In the morning, golden sunlight streams in through the glass windows, and magpies are chirping on the maple branches outside the window.
The little girl at the dinner table was inhaling the pasta with her ears raised.
Hope and Dean, who had just returned from the police station, stood at the door to discuss.
"Dean, I'll leave it to you at 11 a.m. I have to go back to the police station to show off and cooperate with the state government in house searches."
"So the situation in the laboratory was serious last night?" Dean asked, pretending not to know.
Hope narrowed his eyes, "98 security personnel died, and 36 researchers are still missing. Police cars and ambulances went dozens of times."
"There's still no turmoil in the town?"
"That's not true. The employees in the laboratory are all foreigners. They live and eat in the building on weekdays and have zero communication with the townspeople. This incident has little impact on the locals. At most, it will increase the conversation after dinner."
Dean asked, "Is Dr. Martin Brenner still here?"
"He and a group of researchers left in a helicopter with an unknown destination." Hope shook his head solemnly, "Then people from the state government and Grissom Air Force Base blocked the laboratory and the surrounding area. The work they sent The personnel are all wearing anti-epidemic suits, and there must be some secrets hidden in the laboratory."
"Perhaps this is one of the purposes of the Sulian attack." Dean thought of the crack.
"Are you going out?" The little girl who was eavesdropping put down her fork and interrupted the discussion. She had a good rest last night. Her fair face was full of energy and her big eyes were dark and bright. Although her expression was still reserved, she was no longer Like yesterday, my whole body was so tense that I almost fainted.
"Hope is going out. I'll be at home with you in the morning."
"Then can you take me out for a walk later?" 11 held his hands in front of his chest.
"Your father is looking for you everywhere. It's too conspicuous during the day. Let's go out to watch the moon at night."
11 turned around and looked at the golden sun outside the window. He poked the noodles on the plate reluctantly, but nodded out of fear for his father.
"Don't worry, you won't be bored at home," Dean pointed to the TV in the living room, "You can watch as many cartoons as you like today."
"What is a cartoon?" 11 blinked his innocent eyes,
"Is there a stone in the chest of the researcher in the laboratory? How can he be so cruel that he forbids children from watching TV? This is crime and abuse!" Hope yelled, then restrained his anger and stretched out his hand, "Come on, 11, take a look Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”
11 looked at the rough, calloused palms in front of him that were three times the size of his own. He hesitated for a second, did not reach out, but jumped off the chair and walked to him.
Hope smiled awkwardly, led her to the sofa opposite the TV, and taught her how to use the remote control.
Then he touched her head and returned to the police station in the center of the town.
And Dean looked at Eleven who was intoxicated in the cartoon, thinking about how to further improve the progress of "Caged Bird"——
Just hide 11 for a month, and the progress of the incident will be 100% at best.
But he is no longer satisfied with this. He wants to achieve the 200% completion rate like the last Joshua incident - and then select 11 powerful superpowers from the reward list!
"Can I gain additional event progress by making Eleven happy, fulfilling her wishes, and then training her?"
"You can try it."
11 watched the cartoon attentively, with his eyes fixed on the screen the whole time. Except for occasionally frowning and showing a trace of doubt, his expression almost did not change, and he did not laugh when he saw the funny points in the cartoon.
"11, if you don't understand anything, you can ask me."
Dean couldn't help but speak.
"kindness."
"You can laugh if you think it's funny."
"ah."
"You want to grow your hair long, just like Alice. Do you want to be a princess?"
"What is a princess?" 11 raised his head in confusion,
"It's quite similar to you, but the princess lives in the castle, and you used to live in the laboratory."
Dean had been trying to get closer to the little girl all morning and help her open up, but progress was slow.
She has been hurt a lot, so she has built a strong psychological defense for herself.
But Dean wasn't in a hurry.
…
In the afternoon, Hope returned to the ancestral home to change shifts and happily became a part-time dad.
Dean drove back to town, and first went home to say hello to his uncle, announcing that he had been busy recently and would not go home at night.
Paquet keenly noticed a problem and looked at him suspiciously.
"What happened in Hawkins Lab last night has nothing to do with you, right?"
"I don't even know where the laboratory is, so what happened to it?" Dean asked innocently,
"I heard from my boss that he was attacked."
Dean said angrily, "Can you please stop thinking of me as a terrorist!"
Paquet stared at him for several seconds. Seeing that his expression remained unchanged, he sighed and lit a cigarette.
"It's fine if it's not you. Dean, actually I no longer want you to risk finding Lena and Guangming. I believe they do the same. You should live a healthy and happy life now, marry a wife as soon as possible, and help pass on the family lineage!"
"You're not even married to Teacher Kelly Chen, how dare I get ahead of you?" Dean snatched the cigarette from Paqui's hand and put it out, "Stop talking, let's go, get my aunt down early!"
Dean drove away, looking at Paquet's slightly worried back in the window, and secretly decided not to let him get involved in his parents' affairs.
It was too dangerous for him when it came to the supernatural.
…
A small supermarket in town.
"Hi, Dean..." Joyce brushed her hair. She still looked haggard and thin, wearing a slightly sloppy denim jacket, with thick dark circles on her face, and a faint smell of tobacco in her mouth.
