Feng Chen reached for Yan Bubu’s hand, but the child suddenly lifted his T-shirt.
The lower part of Feng Chen’s shirt was lifted before he could react, revealing a back covered with bruises.
“What are you doing?” Feng Chen quickly slapped away Yan Bubu’s hand and pulled the hem of his shirt down. He turned to see Yan Bubu staring at him blankly, his expression both surprised and sad.
Feng Chen was taken aback. He softened his tone, “Let’s go, everyone’s lining up. We should go there too.”
They found the line for Hive A Area C, where Wu You and two assistants were busy taking people’s temperatures.
Yan Bubu was lined up next to Feng Chen. He looked around and saw that medical officer with glasses and a white coat busy by Hive B’s line.
“I’ll be right back, Big Brother.” Before Feng Chen could answer, Yan Bubu let go of his hand and ran through the crowds towards the Hive B line.
The glasses medical officer took the data sheet handed to him, read it and gave a few instructions. Then he went somewhere else to check the temperatures there. After a few trips back and forth, he noticed that a young boy had been following him but didn’t really care.
A moment of inattention sent a few of the data sheets he was holding to the ground. He hastily bent down to pick them up, and so did the boy.
“Kid, where are your parents? There’s too many people here for you to wander around.” The medical officer looked at the cute little boy and pushed his glasses up.
After handing him the rest of data sheets, Yan Bubu just looked at him silently. Some apprehension appeared in his eyes.
The medical officer saw the look on his face and lowered his voice a bit, “Do you need something from me?”
Yan Bubu finally spoke. It was quiet but the medical officer still heard, “…My name is Fan Renjing. My brother was hit by a lot of people just now and he has bruises on his back. We have medicine but it’s in our room and I can’t get it right now…”
The medicine he was talking was, of course, the bottles of vitamin C and antacid that had been sitting in their room.
The medical officer understood. He immediately called out to a passing soldier, “Hey, do you have any bruise cream on you? Give it to the kid. I’ll give you a new jar later at Medical.”
Yan Bubu took the small glass jar handed to him by the soldier and thanked him and the medical officer separately with glittering eyes.
“Shoo, shoo. Go find your brother.” The medical officer ruffled his hair.
Yan Bubu quickly ran back to the Hive A Area C line. He saw Feng Chen was looking around and hurried through the crowd to tug on the corner of his shirt. “I’m here.”
Feng Chen was about to go look for him. When he saw Yan Bubu rushing over, he sternly reprimanded, “What are you running about for?! Can’t you see that there are people everywhere? What if there’s another zombie outbreak like before?”
Yan Bubu didn’t mind. He just held up the small medicine jar. “Look, I found medicine for you.”
Feng Chen didn’t even look the jar. He turned around with a flat expression. Yan Bubu tucked it into the chest pocket of his overalls and reached for Feng Chen’s hand, only to be thrown off.
Yan Bubu tried again, even using his index finger to tickle his palm. Feng Chen didn’t shake him off this time, instead tightly holding his hand.
Yan Bubu moved forward with the line and heard someone crying on his left. He turned and saw the little fat boy in the queue to the left, being held by his father and howling loudly.
Because they were so close and the lighting was good, Yan Bubu could see his uvula dangling at the back of his throat. He also saw the small gap in the fat boy’s shiny lower teeth.
Yan Bubu was about to look away when he stopped.
–Wait, a gap?
After he was sure that the gap was due to a missing tooth, Yan Bubu’s eyes lit up and he almost laughed out loud.
The fat boy happened to look this way while crying and met Yan Bubu’s eyes.
Yan Bubu waved at him and gleefully mouthed exaggeratedly, “Hey, Toothless.”
The little fat boy sucked in a breath and buried himself in his father’s arms, whimpering silently in pain.
His father said a little helplessly, “It’s not a big deal to hit your mouth on the steel frame and lose two front teeth. It’s okay, don’t cry.”
Feng Chen noticed Yan Bubu’s movements and looked over. “What is it?”
Yan Bubu smirked. “Nothing. Hehehe.”
