bayedsolid Chapter 403 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (14)
Chapter 403 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (14)
Tingyuan certainly hadn't been back for long either. In the afternoon, Lu Liruan was still communicating with him on WeChat from time to time.
Lu Liruan tried sending messages to other people in her contact list, such as her former colleagues from the hot pot restaurant.
Although the messages all showed that they had been sent, they all disappeared without a trace, with no response whatsoever.
This is probably what Liao Tingyuan meant when he said the other party wasn't in the infected space.
Lu Liruan thought that this was probably why no one had replied to her resumes she had sent out in the past when she was looking for a job.
When she came back, she was so tired that she wanted to die on the sofa right now, but Liao Tingyuan was still able to cook a whole table of food.
Lu Liruan cast an admiring glance at her.
"Try it, is it to your liking?"
Looking at her eager expression, Liao Tingyuan was afraid that his home-cooked meal would disappoint her.
Lu Liruan picked up a piece of braised eggplant with her chopsticks. The skin was crispy, the eggplant was soft, and the thickened sauce was just right, making her feel that she could go well with a big mouthful of rice!
"Mmm—" Lu Liruan didn't even have time to swallow the food in her mouth before she eagerly gave a thumbs up: "Super delicious!"
"Then, that's fine..."
Liao Tingyuan had never been praised for his cooking skills like this before, and he felt a little embarrassed.
She lowered her head to help Lu Liruan serve soup.
"Do you usually eat this well?"
After tasting each dish, Lu Liruan felt that she hadn't eaten such fresh and delicious home-cooked food in a long time.
Even when she wants to eat home-cooked meals, she doesn't have time to cook them herself, so she can only order takeout.
However, the takeout food was heavy on oil and salt, and when it arrived at her home, its appearance and taste were not as good as freshly cooked food. Lu Liruan could only manage to eat a bite.
When she was little, her favorite food was her mother's braised pork and stir-fried chicken with carrots and peas. Lu Liruan couldn't remember the last time she had eaten it...
As she ate, Lu Liruan couldn't help but sigh.
"What's wrong?" Liao Tingyuan didn't understand why her mood had suddenly dropped.
"It's nothing." Lu Liruan stuffed a big mouthful of rice into her mouth and mumbled, "Thinking about it, neither of us has achieved anything today, we haven't found anything."
"It's normal. It would be strange if it were found so easily," Liao Tingyuan said calmly.
Lu Liruan: ...Dude, you didn't have any hope to begin with, did you?
Are you just going out to make a show of it?
"Eat more." Seeing that Lu Liruan had stopped eating, there was still some rice left in her bowl.
"what?"
"Eat more, we still have to work tonight." Liao Tingyuan's voice was filled with helplessness.
"I wonder what we'll see tonight. Are we going to keep cleaning like this forever?" Lu Liruan sighed, her body swaying slightly.
“Sit up straight…” Liao Tingyuan bent his finger and tapped Lu Liruan’s back lightly: “If you eat like this, your stomach will feel uncomfortable later.”
Lu Liruan recalled that this was how her mother taught her when she was a child.
...a strange kind of intimacy.
After Lu Liruan finished eating, she volunteered to wash the dishes, but Liao Tingyuan handed her a rag and coaxed her, "You go wipe the table."
Liao Tingyuan worked very efficiently. By the time Lu Liruan had washed the rag in the bathroom, he had already wiped the bowls clean with kitchen paper and put them back in the cupboard.
"Take a break, I'll wake you up when it's almost time tonight." Liao Tingyuan raised his hand to check his watch and pointed to his room to Lu Liruan.
"It's okay, I can handle it..." Lu Liruan said somewhat embarrassedly.
"It's okay. If you don't get enough rest, you'll be easily distracted at night, which will affect your mental control." Liao Tingyuan saw her curled up on the sofa, talking confidently while secretly yawning.
I walked over and patted her head.
"No need to be so stiff." Liao Tingyuan found it a little funny when he saw her yawning as she turned to look at him.
Lu Liruan originally thought that she could go back to her own home to rest, but then she remembered the strange time discrepancy that happened last night.
Yesterday I was able to get upstairs from my house to Liao Tingyuan's place without any problems. I don't know what changes will happen in this space today. It's already dark outside, so I'd better stay with Liao Tingyuan...
Lu Liruan had eaten too much, and now she was feeling sleepy, so much so that she could barely keep her eyes open.
