PFC Chapter 413 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (24)
Chapter 413 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (24)
But don't worry about how you'll spend the next twelve hours after you go out.
Anyway, let's get out of here first.
As soon as Lu Liruan turned over and got up, an even stronger smell assaulted her nasal cavity.
"yue——"
Lu Liruan became obedient and quickly stood up.
"How's your injury?" Lu Liruan asked, brushing her teeth with one hand and pinching her nose with the other, making a muffled nasal sound as she poked her head out of the bathroom.
"It's alright now." Liao Tingyuan pulled up the sleeves of his shirt slightly.
His arm was wrapped in fresh gauze, which was clean and free of bloodstains, indicating that the bleeding had completely stopped.
"That's good." Lu Liruan washed her face, scratched her hair, and put it up in a bun.
She was already young, and with her hair up to reveal her entire face, she looked even more childish.
They skipped and hopped past Liao Tingyuan.
Liao Tingyuan felt that same feeling of taking care of a child again last night.
They seem a little cuter and more fun than children.
Liao Tingyuan recalled how, in the darkness yesterday, she had been shouting and refusing to leave first, and a slight smile appeared on her lips.
The two went outside, and the outside was clean and tidy, except for the dust in the hallway.
When Lu Liruan and the others went out, they could still hear other people talking as they went downstairs. They didn't sense anything unusual, and no one else could smell the nauseating odor.
The smell was even stronger in the corridor, and Lu Liruan felt like she was about to faint from the stench!
Holding my breath, I reached the second floor but couldn't hold it any longer, so I hopped down like a big rabbit, taking three steps at a time.
She started too fast, and Liao Tingyuan thought she was going to fall. He instinctively reached out to catch her, but he missed.
When she realized what had happened and looked up again, she had already darted around a corner.
What an energetic child...
Liao Tingyuan silently withdrew his hand. It was the first time he had ever seen someone recover so quickly in an environment where their mental strength was constantly being affected.
To put it nicely, they must have a very strong personality and good self-regulation skills; they are truly excellent candidates for this line of work.
To put it bluntly...
The child seems... to be a bit carefree.
Liao Tingyuan found it somewhat amusing.
Forget it, I won't say anything unpleasant to her.
Sure enough, the little girl who heard Liao Tingyuan's words was very happy. She even skipped around a bit and said that she would definitely think of a good way to deal with the situation better tonight and that she would never let Liao Tingyuan get hurt again!
Encouragement and education are still useful for children.
The former early childhood educator reaffirmed this point.
Sure enough, once I stepped out of the building and into an open area, the smell dissipated.
In contrast, the air in summer is fresher, with the scent of green leaves being baked by the sun.
The sun was shining brightly today, and it was a bit damp. Lu Liruan walked under the shade of the trees in the courtyard, watching the people coming and going, and suddenly felt:
Seeing living people is a blessing!
Thinking of this, Lu Liruan suddenly paused: My happiness threshold has really become so low, I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing.
Liao Tingyuan was clearly more relaxed as well. The two of them walked slowly, one in front of the other. After all, there was still a whole day to go, so there was no need to rush...
Suddenly, Lu Liruan heard an angry woman's voice: "I told you to go play by yourself, why don't you listen? Mom is on the phone!"
Lu Liruan turned her head and looked in the direction of the sound.
Looks familiar.
I encountered that mother and daughter twice in the courtyard.
The woman stood in the shade of a tree, while a little boy playing nearby seemed to be reaching for something to show his mother, but was scolded by her.
He seemed somewhat disappointed, but didn't say anything. He turned around and ran away, squatting in a corner and playing by himself.
The woman was clearly in a very bad mood. After her loud reprimand, her voice returned to normal, and she spoke hurriedly into the phone.
Lu Liruan saw her pacing back and forth under the tree, looking very agitated, but she couldn't hear what she was saying.
For some reason, Lu Liruan suddenly had a strange feeling.
Lu Liruan gave Liao Tingyuan a wink, and Liao Tingyuan followed her gaze to the child in the corner.
“The one who was looking for the cat… do you remember him?” Lu Liruan said to him in a very soft voice.
