bayedsolid Chapter 425 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (36)
Chapter 425 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (36)
"How exactly did you manage to deceive someone's child?" Lu Liruan asked suspiciously.
Liao Tingyuan was amused by her wary look: "Ruan Ruan, aren't you being a little too vigilant now?"
Like a stress response, it turned into a fluffy, bristly rabbit.
"I call this 'always be wary of others'!"
Lu Liruan was indeed frightened at every turn. She felt that her nerves had become much thicker, but at the same time, she felt that she could no longer withstand the slightest storm.
Seriously, please let me go...
Lu Liruan sighed inwardly.
She felt that Liao Tingyuan's mental state was frighteningly stable.
At first, Lu Liruan thought that Liao Tingyuan would often face such situations because of his job.
Upon further questioning, Liao Tingyuan confidently told her, "This is the first time I've encountered this myself."
Lu Liruan was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Then why are you so indifferent, like someone who's been killing fish at RT-Mart for ten years?"
"Huh?" Liao Tingyuan blinked. "Why would I kill a fish?"
Lu Liruan: ...Never mind, you wouldn't understand anyway.
"What do you mean?" Liao Tingyuan checked the time and thought that maybe they should have fish for dinner, since there was one frozen in the refrigerator.
"It's alright, you're too old to understand these things." Lu Liruan patted his back, took half a cucumber from the study, and swaggered away, crunching it as she went.
Liao Tingyuan was left alone, standing there looking somewhat helpless.
It's rare to see a mature, thirty-year-old man showing a bit of curiosity, which was ruthlessly extinguished by a young woman in her early twenties.
Lu Liruan's words were indeed unintentional, and Liao Tingyuan never expected that he would take them to heart.
Logically speaking, he shouldn't care about these words...
But for some reason, when Lu Liruan said those words, Liao Tingyuan suddenly felt a little doubtful about himself.
“At my age…” Liao Tingyuan sighed, looked up at Lu Liruan who was curled up on the sofa playing on her phone, and asked, “Are you having fish for dinner?”
"Eat, eat, eat! Eat braised dishes!" Lu Liruan ordered food without any politeness, feeling that her recent exercise and food intake had been excessive, and she had an unusually strong appetite every day.
Lu Liruan felt that there was another reason: Liao Tingyuan's cooking was just too delicious. It tasted exactly like home cooking, unlike any restaurant or takeout place.
Lu Liruan was captivated.
Lu Liruan was completely unaware that her stomach had been thoroughly captured, and she was still happily eating her meal.
"Okay, we're missing a few seasonings at home, go downstairs and buy them." Liao Tingyuan casually instructed her as he rummaged through the refrigerator.
“Okay—” Lu Liruan, like a schoolchild being instructed, obediently climbed off the sofa, put on her outdoor slippers, picked up her keys, and shuffled out the door.
Liao Tingyuan paused in his work after hearing the door close, and turned to look at the doorway.
He thought to himself with a self-deprecating smile, "Why does this feel more and more like raising a child?"
But it wasn't the kind of worry-free childcare that Liao Tingyuan was dealing with; he just felt that his current state of mind was a bit strange.
It's like someone throwing a small pebble into a calm lake. They don't pay much attention to the pebble itself, but the ripples it creates spread very far.
I feel like my life has come alive again.
Liao Tingyuan could even imagine that if he told Lu Liruan these words, the girl would raise her eyebrows and glare at him dramatically: "We're alive, but outside, people are dying one after another!"
Perhaps we should add, "Don't think too much about it. Let's get out of here alive first, then you can figure out whether you live or die!"
Completely intolerant of any affectation, utterly impervious to reason, Lu Liruan was unaware that in Liao Tingyuan's mind, her image had completely transformed into this.
Before Liao Tingyuan could finish thinking, Lu Liruan sent him a message.
"Is it one of these types?" Lu Liruan sent a photo.
Liao Tingyuan washed his hands and looked at them.
"Correct."
"okay--"
Less than five minutes later, Lu Liruan rushed back, an ice pop dangling from her mouth. She tore open the wrapper of another ice pop and held it to Liao Tingyuan's lips: "Here! I brought you one, lemon flavored!"
"Thank you."
When did Liao Tingyuan start to feel old while spending time with Lu Liruan?
