I gave an awkward laugh and tried to brush it off, then asked Suo Tian, "What exactly happened at that bar today?"
Suo Tian shook his head. "Not sure. Huang Jun had someone notify me that Dad was trapped inside the bar."
"So you showed up there just to save him?"
"Yeah." Suo Tian rested his chin on the top of my head, paused for a moment, then said, "There were a lot of people inside who'd been bitten. It was probably some kind of civilian unrest. Otherwise, Team D wouldn't have sealed off a place like that on their own."
I rubbed my face against his chest and let out a small sigh.
The impossible order headquarters had given him was already hard enough to deal with, and he still had to juggle everything happening back there too.
No wonder when I saw him today, the exhaustion on his face was impossible to hide.
But then I remembered how he'd gone out of his way to come back at noon just to eat with us, and I couldn't help but grin again.
While I was still smiling, the hand he had around my shoulder shifted slightly, then started sliding down my back in a not-so-innocent way.
My face flushed, and I slapped his arm, laughing as I scolded, "What are you doing? Just talk properly."
"It's not like I stopped you from talking." Suo Tian was getting better and better at talking back, though his hand obediently stopped right at the edge of the towel wrapped around me.
"I was talking about what you mentioned before, about Rongrong and Zhao Qiuting…" I had barely gotten halfway through my sentence when there was a knock at the door.
I paused and turned to look toward the bedroom door.
Suo Tian got up, pulled the blanket over me to cover me completely, then walked over and opened the door.
By the faint moonlight coming through the window, I saw Xu Shu standing outside, looking a bit embarrassed.
When she saw Suo Tian open the door, she froze for a moment, then glanced into the room and spotted me on the bed with only my head sticking out.
Her expression stiffened, and she looked even more awkward.
"What is it?" Suo Tian asked, reminding her to say why she'd come.
"Uh… it's pretty late, and it's not great to disturb you two… but…" Xu Shu pointed helplessly at Xiao Hu standing beside her, pouting.
"This kid only wants Chen Yang. He won't accept anyone else. He's been crying for ages."
Hearing that, I quickly propped myself up to look at Xiao Hu, who had been hidden from view earlier.
Sure enough, the little guy was standing there with teary eyes, lips trembling, trying hard not to cry.
He looked pitiful. Instinctively, I started to get out of bed to bring him in—but before I could move, Suo Tian turned back and snapped, "Stay right there!"
I froze.
Xu Shu was also stunned for a moment, not quite reacting yet.
Suo Tian crouched down and stared at Xiao Hu for a bit, then asked, "Do you want to sleep with Zhou Wen?"
At that, Xiao Hu's lips drooped even more, and he shook his head frantically.
Suo Tian then pointed at Xu Shu and asked, "Do you want to sleep with her, or with Zhou Wen?"
Xiao Hu looked up at Xu Shu, then glanced toward me in the room. "I want to sleep with big sister."
Suo Tian sighed, stood up, and left Xu Shu—who was barely holding back laughter—with a sentence: "Take him to Zhou Wen."
Then he shut the door with a bang…
Hearing the door slam, I froze again.
I stared blankly for a while until Suo Tian came back to my side, and only then did I snap out of it and protest, "Hey, what are you doing? The kid's crying—mmph…"
"......"
(The rest isn't suitable to describe in detail—just use your imagination.)
When I woke up the next morning, as usual, Suo Tian was already awake.
Xu Shu brought me a set of clothes.
Blushing under her watchful gaze, I quickly got dressed, but when I turned around—she was still staring at me!
Clearing my throat awkwardly, I forced a grin. "Uh… last night… who did Xiao Hu end up sleeping with?"
Xu Shu still had that teasing smile as she looked at me. "With Uncle Gazi. Once he saw Tingyun, he was happy to sleep there."
"Oh… hahaha." Being stared at like that made me feel uneasy.
I adjusted my clothes and hurried into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash up.
When I came out, I avoided looking at Xu Shu and headed straight for the bedroom door.
"Alright, alright, let's go downstairs and cook."
"Chen Yang," Xu Shu called out.
"Hmm?"
"You might want to zip it all the way up to your neck."
"…Huh?" Watching her walk out, I froze for two seconds before suddenly realizing something.
I rushed into the bathroom and looked in the mirror—
Oh, crap…
When I went downstairs, Shen Feng, Han Xue, and Lili had already finished preparing breakfast.
As I walked down the stairs, I looked at Lili—standing in the living room, happily holding the baby and chatting with Uncle Gazi—and couldn't help but feel a bit incredulous…
She was completely different from how she had been yesterday.
Yangyang called Tingyun and Xiao Hu back from the lawn outside, where they had been playing with Yiyi.
Once everyone was seated, we started eating breakfast together in a lively atmosphere.
Throughout the meal, I kept watching Lili, trying to spot anything unusual on her face—but there was nothing.
She was completely normal.
