Quick Transmigration: What to Do When the Male Supporting Character You Saved Becomes Obsessed with

Chapter 483 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (94)

Lu Liruan leaned closer to Liao Tingyuan's legs, found a comfortable position, and shook her head: "I feel safer like this."

Liao Tingyuan had no choice but to let her be.

When the time came—around today—she was in the living room, and it was unusually quiet, with the radio program starting up—Lu Liruan heard the door make a creepy "thump" sound and quietly opened it.

So this is how we enter spacetime every day.

Suddenly, everything went dark. Lu Liruan couldn't see the rest of the living room, let alone the doorway. In the darkness, even knowing the door was open and that there was only endless blackness behind it, the feeling was incredibly oppressive.

Just then, a strange, shrill sound effect came from the radio program, accompanied by the host's deliberately sinister voice, making the hairs on everyone's body stand on end.

At first, Liao Tingyuan could still hear the crunching sound of people biting into snacks, but then the sound stopped, and a pair of hands wrapped around his legs...

Lu Liruan clung tightly to Liao Tingyuan's leg, as if she were grasping at a lifeline. Liao Tingyuan was only wearing a pair of pajamas and felt that Lu Liruan was pinching him so hard it hurt.

"Whoosh—" The eerie sound effects from the radio rang out again.

"Teacher Liao...are you scared?" Lu Liruan's trembling voice rang out.

"Why...why aren't you saying anything? Am I still holding you, Teacher Liao? Are you still yourself now?" Lu Liruan asked tremblingly.

Liao Tingyuan: ?

"Wouldn't my words ruin your immersive experience?" Liao Tingyuan said helplessly, repeating what she had just said.

Lu Liruan swallowed and admitted defeat, "Actually, there's no need to be so immersed in it."

"Shall I turn off the radio?" Liao Tingyuan asked.

But Lu Liruan stopped him: "No need! It's more exciting to hear it now! As long as you prove you're still you, that's enough!" She fawned, fumbling in the dark for a few grapes from the fruit plate and stuffing them into Liao Tingyuan's hand: "Teacher Liao, have some grapes~"

Liao Tingyuan didn't understand why she was doing this. If Lu Liruan knew what Liao Tingyuan was thinking, she would say to him, "Teacher Liao, don't you know that the more cowardly a person is, the more they like to play around?"

Liao Tingyuan truly did not know.

As the radio story grew increasingly terrifying, Lu Liruan's back stiffened.

Liao Tingyuan was very indulgent towards her. Every few minutes, he would say a few words to her to show that he was still himself and had not yet been replaced by any monster.

Later... Liao Tingyuan felt that even when he was sitting, his pants were about to be ripped off by Lu Liruan. At least when the lights were turned on, his non-elastic pants would have one leg longer than the other.

Liao Tingyuan thought for a moment, and finally compromised... got off the sofa and sat on the carpet with Lu Liruan, his legs tucked in.

Lu Liruan was much more at ease this time. She clung to Liao Tingyuan's arm, and whenever she heard something scary, she would snuggle closer to him.

"Ruan Ruan."

"Hmm? What's wrong, Teacher Liao? Are you scared too?" When she heard the climax of the story, Lu Liruan noticed that Liao Tingyuan's tone was somewhat different from before.

"No."

"What about..."

"Ruan Ruan, stop pinching me."

Lu Liruan then realized that she was gripping Liao Tingyuan's wrist tightly.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry~" Lu Liruan said somewhat embarrassedly as she let go.

Then, trying to justify himself, he said, "I'm just... doing some pre-job training for myself, right? Does your company provide this kind of training for new employees? Otherwise, what if an employee gets scared when they suddenly enter a certain space?"

"Ruan Ruan." Liao Tingyuan patted her hair. "We're a legitimate workplace, not a haunted house."

“At least there won’t be any water monkeys, pseudo-humans, or black bears that can walk upright and open fingerprint locks at home in this space. We’re not surreal…” Liao Tingyuan paused for a moment: “Even if it’s beyond ordinary reality, it’s not that far beyond reality. Don’t worry.”

Lu Liruan, who had just been startled by the black bear that could open the fingerprint lock, coughed awkwardly and said, "Well... that's good then."

Because in the space-time continuum, even though Lu Liruan tried to close her eyes and sleep, she couldn't fall asleep at all, and the food on the table in the middle was all gone.

