PFC Chapter 391 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (2)
Chapter 391 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (2)
The plastic bag in his hand must have been heavy; the handle was caught between his hooked knuckles, swaying with the rhythm of his walk…
"So thin."
This was what Lu Liruan thought as she watched him walk away.
This person looks light and thin, like a piece of paper.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he looked down at the phone screen in his other hand.
But Lu Liruan felt that he had noticed her.
But he didn't even lift his head.
"Da da da."
The footsteps continued, moving rhythmically downstairs.
Pause once after every eight strokes.
Because this building has a flight of stairs with eight sections.
It started, then paused.
It started, then paused.
Lu Liruan counted in her mind.
Until you can't hear it anymore.
"call--"
Lu Liruan leaned against the door and breathed a sigh of relief. Ever since that cat, the atmosphere had suddenly become strange.
But when I looked back, everything seemed normal.
Lu Liruan looked up at the light tube, which, as always, flickered slightly.
After shifting my gaze, my eyes, which had been blinded by the bright light, found everything in my field of vision to be dark, with a dark spot in the background.
"Dang——dang——dang——"
“Click, click—”
The wall clock in the bedroom chimed again.
It's eleven o'clock.
Time flies.
As Lu Liruan calmed down, she suddenly found her earlier panicked and wary demeanor somewhat amusing.
The rain outside was getting heavier, and the sound of it hitting the window was very loud.
When Lu Liruan got to the small balcony, she saw that it was indeed raining.
The floor tiles are all wet.
The place where Lu Liruan lives is old; the landlord said the floor tiles are about ten years old.
Water has started to seep through the gaps between the bricks.
If you're not careful, a water stain will appear under the milky white tiles.
Lu Liruan is usually very careful.
Because he was worried about not maintaining the property properly, the landlord demanded that he pay compensation.
Lu Liruan spread several rags on the ground to absorb the water, and opened the window a little, but did not close it completely.
This room does not have air conditioning.
It's mid-June now, and without opening the windows, it feels like you can't breathe...
After bustling around on the balcony, the last trace of that strange feeling disappeared.
Sometimes people do indeed fall into a state of panic that they themselves are inexplicably terrified of, because of certain things.
When Lu Liruan walked back to the living room, she paused, went to the door, and grasped the doorknob.
Press down.
Push it open a crack.
"cough--"
Lu Liruan coughed, and the yellow motion-sensor lights in the corridor turned on normally.
In a corner of the corridor, several cockroaches, suddenly exposed to the light, hurriedly scurried back into the dark crevices.
"Damn! Where did they crawl out from?" Lu Liruan disliked insects, and goosebumps rose on her arms. She thought she would have to buy some bait glue and put it at the doorway tomorrow to prevent them from finding a loophole and crawling into the house.
There was nothing strange about the corridor.
Lu Liruan bent down and saw that the low threshold under the security door was covered in dust, with signs of wiping...
It must have been from the cat rubbing against it earlier.
There was a faint smell of earth and rust in the corridor.
Lu Liruan always felt that although every rainy day had its own unique flavor, the flavor was never exactly the same.
"Bam—"
Lu Liruan closed the door again.
"Hey."
Lu Liruan lay in bed, feeling constantly damp all over.
Could we buy an air conditioner?
Lu Liruan pondered for a moment, then decided against it.
They'll have to drill holes in the wall again, which will cost them several thousand dollars.
Everything is uncertain now, so Lu Liruan decided that she should tighten her belt for the time being.
Lu Liruan didn't know when she fell asleep.
In my dream, I was climbing stairs.
Go up the stairs...
Looking up through the gap in the middle of the stairs, it was like a black hole; I had no idea how much higher it was.
In my dream, it seemed like I was constantly thinking about something...
Accompanied by the rhythmic "tap tap" of footsteps.
When Lu Liruan woke up, she felt soreness in her back and legs.
Good grief, I'm training in my dream...
For a brief moment, my body was awake, but my mind was still not fully awake; my consciousness seemed both clear and hazy.
Lu Liruan vaguely remembered what she was thinking in her dream:
The man in the black suit who went downstairs last night.
It's raining so much outside...
He didn't bring an umbrella.
That outfit probably belongs to a corporate slave who went out to throw out the trash after work and got soaked in the rain. It's pretty pathetic to think about.
It was broad daylight outside, and the thin, cheap curtains were practically useless.
I don't know when the rain stopped, but looking at the ground now, it's completely dry.
Today is Thursday.
Lu Liruan, wearing a large T-shirt, shorts and slippers, strolled leisurely to the entrance of the community, bought an egg pancake and a cup of soy milk, and sat on the exercise equipment in the yard to eat.
