Chapter 4
After Su Ci walked in, the metal door closed. The room was not big, so when Su Ci walked in and looked around, he found the figure of No. 3.
In the corner, in the narrow gap formed by the bed and the corner of the wall, the child was nestled in the shadows, with only half of his body illuminated by the light, revealing a pair of bare feet.
No. 3 was hiding in the deep shadows, holding a toy ball in his arms, holding it with both hands, with a calm and indifferent expression on his face, as if he did not notice Su Ci's approach and gaze.
Of course, if you ignore his slightly curled toes.
The child is about six or seven years old, and looks a little older than No. 5.
His hair, which reached his jawline, was black and shiny, his facial features were childish but handsome, and he had a pair of large, lifeless blue eyes, making him look like a delicate but soulless porcelain doll.
The child was well-fed and looked fair and tender, but his clothes didn't fit him well. His top was loose, and the cuffs were tight but very large, while his pants were a little short, revealing his ankles and a part of his calves.
Su Ci remembered that, except for No. 5 who was wearing a little skirt, the other children were also wearing the same style of tops and pants, which should be considered... baby clothes, right?
He shrugged, and didn't let the child out. He just whispered, "It's time for dinner."
Then, Su Ci turned around and put the lunch box on the table.
The small children's desk was filled with the lunch box. The lid was opened to reveal the steaming food inside... well, let's call this food jelly.
As the lid was opened, the aroma of meat spread in the room, which made people's appetite increase.
Su Ci ate a bite of jelly after waking up. He was still very hungry and couldn't help but pick up the small spoon that came with the lunch box and scooped a mouthful into his mouth.
"It's so unpalatable."
Why does it smell so good but taste so ordinary?
Su Ci was confused, but he didn't stop him from scooping a second spoonful into his mouth. While chewing, he suddenly had an idea. He lowered his head and saw the child who was huddled in the corner. He didn't know when he had crawled out.
The child stood beside him, and his head was only up to Su Ci's waist. He tilted his little face up, his blue eyes were still out of focus, but his wrinkled brows showed his doubtful mood.
"You want to eat too?" Su Ci scooped up a spoon and put it to No. 3's mouth.
No. 3's expression was obviously even more confused. Could it be that... wasn't his dinner?
No keeper would steal the cubs' dinner. At least, No. 3 had never encountered such a person in all his time at the Hell Star Nursery.
This was a strange keeper.
No. 3 did not accept the food from Su Ci. He stepped back and sat down in the corner again, lowering his head and turning the toy ball in his hand.
The ball was also a mechanical product, and it made a "click-click" sound as the little hands turned it. The child was immersed in his own world again, losing interest in everything around him.
Su Ci looked at him for a few times, then continued to put the spoon into his mouth, and then he almost died with this spoonful of jelly.
The cold jelly tasted a hundred times worse. Which human invented this kind of food? It was too substandard!
No matter how greedy he was, Su Ci couldn't eat it anymore. He put down the spoon and was about to serve dinner to another cub when the communicator started beeping.
As soon as Su Ci answered the phone, the anxious voice of 4586 rang: "Su Su, no, no, Baba ran out!"
Number eight?
The three cubs who were making trouble appeared in Su Ci's mind. Xun Xiaoyu reminded him before leaving that the three cubs were not very emotional.
I just don't know which one is number eight.
"How did he get out?" Su Ci asked.
"I just opened the door and Baba slipped out." 4586 said, "But don't worry, Baba can't get out of the brooding house. We have to find him now and send him back to the room."
Su Ci nodded, looked back at No. 3 who was quietly playing with the ball in the corner, and waved his hand without caring whether he noticed or not, saying, "I'm leaving first, you eat slowly."
Then he turned and left.
He didn't notice that behind him, No. 3 tilted his head slightly, but soon lowered his head again, holding the huge mechanical ball in his little hands, and continued to turn it with a click.
Su Ci came to the corridor, and was thinking about whether to deliver dinner to No. 5 first, or to find someone for 4586, when he felt something, and a golden light flashed in his dark eyes.
"Bang--"
"Ouch!"
No. 8 fell to the floor, holding his head in pain.
The collision made him see stars, but he didn't feel that much pain because his butt was cushioned by the tail.
He looked up in confusion, and saw a metal wall in front of him with a dent made by his collision. His green eyes, which were filled with saline, showed a bit of confusion.
What happened?
Wasn't he rushing to the corridor? Why did he suddenly turn a corner and hit the wall?
