Chapter 97
The heavy iron gate opened from the inside, and a black car drove into the farm.
The visitors were not just Teacher Xiao Mei and Xiao Qiu. There were also two women with three children.
Teacher Xiao Mei explained why they had come. “Next month, on Christmas, the Thirteenth Union Canning Factory will be meeting with the other bases in Yu City at Wengming Mountain to discuss the mutated zombies. This is their invitation for you.”
It was a white card, similar to an access card.
“The Rose Garden base will be going as well. If it’s convenient, you can travel with Zhou Qing.”
Yi Qi took the card. “We’ll think about it.”
Director Wang still had flour all over both hands. Warmly, he said, “Xiao Min, take Xiao Mei and the girls to one of the cabins to sit for a while.”
Outsiders were not allowed into the core zone casually, but there were still empty cabins outside that could be used to receive guests.
“Wait a moment.”
Xiao Qiu rested her hands on the shoulders of the three children and smiled. “These children wanted to come thank the uncles and little friends from the farm for saving them.”
There were two girls about Xiaoyue’s age, and one little boy who looked only four or five, about the same age as Guanguan. He was a bit taller than Guanguan, but not as chubby.
He pulled a drawing out of his schoolbag and shyly said, “Thank you, uncles, and thank you, older brother and little brother, for saving us. This is… this is something we drew together.”
The drawing showed a patch of grass, with several adults and children on it wearing grass rings.
Xiao Qiu gently patted the little boy’s head. “You haven’t introduced yourself yet.”
The little boy seemed nervous. His eyes were red as he obediently said, “My name is Zhenzhen. I’m… I’m in the Little Squirrel class. I’m… I’m four years old this year.”
Guanguan stood pressed against his brother’s leg, tilting his head as he looked at the boy.
“My name is Guanguan. I’m also a four-year-old child.” The chubby little boy’s dark eyes shone brightly. “Hello.”
Zhenzhen hurriedly waved his hands. “Hello.”
Mingming and the others also gathered around curiously.
“Which one is me?”
“Did you draw this yourselves?”
Seeing that the children were getting along well, Teacher Xiao Mei and the others went with Su Min and Yi Qi into one of the cabins to talk.
Yi Qi lagged a step behind and looked at Wei Cheng. Wei Cheng fell silent for a moment, then tipped his chin very slightly.
Yi Qi understood and quickly followed them inside.
The matter of the mutated zombies really was thorny.
It was better to first hear what the people from Rose Garden had to say.
The younger children on the farm were very curious about Zhenzhen and the two little girls from outside.
At first, Zhenzhen was still nervous, but after hearing question after question, he gradually relaxed. Soon, he was running in circles around the farm together with the other children.
Big kids liked playing with big kids. Little kids liked playing with little kids.
Before long, the two girls from Rose Garden were having a great time with Xiaoyue, Mingming, and the others, while Zhenzhen ended up playing with Guanguan.
The two children sat side by side, looking from afar like two little rice dumplings.
Guanguan ran to the little cabin where the toy cars were stored and carried all his toys out. Zhenzhen’s eyes lit up at once. “You have so many toys! I’ve never played with this one before!”
“It’s okay, we can play together!”
The two children put their heads together and played with Ultraman figures and all kinds of little dolls for quite a while.
Then Guanguan pointed at the two dogs on the slope below. “The black fluffy one is Guanguan’s Little Apricot dog, and the gray fluffy one is Little Gray Cub. Gray Cub is super smart. He can understand what children say!”
He did not introduce his brother, even though his brother was right down the slope washing vegetables.
Now that he was getting older, he could already distinguish between “mine” and “other people’s.” His sense of self was developing quickly, and with it came a possessiveness over his brother that made him unwilling to share.
Guanguan did not want to share his brother, but he was willing to share the dogs. Generously, he said, “Do you want to pet the dogs?”
Zhenzhen immediately shook his head. “No, no!”
He was very timid. As soon as the two dogs came near, he started trembling all over.
Little Apricot and Gray Cub could sense his fear too, so they kept some distance from the children.
