Yu An tiptoed out of bed, pushed open the door to the next room, and went to see the two babies on the bed.
Chiu Chiu was huddled under the covers, her little face flushed. Ba Zai lay sprawled out, its little tentacles still pressing against Chiu Chiu's body.
Yu An walked over, lifted up the little tentacles of the eight-child, and then lifted the blanket off Qiu Qiu a little.
The children slept much earlier than Yu An, so when Yu An came over, they woke up groggily.
"Big brother."
Chiu Chiu instinctively grabbed her older brother's hand, wanting him to hug her: "Chiu Chiu is dreaming."
Yu An picked him up and skillfully changed his clothes: "What kind of dream did our Qiuqiu have?"
Chiu Chiu thought for a moment and replied, "It was a sweet dream. I dreamt that Ba Zai made me barbecue. His tentacles smelled so good when they were grilled."
The eight-year-old cub who had just woken up: "?"
What the hell?
Seeing that the two kids were about to start arguing again early in the morning, Yu An quickly tidied them up and gave each of them a tube of nutritional paste.
After the children finished breakfast, the zombie old man sat down in the living room, and Xie Chiyuan came out.
Yu An looked at him, and was about to speak when Xie Chiyuan spoke first: "An'an, do you still want to search for survivors in the city? If so, I'll go with you."
Yu An had already walked around the city several times, and the old man had told him that he couldn't smell the presence of living people in the city.
Even if we continue searching, it will only be more futile.
"I'm not looking anymore."
Yu An belatedly realized why Ruan Ke had assigned him this task; Ruan Ke probably knew that Xie Chiyuan was nearby.
Xie Chiyuan hummed in agreement. He packed up Yu An's belongings and called to the old man, "We should go back now."
Yu An hesitated: "Go back where?"
Xie Chiyuan pinched his cheek and chuckled, "I'm taking you home to meet my parents. You've met Uncle Ruan, but you haven't officially met my father yet."
Yu An and Yin Qin had met before, but at that time they only saw each other and didn't exchange a word.
Xie Chiyuan was going to take the old man back to the West District to hand him over to his father. With Yu An by his side, he could conveniently complete the process of meeting the parents.
If conditions permit, he would also like to propose, get engaged, and get married at the same time.
If he were to be even bolder, he wouldn't mind raising two more biological children if Yu An could conceive. Ideally, the children would resemble Yu An, so he could see what a miniature version of Yu An would look like.
Yu An was a little nervous: "Your dad doesn't seem very easygoing."
Aside from being gentle with his own partner, Chief Yin was stern and unsmiling towards everyone else. His years in power also gave him an imposing aura, which put Yu An under considerable pressure.
Xie Chiyuan picked up Qiuqiu and comforted him, saying, "Don't worry, my dad is very easygoing with his family and doesn't put on airs at all."
Yu An hesitated for a few seconds, but finally nodded.
He's become quite attached to Xie Chiyuan lately, and since Xie Chiyuan is going to the West District, he naturally wants to go with him. Since he's already gone, it seems a bit impolite not to see Chief Yin.
"All right."
He said dryly, "I'll meet with your father."
After he finished speaking, he added, "When I find my dad, I'll let you meet him too."
Xie Chiyuan smiled and said, "Okay."
The old man listened to them talk, trying to minimize his presence and avoid being an annoying third wheel.
Half a day has passed.
As the group set off, Yu An observed Xie Chiyuan's attitude towards the old man. He even considered pointing at the old man and saying that he and the old man were the same kind of creature.
But thinking that he was about to see Chief Yin, he didn't dare to.
He rubbed his face, planning that if Chief Yin was also friendly to the old man after they met, he would pull off a big one—
Let's expose the true identities of this father and son at once!
This saves time and allows me to notify both people at once.
With this in mind, Yu An felt even more nervous about meeting the parents.
On their way back, the old man was basically their protector. He seemed to have a stronger bond with humans than with zombies.
He also told Yu An about his past as a human being.
“The village we lived in was very backward. There was no school or road. The place was also not safe. The local gang leader forced us to work for him. I worked for most of my life before I finally got married. My wife is a little simple-minded, but she can do everything.”
“We’ve been together for decades, and in all those decades, we’ve never had a falling out.”
"Later, I don't know how, the zombies came. More than half of the people in the village died. My wife is usually stupid, but she was very shrewd at that time."
“She immediately took me and hid us in the cellar. No matter how chaotic it was outside, we didn’t go out.”
As Yu An listened, she wondered, "Then how did you end up turning into a zombie?"
The old man paused for a moment, then continued, "On the eighth day we were hiding in the cellar, the local boss who exploited us came. I don't know how he got to my place. He was injured and had a gun in his hand. He robbed my wife and me of our place."