Around 8 a.m., the air outside was still quite refreshing, much more comfortable than being cooped up at home in the wind.
"Meow--"
Just as Lu Liruan put the last bite of her biscuit into her mouth, she heard a soft meow coming from the bushes in front of her.
"Gone."
Lu Liruan shrugged and spoke to the source of the sound.
"Meow--"
The cat's meowing faded into the distance.
"Hey! You really understood?" Lu Liruan said casually after cleaning up the trash.
I was just about to get up and go upstairs.
Lu Liruan heard a child crying coming from the path behind her.
"Waaaaah—Mommy! What do I do if I can't find it?!"
Lu Liruan looked in the direction of the sound and saw a little boy, about four or five years old, wearing a gray cartoon short-sleeved shirt, crying with snot and tears streaming down his face. He was holding his mother's arm and shaking it vigorously.
"Don't cry, we found it! There's nothing we can do if we can't find it now. How about Mom buys you another one?"
The woman standing to the side looked worried, comforting the child while glancing around.
"No! I won't go to school if I can't find you!" the little boy stomped his feet.
"That won't do! Don't make excuses for not wanting to go to school!" his mother scolded anxiously, but this only made the little boy cry even harder!
"Mimi—Mimi—where are you?" The little boy broke free from his mother's hand, squatted down, and earnestly called out, imitating a cat's meow in a completely different way.
The cat is lost?
Lu Liruan stopped in her tracks.
The cat that ran past just now... it seemed to understand what I was saying. Could it be my lost house cat?
Lu Liruan hesitated for a moment, but then shut up. She hadn't even seen what the cat looked like or what breed it was, and she didn't know where it had gone. How could she tell people that?
The mother and son continued walking forward, imitating cat meows.
The woman answered the phone: "Busy, busy, busy! You promised to help the kids look for it today! I didn't even go to work!"
"I can't count on you for anything!"
……
Lu Liruan was sweating profusely just by walking upstairs. The weather this year was hotter and more humid than in previous years, and her skin felt sticky to the touch.
Lu Liruan went into the bathroom.
"Depend on!"
The showerhead sprayed lukewarm water; she had forgotten to plug in the water heater.
But in this weather, the water from the tap isn't very cold anymore.
Lu Liruan took a quick cold shower, put her hair up, and stood by the well-ventilated screen window.
Started looking at job search apps...
The first hurdle: academic qualifications.
In the educational background screening, Lu Liruan selected: junior high school.
Then they discovered that even the waiter/waitress positions were significantly reduced.
Upon closer inspection, some companies listed cleaning positions with a requirement of a bachelor's degree, though it may have been filled out incorrectly.
……
Fine.
Lu Liruan was actually considering whether she could do some part-time work.
After all, I'm here to complete a mission, not to be a slave.
Then Lu Liruan saw a job title: night security guard.
Educational requirement: Junior high school
No gender or age restrictions.
Let's go!
Lu Liruan clicked to contact the HR, but did not receive a reply for a long time.
Lu Liruan fell asleep during the hottest part of the afternoon. When she woke up, the fiery clouds on the horizon resembled fireworks on a summer evening.
There were sounds of children playing downstairs, and music playing from a stereo.
"The vast horizon is my love—"
Lu Liruan hummed along as she got up, preparing to go to the supermarket to buy some things.
Buy some instant noodles, frozen food, etc.
In this weather, going into the kitchen to cook is no different from stepping into a steamer.
There's a fairly large supermarket at the back gate of the residential area, which also has a section selling vegetables and fruits—a multi-purpose facility.
The moment Lu Liruan stepped inside, she was chilled from head to toe by the blasting air conditioning.
So cool!
She strolled around slowly, wanting to linger there a little longer.
Instant noodles... instant noodles...
Lu Liruan searched row by row.
I've finally found a shelf for convenient fast food.
"Hey?"
Lu Liruan stopped in front of the dazzling array of convenience stores, glanced at them briefly, and found that there was nothing she wanted.
How about braised beef noodles?
What happened to the classic flavor?
Lu Liruan looked for large-packaged ones.
Individually packaged ones are still available, but buying them individually costs almost 50 cents more per bag than buying a large pack.
Lu Liruan decided to look again.
There's no shame in bowing to life's pressures.
Finally, perseverance paid off. Lu Liruan spotted a splash of red on the top shelf next to her, behind several bags of pickled cabbage and beef noodles...
Lu Liruan raised her hand.
I can't get it.
so high.
Just as Lu Liruan was pondering whether she should jump up and try it out.
