Ever since Bruno came that day, I still waited at the door for Suo Tian to return during the first few days.
But after learning that he had gone on some unknown mission with so many people, I became worried every single day.
I often found myself thinking about that pregnant woman who used to live across from us.
Whenever I thought of that, my heart would grow extremely unsettled.
Then I’d try to comfort myself—Suo Tian is very capable, not an ordinary person.
Someone like him, almost like he has cheats enabled, how could anything happen to him?
But every time I was just about to convince myself and relax, the words he said that night—“I’m human too. I feel sadness. I can die.”—would start echoing in my mind.
And then my thoughts would spiral into overwhelming regret and self-blame…
After going through this kind of mental torment over and over, and with Suo Tian not returning for half a month, I was already in a completely absent-minded state.
Every day I drifted along with everyone else—eating, washing dishes, cleaning the house, taking care of Xiao Hu and Tingyun—but I barely knew what I was doing.
Once, I even almost fed rice into Xiao Hu’s nose.
The little guy got so annoyed that he smacked my leg. “My nose isn’t hungry—my mouth is!”
I hurriedly apologized to the little “grown-up” and tried hard to steady myself and feed him properly.
This state of mine came to an abrupt end after a sudden “war” broke out between Han Xue and Xu Shu.
We didn’t know the cause or the details.
Lili seemed to know something but didn’t want to say.
All we knew was that after that argument, Han Xue insisted on moving out of the villa.
It took all of us a long time to persuade her to stay.
In the end, to reduce her contact with Xu Shu, we cleaned out a room on the third floor and let Han Xue move up there.
From that day on, even though they lived under the same roof, Han Xue and Xu Shu treated each other like air.
A few times, I saw Han Xue seem like she wanted to say something to Xu Shu, but after hesitating, she would turn away and remain silent.
Because of the conflict between them, everyone became extra careful when speaking, constantly trying to find ways to get the two of them to lower their heads and make peace.
Uncle Gazi even privately talked to Xu Shu, who was usually more rational.
We thought that with his influence, he’d definitely be able to persuade her.
But after that conversation, when we all pressed him for answers, he only shook his head, waved his hand, and sighed. “I don’t understand the world of young people.”
Xu Shu continued acting as if nothing had happened.
Aside from ignoring Han Xue, she went about her daily routines as usual.
Even when Chen Pu kept disappearing outside, she stopped saying anything about it.
When we asked, she would just wave her hand and say, “Let him be.”
Since we couldn’t get anywhere with Xu Shu, Taozi and I tried to break through from Han Xue’s side.
Lili, on the other hand, seemed unwilling to interfere.
She talked to both of them as usual, but completely pretended not to notice the obvious tension between them.
Han Xue had always been someone who couldn’t keep things to herself.
If she knew something, she would usually lay it all out clearly when asked.
But this time, no matter how Taozi and I pressed her, she only gave one answer: “I don’t like her, and she doesn’t like me.”
Shen Feng and the others were coming back later and later.
It seemed their training had intensified.
Every time they returned, they looked exhausted, almost falling asleep while eating, so they naturally didn’t notice any of this.
As time passed, everyone gradually got used to the silent hostility between the two of them.
And that matter, like a sharp thorn lodged in my heart, could no longer be avoided.
Xiao Hu’s six-month quarantine check.
I had kept it from everyone for a long time.
But now, with less than two weeks left until the time Dad mentioned, I could no longer hold it in.
After lunch, I finally brought it up to everyone.
After hearing this, everyone froze for a few seconds.
Then Han Xue spoke up, “You mean Xiao Hu has to be isolated for examination? Is it really an examination… or research?”
I shook my head. “At this point, there’s no real difference. Dad told me that once you go into that place, it takes half a year before you can come out—even the researchers inside are the same.”
“Half a year?” Uncle Gazi frowned and glanced at Xiao Hu in my arms. “Will it be dangerous?”
“I think… it’s probably more than just danger,” Lili cut in, then looked at me.
“With Xiao Hu’s special condition, once they find out, he’ll basically be like some miracle cure that could save the world. There’s no way they’ll let him out before they’ve fully studied him. And… whether he can even come out at all is another question. Besides, back at headquarters, weren’t you isolated for a few days? You’ve experienced it—you know best what it’s like.”
“That time was probably just them deliberately making things hard for me—it’s completely different in nature. What I’m worried about now is whether they’ll keep taking things from Xiao Hu—like blood, bone marrow, or other samples—because they need them.”
“Do you even have to ask? That’s definitely going to happen,” Han Xue said immediately.
“What kind of examination doesn’t involve drawing blood?”
“The real question,” Xu Shu added, “is whether they’ll ignore safety limits because they’re desperate for results.”