She took care of the baby naturally, didn't mind others holding it like she did last night, chatted with everyone, and ate like usual.
And yet, I couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in my heart.
She shouldn't be this normal.
Uncle Gazi sighed as he ate. "Ah, this life… compared to a few days ago, it's like heaven and hell apart."
"Exactly," Han Xue agreed as she served Lili a bowl of steamed egg custard.
"Last night, lying in bed, I kept pinching myself. It felt like a dream."
Chen Pu, sitting nearby, burst out laughing. "Only an idiot would go around pinching themselves for no reason."
Xu Shu kicked his chair and shot him a glare. "Watch how you talk!"
"I say, Xiao Shu, are you even a woman? Always kicking people like that—so unrefined," Taozi said lazily, slumped against Zhou Wen like he had no bones.
Chen Pu shot Taozi a grateful look.
The two exchanged a glance as if forming an alliance, then both turned to look at Xu Shu.
Xu Shu glanced at Chen Pu, then at Taozi.
After a moment, she let out a cold laugh. "What, the two of you want to spar with me later?"
Hearing that, Taozi immediately turned to Zhou Wen for help—but Zhou Wen just continued eating calmly, occasionally chatting with Suo Tian and Shen Feng, completely ignoring him.
Faced with overwhelming strength, the newly formed "alliance" instantly fell apart.
Both of them shrank back, not daring to say another word.
The meal ended quickly.
Bruno probably felt a bit embarrassed about coming over early in the morning just to eat, so he offered to wash the dishes.
But before he could even step into the kitchen, Lili pushed him aside, handed him the baby, and told him to hold it, while she joined Yangyang and Chen Pu in clearing the table.
Xiao Hu, perhaps still upset about what happened last night, sat on the sofa.
When I called him, he stood next to Uncle Gazi, shot me a glare, then turned his back to me.
"Oh ho, what's this? Why is the little guy mad at Sister Chen Yang? Did you steal his milk or something?" Jun Di laughed, clearly unaware of the situation.
My face flushed again… I cleared my throat and casually reached to make sure my zipper was pulled all the way up.
Then I replied, "No way. The one who offended him wasn't me."
I shot a sideways glance at Suo Tian sitting beside me.
Noticing my look, Suo Tian glanced over.
When he saw how tightly I'd zipped up my clothes, his lips pressed together—then he let out a soft chuckle.
After quite a bit of coaxing, Xiao Hu finally forgave me, though his expression clearly said, If you do that again, I'll never talk to you.
After washing the dishes, Lili came out, took the baby back from Bruno, greeted us briefly, and then carried the child upstairs to her room.
Only after watching her disappear onto the second floor did Uncle Gazi sigh and ask us, "Alright, what's going on? Where did this kid suddenly come from? I remember the other day, when I saw that child, his face was already purple, and the father was crying his heart out."
Shen Feng glanced at me before answering, "That child isn't Lili's. When we were coming back yesterday, something happened on the street. She rescued the baby during the chaos."
"What? What kind of situation lets you 'rescue someone during chaos'? What could possibly happen out on the street? Don't give me bits and pieces—just tell it properly," Uncle Gazi said impatiently.
"It's like this, Uncle Gazi," Han Xue picked up the explanation.
"Yesterday, on our way here with Sister Lili, we ran into a lot of people blocking the road. Then walkers started biting people in the crowd—it was complete chaos. We don't know how Sister Lili spotted the baby, but she suddenly got out of the car and ran straight toward it. By the time Chen Yang and Shen Feng brought her back, she was already holding the child."
"Walkers showed up on the street and started biting people?" Taozi spoke up nervously.
"This place doesn't seem that safe after all…"
"It was dealt with quickly. Seems like it was an unexpected incident," Shen Feng replied.
"Still, that's not good. Looks like we should just stay indoors from now on. It's too dangerous outside. We survived all that time out there—if something happens here of all places, that'd be too tragic."
"Let's set that aside for now," Han Xue frowned as she continued.
"I've been thinking—when Sister Lili picked up the baby, it was in a stroller. That means there had to be an adult with it. If the parent got separated from the child in the chaos, and Lili took the baby away… then the child's parents must be going crazy right now."
As Han Xue spoke, Big Beard walked in from outside with two black-clad men.
When he saw the room full of people, he froze for a moment, then blurted out, "Damn…"
When Suo Tian saw him, he stood up and walked over.
Big Beard leaned in and said a few quiet words to him.
Suo Tian then gestured for him to step outside first, before turning back to me and saying, "I might not be back tonight. Don't wait up—just go to sleep."
After giving a nod to the others, he turned and left with Big Beard and the two men.
Watching him leave, I stood there in a daze for a moment, only snapping back to reality amid everyone's murmurs.
After a bit of joking and chatter, the room gradually fell quiet, and we all began thinking seriously about the issue Han Xue had just raised.
— The end of the Chapter–