“My wife and I were originally going to leave, but he wouldn’t let us go. He only asked us to stay and take care of him. Then, he mutated and bit my wife and me.”
“My wife wasn’t just bitten, she was eaten.”
The old man's past was indeed somewhat heavy, and Yu An carefully considered his words before offering him some words of comfort.
The old man got along fairly well with them along the way.
Xie Chiyuan didn't bring his phone, so he used Yu An's phone to log into WeChat and post updates. After getting his phone back, Yu An didn't even check WeChat Moments.
He has very few friends, and he doesn't usually post updates or check them.
After Xie Chiyuan posted pictures of his baby, he was originally waiting for the baby to reciprocate by posting pictures of his own.
As a result, we've been waiting for so long, and nothing has come of it.
He subtly hinted, "An'an, aren't you going to share the fact that we're together?"
This is not a hint, but an explicit statement.
But Yu An whispered, "How should we share this? I'll tell everyone when we get back to the island."
Moreover, in Yu An's view, two people being in a relationship has little to do with others, and there is no need to tell too many people.
Because they were constantly on the move and with Zai Zai by their side, Xie Chiyuan didn't get many chances to take advantage of others.
Fortunately, after several days of hard travel, they finally arrived.
The old man performed very well; all assessments showed he had no problems. Based on the current results, there's a 99% chance the West End will cooperate with him.
"An'an, I'm going to hand over my duties. I'll be back to keep you company later."
Upon arriving in the West District, they were greeted and escorted by staff. Yu An was taken to Xie Chiyuan's room to put away his luggage. The room next to Xie Chiyuan's was empty, which was perfect for the two children.
The kids were very unwilling, but this was Xie Chiyuan's territory, so the irritable eight kids had no choice but to restrain their tempers.
As always, Chiu Chiu was socially awkward; he didn't say a word to the old man along the way.
Xie Chiyuan handed over his work. Yu An, on the other hand, toured Xie Chiyuan's room. He saw a photo album on the bookshelf, which contained all the photos of Xie Chiyuan after he was adopted.
Yu An flipped to the front and saw Xie Chiyuan, who was still a child.
After seeing Xie Chiyuan's appearance clearly, Yu An paused for a moment: "Why does he look so familiar? Has Xie Chiyuan been to Secret Shield before?"
But it shouldn't be like that either.
He didn't remember meeting Xie Chiyuan when he was a child, and besides, Xie Chiyuan had no reason to go to Secret Shield.
He shook his head and continued flipping through the pages.
really.
Xie Chiyuan has always been good-looking since he was a child!
Yu An was so engrossed in watching that she didn't even notice when Xie Chiyuan returned.
"An'an".
A voice rang out above her head, and the next second, Yu An was pulled into Xie Chiyuan's arms: "I'm done with my work, where are the kids?"
"They went next door."
Upon hearing this, Xie Chiyuan pondered for a moment, seemingly considering whether or not to bring the children along.
After thinking for a moment, he decided to take Yu An with him first: "My dad has some time now, shall we go have dinner? My dad said he wants to see you."
Since the elders had all said they wanted to see him, Yu An naturally had to go.
He didn't take Zai Zai with him; he went with Xie Chiyuan by himself.
Everyone at the main base was familiar with Xie Chiyuan, and many had seen his high-profile and frequent posts on WeChat Moments. His Moments were full of pictures of his baby.
Yu An, this fresh-born baby, was scrutinized the whole way.
"Snap—"
There were constant sounds of people taking pictures without permission. Although Xie Chiyuan tried to stop them, some people were still able to capture a few corners of the scene.
New photos surfaced on the forum: a previously banned digital ID had bought a new account and was making a fierce comeback. Everyone on the forum recognized him.
"Oh, Yu An's die-hard fan is here."
Despite being besieged by the digital ID, he remained unfazed and continued to insist on his point of view: "Yu An is the best person in the world. Xie Chiyuan is shameless. He must have started the trick to seduce the innocent Yu An!"
Yu An was completely unaware of the bloodshed and chaos unfolding on the digital ID front.
He was listening to Xie Chiyuan talk about the handover. With a zombie king like Sun Mo leaving a good impression on everyone, they were all able to accept this old man.
After all, his value is undeniably significant.
Yu An breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that Chief Yin would accept him. He took Xie Chiyuan's hand, his eyes crinkling into a smile: "Let's go, let's go find your dad!"
He's about to zoom in!
Xie Chiyuan led him, familiar with the way, to his father's office. There was no one else in the office except Yin Qin.
When Yin Tan saw them arrive, he got up and prepared to take them to eat.
But Yu An swallowed hard and said loudly, "Wait a minute, don't rush! Uncle Yin, Xie Chiyuan, I have something to tell you."
Yin Qin glanced at him and said, "Let's eat and talk in the restaurant."