coobybook Chapter 515 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (126)
Chapter 515 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (126)
"When Lao Cheng goes out to paint for others, do they really pay him?" Lu Liruan hesitated for a moment before asking the question.
Gao Shiyi: ? ?
"I didn't mean anything bad..." Lu Liruan was really curious whether Gao Shiyi was just trying to coax him.
"Actually, Lao Cheng is a fairly well-known artist, and there are quite a few people who like his style. They probably can't feel anything else, they can only see the visual impact and the message conveyed," Gao Shiyi replied earnestly.
Then, seeing Lu Liruan's curious gaze, she secretly gestured a number to Lu Liruan.
Lu Liruan: ! !
Is it so valuable?
Why did he have to lie to Liao Tingyuan and secretly draw here? Was it to enjoy the thrill of sneaking around and making Teacher Liao unhappy?
Gao Shiyi and Lu Liruan finished a bag of pastries in one morning, and when An Tang asked them what they wanted to eat at noon, neither of them could give a clear answer.
An Tang rolled her eyes at them and went to prepare.
Liao Tingyuan went to help, and An Tang noticed that Lu Liruan's attention wasn't on them in the living room, so she lowered her voice and asked, "Tell me the truth, Xiaoyu and Sister Fang..."
If we're talking about someone who can't lie, then that person must be Liao Tingyuan.
"Hmm." Liao Tingyuan nodded. "It shouldn't be related."
“When I went to see Sister Fang after get off work yesterday, I felt like she was hiding something from me, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask her any further,” An Tang sighed.
“Li Ruan is too young. This kind of thing that has no conclusion can only make her worry constantly…” An Tang knew Lu Li Ruan’s personality quite well.
Lu Liruan does indeed feel anxious whenever she thinks about something that has no result or no conclusion.
For example, when she was looking for a job before, the places she applied to never responded. Even though Lu Liruan went to other places for interviews, she still cared about it.
Until the final result is released.
An Tang rarely looked serious.
Actually, although everything here looks great and everyone seems happy and cheerful, what can't be hidden is...
This is indeed a job with unknown risks, and the risk factor is not low. No one can even predict what will happen or what the future will be.
Even what everyone will face tomorrow, no one can say for sure.
It's like walking in a fog, but these things can't be left undone. When you're different from ordinary people, you'll subconsciously seek out companions.
No one is completely without companions; this creates a sense of disconnect from the ordinary world, to varying degrees.
This feeling can bring people pressure, emptiness, anxiety and so on... a whole range of emotions. An Tang has seen many people who have developed psychological problems to varying degrees.
Many people, like Lu Liruan, are just beginning to realize their differences, but as time goes on, various problems emerge.
Liao Tingyuan knew what An Tang was talking about. He turned to look at Lu Liruan in the living room, who was still laughing hysterically at something on her phone.
"I will protect her."
"Huh?" An Tang was taken aback.
She never expected to hear such words from Liao Tingyuan. It's not that Liao Tingyuan is irresponsible; he's a very reliable person.
He simply does his job well. People who work with him can trust and rely on him, but that's all. He's just a good work partner.
An Tang thought that Liao Tingyuan would never develop any deeper feelings for anyone in his life, but then she heard him suddenly say something that felt like he was taking on a lot of heroic things. This was not something that should have come from his personality at all!
An Tang couldn't help but laugh out loud because she was so surprised.
Liao Tingyuan stared at her calmly, seemingly not understanding why she was laughing, because Liao Tingyuan himself had no intention of joking, and his words were not impulsive.
He wouldn't repeat those words to Lu Liruan verbatim.
Because he wanted the little girl to learn to grow up and become independent, so that even if he couldn't be by her side one day, she could actively, proactively, and cleverly protect herself.
The proverb "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime" may not seem quite right or appropriate here, but Liao Tingyuan couldn't let the little girl become completely dependent on him.
It's not that he doesn't want to or is unwilling to, but that he can't.
He can't irresponsibly hinder a girl's growth just because he wants to express his feelings for her; otherwise, one day the girl will feel disappointed.
This wasn't the first time Liao Tingyuan had thought about this problem.
