Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 235
Chapter 235 - Not So Terrified
Row after row of brand-new cotton quilts were laid out before the children.
There were also brand-new garments—not flimsy, single-layered cloth, but winter clothes padded with cotton that looked substantial and thick.
They were bound to feel exceptionally warm when worn.
The eyes of those dozens of children sparkled one by one, wishing they could step forward and touch them.
Yet without Yun Chu's permission, they did not dare move.
Yun Chu bent down slightly, looking at her young daughter: "Changsheng, distribute these tokens to them."
Many small wooden tokens engraved with numbers were placed inside a basket, which she held out before Chu Changsheng.
The little girl took the basket, picked up a token out of curiosity, and looked at it, yet she lacked the courage to walk over and hand them out to the other children.
Yun Chu spoke with utmost patience: "Without these tokens, the children here won't be able to receive their quilts and clothes. Good Changsheng, help Mother hand these out to them, alright?"
The little girl blinked her watery, large eyes, pondering for a moment before finally understanding what Yun Chu meant.
She raised her head and looked at the dozens of children before her, all of whom were staring at her with eager, longing eyes.
Feeling a bit frightened, her tiny feet instinctively shrank back slightly.
Yun Chu's palm patted her lower back gently, offering her strength in an invisible manner.
Ting Xue took her by the hand and said, "This servant will go with you."
With someone accompanying her, the little girl grew a bit braver, walking cautiously up to the first child, picking out a token from the basket, and handing it to the boy.
The boy received it with both hands. Not knowing how to address this beautiful, radiant little girl, he said in a low voice, "Thank you."
This was the first time Chu Changsheng had ever made contact with a stranger.
She was terrified inside, holding Ting Xue's hand tightly in a vise-like grip.
Yet upon hearing that "thank you," her hand slowly loosened.
She suddenly discovered that speaking to people she didn't know didn't seem so terrified after all.
She immediately walked over to the second person, picking up a small token and handing it over.
The second boy likewise said, "Thank you."
Chu Changsheng's lips pursed slightly.
Yun Chu could vaguely discern that it was a bashful smile.
She couldn't help but smile as well.
She opened her mouth to say, "Children who have received a token, come over here to collect your items, and then locate your assigned bed according to your token..."
The children lined up one by one to collect their clothes and quilts.
For thick winter quilts, some three- and four-year-old toddlers could not carry them at all; luckily, there were shelter workers helping to carry them on their shoulders.
The older children could not resist untying the ropes binding the quilts, reaching a hand inside to feel them—so soft, so comfortable, so warm, these were genuine cotton quilts!
Those children couldn't help but pull out a bit of the cotton to take a look, only to realize that the pristine, white quilt had been smudged black by their filthy hands, filling them with instant heartache.
There were also the clothes—two sets of thick, cotton-padded winter garments. Just holding them in their arms felt thick and sturdy; they would never feel cold again this winter.
"Alright, everyone follow me to the dormitories in the side rooms." Yun Qin led a large group of children to the adjacent side rooms. "Boys are on the east side, girls on the west side..."
Following the signboards, the children smoothly located their own beds.
Six beds were placed in each room, arranged side-by-side in rows of three. The quilts were laid out and arranged—one underneath as a mattress and one on top as a cover. Once made, the beds looked exceptionally warm and cozy.
Yun Qin said with a smile, "Everyone wash your hands first before putting on your clothes, then we will go to the main hall for our meal."
The children hurriedly lined up to wash their hands, and when they dipped their hands into the basins, every single one of them was stunned.
It was actually warm water.
One must know that for orphans like them, the water they usually drank was cold water, and washing hands or bathing was just a quick dip in the river; warm water was an incredible rarity.
Coming here, they could actually use warm water to wash these filthy hands of theirs.
Seeing a basin of water turn dark and muddy, they felt quite distressed, for warm water truly did not come easily.
After washing their hands, the children put on their clothes. In truth, they were reluctant to wear them, but feared that leaving them there might lead to them being stolen by others, so they wrapped the garments around themselves as tightly as possible.
They followed Yun Qin to the dining hall.
Long before collecting their quilts, their noses had caught the aroma of meat, and now as they stepped inside, that fragrance rushed straight to their heads. Some of the smaller children drooled continuously, slurping it back in, craving it beyond measure.
Chu Changsheng stood at the very front alongside Yun Chu to distribute the food to the children.
Yun Chu was responsible for ladling the porridge, Yun Qin for serving the dishes, Chen Defu for scooping the soup, while the little girl placed a boiled egg into each person's bowl.
The dozen or so workers hired by the Hall of Compassionate Orphans were responsible for maintaining order and looking after the smaller children...
Having received their meals, the children sat at the tables, every one of them failing to snap back to their senses for a long while.
Out of concern that the children might not adjust well, the staple food for the first day was thin porridge with sliced meat added inside, accompanied by a bowl of radish and bone soup, a serving of stir-fried pumpkin, and an egg.
"There's meat! There really is meat! So much meat, it smells so good!"
"Such a large bowl of porridge is enough for me to eat for three days back then! This is amazing!"
"I'll save this egg for later when I get hungry..."
The children had truly been starved for far too long, and like a whirlwind sweeping away remnant clouds, they gobbled down the large bowl of meat porridge completely clean.
Yun Chu and her young daughter also sat beside them, eating the exact same food.
Changsheng's appetite had always been tiny, much like a cat's, and every time she ate a couple of bites, she would refuse to eat any more.
Yet today, Yun Chu noticed that the little girl actually ate a full third of that large bowl of porridge, and drank an entire bowl of radish and bone soup. Naturally, she still refrained from eating the pumpkin she hated most, though she did eat the egg—albeit as picky as always, disliking the yolk.
At this moment, a filthy hand reached out from the side. It was not dirty on purpose; he had indeed washed his hands, but the grime accumulated over many years could not be washed away all at once.
"Are you... not going to eat all of this?"
An eight- or nine-year-old boy pointed at the remaining thin porridge, pumpkin, and egg yolk, asking Chu Changsheng cautiously.
He didn't dare look the little girl directly in the eye, because this little girl was simply far too clean, the skin on her face white to the point of glowing; a single glance felt like a desecration.
Chu Changsheng was indeed done eating, and she nodded her head slowly.
However, the boy did not look at her and had no idea she had already answered, thinking she was refusing to give him the food, so he shrank his hand back in disappointment.
Just then,
Chu Changsheng pressed down on his hand in a flash.
"I... I..."
The little girl grew a bit anxious, and the more anxious she got, the harder it was to speak.
She looked toward Yun Chu as if asking for help. Yun Chu smiled, patting her head and encouraging her to speak for herself.
Chu Changsheng had no choice but to try hard to speak up herself: "I... I'm done... eating. G-Giving it to you."
Overjoyed, the boy immediately scooped all the food on the table into his hands.
It was not that he hadn't eaten his fill,
rather, years of starvation made it utterly impossible for him to watch such clean food be thrown away.
Devouring it voraciously, he stuffed all the food into his mouth.
Even if he was truly stuffed, he swallowed it down with water; only when food entered his stomach did he feel a sense of security.
Yun Chu looked toward the other children nearby.
Several three- and four-year-old children were licking their bowls clean, picking up even a single grain of rice to eat.
She recalled her own daily life, where every meal consisted of more than ten dishes laid out, only for them to be cleared away after she finished eating.
Whether the remaining food was eaten by the servants or thrown away directly was something she seemed never to have cared about.
At this moment, Yun Chu's emotions were deeply complex.