I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 448
Chapter 448: Eat Well and Sleep Well
“One two one, one two one.”
“Left, right, left… Ah, wait, wait! I can’t hold on any longer! Let’s take a break!”
“Jia Junpeng! Can you not let go here? It’s so hot under this sun!”
“Jia Junpeng, your mom is calling you home for dinner!”
As the “fruit-moving” activity at Starlight Elementary School progressed enthusiastically, the large campus suddenly became vibrant and lively.
The originally beautifully decorated school grounds were bustling with students moving fruits like “worker ants.” Most of these kids were wearing the school’s special uniforms.
The girls wore dark blue sailor suits paired with skirts, similar to what I was wearing, while the boys wore short sleeves and long pants. However, most of the girls were not wearing long socks but rather short socks with sneakers or casual shoes, so the “anime” vibe was not that strong.
Possibly due to the generally poor nutrition of the children here, the first batch of kids who moved the fruits to the dormitory immediately started panting under the shade of the trees near the dormitory building.
According to the setup, the starting point of this “fruit-moving” activity was the school’s main gate, and the “end point” was a small grove in front of the boys’ dormitory.
This small grove had a few mango and banyan trees, and under the trees was an open space. This open space was not paved with concrete like the outside areas but was a genuinely… well-worn area, probably created by generations of children stepping on it.
Further ahead, there was a row of water taps, likely for the boys in the dormitory area to use for washing clothes.
?Such a retro dormitory area, is this really in Shenzhen City? I remember Shenzhen being a very prosperous city.?
?Different areas vary. The Sankyo District and Honor District of Shenzhen are the wealthy areas, but this Nanqi District is a slum.?
As Xiao Mo and I followed the children to the dormitory area, the livestream chat erupted again.
It seemed many viewers had never seen a school like this and started commenting on how “poor” Starlight Elementary School looked.
?It’s not quite a slum, but it’s definitely poor.?
?This reminds me of my elementary school. That was about 20 years ago, and our school looked just like this.?
?No way? Was our country’s infrastructure so backward 20 years ago? There aren’t even proper roads here, and the water taps are out in the sun!?
?You don’t get it, do you? Those aren’t just potholes, they’re marble pits for boys to play in.?
Prompted by the comments, I noticed that the open area near the boys’ dormitory indeed had many “potholes.” There were also many broken marbles and various marks left from marble games around.
Marbles.
This game seemed to date back twenty years. At that time, forget about smartphones, having a decent toy was a luxury for kids. The most common games for schoolchildren or kids outside were marbles, jump rope, and collectible cards.
The game of marbles requires this kind of pure dirt road. You simply find a place to dig a smooth pit, use this pit as the center, and then…
How did you play it again? I don’t quite remember, but seeing these small pits guarantees that children have recently been playing marbles here.
Jump rope was generally more popular among girls, with two main ways to play: regular jumping and Chinese jump rope. I still remember the rhymes they used to chant while jumping.
Then there were collectible cards, which were square pieces of paper with cartoon characters printed on them. You could buy a whole set from a street vendor or find them in snack packets.
The game involved all players throwing their cards on the ground, and each player would take turns trying to flip them over. Whoever flipped the most cards got to keep them all. It was a bit like gambling and was very popular among boys.
I always thought these old memories would remain buried deep in my mind. But to my surprise, so many children at Starlight Elementary still engage in these old-fashioned games…
“Children with jackfruit and watermelon, please bring them to the teacher over here!”
“Be careful not to open the fruit yourselves, especially those with jackfruit. The juice is very hard to wash off if it gets on your clothes.”
“Children with jackfruit, please come to the teacher to get gloves!”
?Seeing these kids makes me feel like I’m back ten years ago.?
?I want to donate to this school. When I was a kid, I could eat fruit whenever I wanted. Seeing their expressions…?
?Actually, this place is relatively good. My partner once volunteered in a rural school, and they didn’t even have fruit. Having enough food was considered lucky. The village school didn’t even have a proper roof, just a cloth, and they couldn’t attend classes when it rained.?
Seeing the dormitory area getting lively, I walked over to Zhou Xiaofei and Li Denghua. At this moment, Li Denghua was carefully applying something to Zhou Xiaofei’s hand. Seeing me approach, she looked a bit guilty.
“Xiaofei accidentally fell just now, and the watermelon hit her hand.”
“What happened?”
I hurriedly leaned in and examined Zhou Xiaofei’s slightly scraped fingers. “Does it hurt? Should I get some antiseptic?”
“No need, no need, as long as the watermelon isn’t damaged.” Zhou Xiaofei shook her head.
“This small injury is nothing. I often get bumps and bruises while helping my grandmother at home, it will heal on its own in a few days.”
“That won’t do. There are so many bacteria on the ground, we need to treat it.”
Li Denghua took Zhou Xiaofei’s hand. “I’ll take you to the faucet to wash it first, then disinfect and put on a band-aid.”
Zhou Xiaofei widened her eyes. “What is a band-aid?”
“It’s something used to dress wounds. Never mind that, just come here.”
Li Denghua pulled Zhou Xiaofei over to the faucet under the sunlight. “Wash your hands.”
“Oh…”
Zhou Xiaofei obediently placed her hands under the running water. The sensation of the water on her wound made her wince, but she remained silent.
“I learned the steps to treat a wound from my dad’s bookshelf.”
After helping Zhou Xiaofei wash her hands, Li Denghua carefully dried them with a handkerchief. She then pulled out a band-aid from her pocket and meticulously bandaged Zhou Xiaofei’s two injured fingers.
“Why are you staring at me?”
“Ah… it’s just… it’s the first time someone has done this for me. My grandma used to say that if you bleed, just put some herbal medicine on it, and it’ll be fine. I’ve never used this before.”
“Well, today I’m teaching you how to use it. I have two more here, so keep them. If you get hurt at home and start bleeding again, you can use them. But let me be clear, I really don’t want you getting hurt. Got it?”
“Mmm…”
“Don’t just ‘Mmm’? Do you understand?”
“I understand…”
The conversation between the two little ones caused Xiao Mo and me to get a bit distracted. When I snapped back to attention, I noticed Xiao Mo looking at me with a strange expression.
“What… what is it?”
I asked curiously, “Is there something on my face?”
“Ah…”
Under my gaze, Xiao Mo ran over to a big tree behind us and scraped her hand against the trunk.
“I’m injured! Is there a wife who can bandage me up? Licking it would be even better…”
I walked over with a full head of black lines, looked around, picked up a tree branch, and tapped it on her head—
“Thud! Ten centimeters shorter!”
“……”
……