Suddenly, a hand reached out from beside her, pushed aside the purple packaging, and took the bag of braised beef noodles.
"what!"
Lu Liruan didn't react immediately, and subconsciously wanted to say that she saw it first!
Then I saw the bag being handed right under my nose.
"Do you want this?"
A clear, gentle male voice came from above and asked.
Yes! Thank you!
Lu Liruan reached out to take it and saw that the hand holding the bag was wearing a black glove that looked like it was made of soft fabric.
The gloves must have been elastic, as they wrapped the hand very carefully.
It is a particularly beautiful hand.
Her fingers were so slender and long that they could almost be used as hand models; her knuckles were so well-proportioned that the tips and bases of her fingers were almost the same thickness.
The finger bones and the taut veins that bulge out from gripping are also faintly visible.
The gloves extended into his cuffs, wrapping around his slender wrists, drawing the eye in instinctively.
I thought I could see something, but all I saw was the tightly buttoned cuffs of his white shirt.
Lu Liruan didn't know how long she had been staring at the other person's hand; it seemed she had been involuntarily drawn to it.
But the other person didn't seem to notice and remained in that position, saying, "Here you go."
When Lu Liruan took it, she suddenly felt dizzy for a moment, and the sounds and movements of the people around her seemed to suddenly become louder and faster.
It must be... the senses I had ignored because of my distraction have returned.
How strange, I've had this weird feeling of time standing still these past two days?
Lu Liruan even began to wonder if there was something wrong with her brain.
Looking up, Lu Liruan finally saw the person standing next to her clearly.
White shirt, black suit, and black tie.
A single black glove.
She and Lu Liruan, who was dressed very scantily, seemed to be on different levels.
Looking up from the top button of the collar, there is a gentle, pale face with a hint of weariness.
Because he was looking down at her, Lu Liruan could see his eyes, which were half-hidden by his bangs.
He has a pair of very calm eyes, with narrow double eyelid creases that are somewhat asymmetrical; without close inspection, they appear to be one single and one double eyelid.
On the side where the crease is narrower, at the midline between the outer corner of his eye and the end of his eyebrow, there is a very small, red mole that stands out against his pale, cold skin.
His pupils were a light grayish color, and his slender, high, and bony nose made his already prominent eye sockets appear even deeper. His slightly drooping eye corners and the faint bluish tint under his eyes made him look even more tired.
Despite being very good-looking, she was not aggressive at all, as gentle as a handful of clear water, tired and bland.
Without asking, I knew he was also a laborer; that pungent, tasteless smell of his work wafted onto my face.
These words came to Lu Liruan's mind.
After receiving the instant noodles, the two nodded to each other twice and then went their separate ways.
Then we bumped into each other again at the cashier.
Lu Liruan bought two large bottles of soda, a low-cost form of happiness when you're broke.
Regardless, Lu Liruan's personality dictates that she should try to make the best of her situation.
The two walked out of the supermarket one after the other, still in the same direction.
"Um... are you also in Unit 5?" Lu Liruan asked knowingly.
The other person nodded, and after realizing that they lived in the same building as Lu Liruan, they naturally and proactively helped her carry a bag.
Because Lu Liruan was holding half a watermelon in her arms, she was so flustered that she almost had to use her head to support it.
He remained quiet the whole way, showing no curiosity about Lu Liruan and hardly speaking, but Lu Liruan didn't feel awkward being with him.
This person has a kind of understated elegance that allows them to blend seamlessly into any setting.
"Meow—" Lu Liruan heard a cat meowing again as she passed the bushes from that morning.
Could it really be that little boy's cat? It's been lingering here...
Lu Liruan thought for a moment and peered inside, but it was already dark, and there was no light in the bushes, so she couldn't see anything.
The people around her also stopped in their tracks.
"what happened?"
"Can you hear a cat meowing in the bushes?"
"I heard you." He glanced at Lu Liruan lightly, following her gaze.
The shadows of the bushes trembled on the ground.
"Never mind, I thought it was a cat that a little boy had lost this morning." Lu Liruan shook her head and continued walking forward.
Did you see the cat this morning?
"No... I heard cats meowing here this morning too," Lu Liruan replied casually.
Unbeknownst to her, the man's light-colored eyes were fixed on her back with a serious expression.
-
"Thank you. Which floor do you live on?" Lu Liruan asked casually as she stood at the door of her fifth-floor apartment.
"Sixth floor."
Lu Liruan entered the room and closed the door.
Hearing a sound coming from the corridor:
"Da da da."
They went upstairs.
-
Exhausted office worker, male mom in suit and gloves, hehehe!
Take a big bite!