Chapter 106 It's wrong to steal from others. The little blind man will only ever...
"Xiao Xinghe, come inside and play. It's too cold outside, and cars drive slowly in the snow. We don't know when your mom will arrive. You'll catch a cold if you play outside too long." Uncle Zhang, the gatekeeper, said to Wen Xinghe, who was squatting in the snow playing in the guardhouse, as he put a few frozen buns and a plate of vegetables that were hard to identify into a small steamer.
Special education schools don't need to organize centralized exams. Classes continue until the last day and then the students are on holiday. Today is the last day of school, and winter vacation starts tomorrow. So all the students were picked up by their parents early. Around 4 PM, only Wen Xinghe was left. It's almost 7 PM now, and Wen Xinghe's parents still haven't arrived.
Uncle Zhang knew that Wen Xinghe's mother was very busy, and that only Wen Xinghe's mother had ever picked him up. Uncle Zhang assumed that Wen Xinghe came from a single-parent family.
When a family has an unhealthy child, problems are likely to arise. And once problems arise, usually only the mother wants to keep the child. Uncle Zhang is a man, but he has never been able to understand those men who don't want children. They are the ones who shout the loudest about getting married and having children, but when the child has problems, they are often the ones who abandon the child the fastest and most decisively.
Therefore, Uncle Zhang always felt compassion for children without fathers.
In the past, Wen Xinghe's mother was often the last to pick her up, but usually her homeroom teacher would wait with her for her mother to arrive. Today, the homeroom teacher was also waiting with Wen Xinghe in the guardhouse for her parents, but she received a phone call not long ago. Her son had fallen and seriously injured himself while having a snowball fight with his classmates on his way home from school. The homeroom teacher was anxious to go back and see her son, so she entrusted Wen Xinghe to Uncle Zhang, the guard.
Before she started school, Wen Xinghe usually stayed in her room by herself and never had the chance to play in the snow. Today was the first time she had ever touched snow. It was icy cold but fluffy, and it turned into water in her hand after a while.
The teacher said that snowflakes have many beautiful shapes, and each snowflake is different. Wen Xinghe wanted to touch the snowflake to see what shape it was, but it was too small and would melt quickly, so she couldn't touch it at all. However, this did not stop Wen Xinghe from liking snowflakes.
The teacher also said that snowflakes are pure white, and that tiny snowflakes can cover everything in white. Wen Xinghe thought snowflakes were really magical and amazing.
Wen Xinghe was a very obedient child. Uncle Zhang asked her to go inside and play. Although she still wanted to play in the snow, she still stood up and groped her way into the guardhouse.
Wen Xinghe has a very good memory. After being in school for so long, she can walk to many places on her own. She has waited for her mother in the guardhouse a few times and is very familiar with it. Uncle Zhang knows that she is blind and the furnishings in the room are usually kept in the same place, so Wen Xinghe knows how to walk to the chairs without holding onto anything.
Uncle Zhang put all the food that needed to be heated into the steamer, put the transparent lid on, turned around and walked to the window, pushed open a window, and saw that the windowsill outside was covered with a layer of plump snow.
Inside, there was a desk by the window. On the desk were Uncle Zhang's thermos, pen holder, and register. Uncle Zhang moved these things to a stool behind the desk and then picked up Wen Xinghe and put him on it. "Sit here and play. There's snow here too, so your shoes won't get wet."
Wen Xinghe stretched out one hand, and the fluffy texture was indeed snow!
"You can play by yourself, I'll steam dinner."
Uncle Zhang turned to look at his small steamer. His steamer had recently broken down and kept tripping the circuit breaker. He had to keep an eye on it and put it back on when it tripped. If he didn't keep an eye on it, he might wait half a day and find that it wasn't heating at all, which was infuriating.
Wen Xinghe remembered that Uncle Zhang had just said that she would catch a cold if she got cold. She took her hand out of her crossbody bag, carefully put it on, and then reached out.
"Swish"
A very faint sound.
A cool breeze brushed against Wen Xinghe's fingertips, causing his eyelashes to flutter rapidly, and the gloves he had just put on were gone.
The two small hands, still in the open position, belatedly reached out and grabbed at the air, only to find it empty. Wen Xinghe slowly withdrew his hands and said softly, "It's wrong to steal other people's things."
