Chapter 87: It’s Just Holding a Child
Chapter 87: It’s Just Holding a Child
Suddenly, the baby pouts and begins to cry. Though she has a small head, she senses her mother’s rejection. She is smart! An Ran sighs, sits in the driver's seat, unties the sling, lifts her shirt, and feeds the crying baby.
Hu Zhen walks out of the security door carrying a large bag of medicine and places it in the trunk of Chen Jiao's car. She glances at An Ran in the driver’s seat, sighs, and hesitates to speak.
An Ran's mood has shifted dramatically in recent days. It seems that everyone is getting along a little better, but suddenly, An Ran stops talking. She hasn’t expressed her thoughts or quarreled with Chen Jiao. Instead, she silently kills zombies every day, then wanders the third, fourth, and fifth floors with the baby in her arms. It is clear she is grappling with a lot of emotions.
Hu Zhen wants to talk to An Ran, but every time she does, An Ran just listens. After Hu Zhen finishes speaking, An Ran continues as she had before. Chen Jiao remarks that An Ran is acting strange, but An Ran doesn’t refute it. In short, she keeps her opinions to herself, and this frustrates Hu Zhen.
But what can An Ran say? In this battle for survival, Hu Zhen plays the "virtuous wife," Chen Jiao is merely an observer, and An Ran bears the responsibility of fighting. She feels her thoughts are evolving much faster than Hu Zhen and Chen Jiao's. She is becoming increasingly independent, while they seem to rely on her more and more.
To put it bluntly, An Ran feels that these two are somewhat of a burden. It is fine to be a passive teammate; she is out there fighting zombies while they refrain from doing so. But throwing her daughter to the ground? If An Ran isn’t angry, who would be?
She has always been the type to internalize her anger. Once it explodes, it means she has reached her limit. That is how it has been with her marriage to Zhan Lian. Once she says she wants a divorce, she follows through because she has accumulated her anger for so long that it can't be quelled any longer.
After feeding the baby, An Ran places the sleeping child in the safety basket in the back seat. Hu Zhen is sorting through supplies when Chen Jiao slams the trunk lid of her car shut with a loud “clang.” An Ran feels the tiny body of the baby twitch in fear at the noise. She raises her eyes to look at Chen Jiao, anger gradually burning in her eyes.
“Oh, I’ll go hold He Wen,” Chen Jiao says, seemingly oblivious to the disturbance she has caused. It is as if she has just remembered there is another child on the fourth floor, and she dashes back toward the sewage passage. Seeing this, Hu Zhen hurriedly calls out, “I’ll hold it!” But Chen Jiao doesn’t even turn around; she simply waves her hand back, signaling that she will take care of it herself.
All the zombies on the third, fourth, and fifth floors have been eliminated by An Ran. What is so difficult about just holding a baby?
Chen Jiao is full of confidence as she runs up to the fourth floor, carefully picking up the still-sleeping He Wen from the hospital room. With a loving expression, she kisses He Wen’s small face and smiles. Seeing no one around, she whispers to He Wen, “Call me Mommy.”
This is her own child, so it doesn’t mean Chen Jiao doesn’t love He Wen. Although she claims she can’t support him and acts indifferent in front of Hu Zhen, she still cares deeply for He Wen. She is just... afraid that she might not survive, so if she lets He Wen stay with Hu Zhen and An Ran, perhaps he can still have something to eat.