The time that followed was supposedly for observation, but I was still sent up to the seventh floor for another round of examinations.
The people there didn’t really know what had happened in the villa—just that a batch of people had suddenly been sent over for testing, which they found rather strange.
All things considered, the personnel losses at the base this time must have been severe.
If no new people were brought in soon, wouldn’t the ones left behind be worked to exhaustion?
By the time I returned to the third floor, Suo Tian was already in the room, leaning against the window frame, lost in thought.
I walked in and sat on the bed.
Hearing me, he turned his head.
“Bruno said you’ll need to stay here for a few days.”
“Yeah… might as well. At least here, if something happens, I can get help right away.”
He nodded, glanced out the window again, then walked over to the other side of the bed.
“I might have to go out for a while.”
“What?” I froze. “Go out for a while? Where are you going?”
He didn’t answer that.
Instead, he stared at me for a long moment before asking, “Chen Yang… do you believe in ghosts?”
The moment he asked that, my expression stiffened.
Fragments of strange memories flooded into my mind—
‘You can see what’s outside at night too?’
‘Mm.’
‘Suo Tian joined Team C over ten years ago.’
‘Chen Yang… do you believe in ghosts?’
I took a deep breath and shook my head. “No. I don’t believe in ghosts.”
Hearing my answer, his expression didn’t change.
He just sat there, silent, unreadable.
After a long pause, I couldn’t help but ask, “Where are you going? Is it a mission?”
He nodded. “To find someone.”
“Someone?”
“A virus researcher. The plane had an issue and crashed into the mountains with the crew.”
“Can they even survive that?”
“We received a signal from the plane this morning. They’re still alive.”
I hesitated. “When are you leaving?”
He looked at me. “Right away.”
I stared at him in shock. “Right away? You’re leaving immediately?”
Before he could answer, I blurted out, “Aren’t you worried about the baby? You’re leaving just like that?”
The moment I said it, I froze myself.
I had never spoken to him like that before.
I never questioned what he did, because I knew he was often just following orders.
He took my hand and looked out the window again. “I am worried. About you. About him.”
I couldn’t bring myself to say something like don’t go.
Even though I didn’t want him to leave at all, I forced a smile.
“I was joking. I’m tough, and the baby won’t be weak either. The two of us together are like an iron wall—what’s there to worry about?”
After saying that, I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly inside.
In another time, would that have made me one of those “model wives”?
Suo Tian pulled me into his arms and whispered by my ear, “I’ll be back soon.”
“Mm.” I rested my face against his shoulder and rubbed my nose hard. “We’ll both miss you.”
His body stiffened slightly.
He let out a faint breath. “I’ll miss you too.”
…
Not long after, the bearded man and the middle-aged man entered the room.
Watching Suo Tian—dressed in his sharp black uniform—leave with them, I suddenly recalled the time when we were trapped on Xu Shu’s bus, and he had descended like a savior with Team C to rescue us.
Back then, his attitude toward me had been anything but warm.
He barely spoke.
The faint trace of humanity he showed while living with us now simply didn’t exist then.
It took me a long time to quietly adjust to that version of him.
And once I did, it felt like I had built a cage around myself—locking myself inside it.
From within that cage, I watched him.
Occasionally, he would come close enough to give me a bit of warmth, then quickly pull away, leaving me alone again inside my own confinement.
Maybe… the moment Lili handed me that pregnancy test, the locked door had already burst open.
I gradually realized that Suo Tian meant more to me than just emotional dependence.
He was truly part of my life.
Within this larger group, the two of us had formed our own small family.
At some point, he began holding me at night as we slept, instead of always seeming half-asleep, half-awake like before.
He would frown during meals, watching whether Xiao Hu or Tingyun were being picky eaters.
When we had conflicts with others, he would defend us fiercely—even to the point of drawing a blade.
…
Bruno came in and hooked me up to an IV drip.
It was medication to help stabilize the pregnancy.
Lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling, I began to feel a delayed sense of unease at the words “stabilize the pregnancy,” mixed with a lingering disappointment from Suo Tian’s departure.
I had only been lying there for a short while when a rush of footsteps suddenly echoed from the corridor outside.
A few seconds later, the door burst open, and I heard Han Xue’s voice:
“What, you went to a wedding and somehow ended up here on bed rest?”
