked the door again. At this time, Wang Xiaotiao and the others should have been in the classroom drawing pictures.
Teacher Xiaomei and Director Wang were not around, and Li Yun did not pay much attention to the children, so no one would notice if the children disappeared for a little while.
Guanguan’s eyes were still red as he whispered, “Brother, are we going to the secret base?”
“Mm. Today, let us take a really good look around the store!”
They went straight into the Cloud Store.
Guanguan waddled over, pushing the little shopping cart. “Brother, where are we shopping?”
Wei Cheng rubbed his head. “Today, we are mainly stocking up on cake and instant foods.”
Guanguan had been upset today, so he should eat a little more dessert.
The bakery and instant food section of the store was huge, with an enormous variety of cakes and ready-to-eat foods. The closer they got, the more the air was filled with the fragrance of cream and butter.
Guanguan’s eyes were dazzled by everything. He pointed at a box of blueberry cheesecake. “Brother, Guanguan wants to eat this!”
“Buy it.”
Wei Cheng took a box, then took one out of it. “Try it and see if it tastes good.”
The cake was topped with a thick layer of blueberry jam and five or six dark, glossy blueberries. Inside was rich cream cheese, and at the bottom was a crunchy biscuit crust.
Guanguan took a huge bite, and his eyes went wide. “Brother, it is delicious!”
“Then let us stock up on twenty boxes first.”
Wei Cheng said, “There is still a lot more ahead. See what else you want to eat.”
Guanguan fluttered toward the cakes like a little butterfly. He had never eaten this chocolate mille-crepe cake before, so he wanted it. He had never eaten that vanilla cream puff ice cream before either, so he wanted that too. He also wanted the croissant doughnuts…
In the end, Wei Cheng simply placed the order directly in the store.
Chocolate Mille-Crepe Cake ×20
Blueberry Cheesecake ×20
Vanilla Cream Puffs ×20
Croissant Doughnuts ×20
Durian Mille-Crepe Cake ×20
Strawberry Bavarois ×20
…Basically, he stocked twenty boxes of nearly every dessert in the bakery section for Guanguan.
Before long, Guanguan’s little belly had become round and taut. He let out a full little burp, then patted his stomach. “Brother, Guanguan’s tummy feels like it turned into a watermelon ball.” Then he lowered his voice and asked, “Then can Guanguan cry again tomorrow?”
“Even if you do not cry, there is still good food.”
Wei Cheng smiled and said, “This whole store exists because of you.”
Guanguan suddenly understood and pointed at himself. “Rich treasure Guanguan?”