Taking the temperatures of close to 20,000 people was not an easy task. They were only half done at 3:00am. It would be morning by the time they finished.
Yet the many people still in the square were silent. The atmosphere was heavy and solemn. Yan Bubu was sleepy, leaning on Feng Chen with his eyes closed. He slowly slid down until he was sitting on the teen’s foot, fast asleep.
As the group moved forward, Feng Chen shifted his foot. “Yan Bubu, move.”
Yan Bubu’s head rested on his calf, his eyelids not even fluttering. His mouth half opened as he snored.
“Just like a pig.” Feng Chen muttered quietly, but he didn’t wake him up. He just grabbed Yan Bubu’s shoulders, moved him forward a few steps, and set him back down on his foot.
At the front of the line, Wu You glanced at Feng Chen and then Yan Bubu, who was sleeping on his foot. He asked with concern, “Everything okay just now?”
“Yes.”
Feng Chen had his temperature taken. The moment the thermometer came to his forehead, he was a little nervous. It wasn’t until he saw the green number on the screen: 36 degrees, that he calmed down and shook Yan Bubu awake.
Wu Yu hurriedly stopped him. “No need. I’ll just come over to him.”
He came around the table with the thermometer. After taking Yan Bubu’s temperature, he looked at the sleeping child with a smile. “Look how soundly he’s sleeping.”
Feng Chen also looked down at Yan Bubu. He gently wiped away a smudge of dirt from his cheek before saying goodbye to Wu You. He picked the child up and walked back towards the Hive building.
After returning to their room, Feng Chen was too lazy to bathe. He poured some hot water out to wash his face and feet, wiping down Yan Bubu’s face too. He stripped him of his dirty clothes and stuffed him under the fleece blanket.
He picked up the dirty clothes and was about to throw them into the basin when a small bottle fell out of Yan Bubu’s chest pocket and rolled to the corner. He remembered that this was the medicine that Yan Bubu had found for him, so he went over and picked it up.
Although the jar was bare with no instructions, he knew from the familiar scent that came out as soon as he uncapped it that this was military bruise cream.
He looked at the creamy ointment for a moment before walking over to the bed, taking off his shirt and scooping out a dab to apply to his back.
The cool ointment immediately eased the soreness quite a bit once it touched his skin.
Feng Chen applied the medicine before putting on clean clothes and turning off the light. He gently lay down next to Yan Bubu.
In the quiet, someone was crying in another room. Mournful cries slipped past the doorway, like a long, thin rope that wound tightly around the human heart and squeezed out bitter juice.
Feng Chen lay there with his eyes closed, a suffocating feeling building in his chest. It wasn’t until he heard Yan Bubu snoring next to him, that the lingering feeling was dispelled.
He reached over and touched Yan Bubu’s hand, holding it gently as he drifted off to sleep amidst those intermittent cries.
In the following days, the whole atmosphere of the Hive became depressing. The chatting in the dining hall ceased. People silent waited in line, ate, and headed back to their rooms.
As Major General Lin said, each person only had 100 credits left. Even so, no one signed up to go to the greenhouses. Everyone seemed to be waiting, watching, and seeing what others would do.
Feng Chen and Yan Bubu only got one meal a day at noon, but they had to save half for dinner. They barely scraped by each day.
Feng Chen knew that this wouldn’t work for long. Even if the two of them only ate one meal a day, it would cost 150 credits a month, not to mention the 20 credits of rent. But as soon as he told Yan Bubu that he wanted to work for the army, Yan Bubu hugged him in horror and wouldn’t let go.
Since the earthquake, Yan Bubu has been particularly clingy. He’s never been separated from Feng Chen for more than an hour. Even if Feng Chen was to bathe, he would wait outside the curtain. It seemed like he could only feel safe by the teen’s side.
After getting lunch today, Feng Chen dragged over the small cabinet to use as a table like usual. The two sat side by side on the bed to eat.
The lunchboxes were only half full with rice with a measly ladle of stir-fried bean sprouts and tofu on top.