"Are you No. 8?"
A gentle voice sounded from the side, very strange, yet somewhat familiar.
Number Eight turned his head subconsciously, and saw that the new keeper had squatted beside him at some point.
When their eyes met, he couldn't help but hold his breath.
Under the bright light of the corridor, the young man was covered with a layer of halo, and his beautiful dark eyes looked gentle and soft.
However, in the depths of those eyes, there was a calmness, as if an ancient ferocious beast was imprisoned. Just one look gave him a full sense of oppression.
Number Eight's heart was pounding.
Number Eight actually noticed it when the keeper was talking to the people from the Operations Department just now in the restaurant.
He was not interested in the keepers, as he knew that none of them really liked them.
However, the new keeper still caught the attention of No. 8, because he was so handsome! He had never seen such handsomeness in his life.
Of course, this was just the first impression.
Then No. 8 noticed the new keeper, his frail and thin figure, and his aura of non-existence.
Although the previous keepers were not very good-looking, their tall and mighty image was still quite intimidating. How could this new one be like this? He looked like he would fall down if you blew on him.
After showing his contempt in his heart, No. 8 forgot about the new keeper, but at this moment... He rolled his eyes, covered his hurt head, and looked at the keeper carefully.
After a closer look, well, he still looked so weak that he would break into pieces with a slight touch. The calm and distant oppressive feeling just now should be his illusion.
After coming to the conclusion, No. 8 showed an impatient expression on his face.
What are you looking at? Don't you know that the master hates the keeper the most? Just as he was about to speak, he heard the keeper say, "Are you crying?"
The soft and shallow voice was a little surprised.
What? Crying?
How could the master do such a despicable thing? Number Eight puffed up his cheeks, "Who is crying? The young master is not crying!"
He glared at Su Ci angrily, then subconsciously raised his hand to wipe his eyes, hoping to make his blurry vision clearer and make his eyes look more fierce.
As a result, he felt something liquid, wet and cool, as if... tears?
The boy couldn't help but be stunned. He wiped his eyes again in disbelief, and when he saw the crystal tears on his fingers, he stuttered.
"I didn't, I didn't... I just bumped into the wall..."
Su Ci squatted on the ground, looking at the child in front of him.
He was probably a little older than eight years old, no more than ten years old, with a big gray-black tail hanging behind him.
His hair was short, also black with gray, and there was a small tuft of white hair on his bangs. His facial features were not as delicate as those of No. 3, but he was also handsome and cute.
The most special thing was his pair of emerald eyes, which were bright and moving because of his intense emotional fluctuations, revealing a vibrant life.
At this moment, the child was like a puppy with its hair standing on end. He kept howling to argue that he was not crying, but his cheeks and ears were getting redder and redder.
Su Ci tilted his head and continued to tease him: "So, you cried because you were hurt?"
"I told you I didn't cry, and it didn't hurt at all!" No. 8 yelled, and the hair on his tail stood up, looking even more fluffy and beautiful.
He got up angrily and decided not to pay any more attention to this annoying keeper.
"Go away, don't block the way!"
Su Ci was pushed by him and sat on the floor. When the child walked past him, he stretched out his arm and pinched the back of the child's collar with his slender fingers.
"What are you doing?" Number Eight turned around and glared at him.
"4586 is looking for you."
"Huh, so what?" The child looked arrogant.
It seems that nothing really happened?
Thinking of this, Su Ci let go of Number Eight's collar, clapped his hands, stood up, bent down to pick up the lunch box at the door, and prepared to continue delivering food to Number Five.
Number Eight, who was about to run away, stopped after taking a look at his lunch box.
"Is this Number Five's dinner?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm going to send it to her." Su Ci said truthfully, "Do you want to come with me?"
"Huh, who wants to go see that little girl who cries all day long?" Number 8 pouted, and finally asked, "Is her hand healed?"
Su Ci lowered his eyebrows and looked at him quietly without saying a word.
Number 8 was obviously frightened by his stare, and he jumped away like a lit firecracker, shouting unhappily: "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Nothing."
Su Ci retracted his gaze and looked at the direction of the corridor again. Logically, 4586 should have found this place, why hasn't he come down yet?
Thinking of the tragedy of 4583, Su Ci narrowed his eyes and lowered his eyes to look at the child beside him.
Number 8 didn't notice anything at all. When he saw Su Ci looking in the direction of the corridor, he put his hands on his hips very proudly and said smugly: "Hey, no need to look!"
