Chapter 191

Just as he was thinking, he saw two people with red sleeve badges chasing over. "You little bunny, stand still for me. You're young but can run pretty fast. Watch me teach you a lesson today..."

Seeing someone chasing, Wu Xiaohua held Pei Jing's hand even tighter and took a few steps back, hiding himself completely behind Pei Jing.

Even though he had been extremely careful, he was still spotted by the chasing men. Fortunately, Pei Jing was wearing a military uniform, which made the chasing men extra polite.

"Comrade soldier, do you know this kid?" The man with the red sleeve badge pointed at Wu Xiaohua hiding behind him, a puzzled look in his eyes.

"Can't say I know him well, but I've seen his father a few times before. Comrades, I see you're chasing after him. May I ask what's the matter with the child?" Pei Jing asked.

"He stole stuff. It's not his first time either. The previous two times we let him go because he's just a pitiful child. But this time he did it again, and we can't keep turning a blind eye," the man replied helplessly.

"Comrades, there must be some misunderstanding here. This child's family..." Pei Jing wanted to say his family was well-off, but looking at how the boy was dressed, there was a huge difference from two years ago.

"Comrade, since you said you've seen his father before, I assume it was a long time ago, right?" The man also picked up on Pei Jing's hint and sighed. "To tell this child's story, he's really pitiful. His dad is in prison for crippling someone. His mother ran off last year. Now it's just him alone. We know he's pitiful, but that can't be a reason for him to steal!"

Pei Jing and Zhi Xia looked at each other, surprised by the turn of events.

They didn't expect this to be the case. Although Wu Lei was cunning, he had always been kind to others, wearing a silly grin for everyone. The neighbors also had nothing but praises for him.

As a smart man, even if he was extremely furious, there were many other ways for him to handle things instead of directly beating someone to disability.

It's not that he shouldn't retaliate, but taking actions that would implicate himself was very much unlike someone like Wu Lei. As for Zhang Lin running away, there wasn't much surprise.

She was the reason why they decided not to get too close with Wu Lei in the first place.

Hearing what happened to his parents, Wu Xiaohua seemed to have gotten used to it already.

Head lowered, he let go of Pei Jing's legs, quietly standing aside without a word, not refuting anything said about his parents.

Pei Jing turned to the silent Wu Xiaohua and let out a helpless sigh. He walked forward a few steps. "May I have a word with you two?"

Even if what they said was true, saying bad things about someone's parents in front of a child must have been psychologically damaging.

The red sleeve badge man followed Pei Jing to the side. The three of them talked about something. Pei Jing paid to compensate what Wu Xiaohua stole. The two men didn't make things difficult for them. After all, he was just a child, looking very pitiful.

Pei Jing came back and looked at Zhi Xia. "Let's find a place to sit first. I'll go buy some food."

It was only now that Pei Jing found out Wu Xiaohua had stolen two buns from someone. The previous two times were also food, not much in quantity. That was why he wasn't pursued too harshly.

Wu Xiaohua's expression was calm, not like that of a child's. He suddenly bowed deeply to Pei Jing and Zhi Xia. "Thank you for helping me. I'll head home now."

He turned and ran off without giving them a chance to respond.

"What's going on?" Zhi Xia looked at Pei Jing.

"I asked just now. It's as they said. Now there's only Wu Xiaohua left in the Wu family. He probably stole because he was starving badly. What he stole these few times were all food," Pei Jing replied.

Perhaps it was because they were already parents themselves, but they couldn't bear seeing a child suffer.

Moreover, to be fair, it was truly too bad for someone as capable as Wu Lei. But he did beat someone to disability.

"Pei Jing, I remember brother Si mentioning they have nurseries in his town. Should be some around here too right? Can we help Wu Xiaohua?"

"Wu Xiaohua is already over 10. Nurseries take in infants or younger children. He's too old and can take care of himself already. They probably won't accept him," Pei Jing thought for a moment and said, "But the street office should be able to arrange something. If you want to help him, we can go ask."

Since Wu Xiaohua had no parents now, the street office holds responsibility too. Whether due to difficulty in arranging care or lack of advocacy for him, the street office chose to ignore Wu Xiaohua's plight. But if someone were to step up and supervise things, they can't just watch Wu Xiaohua starve. "Alright, let's go ask then." Zhi Xia thought helping someone was just a matter of effort. Who knows, it might save someone's life.

Just as Pei Jing expected, Wu Xiaohua's existence was a huge headache for the street office.

A child his age was the most difficult to arrange care and discipline for without parents.

If he was older, arrangements could still be made to send him to villages in the countryside to fend for himself.

But he was too young for that. And as an only child, he didn't meet policies for being sent away, and had no intentions to go either. That was the dilemma.

After Pei Jing's intervention, the street office agreed to arrange a temporary job for Wu Xiaohua at the city nursery to help take care of the children, with a ￥2 monthly living subsidy and food provided.

Since it was forced charity work, the street office could only guarantee he wouldn't starve.

Even though life had improved compared to previous years, many still couldn't afford enough to eat. Expectations couldn't be too high.

Helping out took up quite a bit of their time. On the bus ride back, Zhi Xia asked Pei Jing, "The street office won't just say that for show and continue ignoring Wu Xiaohua later without anyone following up right?"

As she finished speaking, she yawned and rested her weary head on Pei Jing's shoulder, breathing evenly as she fell asleep.

Pei Jing smiled helplessly at her sleeping face. He adjusted her shoulder so she could lie comfortably on his lap and took off his jacket to cover her in case she got cold.

By the time they returned to town, it was already mid afternoon.

The moment the bus stopped, Zhi Xia opened her eyes to find the other passengers had already gotten off.

Only then did she realize she had been sleeping on Pei Jing's lap. Her face flushed red, wondering if anyone had laughed at them just now.

"We've reached town, let's get off the bus," Pei Jing said as he helped steady Zhi Xia and took back his jacket, "Cold?"

Zhi Xia shook her head. Seeing that his hands weren't icy cold, she touched them, "You know I keep extra clothes in my space. Why didn't you wake me just now? Even lending me your jacket. What if you caught a cold?"

"I'm not that frail. This little chill is nothing to me." During missions, they've endured far colder temperatures, disguising themselves in the snow. That was truly unbearable.

"Let's hurry. Find somewhere discreet first to take out our bikes. The kids must be anxiously waiting for us back home."