Unable to resist in the end, she followed Liao Tingyuan's directions and strolled unsteadily into the house.
Liao Tingyuan's bedroom was very clean, containing only a bed, a desk, and a large wardrobe, with dark blue curtains partially drawn. The floor was dark wood.
Liao Tingyuan took out a thin blanket from the bottom of the cabinet, and after Lu Liruan swayed and lay down, he unfolded it and covered her with it.
"It's okay, I'm not cold," Lu Liruan murmured, already on the verge of falling asleep.
"At least cover your stomach, or it'll hurt." Liao Tingyuan folded the blanket, covering her waist and abdomen completely...
Before Lu Liruan fell asleep, her last thought was: Even if we don't have blankets, we still have to cover our belly buttons with tissues when we sleep, right?
Lu Liruan tugged at the corners of her mouth, but before she could even smile, she had already fallen asleep.
She walked about 30,000 steps today, which is way too much exercise.
"Little Lu, Little Lu, wake up—"
"I didn't slack off, foreman!"
Lu Liruan suddenly sat up straight on the bed, almost bumping into Liao Tingyuan, who was leaning over to look at her, on the bridge of his nose.
Liao Tingyuan reacted extremely quickly and retreated, thus avoiding a tragedy.
Lu Liruan was so taken aback that she sat there blankly for a few seconds before she realized who was in front of her and what her situation was.
He let out a long sigh: "Brother, you're not that much older than me... Don't call me Xiao Lu anymore, I really have a psychological aversion to it."
“I…” Liao Tingyuan hesitated for a moment.
Lu Liruan tilted her head to look at him, and saw Liao Tingyuan purse his lips: "I should be much older than you."
"Huh? How old are you? Twenty-four? Twenty-five?" Lu Liruan thought he looked that old.
I'm thirty this year.
Lu Liruan: ...
Good heavens, what a wonderful way to stay young!
“Ha…” Lu Liruan was at a loss for words: “Well, it seems, there really is a big difference, haha.”
"Then don't call me Xiao Lu anymore. If my boss calls me that at work, it's never a good thing."
"Okay." Liao Tingyuan nodded: "Then I'll call you..."
He thought for a moment: "Ruan Ruan?"
Lu Liruan was taken aback.
I thought he would call me "Li Ruan", but the name "Ruan Ruan" came out of his mouth and sounded surprisingly appropriate.
It's very gentle, a little intimate, and there's a hint of an older person's doting affection for a child in it.
Lu Liruan couldn't say it, but her heart skipped a beat when he called her name.
"May I?"
“Oh! Sure, you can call me that!” Lu Liruan lowered her head, blinked quickly, and affirmed.
After Lu Liruan got up, she checked the time on her phone: 9:48 pm.
"Has it started yet?"
"No, the timing is correct today. It's probably because we're all in our rooms." Liao Tingyuan shook his head.
"What do you think will happen tonight?"
Not knowing if the infection period was about to begin, Lu Liruan felt as if a huge stone was pressing on her heart.
When it's bright daylight, it makes you feel at ease, but now, the unknown makes you feel uncontrollably nervous.
“At the very least, what happened yesterday will happen again today,” Liao Tingyuan said softly.
Lu Liruan and Liao Tingyuan had already discussed this matter during the day.
At first, only one kitten appeared at Liao Tingyuan's door, then a second one appeared, and yesterday a third one appeared.
"They're all... dead, so why do they still appear the next day?" Lu Liruan asked, puzzled.
"I don't know, but what happened in the space seems to appear before our eyes in a superimposed way," Liao Tingyuan analyzed.
"But why this happened is still unclear, and we need to continue to observe."
The two had no idea how far this space had developed to, nor how far it would develop in the future, and they had no idea what it would look like at its peak.
We can only continue to observe...
The hands of Liao Tingyuan's watch were exactly ten o'clock.
The two sat in the living room, and after a while, they heard noises coming from the hallway.
Having witnessed what happened yesterday, Lu Liruan is not planning to stay outside the whole time today.
I thought I'd open the door and go out when it was almost time.
Liao Tingyuan nodded: "Then I'll go out and take a look first."
He opened the door, but didn't step out. He held the doorknob and leaned half his body out to prevent himself from getting separated from Lu Liruan if he went out.
Lu Liruan heard the sound of a kitten meowing, soft and delicate.
But whether it was just her imagination or not, Lu Liruan felt that they were calling out more urgently and anxiously than yesterday.
