Chapter 261: Auntie Wants to Hold the Baby
Chapter 261: Auntie Wants to Hold the Baby
In the car ahead, Liang Ziyu walks over with a woman and knocks on Yun Tao's window. Yun Tao steps out of the car and exchanges a few words with Liang Ziyu.
Anran approaches with Doll in her arms and overhears Liang Ziyu introducing the woman beside him to Yun Tao.
"This is my girlfriend, her name is Zhao Ru. Let's get to know each other and look out for one another when we enter Tiesi Village."
Zhao Ru is known to be a capable member of Liang Ziyu’s group, though it isn’t clear whether she has any ability user abilities.
Zhao Ru claps her hands in delight when she sees Anran and eagerly reaches out toward Doll.
"Wow, what a cute baby! Let me hold her," she says.
Anran stays silent, pretending not to hear Zhao Ru’s request. Instead, she holds Doll closer, tightening her grip. She turns her head to look at the roadblock ahead, noticing a group of people in white approaching. Seizing the chance to change the subject, she says:
"Huh? Why are those people coming out?"
"I asked around. They're handing out monitoring cards," Liang Ziyu explains, glancing back at the white-clad figures. "Those people are all survivors from Tiesi Village who’ve been assigned to the disease control team. Every evening at this time, they distribute monitoring cards outside the roadblock. Anyone with a monitoring card can enter the checkpoint for a physical examination 24 hours later."
"That strict?" Anran exchanges a look with Yun Tao, both of them puzzled. Anran then asks, "Why wait 24 hours?"
"Because they're worried someone might have been bitten by a zombie. If they let infected people into Tiesi Village and they turn inside the settlement, they could start biting others, and the outbreak would spiral out of control," Zhao Ru answers instead of Liang Ziyu.
Zhao Ru’s gaze remains fixed on Doll, her eyes practically glowing with adoration. After a moment, she steps forward again, claps her hands toward Doll, and coaxes, "Let me hold her. She's so adorable. Come on, let auntie hold her, okay?"
Naturally, Anran isn’t willing. But it isn’t easy to refuse directly, so she cradles Doll wrapped in her blanket closer and offers a flimsy excuse, smiling awkwardly.
"She’s not wearing diapers right now. If she poops on you, that wouldn’t be good. Maybe another time, another day."
Was she joking? After everything Anran has been through, there’s no way she’d hand her precious child over to a woman she’s only seen once or twice on the street. Does she look gullible or something?
As for Zhao Ru, she probably isn’t the woman the plants warned her about. This Zhao Ru seems too frail — her clean face and soft, well-maintained skin don’t fit the image of someone physically tough or capable of manipulating soil. She clearly wants to hold Doll, but whether she has other intentions remains uncertain.
Noticing Anran’s resistance, Zhao Ru doesn’t seem bothered. Instead, she smiles warmly, as if in a good mood, and says, "I saw you killing zombies along the way. You’re pretty skilled. Have you thought about what you'll do after you get into Tiesi Village? Or are you planning to keep heading north to the Hubei North mentioned in the broadcast?"
"No plans. We'll just go wherever we go," Anran replies calmly. She leans against the side of the car, still holding Doll, and after a moment’s thought, asks Zhao Ru, "You seem to know quite a bit about Tiesi Village. Do you have any insights?"
"Yeah, I’ve been to Tiesi Village before, but I ended up leaving. I’m actually from Tiesi Village," Zhao Ru says.
She doesn’t elaborate on why she left but shares some basic information about Tiesi Village with Anran.