PFC Chapter 464 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (75)
Chapter 464 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (75)
The fat man was restless and looked very unnatural.
Lu Liruan felt that in real life, the fat man was not on the same level as the male owner, and it was perfectly normal for him to be controlled by the male owner.
Even without the influence of space, it's estimated that in the end, his relationship with the male homeowner would still end up like this.
"Isn't this a clear indication that you have something to hide?" Lu Liruan whispered to Liao Tingyuan.
The male homeowner happened to turn his head and look in their direction. Lu Liruan was startled, thinking that she had been overheard, and quickly shut her mouth.
"Is it almost time?"
Liao Tingyuan glanced at his watch again. He could sense Lu Liruan's nervousness. Although the girl pretended to be calm, she had actually tugged at the hem of his clothes, making them all wrinkled.
After all, the way the male homeowner is out of control right now is just like a horror movie playing out in front of you; who knows when he might suddenly turn on you?
It's so exciting...
The bed sheet on the door had been taken down. Liao Tingyuan gestured for Lu Liruan to step back a little, and he cautiously moved forward.
Sure enough, the door was like a connection between spaces.
It was tightly closed just now, but now it's back to the state it was in when Liao Tingyuan and Lu Liruan came, slightly ajar.
But the two people inside the house seemed completely oblivious; in their view, the door should still be closed.
This means we can go out...
Lu Liruan is increasingly convinced that this space is practically intelligent.
I can tell them stories and communicate with them.
Upon entering the corridor, Lu Liruan felt the air instantly become lighter and fresher, and the almost sticky, foul smell in the room dissipated immediately.
Taking two deep breaths, Lu Liruan stood still and looked back again. What was happening in that room was like a stage play.
"Can you still hear the cat meowing?" Liao Tingyuan held her hand and used the light from his phone to illuminate the stairs as they slowly walked down.
Lu Liruan listened carefully to distinguish the sounds, then shook her head.
"No, it's still the same as before, a kind of stillness and quietness."
Liao Tingyuan nodded: "I didn't hear it either."
"Maybe it's gone?" Lu Liruan wondered to herself. "Teacher Liao, I think everything is still related to the cat. Besides what we know so far, what else could be related to the cat..."
"Where else is there?" Lu Liruan felt that they had already explored every place they could find, following the clues.
"Could the source of infection be a cat?" Lu Liruan racked her brains.
"Ruan Ruan, you said last time that you saw the lady of the house and her child looking for the cat in the yard for the first time?" Liao Tingyuan recalled.
“Yes.” Lu Liruan affirmed, “I definitely heard the cat meowing that day. When the child came looking for the cat, I was about to tell him that I heard the sound in the bushes, but then the woman called the child away.”
Lu Liruan was absolutely certain that her memory was not faulty.
"Are there cats in that yard?" Liao Tingyuan pulled Lu Liruan to the place where Lu Liruan had heard the cat meowing that day.
“…I didn’t see it with my own eyes.” Lu Liruan frowned.
"I only heard the sound, I didn't see the cat with my own eyes."
“We haven’t seen any cats in the yard during the day for so long, have we?” This is what Lu Liruan found strange.
"Perhaps it's because we didn't observe carefully?" Liao Tingyuan guessed.
"Shall we go out and look again tomorrow during the day?" Lu Liruan didn't know what the point of doing this would be, but since she had thought of it, she decided to give it a try. It was better than doing nothing.
"Okay." Liao Tingyuan never denied her what she wanted to do.
"Teacher Liao..."
Just as she was about to enter the building, Lu Liruan stopped.
"Ok?"
“With you by my side, I actually… always feel a great sense of security,” Lu Liruan suddenly said.
Liao Tingyuan was taken aback when he heard her say this. She continued, "There are many things I wouldn't dare to do alone, and if I were to implement many ideas on my own, I would hesitate and think twice. It's not like now... it's like I just slapped my head and made a decision."
"Where? You're not as reckless as you say." Liao Tingyuan shook his head. He really thought the girl had a good mental fortitude, being both bold and meticulous.
"Don't listen to me too much..." Lu Liruan said a little embarrassedly, "I'm serious. If I think anything wrong, you have to tell me. Otherwise, I might do something thoughtless and put us both in danger."
