Extra: The protagonist's childhood (Part 2)
After that day, Chang Qiushi often saw Zhou Jun appearing outside the dormitory building.
Although he was dragged out by Meng Shuyu every time and seemed reluctant, he finally got out and saw the light of day.
The little girl from the Meng family was also very capable, flying around like a butterfly, and even dragged Zhou Jun around with her, folding paper airplanes here and playing Go there.
That day, Chang Qiushi accidentally lost sight of Zhou Jun again. After asking the nurse, he found out that the group of children went to the park next to the welfare home.
Chang Qiushi was happy that Zhou Jun was going out, but he became a little worried when he remembered that there was a pond in the park.
After all, the child had just fallen into the water before being sent back by the Zhou family. He had nightmares every day for a while and broke out in cold sweats when he saw deep water.
Although there were caregivers following the children, Chang Qiushi was still a little worried and planned to go to the park to check it out.
It was a rare chance to get some fresh air, so the kids in the park were having a blast, running around in the sweat. The caregivers were catching them like chickens, asking them to slow down and be careful.
From the slide to the waist twister to the space walker, all were occupied by children. Chang Qiushi looked around and saw Zhou Jun in the shade in the corner.
It has to be said that this little girl Meng Shuyu is smart. She knows where the slide is and she grabbed this Feng Shui treasure land to leisurely swing on the swing.
There were two swings in total, one for Meng Shuyu and one for Wen Yin. Zhou Jun and Tan Qin stood behind them as laborers.
Seeing Tan Qin pushing Wen Yin high up next door, Meng Shuyu pointed at their swing and turned back to Zhou Jun and said, "I want a swing that high, too!"
"You can't." Zhou Jun still pushed the swing slowly with an expressionless face.
"Why? It's obviously your fault. You're too weak!" Meng Shuyu pouted.
Zhou Jun pushed the swing hard.
"ah!"
Meng Shuyu's butt was half out at once, and she screamed and pulled the chain tighter.
When he almost fell, Zhou Jun grabbed him back firmly.
The nurse who was not far away came to help the man, but she stopped halfway with a laugh.
Tan Qin and Wen Yin on the side also laughed.
The swing fell back, Meng Shuyu patted his chest, looked back at Zhou Jun, touched his nose and stopped talking.
Seeing everyone having fun, Chang Qiushi felt relieved. He said a few words to the nurse, walked around to see the other children, and then left the park.
On the swing side, Meng Shuyu was frightened by what he had just done and suddenly felt like going to the toilet.
But she was too embarrassed to say that she wanted to go to the bathroom because she was nervous, so she thought about it and tilted her head to ask Wen Yin: "Do you want to go to the bathroom?"
"I don't want to." Wen Yin shook her head.
"I think I drank too much mung bean soup just now..." Meng Shuyu said in a low voice.
"Then I'll go with you!" Wen Yin immediately jumped off the swing, told the two boys that they were going to the toilet, and took Meng Shuyu's hand towards the public toilet on the north side of the park.
After a quick trip to the toilet, Meng Shuyu felt much better. He washed his hands at the sink and when he came out he saw Wen Yin squatting in the bushes picking flowers.
"The flowers here are so beautiful, let's pick some and take them back!" Wen Yin waved at her.
"Okay!" Meng Shuyu squatted down.
On the way back, the two of them walked along the path where there were flowers. They picked them slowly for a long time and each of them ended up with a bunch of colorful flowers.
I happily walked out of the small path and was about to go back to find a nice vase when I suddenly heard a scream.
Turning around, I saw a boy in the yard riding a four-wheeled bicycle who somehow couldn't stop and rushed straight towards the pond. He broke through the wooden guardrail and fell into the pond with a splash.
Meng Shuyu and Wen Yin were startled and stood still.
Before I could react, I saw a few boys running towards me from a distance.
Tan Qin hit his head and shouted behind him: "Come and help!"
"I'll go call the teacher!" A boy ran towards the south side of the park.
"I'll go find a bamboo pole!" Another boy ran away hurriedly.
