IPT 43.1

Chapter 43

The food Shen Qianqian brought back was only enough for one day, so he went back to the welfare home early the next morning. Although the rain had stopped, the sky was still dark and gloomy. Chu Ya packed the raincoat in a bag and stuffed it into his shoulder bag.

“Is there also the raincoat for my feet?” Shen Qianqian reminded.
“I brought it with you.”
“I want to wear my feet’s raincoat.”
“It’s not raining yet, you can wear it when it rains.”
“But I want to wear it now…”

Chu Ya put on the shoe covers for him and sent him to the gap in the garbage dump. He watched Shen Qianqian walk away along the barbed wire, looking back frequently as he walked and waving at him.

“Watch the road, don’t keep looking at me,” Chu Ya said.
“What did you say?”
“I told you not to look around, watch your feet, and don’t fall.” Chu Ya raised his voice.
“What did you say?”

Shen Qianqian wanted to go back again, so Chu Ya had to turn around and push the wheelchair as if he is already going back. Only then did Shen Qianqian continue to walk towards the welfare home.

But Chu Ya did not go back, but entered the wasteland next to him, keeping parallel with Shen Qianqian and moving towards the welfare home.

He didn’t know whether the black wolf would attack Shen Qianqian again, and he was also worried that mutants would appear in this area, so he followed and watched from a distance. Fortunately, nothing happened along the way. He sent the child to a place where he could see the welfare home, and then turned around and went back.

When Shen Qianqian stepped into the dormitory building, the children had just got up, and each of them was eager and happy, running hurriedly in the corridor with basins in their hands. He didn’t know what good news he had said, so he hurried back to the dormitory. As soon as he entered the door, he ran into a group of children walking towards the door.

“Shen Qianqian, we’re eating steamed buns today!”
“Hurry up and go to the cafeteria. We’re eating big steamed buns this morning!”

The children were talking excitedly.

Shen Qianqian’s eyes widened: “We are eating steamed buns?”

“Yes, eat steamed buns.” Lin Duozhi nodded heavily.

Shen Qianqian clenched his fists and placed them on his waist, taking small steps: “We are eating steamed buns?”
Lin Duozhi followed the same action: “We are eating steamed buns!”
Shen Qianqian punched the air twice: “Eating steamed buns?”
“Hahaha.” The children also started punching: “Yes! Eating steamed buns!”

A group of excited children hurried to the cafeteria. Tang Yuanyuan explained as he walked: “The management said that the dean was going to bring flour yesterday, so we’re going to have big steamed buns this morning!”
“It’s the steamed buns that are coming, not the flour.” Chen Hongliang corrected.
Tang Yuanyuan rolled her eyes: “Flour is what you make buns with.”
“Isn’t it the soft skin and–” Chen Hongliang swallowed his saliva before continuing: “And the filling?”
“Yes, yes, the skin and the filling – they’re made of flour.” Shen Qianqian and the others also nodded in agreement.
Tang Yuanyuan was stunned: “But the soft skin is called flour.”

The cafeteria was noisy because everyone was about to eat buns. Many students crowded in front of the window to watch before the handyman came with the breakfast bucket.

“Here they come! The buns are coming!” When the handyman carrying the breakfast bucket appeared at the edge of the playground, the cafeteria was in chaos. Students left the window and lined up, scrambling to stand in front.

Shen Qianqian and his group of junior students naturally squeezed to the back, while the senior students pushed and shoved in front. With the increasingly loud noises of the Queen of Lice and the stinky man, a fight soon broke out.

The war quickly spread, and both the senior and junior students were involved. Shen Qianqian and his junior students huddled in a corner, watching the senior students led by Liu Sijin’s sister killing everyone. However, their hair had grown two or three inches, and they looked similar to the boys, so it was a little hard to tell them apart when they fought.

Lin Duozhi exclaimed in a low voice: “The Queen of Lice is pinned to the ground!”
“No, that stinky man.” Shen Qianqian corrected.
“That little hair, look, doesn’t look like a stinky man.”
“Oh, then I was wrong, her hair looks like a stinky man.”

Although the fight was fierce, the management soon entered the cafeteria, scolding and wielding a ruler, calming down the whole room.

“All those who participated in the fight should line up at the back and get breakfast last.” Manager Chen shouted, and then said to the junior class students at the back of the cafeteria: “You line up in front and we will give you breakfast first.”

The senior class students walked back with stern faces, and the junior class students happily stepped forward. Before Shen Qianqian took two steps, he saw that the senior class students coming towards him included Wang Zhusheng’s brother.

He panicked and wanted to run immediately, but he realized in a flash that the management was also there, and Wang Zhusheng’s brother would not hit anyone now. Despite this, he was still very nervous, his eyes were always fixed on Wang Zhusheng’s brother, and when he turned his head to look at him, he was so panicked that he forgot to step.

But Wang Zhusheng’s brother only glanced at him, then turned away indifferently and spoke only to a senior student next to him.

The two passed by each other, and nothing happened. Shen Qianqian relaxed his body and breathed a sigh of relief.

Everyone lined up again, waiting anxiously but quietly for the food to be distributed. The odd jobs came one after another, lined up in front of the cafeteria.

The gauze was held high, and the shape of the buns underneath could be seen. The whole cafeteria was filled with the sound of swallowing saliva.

