IPT 41.2

Snap!

The hanger fell on Shen Qianqian’s buttocks, and he scratched it with his backhand: “It doesn’t hurt.”
Snap!
“It doesn’t hurt.” He shook his head.
Snap!
“It doesn’t hurt.” He smiled playfully.

Although Shen Qianqian shouted that it didn’t hurt, Chu Ya really couldn’t bring himself to beat him. He sighed, threw the hanger on the ground beside him, and leaned tiredly on the back of the wheelchair.

“What should I do? I can’t drive him away, and he is not afraid of being beaten. This is really shameless.” He murmured.

Shen Qianqian squatted on the ground nonchalantly, fiddling with the hanger with his fingers, humming a song.

“Child, people are like this, instead of… instead of being unhappy, don’t… huh… don’t be with grandpa… huh… together… haha…”

Chu Ya heard that his voice was gradually getting a little strange, and heard that although he pretended to be indifferent and laughed twice, he couldn’t hide the crying tone in his voice.

He could only see Shen Qianqian’s buried head, with a faint swirl in his soft hair. Then there were two more water drops on the ground, splashing into two dark water marks.

Chu Ya stared at the child in a daze, his heart felt like someone pinched it, it felt sore and swollen. He was about to reach out to pull him up, but Shen Qianqian stood up by himself, facing the side, and walked towards the gate at an angle that Chu Ya could not see his face.

“Where are you going?” Chu Ya asked subconsciously.

Shen Qianqian did not respond. Chu Ya realized that he had thought it through, and said in a gentle voice: “If you are going to the welfare home, take off your outer coat and put on your hat. It’s cold outside.”

Shen Qianqian paused for a moment, and then walked slowly towards the passage connecting to the front yard. The child’s hair was blown by the cold wind, and a part of his thin neck was exposed. His back looked stubborn and lonely.

Chu Ya was swept by the emotion called heartache and regret, and immediately followed him, ready to send him off. But Shen Qianqian entered the front yard from the passage, and after he walked out of the gate, he did not leave from the alley, but walked directly to the opposite side.

There was also an abandoned yard opposite them, and the foundation was higher than theirs. To enter the yard, they had to climb several steps.

Shen Qianqian climbed to the top of the steps silently, stood at the gate with his legs hanging down, and slowly sat on the ground and lay down.

After he lay down, he glanced at Chu Ya from the side, his eyes were filled with the sadness of a dead heart, and then, under Chu Ya’s gaze, he began to roll left and right, and drew circles with his legs using his butt as the center.

Shen Qianqian not only rolled around, but also shouted with his eyes closed: “I don’t want to go to the welfare home, so I won’t go. Come and catch me. You don’t even have your fully functioning feet, come and hit me, come on, come and catch me…”

Looking at Shen Qianqian’s appearance, Chu Ya’s forehead was throbbing with his veins, and his hands holding the armrests of the wheelchair clenching and relaxing over again.

“…Come on, hit me. Catch me if you can. I don’t want to go to the welfare home. I don’t want to go, I don’t want to go…”

“Scoundrel!” Chu Ya spit out from between his teeth. He then turned around and pushed the wheelchair around. He hurried to the backyard, and when he entered the door, he saw the iron clothes hanger hanging outside the window, and thought to himself: “I’ll surely beat you! I won’t be soft-hearted.”

***

Shen Qianqian finally succeeded in staying and didn’t have to go to the welfare home. Chu Ya was washing clothes in the yard, and he rode his scooter around behind Chu Ya.

Shen Qianqian lay on his back with his eyes closed. He listened to the sound of Chu Ya rubbing clothes and the sound of water flowing. This sound made Mixin Town seem even quieter, but he didn’t feel lonely at all, and his heart was only satisfied and peaceful.

“What are you doing?” Chu Ya turned around and glanced at him as he continued to rub Shen Qianqian’s coat.
Shen Qianqian smiled with her eyes closed: “I’m basking in the sun.”

Chu Ya subconsciously looked up at the sky, but saw only a gray haze.

“Where does the sun come from?”
“Yes, it makes me so warm… Shen Meow, have you seen the sun? Is the sun round and red like in cartoons?”
Chu Ya rubbed his clothes and said: “I have never seen a complete sun, but when the weather is good, I can feel the sun’s rays.”
“I can see it now, it’s so round and red…” Shen Qianqian reached out and picked it in the air and put it into his mouth, “I’ll eat it… Hmm, it’s delicious, sweet, and a little hot.”