From the first time he said to Lu Liruan, "It's up to you to decide, you have to take the lead. I will agree with your conclusions and follow in your footsteps."
I was already thinking about it.
At that time, he didn't know what his feelings for the girl were.
But now that he knows, he will still do it.
Nothing will change.
His own emotional changes were not a reason for him to be lenient with the young girl at work or in such matters.
But he will do everything in his power to protect her.
if you can……
Liao Tingyuan watched An Tang finish laughing quietly, and said softly, "I was being very serious."
An Tang thought to herself, she never thought she would hear Liao Tingyuan defend his feelings like this, just like a normal person who is caught up in emotions.
“I didn’t suspect anything.” An Tang took two cups of coffee from the coffee machine, handed one of them to Liao Tingyuan, and then gently tapped her own cup against his.
"congratulations."
"Congratulations for what?"
"Congratulations on entering the human world. From now on, you'll suffer for love." An Tang joked, then she saw Liao Tingyuan frown slightly.
"Oh, I misspoke. It's not about suffering, it's about experiencing the sweetness of emotions." An Tang quickly noticed Liao Tingyuan's emotions and immediately corrected herself.
"You..." Liao Tingyuan hesitated, not as eloquent as An Tang, so he could only shut his mouth and not respond.
“I really congratulate you. Although there are no statistics, very few people in our line of work find ordinary partners. Most of them are…” An Tang raised her chin and looked in Gao Shiyi’s direction.
It means that anything that could be accomplished was absorbed internally.
"I didn't..." Liao Tingyuan wanted to say that he hadn't actually thought about what to say to the girl; he just knew what he was thinking.
"Alright, I can't be bothered with it. I have my own kids to take care of." An Tang waved her hand, took a sip of coffee, and figured that Liao Tingyuan probably wouldn't be the type to talk to her about his emotional journey, so she didn't bother to tease him.
But after hearing such unusual words from Liao Tingyuan today, An Tang felt that... today's outcome was already quite good.
Lu Liruan was completely unaware. Just as An Tang had said, she was still only seeing the surface of things. Although she could sense that the atmosphere was sometimes a bit tense, and her mission had not encountered any crisis, none of this could dampen Lu Liruan's good mood.
But what Lu Liruan didn't expect was that something was about to happen that would make her realize the difference and even change her thinking.
Not only Lu Liruan, but everyone else was also surprised.
It started raining in the afternoon. The leaden clouds hung low, and a strong wind blew outside. Even though I was wearing thick clothes, I was still so cold that I just wanted to go back inside.
Zhao Linchuan arrived at lunchtime, and Lu Liruan felt that he only came to freeload, since she had been staying at the hotel for the past few days.
Lu Liruan was initially astonished, but after hearing that the accommodation expenses for business trips could be reimbursed, she thought to herself, "I wish I could go on business trips someday. It's practically a paid vacation!"
"Luckily, Lao Cheng didn't come today..." Zhao Linchuan seemed to be eating more than usual.
Lu Liruan silently agreed in her heart. She already felt that it was going to rain and be extremely humid when she saw Lao Cheng. Now, with this weather, if Lao Cheng came, Lu Liruan felt that she might feel like she was going to drown in drought.
The rain continued into the night without stopping. The small colored lights in the yard were not turned on for fear of leaking electricity due to rainwater. When Lu Liruan and Liao Tingyuan got off work, it was pitch black outside.
Liao Tingyuan was holding an umbrella, while Lu Liruan had her hands in her pockets. She accidentally stepped into a puddle, and the water soaked through her shoes. Her socks were wet and cold, clinging to her skin, and Lu Liruan was inexplicably startled.
This was originally just a small matter, but Lu Liruan inexplicably cared about it.
Just as Liao Tingyuan said, she has a high level of perception. Even without considering spatial issues, she occasionally experiences sudden intuition in her daily life.
She has a more sensitive perception of certain things or atmospheres than the average person.
Some small things might make Lu Liruan sense something bad. For example, when she used to work, if Lu Liruan was in a bad mood the night before or things didn't go well, she was more likely to be criticized by her boss the next day.
