After Ye Lan carried Gu Rong back into the house, she washed his face and carried him back to his little room.

“It’s almost midnight. Zaizai, quickly go to sleep.” Ye Lan patted him gently.

Gu Rong clung to Ye Lan’s two fingers, refusing to let go. He looked pleadingly at Ye Lan and said, “Mommy, not go!”

Ye Lan sat down on the edge of the bed, coaxing Gu Rong to sleep, her voice soft: “What did Zaizai do at home all day today? Did you eat properly?”

Gu Rong nodded his little head, answering obediently: “Yes! Zaizai ate a big hamburger and a chicken leg!”

Ye Lan tapped his little nose: “You need to eat vegetables too.”

Gu Rong nodded: “Okay! Zaizai is a good baby! Good babies aren’t picky eaters!”

Ye Lan looked at Gu Rong’s nose, red from crying, his eyes still red too. Only then did she ask the reason: “Zaizai, why did you cry like that when you saw Mommy just now? Was something upsetting you?”

Gu Rong lowered his eyelids; his eyelashes were thick, like little brushes. He whispered, “Zaizai was always looking for Daddy and Mommy, but could never find them. Zaizai later even became a Little Zombie, couldn’t catch prey, and always had a hungry tummy. Luckily, I met Grandpa Ming.”

Gu Rong said whatever came to mind, not hiding anything, chattering non-stop bababa, “006 said Zaizai earn points, then can see Daddy, Mommy, Grandpa Ming. Now, finally see Mommy… Huh? Daddy? Where did Daddy go?”

Only then did Gu Rong remember that only Mommy had come home; Daddy hadn’t returned. He turned his little head, looking left and right, even lifting his little quilt to check underneath.

Ye Lan: “…”

Gu Rong spread his small hands, his little face bewildered, indicating he couldn’t find Daddy either. Gu Rong’s words lacked preceding context and logical flow, but after hearing them, Ye Lan fell into deep thought.

It was already late at night. Ye Lan pushed aside her thoughts and tapped Gu Rong’s little nose: “Quickly close your eyes and sleep.”

Gu Rong was very obedient to his mother. Hearing this, he immediately shut his eyes tightly. However, less than two seconds later, he sneakily opened a slit in his eyes, peeking at Ye Lan.

Ye Lan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, softening her voice: “Why aren’t you asleep yet?” Her voice was gentle, extremely pleasant, especially when speaking softly and leisurely, and it was even more pleasant.

Gu Rong’s hair was dark black and soft, his skin exceptionally fair, his eyes particularly dark. His whole person looked like an exquisite porcelain doll.

“Mommy pretty!” Gu Rong said, biting the corner of the blanket, “Voice nice! Mommy most pretty!”

The cub had been sweet-tongued since he was little. He was already sweet enough to others; towards his mother, his mouth was practically smeared with honey.

Ye Lan pulled the blanket out of his mouth, not letting him stuff everything into his mouth.

Gu Rong rolled his little body over, so sleepy his eyes could barely open, yawning repeatedly, yet stubbornly refusing to close his eyes. He was actually afraid Ye Lan would disappear while he slept. What if he woke up and couldn’t see Mommy anymore?

Ye Lan, however, didn’t know what Gu Rong was afraid of. She ruffled his little head: “Mommy will stay right here and watch over you. Only by sleeping obediently can you grow tall. Does baby want to grow tall?”

Hearing that sleeping could make him grow tall, Gu Rong’s little face immediately turned solemn, and he nodded vigorously: “Want!!”

Ye Lan coaxed him: “Then, baby sleep quickly. In the future, you’ll definitely grow taller than Mommy.”

Hearing he could grow taller than Mommy, Gu Rong’s eyes instantly sparkled. “Zaizai, sleep! Then grow very, very tall!!”

Ye Lan tucked him in properly: “Zaizai, good night.”

Gu Rong’s voice was crisp and tender: “Mommy, good night.”

Ye Lan gently patted the quilt, softly humming a lullaby. In less than two minutes, Gu Rong sank into dreamland, sleeping soundly and sweetly. One of his small hands still clutched two of Ye Lan’s fingers, not letting go. Just as Ye Lan tried to pull her fingers out, Gu Rong startled, almost waking up.