Liao Tingyuan remembers.
He saw Lu Liruan casually walk over there, and followed beside her. The two chatted casually, pretending to be passing by. When they got closer, Lu Liruan found a shady spot, squatted down, turned her back, and put her hand on the shoelaces of her canvas shoes.
Liao Tingyuan leaned against the tall flower bed, and the two were still talking.
The woman who was on the phone noticed the two people over there. She glanced over and saw that they were acting naturally, as if they hadn't noticed anything unusual.
Instead, she turned her back and continued arguing with the person on the other end of the phone...
This time, they were closer, and Lu Liruan could hear a few of her louder words clearly.
"He's nowhere to be found! And he's talking about solving problems? Is this even a problem that can be solved? Mom, aren't you just making things worse? He doesn't seem like someone you can communicate with at all..."
"No, I'm worried. I'll drop Xiaobao off at your place after his tutoring class tonight. You don't need to worry about me, just take care of Xiaobao."
The "Little Treasure" she mentioned must be that little boy.
"Leave me alone!"
Suddenly, the woman's voice became uncontrollable, rising loudly with her emotions running high.
Then she shouted angrily into the phone, "You'll only understand what I mean when I'm dead!"
"I'm your daughter, why don't you care about me! I can raise Xiaobao even on my own! If you're not going to help, then forget it—"
Lu Liruan felt that there were other emotions in her voice besides fear.
It seemed like...he was frightened?
She appeared extremely anxious, and what she shouted next made Lu Liruan frown deeply.
"Why are you still asking why! Don't you already know? Didn't you all see it? What else do I need to say? Didn't you see it?!"
Did you see that...?
Do you already know?
See that?
See that?
Now you know...
Lu Liruan's nerves tensed up reflexively.
Last night, the words that "person" kept repeating while banging on the door seemed to overlap somewhat with what the woman was saying now.
These are some very common phrases.
Lu Liruan felt that she could hear this often in her daily life, but at this moment, it was probably because the situation last night was too unforgettable.
Lu Liruan found it very strange.
It's like an intuition.
Turning her head, Lu Liruan realized that Liao Tingyuan felt the same way she did.
Both of them fell silent.
Lu Liruan finished tying her shoelaces, stood up, and nodded to Liao Tingyuan. Liao Tingyuan remained seated, watching the woman make a phone call.
Lu Liruan then walked towards the path next to the little boy.
The little boy seemed a bit down. He squatted by the flower bed, fiddling with the pebbles in his hand, not noticing Lu Liruan approaching.
"kid……"
Lu Liruan also squatted down and called to him softly.
"Hmm!" The little boy seemed a bit startled, but after seeing that it was Lu Liruan, who looked like a young lady, he relaxed a little. However, he also wanted to stand up and leave.
"Have you found your kitten?" Lu Liruan asked quickly when she saw him trying to get up.
The little boy was taken aback. He hadn't seemed to want to talk before, and his expression was rather aggrieved. But after hearing Lu Liruan's words, he turned around, looked at her, threw down the small stone in his hand, and asked softly, "How did you know my kitten was missing?"
Seeing that he was willing to talk to her, Lu Liruan tried to keep her voice gentle and thought to herself: I should have sent Liao Tingyuan; he has more experience than me.
“One day I saw you looking for your kitten downstairs. I wanted to help you look for it, but your mother called you away.” Lu Liruan pointed to the woman over there: “Is that your mother?”
"Yes." The little boy nodded.
He seemed even more dejected when his kitten was mentioned.
He blinked and said sadly, "The kitten is gone."
"Why?"
"Mom said that the kitten is missing, and if I do well on my final exams, she'll buy me another kitten."
Although the little boy didn't look at Lu Liruan, he was willing to talk.
Lu Liruan felt as if he didn't know who to talk to. When someone mentioned his kitten, even if she was a stranger, he was willing to talk to her about his kitten.
"But I only want my kitten, other kittens aren't my kittens..." The little boy was very downcast.
Lu Liruan didn't know what to say; she had little experience in comforting children.
Ah!
Liao Tingyuan should be the one to ask!
Lu Liruan unconsciously picked up a small pebble.
