Chapter 52

052

Humans were creatures with very strong powers of imitation.

He had previously appeared numb to any changes in the outside world, as if utterly oblivious, because everyone around him was the same.

Now, in the once-silent house, a little sticky bun who could cry and laugh—and who needed to be held to sleep every day—had suddenly appeared. Although 242 did not immediately turn into the same, he was still stirred into ripples.

He did not know what was wrong with him, but he just felt uncomfortable, distressed. This discomfort was different from the pain of an injured arm, leaving him at a loss for what to do. He wanted to endure it silently as before, but he still could not help stomping harder on the pebble underfoot.

It was not until his own little yellow flower was handed to him that this uncomfortable feeling strangely subsided a great deal, leaving only a tiny bit behind.

242 lifted his foot and spared the pebble beneath it, then touched the petals of the flower in his hand.

The delicate yellow petals trembled lightly at his touch, causing even the stamen to quiver along with them.

If it had been before, even after stepping on countless such flowers with his feet, 242 would not have cared.

Or rather, he would not have noticed these flowers at all.

Just like in the many years past, he had never known that in the city, besides the gray metal houses, there were such colors.

The flower trembled lightly at his touch, so 242 withdrew his hand and did not touch it again.

243 held the second flower he had ever received in his life, while his other hand held the hand of the little brother who had given it to him, and he ran up the small sand dune once more.

Wanting to fit in with his big brothers, Su Ximu picked another flower for himself after handing out the three.

At this moment, he and the little brother each held a flower in one hand as they sat side by side on the sand dune.

Afraid that Big Brother and Second Brother would be led by the little brother to roll down the sand dune again, the little guy specially got up before playing on the playground slide with him. He took Big Brother and Second Brother by the hand and had them sit down too.

After arranging Big Brother and Second Brother, Su Ximu sat back in his spot. When he noticed the little brother looking at him, he immediately nodded and pointed forward with his little hand. “We go!”

The next second, 243 got a push from underfoot and slid down fast with his butt nearly sparking from friction.

241 stood unmoving like a mountain but was pulled along by the force and slid down with him. At least he did not roll this time.

As 242 slid, he noticed the flower in his hand trembling again. He slowly raised his other hand to block the wind blowing straight at his face.

On the contrary, Su Ximu, the little friend who had given the command, ended up last. He slid slowly and even stopped halfway because he had no push.

The little guy awkwardly stood up, cleared his throat lightly, and pretended nothing had happened.

But the next time they slid, he discovered that the little brother had precisely stopped at the halfway point of the sand dune this time too.

Perhaps because he had never experienced any entertainment before, even just a small sand dune to slide down kept 243 playing tirelessly.

The constant running up and down made his heart pound wildly. By the end, as 243 slid down from the sand dune again while panting, he suddenly shouted, “Ah!”

“Ah!”

“Aah!”

It was as if an excess of joy had built up in his chest, making him dizzy and unsure how to release it, so he could only shout instinctively.

They played like this until naptime in the early afternoon, but 243 still seemed extremely reluctant to stop. He even lay flat on the ground, looking like he wanted to nap right there.

Unfortunately, he did not succeed.

He had been able to drag his two brothers out.

Similarly, if Big Brother wanted to drag him somewhere, he could not resist.

241’s biological clock was already fixed. At this time, he felt they had to take a nap.

243 had been full of energy when he came out, but he was just as disheveled when dragged back.

He sat on the ground wailing and throwing a tantrum. When pushed, he could even say a couple words: “No! No!”

But the result of his resistance was only being dragged along the ground by Big Brother, leaving a long trail of sand behind his butt.

Seeing the little brother like this, Su Ximu pursed his lips and very obediently ran forward to hold Second Brother’s hand.

He had to go home for his nap too.

Such joyful playtime had many, many benefits.

At the very least, the next day when 243 wanted to go out again, he no longer had to drag his two brothers forward.

But such activities also had one drawback that was hard to ignore.

They consumed a lot of energy.

District 13 stipulated that residents could only go to the Feeding Tube once every two days to fill their bellies halfway.

The administrator would not let the residents under his jurisdiction eat fully, because based on experiences from long ago, fully fed residents were always harder to manage.

With enough energy, they might want more and even try to think.

Thinking—what a terrifying word. It could only be possessed by certain people.

So, by the time they could head to the Feeding Tube again for a refill, everyone in the family except Su Ximu was already starving with stars in their eyes and legs weak and powerless.

Even so, that morning, 243 still wanted to try going out to play.

But as soon as he stepped out the door, he plopped down onto the ground.

He had exerted himself the most over these two days, so naturally his legs gave out the fastest.