Tan Qin and the remaining boy leaned over to the edge of the pond and tried to pull the person out, but the more the person struggled, the faster he sank and the farther he drifted, and they couldn't pull him out no matter what they did.
Fortunately, the boy who had just run away quickly brought a bamboo pole with a net bag from the cleaning corner.
Tan Qin took the bamboo pole and fished it out of the pond: "Hold on tight, we'll pull you out!"
"Let's go and help too!" Meng Shuyu came back to his senses, quickly threw away the flowers in his hand, and pulled Wen Yin towards the pond. As soon as they came out of the path, they saw Zhou Jun standing motionless on the side of the road not far away.
Meng Shuyu waved at him, wanting to call him to help save the people, but she found that Zhou Jun seemed not to see her. He stared at the people in the pond, took two steps back, turned around and hurried away.
Meng Shuyu, Wen Yin, Tan Qin and others worked together to catch the person in a net bag on a bamboo pole, buying time until the nurse arrived and rescued the person.
Although it was safe in the end, because of this accident, all the children who came to the park to relax had to return to the welfare home early.
The boy who fell into the water was injured when he hit the guardrail and was taken to the hospital by Chang Qiushi.
Meng Shuyu and Wen Yin returned to the welfare home sweating. They were still frightened and blowing the fan in the classroom. They were discussing the dangerous incident just now when they saw Huang Guifen come in and ask them where Zhou Jun was.
Meng Shuyu thought of Zhou Jun turning around and running away, and said with a curled lip, "Grandma Huang, he ran away from the pond and didn't come with us."
Huang Guifen whispered "It's bad", took the two caregivers out of the classroom, returned to the park, and went to search near the pond separately.
"Xiaojun—"
"Xiaojun, it's grandma, if you hear it, just make a sound—"
Huang Guifen kept shouting and searching along the way. When she passed a fork in the road, she suddenly saw a figure curled up against the wall at the end of the path and she quickly ran over.
When I got closer, I saw that the child's face was pale, his forehead was covered with cold sweat, and he was shaking violently while holding his knees.
Huang Guifen squatted down and patted his back hurriedly: "Xiaojun, it's okay, don't be afraid, grandma is here."
When Fang Manzhen got home at night, she heard Meng Zhouping talking about the orphanage at the dinner table. She asked Meng Shuyu in fear, "Why did you run to the pond for no reason? Didn't mom tell you not to walk by the river?"
"I came back from the toilet and saw someone fall in, so I went to help. The uncles and aunties at the welfare home praised us for being smart and brave!"
"You are right to stand on the shore and save people, but it is not without danger. What if you can't hold on to the people and get dragged down?"
"There are five of us, and there is strength in numbers. It won't happen!" Meng Shuyu shook his head.
"They were five children, and you are a girl, so you are not as strong as boys. Don't rush in when you encounter something like this. You must protect yourself first before saving others, understand?"
"I see." Meng Shuyu thought for a moment and asked, "Mom, did the person who ran away do the right thing?"
"Of course it's right to run and call the adults."
Meng Shuyu shook his head: "Someone went to call the teacher and brought the teacher over. But he didn't call the teacher and ran away on his own."
"That's not right. When we meet someone who needs help, if we don't have the ability, we should go find someone who can help."
Meng Shuyu nodded and frowned.
The next afternoon, when the welfare home was distributing snacks as usual, Huang Guifen saw that Zhou Jun had not left the dormitory building that day, so she brought him a bowl of mung bean soup.
I opened the door with the key and saw the child lying on the bed with his back to the door. He turned around immediately when he heard the noise.
"Did grandma wake you up?" Huang Guifen asked in a low voice.
Zhou Jun shook his head and sat up from the bed: "Grandma, I'm not asleep."
Huang Guifen brought the mung bean soup to the bedside table and put it down.
"Then why don't you go out?" Huang Guifen looked at his face, which seemed to have recovered. "Are you still feeling unwell?"
"No." Zhou Jun shook his head, "No one asked me to go out and play today."