Then Uncle Gazi, Taozi, Xu Shu, Shen Feng, Yangyang, Zhou Wen, and Jundi all filed into the room.
Seeing me lying on the hospital bed, Uncle Gazi’s expression changed.
He hurried over, clearly upset.
“Girl, what happened to you? When that foreign doctor told us just now, I even scolded him for joking around and jinxing things. Weren’t you out with Xiao Tian? How come you’re here alone, on pregnancy rest?”
I smiled at him. “Just a small accident. Nothing serious. I’ll be fine after a couple of days of observation.”
“How is that nothing serious?” Han Xue cut in bluntly, her tone direct as always.
“What counts as serious to you? Losing the baby would be serious, right?”
“Xiao Xue!” Uncle Gazi snapped, still holding onto his old habit of avoiding unlucky words.
Han Xue immediately realized and spat twice into the air. “My bad, my bad…”
Yangyang crouched by my bed, glanced at the IV, then looked around the room. “Where’s Brother Tian?”
“Out on a mission.” With my free hand, I straightened Yangyang’s clothes, then turned to Shen Feng and the others.
“Why are you all here at this hour? Don’t you have training?”
Shen Feng stepped forward and sat by the bed. “We got a notice at noon—training’s suspended. In a few days, we’ll be assigned to different teams. Team C is all elites though… we probably won’t make it in.”
He shrugged helplessly. “Guess we won’t get to fight alongside Suo Tian.”
As soon as he said that, I immediately thought of what had happened at noon.
Training being halted so suddenly, and assignments arranged so quickly—it was probably related to the heavy personnel losses.
I gave them a thumbs-up. “You guys are really something.”
“That’s such a teacher habit,” Taozi laughed. “Always giving the ‘you’re great, you’re awesome’ gesture to everyone.”
…
Whenever our group got together, there was never a shortage of things to talk about.
One topic led to another, and laughter came easily.
After chatting with them for a while, I felt much better.
The otherwise dull hours passed quickly.
When Bruno came in to remove my IV, he even stood there chatting with us for quite a while, still holding the drip bottle.
It wasn’t until Uncle Gazi reminded him that he realized he was supposed to be working.
Watching him leave, I suddenly noticed Lili wasn’t there.
“Where’s Lili?” I asked.
“Oh, Xuanxuan has diarrhea,” Xu Shu replied.
“She stayed home to take care of the three kids.”
“Three kids… can she handle that alone?” I asked, a little worried.
“More or less…” Xu Shu said helplessly.
“Xiao Hu and Tingyun got into a fight at noon. They cried for quite a while. They’re asleep now.”
“They’re about the same age,” she continued.
“They were fighting over who got to kiss Xuanxuan first. By the time we pulled them apart, both of them had scratches on their faces, crying with snot and tears everywhere.”
Uncle Gazi sighed. “Our place is like a daycare center now. Luckily Xuanxuan’s still little and not causing trouble yet. Once she starts walking in a few months, those three are probably going to tear the roof off the place.”
I pictured in my mind what it must’ve looked like—little Tingyun and Xiao Hu fighting—and couldn’t help but laugh.
“When you come tomorrow, bring the kids along. Don’t leave them at home—one person can’t handle all of them.”
Shen Feng grinned. “If they come, I bet the whole building will hear the noise from our room.”
Xu Shu laughed too. “Don’t worry. Since you guys don’t have training, it’ll be fine. Besides, Xiao Hu shrinks the moment he sees Zhou Wen—he runs off and hides in anyone else’s arms.”
Hearing that, Taozi turned to Zhou Wen. “Seriously, why does Xiao Hu dislike you so much?”
Zhou Wen looked helpless. “How should I know?”
Han Xue burst out laughing. “To him, no big bad wolf or scary granny is as terrifying as Zhou Wen’s face.”
“What’s wrong with my face?” Zhou Wen shot back immediately.
Sure enough, everyone cares about their looks— even a burly guy like Zhou Wen had to defend his face.
Listening to the laughter filling the room, the gloom in my heart was completely swept away.
I found myself grinning foolishly along with everyone, carried by the jokes.
Humanity and survival—two things that should stand in opposition in an apocalypse—yet somehow, at this moment, we had managed to blend them together.
Warmth and happiness.
If we could set aside all the unpleasantness, maybe this—right now—was the kind of life we had been hoping for.
— The end of the Chapter–
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