'Click—'
The bed frame, squeezed to the very back, suddenly made a slight creak.
"Who goes there? Show yourself!"
Chai Ning quickly turned around, and the flames in his palm suddenly shot up, allowing him to see the scene behind the bed clearly.
"We...we're coming out, please don't hit us!"
A childish voice came from under the bed, and then five tiny creatures, not even as long as her legs, crawled out from under the bed.
They stood timidly in a row by the bed, their faces covered in dust and dirt, looking like they were about to cry. Seeing this, Chai Ning's heart softened.
"Don't be afraid, come to me."
Chai Ning squatted down, deliberately softening his tone, and waved to them.
The five children looked at each other, then slowly and reluctantly came out.
It stopped more than two meters away from Chai Ning and refused to take another step.
Chai Ning sighed and was about to stand up when the five children seemed to have seen something terrible. They suddenly covered their heads and squatted down on the spot.
Their small bodies trembled incessantly from overwhelming fear, and suppressed sobs escaped intermittently from their throats.
"What are you doing—"
"They've been beaten into submission."
Qi Xing's voice came from behind. He walked over to the five children, squatted down, and said softly and gently, "Don't be afraid, Brother Qi Xing is back."
"Brother Qi Xing!"
The five children saw Qi Xing as if he were their savior, and immediately stopped crying and rushed into his arms.
Qi Xing stretched out his arms wide, trying to embrace all five of them. "Let's go next door first. It's warm there, and there's food to eat."
"Brother Qi Xing, do we really have food to eat?"
As the five children followed Qi Xing through the small door into the container next door, they asked, drooling.
"Um."
Qi Xing went straight to the corner, took five portions from the neatly stacked pile of rice, and then distributed them to the little ones one by one.
The little ones looked at the still-warm food in their hands and swallowed mouthful after mouthful of saliva.
"Brother Qi Xing, can we really eat this food? What if they come and beat us up again?"
Chai Ning's men had already taken those people away. The little ones hadn't seen them, and with Qi Xing around, they were much bolder.
At least his voice was much louder.
"Dean..."
Qi Xing did not answer their questions directly, but looked at Chai Ning who came out of the small door.
“You can eat it, of course you can eat it, and no one will hit you again,” Chai Ning said quickly.
The little ones had never met Chai Ning before, and instinctively didn't believe her. They held their lunchboxes, remaining silent and afraid to eat.
Qi Xing explained Chai Ning's identity to them, but the little ones only vaguely understood, remembering that those bad guys had to listen to Chai Ning.
"Dean, why did you let them beat us?"
"Dean, why did you tell them not to feed us?"
"Dean, why did you let them beat Qingqing and the others to death?"
"Dean, why did you let them take our blankets away?"
"And our clothes, we're so cold!"
Each of the five children spoke a question, their innocent and bewildered yet soul-searching, like sharp swords piercing Chai Ning's heart, instantly bringing tears to her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."
She covered her face, overwhelmed by endless guilt, and tears streamed down her face.
"Brother Qixing, did we say something wrong? Auntie is crying..."
One of the little ones tugged at Qi Xing's clothes, his lips trembling, as if he wanted to cry too.
"Auntie, don't cry, I'll give you my food~"
A little girl, who could barely walk properly, struggled to hold a lunchbox slightly larger than her face and slowly moved towards Chai Ning.
The other children looked and looked again, but still held their food tightly.
One serving is enough for Auntie; their food needs to be shared with Brother Qixing, Little Yaya, and the other older brothers and sisters.
"If Auntie doesn't want to eat, you eat!"
Chai Ning wiped away her tears, swept the playing cards on the table next to her onto the floor, then picked up Xiao Yaya, put her on a chair, and let her sit down to eat.
Then they carried the remaining children to other chairs and made them sit down.
"You two eat your food properly, Auntie... Auntie will go and get revenge for you."
Chai Ning could hardly look directly into the five children's clear and innocent eyes, and hurriedly left after saying a few words.
"Dean, wait a minute!"
Qi Xing called out to her, "My sister asked me to explain the whole story to you, so that those people won't distort the truth."
Chai Ning stopped and nodded. "Okay."
"Dean, let's go talk over there."
Qi Xing didn't want to mention those dark memories in front of Xiao Yaya and the others, so he pushed open the small door and went next door.
Chai Ning took a deep breath and calmed himself before pushing open the door and walking into the next room.
"I don't think Auntie is a bad person; she didn't try to eat Little Yaya's food!"
Little Yaya held the lunchbox in one hand and a spoon in the other, trying her best to put the food into her mouth.
"I listened to Brother Qi Xing. He said Auntie is a good person, so I believed him."
The little boy next to him had a mouthful of rice in his mouth and was mumbling incoherently.
"Zhou Zhou, what do you think?"
Seeing that the little boy wasn't on her side, Xiao Yaya quietly asked the little boy sitting on the other side.
Zhouzhou's eyes were full of food, her little face almost buried in the lunchbox. Hearing Xiaoya's words, she echoed without looking up, "Yes, yes, yes!"
Although it was a perfunctory effort, Xiao Yaya was very satisfied and happily continued to stuff rice into her mouth.
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