But at this moment, Lu Liruan comforted herself, saying: No... I should just be overthinking it. After all, everything has been very peaceful lately, with no bad signs.
Lu Liruan kept her feelings to herself and didn't tell Liao Tingyuan. However, she was absent-minded during dinner that night. When squeezing the tomato sauce, she squeezed too hard and it splattered out and into Liao Tingyuan's bowl.
Liao Tingyuan: ?
"Ah! I didn't mean to..." Lu Liruan said embarrassedly.
It rained all night, and when Lu Liruan opened her eyes the next morning, the first thing she heard was the sound of raindrops hitting the window.
Almost instantly, Lu Liruan's mood suddenly plummeted.
It almost made her cover her head and go back to sleep.
Reluctantly getting out of bed, Lu Liruan drew back the curtains: the wind must have been very strong last night; a few withered yellow leaves had been blown over at some point and were now drooping against the window. Lu Liruan also saw many dead small flying insects in the cracks under the window.
I feel even worse.
Lu Liruan washed up expressionlessly and saw the message sent by Teacher Liao.
“There’s standing water outside today. If Ruan Ruan doesn’t want to go, she can stay home for the day,” Liao Tingyuan suggested, recalling how Lu Li Ruan had complained as she took off her soaking wet shoes last night.
Lu Liruan stared at the message, thought about it seriously for a few seconds, and still refused.
It wasn't that Lu Liruan particularly wanted to go to work in the pouring rain, but rather that she felt she should minimize changes in her life as much as possible. Sometimes, changes can bring unpredictable consequences, and keeping everything as unchanged as possible might be better—that was Lu Liruan's own opinion.
Sure enough, when Lu Liruan arrived at work, her shoes were soaked again.
Not only was she soaked, but because of the weather, public transportation was the fastest way to get around. On the subway, Lu Liruan's clothes got dirty from someone's umbrella, and she was even stepped on several times without the person apologizing.
Lu Liruan felt... this might just be where her bad luck was coming from.
Fortunately, Liao Tingyuan thoughtfully brought clean shoes, and the two of them felt much more comfortable after changing into them once they entered the villa.
An Tang arrived late today, which is unusual for her; she came with Gao Shiyi.
It is said that Lao Cheng was inspired yesterday and worked on his work all night in the pouring rain. Gao Shiyi then went to stay at An Tang's house.
The two of them had a few drinks last night, and both woke up late today.
"Why didn't you call me? I wanted to play with you guys too!" Lu Liruan protested, half-jokingly, after hearing what the two of them were saying.
"How could we dare to ask you to go drinking in front of your guardian?" Gao Shiyi seemed to still be a little tipsy, leaning back lazily on the sofa, teasingly saying in a slow tone, her eyes looking at Liao Tingyuan who was bringing over honey water.
"They at least care about us, and you're talking badly about them here, even to their face," An Tang said casually as she took the honey water.
Liao Tingyuan stood by the sofa, looking at Lu Liruan with her chin resting on her hand and her eyes sparkling, and sighed: "When did I say I interfered?"
Gao Shiyi's eyes narrowed with laughter as she glanced at Liao Tingyuan with a somewhat insightful look: "Hmm, yes, you don't seem like a guardian at all, alright?"
Liao Tingyuan sensed her meaningful gaze and looked at An Tang.
An Tang raised an eyebrow, indicating: I didn't tell her anything. How could I be the kind of person who can't keep a secret? Even when I'm drunk, my mouth is sealed tight!
Lu Liruan didn't grasp the unspoken tension between the three of them. She had never drunk alcohol with anyone before and thought it was very mature behavior!
She wants to join too!
With this childlike mind that cannot be concealed.
"I'll call you next time~" An Tang promised, and Lu Liruan was finally satisfied.
The rain outside showed no signs of stopping; in fact, it was getting heavier.
Old Cheng arrived before noon, and for a moment, Lu Liruan truly felt like she was about to be drowned in the dampness, so she quickly switched the air conditioner to the dry mode...
Better than nothing.
While eating, An Tang received a phone call, and her expression suddenly became somewhat strange.
"Okay, I got it. Today?" She walked to the kitchen and said to them.
"Okay, then you'll come over in a bit, right?"