“There are cats at Rose Garden.” Zhenzhen spoke softly. “Teacher said the big cat had babies.”
Guanguan let out a wow. “Our sheep has babies too!”
The chubby little boy shot to his feet. “Do you want to see?”
Zhenzhen became excited at once. “I do!”
Hand in hand, the two children ran to the sheep shed. Elizabeth was quietly eating grass.
Guanguan picked up a bundle of hay and poked it through a gap in the wooden boards. “Sheepie, eat.”
Elizabeth gave him face, taking the fresh hay and chewing it slowly.
“I want to feed her too!” Zhenzhen said.
“You can! Uncle said sheepie has babies, so she has to eat lots and lots of grass.” Guanguan grabbed another handful of hay. “Here!”
Zhenzhen carefully pinched a single strand of hay and tentatively held it out toward the old sheep’s mouth, but the sheep did not move.
Guanguan pointed with his little hand. “Sheepie, eat!”
When the old sheep finally ate that strand of hay, skinny little Zhenzhen got so excited he practically bounced. “Sheepie ate it!”
Guanguan looked a bit proud, hugging his shoulders and shaking one leg. “Sheepie listens to Guanguan really well!”
The two children stayed by the sheep shed for quite a while, until Director Wang came over and brought them some little biscuits.
Looking at the biscuit in his palm, Zhenzhen’s eyes curved into crescents. “We have this biscuit in the Little Squirrel class too.”
In truth, that biscuit was one of the supplies Rose Garden had brought over as part of the trade.
Guanguan munched noisily on the crisp little biscuit. “I’m from the Little Sunflower class!”
Zhenzhen looked around, then lowered his voice. “The Little Squirrel class is really scary. Is your Little Sunflower class scary too?”
Guanguan scratched his cheek. “Grandpa is scary when he gets angry.”
“Teacher is scary too when she gets angry!”
Guanguan bared his teeth. “When Grandpa gets angry, he hits the table with a little stick!”
“When Teacher gets angry, she knocks children out for nap time!”
Zhenzhen clenched his fists. “Then the Little Squirrel class is scarier!”
Guanguan grew anxious, unwilling to lose. “No, the Little Sunflower class is way, way scarier!”
The two children went back and forth over which class was more terrifying, and by the end, both of them completely believed their own stories.
Teacher Xiao Mei and the others did not stay long before leaving again. Guanguan was a little reluctant to part with his new friend, and Zhenzhen clearly did not want to part with Guanguan either.
The two little ones hugged each other and turned in circles.
Guanguan’s eyes were red. Like a tiny grown-up, he sighed and said, “You have to take good care of yourself.”
Zhenzhen sighed too. “You have to take good care of yourself too.”
The little car that had only just arrived soon drove back out of the farm.
Wei Cheng looked down at Guanguan and said with a smile, “Can’t bear to leave your new little friend?”
Guanguan hugged his brother’s leg and tilted his head up. “Brother, Zhenzhen’s Little Squirrel class is so scary.”
Should he have shared his brother with Zhenzhen? Should he have let his brother help him too?
Guanguan felt a little guilty, and a little sad.
The people from the farm slowly headed back. Wei Cheng thought for a moment, then carried Guanguan over to the other side of the slope. “What happened in the Little Squirrel class?”
Could it be that the people at Rose Garden abused children?
Once they reached a spot with no one around, Wei Cheng asked, “What did Zhenzhen tell you? Does he have injuries on him?”
Guanguan frowned and sighed. “Zhenzhen said the children in the Little Squirrel class all get knocked out every day at noon.”
Wei Cheng stared. “What?”
Guanguan clasped his hands behind his back, wearing the expression of a little child deeply worried for his friend. “One gets knocked out and put on the bed, then another gets knocked out and put on the bed. Zhenzhen said he gets knocked out every single day!”
Wei Cheng suddenly understood and burst out laughing. “Guanguan, did you two misunderstand something?”
“Isn’t that just the teacher putting the children down for their nap?”
Guanguan was shocked. “Why do you have to hold kids to make them sleep?”