Lu Liruan liked Liao Tingyuan's gentleness and felt comfortable and at ease with him. However, Lu Liruan lacked self-confidence. Although she wanted to protect Liao Tingyuan, she was not confident that she could do it well. This made her even less confident in herself when Liao Tingyuan trusted her.
Seeing her embarrassed expression, Liao Tingyuan understood what she was thinking.
The little girl was like a fledgling bird that had just become independent and was somewhat helpless.
She hopes someone can guide her, even if it's just to contradict her, so that she feels that the decision isn't hers to make, and that this timid feeling is real.
"How could Ruan Ruan think I'm letting you act recklessly?" Liao Tingyuan raised an eyebrow: "You call me Teacher Liao, do you think I would do that?"
“Teacher Liao…” Lu Liruan sighed, “Why are you so gentle?”
"Not bad?" Liao Tingyuan hesitated for a moment, as this was the first time someone had praised his gentleness so directly.
"It's not just okay, you're so gentle!" Lu Liruan snuggled against Liao Tingyuan's shoulder and bumped her head against him a few times, "Mom-level gentleness."
Liao Tingyuan: ...
"You need to gradually get used to being able to stand on your own." Liao Tingyuan wanted to say that only by trusting your own judgment can you build confidence in yourself. In many situations in the future, you should trust your intuition and judgment, especially since Lu Liruan is a person with high perception, she needs to stick to her own beliefs even more.
But seeing Lu Liruan pout, she still didn't say anything.
"I don't need to stand alone, Teacher Liao... We can just work together to cover one side!" Lu Liruan looked at him affectionately.
Liao Tingyuan decided to let her have her way for the time being.
"Yes, if I feel anything is wrong, I will definitely tell you, don't worry," Liao Tingyuan assured her.
Having spoken her mind and received a satisfactory answer, Lu Liruan felt much better.
"Let's go home, let's go home!"
After entering the house, Lu Liruan leaned back on the sofa, drank a cup of hot soy milk made by Liao Tingyuan, and went back to sleep feeling comfortable.
Since discovering that Lu Liruan had a stomach problem, Liao Tingyuan has been supervising her to eat regularly and not to stay on an empty stomach. When she comes home late at night, he makes her drink something warm before bed.
Lu Liruan woke up naturally and got up to see Liao Tingyuan standing by the window, looking down at the courtyard.
"What are you looking at?"
"The lady of the house's parents arrived earlier."
Liao Tingyuan saw the female homeowner and an elderly couple walk into the apartment building together through the path.
"what?"
Lu Liruan was puzzled: "When the hostess first called, didn't her parents say that they didn't have time?"
"They probably live together because they're worried about their family members being threatened."
Liao Tingyuan said calmly.
It was quite obvious that the woman and her parents were arguing when they came in, and they were probably quite loud, as passersby were looking at them.
He probably came over because his daughter insisted on getting a divorce.
Liao Tingyuan felt a hint of sarcasm in his heart.
He didn't tell Lu Liruan, otherwise, given her temper, she would have sulked again.
"Alright, let's eat first!" Liao Tingyuan helped Lu Liruan sit down by the shoulder.
I cooked a soft millet porridge and made egg pancakes.
As Lu Liruan ate slowly, she searched on her phone for any nearby places related to animals.
"Getting distracted while eating will affect digestion." Liao Tingyuan was reinforcing the door panel with clanging and banging while also keeping an eye on Lu Liruan.
"Teacher Liao, you're especially good at giving me advice at times like this..." Lu Liruan muttered.
The weather was a bit muggy today. Lu Liruan was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, and her hair was styled in a bun, making her look particularly petite.
Liao Tingyuan hesitated for a moment, and when changing his clothes, he also picked out a white T-shirt.
"Wow, that's rare! You even have clothes like this?" Lu Liruan's eyes lit up.
Liao Tingyuan is thin and has a calm demeanor. He usually wears shirts and looks aloof and unapproachable. But now, dressed like this, he is much more approachable.
Liao Tingyuan originally did not want to appear too... mismatched with Lu Liruan, but now that Lu Liruan was scrutinizing him so closely, he felt a little uncomfortable because of his own thoughts.
"Teacher Liao, you look much younger!" Lu Liruan casually complimented.
Liao Tingyuan: ...
"Was it that much different before?"
"Huh?" Lu Liruan didn't hear clearly.
"It's nothing," Liao Tingyuan shook his head.