“If that’s the case, then there’s no way for us to predict anything,” Uncle Gazi said worriedly.
“Even if we go ask them, they’ll just give us some official-sounding nonsense.”
As he spoke, his gaze swept over Xiao Hu, and his expression suddenly froze.
He stood up quickly, walked over, grabbed Xiao Hu’s arm, and stared at it for a moment.
I felt puzzled. “Uncle Gazi, what are you looking at?”
He glanced at me, then went back to his seat. “Something just came to mind. Once before, I think I saw a needle mark on the inside of Xiao Hu’s arm. At the time, I didn’t think much of it and just brushed it off.”
“A needle mark?” I froze for a moment, then quickly lowered my head and asked Xiao Hu, “Xiao Hu, every time you go into that room with those uncles, did anyone give you injections?”
Xiao Hu looked at me blankly and shook his head. “I don’t know.”
That made sense… every time he came out of that room, he was asleep.
They must have used some method to put him under, and those needle marks were probably from sedatives or something similar.
Even though I tried to reassure myself like that, I still felt uneasy deep down.
After thinking for a while, I said to Uncle Gazi, “How about we go ask them about those needle marks tomorrow? They wouldn’t inject him with anything strange, right?”
Uncle Gazi waved his hand. “We’re probably overthinking it. If they had injected him with something, would they really feel comfortable letting us take the child back?”
We spent the whole afternoon discussing it, but still couldn’t come up with a solution.
Xiao Hu’s situation was just too special.
On a larger scale, we really should send him in for examination—maybe they could actually develop something to fight the incurable virus.
But on a personal level, the child had been with us for so long, he was no different from family.
If something went wrong after sending him there… wouldn’t that mean we’d be personally cutting off his chance to live?
That night, Xiao Hu got into a fight with Tingyun and ended up with a few scratches on his face.
After a round of ear-piercing crying, he refused to sleep in the same room as Uncle Gazi.
I carried him back to my room, feeling a bit helpless.
This little ingrate—if he hadn’t lost the fight to Tingyun, who knows when he would’ve remembered me.
After cleaning him up and putting him on the bed, I grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom for a quick rinse.
While I was drying myself, I suddenly heard the door open.
I immediately shouted, “Xiao Hu! Don’t go out!”
No one responded to me.
My heart skipped a beat—had the kid already run out?
I hurriedly wrapped a towel around myself and rushed out to chase after Xiao Hu.
But the moment I opened the bathroom door, I froze completely.
Suo Tian was standing by the bed, quietly watching Xiao Hu, who had somehow already fallen asleep.
When he heard the door open, he turned to look at me.
He was still in his black uniform, his features as striking as ever.
The moment my mind caught up, I rushed forward and threw my arms around him.
Without thinking about anything else, I blurted out loudly, “Suo Tian, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean what I said that day. That’s not what I really think. You’re important—very important! I was just out of my mind that day, I don’t even know what got into me to say something like that!”
Suo Tian let me cling to him as I rattled off that long string of words.
After a while, he gently reached out and pushed me back a little.
Pressing his lips together in a faint smile, he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on my forehead.
As he shifted slightly, I finally noticed—his arm was wrapped in thick layers of bandages.
Even the neatly worn black uniform he always had on was slightly open, revealing another bandage wrapped around his abdomen.
My brows knitted together.
I immediately stepped back and looked him over from head to toe.
Only after confirming there were no other visible injuries did I point at his bandaged arm and ask, “…Is it serious?”
“Not serious,” he replied.
Then he glanced at Xiao Hu on the bed.
It seemed our conversation had disturbed his sleep—his little hands twitched restlessly.
Suo Tian reached out and gently patted him, and soon he settled back into a peaceful sleep.
…
In truth, Suo Tian’s injuries were quite serious.
Early the next morning, Song Jiang rushed over, as if he had already known about it.
He brought a small medical kit to treat Suo Tian’s wounds.
Everyone was very concerned about his condition.
Only after Song Jiang assured us that the injuries were under control did everyone finally look a bit relieved.
I seized the chance to ask Song Jiang about Xiao Hu.
He only said that someone would come when the time came to take Xiao Hu away.
Just like Dad, there was no room for negotiation.
I also asked about the needle marks.
Song Jiang was briefly stunned, then quickly explained that it was just part of the routine blood-drawing process—like a regular medical checkup.
After Song Jiang left, Gao arrived with a group of people.
After speaking quietly with Suo Tian for a while, the two of them stood up, seemingly preparing to leave again.
“Suo Tian…” I called out, a little worried—afraid that once he left, it would be a long time before he came back again, especially since he was still injured.
Suo Tian turned back to look at me.
After a brief pause, he said, “I’ll be back before dinner.”
— The end of the Chapter–
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