Like a little koala being carried on the back of a big koala, Lu Liruan clung to Liao Tingyuan and followed him step by step to get some more from the kitchen.

When I'm out looking for clues, time sometimes seems to fly by, but now that I'm stuck indoors with nothing to do, this time seems to drag on forever.

Finally, Lu Liruan sighed in resignation, "Teacher Liao... let's go look at the child's diary tomorrow."

Finally, the time was up. It was as if a black cloth had been suddenly pulled back from Lu Liruan's eyes. But when she opened her eyes, she looked to the side. Her eyes, which had not yet fully adjusted to the bright light, fell on Liao Tingyuan. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

"Teacher Liao..."

Lu Liruan felt deeply guilty.

Liao Tingyuan, like her, sat on the carpet with her knees curled up.

Lu Liruan sat perfectly in the gap between the sofa and the coffee table, but Liao Tingyuan was tall and had long legs. Even though he was thin, he still looked... particularly pitiful squeezed into the gap.

It's like putting a large, well-behaved animal in a small cage... like an unscrupulous zoo. If it were just that, it would be one thing.

Liao Tingyuan's hair was messy, and his soft white loungewear shirt... had its neckline pulled wide open. Lu Liruan looked at his exposed collarbone and was speechless for a moment.

I don't know what to say...

Liao Tingyuan's loungewear is all in very light colors, giving off a gentle and soft vibe. But now, the light-colored fabric is covered with stains, including purple grape juice and bits of dried fruit... The dried fruit was peeled by Liao Tingyuan for Lu Liruan.

There were also red fingerprints covered in spicy snack oil.

Because it was too dark just now, Lu Liruan couldn't see anything and didn't realize that her actions had left marks on Liao Tingyuan's clothes. Now that the lights are on, she feels... that all the evidence of her crime is glaringly obvious.

Because of her extremely limited vocabulary, Lu Liruan was unable to describe Liao Tingyuan's current state with more precise language, but she just felt... like he had been ruined.

And the real culprit was himself.

Lu Liruan: ?

Although nothing serious happened, Lu Liruan felt a pang of guilt at that moment.

Liao Tingyuan clearly noticed the way Lu Liruan was looking at him, and calmly raised his hand to pull up his swaying collar.

Seeing that he was about to get up, Lu Liruan hurriedly reached out her hand and helped him up.

Liao Tingyuan stood up, bent down to tidy up the mess on the table, then pointed to the ground, signaling Lu Liruan to get a broom and sweep up the trash on the ground and throw it away.

Seeing that there was something she needed to do, Lu Liruan hurriedly and obediently ran off.

Before she could even pick up the broom, she heard Liao Tingyuan's voice calling her from behind: "Ruan Ruan."

"Huh?" Lu Liruan turned her head and saw Liao Tingyuan holding a plate, looking at her with a half-smile, an expression he rarely showed.

"What's wrong, Teacher Liao?" Lu Liruan blinked.

Liao Tingyuan looked down at his trouser leg, and Lu Liruan followed his gaze. Just as she was wondering what was going on, she heard Liao Tingyuan slowly say, "Ruanruan, can you check if one of my trouser legs is too long?"

Lu Liruan: ...

Ahhhhhh! Lu Liruan felt her face burning. Although Liao Tingyuan was just joking, Lu Liruan didn't know why she suddenly couldn't lift her head.

"no!"

Lu Liruan loudly denied it, grabbed a broom, and ran back to the living room.

The image of Liao Tingyuan, somewhat disheveled, the moment the lights came on, kept replaying in her mind; she couldn't forget it...

Liao Tingyuan should stop joking around; he shouldn't really make the little girl unhappy.

After tidying up the living room, I found that the little girl had already run back to her room.

"Ruan Ruan? Did you brush your teeth again?" He knocked on the door and asked.

"I'm done!" Lu Liruan shouted through the door.

Liao Tingyuan assumed she was tired and didn't say anything more. He turned around and turned off the living room lights, and the room immediately became quiet.

Although the bedroom door was closed, Lu Liruan still buried her head under the covers. In the small, stuffy space, she could hear her own heartbeat.

As time ended, drowsiness washed over her, and Lu Liruan's dreams were a jumbled mess. But just as she was about to wake up, Lu Liruan dreamt that she was back in the courtyard.

In Lu Liruan's dream, the feeder in the yard had not yet been removed.

