coobybook Chapter 465 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (76)
Chapter 465 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (76)
The child seemed to realize that his behavior would cause his mother trouble, and was about to run back without stopping when Lu Liruan grabbed him.
"Wait! Wait a minute!"
"Huh? What's wrong, sister?" the child asked, confused.
"Um... I have something to ask you." Lu Liruan rubbed her arm.
"What's wrong, sister?"
"Do you remember that time you were looking for the cat in the yard and walked past your sister?"
The child thought about it seriously for a moment, then nodded as if remembering something but not quite sure: "I think so... Sister, what do you want to ask?"
"I wanted to ask you, have you seen any cats in the yard since that year?"
"A cat?" The child frowned. "Let me think."
"I don't think so? Ever since my cat went missing, I've been..." The child thought of something sad, lowered his head, and muttered softly.
"Oh, is that all? You can go back now. Talk to your mother nicely and don't argue!" Lu Liruan instructed him and waved her hand.
After the children ran off in a flash, Lu Liruan took a few bites of the melting popsicle in her hand and sighed.
"What's wrong? Are you unhappy because of the mistress's matter?"
Liao Tingyuan moved to a spot next to Lu Liruan.
“No.” Lu Liruan shook her head: “I guess those who don’t understand or support the mistress, including her parents, have been like this for a long time.”
How could someone be so understanding before, turning a blind eye to their child's suffering and instead advising her to endure and sacrifice, just so that they could "have less trouble"?
"Fortunately, the child the woman most wanted to protect was someone who understood and supported her."
“Whether others support or agree, the lady of the house has made up her mind, and that’s the most important thing,” Liao Tingyuan nodded.
"Yes, the lady of the house's own choice is the most important."
"Look on the bright side, no matter who tries to persuade her, the woman probably won't have to get a divorce." Lu Liruan blinked and told a terrible joke.
Liao Tingyuan raised an eyebrow: "Hmm, that saved a lot of trouble."
The child said they hadn't seen a cat in the yard for days, so Lu Liruan and Liao Tingyuan split up and searched the yard carefully again.
There wasn't a cat in sight, neither at the entrance of the building nor in the bushes.
"No."
When they met on the other side, they both shook their heads.
"Could this be a hint that the space exists during the day?" Lu Liruan wondered.
Liao Tingyuan saw a couple walking towards him with their dog across the street.
The large, beautifully furred golden retriever, as it passed by Lu Liruan, curiously and enthusiastically rubbed against her calf.
The man quickly gripped the rope tightly, while the woman beside him repeatedly apologized, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!"
Lu Liruan shook her head: "It's okay, it's really beautiful."
The young couple breathed a sigh of relief when they realized they hadn't scared Lu Liruan.
Lu Liruan stroked the dog's head and asked, somewhat puzzled, "Why is its mouth covered so tightly?"
The golden retriever was wearing a muzzle.
It's normal for larger dogs to wear muzzles when walking them, but this one on the Golden Retriever's face looks like an extra-thick version, practically a giant face mask stuck on its face.
“It doesn’t look fierce at all…” Lu Liruan touched the golden fur’s paw again, as it tried to stand up and shake hands with her.
"Yes... our Fufu never bites anyone." The male homeowner's face showed annoyance as he said this.
"This muzzle isn't to prevent Fufu from biting people, it's to prevent poisoning!"
"Ok?"
"Just a while ago, some wicked person deliberately poisoned the animals. Several dogs in the yard were poisoned without anyone knowing why, and two of them didn't survive... They even poisoned a cat," the woman explained.
“Now when we take the dog out for a walk, we have to keep a close eye on it while it’s still early, making sure Fufu doesn’t smell or touch anything. It’s really…”
Lu Liruan and Liao Tingyuan exchanged glances.
"When was that?" Liao Tingyuan casually put his arm around Lu Liruan's shoulder. "We were thinking of getting a dog, but after hearing what you've said, we're hesitant."
Lu Liruan was listening attentively to what the other person was saying when Liao Tingyuan put his arm around her shoulder and practically pulled her into his arms. She didn't realize anything was strange.
"If you're planning to get a dog, you'd better do your homework beforehand!"
The woman said seriously, "Raising a dog isn't a simple matter these days."