For example, Liao Tingyuan felt that his thinking was not as fast as Lu Liruan's actions.
Liao Tingyuan would feel as if he were really much older than her!
That evening, they finally ate braised fish. After moving the corpses outside, Liao Tingyuan leaned against the bed and started looking up the meaning of "Darunfa fish killing".
Lu Liruan knew nothing about these things, and Liao Tingyuan had never told her either.
After emphasizing that she should always be wary of others, Lu Liruan then thought: At my age, whether or not I am wary of others... doesn't seem to make much difference.
Most importantly, children need to be wary of others! Lu Liruan is certain that Liao Tingyuan is a good person, but what if other bad people, like Liao Tingyuan, try to deceive children, and the child's mother doesn't take it seriously? Wouldn't that be very dangerous?
Seeing that she was seriously worried about the child, Liao Tingyuan stopped teasing her.
“I didn’t use any strange tricks to get information out of the kid. Actually, he was quite wary. When I first asked him about his family situation, he didn’t tell me anything.”
"So what did you say?"
“I told him that I heard his mother arguing with someone on the phone. I think he probably hasn’t had anyone to confide in for a long time, because he seemed more talkative when you brought up the topic that day, so that’s where I started,” Liao Tingyuan said calmly.
“He told me that his father hadn’t come home for many days and he wanted to ask his father what was going on. He was worried about his father and didn’t know how his father was doing.”
"Then I asked him if his dad was a veterinarian. I said that our little rabbit was sick and needed to see a vet in the next few days, so why don't we go to his dad's vet clinic? If we run into his dad there, we'll find a way to tell him about his dad's situation when we get back," Liao Tingyuan said naturally.
Lu Liruan was speechless with astonishment.
This person is truly able to integrate information and connect each piece of information to make it useful.
Lu Liruan was complaining during the day that even though she had found these clues, she couldn't connect them into any coherent lines, nor could she analyze any specific cause, process, or result.
But in Liao Tingyuan's mouth, they all became useful.
And to get that information out of a child is really...
Very cunning and shrewd.
Lu Liruan thought this in her heart and said it aloud, in a teasing tone.
Liao Tingyuan sighed softly, resting his chin on his elbow, and pointed the pen in his other hand at Lu Liruan: "Can't you say something nice? Ruanruan?"
Lu Liruan shrugged, indicating that she would speak herself.
"Shrewd and capable?" Liao Tingyuan hadn't boasted, but these days, under Lu Liruan's influence, he'd become more talkative, and he tentatively uttered a word.
Lu Liruan immediately clapped enthusiastically: "Great! Especially shrewd and capable! Let's applaud this shrewd and capable child psychology expert!"
Liao Tingyuan still couldn't win against Lu Liruan. The tips of his ears slowly turned red, but he managed to keep a composed expression on his face.
It's really difficult to become friends with this little girl.
Ms. Liao, who has always been very popular among the children, is now having some doubts about herself.
"What should we do when we get to the vet? Are we really going to have to take a rabbit to the vet?" Lu Liruan thought for a moment, then saw Liao Tingyuan looking at her with a half-smile.
Suddenly, it dawned on me.
Liao Tingyuan was just trying to appease a child! The pet hospital is full of adults, so there's no need for that kind of excuse!
Just ask!
"Oh no, I've lost my mind!" Lu Liruan sighed.
"It's okay, as long as my brain isn't damaged." Liao Tingyuan gently rubbed her head, his voice soft.
Lu Liruan: ...
She felt that Liao Tingyuan always had a kind of listless, secretly mischievous streak.
They don't show it normally, and they don't reveal it at all when they're with people they don't know well.
However, once you get to know him, his true nature will occasionally emerge, making people feel that he is a person who is actually cunning and ruthless.
Lu Liruan didn't realize that she had already brought the two of them very close, and it wasn't just her doing it; Liao Tingyuan was probably also getting very close to her.
"Are you going out again tonight?" Liao Tingyuan asked Lu Liruan.
Yesterday, they actually searched that room quite thoroughly.
Liao Tingyuan thought that although Lu Liruan's condition today was not exactly like a frightened bird, she was still very vulnerable to any fluctuations.
He thought that after they got through the resistance at the door today, he would let Lu Liruan have a good rest.
