Chapter 6 Car Accident
The days that Lele was adopted by a woman were one of the few times she lived a relaxed and comfortable life.
Unfortunately, this false peace is always short-lived.
"There are three hundred thousand in this card, and the password is six 1s." The woman pushed a thin bank card in front of her, her tone filled with relief.
Lele nodded expressionlessly and carefully stuffed the card into the innermost compartment of his schoolbag.
"If I leave, will you... have to go back to the orphanage?" The woman revealed a rare hint of genuine reluctance. "I can give you some more money and find someone to take care of you until you grow up. You don't have to go back and suffer."
"No need." Lele's answer was clear and concise, just two words.
She was sure that if it were in the game, the welfare home would definitely be a mission trigger point, and there must be other opportunities, so she couldn't leave rashly.
But he was abandoned again, and one can imagine the treatment he received when he returned to the welfare home.
As expected.
"Oh, I was wondering who came back. It's the eldest lady." The thin woman leaned against the door frame, her lips curled up, and her harsh voice was like a rusty saw scraping across the eardrum.
Now that Lele is older and can speak, the woman is not as likely to go as far as before, but she still tries to trip him up from time to time.
Lele has lost count of how many rocks, bugs, and unidentified objects she's found in her meals. She's long since mastered the art of picking them out and throwing them away expressionlessly, then continuing to swallow them. It's as if what she's swallowing isn't food, but fuel to keep her alive.
Not long after, the old lady was dismissed by the director because of her unsteady legs. On the day of her departure, the old lady hugged her and cried bitterly, her rough hands stroking her hair over and over again, and her turbid tears dripping onto her shoulders.
"You were so little when I picked you up. You were so pitiful. I couldn't bear to leave you. I couldn't bear to leave you." The old lady cried with tears and snot.
Lele felt a little depressed, but more helpless. She already had a desire for beauty, and the short haircuts she'd received at the orphanage were already difficult to manage, and now the old lady had tangled it up. Silently, but with a touch of stubbornness, she pushed the raised ends back.
After returning, she was also old enough to be sent to school. The school that the welfare home sent them to was specially provided by the government for such people, and most of them were special groups or orphans.
Under closed management, students stay in school five days out of seven, with unified food, clothing, housing and transportation.
Lele's outstanding face always attracts attention no matter where he is.
"Le Le, shall we go wash clothes together later?" a little girl asked with a smile.
"No! Lele wants to go skipping rope with me later!"
The argument escalated instantly. People pushed and shoved each other, cups and washbasins clattered, and the dormitory was in chaos.
Lele was fed up with it, but there was nothing he could do. Being too popular was just so annoying.
She took advantage of the chaos to hide away and lay in the corridor in a daze.
Lele stood a little further away from the girl as she came towards them with a basin full of water. However, the girl still bumped into her, and the basin hit the ground with a loud thud, soaking the girl's whole body.
"Are you okay?" Lele pulled her up, thinking strangely that she was standing quite close to the side just now.
While she was wondering, she suddenly heard the girl talking to the system, "..."
Will she notice me this way?
[Of course, that's the way it's written in novels.]
【That makes sense.】
"I...I'm sorry, classmate! I didn't mean it! I'm really sorry!" The girl raised her wet face, her eyes instantly turned red, her mouth pouted, and she looked like she was about to cry and looked pitiful.
Before Lele came across the term "green tea", she had already felt the power of green tea and almost laughed out of anger.
People from the nearby dormitories all leaned out to look at them, and after a few glances, they were caught by Lele's gaze and then hid back away excitedly.
"It's okay." Lele's mouth twitched, "Go take a shower and change clothes."
She will surely remember me now.
[Absolutely. I will definitely remember the look in her eyes just now.]
“…” Lele really remembered it clearly. There were not many people who could leave her speechless for several minutes so many times.
She propped herself up with her hands and stared at the back of the girl's head with a sinister look. Perhaps they were right, she was born a bad seed. For a moment, she really wanted to cut open that head and see what kind of paste was inside besides the system.
The girl walking in front shuddered suddenly: [System, why do I feel a chill on my back...]
Watching the sudden surge and then slow decline of Lele's blackness value on the monitoring panel, the system silently wiped away its "cold sweat" and forced itself to remain calm: [...Illusion, the water is too cold.]
