The next day Gao Han drove little Su to the academy as usual. After the chess lessons and a quick lunch of beef fried rice, he took her to Sunshine Children's Palace. One adult and one child followed Feng Mian's aide to find Su Lin's room. They took the elevator to the third floor of the main residence, finally stopping before a heavy wood door inscribed with the number 32.
"This will be your room from now on. Each room is assigned to four kids. There's no distinction by gender until age 10. There's an attached bath but no kitchen. You can eat your meals in the canteen, or use the common kitchen. Here's your key. I'll be going now," the aide explained and then left immediately.
Gao Han knocked on the door, and hearing no response, he used the key to open it. It was a medium-sized room with two bunk beds, two sets of desks and chairs, an empty bookcase and a closet. Although three of the beds were messy, the rest of the room was more or less clean. The bathroom looked like it needed a fresh coat of paint, but it was clean as well. Wondering where the roommates were, he quickly helped little Su put her clothes in the closet and arrange the rest of the things on the desk and the bookshelf. He put the comforter he had brought from Su Lin's previous home on her bed.
Finally, they were done. "Little Su, this will be your home from now on. If you need anything, just ask the head lady Feng Mian. I will come to pick you up tomorrow morning at 8:30AM to take you to the academy. Make sure you have your breakfast before that. Remember to get along with your roommates." Exhorting Su Lin to take care of herself several times, Gao Han left. In truth, this was the first time in several days that he was feeling relieved. Although little Su was a quiet child, as a man with no experience on this front, he was very stressed from looking after her 24/7. These days, he hadn't been able to smoke at leisure, or take out his cans of beer at home, or hang out in the bars late at night. It had been very tiring. He could at last have some time to himself.
Left alone, little Su climbed on top of her bunk bed and began training her puzzle-solving skills on the chess app. Time passed in silence until a hoarse voice interrupted her: "Who are you? What are you doing in our room?" She looked up to find that at some point, the door had opened and now three kids were standing before her. Two identical boys and a girl. All three were thin and gaunt, and though the clothes they wore were clean, they were tattered from overuse. Right now, the three were staring at Su Lin very cautiously.