Want a cuddle

"Aah!!!"

Zhao Quan let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.

Ye Ruan frowned at the noise.

Seeing this, Gu Cheng hastily grabbed a filthy rag at random and stuffed it into Zhao Quan's mouth.

A black cat leaped down from a ceiling beam and darted out, abruptly turning back into Yu Jingjing. She took out a rope and tied Zhao Quan up tight.

Li Rang rushed in through the door, followed by Lu Jiayi, who was carrying a Husky with an injured leg.

"Ye Ruan, are you okay?"

Ye Ruan spread both hands, his eyes curving as he gave an adorably sweet smile.

The next second, he covered his mouth and sneezed.

"Got chilled, didn't you? Honestly, you could've just thrown something down. Why take your clothes off? Nobody asked you to seduce him."

The jacket on the floor was already dirty, so Gu Cheng took off his own and dressed his little darling in it with practiced ease.

Yu Jingjing asked, "Hold off on the lovey-dovey stuff, boss. What do we do with this guy? Kill him and feed him to Fang Ci?"

The Husky barked, "Woof, woof, woof!"

Lu Jiayi hurriedly restrained the injured Husky. "Bro! She's joking. Calm down! If you get down and run around, you'll break that leg for good!"

Gu Cheng picked up the syringe from the floor. It contained an orange liquid.

"What's in here?"

Yu Jingjing yanked the filthy rag out of Zhao Quan's mouth. "My boss asked you a question!"

Zhao Quan endured the agonizing pain and said, "Poison. Poison made for special people like you. Once it's injected, your whole body hurts and your skin slowly rots. You won't die for half a month."

Gu Cheng's heart went cold, fear flooding him at the thought of what might have happened. Even though he'd lain in ambush here beforehand, what if he'd been a second too late, or Ye Ruan hadn't dodged?

Seeing his tension, Ye Ruan hooked a finger around his and did his best to lower his voice as he asked, "Who gave you this? Is there an antidote?"

Their identities as special people had been kept well hidden. Though speculation ran rampant online, there was no solid evidence.

Besides, a poison targeting special people couldn't have been developed otherwise. This could only have come from an insider.

Gu Cheng ground his teeth and plunged the needle straight into Zhao Quan's skin.

"Tell the truth. Who gave it to you?"

The poison worked on special people, but it was still poison. Injected into an ordinary person's body, its effects would only be worse.

Zhao Quan shook like a leaf and immediately told the truth:

"A man surnamed Nan. Before the virus broke out in City H, we made a trade. I got this in exchange for roses!"

At those words, Ye Ruan visibly stiffened.

Yu Jingjing asked in confusion, "Roses?"

Zhao Quan nodded vigorously, terrified they wouldn't believe him.

"It's true! Nine hundred and ninety-nine pink roses. He needed them urgently, and I went to loads of flower shops to buy them."

Yu Jingjing scratched her head. "Surnamed Nan, and one of our insiders. That only leaves..."

Ye Ruan said, "Nan Han."

Li Rang said, "Isn't he a general? Why would he make something like this? He could be court-martialed for it."

"It's getting dark. These questions will have to wait until we're out of City H and back at the base."

Gu Cheng put an arm around Ye Ruan's shoulders and left them with one last instruction before leaving.

"Kill him."

Yu Jingjing and Li Rang soon caught up.

"We dumped the body far away."

Gu Cheng praised them. "Well done."

Yu Jingjing sounded regretful, though. "Too bad Tang Yi went crazy and disappeared with Tang Cheng. It would've been great to kill them too."

Holding Ye Ruan's hand, Li Tuantuan turned and asked, "Jingjing, is Tang Cheng a bad guy?"

Yu Jingjing clasped her hands behind her back. "Yes, but Tang Cheng and Tang Yi are probably dead by now, so there's no need to worry."

Hu Fu was waiting downstairs at the Dormitory Building. After a brief explanation, Gu Cheng stayed downstairs to discuss their departure the day after tomorrow with him.

Ye Ruan suddenly remembered something and hurriedly pulled free of Gu Cheng's hand to run upstairs.

Taking the stairs two at a time, Ye Ruan jogged all the way to the Laundry Room's little terrace. One close look, and his face fell.