On Saturdays and Sundays, children playing nearby would come here to see the kittens. Several children would surround the mother cat with her kittens, trying to pet them, but the kittens would nimbly run away.

Lu Liruan spotted a familiar figure among the children.

The child was there too. Lu Liruan saw that he was also looking at the kittens. One of the kittens rubbed against his feet, and he gently and very carefully touched it.

When she woke up, Lu Liruan stared at the light and shadow on the ceiling and didn't move for a long time.

The inexplicable fluttering she felt last night had subsided after a night's sleep, but Lu Liruan still felt somewhat uneasy the moment she stepped out of her bedroom and saw Liao Tingyuan.

"What's wrong?" Liao Tingyuan asked, noticing her preoccupied expression.

“Teacher Liao… I’ve been dreaming about what the connection is between the woman and the child, and the feeder, which is the source of infection,” Lu Liruan said as she thought.

"Actually, I've been thinking about this issue too." Liao Tingyuan had already had some ideas about it yesterday, but because Lu Liruan seemed very irritable, Liao Tingyuan didn't bring it up all day, hoping to make Lu Liruan feel more relaxed.

"You go ahead and say it."

Liao Tingyuan gestured to Lu Liruan.

“I’m thinking, we’ve always felt that the woman and the child have nothing to do with the rescue organization, but is it possible that when the rescue organization put these things in the yard, the woman and the child living in this yard might have seen them or come into contact with them and developed some kind of connection? What did they do there?” Lu Liruan’s thoughts were not very complete, so she could only express them in broad terms.

But Liao Tingyuan could understand it.

"What do you think?" Lu Liruan asked Liao Tingyuan when he nodded.

“We shouldn’t… limit our thinking to just the feeder.” Liao Tingyuan pointed to the feeder that was still sitting quietly on the shelf, unchanged.

"What else is there?" Lu Liruan didn't want to just look at the feeder, but she really couldn't think of any other ideas right now.

“I’ve been thinking about it too. What kind of contact did the woman and the child have with the feeder? But I can’t figure it out. Even if we think they did have contact, we can’t prove it. We can’t exactly check the surveillance footage from the past few months, can we? Even if we did find it, it might not be… useful.” Liao Tingyuan shook his head.

Lu Liruan was a little discouraged because what Liao Tingyuan said was true.

“A feeder might just be a direction… What is a feeder for? It’s for rescuing stray animals.” Liao Tingyuan snapped his fingers, bringing Lu Liruan back to her senses.

"direction?"

"Well, in essence, it's about providing aid," Liao Tingyuan concluded earnestly.

Lu Liruan seemed to understand what he meant. Liao Tingyuan told them not to fixate on a specific thing as the source of infection, but to focus on a concept that extends from a specific thing when searching.

Within this conceptual framework, we then search for specific items.

Instead of dissecting the already found feeder, the source of infection, and assuming that it must be because no related parts have been found, such as a missing part, etc.

"Then... what should I think about?" Lu Liruan gulped down a few mouthfuls of hot milk, leaving a white mustache around her mouth.

Liao Tingyuan thought for a moment: "Provide assistance."

“Perhaps, anything related to rescue could be a source of infection?” Liao Tingyuan ladled some soup from the kitchen and gestured for Lu Liruan to sit down and eat.

"..." Lu Liruan rested her chin on her hand and pondered.

Did the woman and child do anything to help? The man was still at home at that time, so the woman probably didn't have the energy to help any stray animals outside... She was focused on keeping an eye on the man.

Children's words...

Lu Liruan felt that, given the child's personality, he might actually help these small animals.

But what did that child do?

Lu Liruan recalled the scene in her dream and pondered it carefully.

"Shall we ask that child?" Lu Liruan said, but she felt awkward. How could she ask the child?

"Are we going to have to squat in the yard again?" Lu Liruan sighed. "Teacher Liao, sooner or later the mistress will call the police and arrest us."

"..." Liao Tingyuan had no better idea: "Then, we can lure the mistress away?"

"Your statement sounds even more suspicious."

After the two finished their meal, Lu Liruan sat on the sofa, still inexplicably preoccupied with the dream she had. Lu Liruan no longer knew whether what she was having in the space was actually a dream.

Lu Liruan had gradually adapted to this feeling, which was completely different from reality, from the absurdity at the beginning.

It's still that same patch of grass.

Lu Liruan found He Yan's WeChat and opened his Moments.