About three minutes later, Liao Tingyuan returned, his expression even more serious.
"The cat's behavior today is different from the past few days. It feels... it feels like it wants to tell me something. It's hooking its paws on my pants, as if it wants to take me somewhere." Liao Tingyuan hesitated slightly, after all, cats can't talk, and he couldn't fully understand what the kitten meant.
But at least it seems... the kitten meant no harm.
Lu Liruan checked the time; there was still some time before the kitten died, so she got up and went over.
Lu Liruan opened the door a crack and tentatively stepped out.
No matter how much I prepared myself mentally, seeing those kittens that died so tragically yesterday now standing perfectly fine in front of me was... rather eerie.
But these kittens seemed completely unaware of their past experiences, or what they were about to experience. Instead, they anxiously circled around in place. Upon seeing Lu Liruan, the largest tabby kitten stretched out its sharp claws and hooked onto Lu Liruan's pants. Lu Liruan could even hear the fabric making a sound.
Where are you taking me?
Lu Liruan dared not let go of its hand and follow it out. She could only look in the direction it seemed to be heading. It seemed to be dragging Lu Liruan upstairs. There were only the seventh and eighth floors up...
When Lu Liruan returned, she nodded to Liao Tingyuan, indicating her agreement with his statement.
When the time came, the same time as yesterday, a kitten's mournful cry came from outside... exactly the same as yesterday.
When she opened the door again, the scene outside was exactly the same as what she had seen yesterday. Lu Liruan even wanted to take a picture and compare it with the previous day.
"Wait a moment!"
Just as Lu Liruan was about to step completely into the corridor, Liao Tingyuan grabbed her arm and pulled her back to his side.
“No!” he said briefly and urgently.
Before he finished speaking, Lu Liruan realized what he meant.
wrong……
It felt completely different from yesterday. It was as if there was something thicker and more oppressive in the space, making it hard to breathe when you went in!
Lu Liruan abruptly pulled her out foot back.
"What... happened?" Lu Liruan felt her throat was dry.
The oppressive feeling was as if the air pressure had dropped to a certain level, making it difficult to even make a sound.
Today is completely different from the past few days.
"What should we do?" Lu Liruan watched as the corridor lights grew dimmer and then began to flicker, as if their batteries had run out.
"Come back first." Liao Tingyuan gestured for Lu Liruan to come inside. Lu Liruan walked towards the living room, but Liao Tingyuan didn't follow.
I didn't hear the door close either.
Lu Liruan turned around and saw Liao Tingyuan standing at the door with his back to her, his hands still moving.
An ominous feeling spread...
"Door……"
"The door won't lock." Liao Tingyuan's voice remained calm.
"Go and get the knife I left on the table." He stood with his back to Lu Liruan, observing the outside without moving, using his body to block the gap in the door.
"okay!"
The lights in the room flickered, turning on and off intermittently, making people dizzy. Lu Liruan picked up two folding knives from the table, then felt her way along the wall and quickly walked to the kitchen. She took out the kitchen knife she had left there and ran towards Liao Tingyuan without stopping.
Liao Tingyuan took the folding knife she handed him, turned out the thin blade, and placed it on his slender index finger knuckle.
"Yes, something's coming!" Lu Liruan heard footsteps coming from the stairs downstairs.
It wasn't the sound of a cat running by; it was definitely the sound of extremely slow human footsteps.
Lu Liruan felt like her hair was about to explode: "Is it...a person?"
Liao Tingyuan shook his head: "I don't know."
His thin back was slightly hunched, and he leaned forward warily, listening quietly, his whole body exuding vigilance.
Lu Liruan leaned against him, using the last sliver of light in the corridor to look over. Liao Tingyuan's handsome, gentle face was expressionless at this moment.
This is completely different from his usual self...
Lu Liruan had only this one thought in her mind, and before she could take a second look, the corridor lights went out completely.
"Do you want me to turn on my phone's flashlight?" Lu Liruan tugged at his clothes and asked in a very soft voice.
She was extremely tense at this moment. The thick, oppressive fear gripped her heart, but Lu Liruan was desperately trying to calm herself down.
I don't know what I'll be facing yet, but at least I can't cause trouble for Liao Tingyuan!
The footsteps grew closer, and it sounded like they were almost on the fourth floor.
"open."
Liao Tingyuan's voice remained calm, yet carried a hint of sharpness: "Let's see what it is."