Gu Cheng's underwear was gone. Who knew where the strong wind had blown it?

As though reflecting Ye Ruan's mood, the sky began to rain.

Gu Cheng followed him up and found his little bunny with his head drooping, looking dejected.

"What's wrong, sweet bunny?"

Ye Ruan tugged unhappily at the clothesline and explained what had happened with a pout.

Gu Cheng nearly doubled over laughing. After laughing for a while, his ears turned a little red.

He cleared his throat. "From now on, I'll wash these myself. If it's gone, it's gone. It's fine."

Gu Cheng picked Ye Ruan up and spun him around once. "You're so good to me, little bunny."

"Ahem..."

Lou Yu interrupted them. Before Gu Cheng could shoot him a murderous look, he brought something out from behind his back.

Holding the underwear by one corner, Lou Yu looked disgusted. "This thing's yours, right?"

Those flashy bright-red briefs were undoubtedly the pair Ye Ruan had washed.

Gu Cheng hurriedly took them. "You stole my..."

"Stole, my ass!" Lou Yu cut him off, swearing. "This thing landed on Sister Song's head!"

Gu Cheng suppressed his embarrassment, put an arm around Ye Ruan's shoulders, and walked away without looking to either side.

"Hahahahahahaha!"

Yu Jingjing and Li Rang laughed so hard they slapped the table.

Gu Cheng endured it for a moment, then snatched up two large steamed buns and stuffed them into their mouths.

"Get lost!"

Fang Ci was laughing too, but his laughter gradually turned wistful. With a silent sigh, he picked up a bowl of rice topped with sauce and began shoveling it into his mouth.

Gu Cheng tapped the table with his fingers. "Everyone rest up tomorrow, check your weapons, and get ready. We're leaving first thing the morning after."

Lu Jiayi took a sip of soup. "One small truck and two off-road vehicles. We've got quite a convoy this time."

Yu Jingjing said, "It's such a shame we lost the bus. It could seat so many people at once. But I heard Factory Manager Hu say there's a bus station nearby."

Gu Cheng put the cabbage from his bowl into his little bunny's and shook his head. "No. It's not that close. A round trip would take at least two days, and if anything went wrong, it'd delay us even longer."

Fang Ci's leg injury couldn't wait. The sooner they got back, the better.

Fang Ci looked guilty. "My leg..."

Yu Jingjing frowned. "Don't overthink it. We've already got vehicles. Who wants to wear themselves out risking their necks to find a bus? They can squeeze in and make do."

Ye Ruan gave all the meat in his bowl to Ren Fei'er. The two children who had come to join them for dinner ate with gusto.

After finishing a bowl of rice, Li Tuantuan held up her empty bowl hopefully. "Can I have another bowl?"

Ye Ruan gave her half the rice he hadn't yet had a chance to eat, then wiped a grain of rice off Li Tuantuan's chubby cheek.

Gu Cheng shared his own rice with Ye Ruan and said with a smile, "Kid, you need to lose some weight. Weren't you the one who got stuck in the window last time?"

Yu Jingjing slammed down her chopsticks. "It was her! The other kids were all jumping out one after another like dumplings dropping into a pot, but she got stuck in that little window and couldn't get down. The zombies were already clawing at her butt!"

Li Tuantuan looked up from her large bowl. "The window was too small! I never got stuck before!"

Yu Jingjing said, "Bullshit! You just got fat!"

Ye Ruan's beautiful eyes curved with his smile.

It was normal for Li Tuantuan to eat so much. Special people at her age ate a great deal while they were growing.

Though she was a little ball of chub, she was an agile one.

After dinner, Ren Fei'er, who wasn't feeling very well that day, stayed to sleep with Yu Jingjing.

Not to be outdone, Li Tuantuan clung to Ye Ruan.

"Ye Ruan, I want you to cuddle me to sleep."

Gu Cheng: "..."

Big Gray Wolf's face went so dark it could have dripped ink.

Blushing, Ye Ruan said softly, "But I want my big brother to hold me too, so could you go back and find an uncle or auntie?"

Gu Cheng's mood went from cloudy to sunny. Leaning back against the door, he watched Ye Ruan with smiling eyes.