"I blocked the elevator and the staircase door. That stupid robot can't get down at all. It must be so anxious that it's spinning in circles now."
Thinking of the funny look of the nanny robot, Number 8 couldn't help laughing.
Su Ci blinked, lowered his head and sent a message to 4586, telling it that Number 8 had found it. Sure enough, as soon as he sent it, he received a reply from 4586 saying that the elevator was broken.
So, the expression on his face returned to being lazy again.
He put away the communicator, picked up the lunch box and continued to walk towards Number 5's room.
-
Number 5's room is next to Number 3.
She and No. 4 are siblings and they live together. The number on the door is written as "4/5", and now only "5" is lit, which means that only No. 5 is in the room.
Su Ci knocked on the door as before.
No. 8, who was standing behind him, looked at Su Ci strangely, but was soon attracted by the lit screen in the middle of the door.
No child can escape the attraction of electronic products, and No. 8 is no exception. Before being sent to the nursery, he even went online.
Unfortunately, the cubs in the nursery are not allowed to have these devices. He doesn't even have a communicator now.
[Identity verification in progress...] White light swept across Su Ci's face.
[Ding——Identity verification passed]
[Intern keeper Su Ci, hello, in room 404, cub number four is out. After testing, cub number five is in a low mood and the risk of frenzy has increased. Should room 404 of the nursery be opened immediately?]
Looking at the words appearing on the screen, number eight couldn't help but pull Su Ci's sleeve and asked, "Hey, what do the words above mean?"
He didn't know many words, so he only understood a few numbers in such a long string.
Su Ci ignored him and clicked to confirm.
Like room 3, the metal door moved silently from the middle and merged into the walls on both sides, revealing a doorway that only Su Ci could pass through.
Su Ci didn't rush in, but poked his head inside.
But No. 8, seeing the door open, forgot about the words and could not wait to squeeze past him and walk in carelessly.
Then, he was grabbed by the back of the collar again.
No. 8 struggled for a while, but found that he could not move, so he turned back and glared at Su Ci angrily.
"What did you do again?"
Because he was too irritated and angry, he didn't realize that with his strength, he couldn't even walk after being grabbed by the collar of this weak keeper.
"It's impolite of you to do this." Su Ci observed the room and said casually.
Politeness? What the hell is that?
Number 8 looked at him in confusion, and saw the new keeper knocking on the wall again.
Is he crazy?
Number 8 was very puzzled. In his short life, no one had taught him the word "politeness", let alone the basic etiquette of knocking before entering someone else's room.
However, he didn't struggle anymore, but stood aside with his arms folded, and his big tail behind him swung back and forth unhappily.
This room is about the same size as room number three, but it is divided into two areas, with a bed, a set of children's tables and chairs, and a cabinet on each side.
The left area is a little messy, and the bed and tables and chairs are all rather dilapidated, especially the single bed that is about 1.5 meters long. It looks precarious, and the four legs will break and collapse at any time.
Even the metal floor has obvious marks of being scratched by sharp claws.
In contrast, the right area is more regular, and the furniture is well protected.
The walls of the entire room are painted with colorful paintings with bright paints, but it is impossible to tell what the paintings are. Even the bed, table, and chair backs have traces of paint.
Su Ci glanced around, and his eyes finally fell on the small bed on the right.
