Chapter 154: The Child’s Mother
Lu Weiyi glanced at the pot, noticing there were two more bowls of soup. He gestured toward the pot with his chin.
“Thank you, thank you,” Zhang Lei quickly handed over his lunch box. Yun Lu took the box, filled a large bowl with soup, and also glanced at the woman who had been with Zhang Lei. Her belly was slightly bulging, suggesting she was a few months pregnant.
“I don’t need it, really, there’s no need to waste,” the woman said, though a faint smile played on her lips.
“Don’t worry, we still have enough to eat. It’s more important for you to take care of your health,” Zhang Lei said as he gently handed the soup to her. The woman insisted that both of them share the bowl, so they took turns sipping from it.
Yun Lu watched them, feeling embarrassed, but couldn’t help but glance again. Eventually, her gaze shifted toward Lu Weiyi. When he noticed her staring, he looked over, causing her face to flush red. She quickly lowered her head.
“Is there something?” Lu Weiyi asked.
“No… nothing,” Yun Lu replied cautiously, sneaking a glance at him again before looking down.
Lu Weiyi frowned and turned his head back to face the door.
The rain continued steadily, not heavy but cold. Lu Weiyi stood at the door, staring at the rain, lost in thought.
Antonio, Li Qing, and Lu Xi were playing cards under the white light, each with strips of paper on their faces. Li Zhuang lay limp on the sofa, while Yun Lu, who had been washing the pots with Guan Tong, noticed Lu Weiyi standing outside alone. She wiped her hands and grabbed a down jacket from the sofa to bring it to him.
Lu Weiyi noticed someone approaching and glanced sideways. Yun Lu handed him the jacket, which he accepted and draped over himself, still looking out the window.
“Are you taking me to the Qingyuan City base?” Yun Lu asked, looking at him.
“Mm,” Lu Weiyi responded.
“Oh,” Yun Lu fell silent, looking down at the stones on the ground, then asked after a long pause, “Is your son with you?”
“Mm.”
“Then… where’s his mother?” Yun Lu finally gathered enough courage to ask the question that had been on her mind for a while.
“…He doesn’t have a mother,” Lu Weiyi replied. Two big men like them couldn’t possibly have a mother for a child.
“I…” Yun Lu looked up at Lu Weiyi, speaking loudly as if making a promise, “I’ll take good care of him.”
Lu Weiyi was startled by her sudden loud voice. He frowned and gave her a glance but didn’t respond. He thought of Yun Lu and her mother as people he’d taken in, just like bringing a servant into his care. It was natural to treat the young master, Zhuang Ai Yi, well; there was no need to promise anything.
The others in the room weren’t paying much attention to the conversation, but they clearly heard Yun Lu’s unguarded words. Li Zhuang opened his eyes briefly, then closed them again. The three playing cards exchanged glances, unsure of how to react.
Finally, Li Qing looked at Guan Tong, who was clearing the dishes and staring at the door, and quietly reminded her, “Auntie, don’t let your daughter develop any ideas. The person at the base isn’t easy to deal with.”
“Does he have a wife and kids?” Guan Tong asked.
“…” Li Qing didn’t know how to answer this. Was he supposed to tell her that Lu Weiyi was gay? He couldn’t bring himself to say something so blunt, so he just pressed his lips together in silence.
For Guan Tong, this was as good as an affirmation. “Then why is he bothering Lu Lu?”
“So…” Lu Xi threw his cards down on the table, lifting his head to look at Guan Tong with burning eyes. “Should my brother just watch her being forced into becoming a prostitute?”
He didn’t agree with Lu Weiyi’s actions, but he wouldn’t let anyone criticize him.
Guan Tong was momentarily speechless. She and her daughter really had no options left. Even if Lu Weiyi had done something back then, it was still far better than an endless life of prostituting herself.
Guan Tong stared at her daughter’s adoring gaze at the door, feeling a deep sense of sorrow and helplessness. She sighed and decided to control her daughter’s thoughts. “Lu Lu, come wipe the dishes.”
“Okay,” Yun Lu responded cheerfully, then looked back at Lu Weiyi and asked, “Can I call you by your name?”
The team members all had different ways of addressing Lu Weiyi, but Yun Lu didn’t want to call him “Young Master” like Li Zhuang did. It seemed a little too formal, but she didn’t know if it would be appropriate to call him by his name.
“Do whatever you want,” Lu Weiyi said indifferently.
“Weiyi,” Yun Lu called out sweetly.
Lu Weiyi furrowed his brow, feeling a bit awkward. When he turned to look at Yun Lu happily running back, he couldn’t pinpoint why it felt strange.
Maybe it was just his imagination, Lu Weiyi thought to himself. He turned to the others and said, “I’ll go check around.”
“Let’s go together,” Li Zhuang, who had been pretending to sleep, lazily got up from the sofa, put on his down jacket, and said to the other three, “Get the bedroom cleaned up.”
“Okay,” Antonio replied, casually tossing out two cards. “I win, royal flush!”
*
The heavy rain created a shallow water layer on the ground. Luckily, both of them were wearing long boots. With each step, they heard the squelch of their boots and the rain falling on their umbrellas, making it hard to hear anything else around them.
