The Reborn Otaku’s Code of Practice for the Apocalypse – CH167

Chapter 167 — Half a Day at the Hospital

Early the next morning, the couple climbed out of bed, checked on the growth of the crops around the house as usual, ate breakfast, then bundled the little baby up layer after layer until he was wrapped like a dumpling before tucking him into Luo Xun’s arms and heading next door to knock.

Zhang Su answered the door looking half asleep, yawning as he swayed unsteadily. Behind him, Wang Duo fussed over him like a personal attendant, helping him put on his coat, hat, mask, and everything else all the way to the stairwell on the fifteenth floor. Together with the little dog, he stood there watching longingly until the group disappeared around the stairs before reluctantly shutting the door and going back inside.

Strangely enough, the backs of the man and dog looked oddly similar, despite having absolutely nothing alike in height or build.

The weather outside was still cold, but the sun was shining brightly that day, bringing at least a trace of warmth to the end of winter.

Luo Xun carefully carried the baby while Yan Fei stayed protectively at his side. Meanwhile Zhang Su, who had come along with them, looked completely like someone out for a casual stroll, leisurely looking around as they walked.

After more than half an hour, they finally reached the hospital.

As always, it was the busiest place in the entire base, with people constantly coming and going.

The two men held the baby and waited in the lobby while Zhang Su directly went through the back entrance to find acquaintances.

Not long afterward, he returned accompanied by two women—one in a doctor’s coat and the other in a nurse’s uniform.

“Let me see him.”

The doctor carefully took the baby into her arms. Compared to outside, the hospital lobby wasn’t terribly cold, though the temperature was still fairly low. After checking the baby briefly, she smiled at Luo Xun and Yan Fei.

“The child’s condition doesn’t look too bad. Let’s go to my office first.”

The doctor looked to be in her thirties or forties, while the nurse seemed much younger, only around twenty-five or twenty-six.

As they headed toward the office, the two women chatted with Zhang Su along the way.

“You never come back to visit after resigning,” the doctor complained. “You have no idea how many people left the hospital after you did.”

Zhang Su raised an eyebrow.

“Oh? No wonder there seem to be fewer people around. Who left?”

The nurse covered her mouth and smiled.

“Mostly the female nurses.”

“Female nurses?” Even Luo Xun was surprised. He looked at Zhang Su in confusion.

Why would female nurses leave after this guy resigned? He’s gay… does he really have that much charisma?

The nurse turned and smiled at Luo Xun while sneaking a few extra glances at Yan Fei, whose looks were no worse than Zhang Su’s.

“Yes, female nurses,” she sighed softly. “The gender ratio inside the base is badly unbalanced now… A lot of people come here looking for girlfriends.”

The female doctor sighed as well.

“Some of the younger nurses are quite pretty. A while ago, two girls had just left the hospital and hadn’t even reached the corner before they were dragged away. Nobody’s found them yet.”

Her expression darkened.

“Later, those of us who are older started persuading the younger girls—if they have a suitable boyfriend, they should hurry up and quit to stay home. Best if the boyfriend can support the family. And if they can find a strong boyfriend with abilities, even better. Running around outside every day…” She shook her head helplessly and smiled bitterly at Zhang Su. “In times like these, women are safer staying indoors unless they’re strong enough or have abilities themselves.”

Everyone understood what she meant, and all of them sighed inwardly.

The two women in their own team had both experienced their own tragedies before joining them. They didn’t know exactly what Song Lingling had gone through, but Xu Mei’s situation had happened right in front of them.

Even Xu Mei, who possessed a fire ability, had almost fallen victim to such things. Ordinary women stood even less chance.

And besides, open attacks were easy to avoid, but hidden dangers were impossible to guard against forever.

With so many young women gathered in one place, the hospital practically attracted trouble.

Zhang Su glanced sideways at the nurse walking behind him.

“And you? Why haven’t you hurried home to have kids yet?”

Clearly used to his sharp tongue, the nurse simply smiled.

“Someone like me is pretty safe. Besides, if I quit, what would I eat? I’m not lucky enough to have someone support me.”

“Then at least find yourself a bodyguard,” Zhang Su replied lazily. “Someone to pick you up and drop you off from work so you don’t get grabbed by some lunatic halfway home.”

His tone remained cool and indifferent.

What did average looks matter? When there weren’t enough attractive women around anymore, even ordinary-looking ones became targets.

“Exactly!” the doctor laughed. “Just like how Little Zhang used to be. Someone always escorted him to work and back, and not just one person either—a whole group! Back then, so many people envied him.”

Luo Xun lowered his head to hide a laugh.

Wasn’t Wang Duo exactly like that before? If possible, he probably would’ve quit his own job and followed Zhang Su around full-time just to chase away flies.

Once inside the office, the doctor began thoroughly examining the baby.

He was premature to begin with and was only a little over a week old now.

After checking him carefully and writing down some notes, she spoke quietly.

“The baby was born prematurely and didn’t develop properly. He’s also somewhat malnourished. Take him for these examinations so we can check his organs and heart-lung function. If everything looks fine, then just take him home and care for him properly.”

She sighed softly.

“This child is naturally weaker than ordinary babies. In the future, he’ll probably get sick more often than normal. Before the apocalypse, careful treatment could’ve helped, but now…” She shook her head. “Go finish the examinations first.”