Under the gray quilt, there was a clear bulge, and a few strands of linsea hair showed the edge of the quilt. When he knocked on the wall, the group was obviously trembling. He was particularly naive. He knew that it was
the masterpiece of the fifth . The little girl liked to paint these things the most. He had torn her painting before, and was stunned by No. 4. Give away . "Number Five, Number Five, are your hands okay?" Su Ci looked at the big tail wagging behind him and felt that this child looked more and more like a dog than a wolf or a fox. Although Number Five struggled very hard, she was not as strong as Number Eight, so she couldn't beat him, and finally the quilt was pulled off. The little girl under the quilt had messy hair, red eyes, and her cheeks were full of undried tears. She sat up with a pout, looked at Number Eight sadly, and tears began to fall. Number Eight, who was originally excited, suddenly lost control, and the big tail wagging behind him also drooped down. "What...what are you doing? Is your hand not healed yet?" He took the little girl's hand and took a look, and found that her palm was white and clean, without any trace of burns. "Isn't it all healed? Why are you still crying?" Number 8 followed the sad line of sight of Number 5 and saw the quilt still in his hand. "Tsk, isn't it just a quilt?" He frowned and said, "It's not like I don't have one, I'll just give it back to you." The young boy threw the quilt back to Number 5, but Number 5 was not coaxed. She still pouted, and her big tears kept falling like pearls from a broken string. Number 8 couldn't help but get anxious, "Hey, don't cry, if your brother finds out, I'll get beaten again!" As a result, after he said that, Number 5 cried even harder. Number 8 was so flustered that he almost fell to his knees. He turned around and saw Su Ci walking in slowly with a lunch box, and then put it on the small table of number 5. "Hey..." The young boy hurried over to pull Su Ci's clothes. When Su Ci looked down at him, he pointed at the little girl on the bed. Number 8, who was fearless, showed a look of help to the keeper for the first time. After Su Ci put the lunch box away, he walked towards number 5, pulled a chair over and sat down beside the bed. The children's chair was originally short, and when Su Ci sat down, his line of sight was just level with the little girl sitting on the bed. Like number 3, number 5 did not have bestial features and had a pure human appearance. She had long curly flax hair, small and beautiful facial features, and a high nose bridge. It was not known whether she was crying or had just suffocated the quilt, but her round face was red with an abnormal blush. At this moment, the little girl was crying sadly with a pout, and tears kept falling from her round eyes. She looked pitiful and cute. Su Ci looked at her quietly and did not rush to speak. Number Eight stood behind him, pouting and pulling his clothes desperately. "Why don't you say something!" He lowered his voice and urged in a very low voice. Unfortunately, Su Ci did not respond at all. In the end, Number Eight was discouraged, thinking that he should not rely on the breeder and should find a way himself! However, before he could figure out what was going on, the crying of No. 5, who had been crying so hard, gradually became softer. The little girl looked at Su Ci with tears in her eyes. Because she had cried so hard just now, she was still sobbing a little, but it seemed that her mood had calmed down. At this time, the black-haired young man sitting beside the bed spoke softly: "Hello, I'm Su Ci." No. 5 probably didn't expect him to react like this. She blinked blankly at first, then sniffed and whispered: "Hello...Hello, I'm No. 5." The baby voice with a strong nasal tone and sobbing sounded very soft and cute. Number Eight's big tail couldn't help but wag again, and seeing that Number Five finally stopped crying, he quickly said, "He is the new keeper, and he is here to bring you dinner." Number Five nodded lightly, and it was not known whether she heard it or not. At this time, the young man stretched out his thin white palm in front of her. It was a very beautiful hand, with slender fingers that were clean and white, with a healthy light pink color. On this beautiful hand, there was a dark blue handkerchief. She raised her eyes and met the young man's warm black eyes. "Wipe it." said the new keeper. His voice was as gentle and harmless as he was. A few simple words were more useful than a long string of words, making people unable to help but believe it.
The little girl looked at him, then at the handkerchief in his hand.
Finally, she pursed her red, swollen, and dry lips, stretched out her little hand to take the handkerchief, obediently lowered her head to wipe her eyes, and then suddenly stopped moving.
Noticing her abnormality, Su Ci asked, "What's wrong?"
Number Five looked up, and her eyes, which were still filled with tears, were filled with joy, like washed gems, shining brightly under the light.
She pointed to the pattern embroidered on the lower right corner of the handkerchief and said in a brisk voice, "Flowers."
On the dark blue base cloth, there were a few light white pear flowers embroidered, with petals spread out and the stamens in the middle outlined with gold thread, looking delicate and elegant.
It was the beauty on the Hell Planet and Number Five had never seen before.
Number 8, who had been watching them, couldn't help but come over and said in surprise: "This flower is more beautiful than the one you drew!"
Hearing this, Number 5 looked up at him, then lowered his head to look at the handkerchief and said nothing.
Number 8 didn't realize what he had just done. He looked at the embroidery on the handkerchief for a while, but the novelty soon wore off.
He didn't like such fancy things, so he thought it was boring and said, "No matter how beautiful it is, it's fake. Real flowers are more beautiful and fragrant."
The little girl's cheeks puffed up slightly, and she glared at him angrily, then held up the handkerchief and said, "It smells good!"
Hearing this, No. 8 leaned over to smell it in disbelief, and found that it really smelled good. He scratched his head and muttered, "But it's obviously fake..."
