Cherish You as My Life - Chapter 18.4

Chapter 18.4
Before going to bed, Han Xi read a medical book as usual.
She had a nightmare in the middle of the night.
It was one autumn day, and three children, who were starving to death, sneaked out from the orphanage and crawled into the nearby cornfield.
Each of them broke off a corn and hid it in their clothes. However, they were caught by the owner of the cornfield and some other villagers before they could escape.
Three adults surrounded the three thin children: the eldest was Luo Haiyao, and the youngest was Han Xi. She was only five years old at the time, shivering while holding corn in her arms.
The other was a young child named Liu Zi, who was wearing a tattered grey vest that was too tiny to fit him. His left leg was disabled and he was blind in one eye, so no one wanted to adopt him. Furthermore, his health was bad, and he frequently became sick, which prevented him from working. So he didn’t get enough food to eat and was too short due to severe malnourishment.
The grown men picked up the sticks on the roadside and walked towards the three weak children.
“Stealing things! No wonder your biological parents didn’t want you. It turned out you are thieves,” the owner roared. “Two cents for a piece of corn— I’ll go to your dean later to collect it.”
Han Xi cried and shouted, “Please, don’t tell the dean; we will return the corn to you, and we will not steal anything again.”
Luo Haiyao approached the owner and tried to grab the stick while biting his hand.
“Ah.” With a forceful swing, he knocked Luo Haiyao onto a stone along the side of the road, nearly hitting his skull.
Seeing that, Han Xi picked up the corn fallen from Luo Haiyao’s hand and ran towards the owner. “I’ll give it back to you. We’ll give it all. Please don’t tell the dean,” she pleaded while sobbing.
“Where’s the other one?” asked one of the villagers after picking up a stick.
Han Xi saw Liu Zi, who was lying on the ground, quickly peeled off the outer skin of the corn and started to eat it. Because he was starving to death, he still ate raw corn and tasted the milk flavoured sweetness in the raw corn.
This increased the anger of the villagers, and they beat the poor boy several times.
Liu Zi was lying on his stomach while he was getting beaten. He seemed to feel no pain because there was a smile on his face. A few strands of light brown corn silk hung down from his mouth.
Han Xi wanted to run over to protect him; Luo Haiyao didn’t let her do that.
Those villagers beat the helpless boy until their anger subsided, and they just left.
Liu Zi was lying on the ground, his buttocks and back covered with blood. He could no longer stand up because his legs were broken.
After some time, people from the orphanage came to the cornfield, took them back, and locked both Han Xi and Luo Haiyao in a small, dark room for two days.
The first thing Han Xi did when she came out was to see Liu Zi and saw he was lying motionless on the bed, seemingly asleep.
“Uncle Qiao, Liu Zi is about to starve to death,” she murmured to the cook of the orphanage as she crept into the kitchen without waking Liu Zu. “Could you please give him some food?”
Chef Qiao Zhen cast a sidelong glance at the little girl expressionlessly.
“There is no food,” he said as if he didn’t care whether the poor child starved to death or not.
Han Xi tiptoed and looked inside the pot as she refused to give up. “There’s still more in there.”
Covering the pot, Qiao Zhen scolded the little girl, “If I say there is none, then there is none. Find the dean if you want food.”
A girl, maybe seven or eight years old, entered the kitchen at this point. She had a plump face, gorgeous hair, and better clothes than other children in the orphanage.
She was Guo Ying, the little girl who got better treatment at the orphanage. Unlike other children, she got special treatment every time, so some claimed that she was truly the dean’s daughter.
After Guo Ying came into the kitchen, Qiao Zhen handed her a piece of white rice cake. After eating the white rice cake, Guo Ying brashly exclaimed, “Give me some bacon.”
Using a spoon, Qiao Zhen extracted several slices of bacon from a black clay saucepan.
After smelling the aroma, Han Xi subconsciously swallowed her saliva. She trailed behind Guo Ying as she left the kitchen, begging, “Guo Ying, Liu Zi is going to die. Could you please give him something to eat? A small amount is okay.”
The beautiful little girl looked at Han Xi with disdain. She took a bite of the white rice cake rolled with bacon. She then frowned and spit out the white rice cake in her mouth and roared, “Why is there still fat meat? I hate eating fat meat.”
Han Xi crouched, grabbed the piece of white rice cake on the floor, and ran to Liu Zi as she was holding a treasure.
Her first words upon arriving at the hall were, “Liu Zi, Liu Zi, there is something to eat, and there is meat in it. Your favourite fat meat.”
There was no one in the hall, and the lights were dimmed.
Han Xi didn’t get any response from the little boy.
“Liu Zi?” After pushing him a few times, Han Xi realised that Liu Zi’s body was utterly cold and had lost all of its warmth. With a slight smile on his face, he was grasping a chewed corn cob in his arms.
“Ha…” Han Xi suddenly woke up from the nightmare. She was drenched with sweat, and her body was shaking slightly as she was gasping for air.
After some time, she finally calmed down. Then she slowly got up from the bed and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
She never knew whether Liu Zi starved to death or was beaten to death. Some people even said that he died by drinking pesticide.
However, she and Luo Haiyao never stole corn again.
End of chapter 18.4