Gu Cheng was injured

After the examinations confirmed that none of them were at risk of infection, Ye Ruan was forced to get into the vehicle heading back to S City with Xu Chu.

Xu Chu watched the white-haired young man across from him with a smile, a child tucked under each of the young man's arms, and sighed inwardly.

If only those two kids were Gu Cheng's.

Then I could talk him into making me their godfather.

Ye Ruan tried hard to ignore the irritating gaze from across the vehicle and endured it the entire way.

When the vehicle stopped, Ye Ruan looked through the window at the familiar buildings outside, and a hint of a smile finally touched his lips.

Thinking of the people he would soon be able to see, because

The door opened in front of him. When Ye Ruan saw who was standing outside, he hurriedly got up. "Commander Li."

"Dad!" Li Tuantuan jumped off the seat and threw herself at him.

The middle-aged man reached out to pick up the little chubby girl and bounced her in his arms. "Looks like your big brother Ye Ruan took very good care of you. Why do you feel even heavier?"

Li Tuantuan hugged Commander Li and turned her little head from side to side. There was no ruined city, and she could no longer hear the monsters roaring.

She really was safe now.

The little girl's lips trembled, and she burst into tears.

Ye Ruan's gaze softened. "Commander Li, Tuantuan was frightened the whole way. Please spend some time with her."

Commander Li gently patted the child and said solemnly, "Ye Ruan, I owe you a favor."

A glimmer of hope flashed through Ye Ruan's eyes. "You know what I want to ask of you."

Commander Li said, "Don't worry. You don't need to worry about Nan Han. I'll help you give your mother her freedom back."

The wish he had held for so many years finally had a chance of coming true.

"Thank you!" A smile finally appeared on Ye Ruan's face, and he bent down to bow to Commander Li.

Commander Li said, "All right, if there's nothing else, head back. You can report to your Headquarters Team tomorrow. For now, go home. Your mother's waiting for you."

Li Tuantuan invited Ren Fei'er to stay at her home for a few days, and Commander Li learned that the little girl often took care of Li Tuantuan.

Commander Li decided to help Ye Ruan arrange the little girl's future schooling.

Ye Ruan eagerly jumped out of the vehicle and followed the familiar route home. As he passed the training grounds, the Special Persons from three teams were training.

When he heard a sweet female voice call his name, Ye Ruan only waved hurriedly at her before quickly leaving.

As he drew closer to home, Ye Ruan broke into a run. He stopped outside the door, gasping for breath, and took a long while to recover before pressing the doorbell with trembling fingers.

"Coming."

The familiar voice came from inside.

The security door was pushed open from within.

Ye Ruan rubbed his blood-red eyes, unable to keep a trace of tears out of his voice when he spoke.

"Mom..."

The cup in Ye Qingman's hand fell to the floor, and tears veiled her red eyes, so much like Ye Ruan's.

"Son!"

"Mom." Ye Ruan sobbed pitifully and threw himself into Ye Qingman's arms.

Ye Qingman gently stroked the back of her little bunny's head, then took his hand and led him inside.

Everything in the house was exactly as it had been when he left. Nothing had changed.

The rooms held his mother's warm, rich fragrance.

The double-flowered moss roses on the windowsill were blooming brightly in the sunlight.

The hand resting on his head was soft and warm as Ye Qingman coaxed him gently:

"My little white fluffball is finally home. Let Mommy see if you've lost weight."

"A little, I think. Mom, I missed you so much."

Ye Ruan's voice was soft, his little face drooping and his fair cheeks slightly puffed as he clung to Ye Qingman's arm and sought her affection.

"You're all grown up, and you're still acting like a little baby."

Ye Qingman affectionately pinched her little bunny's cheek and teased him:

"My little white fluffball has such dirty cheeks. Have you been rolling around in mud puddles again?"

Ye Ruan knelt on the carpet and rested his head on Ye Qingman's lap in a huff.

"I'm not a little bunny anymore. I don't run off to roll around in mud puddles."

Ye Qingman sighed with a smile. "Son, you've changed so much after this trip to South City."

Ye Ruan looked up in confusion. "Have I?"

"You have." Ye Qingman used a tissue to wipe the dust from his little face.

"You're not as timid and withdrawn as you used to be. Someone must have taken very good care of you."