"Hi, Joyce, Jonathan, Will, Dustin...what are you going to do?" Dean looked around and saw several familiar figures crowded in front of the counter to check out, wearing colorful swimsuits and trunks. , with a swimming ring.
"The weather is too hot. Let's go to the river to cool down, come?" Jonathan enthusiastically hugged Dean's shoulders, his expression a little more cheerful than before. Apparently the courageous shooting method Dean taught him had some effect.
Dean smiled, but before he could answer, Dustin, whose cheeks were a little rounder, passed from behind Will and looked over with admiration and gratitude.
"Man... Thanks to your help, I have started treatment again. The doctor said that the teeth will grow in about a year. Let's go swimming together. I want to talk to you about 'psychic magic' again."
"Come on." Will and Mike helped shyly, holding their shoulders.
"If you don't like swimming, we are going to go to the school audio-visual club to listen to the FM radio later, and then ride a bicycle around the lake..." Lucas showed a hearty smile like an athlete's, with teeth so white that they shined under his dark skin. ,
"I can provide free bicycles here." Joyce helped these children with a smile.
"I'm flattered by your enthusiasm, but unfortunately, I have a friend from out of town who is here, and I have to go shopping with her. Maybe next time."
Dean refused again and touched his chin again.
Bicycles are quite suitable for children.
…
Dean bought a bunch of candies, biscuits, drinks, fruits, and Four Seasons pizza... and filled half the trunk with Joyce's 10% discount.
Then I drove to the next town hundreds of kilometers away and bought a children's version of a red Lightning bicycle.
In the evening, get off the bus at the ancestral home.
Dean saw a ladder set up outside the house, and Hope was standing on it, raising a hammer and knocking on the ceiling of the corridor.
"What are you doing?" Dean lifted the 20kg snack bag with his left hand, picked up the children's bicycle with his right hand and put it in the corner of the yard.
"There used to be a set of monitoring equipment in the house but I didn't have time to install it," Hope said. "Now that 11 is here, I just installed it today to add a little more security to my home."
Dean nodded. He didn't expect this.
"Where's 11?"
"She was completely obsessed with watching TV. No child can resist the temptation of television."
Hope hammered the nail into the board with a bang.
When Dean entered the house, he saw Eleven sitting on the sofa in the living room with his legs curled up, holding a bag of potato chips in his arms, stuffing the potato chips into his mouth like an automatic feeder with his right hand, staring at it without blinking. Alice in Wonderland cartoon.
A green caterpillar on the screen was spitting out the sentence "Who are you" with a smoke ring, and she finally laughed out loud.
Smiling, a pile of broken potato chips fell from his hand, staining his jeans.
Dean, who was standing behind her and observing, sighed to himself, this little sloppy little slut has the talent of a homebody.
"Does it look good?"
"It's nice...ah, Dean, you're back."
"Sit still and keep looking at you. I bought something."
While the little girl was stunned, Dean dropped a large bag of assorted snacks at her feet.
"Eat whatever you want."
…
After finishing the snacks, Hope and Dean prepared a sumptuous barbecue in the evening.
11 It felt like these two days were so perfect that it was unreal. Not only did she leave her cage-like "home", but she also said goodbye to her father who repeatedly deceived her and claimed to be for her own good and for her sake, but kept ordering her to participate in various painful experiments. , bid farewell to the group of adults who looked at her with creepy eyes all day long.
I also saw the outside world, maple trees, grass, sun, and moon.
She moved to a strange new home, where the air was full of freedom and sweetness, and there were Dean and Hope who would never force her or order him around.
There are funny cartoons that make her laugh out loud, and she laughs more today than she has in the past nine years combined.
In addition, she also tasted chocolate, pizza, pasta, barbecue...all kinds of delicacies that she had never tasted before.
A new, wonderful world unfolds before your eyes.
She couldn't help being happy, but she couldn't express it. She could only lie blankly on the chair on the terrace, blowing the cool night breeze, and caressing her belly that was filled with barbecue.
The oily little face at the corner of the mouth was slightly red by the charcoal fire of the oven, and he looked dazed.
"11...Eat more. Girls of your age are growing up, so they need to eat more meat." Hope waved his hand and took another half-palm-sized piece that was sizzling with oil, exuding honey and chili. , onions and other fragrant beef tenderloin are placed on the 11 plate.
"No," 11 shook his head, "I can't eat it."
"Eat more, you are too thin now, understand."
"Okay, Hope, you want her to turn into a chubby girl overnight?"
Dean thought of the puppies raised by his grandma.
"Take your time, let's go, 11, go out for a walk to eat...and try the gift I prepared for you."
…
Hope cleans up the mess after the barbecue.
Dean carried the bicycle and led the anxious and excited 11 to the backyard of the house.
The sun has set, and night falls.
The moonlight illuminates the broad green lawn and maple trees like water.
11 opened her hands, took a deep breath under the moonlight, and ran around in small steps. The red T-shirt made her look like a flame moving against the grass.
"Do you like it here?"
She nodded heavily.
