"Waaaaah, don't hit Yueyue, Yueyue, be good!"
Upon hearing her brother's words, Qi Yue, a little girl, immediately recalled those terrible memories and burst into tears.
"Don't cry, Yueyue, your brother will protect you!"
Qi Xing crawled forward two steps and hugged Qi Yue to comfort her.
In her brother's thin but reliable embrace, Qi Yue gradually stopped crying and began to eat by herself with a small spoon.
A dangerous glint flashed in Jiang Nian'an's eyes, her hands on her knees tightened involuntarily, and her voice suddenly turned cold, "Who are they?"
"The people who are responsible for disciplining us."
Qi Xing tried to calm his anger and spoke in a calm tone as much as possible.
"They withheld our food and took it home to feed their families or sold it to buy other things and crystals."
They beat and kick us and whip us at the slightest provocation!
When someone came to inspect, they would dress us in thick clothes as a show, but as soon as the person left, they would make us take them off, saying that we didn't deserve to wear such nice clothes.
They also said that if it weren't for the need to deal with inspections from higher-ups, those clothes would have been given to their children long ago.
They also said they would kill us if we dared to tell anyone!
We couldn't stand it anymore, so we sneaked out after they fell asleep at night.
"Since you had the courage to sneak out, why didn't you just go and complain to the people at the base?"
The head of the welfare home is under the command of the Beijing base. As long as you explain the situation to the head of the Beijing base, they will not ignore it.
Jiang Nian'an was puzzled by Qi Xing's clear and logical thinking, which made him seem like a child who wouldn't tattle.
"We're afraid they're in cahoots with bad guys."
Qi Xing lowered his head and remained silent for a moment before speaking.
Jiang Nian'an immediately understood what he meant.
These children were all pale and thin, and did not look like children who were being treated well at all.
Those who went to inspect the area couldn't possibly have missed it; the only possibility is that they were complicit.
She's living such a comfortable life that she can't even see such a simple truth; she's not even as good as a child.
"Are all the children in the orphanage treated like this?"
No!
Qi Xing shook his head and looked up at Jiang Nian'an, "The orphanage divided us into groups to make it easier to discipline us."
We were in group 67, a total of 50 people, and we all lived in a big box-like room with bunk beds.
Our neighbors are groups 66 and 68; they weren't beaten or starved.
The older brothers, sisters, uncles, and aunts who were in charge of disciplining them were all very kind people.
"Actually, an uncle wanted to stand up for us, but those bastards said that if the uncle dared to help us, they would bully his family."
A little girl at the very edge spoke timidly, tears welling in her eyes, "Then the uncle stopped helping us."
"We're the ones who are relatively lucky; we just got beaten a lot, but we weren't beaten to death."
But some have already—"
Qi Xing covered his face, tears streaming silently and sadly from between his fingers.
"How arrogant!"
Jiang Nian'an trembled with anger.
While most people are desperately trying to protect these tiny sprouts that haven't even grown yet, some people are so heartless as to harm them.
Natural disasters weren't enough for them; they also had to create man-made disasters!
"Everyone except Qi Xing, please stay here!"
Jiang Nian'an patted the hood of her down jacket and woke up Xiao Zi, "Xiao Zi, you stay and protect them."
Little Purple lazily stirred, its body sliding out of the hat and onto the ground, where it curled up and continued to sleep soundly near the electric heater.
"Ah! A snake!"
The children were startled by the sudden appearance of Little Purple and hurriedly backed away with their plates.
"Don't be afraid, its name is Xiao Zi, it's my partner, and it's a vine, not a snake, so it won't eat children."
Little Purple raised its tail and wagged it as a greeting.
Even so, the children still looked at Xiao Zi with fear in their eyes.
Jiang Nian'an didn't say anything more, but took out several sets of cotton-padded clothes and trousers that were a little too big but definitely warm, as well as cotton-padded shoes.
She handed out the clothes to them one by one, then looked at Qi Xing and said, "I'm going to take you back to the orphanage to identify those beasts. Do you dare?"
"dare!"
Qi Xing nodded without hesitation, his eyes fixed on Jiang Nian'an.
He had a vague idea of what might happen, but he didn't dare to say it directly. Instead, he cautiously probed, "But what happens after the identification?"
"after?"
Jiang Nian'an gave him an extra pair of gloves, a scarf, and a hat, and sneered, "Of course, we're sending them to their deaths!"
Upon hearing this, Qi Xing's eyes lit up, and he could hardly contain his excitement.
But then he hesitated, looking at Jiang Nian'an as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself.
"Don't worry, I have the ability and the confidence."
Jiang Nian'an pinched his little face, her gaze softening considerably.
"Even the head of the Beijing base has to be very polite to me, let alone a small welfare home team leader."
"If it won't cause trouble for my sister, I'm willing to go to the orphanage with her to identify the child!"
Qi Xing dressed himself quickly, clenched his fists, and stood proudly beside Jiang Nian'an.
Like a warrior about to go into battle.
"Let's go then!"
Jiang Nian'an straightened her clothes, pushed open the door, and walked out.
Qi Xing ran up to Qi Yue and whispered a few words in her ear. Seeing her nod with a smile, he got up and followed Jiang Nian'an.
The courtyard is only a ten-minute walk from the Beijing base.
As they approached the Beijing base, Qi Xing's body involuntarily tensed up, his emotions churning violently, and even his steps became stiff and unsteady, as if he were about to lose control of himself.
He couldn't even tell if he was nervous or excited, or perhaps both.
My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was about to jump out of my chest.
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