After hearing Zhang Su explain the situation, the doctor had assumed the child was abandoned and rescued by Luo Xun and Yan Fei. So in her own imagination, she pieced together a tragic story—

The baby’s biological parents couldn’t afford to raise him. He had apparently suffocated after birth, so when they abandoned him, they probably thought he was already dead. Luo Xun and Yan Fei just happened to be a couple incapable of having biological children and kindly took him in…

After overdeveloping her own assumptions, the doctor became extremely warm toward the two men and deeply sympathetic toward the child, who had nearly died right after being born into the apocalypse.

And so, thanks to taking the back door route, the two men managed to get the child through an entire round of examinations without spending a single point.

During the process, the baby only whimpered weakly a few times in protest when his clothes were removed. Even the doctors and nurses performing the tests were extraordinarily gentle, afraid that any rough movement might accidentally harm the tiny infant who was obviously smaller than normal babies.

After completing the examinations and giving the baby the vaccinations newborns required, the group hurriedly fled the hospital with the reports in hand, dragging along Zhang Su, who had by then become surrounded by leftover nurses who’d come specifically to admire handsome men.

By the time they got home, it was already nearly noon.

After checking the baby again and confirming he was fine, everyone finally accepted the lunch Xu Mei and Song Lingling had prepared and buried themselves in eating.

“Sister Xu, baby bottles!” Luo Xun suddenly remembered.

Thanks to Zhang Su’s face, they had somehow managed to score several baby bottles and nipples during the hospital trip.

“Wow, you can still find these in the base?” Xu Mei exclaimed happily. “At least we won’t have to feed him spoonful by spoonful anymore.”

She immediately told Song Lingling to boil water for sterilization.

“Brother Luo, should we try the ‘fruit milk’ later?” He Qiankun asked excitedly, practically glowing.

This grown man was somehow even more eager than the children to taste it. Truly hopeless when it came to food.

“We’ll try it. After lunch.”

After resting a bit and digesting, everyone gathered together to taste the contents of the “sesame ball fruits.”

Once opened, the fruits indeed released a milky fragrance. Both versions—the thick jelly-like one and the more liquid version—were distributed in tiny portions to everyone.

The entire group sat around the table holding little spoons, ready for the experiment.

Originally Luo Xun had suggested only one or two people try it, but everyone insisted on tasting it together.

If they got food poisoning, at least they’d all suffer together.

So everyone except little Xinran and the baby sat at the table. The two children remained asleep in their small beds under the dog’s watchful supervision.

Everyone scooped up a little, licked it, tasted it, smacked their lips thoughtfully.

“It really tastes like milk!”

“There’s strawberry flavor too! Strawberry milk!”

“But it’s not sweet.”

“I think it tastes a bit like coconut milk too.”

“No, more like milk.”

“Like fruit milk, but without the sweetness.”

“It’s way too thick though. Wouldn’t babies choke on this?”

“Dilute it with water. It obviously tastes concentrated.”

“Right, right! Add water, crush in some strawberries, add sugar, and Xinran can drink strawberry milk!”

Luo Xun stared regretfully at his now-empty bowl.

“Too bad we can’t test it properly. We don’t know the nutritional content or whether it’s suitable for infants.”

Xu Mei smiled helplessly.

“But this isn’t before the apocalypse anymore. Right now we’re feeding him rice soup, and that’s even less nutritious…”

She suddenly stopped herself.

After all, the child was Yan Fei’s brother and essentially the couple’s adopted son now. What to feed him should ultimately be their decision.

Yan Fei had no objections.

As for raising children… honestly, he’d probably have an easier time building an entire amusement park out of metal.

Meanwhile, Luo Xun remained deep in thought.

He couldn’t guarantee this was truly the legendary milk fruit he’d heard about in his previous life. But after reviewing the medical reports, even though he didn’t understand the complicated data, he clearly understood one thing—

The baby was severely malnourished.

If this continued, not only would his physical development be delayed, but his health and even intelligence could be affected.

If they couldn’t guarantee the child’s future survival and health, then it would’ve been better not to save him in the first place.

Raising a child was, in some ways, similar to raising a pet.

If you weren’t fully prepared mentally and materially, you shouldn’t casually bring a life into your care.

“Let’s feed him,” Luo Xun suddenly said, looking up at everyone with a smile. “I’ll adjust the concentration. Did anyone here drink baby formula before the apocalypse? Anyone remember roughly how diluted it should be?”

Everyone looked at each other helplessly.

Baby formula?

Who remembered something like that?!

Even if they’d drunk it as babies themselves, who could possibly still remember after so many years?

“Um… before the apocalypse I sometimes used powdered milk in desserts,” Song Lingling raised her hand uncertainly. “Maybe I can help?”

Fortunately, besides the bottles and medical reports, they’d also received a childcare handbook from the hospital.

Using the proportions listed in the handbook together with Song Lingling’s sense of taste, Luo Xun finally worked out a relatively appropriate ratio.

One ping-pong-ball-sized milk fruit with white seeds could be mixed with about three times its volume in water.

Meanwhile, fruits whose seeds had turned brown required roughly four and a half times dilution.

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