bayedsolid Chapter 495 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (106)
Chapter 495 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (106)
Chapter 495 "Infecting the World" Male Mother (106)
The key is that his love for his work seems to be ingrained in his bones, so natural that Lu Liruan couldn't figure out where his energy and spirit came from.
He not only expressed his enthusiasm for his work, but also showed a strong desire to learn. Before long, he began to discuss with Lu Liruan her experiences in the previous space.
Lu Liruan: ? ?
He studied hard, but I really don't want to recall it.
Liao Tingyuan noticed Lu Liruan's pleading look and slightly curled the corners of his mouth. He said to Yan Muyu, "I put the report on the boss's desk. You can go and take a look."
Yan Muyu then let Lu Liruan go and happily went to read the report.
As soon as he went upstairs, the entire first floor fell silent. Lu Liruan even had the illusion that the place was even more spacious.
Fang Mingzheng glanced at the direction of the stairs and lowered her voice: "Finally, some peace and quiet..."
An Tang smiled and said, "Sister Fang, you're really amazing."
Lu Liruan didn't quite understand, but then she saw An Tang give a thumbs up and continue, "Of all the people in our unit, only Sister Fang can tolerate him and be his partner. No one else can, they're all annoyed to death by him."
Fang Jie sighed, "I'm so much older than him, sigh... I can't just get angry with a kid, can I?"
"Has he partnered with anyone else before?" Lu Liruan asked curiously.
In recent days, Lu Liruan has also met several other pairs of partners. They all seem to get along very well. Each pair of partners seems to have their own tacit understanding, as if they have been working together for a long time and have a kind of closeness that is different from others.
Lu Liruan couldn't help but wonder if these partnerships were assigned by the unit from the beginning, or were they paired up according to some standard, or were they like her and Teacher Liao, formed spontaneously?
After all, everyone seemed to have already accepted that she and Teacher Liao were a pair, and no one expressed any objection. At first, Lu Liruan was worried that after arriving here, some people might say that she and Liao Tingyuan were not a good match... After all, once you're at work, everything depends on how the leaders assign tasks.
Lu Liruan was very worried that she would not be able to be with Liao Tingyuan.
But it seems that this problem doesn't exist now.
"Pfft—" An Tang suddenly laughed after hearing Lu Liruan's words, then pointed at Liao Tingyuan, leaving Lu Liruan confused.
“Although we’ve never been partners, Xiaoyu and Tingyuan have gone on missions together.” An Tang glanced at the stairs, lowering her voice but still unable to hide the laughter in it.
Lu Liruan became curious.
Upon hearing An Tang's words, Liao Tingyuan's expression showed a hint of helplessness, and his brows furrowed slightly, an expression rarely seen on him.
"Hahahahaha!" Sister Fang, who was standing next to her, also laughed.
"That was the first time I heard Xiao Liao make a request on her own initiative..."
"What did Teacher Liao ask for?" Lu Liruan leaned over and asked gossipily.
Liao Tingyuan pursed his lips, seemingly trying to stop Sister Fang from speaking, but gave up and sat back down on the sofa.
"That time in that space wasn't very long, maybe... a little over a week," Sister Fang recalled. "After we came out of that space, I noticed that Xiao Liao didn't look well, and he didn't say anything. He looked extremely tired."
"Then what……"
"Then I went to ask him what was going on. I thought something had happened in the space, but then!" Sister Fang pointed at Liao Tingyuan: "Little Liao asked me if he could stop going on missions with Xiaoyu from now on. The look on his face at the time was like he was talking about something extremely important. I didn't even realize what was happening!"
"I thought to myself, 'I've known Xiao Liao for so long, and this is the first time she's made such a request, so I should probably agree to it...'" Sister Fang sighed.
"That child is a good child, but he talks too much," she concluded.
Lu Liruan thought to herself, "Teacher Liao doesn't like people who talk too much, does she?"
Did I not say enough?
Is Teacher Liao holding back her feelings?
Feeling Lu Liruan's gaze, Liao Tingyuan looked back in confusion.
After a while, Sister Fang received a phone call, saying that she had something to do and asked Yan Muyu if he wanted to come over. Yan Muyu happily agreed from upstairs, then energetically bounced down and left with Sister Fang.