The boy crouching under the window scoffed inwardly, "That blind little thing only ever says one thing, and even his accusations are barely audible. No wonder he's always being bullied."
The boy quickly slipped the pink woolen gloves he had snatched onto his hands, then turned them over to examine them. The gloves were elastic and looked small, but surprisingly, they fit his hands. There was a little rabbit on the back of the gloves, which the boy tugged at but couldn't remove.
"Never mind, let's leave it at that," he said.
If someone were to see the boy at this moment, they would also notice that his hat and scarf are also pink knitted and decorated with the same little rabbit as his gloves, clearly matching the gloves.
His fingers had been frozen for so long that he had lost all feeling, and the gloves didn't immediately warm him up. The boy grumbled in dissatisfaction, "They look so thick, but why aren't they warm at all?"
Wen Xinghe had keen hearing and, upon hearing the boy's muttering, said again, "It's wrong of you to steal things."
The boy ignored him and continued to work on his new gloves.
Dinner was ready. Uncle Zhang lifted the lid and took out a steamed bun for Wen Xinghe. "Here, Xinghe, have a steamed bun. It's getting dark. Are you hungry?"
Wen Xinghe said, "I'm not very hungry yet. This is your dinner. Please eat it yourself. I'll go home for dinner later."
Uncle Zhang said, "It's alright, you eat. My wife brought me dinner today, but it's all leftovers from yesterday, so I won't share with you. These buns are meat-filled, they're delicious, eat them while they're hot."
Wen Xinghe grabbed the steamed bun: "Thank you, Uncle Zhang."
Uncle Zhang gave the steamed bun to Wen Xinghe and took one for himself. The bun was hot, with a thin skin and a generous filling. He took a big bite and his mouth was full of meaty flavor. He was about to share his thoughts with Wen Xinghe when he looked up and saw a dark hand reaching in through the window and quickly snatching the bun from Wen Xinghe's hand.
"It's you again, you little rascal!" Uncle Zhang shouted, and ran angrily towards the gatehouse.
Wen Xinghe only heard a series of chaotic footsteps and Uncle Zhang shouting, "Don't run! Try running one more step!"
However, it's highly likely that they weren't listening to him at all, and Uncle Zhang's voice faded into the distance.
After a while, Wen Xinghe still hadn't heard Uncle Zhang's footsteps returning, but first he heard the sound of a car approaching.
During the day, internal vehicles can enter automatically by recognizing their license plates and raising the barrier. However, at night, the electric iron gate is closed, and even raising the barrier won't allow entry; the gate needs to be opened. Wen Xinghe didn't know where the switch to open the gate was, nor could she be sure if it was an internal vehicle, so she leaned against the window and said, "Could you wait a while?"
Xu Sannian rolled down the car window and called out, "Xinghe!"
Wen Xinghe's anxious expression instantly turned into surprise: "It's Sister Niannian!"
"Yes, we've come to pick you up!" Xu Sannian said.
Wen Xinghe: "Why are you the one picking me up? Where is your mother?"
Xu Sannian said, "Aunt Wen and your older brother are here. We came to pick you up. Why are you guarding the gate? Are you on duty today?"
Wen Xinghe: "Uncle Zhang said that playing in the snow here wouldn't get my shoes wet, so he let me play here."
Before Xu Sannian could ask, Wen Xinghe explained, "Uncle Zhang is the gatekeeper."
The school gate was spacious, but now that the students and teachers had all left, the gate was empty. Xu Sannian pulled the car over to the side of the road, and the group got out.
"Where's the gatekeeper?" Wen Min walked to the window and found the gatehouse empty, so she carried Wen Xinghe out of the window.
“Uncle Zhang went to chase after someone,” Wen Xinghe said.
She had just finished speaking when Uncle Zhang returned, panting, "It's Xinghe's mother coming to pick up Xinghe. I thought it was someone else from afar."
Since he had to guard the gate, Uncle Zhang didn't dare chase people too far. When he saw a car coming, he immediately returned. When he saw someone going to hug Wen Xinghe, he ran so fast he almost tripped and fell.
Wen Xinghe's mother usually walks to pick him up, but today she drove a car. Several people, both men and women, got out of the car and walked towards Wen Xinghe. He thought they were child traffickers trying to snatch him.