Ye Lan quickly stuffed the little dinosaur doll into his hand. After a moment, Gu Rong hugged the little dinosaur and sank back into deep sleep.

Ye Lan breathed a sigh of relief, walked out of the room, and called Father Gu, Gu Baiyu. Recently, the virus’s spread had accelerated, showing signs of losing control. Gu Baiyu was still busy in the laboratory and probably had to rest there tonight, unable to come home.

After the call connected, Ye Lan told Gu Baiyu about Gu Rong’s wawa crying and nonsensical words. Her beautiful eyebrows furrowed slightly: “Did Zaizai have a nightmare? But, if it was a nightmare, we never mentioned the zombie virus to him. How could he dream of becoming a Little Zombie and not being able to find us?”

Gu Baiyu pondered for a long time, his voice deep: “Don’t be afraid. There are many movies about zombies. Zaizai might have just scrolled past a zombie video and gotten scared.”

Ye Lan thought about the possibility of the real world also experiencing a zombie outbreak like in the movies, the end of humanity, and couldn’t help feeling scared. Not scared of other things, her only worry was Zaizai. If that day truly came, she and Gu Baiyu didn’t matter; death was death. But Zaizai was still so young, he hadn’t even had the chance to grow up.

Thinking of this, Ye Lan’s eyes reddened. Calming herself, she said: “Baiyu, we’ve been so busy experimenting lately, haven’t had time to spend with Zaizai. I want to take some time to take Zaizai out and relax.”

Just as Gu Baiyu was about to say something, Ye Lan cut him off, her voice choked and suppressed: “Even if tomorrow is the end of the world, I hope our last moments can be spent with Zaizai, one day at a time, one hour at a time. Everyone is marching forward bearing heavy burdens right now, but this burden shouldn’t fall on Zaizai’s shoulders.”

Gu Baiyu was silent for a long moment, then said: “Okay, Ah Lan. We’ll take Zaizai out to relax.”

After hanging up, Ye Lan quietly returned to the room. Moonlight spilled in, the room filled with warmth and tranquility. Gu Rong’s little face was rosy, lying sideways, one little leg draped over the quilt, sleeping soundly.

While sleeping, dreaming of something unknown, Gu Rong suddenly sat up, his big eyes wide open, glancing at Ye Lan.

Ye Lan: “?”

Gu Rong saw Ye Lan, and saw that Mommy was still there. Only then did he relax, lie back down, close his eyes, pat his own little tummy, and sink back into dreamland.

Ye Lan stood rooted to the spot, watching Gu Rong, motionless for a long time. After a long while, she let out a soft sigh.

–

The next day, Gu Rong woke up. It took him a while to react before remembering he was already home now, sleeping in his own room’s bed.

After getting up, Gu Rong, wearing soft cotton pajamas, his little face still groggy, went downstairs himself.

Halfway down the stairs, Gu Rong’s little feet stopped. He froze in the middle of the staircase. His small hand was still rubbing his eyes. At this moment, the entire cub resembled a little sculpture, staring blankly at Ye Lan and the young man on the living room sofa below.

Hearing the noise, the two also looked up towards the stairs. Their gazes landed on Gu Rong, their expressions instantly softening.

The young man looked to be in his early thirties, very handsome, with delicate and defined features. A pair of gold-rimmed glasses rested on his nose. He had long arms and legs and wore casual loungewear. But his face showed a trace of fatigue, with faint dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn’t rested well.

Seeing Gu Rong, the man smiled, stood up from the sofa, and opened his arms towards Gu Rong: “Zaizai, come here. Daddy hold.”

The man was precisely Father Gu, Gu Baiyu. His appearance was identical to General Nicholas from the “Terror Cruise” instance, but his temperament was vastly different, much gentler.

Only then did Gu Rong react. He ran deng deng deng down the stairs, opened his short little arms, and rushed towards Gu Baiyu. Reaching him, Gu Baiyu scooped him up in one motion, lifting him high in the air.

Held by his Daddy, Gu Rong hugged his Daddy’s neck tightly, burying his little head in his Daddy’s shoulder, very affectionate.