Soybeans were easy to stock up on, and bean sprouts and tofu were soy products. All the dishes lately featured these. The rice portion was really small, but even so, they still had to save half for dinner.
After stuffing a spoonful of rice into his mouth, Yan Bubu stopped eating when he saw Feng Chen staring at his lunchbox without moving. After biting the spoon and thinking briefly, he handed his own lunchbox over and said, “Help me, Big Brother. I can’t finish this.”
Feng Chen turned, his gaze falling on the lunchbox and slowly trailing upward to look at Yan Bubu.
Although Yan Bubu never said he was hungry and actually insisted he was stuffed, the little rolls on his belly had receded significantly after just a week. His face also became angular, making his eyes seem even bigger.
“Help me eat some, okay? I’m stuffed.” Yan Bubu said this as he gulped back saliva.
Feng Chen didn’t bother with the lunchbox. He simply said, “Yan Bubu, I still want to go work on the surface.”
“No! You can’t!” Yan Bubu’s expression shifted at once.
Feng Chen: “It’s not that dangerous. Otherwise how can so many soldiers survive?”
“No, no, no! Not unless you take me with you.” Yan Bubu put down his lunchbox and anxiously went to wrap his arms around Feng Chen’s waist.
Feng Chen pried his hands off. “That’s impossible. Those who go out must wear insulated suits, and you heard what Uncle Wu said. The army doesn’t let people under ten years old go to the surface.”
“Then you can’t go either, Big Brother. Don’t go.” Yan Bubu immediately wrapped his arms around his waist again. He looked like he was about to cry.
Feng Chen asked, “If I don’t go, how will we eat?”
“I won’t eat anymore. I’ll let you have all of my food.”
“Won’t you starve to death then?”
“I’m not afraid of that anymore.”
Feng Chen: “……”
The next day at noon, the two were in the dining hall line when a sudden fight broke out at the counter.
A strongman pointed to his lunchbox and shouted angrily at the lady behind the counter, “The steamed buns used to be as big as my fist, but now they’re half the size! Are you trying to starve us to death?!”
The older woman was also aggrieved. “Believe me, I want to make the steamed buns as big as a basin. There’s just not much flour left.”
The people around them broke the silence and started hurling accusations.
“I can’t, can’t live like this anymore. Not only did the credits decrease, the meals are getting smaller too. How are they not trying to starve people to death?”
“I might as well have died in the earthquake and be done with it. Better than starving to death like this.”
“Our whole family only gets to eat one meal. The kids are always crying.”
……
“What’s all this? What’s all this?!” Wu You came in from the door and jabbed his finger at those people’s noses and admonished, “The supplies are running so low it’s a miracle you get to eat at all. All of you sure have enough energy to complain, so why aren’t you at the greenhouse tending to the crops, huh? All the other areas had volunteers, but our area’s the only one dragging its feet. Not a single applicant!”
A loud bang came. That strongman kicked over a stool. “Fine, I’ll fucking go! Laozi’s single anyway. Even if I die outside, it’s better than starving here.”
Wu You’s sullen attitude melted away as soon as he heard this. He quickly took out a notebook from his back and clicked his pen. “What’s your name?”
His obvious readiness caused the strongman to pause. He eventually said, “Liu Siming.”
“Which characters?”
“Si as in thought and Ming as in inscription.”
“Liu…Si…Ming…” Wu You shoved the notebook in his back pocket right away. “Come on, Liu Siming. We’re going to the military HQ. In ten minutes, the bus to the greenhouses will leave. You’re just in time.”
So Liu Siming inexplicably followed Wu You out of the dining hall like this. The others stopped lining up and all flocked to the corridor to watch him leave.
Feng Chen silently got his meal and led Yan Bubu back to his room. He waited for the child to take his afternoon nap before quietly leaving the room.
“You want to work on the surface too? No, no. It’s too dangerous.” Wu You sat at the square table and put down his lunchbox, shaking his head like a rattle. “I’m indeed encouraging people to go work on the surface, but only those strong and healthy adults. How can I send someone your age to such a dangerous place?”