Seeing that only Uncle Zhang was there, Wen Min guessed that he had arrived too late and the homeroom teacher couldn't wait any longer, so she had left Wen Xinghe in Uncle Zhang's care.
She picks up her child every day and knows all the security guards. She knows Uncle Zhang is a good person, but he is, after all, an adult male. Entrusting a girl to him alone is not appropriate for Wen Min. However, it is also her own fault. She has been delayed for too long, and it is not right to ask the homeroom teacher to wait indefinitely. Wen Min decided that from now on, no matter what happens, she must pick up her child first.
Wen Min hugged Wen Xinghe and thanked Uncle Zhang with a smile, "Thank you, Uncle Zhang."
Uncle Zhang waved his hand, "It's nothing, just something I did on the side."
Wen Min sincerely thanked him again, and Wen Xinghe also thanked Uncle Zhang and said goodbye.
Uncle Zhang waved goodbye to them kindly.
Wen Min carried Wen Xinghe into the car and noticed that her fingers were ice-cold. "Why aren't you wearing gloves?"
Wen Xinghe mumbled, "The gloves are lost."
Wen Min wrapped Wen Xinghe's hands in her own to keep them warm, "Then we need to buy a new set tomorrow."
Wen Xinghe was always very cautious, a child who didn't allow herself to make mistakes. Wen Min always felt that she shouldn't live such a tense life at such a young age, but she wouldn't listen no matter what she said. Fortunately, since she started school, she's been losing things every few days, and Wen Min feels that she's finally showing some of the characteristics that a child should have.
"I'll be more careful next time," Wen Xinghe said timidly.
Wen Min said, "It's okay. Every child loses things. An Shisi and Wen Xingmou lose an eraser and a pencil every day. Wen Xinglin has lost his homework several times. Even Sister Mangmang often loses things. It's not a big deal. You can't see, so it's hard to find things if they're not in the same place. It's normal to lose things. Don't blame yourself."
...
It was already past eight o'clock when they got home, and everyone was still waiting for them to come home so they could have dinner together.
Today is Friday, and Bai Miaomiao is back. When she saw them return, Wen Yue quickly went to the kitchen to heat up the dishes, and Bai Miaomiao and Wen Xinglin followed to help.
Wen Xinglan has become more familiar with An Fusheng now and isn't as clingy. When he sees An Fusheng come back, he only glances at him. However, if An Fusheng hugs him first, he is still very happy.
An Fusheng took off his chilly coat, squatted down and slapped Wen Xinglan to get her attention, then opened his arms and waited for Wen Xinglan to throw herself into his embrace.
Wen Xinglan knew An Fusheng wanted to hug him when he saw the posture. His eyes lit up, a bright smile bloomed on his little face, and he threw down the toy in his hand and stumbled towards An Fusheng, "Brother."
As soon as Wen Xinglan made his move, the others saw their elder brother's open arms and joined in the embrace. Even Afu, who had been elusive lately, suddenly appeared out of nowhere and walked over step by step.
The children flew into An Fusheng's arms one by one like little cannonballs, and An Fusheng was almost knocked over by them. "Oh dear, I can't hold them all!"
An Shisi burrowed deeper into An Fusheng's arms, as if afraid of being pushed out, "Yes, big brother, you can do it!"
We didn't do much takeout this afternoon, so there was a lot of leftover food. Dinner was very plentiful, and even the braised pork ribs, which usually sell out, were still available today.
The children played in the snow all afternoon and only now got to eat dinner. They are now each holding a big bone and gnawing on it with great satisfaction.
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Author's note: This is the only chapter I'll post today. I'll update as much as I can tomorrow. I've been taking too many days off lately, and I'm very sorry about that.
The biggest workload in my new job is organizing data every day. I recently went through the logic of organizing the data and thought I could create a script to automate a large part of the data retrieval, which would reduce a lot of the workload. So I asked my colleagues in the IT department for help, but they are on business trips during the week and it is inconvenient to communicate, so I can only work overtime on weekends. I worked overtime all day today and then came back to write. I haven't had my first meal of the day yet, so after I finish this chapter, I'm going to cook snail rice noodles, hahaha.
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