"They say a child is like a blank sheet of paper."
"Teach them good, and they will know good; teach them evil, and they will learn evil."
"But that child made me doubt this belief."
"Perhaps, there are children whose hearts are inherently black."
Aunt Liang sighed deeply, glanced at the three of them, and quickly stood up.
"Look at me, I've forgotten to pour you some water."
"Aunt, no need to trouble yourself, please continue with your story."
Everyone quickly waved their hands, inviting Aunt Liang to sit down again.
"That was over a decade ago, when there wasn't Red Moon Kindergarten, only the Red Moon Welfare Home. I worked there as a life teacher, responsible for taking care of the children's daily needs. I was always someone who loved children, until I met those two kids."
Aunt Liang narrowed her eyes, lost in her memories.
The head of the Red Moon Welfare Home was surnamed Hong, a retired teacher who had dedicated his entire life to children.
Before retirement, he taught and nurtured students in the classroom.
After retirement, he rescued various orphaned and abandoned children at the welfare home.
Although the welfare home was not large, under the leadership of Director Hong, it was always filled with warmth and love, providing many children with a sense of family.
One day, Director Hong brought back a pair of twin siblings.
'Little Liang, these two children's parents died in a car accident. They are very pitiful, so you need to take good care of them.'
The two children were only seven or eight years old, looking particularly obedient and adorable. Holding hands, each clutching a doll, they huddled together, their big eyes filled with confusion and unease, evoking sympathy from anyone who saw them.
Aunt Liang felt a deep compassion for the two children and took on the responsibility of caring for them.
But perhaps the death of their parents had dealt them a blow too great, and these twins, a boy and a girl, never liked to talk, nor did they play with other children.
They were solitary and unsociable.
They cherished those dolls more than anything else.
Once, a child, out of curiosity, wanted to see their dolls, but was pushed down the stairs by them.
Fortunately, a teacher was nearby and managed to catch the child in time, preventing any injury.
The teacher scolded them sternly, but they remained silent, offered no apology, which infuriated the teacher.
In fact, many children who first come to the orphanage are like this, filled with wariness towards people and things.
Aunt Liang was very patient and naively believed that by being extra good to them, they would, under the loving atmosphere of the orphanage, gradually let go of their pain and become cheerful and vivacious.
However, these beautiful twins showed no appreciation, remaining cold towards everyone.
Principal Hong spoke to them many times, whether it was to praise, comfort, or criticize, but nothing worked.
Instead, they went out of their way to play pranks and tease their classmates and teachers.
They put caterpillars on the teacher's desk, tore up their classmates' homework, and even deliberately soiled their classmates' clothes.
Even when kind-hearted people came to the welfare home for adoption, they deliberately made trouble by putting mouse droppings in the tea, causing the adoption to fail.
Such behavior occurred almost every day, leaving the teachers at their wits' end.
At first, Aunt Liang could still excuse them, saying that they were not yet adjusted to the environment.
But as the frequency of such incidents increased over time, Aunt Liang also lost her patience.
Some teachers said that some children are just inherently bad.
It is said that the parents of those children were criminals who died in a car accident while on the run.
Evil genes can be inherited.
These two children are simply born bad, little devils!
However, President Hong did not agree with this view.
He believed that with enough time and patience, even the most unruly child could be reformed. So, he began to personally teach the pair of twins.
But things turned out to be exactly the opposite of what he imagined.
The twins showed no signs of improvement; their behavior, in fact, became more and more outrageous.
At night, they would deliberately scream and run around the corridors, keeping everyone awake all night. Cutting up other children's clothes and spilling their milk were just daily occurrences.
What was frightening was that after being reprimanded by President Hong, they harbored resentment.
They actually scattered marbles and nails on the ground, causing President Hong to trip and get pricked by the nails.
They even set fire to President Hong's dormitory, attempting to burn him alive!
If it weren't for a teacher on duty who discovered the fire in time, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
The teacher on duty was furious and decided to punish them with a ruler, but the twins went berserk, kicking, punching, and biting the teacher, scaring the teacher so much that they didn't dare to approach for a while.
After many years, Aunt Liang still remembered that day's scene very clearly, because she had never seen such a malevolent expression on the children's faces before.
Those children genuinely wished for Director Hong to die.
The orphanage had been so good to them; everyone was putting in their utmost effort. Yet, in return, they only got more of their bad behavior.
Everyone was exhausted, both physically and mentally, and felt that the children were too dangerous. They all advised Director Hong to send them away.
But Director Hong wanted to give it another try. He called the two children to his office separately and wanted to have a serious talk with them.
But what no one expected was...
It was this kindness that cost him his life.
"None of us knew what Director Hong said to them that day. When he opened the door, he was very happy, and those children also showed rare smiles. Everyone thought they were really going to change for the better."
"But what no one expected was that, as they were going downstairs, the children suddenly grabbed Director Hong's legs, pulling him down the stairs with them..."
Aunt Liang took a deep breath, her eyes revealing grief, anger, and confusion.
"The teachers were heartbroken, some left, others scattered, and the remaining children were sent elsewhere. Just like that, a perfectly good welfare home was gone."
"After I left, I never worked with children again."
"Because I didn't know what kind of malice was hidden behind their innocent eyes."
"Director Hong went through great hardships, trying to steer those children back on the right path, but in the end, he was killed by them."
After listening to Aunt Liang's story, everyone fell silent.
"Maybe they were evil spirits reincarnated, born to bring disaster to this world." After a long while, Jing Jian shook his head and said.
Guo Yu became even more worried, "Aunt Liang, those ghost dolls are them, right? You said they had dolls in their hands when they came to the welfare home!"
"The welfare home was left empty for many years, and later it was converted into a kindergarten. A teacher found a pair of dolls on the ground and thought they were accidentally dropped by a child, so she placed them in the kindergarten."
"Later, strange things often happened at the kindergarten. Someone said they saw a pair of children in red clothes, and I knew it was them."
Aunt Liang frowned deeply.
"Born a bad seed, even in death it doesn't rest, specifically harming children!"
"Over the years, several children have gone missing in the area. If they're lucky, they can be found at the kindergarten, but if they're not..."