Bewildered, 243 tried to crawl toward the sand dune to continue playing with his little brother: “Go, go…”

Instead, Su Ximu, who was even younger, squatted down, waved his hands, and coaxed him. “No, no.”

“Little brother, tummy, hungry.” Afraid the little brother still did not understand, he even rubbed his own belly and gestured.

He now understood that his brothers seemed different from him.

For example, he did not have a long chain on his wrist. For example, his brothers could not walk straight out of the wall. And for example, his brothers needed to eat or they would get hungry.

Su Ximu only knew that every time his brothers ate, they went out together.

He had once wanted to follow and see, but his brother probably thought that pressing his forehead last time to push him back and keep him from going out had been the right thing to do. So afterward, no matter what group activity, they did not let him come along.

Last week when his brothers went to bathe, they had not let him go either.

Seeing his little brother rub his belly, 243 rubbed his own belly too. Feeling the undeniable hunger, he still thought going to the sand dune was more important and stubbornly looked in that direction.

Only because his little brother had told him no did he refrain from acting.

On the contrary, 242’s eyes rarely showed a glimmer of contemplation.

But before going out again, he still pressed against the little guy’s forehead and slowly pushed him back inside the house.

Second Brother’s push was very light; Su Ximu did not feel any pain at all. He was starting to see this as Second Brother’s habitual farewell gesture before heading out.

Just like waving goodbye.

After settling the youngest little brother, the three brothers set off once more toward the Feeding Tube.

District 13’s Feeding Tube looked at first glance like another large smokestack.

White paste-like substance flowed out from the thick pipe, then evenly distributed into rows of horizontally placed feeding troughs.

There was a foot pedal under each feeding trough. Stepping on it dispensed one portion of food.

On the vast grounds, besides the residents coming to eat, there was only one administrator overseeing.

Yet even with just one administrator—who merely patrolled between the feeding troughs from time to time—he managed to keep all these people in perfect order.

Just like docile sheep herded by a sheepdog.

Even two or three sheep banding together could easily trample a lone sheepdog to death with their hooves.

But no sheep chose to do so.

They were born to be controlled by the sheepdog.

241 waited in line with his brothers for a long time until even his steps grew unsteady, as if he might faint the next second.

Finally, a spot opened up in the row of feeding troughs behind them.

241 stood in front of the feeding trough, stepped on the pedal below it, and a portion of paste for him was dispensed. He immediately lowered his head and wolfed it down.

After he finished, it was 242’s turn.

The boy stood in front of the feeding trough and looked for a moment. Unlike every time before, he did not immediately stick his head into the trough.

Instead, he first looked ahead, then lowered his head and pulled out his small bucket from the wide robe. He quickly stepped on the pedal once.

The white paste-like substance—barely qualifying as nutrient liquid—that flowed from the Feeding Tube was caught in the small bucket before it even reached the feeding trough.

After filling it, 242 hid the small bucket back in his robe and stepped on the pedal again.

It was a very simple action, yet almost a great discovery and invention.

The next second, the white nutrient liquid filled the feeding trough again.

242 lowered his head and ate.

After he finished, it was 243’s turn to eat.

At that moment, the administrator passed by behind the three. 242’s face remained expressionless, not even twitching.

The administrator’s steps did not pause in the slightest.

Once 243 finished eating too, 242 stepped forward again and caught another portion of nutrient liquid. Until the small bucket was nearly full.

241’s gaze shifted slightly. Seeing the administrator coming back, he draped his sleeve over the corner of the small bucket that was peeking out.

243 also saw Second Brother’s action, but he stayed silent.

The three brothers thus smuggled a whole small bucket of nutrient liquid out of the feeding area.

Back home, after closing the door, 242 pulled out the small bucket that had been hidden under his wide sleeve upon seeing the little guy run toward the sound as usual. He placed it in front of the little guy and reached out to rub his belly.

“Brother, what is this?” The little friend whose belly was rubbed blinked curiously.

What?

243 already understood the meaning of that word.

He reached out, pushed the small bucket forward a bit, patted his half-full belly, and spat out two words: “Hungry, eat!”

Su Ximu understood too.

So this was the stuff his brothers went out to eat every time.

Although he did not need to eat and never got hungry, when the food was truly placed in front of him, the little guy could not help but feel tempted.

But how to eat such a big bucket?

The little guy looked left and right but found no spoon or other utensils.

The little brother said “eat” to him again.

With no other choice, Su Ximu leaned his little face to the edge of the bucket and tried slurping a mouthful.

Mm…

This taste…

The little guy shuddered all over after forcing down a mouthful of nutrient liquid. He lunged forward and hugged his brother’s waist, on the verge of tears again.

He knew it—this world really did have big bad guys!

Even the food was made this bad!