/
Chapter 142 – 1992-2020
The principal: “Don’t worry, maybe he’s doing a number 2.”
Lian Qiao originally wanted to get up to have a look but, after listening to the principal’s words, he sat down again in embarrassment.
After waiting for a few more minutes, Lian Qiao still couldn’t feel at ease and finally couldn’t bear it any longer. He knocked on RenDong’s door.
“RenDong?” He asked softly, “Are you okay?”
There was a baby-like response from Little RenDong inside: “Go away! Don’t rush me!”
Lian Qiao: “…” It seems that he really was doing a number 2.
Although he got the answer, Lian Qiao couldn’t feel at ease for some reason and he didn’t want to talk nonsense anymore, so he squatted at the door of the bathroom, waiting for RenDong to come out.
About ten minutes later, the doorknob finally turned. Lian Qiao jumped up in surprise, which frightened little RenDong.
“You, you, what are you doing!” Little RenDong panicked and his two little hands shrank back, there was no doubt that he was hiding something.
Lian Qiao thought that there was indeed a problem. He looked up and down and RenDong didn’t look like he was injured, but the little padded jacket on his chest was quite wet.
Those were new clothes.
“What were you doing in there?” Lian Qiao walked in and looked around curiously.
Every time he took a step forward, Little RenDong took a step back until he was forced to the edge of the basin. With a bang, he accidentally kicked over a small bench.
The basin was as high as half a person and Little RenDong was only two years old at this time, so he definitely couldn’t reach the pool. No wonder he needed a bench.
Lian Qiao pointed to the big water stain on his chest: “You washed your hands and it became like this?”
Little RenDong nodded quickly but his face was flushed red from the neck to the ears.
He was undoubtedly lying!
Lian Qiao: “Why don’t you call me if you can’t reach it? Isn’t it much easier if I hold you up?”
RenDong: “…I…I didn’t think of that…” He turned her head away, not daring to meet Lian Qiao’s eyes.
There’s no doubt! Definitely lying!
Lian Qiao squatted down and looked at him, and poked his little cheek with great interest: “Little cutie, what are you trying to hide?”
Using the body of a two-year-old child to say such words and make such an expression, even if RenDong didn’t mean it, there was a hint of coquettishness in his eyes and brows.
This was just cheating!
Lian Qiao softened on the spot.
“Okay, okay, I won’t ask.” He leaned over and kissed Little RenDong on the forehead, then reached out to hug him, “Let’s go out… Huh?”
Like a tail, the whole person jumped in his arms.
Lian Qiao only felt that his hands were cold and he didn’t know what he touched. He hugged Little RenDong with one hand and freed his other hand to look at it. He saw the glistening water on his fingertips.
RenDong’s back got wet too? What happened?
In the next moment, Lian Qiao immediately realized—oh, it wasn’t that his back was wet, it was what he was hiding behind him— that was wet!
Seeing the two lingering inside for a long time, the principal outside the room walked to the door of the bathroom and asked curiously, “What are you doing in there?”
“…” Little RenDong opened his eyes wide, opened his mouth but was unable to speak.
Lian Qiao put Little RenDong on his lap, poked behind him, and easily got the things he hid behind his back.
Little RenDong was still holding onto it, the corners of his eyes were flushed, and he begged with water vapor: “Don’t look… Please…”
“I won’t laugh at you, dear.” Lian Qiao kissed him on the forehead again and said, “I’ll wash it for you.”
Little RenDong’s eyes trembled slightly, as if the apex of his heart also trembled. He bit his water-red lips, finally made up his mind, and let go.
Lian Qiao took the wet little pants from his hand.
The fact that he’s embarrassed like this, there was only one answer, and that was that he peed his pants. RenDong concealed it and refused to come out, because he wanted to wash his pants by himself.
It’s normal for a two-year-old child to pee his pants, and Lian Qiao didn’t think there was anything wrong. However, this was too embarrassing for RenDong. After all, he is not a real child, he is a 28-year-old adult! How could he accept that he wet my pants!
