Chapter 102
A little mound bulged up on the bed.
Guanguan huffed and puffed his way upright, then rubbed his eyes with his plump little white hands.
It was so dark.
He sat there in the warm blankets, staring blankly for a while, then slowly lifted his dazed little face. “Where’s Guanguan’s brother?”
“Brother…”
When no answer came, Guanguan started to panic.
He scrambled backward from the middle of the bed toward the edge, then with a soft plop jumped down when his feet touched the cold tile floor. After that, he fumbled his way into the “two white sailboats” on his feet and charged straight for the door.
He pushed at it with one little hand, but it would not budge, so he shoved with both hands instead, his brows knitting into two little figure-eights. “Ngh! Ngh!”
“Don’t mess with Guanguan!”
He lowered his face, rose up on tiptoe, and crossed his arms, spending a moment sulking at the door.
When it still would not open, the child leaned his whole chubby body against it and tried to squeeze it open. “Open! Open!”
But the door did not move at all.
Guanguan’s face turned red from the effort, and he panted, “You forced Guanguan to do this!”
The little boy’s cheeks went serious. He raised both arms and, facing the door, skillfully struck an Ultraman beam pose, all while muttering, “Attack! Attack!”
Baby was using his ultimate move now. He was fully determined to kill this door.
Just then, the completely unmoving door suddenly made a sound.
The next second, light from the hallway spilled into the dim room, and the door opened.
“Brother!” Guanguan hurriedly pulled back his move. He could not let himself hurt his brother!
The key card slid in, and the room lit up again.
“Guanguan?” Wei Cheng came in carrying the chill of the outdoors, and did not immediately scoop the child up. Surprised, he asked, “Why are you standing by the door?”
At that moment, there was movement from the bathroom too.
Shen Zheng came out with a towel draped over his head. The moment he saw the scene, his eyes lit up. “Hm? You’re back? Ah? Guanguan’s awake too?”
Guanguan’s face lit up with excitement as he bounced up and down. “Brother! Hug!”
Wei Cheng bent down and lifted the chubby boy into his arms. Seeing how flushed his cheeks were, he asked curiously, “Why is your face so red? Were you doing parkour in the room?”
Yi Qi, meanwhile, had already turned his attention to his boyfriend with damp hair.
“Hehe.” Guanguan smiled, covering his mouth with his little hand. “Baby is really Ultraman Guanguan! I just blasted the door, and it opened right away!”
Wei Cheng laughed. “Oh, so you woke up, couldn’t find your brother, wanted to go out and look for him, and in the end used your ultimate move to open the door?”
“That’s exactly right!” Guanguan raised one round, chubby finger, his fleshy chin bobbing up and down in pride. “Only used one move too!”
“Really? That’s amazing.” Wei Cheng rubbed the child’s hair.
“Brother, when will Guanguan get to be in a cartoon?” Propping his plump little face in his hands, Guanguan’s dark eyes shone with both anticipation and worry. “Will other kids like watching Guanguan beat up doors?”
Ultraman fights monsters, and Guanguan fights doors?
That worked too. Security Guard Guanguan.
“You’ll probably have to grow a little bigger before you can be in a cartoon. You’re still too small right now.”
Suppressing a laugh, Wei Cheng added, “And of course other kids will like you. Guanguan is so cute and so powerful. Nobody could dislike Guanguan.”
Guanguan’s eyes went dreamy with delight, his little expression shy and pleased at the same time. “So that’s how it is. Guanguan didn’t even know.”
“It’s not too late to know now.”
He carried Guanguan back to the bed. “You woke up really early. Brother thought you’d sleep until tomorrow morning.”
Guanguan flopped into the soft blankets and swung his feet. “Brother, can Guanguan go see Teacher Xiao Mei?”
Wei Cheng paused, the hand that had been straightening shoes going still. “Teacher Xiao Mei already left. We won’t be seeing her again for a very long time.”
Guanguan shot upright like a little fish springing out of water, panicking instantly. “Where did teacher go? Guanguan didn’t even know!”
“She went to find Yuanyuan.” Wei Cheng smoothed the little boy’s curls and said softly, “Every one of us has something we absolutely must do. Brother has to help you complete the system’s tasks, and use his life to protect you. And Guanguan? Guanguan has to keep his little belly full, sleep well, take bubble baths every day, and stay close to brother. Finding Yuanyuan is what teacher absolutely has to do. Don’t be sad, Guanguan. People who miss each other are always walking inside the same circle. One day, we’ll meet Teacher Xiao Mei again.”
Guanguan lowered his head and folded his little hands. “When Guanguan grows into a big corn stalk, will teacher still recognize me? There are so many big corn stalks.”
In a child’s eyes, grown-ups were just like children, only more numerous.
“Teacher knows you’re the prettiest, prettiest, prettiest corn stalk of all. The moment she sees you, she’ll recognize you.” Wei Cheng smiled and touched his cheek. “At that time, teacher will touch you and say, ‘Oh? What a soft little face. Isn’t this our little Guanguan?’”
That made Guanguan feel better. Shrinking his neck, he squinted with a grin and ended up laughing right into his brother’s arms. “That’s exactly right. Little babies are supposed to stay cute forever!”
Off to the side, Yi Qi and Shen Zheng saw that Guanguan was not crying, and both quietly relaxed.
Yi Qi teased him again, “If he’s a plump little jar while he’s young, then when he grows up, will he turn into a sturdy big vat?”