"Then if you want to stay, remember that if an adult approaches you in the future, go home and hide immediately and tell me or Hope." Dean warned sternly,
"Is it because... they want to send me back to my dad's house?"
"Yes, this hiding situation will only improve when you grow up a little or gain the ability to protect yourself."
11 He rolled on the grass, buried his face in the grass, and breathed in the smell of earth.
"Then I have to hide when I meet... someone as old as me?"
"The kid you're referring to? It's best if you can hide away. If you can't hide, don't reveal your identity. Don't let anyone see this tattoo." Dean grabbed her left wrist, opened her sleeve and took a look at the serial number. "So I have a new name for you, Jane, J, A, N, E, Jane."
"Jane?" The little girl's pale eyebrows were tangled together. She felt that the name was familiar for some reason. Then she nodded and knelt on the grass and looked up at him like a little rabbit. "I remember, I will be called Jane from now on." ,simple…"
"Very well, 11, remember this name."
"My name is Jane..."
"Perfect, come here now, I will teach you how to ride a bicycle..."
…
Dean carried Jane onto the red children's bicycle, with her feet spread on both sides.
"Grab the handle, push on the ground, and ride the bike forward..."
"ah!"
Just two steps out, Jane screamed and fell forward.
"Get up Jane, don't hold the handle tightly, just put it lightly on it. That's the brake, you know? If you hold it tightly, the wheels will stop turning, and you can't slide. Continue."
"kindness."
Jane successfully slid ten meters this time, lost her balance again, widened her eyes in horror, forced her foot to brake, and then made a pop.
Grass clippings are flying.
The body flew off the bike.
The small cheeks are in close contact with the big grass.
But this time he didn't wait for Dean to speak.
She gritted her teeth and got up on her own.
Dean was surprised and continued to guide.
Turn with both feet on the ground.
Then push on one foot and slide...
He slowly saw some of Jane's qualities,
Because he was locked up in the laboratory for a long time and lacked physical exercise, his limbs were extremely uncoordinated and his balance ability was poor.
But she also has advantages. She has experienced dark rooms, electric shocks, and sensory deprivation tank experiments at a young age. She has stronger willpower than her peers, and she has a lot of stubbornness in her small body.
…
She kept pushing the bike, sliding, falling, and getting up again...
The cycle continued, a few bruises appeared on his cheeks and arms, his breathing became heavier, and sweat filled his forehead.
But he gritted his teeth and didn't complain the whole time.
Two and a half hours later.
finally,
At one point, she stepped hard on the floor with her right foot, and then stepped on the pedals with both feet regularly.
She has the balance!
He slid along a twenty-meter straight line on the grass, then turned a corner and rode in the opposite direction toward the teacher who had his hands folded across his chest in the distance.
She was riding a bicycle, feeling the coolness of the air passing over her skin, and excitement and smile appeared in her eyes.
A sense of fun and excitement that I have never experienced before arises spontaneously.
…
Dean noticed her smile and nodded in relief.
The event progress jumped by 5% at this moment, jumping to 37%.
"It is indeed effective. If this continues, the progress will definitely exceed 100%."
This is a good start.
Taught her to ride a bicycle and made her feel happy.
Then it would be logical to train and study her superpowers in the future.
He won't be regarded as another father by her.
but now--
Dean took out the photo of Lena and Guangming from his arms and looked at it under the moonlight.
…
"Dean, I made it!"
Jane stopped the bicycle in front of him, shook off the glistening sweat on her forehead, her face was full of joy,
"Well done, you're smarter than I expected."
Jane nodded and followed his gaze curiously, "What are you looking at?"
"Photos of my parents." Dean said, pretending to be sad. "They taught me how to ride a bicycle when I was a kid, so I think of them."
The dusty memories in Jane's mind surged, and she looked in a daze, "What happened to them?"
"They disappeared many years ago, and they only left me this photo." Dean looked at Jane, with an inexplicable look in his eyes, and said with emotion, "I wish I could find them, even if someone can give me some of them." The news is also good.”
Jane clenched and unclenched her fists, lowered her face and said nothing, her eyes struggling.
Dean knew what was going on. She was currently averse to using super powers, so she patted the other party on the head.
"Hiss...it hurts."
"Don't be reckless and injure yourself in the future. Stop and take a rest when you can't stand it anymore." Dean picked her up on the bike and pushed her away. "You have to express your feelings. Don't hide everything." ,Understand?"
"Yeah." Jane nodded.
"Ahem..." On the other side, the police sergeant who had finished clearing the tableware staggered over from the guardrail, rubbed his hands, glanced at the two of them, and said hesitantly, "Actually, I took the Hawkins Town Huanhu Lake Cycling champion, is there such an honor to be the teacher of 11?”
Dean looked at the cautious expectation in his eyes and very generously pushed the bicycle carrying 11 to him.
Hope smiled with relief and looked at the little girl expectantly, "Sit tight, 11?"
"Well, my name is Jane now!"
"Let's go, Jane!" The police chief pushed the little girl around the yard.
"Ha ha!"
Hope's long-lost laughter rang out under the moonlight, and he smiled like a child.
(End of chapter)