Huang Guifen smiled and pointed outside: "Your grandfather didn't let everyone go to the park today. He brought a big rope for everyone to jump on. A lot of people are crowded in the front yard. It will be a mess when there are too many people. If you go there, they will come to play with you."
"Are they all here?"
"Yes, the little girl who plays with you every day is skipping rope in the front yard."
Zhou Jun nodded, drank a bowl of mung bean soup, opened the curtains, looked outside, and walked out hesitantly.
When we arrived at the front yard, we saw two boys swinging a big rope vigorously. Meng Shuyu and Wen Yin were standing at the back of a long line, chatting while waiting in line.
Zhou Jun stood far away for a while, and when he found that she didn't seem to notice him, he walked closer to her.
But Meng Shuyu put away his smile as soon as he saw him.
She tilted her head to look at him, then turned her head back and looked intently in the direction of the big rope.
Zhou Jun blinked and waited there for a while. Seeing that she didn't look at him again, he went to the end of the line.
After everyone left, Wen Yin patted Meng Shuyu on the shoulder: "What's the matter, did you have a fight?"
Meng Shuyu shook his head.
"Then why don't you pay attention to him?"
Meng Shuyu frowned: "Because he was not brave yesterday."
"Ah?" Wen Yin didn't notice Zhou Jun's presence yesterday.
"Anyway, I don't like him today." Meng Shuyu pouted.
Wen Yin was amused by her: "What about today?"
"Let's see if he will be brave in the future."
The team moved forward like a stream, and soon it was Meng Shuyu and Wen Yin's turn. They jumped along the rhythm of the big rope, jumped over, and then lined up behind the long queue on the opposite side.
Soon Zhou Jun also jumped over easily. Wen Yin pointed at him and asked Meng Shuyu, "Don't you think he is very brave?"
"Not that kind of brave." Meng Shuyu shook his head seriously.
Wen Yin scratched his head, confused, and jumped a few more rounds. Seeing that Meng Shuyu had been ignoring Zhou Jun, Zhou Jun seemed bored, so he told the boy who was swinging the rope that he would take over this strenuous job.
At this time, Meng Shuyu said that he was tired of dancing and wanted to rest.
Wen Yin had no choice but to leave with Meng Shuyu. When she turned around, she saw Zhou Jun swinging a big rope in his hand, looking at Meng Shuyu's back with his eyelashes slowly drooping.
Meng Shuyu and Wen Yin drank a bowl of mung bean soup in the classroom and used the fan to dry off the sweat.
With nothing to do, Meng Shuyu took out some snacks from his small waist bag and gave them to Wen Yin.
After eating a few dried plums that were so sour that they made his teeth ache, Meng Shuyu took out the planet cup from the bottom of the box and gave one to each of him and Wen Yin.
The two were eating from their star cups with small spoons when they saw Zhou Jun coming into the classroom.
Seeing him standing by the door and wandering for a while, he walked to the soup bucket and filled a shallow bowl of mung bean soup. He sat near them with the soup. Wen Yin whispered to Meng Shuyu: "Are you really ignoring him?"
Meng Shuyu lowered his head and scooped water from the planet cup. He glanced at Zhou Jun who was sitting alone beside him and frowned.
After thinking about it, and thinking again, she reached into her waist bag and grasped the last Star Cup she brought today.
"I'm so thirsty, so thirsty!" Just when Meng Shuyu was hesitating, the silence in the classroom was suddenly broken - Tan Qin ran in like a gust of wind holding a basketball, opened the lid of the soup bucket, and found it was empty, "No soup?"
Zhou Jun looked up and pushed the last bowl of soup he had taken away: "I haven't had it yet, give it to you."
Tan Qin took the bowl of soup and drank it all in one gulp.
After their heroic act yesterday, Meng Shuyu hadn't seen Tan Qin yet. Seeing a Band-Aid on the palm of his hand, he wondered if it was because he had been cut by a bamboo pole.
Noticing her gaze, Tan Qin looked at her and asked, "What are you eating, little sister Meng?"
Meng Shuyu looked down and answered him, "Planet Cup."