"Actually, I'm also considering getting a cat, since I don't have to walk it!" Lu Liruan casually steered the conversation to this point: "Adopting one is also an option."
“We were just talking about kidnapping a cat in the yard a few days ago, but we haven’t seen a cat in the yard for days,” Lu Liruan said, feigning regret.
The couple across the street also seem to really like animals.
The man nodded: "Yes, if we're talking about adoption... I remember we used to see cats a lot in the yard, is it because of the other day..."
"Oh! Right! Didn't a volunteer organization come here before? They spayed and neutered stray cats and sent kittens to adoption, right? Do you remember?" The woman suddenly seemed to remember something and patted the man.
"Yes, yes, that's right. If you're interested in adopting, why don't you contact them and give it a try?"
"Do you have any contact information?" Liao Tingyuan asked.
"I don't..." The woman thought for a moment and said to Lu Liruan, "You live in this neighborhood too, right? I'll add you on WeChat. I'll go back and ask other pet owners. If anyone knows, I'll tell you on WeChat!"
"Okay! Thank you for your help!" Lu Liruan replied with a smile.
After wandering around the yard a few times without finding anything, Lu Liruan did go to the supermarket with Liao Tingyuan.
The two of them discussed and bought groceries for tomorrow's meal, completely unaware that they were now just like a young couple living together.
“A volunteer adoption and rescue organization…” Lu Liruan muttered.
"Why are there such big differences between people? Some people seem to be unable to tolerate the survival of any other species besides themselves. They poison and kill animals, and are even smug about it, thinking that they are not doing anything wrong. Others rescue animals and help stray animals find homes, but feel that they are not doing enough."
“Yes, people are just like that.” Liao Tingyuan said while picking vegetables, “There are good people, bad people, and even worse people…”
"Teacher Liao, have you ever met anyone worse? How bad were they?" Lu Liruan sat cross-legged on the sofa, her big eyes staring at Liao Tingyuan.
Liao Tingyuan stopped what he was doing and thought for a moment: "Ruan Ruan, you'd better not listen to it."
“Oh…” Lu Liruan wanted to know more about Liao Tingyuan, but Liao Tingyuan would always seem very mysterious.
After finishing her meal, Lu Liruan went to the bathroom to wash her hands and came out with a solemn expression.
"What's wrong?" Liao Tingyuan asked, seeing her looking worried. He thought something was wrong.
As a result, when Lu Liruan suddenly leaned forward, Liao Tingyuan was unable to dodge in time and saw that the little girl's face was less than 30 centimeters away from his own.
Before she could even look away, Lu Liruan shouted, "Teacher Liao, look at me carefully!"
Liao Tingyuan: ?
Liao Tingyuan turned his gaze to Lu Liruan's face, looked into her bright eyes, and pursed his lips.
"Have you noticed anything different about me compared to before?" Lu Liruan asked him.
"No, right?" Liao Tingyuan tried to back away, but Lu Liruan grabbed his shoulder and pressed him closer.
"Really not?" Lu Liruan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Teacher Liao...we really need to get out of here quickly." Lu Liruan cupped her face in her hands. "I've been staying up all night, and now I have bags under my eyes."
Liao Tingyuan: ...
"Why do you look exactly the same?" Lu Liruan muttered.
"Maybe I've always had eye bags? After all, I'm older than you," Liao Tingyuan tried to comfort her.
“No, I’ve seen it. You just have some dark circles under your eyes.” Lu Liruan waved her hand weakly. “You’re so much older than me, yet you look so young.”
"I'll go in and lie down for a while."
Liao Tingyuan was confused by what she said, unsure whether she was praising him or not...
She raised her hand and touched her face, then touched the area under her eyes.
When it was time to set off, Lu Liruan was still half asleep when she discovered that Liao Tingyuan had already skillfully and experiencedly dealt with everything outside the door.
Even the sounds they made were very soft, allowing Lu Liruan to sleep a little longer.
Lu Liruan rubbed her eyes: "Teacher Liao, your skills have improved again."
This time, the two didn't use the cat's meow to urge them on, and went straight to yesterday's room.
When I went inside, I found that the scene inside the house had changed a lot; it seemed that several days had passed according to the flow of time at that time.