The children at the welfare home had never needed to be coaxed into naps, and Guanguan himself had always been an excellent sleeper. Other than a few times when he had run around with his little butt exposed because he was too playful, once his head hit the pillow, he was out cold.
Of course, that also had something to do with how much exercise he got every day.
Still smiling, Wei Cheng explained, “Some children don’t like taking naps. To help them relax and stop being overtired, teachers rock them and coax them to sleep.”
“Is that really it?”
Wei Cheng lifted him into his arms. “We need to go wash the vegetables.”
Guanguan wrapped his arms around his brother’s neck. His long, curled lashes fluttered twice. “Brother, Guanguan was a bad child.”
“You’re not a bad child. You’re still a good child. You’re just growing up.” Wei Cheng laughed softly. “Brother is your only family, so it’s perfectly normal for you to feel possessive about me. When brother was little, I didn’t like other children clinging to my grandma either.”
Back then, Grandma had been his only family. Whenever he saw other children wrapping themselves around her and acting spoiled, he would get upset, afraid that someone might steal her away.
He continued, “If you still feel bad about it, then next time we meet Zhenzhen, you can introduce your brother to him. Brother won’t treat other children the way I treat Guanguan. I only have one little brother, and that’s you.”
Guanguan happily patted his grimy little hands together. “Guanguan is going to introduce brother to Zhenzhen!”
After lunch, the adults began discussing the matter of the mutated zombies.
Should they go? How many people should go? Should they travel together with Rose Garden?
Those were all difficult questions that had to be considered carefully.
Wei Cheng alone remained silent, gently turning the white card over between his fingers.
The Thirteenth Union Canning Factory was located in Yu City. From the map, it sat in the very center of the city.
In the outskirts, in Wengming Mountain, there was a disease control research base that was not open to outsiders.
To enter, one had to have this keycard.
Back when they had first been choosing a shelter, Wei Cheng had actually thought about that research base, but unfortunately, they had not had a card to get in.
Zhao Bin lowered his head. “Can’t we just live our own little lives in peace? I really don’t want to see anyone else get hurt.”
Lin Xiangfeng patted his shoulder. “Zhao Bin, you can’t think like that. The appearance of mutated zombies is a warning to humanity, telling us we need to unite. One mutated zombie, we can handle together. But what if a whole group comes? We should go see what the people outside are thinking.”
A whole group of mutated zombies…
Just imagining it made one’s scalp go numb.
Yi Qi said, “Xiangfeng is right. We definitely have to go. The real question now is whether we go together with Rose Garden.”
Wei Cheng closed his fingers over the card. “We go with them.”
He said, “Me, Guanguan, Uncle Shen, and Uncle Yi will go. Does anyone else want to come?”
The little cabin fell silent.
Lin Xiangfeng wanted to raise his hand, but Ying Hui immediately said, “Xiangfeng, we have to stay behind and protect the farm.”
Sun Dali’s injuries had not fully healed yet. The farm’s reliable fighters at the moment were only Su Min and the four teenage boys.
Lin Xiangfeng nodded. “All right, I’ll stay.”
The matter of the mutated zombies hung over everyone like a boulder pressing down on their hearts. No one dared slack off. They all sped up preparations for the winter food supply.
The blanched snow greens and thinned radish shoots were already laid out to dry on top of the wall. Cooked rice mixed with chunks of beef had been shaped into rice balls and frozen in the freezer. Several huge pots were set up on the grass, bag after bag of flour being poured in and stir-fried until fragrant.
If something happened to the farm, everyone would at least have instant food they could take with them while escaping.
Wengming Mountain in Yu City was extremely far from Wuqing Mountain. The highway was unusable, leaving only the mountain roads or the old roads, and even without sleeping it would still take three full days to drive there.
The system’s forced outing mission happened to line up perfectly with this trip.
More importantly, Wei Cheng wanted to see that research base for himself. If a horde ever came, a sealed disease control center really did seem more suitable as a refuge.
On the morning of December 20, frost covered the car windows. Wei Cheng’s group of four met the people from Rose Garden at the gas station.
Wearing a knitted hat, Guanguan leaned out the window and cried out in delight, “Teacher Xiao Mei!”