Lu Liruan saw An Tang mouthing to Sister Fang: "Sister! Take Xiaoyu with you! Otherwise, we won't have a peaceful afternoon! Neither Tingyuan nor I can control him!"
Lu Liruan: ...Really, only Sister Fang can put up with him, right?
Although it wasn't obvious, Lu Liruan still sensed it...
The moment Yan Muyu left, Liao Tingyuan breathed a sigh of relief.
It seems he has truly been tormented and developed psychological trauma.
When she had nothing to do in the afternoon, Lu Liruan leaned close to Liao Tingyuan and whispered, "Teacher Liao...am I talking too much?"
Liao Tingyuan looked up from the book, not quite understanding what she meant.
"Do you think I'm noisy and talkative, but you've been putting up with me? If you're putting up with me, you should tell me!"
Lu Liruan thought about it all afternoon and decided to be honest. They would be spending a lot of time together in the future, so there was no need to keep guessing. If Teacher Liao really had any issues with her, she would just ask him directly...
To avoid causing Teacher Liao so much suffering.
"Why do you think that?" Liao Tingyuan didn't know where she got those words from.
"Didn't you... think Yan Muyu talks too much? And you don't want to continue going into the space with him? I talk a lot too, don't I..." Lu Liruan blinked.
“That time I went into the space with him.” Liao Tingyuan put down his book and sighed deeply. “The person who went in with us was a girl, so the two of us spent more time together. The space was inside a factory, and we lived in the factory’s staff dormitory. There were two single beds crammed into one room…”
Lu Liruan rested her chin on her hand, and heard Liao Tingyuan pause for a moment before saying, "I didn't have a single minute to avoid him."
Although it sounded calm, Lu Liruan felt that it contained a lot.
"what……"
"And then?" Lu Liruan vaguely felt that what followed was probably not a very pleasant story.
"A few years ago, I actually..." Liao Tingyuan wanted to say that he wasn't as good at tolerating temper as he is now a few years ago, but then he thought about it and didn't want Lu Liruan to think that he had a bad temper in the past.
Lu Liruan had no idea what Liao Tingyuan was thinking. If she did, she would only complain: "You have a bad temper too?"
"I just... thought he was too talkative." Liao Tingyuan raised his hand to rub his temples. "So I said to him, 'Could you please be a little quieter for a moment?'"
"Hmm, what's wrong with that..." Lu Liruan felt there was nothing wrong with what she said.
After all, judging from the tone of Fang Jie and An Tang when they spoke to Yan Muyu, Liao Tingyuan's words weren't exactly unpleasant, were they?
"Mm." Liao Tingyuan nodded.
Looking at his expression, Lu Liruan knew that the focus might not be on that.
Sure enough, Liao Tingyuan continued in a deep voice, "He agreed to my request. I thought I could finally sleep peacefully, but after I lay down, he suddenly called me a while later and said that he really couldn't hold it in anymore. He wanted to talk so much. Can he talk now?"
Lu Liruan: ...
what?
"He really... said that?" Lu Liruan couldn't help but smile. Although Liao Tingyuan's expression was still somewhat blank and confused when he talked about this, it was... really funny.
How can there be such a clueless and straightforward person?
"What did you say?" Lu Liruan's eyes darted around.
Liao Tingyuan sighed again: "I said, okay, you can start now. What else can I say?"
"Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
An Tang came over with a plate of watermelon and overheard this. She laughed so hard she almost fell over: "Your story is truly... a classic that will be remembered forever."
Lu Liruan thought to herself, "This is really hilarious."
It's only natural that Teacher Liao would have a psychological trauma from this person afterward.
Lu Liruan now realized she definitely wasn't Liao Tingyuan's type, after all, she hadn't...
"Did Fang Jie partner with him later?" Lu Liruan asked.
"Yes, later Sister Fang volunteered to become his partner, and we are all very grateful to her." An Tang put her hands together, then found a disposable fork under the coffee table and handed it to Lu Liruan: "Have some watermelon."
Lu Liruan thought to herself, "There aren't many people here, but you have quite a few stories."
“Actually, there’s a reason for that.” An Tang suddenly said as Lu Liruan was sitting idly in her office swivel chair.
"Huh? What could be the reason for being talkative? Is it because your vocal cords are more developed than others?" Lu Liruan casually remarked.