Shen Qianqian rode his bicycle to Chu Ya’s side and leaned on the armrest of his wheelchair to watch. The washing table was too high for Chu Ya, so he put a wooden board on the low sink, just right as a washboard.

Shen Qianqian stretched out his fingers to poke the bubbles and asked: “Shen Meow, there are so many big cats and dogs today-  no, no, mutants. Which one do you think is the most beautiful?”
“None of them looks good.”
“I think none of them looks good either.” Shen Qianqian nodded and asked, “What is the best-looking animal?”

Chu Ya was silent for a while before answering, “Raccoon.”
“Raccoon is the best-looking quantum beast. Is it also the best-looking animal?” Shen Qianqian touched the stuffed bear on his back.
“It doesn’t look like this bear. It is a raccoon.”
“…Ah.” Shen Qianqian obviously didn’t know the difference between the two.
Chu Ya murmured, “It has brown fur, black and round eyes, and two black ears on its head…”

Shen Qianqian had already held the stuffed bear in his arms. When Chu Ya said something, he lowered his head to look at the stuffed bear, and then looked at Chu Ya in confusion.

This stuffed bear is also brown, and its two eyes are like black glass balls. Although one arm was broken and the velvet surface was covered with a layer of old black particles, Chu Yad washed it cleanly.

“…Raccoons are the most beautiful animals in the world, right?” Chu Ya’s voice gradually disappeared from his mouth. He just stared at the water in a daze until Shen Qianqian reminded him that the water had overflowed the basin, and then he continued to wash.

“It’s a raccoon, right?” Shen Qianqian patted the stuffed bear.
Chu Ya lowered his head to rinse the clothes: “No, I’ll draw it for you later.”
“Oh.”

Shen Qianqian didn’t say anything. He just lowered his head and kissed the top of the stuffed bear, and whispered: “You are the raccoon, right? There is no bear that is more beautiful than you.”

***

As night fell, Chu Ya felt a little uneasy. He was worried that the black wolf would come at night, so he began to think about letting Shen Qianqian go to the welfare home. But Shen Qianqian had climbed onto the bed early, curled up in the quilt, and looked like he was already asleep. It was impossible to let him leave.

Chu Ya had no choice but to check the courtyard door, room door, and window. Although the door of this room was also a burglar-proof metal door, it was definitely not as thick and solid as the theater door, so he took two iron bars to prop up the door.

After making all the preparations, he propped up his body and moved from the wheelchair to the bed. He slowly lifting his legs to put them on the bed.

“Don’t hide in the quilt to play with the things you picked up. They won’t be clean even if you wash them.”

“Huh… I didn’t play… I fell asleep.”

Chu Ya adjusted his back against the bed and lifted the quilt.

Shen Qianqian was lying on his side in pajamas made of surgical gowns, curled up like a shrimp. “Give it to me.” Chu Ya stretched out his hand, his voice faint.
“Huh…” Shen Qianqian snored.
“Give it to me.”
Shen Qianqian reluctantly turned his hand over, holding a piece of colored plastic paper in his palm.
“More.”
He handed over two more glass balls.
“There’s still more there.”
“It’s gone, it’s really all of it.” Shen Qianqian sighed.

Chu Ya confiscated Shen Qianqian’s toys, put the dagger under the pillow, and leaned against the bed to think about things. If he didn’t sleep, Shen Qianqian wouldn’t sleep either. He kept tossing and turning, mumbling something.

Chu Ya had to turn off the lights: “Go to sleep.”
“I can’t sleep…”
“Close your eyes and sleep slowly.”

After Shen Qianqian tossed and turned for a while, he finally fell asleep hugging Chu Ya’s arm.

Chu Ya had been listening to the movement in the distance in the dark. There was silence all around, and the sound of the window frame being blown by the wind in the distance could be heard clearly.

Unconsciously, it was already 1 o’clock in the morning. He felt sleepy and was drowsily entering a semi-dream state. Suddenly, his mind shuddered and he opened his eyes.

He felt the familiar danger again, approaching here rapidly.

It’s finally here!