Lu Weiyi extended his small green branch, which could now reach nearly 600 meters, to scan the area while observing through the rain curtain.
“Do you think there will be zombies?” Li Zhuang asked.
“Better safe than sorry,” Lu Weiyi replied.
“Are you interested in that girl?”
The abrupt change of topic caught Lu Weiyi off guard. He paused for a moment before glancing at Li Zhuang, who was staring at him seriously, not joking. Lu Weiyi looked back at him with a clear expression of disdain.
“Ha ha…” Li Zhuang chuckled as he understood what he meant. “Then why bring them along?” After all, there was a whole group of women who all seemed to need saving.
“Guan Tong, a national-level bone orthopedic expert,” Lu Weiyi replied.
Li Zhuang thought for a moment and understood his meaning. He smiled slightly, then whispered, “…just say we can’t.”
The two of them took a roundabout route and found two zombies trapped inside a house nearby. They collected two crystal cores, and when they returned, Lu Weiyi went to sleep.
The next day, the weather cleared up. The group decided they should reach the base by nightfall, so they left early in the morning. Zhang Lei and his group had a private discussion and decided to follow them.
Upon learning this, Lu Weiyi simply said, “If you want to follow, you can, but I won’t protect you.”
“Okay, we’ll be careful,” Zhang Lei replied.
It was the same RV as yesterday, but today Antonio slept in it while Lu Weiyi, Li Zhuang, and Li Qing drove. The rain had left the roads muddy, which slowed their travel.
By the afternoon, when the weather turned gloomy again, they had entered Qingyuan’s territory, estimating that it would take about four more hours to arrive. The group decided to continue without stopping.
The RV was fine—they wouldn’t get wet—but for the group following them, it wasn’t as easy. Lu Weiyi was using his mental energy to scout the road, able to avoid dangers even with his eyes closed. But the others didn’t have that advantage. After some bumps, they finally made it back to the Qingyuan City base around 7 PM, the vehicle covered in mud and water.
“Finally back,” Li Qing stretched lazily, feeling a strange sense of security as he saw the walls ahead.
Since it was rainy, the base’s gates closed early and were already closed to new arrivals. Lu Weiyi drove up, and Li Qing swiped his ID to let them in.
“What about them?” Li Qing asked, pointing to the two extra people in the car.
“I surrendered them,” Lu Weiyi replied, indicating that the supplies had been handed over and the necessary residence papers had been processed. Given the weather and their hurry, Lu Weiyi gave the soldier a five-kilo bag of rice and said, “You can come to Longmen Villa 601 to collect the supplies and complete the registration tomorrow.”
In front of his superior, the soldier didn’t dare accept the gift and glanced at Li Qing for permission.
“Take it, no harm in receiving it,” Li Qing said, not minding improving the soldiers’ rations.
“Thank you, Chief,” the soldier replied, accepting it and writing an IOU for Lu Weiyi to sign before allowing them to pass.
Li Qing’s villa wasn’t far, so Lu Weiyi dropped him off before heading back.
The villa was brightly lit, and the others hadn’t gone to sleep yet. Lu Weiyi honked the horn, and someone quickly came out with an umbrella, looking through the door.
“It’s me, open up,” Lu Weiyi called from the car window.
“Young Master Lu!” Bai Miao greeted excitedly and quickly opened the door to let the car in, locking it behind them. She then ran into the house, calling out, “They’re back! Young Master Lu and the others are back!”
The others who were eating immediately stood up and rushed to the door.
“It’s so late, you must not have eaten. I’ll go get something for you,” Xi Shi said as he hurriedly went to the kitchen.
“I’ll go with you,” Gu Qingyue said, following him.
After days of worry, it was finally time for judgment. Zhuang Mingxu clenched his fists, pushed Zhuang Ai Yi aside, and said, “Go greet your little daddy.”
Zhuang Ai Yi hesitated but ran up when Zhuang Mingxu spoke again, “Go ahead.”
“Back already? Everything go smoothly? Where’s Brother Li?” Xu Sa, who had been ahead, stopped by Lu Weiyi’s side, asking while scanning him up and down.
“Everything’s fine,” Lu Weiyi replied, nodding toward the car door.
First to get out was Antonio, who immediately picked up Dean and kissed him several times, saying, “Dean, I missed you. How have you been at the base?”
“I’m good,” Dean wrapped his arms around Antonio’s neck. “How about you? David, I heard from Qingji that you were bitten by zombies. Does it hurt?”
“Thinking of you makes the pain go away,” Antonio responded sweetly.
“Go back to flirting, move aside,” Ning Yuan said, pushing the two aside so the car door could open.
Next, Li Zhuang stepped out.
“Brother Li, you… are you really okay?” Gu Qingji rushed up and, surprisingly, hugged him. He had felt guilty ever since returning, especially whenever he saw the strange ivy on his wrist.
Li Zhuang patted Gu Qingji on the shoulder, glanced at the others, and smiled. “I’m fine.”
“That’s great. Qingji brought the news back, we were so worried.”
The group chatted excitedly, and Zhuang Ai Yi finally squeezed through.
“Little daddy,” he called sweetly, “I missed you so much.”
Lu Weiyi smiled, picked up Zhuang Ai Yi, and whispered, “I missed you too.”