Shen Zheng laughed and punched him lightly. “Shut up! Stop cursing Guanguan like that!”
Guanguan frowned and sat up out of Wei Cheng’s arms, wagging a finger. “Uncle, say something pretty, okay?”
Baby had spent time in the countryside. He knew exactly how big a vat was, and how small a peach can was.
Then he pouted at his brother, clearly unhappy. “Brother, don’t raise your Guanguan into Little Wei Vat, okay?”
Little Wei Vat?
The three of them burst out laughing again.
Wei Cheng kissed the baby’s cheek and coaxed him, “Don’t be upset. Trust brother. Brother will make sure you exercise properly.”
The night passed without incident.
The next morning, the mountains were thick with mist.
Their family of four chose a black sedan.
Yi Qi had just reached for the front passenger door when a hand beat him to it. It was a curly-haired woman in a brown coat trimmed with fur. “Little brother, could you give your big sister a ride?”
Yi Qi frowned slightly. “We’re not going the same way.”
This curly-haired woman was the very one who had suggested yesterday that everyone head north to take shelter.
“You didn’t even ask where I’m going. How do you know it’s not on the way?” the woman said softly, even going so far as to lay a hand on Yi Qi’s arm.
Yi Qi sidestepped her touch and said flatly, “Beauty, what’s your angle? Looking to talk cooperation, or start a fight?”
When she saw him being so blunt, she dropped the act.
Four or five people emerged from the mist.
The woman said, “Let me introduce myself. I’m in charge of Changli Middle School in Wuqing City. I’ve heard for a long time that there’s a farm at the foot of Mount Wuqing, and that it’s no pushover. Since we’re so close to each other, we could completely team up to hunt the mutant zombies.”
She leaned a little closer to Yi Qi and lowered her voice. “Some people aren’t thinking about killing more mutant zombies to reduce the pressure of the zombie hordes on Yu City. They’re thinking about how to snatch mutant zombies away from other people, so they can preserve their own strength. The first people they’ll target are small bases like ours. Mr. Yi, why don’t we cooperate?”
Yi Qi refused politely, “Sorry. We’re not considering cooperation with other bases at the moment.”
The woman’s smile stiffened, and she pulled her fur collar tighter. “Boy, don’t refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit. So what if you’ve got weapons? Who’s made it this far without some weapons? You think I don’t know your base is just a bunch of old, weak, sick, and injured people? Since you won’t cooperate with us, then you’d better stay out of Wuqing City proper. Otherwise, every time we see you, we’ll hit you. Just keep guarding your empty mountain and wait to be eaten alive by the zombie hordes!”
Yi Qi let out a cold laugh. “We’ll see.”
He shoved past the woman and got into the car.
Once the car had gone quite a distance, Yi Qi still had not calmed down. “What is wrong with those people? They fly into a rage just because we won’t cooperate? The apocalypse really does breed idiots. I swear it’s true.”
Shen Zheng drove slowly. “Don’t get mad. Didn’t Chengcheng say once we get back and claim this month’s travel reward, the system will trigger a new task? That task has to be related to the mutant zombies. The system will definitely take care of Guanguan.”
“What do you think…” Yi Qi glanced at little Guanguan in the back seat, sprawled in his brother’s lap playing clapping games without a single care in the world. “Does the CDC shelter really suit Guanguan?”
They all knew how different Guanguan was. The child was still so young. What if one day his space secret got exposed?
Once that happened, they would not even have anywhere left to run.
Shen Zheng was quiet for a while before speaking. “That’s what worries me the most too. But Chengcheng said the safe house has limited living time, and the mutant zombies’ intelligence and sense of smell are slowly evolving too. Once Yu City turns into a city of zombies, even if the two children are exposed to open air for one second, it could attract countless zombies.”
—
On the fourth morning, they finally returned to Full-Belly Farm.
The first one to notice them coming back was little Little Apricot, and the next was Lin Xiangfeng standing atop the watchtower.
“They’re back! They’re back!”
The boy’s excited shout rang across the entire farm.
Several wooden doors flew open all at once.
Wang Xiaotiao dashed out with a cornbread bun in his mouth, Xiaoyue came running with a single braid swinging behind her, and Director Wang was even trying to pull on one shoe while hobbling forward with his cane.
“Uncle Wang, slow down.”
Sun Dali supported Director Wang with his good hand.
Director Wang was overjoyed. “They’re finally back. My heart has not settled down for a single day.”
The weather had grown colder, and Director Wang’s legs were getting worse and worse. Illnesses left behind in youth always came calling in old age.
The faster of the boys rushed ahead to open the gate.
From the rear car window popped out a plump little face, waving in a highly official manner, like a tiny leader conducting an inspection. “How are you! Ah, thank you for working so hard opening the gate!”
Wei Cheng helplessly smiled and tugged the chatterbox away from the window, afraid he would fall out.
The moment the car stopped, Guanguan kicked the door open and leapt out.
“Guanguan is home!”
Then Wang Xiaotiao and the others came running over.
“Little brother!” Xiaoyue threw her arms around Guanguan and would not let go. “Little brother, you finally came back!”
Wang Xiaotiao thumped his fist into his palm. “Guanguan, without you here, kicking the ball wasn’t fun at all. I was the only one picking it up!”
Guanguan patted Wang Xiaotiao and said with total seriousness, “You have to learn to improve yourself, Xiaotiao!”