No. 5 bared her teeth at him, as if she wanted to bite him, but she didn't cry at all at this moment, and she didn't sob anymore when she moved over.
Su Ci reached out and wanted to take the handkerchief back, but No. 5 noticed his action and tightened her fingers instantly, holding the handkerchief tightly and refusing to let go.
He didn't force it, and rubbed his fingertips on the handkerchief for a while, then said, "It's sprinkled with pollen."
"Pollen..."
The little girl blinked her eyes, and her eyes, which were a little red and swollen from crying, were filled with confusion and curiosity. "Pollen, what is it?" "
Pollen is the source of this fragrance." Su Ci lowered his eyes and looked at the handkerchief, thinking.
Hearing Su Ci's explanation, No. 5 became happy. She held the handkerchief like a treasure, her eyes bright, as if she had obtained the most precious treasure in the world.
"Pollen, it smells good!" The cute little baby voice, although still nasal, but anyone could hear her joy.
After being happy, No. 5 looked at Su Ci, and a little hesitation appeared on her face.
Then, as if she had made up her mind, under the gaze of Su Ci and No. 8, the little girl nimbly climbed down from the bed, ran to the cabinet with her short legs, and opened the bottom drawer.
The little girl rummaged in the drawer for a while, then took something out and put it in her hand, then ran over happily, climbed onto the bed, and stretched out her little hands in front of Su Ci.
"Here, change... change this!"
On her pink little hand, there was a small black hairpin, and on the hairpin was a red plastic flower that was smaller than the nail of her little finger.
Su Ci stared at the hairpin, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
Seeing that he didn't take it, No. 5 was a little anxious, so he moved closer to him, opened the hairpin with his little hand, and carefully clipped it to his hair beside his ear.
After finishing, the little girl took two steps back, looked at it, and then nodded affirmatively: "It looks good!"
Su Ci: "..."
Number 8 was staring at the side. He had seen this hairpin before. It was given to Number 5 by the big sister in the Operations Department.
Number 5 was so precious that he usually didn't want to wear it and kept it in the room. He didn't expect that he would take it out and give it to the new breeder!
He looked at Number 5 holding the handkerchief, sniffing and rubbing it, and liked it more than the hairpin. He couldn't help but said sourly: "Huh, isn't it just a piece of rag with fake flowers printed on it?"
"When the little master grows up, I will tear down this broken base, and then go out to fill your room with real flowers, red, yellow, purple, whatever colors you want!"
Number 5 was too lazy to pay attention to him.
Number 8 has said such big words many times. But she knew that even if she left the base, there would be no flowers on this planet...
Number Five, who felt that she had completed the deal with Su Ci, happily sniffed the floral scent on the handkerchief, and then put it in her pocket with satisfaction.
After crying for a while, she felt hungry.
So she ran out of bed again, came to the table, tiptoed to open the food box on it, and the rich aroma of meat spread, mixed with the fresh and sweet fruit aroma.
Number Five's taste, in addition to meat, also includes fruit.
The chair was taken by Su Ci, and Number Five didn't mind. He just stood by the table, picked up a small spoon and started to eat in a good mood.
Number Eight smelled the fragrance, and his stomach growled - he had just sneaked out when 4586 was not paying attention, so naturally he didn't get to eat.
He couldn't help but ran to the table.
Number Five's small table was a little short for him, so he squatted down and looked at it eagerly, with his big furry tail wagging behind him.
"I'm hungry too, give me some too."
Su Ci looked at his furry tail wagging in front of him and felt a little itchy, but facing Number Eight's begging for food, the little girl was not soft-hearted at all.
"You, go back to your room and eat."
The little girl, who was five or six years old, was not so smart in speaking, but when she said this, she exuded an indescribable aura.
Su Ci, who was originally staring at Number Eight's tail, suddenly raised his head and looked at her.
After the little girl finished speaking, she buried her head in eating, while Number Eight, who was squatting on the ground, lost the focus of his originally bright puppy eyes.
He kept repeating in his mouth: "Go back to your room to eat... Go back to your room to eat..."
Then No. 8 stood up and walked out the door stiffly but quickly.
Su Ci looked at this scene, and then looked at the little girl in surprise. After hesitating for a moment, he still stood up and followed No. 8 to the door.
When he arrived at the door, he looked back.
The little girl in the room also raised her head and looked over here. She held a spoon in one hand and waved at him with the other hand. Her round eyes curved into crescents...
until the metal door was completely closed, completely blocking his sight.