"You smile more, and you've grown braver. A trip to City H seems to have transformed you completely."

Ye Ruan froze and met Ye Qingman's eyes for a long moment.

A tear suddenly fell, landing on the back of Ye Qingman's hand.

She heard her little bunny say, panicked, heartbroken, and at a loss:

"Mom, I... I've fallen in love with someone."

Ye Qingman was surprised, then gave a soft laugh.

"Have you? That's truly something rare."

The world had fallen, yet they had fallen in love at a time like this.

Ye Ruan nodded, unable to hide the sob in his voice:

"I've never loved anyone this much."

Seeing him filled Ye Ruan with joy, and every touch set his heart trembling.

Ye Ruan's tears fell one after another like beads from a broken string. He looked so pitiful as he cried silently.

"Did you come back alone?" Ye Qingman asked softly.

Ye Ruan buried his face in his palms and nodded.

Ye Qingman wiped the tears from Ye Ruan's chin.

"I heard that after you got separated from the Third Team, you met members of the First Team."

"Mm... They're not like the First Team everyone talks about."

Ye Qingman smiled. "I just remembered something."

"What?" Ye Ruan looked at her in confusion, tears still clinging to his lashes.

"Did you know? When you were little, on the last day you went to listen to the piano outside that window covered in morning glories, a little boy came to find me."

Ye Ruan looked up in a daze.

Ye Qingman said softly, "He asked whether I knew a timid little bunny who liked to hide and whose ears wouldn't behave."

Ye Ruan seemed to have guessed something.

Ye Qingman wiped the tears from his cheeks.

"When I took you abroad over ten years ago, we left without saying goodbye. I heard Gu Cheng never touched that piano again."

Ye Qingman smiled a little helplessly. "So you two knew each other long ago."

"It's such a shame you never met back then."

But after passing each other by so many times, the two had met in a devastated city and, unable to help themselves, fallen in love.

Once he was certain that the person playing the piano really had been Gu Cheng, Ye Ruan felt even sadder.

"But I lied to him, and I left him behind."

Ye Qingman smiled gently. "That boy has a good temperament. I don't believe he'd refuse to speak to you ever again over this."

"Why don't you apologize when he comes back?"

Ye Ruan's eyes flickered, and he said sadly, "I can't. I can't get close to Gu Cheng."

The smile vanished from Ye Qingman's eyes. "Because of Nan Han?"

"Yes."

After a long while, Ye Qingman let out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry. I've dragged you down."

"It's not your fault, Mom. I've grown up. I can protect you now."

The young man before her was no longer that little bunny who rarely spoke or smiled.

Having someone to love in his heart had made him resilient and strong.

It had been three days since he returned to the Special Person base in S City.

During that time, Ye Ruan had heard no news of Gu Cheng and the others returning, and he couldn't help growing anxious.

Returning from buying groceries, Ye Qingman saw Ye Ruan standing alone on the balcony in a daze.

Ye Qingman smiled and said softly, "When I went to the supermarket to buy you cookies just now, the owner told me Gu Cheng and the others were back. But apparently..."

Ye Ruan asked anxiously, "Apparently what?"

Ye Qingman said slowly, "Apparently Gu Cheng was injured, and he's lying in the hospital now..."

Before she could finish, Ye Qingman felt a gust of wind sweep past. By the time she opened her eyes again, her son was gone.

Ye Qingman froze for two seconds, then sighed:

"Oh my, he really has you wrapped around his finger."

As Ye Ruan ran toward the hospital, he was scared to death, his heart pounding as though it would leap out of his chest.

Regret, sorrow, and heartache came one after another in a tangle of emotions.

What if... what if something happened to Gu Cheng because I left early?

Ye Ruan didn't dare imagine it. He could no longer stop the tears welling in his eyes.

The Special Person base was enormous. Walking from home to the hospital took at least half an hour.

Ye Ruan ran there in just ten minutes. Dizzy and disoriented, he rushed straight into the outpatient lobby. After asking which room Gu Cheng was in, he was about to rush upstairs.

Bang!

Ye Ruan turned a corner and slammed into someone, stumbling back two steps and nearly falling.

But the person in front of him caught him firmly.

A cold, familiar voice coiled around him like a venomous snake.

"Son, you're back."