An Tang was amused by her: "That's not what I meant..."
"Ah? Oh!" Lu Liruan remembered.
Just now, when I shook hands with Yan Muyu, for a strange moment, it felt like a shot of menthol ointment was injected into my veins...
Suddenly, my senses sharpened and my mind became clear...
At that time, Lu Liruan thought it was her imagination, but it probably wasn't, because she had never had this feeling before.
Moreover, that feeling vanished instantly after releasing Yan Muyu's hand.
"Why? What does it feel like?" Lu Liruan asked, puzzled.
“Tingyuan didn’t tell you?” An Tang raised an eyebrow.
Lu Liruan thought to herself, "Teacher Liao doesn't tell me anything. His mouth is as tight as a clam shell. If it's something he doesn't want to talk about, no amount of asking him will help."
Is this the steadfastness of older people?
"You know that Xiaoyu is also a survivor, right?" An Tang asked Lu Liruan.
"I know, he told me." Lu Liruan thought it shouldn't be a secret, right? In a workplace like this, it's not something that needs to be hidden, is it?
An Tang nodded: "Some survivors do have some...different abilities."
"Huh?" Lu Liruan didn't understand.
“For example, Xiaoyu’s ability is to instantly wake people up. For instance, if someone is in a daze in a certain space, as long as Xiaoyu puts his hand on them, the symptoms will most likely be relieved, just like what you felt just now…” An Tang explained.
Lu Liruan frowned in confusion: "You mean... this is a special ability?"
“It’s an ability, you can think of it as a special ability. It’s likely related to the space the survivors have experienced, but so far no very accurate or certain connection has been found, so we’re just saying it like that.” An Tang explained to Lu Liruan earnestly.
Lu Liruan's mind raced. How could this person have special abilities?
Actually, she wasn't too surprised, because from some of Liao Tingyuan's words in the space, Lu Liruan vaguely sensed that after becoming a survivor, there might be something different about her than ordinary people, and she might also be different from someone like herself who only has perception.
But the special ability still makes people feel a little dazed.
It feels like I've suddenly started living in another world.
"Don't worry, you're not living in the Ultraman world." An Tang seemed to see what she was thinking and couldn't resist pinching the little girl's smooth and tender cheek.
"So what you mean by having an effect... does it also work on him? His special abilities?" Lu Liruan asked hesitantly.
"Yeah, that's pretty much it." An Tang shrugged. "We need eight hours of sleep, but he seems to only need three or four hours a day. And he's always very alert, like you can tell when you shake his hand."
Lu Liruan: ? ?
That's alright then. It's only natural that he's a bit more lively and talkative.
“Yes, so although we all avoid him, we understand him.” An Tang sighed.
“Then…” Lu Liruan hesitated.
"You want to ask what your teacher Liao's special ability is?" An Tang smiled, her eyes slightly raised, looking clever and cunning, and immediately guessed Lu Liruan's thoughts.
"Mm." Lu Liruan nodded obediently after being guessed correctly.
"Didn't he tell you?" An Tang asked, a hint of surprise in her voice.
"No, I didn't know about this either," Lu Liruan mumbled, subconsciously reluctant to admit that Teacher Liao had deliberately kept it from her.
It would seem like doing that would let others know that I wasn't that familiar with Teacher Liao...
“That’s true.” An Tang said lightly, “Then why don’t you go ask him? I can’t just tell you about other people’s affairs without their permission.” As she spoke, An Tang reached out and pinched Lu Liruan’s face again.
Also.
Lu Liruan understood that An Tang definitely couldn't tell her without Liao Tingyuan's permission.
But everyone else in the workplace knows, only I don't... Why didn't Teacher Liao tell me?
Lu Liruan is someone who can't keep things to herself, especially after getting along with Liao Tingyuan. Liao Tingyuan's gentle, tolerant, and even elder-like demeanor makes it easier for Lu Liruan to speak her mind directly to him.
So I didn't hold this question in until dinner.
You should know in a few days.
Lu Liruan did not expect to receive such an answer, and she couldn't even tell whether Teacher Liao had deliberately not told her before, but his current attitude did not seem to indicate that.
Lu Liruan was somewhat confused, unsure of what was causing this feeling.
I know she truly knew about that day.