"Is there any for me?"
Looking at the band-aid on his palm, Meng Shuyu picked up the last planet cup in his waist bag and handed it to him.
Tan Qin was too lazy to use a spoon, so he just tore open the wrapping paper and squeezed it into his mouth.
Wen Yin saw that he looked sloppy and turned her head away.
In the blink of an eye, I realized that Zhou Jun had left at some point.
After Tan Qin left, the classroom became quiet again.
Meng Shuyu finished his Star Cup and started to stare blankly with his chin in his hand, bored.
Seeing that she had nothing to do if she didn't play with Zhou Jun, Wen Yin suggested, "Let's go skipping rope!"
Meng Shuyu was thinking about something and looked a little listless, but he still nodded, followed Wen Yin out of the classroom and returned to the front yard.
There were fewer people jumping rope than before. Many children were tired and sat aside to rest.
Meng Shuyu and Wen Yin quickly lined up.
It was almost their turn. Meng Shuyu was still lost in thought when Wen Yin reminded her, "It's almost our turn!"
"Oh." Meng Shuyu was ready to rush forward. Just as he took a step, he suddenly saw Zhou Jun's back walking silently towards the dormitory building in the distance. He was distracted and tripped, and fell heavily on the concrete floor.
"Hey!" The boy who was swinging the rope stopped in a hurry.
"Are you okay?" Wen Yin and several children nearby rushed forward to help the man.
Meng Shuyu fell and was stunned. After being helped up by everyone, he saw a bloody patch on his knee. He realized how painful it was and burst into tears.
After that day, the children in the welfare home never saw Meng Shuyu again.
A few days ago, everyone knew that Meng Shuyu must be recuperating from her injuries, and no one found it strange. But after almost a week, she was still nowhere to be seen, and several children, led by Wen Yin, went to ask Meng Zhouping why Meng Shuyu didn't come.
Meng Zhouping was embarrassed to tell the children - because their little girl would sometimes bravely save people, and sometimes get injured while jumping rope, and her mother was afraid that the children here would play too wildly, so she didn't dare let her come.
I had to tell everyone that her knee has not fully healed yet. There have been a lot of thunderstorms recently, and I was afraid that the road would be slippery and she would fall and get a scar, so I asked her to stay at home.
During the thunderstorm season, Nanhuai often has sudden and heavy rains, and everyone thought it made sense and let Meng Shuyu have a good rest.
As the days passed, at first several children asked about Meng Shuyu every day, but after a long time, only Wen Yin was left asking.
After a while, Lian Wenyin gradually stopped asking.
Everyone's life trajectory does not seem to change because someone is missing. They still study as they should, and play as they should. They gradually forget how lovely a little girl once came to the welfare home.
There was only one person, because of that little girl, who walked from the darkness into the sunshine, and because of that little girl, who returned from the sunshine into the darkness.
Chang Qiushi hadn't seen Zhou Jun go out for a long time. Every day when he went to the dormitory to see him, he would always hear him ask, "Grandpa, will it rain tomorrow?"
At first, Chang Qiushi thought that he was uncomfortable with rainy days, but after a few times, he found that he didn't seem to be looking forward to sunny days, but just hoped that it would rain outside every day.
Chang Qiushi asked curiously, "Why are you still looking forward to rain?"
The little kid didn't know what was in his mind. He looked out the window and said, "Because it's raining, there's a reason not to go out."
Chang Qiushi didn't understand. Seeing that he had been looking at the planet cup on the table but not eating, he pointed at it and reminded him, "It's so hot today. If you don't eat the chocolate now, it will melt."
Zhou Jun looked at the planet cup and nodded.
When he got it for the first time, he didn't want to keep it. Then when he wanted to get it a second time, no one would give it to him.
He knew the Planet Cup would melt.
But he only had this one, and it would be gone after he ate it.
When he gets a second one, he’ll eat it.
(—End of Childhood—)
The author has something to say: "The sound of the rain is like living by the stream. I would rather it rained every day, thinking that you didn't come because it rained." - Zhang Ailing