He didn't even realize that he was now concerned about how others would perceive him when he was with Lu Liruan. Were they... like people from the same world?
Downstairs, everything remains the same as always.
Lu Liruan observed carefully, trying to find clues as to why the space had also affected her during the day, but she found nothing; everything seemed perfectly normal.
Lu Liruan stood once again at the very spot where she first heard the cat meowing on that very day.
He bent down to look into the depths of the grass.
Instead of seeing a cat, I saw a child under the tree.
"Hey? What are you doing here?" Lu Liruan looked around but didn't see the lady of the house, so she quickly asked.
The child wasn't wary when he saw Lu Liruan; he had seen her several times before.
"elder sister……"
"Get up first, don't sit on the ground!" Lu Liruan helped the child up. Liao Tingyuan heard the voice and came over, bending down to brush the dust off the child.
"Where is your mother?" Lu Liruan thought. Given how anxious the lady of the house was, she would go crazy if she found out that the child was missing.
"I...I came out by myself, sister," the child said softly, head down.
"Oh? Your mother must be so worried about you! Hurry back!" This kid really did sneak out!
"..." But no matter how much Lu Liruan pulled him, the child just wouldn't move forward.
"I don't want to go back. My mom and grandparents are arguing at home." The child squatted down hard, almost causing Lu Liruan to stumble. Liao Tingyuan steadily supported her and gestured for him to talk to the child.
Liao Tingyuan led him to sit on a stone bench in the courtyard.
Lu Liruan went outside and bought a few popsicles. When she came back, she saw that the child looked much better.
The three of them sat side by side on a stone bench, eating popsicles together.
The child, who had been keeping his head down and not speaking, slowly began to speak on his own.
"My mother was very unhappy when my maternal grandparents came."
"Why?"
"Because my maternal grandparents and my mother were arguing, they didn't want my mother and father to divorce."
Lu Liruan was taken aback: "They came here to talk about this?"
When Lu Liruan first heard that the mistress's parents had come, she thought it was because her daughter had been in a bad mood and they had come to help the mistress take care of the children.
result……
In the end, the woman was worried about them, but they never took her feelings to heart. They always made excuses that they didn't have time, but when they saw that the woman insisted on divorce, they suddenly had time to persuade her. At this moment, Lu Liruan wondered how much the woman's parents really understood the man's true nature. Were they... trying to persuade their daughter to make do and sacrifice herself in order to maintain the peaceful lives of others?
"And then?" Lu Liruan asked casually.
"Mom said Dad is no good..."
The child took a bite of his popsicle: "They said that Dad can't be found now, whether he's alive or dead, so how can we go on living like this? That's why Mom said she has to get a divorce, even if Grandpa and Grandma don't help her anymore, she still wants to divorce Dad."
"Oh, I see..." Liao Tingyuan patted the child's head.
"So what do you think?" Lu Liruan asked softly.
"I..." It seemed like the child was being asked for their opinion for the first time.
What do you think should be done?
"I want to be with my mom," the child said earnestly. "As long as I'm with my mom, that's enough. I want to protect her. She's so tired."
Lu Liruan blinked and suddenly felt a little better.
Under the male homeowner's pretense, everyone—whether genuinely or simply wanting to avoid trouble—advised the female homeowner to just make do. Only the child, whom the female homeowner cherished most, noticed her mother's exhaustion and wanted to stand by her side.
Even if you divorce your father?
"Yes, Dad doesn't like me, and he doesn't like Mom either..." the child said, fiddling with his fingers.
Children are the most sensitive; they are born with the ability to sense who likes them and who dislikes them.
"I don't want Dad to come home. I don't want him to bully Mom. Mom isn't happy at all because she's with Dad. I want Mom to be happy..."
Lu Liruan felt a soft feeling in her heart.
Liao Tingyuan nodded: "Then you should tell your mother about these things."
"But Mom just told me to be obedient."
“You should tell your mother what you’re thinking! Your support will definitely be very helpful to your mother, you know?” Lu Liruan patted the child’s head.
"really?"
"real."
“You running away by yourself will only make your mother worry. She might think you ran away because you don’t want her to get a divorce. If you want others to know what you’re thinking, you should take the initiative to express it,” Lu Liruan said seriously.
The child jumped off the stone bench: "Sister, you're right! I'm going to go back and tell Mom! And I'll tell Grandpa and Grandma too, that Mom and I can live just fine on our own!"