area51novel Chapter 78 Envisioning the Future
Chapter 78 Envisioning the Future
Chapter 78 Envisioning the Future
Zheng En, who was shopping with several other children, happened to hear the last part of the conversation, and a hint of guilt flashed across her face.
Fortunately, the children's attention was not on him. Seeing the noisy mess inside, Casey rushed over and snatched the remote control. "What are you looking at? Hurry up and help with the cooking."
The children made mournful noises, but their bodies moved obediently, gathering around Zheng En, some taking things and others tidying up the area.
Zheng En would come here from time to time to cook a good meal for the children, and they had gotten used to helping out. Although his cooking skills were limited to making simple stews like hot pot, the children never complained.
More than the delicious food, they preferred the feeling of eating with Jung Eun. Even though they had the ingredients and cooking utensils and could cook by themselves, there was always something different about eating together as a group.
The donations raised at the charity gala need to go through the relevant legal procedures before they can be transferred to the foundation's account. Before that, the children will have to stay in the cabin for a while longer.
When Zheng En mentioned the socialization project for homeless children that day, the children had different attitudes and reactions, but it was certain that some of them were very interested in it.
Whether with anticipation or nervousness, after subconsciously dismissing the proposal's feasibility, some couldn't help but reconsider, "What if it were true?"
Can they really live like other children, with enough to eat and wear, without worrying about their next meal?
Whether or not they read books or go to school is secondary; most children have no concept of the future at all. With those around them possibly dying at any moment, they can hardly even think about what will happen next year or later.
After all, no one knows how many people will die this winter, or whether this year's companions will still be around next year.
For them, thinking too far ahead only brings pain and unnecessary worries. They worry about whether they might lose their lives to a cold or a fire before they even die in winter.
A hungry person only thinks about what to eat next, not what to do in the future.
Of all the things Zheng En said, their biggest concern was the food.
"Will we be able to eat every meal once that homeless children project is implemented?" Casey asked, holding her bowl and taking small bites with a spoon.
Although their meals had improved a lot with Zheng En around, the days of uncertainty had lasted far too long, to the point that hunger had seeped into their very bones. Even as she held a bowl of fragrant rice porridge in her hands, she still felt uneasy.
Tonight's dinner is a pot of steaming hot savory porridge, which is still a mixed stew. There are green vegetables and marinated beef that Zheng En put in, hot dogs that Jason put in, hot pot meatballs that Casey put in, luncheon meat that Da Kou put in, and all sorts of other miscellaneous ingredients.
"Of course, how can we let children go hungry?" Zheng Enping adhered to the traditional Chinese philosophy that no matter how hard life is, we should not let children suffer, and no matter how poor we are, we should not neglect education.
While the latter is questionable in America, since even top industry talents can fall below the cutoff line at any time, the consensus is that reading more books opens up more paths, regardless of how fragile those paths may be.
The former is an essential goal that must be achieved.
They keep saying they want to reintegrate homeless children into society, but if they can't even solve their basic needs, then the foundation might as well just disband.
The children discussed the matter animatedly, and their discussion didn't subside even after Zheng En left.
Lying on the bed, Missing Tooth was still suspicious. She tossed and turned, unable to sleep, so she nudged Casey next to her and said, "You stinky rat, didn't you think that was unreliable? That homeless children's socialization project?"
They didn't have beds in the real sense; they just laid wooden planks on the ground, and everyone lay on a large communal bed, huddled together.
Zheng En considered changing their beds, but the room was too small to fit them. So she could only change their mattresses and sheets. Before that, they had been keeping warm by using clothes and sheets that they found from various places.
"But I believe in our leader!"
Casey didn't sleep either. Ever since Zheng En said he would come to see them, she changed how she addressed him, and the other kids followed her in calling him "boss." "Although we don't really trust that rich fool, the boss won't hurt us."
"But what you said that day was so serious, about child labor and cults, it sounded so scary." Missing tooth didn't understand these things, but as a child who had been wandering in the East District for so long, she knew a little bit about them.
Jason and his friends weren't exaggerating. Child labor, pedophilia, cults—these are all real problems that exist in the corners of the city. Besides, Casey was a child who escaped from the red-light district.
"Will they control us like gangsters?" The man with the missing tooth was still shaken after only catching a glimpse of the corner. "I've seen people who were arrested and taken away to pay off their fathers' debts. He cried so pitifully when he was dragged away."
She swallowed hard. "—Not long after, I saw his body on the street, covered in maggots."
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"That's the worst-case scenario. Actually, Wayne is a good guy."
From a distance came Smart Egg's voice. He was sleeping between Big Guy and Jason, two or three seats away from the girls. "They built the subway that connects us to the Upper East Side."
He was one of the few children among them who knew many words. Before his family fell into poverty, he had attended a private elementary school. He had read a lot of books and knew a lot. "The East Side is like garbage in the eyes of the rich, it has no value. But the Wayne couple seemed to want to make this city better."
"I don't understand those big principles, but I remember they used Wayne's insignia when they used to get food."
Jason didn't know what that meant before, but he remembered the letter "W" and that he had to take the subway to get the supplies. The East Side was a gang-controlled area, and no organization would risk opening a shelter there.
—Before Bruce Wayne arrived here in the Foundation's car.
"So, is Wayne someone I can trust?"
"Can we really—live a life where we have enough to eat and wear, and don't have to worry about our next meal?" Zama asked uncertainly, lying in the middle so everyone could hear her.
There was a moment of silence in the room, then a child quickly replied in a cheerful tone.
"No matter what, I believe in the boss."
Jason knew Zheng En's real name and didn't want to call him by a fake name, so he called him "boss" just like his children did. "Like the rat said, he won't hurt us."
"Exactly!" Casey chimed in. "We're only able to eat our fill because of our boss; otherwise, I'd still be stealing things on the street."
The scruffy-haired man questioned, "Don't you have any now?"
Their words caused the other children to burst into laughter, filling the room with a joyful atmosphere.
"Well, the worst that can happen is that we'll go back to how things were before. What's there to be afraid of?" The dark-skinned Marcus rested his head on his hand, the big guy stammering, "I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid."
"This kind of life already feels like a dream —"
The soft murmur of their conversation gradually subsided as sleepiness set in; this was the first time they had begun to imagine what the future might look like.
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