A bad feeling welled up in Lu Liruan's heart.
When Lu Liruan saw the male owner, she felt his manic energy.
He seemed to have lost weight, his cheekbones were prominent, his eyes flashed with a sinister and vicious light, his hair was messy, and he no longer had that sense of composure.
The fat man became even more timid and submissive.
The wounds on his head and face had turned purplish-blue, looking quite comical. As he walked out of the room, a cup thrown by the male homeowner hit him on the nose, causing blood to gush out immediately.
"Brother... I really need to go out and throw out the trash, there's no room left in this house!" he yelled, covering his head with his hands.
"Get back inside! Did I let you out?! I told you to get back inside!"
"Okay, okay... I understand!"
The fat man had no choice but to retreat again.
"This must be due to the influence of the space, right?" Lu Liruan watched as the male homeowner frantically sent messages on his phone, but the female homeowner on the other end didn't reply to a single one.
The fat man's room reeked of an unpleasant smell. When Lu Liruan entered, she almost tripped over the clothes on the floor. There was hardly any room to step, and Lu Liruan was practically standing next to Liao Tingyuan as they both bent over to look at his computer screen.
The fat man, as if venting his anger, pounded the keyboard loudly.
"I can't take it anymore!"
"All I want to do right now is stab him to death!"
"Looking at his face now feels like having a knife stabbed into it and churned up!"
He wrote it down sentence by sentence.
The people below responded with even more terrifying words.
"Anyway, he's in your house, so even if you stab him to death, it's considered self-defense! Just don't lose your temper and chop him into pieces, hahaha!"
"I want to see him chop it up! Cut it into pieces, or you can just put it in the fridge!"
"You've been saying it for days, do you dare or not! Are you a coward?! Kill him! Kill him!"
"Kill him! Kill him!"
……
The comments below were all urging him to take action, goading him, and cursing him.
The fat man's eyes reflected the light from the screen as he cursed under his breath, repeatedly reaching for the kitchen knife in the drawer.
"He's not really going to attack the male homeowner right now, is he?"
Lu Liruan pulled Liao Tingyuan to a corner, worried that the fat man might suddenly get up and bump into them.
"..." Liao Tingyuan's expression also turned sour.
The atmosphere here has become really strange.
Lu Liruan went towards the male homeowner's side, where she had just heard a loud crashing sound.
Lu Liruan saw on his phone that the woman had finally replied to his message.
“I don’t care where you are now, or what you want to do. I’m telling you, I will never let you manipulate or control me again. Don’t even think about hurting me and the child in the slightest. You can do whatever you want to me, and I will do the same to you.”
"At worst, we'll fight to the death. I'll fight you to the death for the sake of the children and for myself. You'd better think this through!"
"I'm going to kill that bitch!" the male homeowner said viciously.
But he still didn't leave the room. He even walked to the front door, but then turned back, as if something invisible was preventing him from leaving. It was as if everything was fermenting in this pressure cooker-like room, trapping him here!
The fat man came out of his room again, stood at the door, and stared at the male homeowner's back.
After a while, he sat back down in front of the computer.
He put the kitchen knife he had been hiding behind his back back into the drawer.
Lu Liruan didn't know what the flow of time was like here.
When the deliveryman's voice came from outside the door again, the fat man walked to the door, brought the food in, but did not hand it to the male homeowner; instead, he held it in his own hand.
"Brother, you can order takeout yourself, I don't have any money."
The male homeowner stared intently at him.
The fat man was no longer so timid at this moment.
"Brother, how long are you going to stay here with me?" the fat man asked.
The male homeowner kicked him in the stomach: "What do you want? Trying to rebel against me?"
The fat man staggered a step: "Brother, I'll still call you brother, but you've really gone too far! My place is too small to accommodate someone as big as you!"
The man was shocked that the man dared to speak to him like that, his eyes turning bloodshot: "What kind of thing are you? How dare you talk to me like that?"
"Yes, I'm nothing, but you're like a rat crossing the street now! You can't even go home, you can't even manage your own woman and children, what are you trying to prove here! What are you anyway! You're nothing! If you don't get out of here, I'll make you regret it!"
The fat man had finally reached his limit and shouted it all out.