The girl looked up at the scorching sun above her head: "..."Okay.
Lele fell into deep thought. When they appeared out of nowhere, no one suspected them, and when they left, no one questioned them either. So, what identities did they use?
Last time, that person had escaped from her even if it cost them ten thousand points, which meant they couldn't die here. What would happen if they died? Would their souls scatter? Just like in the TV series.
No one knows how many innocent and shocking thoughts are lurking behind Lele's pretty and harmless face.
Three years have passed in a flash, and Lele has lost count of how many people have tried to make their presence felt in front of her, and then disappeared in disappointment.
If someone adopts her, she will agree and live a comfortable life. Then she will do the same thing again and use the favorability points to cheat some money and deposit it into the card.
Later, her favorability value became less and less valuable, and she could no longer deceive those people, so she had no choice but to give up the idea.
During this period, she also tried to use threats and bribes to make them hand over the system, but she never succeeded. After many setbacks, she finally gave up the idea.
"Hey! Lele, did you know that a big boss recently donated a lot of money to us and said he would take us out to the city for a day this Saturday?"
On Friday, when school was about to end, Lele's deskmate happily slapped her desk, but she gave her a glare. The deskmate could only pout and take a piece of paper to carefully wipe her desk.
Forget it, forget it. There’s a primary school bully who copies her homework and covers for her every day. It’s just a little bit of mysophobia, so what’s the big deal!
She glanced at her deskmate next to her, then at herself, feeling a surge of doubt in her heart. Everyone was wearing the same light blue school uniform, but she managed to look so different from everyone else.
How does it feel? Just like the heroine on the cover of the novel they secretly read, in two words - "good-looking"
Lele glanced at her deskmate, whose movements had suddenly become violent, and, puzzled, tapped the table with the end of her pen, signaling her to be gentler. Then, she fixed her short hair, which kept slipping down, and lowered her head to continue with her homework.
Is this uniform short haircut for convenience or to cause her trouble? Lele complained silently in her heart that she could never keep her hair pinned or tied up.
She thought about it thoughtfully, wondering if she would go to the city on Saturday and meet new players.
"bite--"
The bell rang like a flood, instantly destroying the quiet of the classroom. Whistles, the shuffling of tables and chairs, and the clattering of books merged into a cacophony of noise.
Le Le packed up his things reluctantly.
"Le Le, hurry up, we'll miss the bus!" Seeing her slow movements, her deskmate wanted to clean up for her, but was afraid that she would be angry so she could only urge her.
Fortunately, Lele was able to catch the bus back to the welfare home every time because of her urging, otherwise he would have to stay in school for two more days.
Although they were not from the same orphanage, they all took the same bus. The driver would not wait for anyone, and after a certain time, it was assumed that those who did not get on the bus would have to stay at school.
It’s not that they like to go back to the welfare home, but a fixed amount of money is deposited into their meal cards every week. If they are at school on weekends, they have to spend money on meals, which is not cost-effective.
If these kids are not careful with their money, they can certainly eat their fill, but they can't have a good meal.
Besides, this time is different. We have to gather at the welfare home on Saturday to go to the city. If we miss it, we don’t know when the next time will be.
Back at the welfare home, the air was filled with an unusual excitement.
The children gathered in groups of three or five, excitedly discussing what "nice" clothes to wear tomorrow and what "treasured" snacks to bring.
Among those faces, most of which have physical defects or intellectual disabilities, Lele, who is healthy, beautiful and has excellent grades, has always been an outlier.
Most people, regardless of their age, seem to be extremely sensitive to things like grades, and they both respect and hate them.
In the past they would have stepped out to trip her, but since she started school, Lele gradually stood out among the students and was loved by the teachers, so they began to restrain themselves.
The physical bullying turned into verbal sarcasm. They looked at her in a whisper, then turned back and sneered, in order to make Lele feel uneasy.
Lele frowned, unable to understand what was so exciting about going to the city to play? He was already in an orphanage. Couldn't he study hard?
However, Lele, who had poor hearing and vision, could only feel the malice in the actions. As for those trivial discussions and sarcastic expressions, in her blurry sensory world, they were nothing but distorted and vague background noise.
She just felt that she couldn't stay in the same space with these idiots, otherwise it would be extremely easy for her to be assimilated by them, and she couldn't accept it.
