Chapter 5
Chapter 5
On the day the volunteers arrived, the scrolling subtitles that had appeared every day suddenly vanished.
I could feel time here begin to move again. Even the sickly children who used to sleep all day had become lively.
I came out of the children’s dormitory and saw Xiaomi crouching by the flower bed, staring into space.
“Xiaomi, where’s your brother?”
“Dunno.” He squinted up at me with a smile. “Can you help me find him, big sister?”
“Sure.”
The moment I agreed, he looked past me, his eyes lighting up. “It’s the new volunteers.”
With that, he ignored me completely and ran toward them in delight.
Beyond his tiny figure, I saw several unfamiliar people: a middle-aged man with deep nasolabial folds, a fashionable tattooed woman, and two high school students in uniforms.
Based on my experience growing up in an orphanage, these people did not look like charity workers at all. On the contrary, every one of their faces held a kind of tightly suppressed fear.
Logically speaking, none of this had anything to do with me. After all, I was just a childcare worker.
Until the two high school students saw me.
In the next second, both their eyes lit up.
“It’s you!”
In an instant, every gaze turned toward me-from the tall buildings, from the crowd, from beneath the shade of the trees… Sensing those ominous stares, I straightened my back.
“You’ve got the wrong person.”
The two of them grew anxious and kept circling around me. “No way! It is you!”
“You’re the female streamer who served water to the boss!”
I coughed. “Xiaomi, come on. Let’s go find your brother.”
With that, I reached out to pull the little boy nearby.
Unexpectedly, Xiaomi, who was usually so obedient, clung tightly to the beautiful woman’s arm instead. “Nooo, I want this auntie to help me find him!”
The woman’s lips twitched. “No, no…”
She seemed desperate to refuse, but under the influence of some inexplicable force, her tongue trembled and not a single word came out. In the end, the little boy took her hand and happily dragged her away.
More and more children gathered at the entrance of the dormitory.
They spontaneously formed a long line, each leading away one of the volunteers waiting there. When it was the two high school students’ turn, a little girl with twin pigtails stepped forward and grabbed their school uniforms.
“Great! Tangyuan gets to make two toys this time!”
Hearing her say that, the children behind her immediately cheered.
“Tangyuan’s toys are the most fun!”
“Once she finishes making them, she’ll give them to us really soon!”
The two high school students hid behind me, their faces turning ashen. I tried to pull free but couldn’t, so I could only clear my throat lightly.
“Tangyuan, each child can only be matched with one volunteer.”
Not expecting me to interfere, the girl fixed me with eyes that were mostly white and barely black.
The next moment, an old, hoarse woman’s voice came out of her mouth.
“What’s it got to do with you?”
“It doesn’t.” I kept smiling. “But if you don’t follow the rules, big sister will tell Teacher Pei on you.”
“…”
The children looked at one another.
Intimidated by that name, Tangyuan glared at me again. That vicious look was even more terrifying than an adult’s. But soon, her pale little hand let go and moved to take the suited middle-aged man’s hand instead.
Even her voice became light and cheerful.
“Let’s go!”
The man answered, “Okay.” He held the girl’s hand, but his gaze kept wandering over her chest. I felt something was wrong, but the remaining children tugged me back.
“Tangyuan is really angry now.”
“Yeah, big sister, you really shouldn’t provoke her anymore!”
“She’s super strong. Way stronger than Xiaomi!”
With that, as if they were afraid of what might come next, they scattered like startled birds and beasts, abandoning even the two remaining volunteers.
Only then did I let out a breath of relief.
“Miss, so you really are an NPC!”
The two high school students surrounded me from left and right, their expressions full of delighted surprise. “Oh right, do you still remember us?”
One of the girls pointed at herself. “[Milk Boiled Loli!], Yuzi!”
Then she pointed at the boy beside her. “[It’s Weige Ya], Dawei!”
“Oh.”
I smiled. “I don’t know you. Sorry.”
The two of them panicked. “No, wait-if you don’t take us with you, we’ll get taken away by other NPCs!”
“You know it too. They’re all mon-”
“Monstrously quirky, right?” I nodded. “That’s all because they lack love. All the more reason for the two of you to work hard and integrate into the warm family of Sunshine Orphanage as soon as possible.”
“So, thank you for your hard work.”
“…”