Chapter 704: Someone Who Brought Me a Toy
After returning to the real world, I once again felt that overwhelming sense of helplessness.
No matter what I did, I couldn’t escape that earthquake, and I couldn’t save Xu Jiahua.
My father and mother still wouldn’t talk to me.
Honestly, I missed the days in the “Prison.” There, someone was always paying attention to me all day long, and Sister Siwei was there to keep me company.
Maybe… that place was my real “home”?
But what kind of terrible kid was I, to be so used to life in the “Prison”?
For a long time afterward, I shuttled back and forth between the real world and the “Prison.”
It was also from that day on that I never saw Brother Gu Yu again.
Only Sister Siwei was here with me. Our “family” was gathering all kinds of family members at a terrifying speed, and our base kept moving.
I couldn’t even keep track of how many people there were now. All I knew was that when I looked out, I saw a sea of heads. Sister Siwei said the group had probably grown to over a thousand people.
The good news was that the “fragrance” from a few of the family members, when combined, could actually produce steamed buns for us.
From now on, we wouldn’t have to go searching for canned food anymore. As long as we stayed in this family, there would be an endless supply of food.
Uncle Wan also had a few fierce-looking people by his side. Sister Siwei said Uncle Wan had selected them from among the family members specifically to maintain order. They were tough fighters, and Uncle Wan gave them a lot of “jade.” They stuck close to him at all times.
Every morning, just like before, Uncle Wan led everyone in chanting slogans, then distributed food, paid homage to the “Divine Dragon,” and arranged the day’s schedule.
As for our family, everyone in it really liked me. I was happy.
The place we lived now was also better than before. We were in a very tall building. They said it used to be a building where people wrote things. I was curious—could a building even write?
Below our building was a square, and next to the square stood a female bullhead. That bullhead mask looked so real, as if it had grown onto her face.
Sister Siwei told me never to go talk to her. I didn’t know what that meant, only that I was supposed to listen to adults.
I lived with Sister Siwei and a few other aunties in a room on the fifth floor. We didn’t need to go out every day—just do some logistical work. But I still didn’t know exactly what “logistical work” meant.
I thought we would all keep loving each other like this forever. We didn’t have to worry about food or clothing, and we could play together every day. That kind of life really did last for a while.
Until one day, five months later, something went wrong.
Late that night, a brother crept into my room. Seeing that everyone else seemed asleep, he pulled me into a corner, took out a very dirty toy car, and handed it to me, begging me to do him a favor.
He wanted me to claim the next morning that he had developed a “fragrance” on his body, so he could get “jade” to buy food. He said he had been starving for days and couldn’t take it anymore. He had already saved up some “jade,” and he just needed a little more to buy food.
I felt sorry for him, and I really liked that little car.
I wanted to help him.
But before I could agree, the auntie who shared the room with me suddenly yelled, “Liu Fei! What do you think you’re doing?!”
I was a bit stunned, but the brother in front of me was terrified.
“You’re trying to bribe the little hero?!” that auntie screamed. “Everyone, come quick!! Someone’s trying to break the family rules!!”
Sister Siwei, who had been startled awake, sensed something was wrong and quickly stepped forward. “Sister Zhao, don’t shout yet. Let’s figure out what’s going on first.”
“Figure out what?!” the auntie called Sister Zhao yelled at the top of her lungs. “Someone come quick! Someone’s about to break the family rules!!”
“Sister Zhao…” The worry in Sister Siwei’s scent was very obvious. “If you shout like that, you’ll get him killed…!”
“He betrayed the family rules!!” Auntie Zhao’s eyes were wide. “He’s no longer one of us!! Someone come quick!!”
Seeing that she couldn’t calm Auntie Zhao down, Sister Siwei quickly turned to the brother and said, “Liu Fei, run! Don’t come back for now!”
But before Brother Liu Fei could take a step, the whole building shook with heavy footsteps. A crowd of people came rushing up to my floor. Even I was a little scared by the commotion.
Uncle Wan, wearing a coat over his shoulders, was surrounded by a group of people as he blocked Brother Liu Fei, who had been about to flee, right in the room.
“What’s going on?!” he growled.
After several months, Uncle Wan’s scent had become even more unpleasant.
“Brother Wan!” Sister Siwei stepped forward. “It’s nothing! Liu Fei just came to chat with the little hero. Sister Zhao misunderstood!”
“I did NOT misunderstand!!” Auntie Zhao shouted. “I heard it with my own ears! Liu Fei was trying to bribe the little hero with a toy! I heard him!!”
Uncle Wan gave Brother Liu Fei a cold look. “Is that true?”
Brother Liu Fei quickly shook his head. “Brother Wan! No, no, it’s not! I really was just chatting with little hero! I found a toy car outside… I was going to give it to him…”
Trembling, he pulled the toy car from his pocket. “Brother Wan! Look… look… I was going to give this to the little hero…”
“Do you think I’m stupid?” Uncle Wan said. Immediately, the fierce-looking uncles behind him stepped forward and pinned Brother Liu Fei to the ground. The toy car clattered to the floor. “You had all day to give him that little car, but you chose to do it in the dead of night?!”
Brother Liu Fei was shaking all over, unable to speak. The scent coming off him made me especially uncomfortable. I could tell he was terrified.
While I stood there at a loss, he lifted his head with effort from the ground and looked at me.
He was asking me for help.
“Uncle Wan…” I could sense Brother Liu Fei’s thoughts, so I stepped forward. “Could you please not hit Brother Liu Fei…?”
A flicker of cruelty passed through Uncle Wan’s scent, but he quickly put on a smile. “Little hero, this has nothing to do with you. Go wait over there.”
“But… but…”
“Are you going to lie to Uncle Wan?” he asked, his face darkening.
I could clearly feel a murderous intent coming from him.
“I… I…”
Seeing this, Sister Siwei quickly pulled me behind her and said, “Brother Wan, the little hero just wasn’t thinking straight. Don’t be mad. Let’s deal with Liu Fei first.”
Uncle Wan nodded and walked over to Liu Fei, a very eerie smile spreading across his face.
“Liu Fei… what should I do with you? We’ve had rule-breakers before, but no one has ever been as bold as you.”
“B-Brother Wan, I’m sorry… I know I was wrong… please don’t hit me…”
“No, no… ‘hitting you’ is way too light.” Uncle Wan shook his head.
“What?” Brother Liu Fei was stunned. “If you’re not going to hit me, are you going to kill me?”
As he said this, Brother Liu Fei seemed to relax a little. It was like he wasn’t afraid of dying, but more afraid of being beaten.
“Killing you would be even lighter.” Uncle Wan grabbed Brother Liu Fei by the hair and lifted his head, then said softly, “I’ve thought of a much more interesting way to play.”