“Dean Liu , let’s improve the food today and have a meal of steamed buns.” 　　

Although everyone knew about eating steamed buns, there was still a lot of noise in the cafeteria : “Steamed buns, steamed buns, steamed buns, steamed buns…”　　

The older students who had just been punished for fighting began to get excited again, and the younger students were also very excited. They kept chattering with each other and leaned over to look at the iron bucket. 　　

Manager Chen made a quiet gesture and continued: “… Thank you Dean Liu, thank you Yundian Material Department. Even if we are enjoying the food, we must remember that these foods are not easy to come by…” 　

The children were already impatient, and someone shouted: “We know, let’s eat the steamed buns quickly.” 　　

“Eat, let’s eat the steamed buns quickly.” Everyone talked at once, and the younger students were also jumping up and down, “Eat the steamed buns quickly, eat the steamed buns quickly.” 　　

“Okay, okay, no more talking. Let’s eat the steamed buns. “

Manager Chen was not angry. He just smiled and started distributing the buns.

The team slowly moved forward. When it was Shen Qianqian’s turn, without waiting for Manager Chen to speak, he suddenly raised his two hands, with all his short fingers spread out: “One three one three one three!” 　　

Manager Chen glanced at him: “Do you want to die of stuffing?” 　　

“Well, then one three one three one one!” 　　

Manager Chen picked up a small empty bowl, picked up two buns and put them in it: “Each person only takes two.” 　　

“Then can it be one three one three one?” Shen Qianqian asked as a compromise. 　　”No, only two.”

“Oh.” Shen Qianqian put down his hand in disappointment, his eyes following the buns: “Can I have three?”

Although he didn’t get a lot of buns, three should be enough, right? Usually, three bean cakes are taken.

“Only two.” Manager Chen handed him the small bowl and whispered: “Come to the manager’s office after breakfast. If there are any left, I’ll give you one.”
“Hee…” Shen Qianqian grinned.
“Don’t make a sound, don’t tell others.”
Shen Qianqian covered his mouth again, only a pair of smiling eyes sparkled.

He walked to the small table behind the cafeteria with the bowl of buns and sat down. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he took out his shoulder bag and took out the clean bag prepared by Chu Ya for him, and put both buns in it.

“Don’t you want to eat?” Liu Sijin sat next to him with the bowl of buns.
Shen Qianqian swallowed his saliva: “I won’t eat now.”
Liu Sijin picked up her bun and took a bite: “Well, are you going to give it to your brother?”
“Yeah.” Shen Qianqian stared at her bun and reiterated: “For my brother with a broken neck… What’s the filling in it?”
“I don’t know, but it’s delicious.”
“Let me see.” Shen Qianqian leaned his head out to look at the chopped filling, but couldn’t see what it was, so he said: “Let me smell it.”
“Yeah.”
Shen Qianqian took a deep sniff and swallowed her saliva: “It must be delicious.”

“Then eat one first.”
Shen Qianqian touched the shoulder bag, and through the thin layer of cloth, his palm felt the shape and heat of the bun. He licked his lips and said: “I won’t eat it, I’ll eat it with my brother with a broken neck.”

The other kids in Dormitory 16 also took their buns and sat down. While wolfing down their buns, they said to Shen Qianqian: “I won’t exchange with you today. I only have two buns.”
“Yes, I won’t exchange even if I have three. The buns are too delicious.”

Shen Qianqian understood and was not angry. Manager Chen was still handing out buns. He didn’t leave now. He had to wait until the end to go to the cafeteria. So he just sat at the table and stared at the kids, asking what the buns tasted like today.

He watched for a while, and the more he watched, the more greedy he became. The more he watched, the hungrier he became. He swallowed his saliva louder than the sound of eating the kids’ buns.

“Aren’t you leaving now?” Lin Duozhi asked.
“Not leaving yet.”
“Give the buns to your brother first. This is breakfast, and then come again in the afternoon. What if there are buns in the afternoon?” Lin Duozhi whispered.
Manager Chen had told him not to tell anyone else, so Shen Qianqian was hesitant to speak, and finally said, “I’ll wait for a while.”
“Then go stand by the window and wait, otherwise it will be very uncomfortable.” Liu Sijin kindly reminded.

There was no noise in the entire cafeteria, only the sound of chewing and snipping of soup. Shen Qianqian smelled the fragrance of the buns, and saw that there was still a line in front of Manager Chen. He felt that the wait was too unbearable, so he followed Liu Sijin’s advice and walked to the window to look outside.

As a result, he saw the dean standing not far away, talking to two officers.

Shen Qianqian knew the two officers. Every time they came to the welfare home, they would select one or two children to go to Yunding. It’s just that in the past, when they arrived, everyone lined up early in the playground, unlike today when they were still eating breakfast in the cafeteria.

Are people being selected to go to Yunding this time?
They are selecting children to go to Yunding again! !

None of the kids in the cafeteria had time to look out the window, so they didn’t notice the two officers. Shen Qianqian watched them walk over accompanied by the principal, and their conversations came into his ears from the window.

Translator’s Note: From here on out Shen Meow will be Shen Miaomiao. I think it’ll be more suitable given the context and origin of the name Shen Qianqian gave Chu Ya. Thanks.