Welcome to the duo team game, Beishan’s Teddy Bear. Mission: Survive for 7 days. Please survive with all your might.
Round, wide-open eyes slowly blinked open. The large iron ceiling fan hanging overhead was precarious, emitting creaking noises as if it were about to plummet at any moment to split Lin Chubai’s head open.
No, it was not as if!
Barely two seconds later, the spinning iron fan engaged in free fall, slicing straight toward Lin Chubai.
He kicked off the bed frantically to dodge, but these legs lacked their former strength, managing only to roll off the bed while half a leg remained on the mattress.
The massive iron fan crashed heavily onto the bed with a loud bang, its rust-covered blades savagely slicing into Lin Chubai’s calf and causing pain so intense he nearly passed out.
Yet hurried footsteps echoed from outside, instantly pulling his sanity back. He pushed himself toward the wall using his injured leg, leaving a streak of blood behind.
“Oh dear, we are done for.” Within a single second, the door was flung violently open. An auntie with faint wrinkles at the corners of her eyes scooped up the crawling Lin Chubai with practiced swiftness, looking up to find five or six children crowding the doorway.
The auntie carefully turned over the blood-drenched calf, tears welling up in her eyes as she prepared to carry him straight outside.
Lin Chubai blocked the reaching hands, casting a scrutinizing gaze at the auntie in front of him.
Was this playing out a plot? And my leg got hacked?
The auntie swatted Lin Chubai’s outstretched hand away, cupping his bottom to hoist him up, and hurried outside.
In an instant, fireworks went off inside Lin Chubai’s brain.
A strapping young man of eighteen years and 178 centimeters had just been picked up! And he was being held by the bottom!
Not until the auntie carried him running down the stairs and he saw his reflection in the mirror, short-limbed, youthful-faced, and obviously not fully grown, did his suspended heart finally die.
Lin Chubai: …
His firework-filled brain finally resumed its capacity for thought. He scanned his surroundings: throngs of children and baskets of toys suggested this was an orphanage with quite decent facilities, yet there was no sign of Ye Zhou anywhere.
It was also possible that Ye Zhou had shrunk as well, and he simply did not recognize him.
The infirmary teacher was exceptionally gentle, her eyes carrying a trace of warmth as she picked up a cotton ball dipped in iodine and dabbed it gently against Lin Chubai’s calf. Midway through, fearing he might be holding back his cries from pain, she spoke up: “If it hurts, you can say it.”
Lin Chubai remained completely unaffected by her gentle tone, fixing a dead-eyed stare upon her while the vines in his hands grew eager to try.
“Little Ye Zhou, what is the matter?” The auntie’s voice rang out from behind as a six- or seven-year-old boy stood framed in the doorway.
Lin Chubai turned his head to look, locking eyes instantly with the boy who was tilting his head up at him. That cold, unblinking gaze made him instantly certain that this was Ye Zhou in the flesh.
Seeing that Ye Zhou did not reply, the auntie walked toward him and reached out intending to stroke his head: “Little Chubai hurt his leg. Why don’t you head back to the main hall first?”
Ye Zhou took half a step back, dodging the outstretched hand without answering. He kept his right hand behind his back, sparking a tiny wisp of flame while staring fixedly at the auntie and glancing sideways at Lin Chubai.
A soft breath escaped the auntie’s lips as she turned back toward Lin Chubai, who was still sitting obediently on the bed: “Little Ye Zhou wants to come find you to play. May I let him in?”
Lin Chubai gave a tentative nod.
Auntie: Why do none of these kids ever like to talk? Ah, whatever, they are all pitiful children.
The moment Lin Chubai activated his skill, the auntie’s inner thoughts flooded his mind, followed immediately by her personal profile.
Name: Chen Fang Age: 43 years old Occupation: Caregiver and life skills teacher at Lijiang Orphanage Criminal Record: 5 offenses
Lin Chubai waited ages without receiving the detailed information on those five offenses, ending up with a blunt statement that the skill duration had ended, leaving him utterly speechless.
The edge of the bed dipped slightly as Ye Zhou used his hands to vault up, sitting down right beside Lin Chubai.
“Does it hurt?”
Lin Chubai’s expression froze in genuine shock, his heartstrings feeling as though they had been lightly brushed by a feather. Ever since his father passed away, he was always the one asking others if they were in pain; rarely did anyone ask him.
Lowering his head to inspect the calf where the flesh had split open, Ye Zhou received no answer and looked up.
He caught Lin Chubai’s expression just before it could be tucked away, instantly stirring a sense of bittersweet complexity within his chest and causing his gaze to grow deep.
Noticing the shift in Ye Zhou’s expression, Lin Chubai felt a strange sensation, sitting in a daze for a moment before speaking: “It does not hurt.”
Yet he was proven wrong almost immediately. The infirmary teacher applied a fresh cotton swab soaked in iodine back onto the wound, causing his muscles to tense rigidly.
As layers of gauze were wrapped around his calf, Lin Chubai let out a sigh of relief.
For reasons unknown, the infirmary teacher tied a neat bow with the gauze, reached into a drawer, and pulled out a sheet of small red flower stickers.
With a soft plop, she slapped one right in the center of the bow: “Little Chubai did a great job. Here is a small red flower reward.”
Lin Chubai: …Actually, I do not really need that.
“Do not let this get wet for the next few days. Come back tomorrow, and you can take them home then.” The infirmary teacher nodded toward the auntie.
The auntie stepped forward, originally intending to scoop him up by the bottom once more, but someone moved faster, settling Lin Chubai onto his own back: “Auntie Fang, I will carry him back.”
With that, he walked out without looking back.
Auntie Fang wore a knowing smile, catching Lin Chubai just as he craned his neck backward to peek. The smile looked sincere and entirely genuine.
The warm breath exhaled by Lin Chubai drifted across the curve of Ye Zhou’s ear. Whether from the summer heat or something else, the tips of his ears turned faintly pink: “I can walk.”
Acting as though he heard nothing, Ye Zhou stubbornly pressed forward.
Realizing there was no intention of letting him down, Lin Chubai on his back gave a slight shake of his head, brushing the strange feeling aside: “How did you know she was Auntie Fang?”
By his reckoning, Ye Zhou should have simply awakened in a different location at the same time. He himself only knew character details because of his skill, but what about Ye Zhou?
“I arrived half an hour ago.” Perhaps due to walking for some time, a thin layer of sweat had formed on Ye Zhou’s forehead.
That was normal, but why! Why did Ye Zhou always manage to wake up half an hour earlier than him?
The joyful laughter of children gradually filled their ears as Ye Zhou carried Lin Chubai up the staircase toward the dormitory hall. Suddenly, the children gathered in the hall seemed drawn to something and swarmed over en masse.
“Wow! You are so cool! You got a small red flower!” cried the child at the front, reaching out to touch the red flower. Hearing this, the other children swarmed forward in a rush, looking as though they intended to devour them both alive.