But…
Seeing Lian Qiao rubbing the pants naturally, although RenDong’s face was hot, his heart was warm and filled with something.
Lian Qiao asked him with a smile while washing: “What is there to be embarrassed about? It’s just a pair of trousers. Don’t I also wash the clothes at home?”
RenDong flattened his mouth and said in a small voice: “But… it’s dirty…”
Lian Qiao: “It doesn’t matter. Because it’s you, I don’t think it’s dirty.”
Little RenDong opened his mouth, so moved that he didn’t know what to say.
Lian Qiao: “So you don’t have to be ashamed. I can wash your pants for you now and when you get older and do other things to dirty your pantspants in your sleep, I will wash them for you without any hesitation. “
Little RenDong: “…?” Other things? What things?
When he realized, the emotion disappeared in an instant. With a dark face, Little RenDong stood on tiptoe and pinched Lian Qiao’s ass. Lian Qiao groaned and flicked water drops on his face with a smile. Little RenDong covered his face to hide but was soon caught by Lian Qiao and hugged.
“I love you.” He whispered in his ear suddenly.
RenDong was startled.
Lian Qiao rubbed his immature and soft cheeks and said softly: “No matter what you become, I will love you.”
RenDong hugged his neck, feeling his warm and deep attachment.
He… maybe noticed something. Was he scared?
What was he afraid of?
RenDong faintly felt that Lian Qiao was confirming something, eagerly, beggingly wanting to confirm something. So he also rubbed Lian Qiao’s cheek and said earnestly, “No matter what you become, I will love you too.”
The corner of Lian Qiao’s mouth curled up and he smiled with his eyes bent.
Throughout the day, it was still calm. Lian Qiao monopolized Little RenDong and didn’t give others the chance to help raise him. The other players had nothing to do, so they helped the principal take care of other children in the orphanage.
Indeed, just as RenDong said, the children in this orphanage, other than him, all have more or less some kind of defect. For example, half of the ear was missing, or they were deaf-mute, or they were lame. There were some that were even more excessive.
The girl that talked to Lian Qiao earlier and told him that the yard was full of honeysuckle flowers, although she had sound limbs and good hearing and eyesight, also had convulsions from time to time.
“Is it epilepsy?” Lian Qiao asked, “Something happened while she was in utero?”
The director shook her head and sighed, “No. She has a steel needle in her brain, which was  inserted too deep. The doctor said it can’t be removed.”
After hearing this, everyone was shocked. Only then did I know that the little girl was born in a sexist, patriarchal family. The mother gave birth to three girls in a row. The first two died unfortunately, so the mother loved this little one very much.
However, the grandma wanted to hug a grandson, after all.
At that time, the little girl was only one year old when her grandmother ruthlessly inserted several steel needles into her head. Because there was a superstitious saying in their hometown: if the soul of a baby girl is nailed down, she will not be reborn in this family again.
The steel needle was covered by hair and no one noticed it. It wasn’t until the child’s crying turned into continuous convulsions that the parents rushed the child to the hospital that they knew the truth. It turned out that not only the little girl was abused but the first two children also died in a similar manner.
The hospital wanted to call the police but it was the old grandmother at home who started everything. This was a family matter, even if the police came, they probably wouldn’t do much. So they had to give up.
The parents had a big fight over it. The mother took her daughter and left this cruel home. Unfortunately, not long after, the mother who raised her daughter alone, was overworked and died of a sudden illness. Before she died, she left a will that stated not to send the child back to that demon family, otherwise she would come for revenge even if she turned into a ghost.
The neighboring folk made trouble because of this. This baby has a needle in her brain, she will get sick from time to time, and she killed her own mother. Who dared to take her in?
So the village made the decision and sent her to the orphanage.
The girl’s life experience is so pitiful, so everyone is moved with compassion. Little Apple was so abused in her heart that she burst into tears and said through gritted teeth that people were really awful. So everyone turned their attention to the children, as if they really came to the orphanage to do volunteer work, rather than being in a crisis and unable to extricate themselves.