After enduring a night in the same room with these idiots, they were woken up by the dean early the next morning.
Some children were so excited that they did not sleep all night. When they heard the horn, they immediately got up and put on the clothes that had been placed under their pillows yesterday. These were the few nice-looking clothes they had.
Lele was disturbed by their mental activities all night. She got up with black eyes, put on a white coat and a pair of slightly small jeans.
I smoothed my hair, looked around in the mirror, and felt very satisfied.
But she frowned again. She had been growing faster and faster recently, and many of her clothes could no longer fit her. She sighed regretfully.
Following the dean onto a bus, Lele sat at the front seat. She looked at the stained seat, put a plastic bag underneath, and leaned against the glass with her schoolbag in her arms, trying to catch up on some sleep.
“Clang, clang, clang…”
“…” It’s because I’ve never taken a bus.
She silently withdrew her head, which was numbed by the shock, and reluctantly lay back on the backrest that looked a little moldy.
After a long journey, Lele managed to suppress the urge to vomit several times and finally reached his destination.
"Wow! This is the big city, it's really different from ours! So beautiful!" Cheers came from behind.
Lele opened her eyes wearily, and was truly stunned by the scene before her. Tall buildings stood in a row, huge billboards gleamed with vibrant colors, and the people walking on the streets were bright and fashionable, a style they had never seen in their small town.
A group of little bumpkins who had never seen the world got off the bus excitedly but nervously, looking around with curiosity and inferiority.
A little girl holding her mother's hand walked by, holding a huge, colorful ice cream cone, and glanced at them curiously.
The children in the welfare home subconsciously lowered their heads and tugged at the corners of their shabby clothes.
Lele frowned slightly. There were too many people, and the cacophony of inner voices buzzed like countless flies in her ears. Fortunately, her hearing was naturally insensitive, otherwise she would have been driven crazy by this mental noise.
"Okay! Line up! Hold hands in pairs! Follow me closely! Don't run around! Do you hear me?!" The dean shouted at the top of his voice, holding a small red flag.
"I heard it!" the children answered in unison, their voices trilling with excitement.
There weren't many people, so they quickly formed into two lines. When it came to Lele, she was, as expected, left alone. The dean, however, was quite confident in her and gestured for her to follow at the end of the line.
There were not many people and vehicles on this street. After the red light ended, the director held a flag and led the children across.
Pedestrians on the road looked sideways at this and couldn't help but take pictures of this lovely scene with their mobile phones. The drivers behind the zebra crossing also watched them pass by happily.
"Ah!" Suddenly a scream broke this warm and lovely scene.
An out-of-control heavy truck, like a steel behemoth that had broken free from its reins, rushed madly towards the rear of the team and Lele from the side and rear with the harsh sound of tire friction and deafening horn sound.
Lele turned his head slowly, his heart tightly grasped by an invisible giant hand! His blood seemed to instantly flow backwards and freeze, his limbs stiff and cold, as if he had been nailed to the spot.
The surrounding scenery and sounds faded and became still, and she seemed to have entered a long century.
The screams of passersby, the shrill horns, the director's horrified look back, all seemed to have been muted, becoming a blurry and distorted background. Time was infinitely stretched, slowing to a suffocating pace.
Is she going to die?
This thought strangely brought a sense of boredom and relief. She didn't even bother to struggle. Lele closed her eyes with a sense of boredom and relief, and waited for death to come in self-abandonment.
The expected pain and darkness did not come.
A huge force suddenly pulled her away from where she was! She fell into an embrace, an embrace that was so thin and uncomfortable, but also surprisingly warm.
The warmth was like a surging hot current, instantly breaking through her frozen limbs and melting the ice outside her heart.
The heart, belatedly, began beating again frantically.
Dongdong——Dongdong——
Like cracking ribs.
She opened her eyes in shock.
My sight met a pair of eyes.
Those eyes were filled with a tenderness she had never seen before, a tenderness that could drown someone. Beneath that tenderness lay a bottomless, thick, and insoluble sorrow.
Bang, bang, bang—
The deafening sound of the heartbeat occupied all her senses. She could not tell whether the wild drumbeat came from her own heart that was about to jump out of her chest, or from the deep chest cavity of the skinny body that was tightly wrapped around her.
Their heartbeats were out of sync, rising and falling, but equally intense.
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