Feng Chen stood in front of him and said in a sincere tone, “Uncle Wu, I am just as physically fit as those adults.”
“Even so.” Wu You sighed, “I know it’s not easy for you and Jingjing, but there are jobs in the settlement that are more suitable. For example, picking out limestone. It’s three pieces for five credits, but you’re not guaranteed to get that much everyday or even every couple of days. Still, it’s better than going to the surface. I’m sure you can earn at least a few dozen credits a month and not starve. If you want to do it, I’ll go to the person in charge of the limestone mine and get you a job.”
Of course Feng Chen knew that it was much easier to pick limestone, but he also knew that even if he got a few dozen more points every month, he and Yan Bubu would go hungry at times. So he shook his head and refused, “I’d rather go work on the surface.”
Wu You looked up at him. “Qin Shen, you know that Uncle Wu isn’t a good person. There’s no room for good people in this world anymore. Still, I really want you and Jingjing to have an easier time.”
“Thank you, Uncle Wu. I understand your good intentions and I appreciate them.”
Wu You saw Feng Chen’s calm determination, so he sighed and said, “Okay, I’ll put your name on the list. Come find me if you ever regret it and I’ll take you off.”
“Thank you, Uncle Wu.”
When he woke up from his afternoon nap, Yan Bubu saw Feng Chen sitting on the edge of the bed, twisted that steel sheet with a small pair of pliers. He didn’t know what Feng Chen was making, but that didn’t stop him from lying quietly nearby and watching with great interest.
Feng Chen closed the largest piece of steel together, forming a hollow, oval-shaped steel ball. When he fastened twisted wires to the ball, the steel ball seemed to gain thin legs and arms.
“Binunu, ah! It’s Binunu! Is this Binunu?” Yan Bubu’s eyes grew wider and wider as he suddenly jumped up from the bed and exclaimed incredulously.
Feng Chen’s hands didn’t stop. He used glue to stick some small steel beads to the iron ball. A Binunu with eyebrows and eyes and mouth appeared in his hands.
“It really is Binunu! Ah!!!” Yan Bubu covered his mouth and ran around on the bed.
“Stop jumping. I can’t keep working like this.”
When Yan Bubu sat down on the bed again, Feng Chen took sandpaper and polished Binunu’s body twice, wiping at the mottled rust until it glowed softly all over. Then he handed it to Yan Bubu.
Yan Bubu held his breath and used a finger to gently touch Binunu. Even thought it was made of steel, he seemed afraid to break it.
Then he held it in both hands, and slowly brought it to his eyes, , looking at it with rapt attention.
“Do you like it?” Feng Chen asked even though the answer was obvious.
Yan Bubu nodded desperately and giggled dumbly at Binunu.
Feng Chen: “Do you like this better or the Binunu doll you saw at the marketplace?”
At that time, he didn’t buy that 40 credit Binunu doll for Yan Bubu, who bawled all the way back.
“That Binunu is so ugly.” Yan Bubu kissed the round iron head in his hand and sighed heartily, “This Binunu is the best looking Binunu ever! No other Binunu even comes close.”
Feng Chen looked satisfied with his answer and began to pack up the rest of the iron scraps and tools. After putting everything in order, he sat down next to Yan Bubu.
Yan Bubu was touching Binunu like he was bursting with so much happiness that he didn’t know what to do. When Feng Chen sat down beside him, he leaned over and nuzzled Feng Chen’s shoulder. “Big Brother, you’re so nice. I like you so, so much. I’ll serve you for the rest of my life–”
“Knock it off!” Feng Chen pushed his head away with a finger. “Sit properly, I have something to say to you now.”
“Oh, go ahead.” Yan Bubu sat back down joyfully and looked at Feng Chen.
Feng Chen seemed somewhat reluctant to meet his eyes. He stared at Binunu in his arms. “Fan Renjing, I’m going to work outside the settlement tomorrow. Don’t be scared. Even if I’m not here, you won’t be alone. Binunu will be with you.”