In the blink of an eye it was night-time again.
At this time, it was about the end of spring and the beginning of summer. The night was no longer cold but rather hot. Everyone was drinking tea and chatting in the yard, with the cool breeze blowing, which was rare and leisurely.
The honeysuckle (RenDong) flowers in the yard had sprouted. The children were playing under the grape arbor and the adults were holding teacups to discuss the instance. They didn’t shy away from the children at all.
In the past two days, they almost searched the orphanage up and down, but found nothing. This orphanage was basically the same as the one in reality, except for the difference in time flow, it is simply an ordinary orphanage that cannot be more ordinary.
Realizing this, everyone felt complicated.
On the bright side, this means that the key to this dungeon was not solving puzzles – the key is the key player, just keep him alive until he is 28 years old. But the question is, how many disasters will he encounter before he turns 28?
In case they make a mistake and cause Xu RenDong to have an accident, is there any way to remedy it?
Therefore, the focus of the discussion tonight is to ask Lian Qiao to cede custody and not let Xu RenDong’s safety depend on him alone.
“Anyway, we are all experienced veteran players.” Auntie Long Hair earnestly persuaded, “Although we are not as good as you, we won’t slow you down either. I think you should give us a little trust. After all, everyone’s goal is the same.”
Lian Qiao hugged Little RenDong on his lap, played with the short hair on his forehead and said nothing.
Aunt Long Hair wanted to persuade him again but Little Apple sighed, “Forget it, if he refuses, let’s stop forcing him.”
“You can’t say that…”
“That’s right. He always avoids us, what if something goes wrong, just in case? Can he take this responsibility?”
“We don’t want to take over the child completely. What I think we should do is arrange shifts and let someone accompany you at all times. You still take care of the child and we will be by your side at all times to help you check the door and so on. At least let us help…”
Lian Qiao still didn’t answer.
His fingers were wrapped around RenDong’s soft hair and his fingertips were gently massaging RenDong’s small head, making RenDong drowsy.
No one knew what Lian Qiao was thinking, but he could already understand his answer from his silence.
Everyone sighed. At this time, the headmaster came out wearing a thin coat and beckoned the children to go back to bed. The children gathered around the principal as if seeing their mother. Looking at the sad-faced people in the courtyard, the principal asked curiously, “Is there anything bothering you?”
“No.”
Unexpectedly, it was Lian Qiao who answered the question.
Everyone looked at the gentle smile on Lian Qiao’s face in surprise and heard his polite voice: “We’re just enjoying the evening breeze and chatting for a while. You take the children to bed first. We will talk softly.”
Everyone: “…” Why are you treating an NPC better than us! Are you an undercover agent sent by the instance!
The principal didn’t think there was anything wrong with Lian Qiao’s attitude. She just smiled,  nodded, and led the children inside.
Lian Qiao turned his head to look at everyone. His face returned to a cold expression that stated: No one should try to snatch this child from me.
Everyone knew that it would be useless to persuade them any further, so they couldn’t help but feel dejected.
Suddenly someone touched his face with his hand, looked up at the sky in surprise and said “Huh? Is it raining?”
Auntie Long Hair: “It’s raining? Then let’s go back and rest early.”
Little Apple also looked up at the sky. She said suspiciously: “The night sky is quite clear and cloudless, where is the rain coming from?”
The man from before twirled the crystal clear liquid on his fingertips and said with a strange expression: “Why is this rain sticky? It also stinks…”
At the same time, Little RenDong woke up from sleep, his face changed slightly and he suddenly turned to look at the person who said it was raining. HIs small mouth opened slightly, and hurriedly spit out a sentence.
“It’s not rain, it’s…”
Before Little RenDong finished speaking, Lian Qiao stood up holding him and took a few steps back.
Then he calmed down and said: “Since you say that you are useful, then prove it to me. This ghost, you can find a way to beat it yourself. I will not take action.”
***