Seeing Gu Rong just hugging him without speaking, Gu Baiyu ruffled his little head and said: “What’s wrong, Zaizai? So happy to see Daddy, you can’t even speak?”

Only then did Gu Rong speak, his small voice already choked: “Daddy!”

Seeing Gu Rong like this, Gu Baiyu knew Ye Lan hadn’t exaggerated earlier: “Later, Daddy and Mommy will take you fishing outdoors. We’ll spend the whole day with you today.”

Hearing this, Gu Rong vigorously nodded his little head: “Okay! Zaizai hasn’t seen Daddy Mommy for a long time!”

Gu Baiyu and Ye Lan exchanged a glance, a trace of worry flashing in their eyes.

–

The family of three drove to the countryside. With the virus currently rampant, it wasn’t suitable to go to crowded places. Setting up a tent in the countryside and fishing was a good choice.

A child’s emotions come and go quickly. Gu Rong was already cheerful like a little frog, hopping ahead, extremely happy. He even sang a song: “I am a happy little frog, gua gua gua gua gua gua gua.” His crisp, tender, childish milky voice sang quite well, utterly adorable.

Gu Baiyu was adjusting the fishing line. Smiling as he watched Gu Rong: “Shouldn’t it be ‘I am a happy little frog, lalalalalala’?”

Gu Rong said: “Little frog sound not lalala! Is gua, gua, gua.”

With each “gua,” he nodded his little head once. His milky voice saying “gua gua gua” was cute enough to make your head fall off.

Gu Baiyu and Ye Lan couldn’t help but find it amusing.

Gu Rong saw Gu Baiyu holding the fishing rod and wanted to take out his own fishing rod from the system backpack. But the fishing rod, which he could previously retrieve with just a thought, now couldn’t be taken out.

Gu Rong paused, stunned, then called out in his mind again: [006?]

006 was gone, and his fishing rod was also gone!

Gu Rong tried retrieving other props from his backpack and found they had all suddenly disappeared, as if they had never existed.

Gu Rong was truly meng (baffled). He scratched his little head, momentarily confused, not knowing what had happened.

Ye Lan held his small hand and asked: “Zaizai, what’s wrong?”

Gu Rong said, “Zaizai also wants to fish fishing.”

Ye Lan said, “Go ask your Daddy to teach you.”

Gu Baiyu waved Gu Rong over: “Rongrong come here.”

Gu Rong ran dadada over. Gu Baiyu held Gu Rong in his lap, fishing with him, even holding his small hand, casting the fishing rod together. Gu Rong, tiny as he was, stayed obediently in his Daddy’s lap.

Ye Lan sat on the grass nearby.

Thinking about the current situation, Gu Baiyu sighed and said: “I feel it’s very necessary to train Zaizai, cultivate his independence. Let him take a taxi and buy things himself, or give him some money and let him go out and explore for a day.”

Ye Lan said, “Good idea, but Zaizai is only two, and still walks unsteadily.”

Gu Baiyu said: “Find time. You take Zaizai, try, try.”

Ye Lan didn’t want to continue this topic, avoiding it: “Change the subject. Let’s talk about future things later.”

The atmosphere stagnated somewhat. Both had unspoken meanings in their words, full of worries. Even on an outing, they couldn’t completely relax. Their moods were instantly shrouded in gloom again.

Gu Rong didn’t quite understand their words but listened intently nonetheless. In his milky voice, he talked back: “Daddy why not go taste shit? Let us taste.”

Gu Baiyu: “…”

Ye Lan: “…”

Ye Lan asked, stunned: “Zaizai! How can you talk to Daddy like that?”

Gu Rong pouted: “Then why Daddy ask Zaizai taste shit! Zaizai won’t eat!”

After a moment of stunned silence, Ye Lan and Gu Baiyu both slapped the ground laughing loudly. Their Zaizai was truly a little treasure/joker.

But laughing aside, Ye Lan still couldn’t help but educate: “Zaizai, mustn’t be impolite to Daddy.”

Gu Rong obediently said: “Oh.”

He agreed readily verbally, but clenched his little fist, resolving: Be polite to Daddy, but Zaizai absolutely will not taste shit.