Unexpectedly, the little girl slapped her forehead, seemingly suddenly bursting with renewed enthusiasm: "Go! Why not go?"
"So proactive?" Liao Tingyuan raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not being proactive…” Lu Liruan sighed, “I was thinking that if I could get out of here a second earlier, I should get out of here a second earlier, in case I could find some clues that I missed yesterday!”
Lu Liruan patted Liao Tingyuan on the shoulder and lay back down on the sofa with a melancholy expression.
Having learned from their previous experience, the two of them dealt with that thing exceptionally smoothly tonight.
Moreover, it entered at an extremely high speed of rotation...
It's very procedural anyway.
Lu Liruan felt like she was hitting the other person's head with a hammer, and she had already created a beatbox.
The only difference from before is that today the face of one of the "things" is clearly visible.
Previously, they were shrouded in a layer of black mist, making it impossible for anyone to see what they looked like.
But today, the mist on the face of the "thing" that appeared later seemed to have disappeared, allowing people to see his features clearly.
Lu Liruan wasn't particularly good at recognizing faces.
He then held the flashlight firmly in front of the man's face, letting Liao Tingyuan see.
Liao Tingyuan squinted and examined the face carefully for a while before saying with certainty, "Yes, it's the face in the newspaper."
"So we found the clues ourselves first, and then we guessed correctly, which is why we were able to see clearly, right? But the identity of the second person..." Lu Liruan still hasn't found any trace of the second man in all these clues.
This person is probably not a family member.
Is it someone you met at work?
It's not like two strangers can just start a fight.
Lu Liruan searched and found that there were two places called Anxin Pet Hospital in the city.
One of them was located on the outskirts of the city, too far from them.
According to Liao Tingyuan, this space should not be very large; it will at least be fixed within the living area of the people involved.
The reason Liao Tingyuan didn't let her order takeout was because if the takeout she ordered was outside the designated area.
When the deliveryman enters this space, it essentially expands the sphere of action of everyone involved in this space, namely Lu Liruan...
Perhaps this space will spread outwards.
Although the possibility was not very high, the two of them still had the idea of finding their missing colleague in the space.
Later I realized that, for some reason, my colleague was definitely gone...
Liao Tingyuan then gave up on managing Lu Liruan's takeout order.
Lu Liruan has been eating and drinking well these days, eating and drinking Liao Tingyuan food, and hasn't even thought about ordering takeout!
The next day, Lu Liruan slept until after ten o'clock. When she opened her eyes, the room was still dark, just like the day before, and it was a cloudy day.
It was still a weekday, so the two of them packed an umbrella, ate breakfast, and went out.
When Lu Liruan arrived at the entrance of Anxin Hospital by taxi, she saw the sign from afar.
Put it on the ground?
what happened?
The two exchanged a glance, quickened their pace, and walked up to the door, thankfully it was still open.
But the people inside didn't look like they were at a hospital; they were busily tidying up something.
Isn't this the place?
Anyway, since we're already here, let's go in and ask.
As Lu Liruan walked in, a woman who was directing people to move things from under the counter glanced at her.
Then, rather coldly, he asked, "What are you doing here?"
This question completely baffled Lu Liruan.
This is a pet hospital. Why were she and Liao Tingyuan asked such a strange question when they walked in?
Moreover, inside the room, several people looked up, their expressions showing strong vigilance.
They were sizing them up as if they were afraid the two of them might suddenly attack and hurt them. What was going on?
"Ah... isn't this a pet hospital?" Lu Liruan asked tentatively.
Whether it was a misperception or not, Lu Liruan sensed that the woman breathed a sigh of relief.
Then he waved his hand and said, "We're not seeing patients anymore. If you need your pets treated, go to another hospital."
"Is this place... closed?"
"Yeah, I'm quitting right away!"
The man wearing glasses answered from behind.
"Actually... we're here to see Dr. Lu. Does Dr. Lu work here?" Liao Tingyuan asked directly, making his purpose clear.
"We don't have anyone with the surname Lu here! You've come to the wrong place!" The woman was about to say something when the bespectacled man behind her stepped forward and shielded her from the crowd. "We don't have anyone with the surname Lu here! You've come to the wrong place!"