When Liao Tingyuan looked this way, what he saw were two mushrooms, one large and one small, growing in the corner of the wall, exuding a gloomy aura.
Liao Tingyuan: ?
"No, don't be sad..." Lu Liruan sighed.
The little boy sighed.
Children are very good at assessing whether someone is aggressive. Someone like Lu Liruan is easily categorized as someone who can be communicated with.
"I'm so sad... but Mommy isn't talking to me. Mommy is arguing with Daddy," the little boy whispered.
Why are you arguing?
"I don't know. My mom won't tell me either. She said she's going to send me to my grandma's house. I don't want to live with my grandma. I want to live with my mom." The little boy's voice was muffled, and Lu Liruan wondered if he was crying.
"Don't you want to live with your father?" Lu Liruan asked after a moment's hesitation.
"No." The little boy shook his head. "I don't like my dad." He said firmly.
Lu Liruan felt that children of this age were probably too young in the eyes of adults, and that what they said was meaningless, and that they were just children who needed to be coaxed.
But in fact, they already have their own set of methods for distinguishing and understanding people and the world. It's just that adults are often unwilling to understand or have the patience to do so.
"Sister, do you like your dad?" the little boy suddenly asked.
“I no longer have a father,” Lu Liruan answered truthfully.
The little boy was taken aback: "And what about your mother?"
"I don't have a mother anymore either."
The child's eyes revealed undisguised sadness.
“It’s okay, your sister is all grown up now.” Lu Liruan touched the little boy’s little stone with the little stone in her own hand: “Your sister can take care of herself now.”
Lu Liruan's original intention was to comfort the child, at least he still had his beloved mother, but seeing the child genuinely sad for her, she felt quite guilty.
It seems I've only made things worse for the child, who was already unhappy.
Ah!
I guess I'm just not cut out for this!
“When you grow up and can take care of yourself and the kitten, you can raise a kitten yourself.” Lu Liruan brought the topic back.
"Do you have a kitten, sister?"
"I...I haven't met my destined kitten yet! I'm also a bit busy right now," Lu Liruan explained hastily.
"Oh. When I grow up, even if I'm very busy, I'll still raise my kitten." He seemed to be making a promise to himself.
"You're really amazing!" Lu Liruan gave him a thumbs up.
The little boy finally gave a shy little smile.
But before he could say anything more, he heard a woman's voice from behind him on the roadside: "Let's go! Stop playing around! Hurry up and go home!"
Lu Liruan and the little boy turned their heads at the same time and saw the woman who had been on the phone just now. She was still standing there with a not-so-good expression, and her eyes scanned Lu Liruan up and down several times.
Lu Liruan felt like a child trafficker trying to steal a child; it was her first time being a criminal suspect, and she was a little at a loss.
The little boy obediently stood up, threw down what he was holding, and said, "Goodbye, sister!"
He waved to Lu Liruan and then ran towards his mother.
Even after walking several steps, Lu Liruan could still hear the woman's scolding voice: "How many times have I told you not to talk to strangers? Can't you tell the difference between a good person and a bad person?"
Lu Liruan felt that the woman seemed to be carrying resentment, just as she had said.
But Lu Liruan wasn't unhappy; it was a good thing to make the child more vigilant.
Lu Liruan watched the mother and son walk away and continued walking forward.
We continued until we entered the second unit.
Liao Tingyuan walked over from behind, looking somewhat helpless, and patted Lu Liruan's head: "You don't even glance in my direction."
After the woman hung up the phone, Liao Tingyuan thought of reminding Lu Liruan to be careful.
As a result, the two mushrooms, one big and one small, in the corner grew even closer together.
Although he had no idea what the two of them were talking about, Liao Tingyuan sensed that the two small figures were tinged with the same sadness, and the older one seemed a little embarrassed.
They don't look out of place together at all.
"You scared me!" Lu Liruan breathed a sigh of relief.
"Did you hear anything?" Lu Liruan inquired about Liao Tingyuan's eavesdropping findings.
"Let's talk as we walk, I'm all sweaty." Liao Tingyuan shook his head and walked out of the residential area with the large mushroom.