Chapter 180: don’t talk nonsense ~~
She only sat there, quiet and steady, while the little girl happily drank her snack and kept her tiny world bright.
Bai Li and the little dumpling returned to the sofa. The little dumpling hugged the Wahaha in one arm and stroked her cat toy with the other, while Bai Li stayed by her side.
She sighed almost imperceptibly, her gaze softening when it landed on the little dumpling. It was such a small thing, almost easy to miss, but for someone like Bai Li, who had already been through too much in such a short time, even this tiny scene felt rare enough to be worth remembering. The apartment was warm, the air smelled faintly of food, and the little girl was still sitting there with her cat toy in her arms, completely safe for the moment. That kind of peace would not last forever. Bai Li knew that. The whole city knew that, even if most people were still trying to pretend otherwise. The survivors would run out of stored food sooner or later, the zombies outside would keep spreading, and once the panic really kicked in, this little pocket of calm would be broken apart without mercy. Thinking that, Bai Li’s expression dimmed a little. The little dumpling was so young. Could she really grow up happily in a world like this? Bai Li did not know. She only knew that, for now, the child still had someone to protect her, someone to feed her, and someone to tell her stories. In this kind of disaster, that was already a very precious thing.
On the other side, Yan Laojin was chatting with Yan Cijin in the kitchen. The kitchen was not large, but the two of them moved around it naturally, like they had done this a thousand times before. There was the soft sound of a pot lid being lifted, the quiet clink of chopsticks against a bowl, and the sound of oil sizzling lightly in the pan. Yan Laojin glanced toward the living room once, then looked back at her daughter with a smile that clearly carried a little bit of hidden meaning. Having watched Yan Cijin’s interaction with Bai Li these last two days, Yan Laojin had already formed her own opinion. She had seen Bai Li bring over all those vegetables and meat without acting stingy about it. She had seen Bai Li treat LiLi gently and patiently. She had seen Bai Li speak to her daughter in that calm, steady tone that made people feel weirdly at ease. So when Yan Laojin suddenly chuckled and said, "I didn’t expect Bai Li to be so obedient to you," she was clearly not just talking about the surface.
"Mom, don’t talk nonsense," Yan Cijin said immediately, her ears turning red in a way that was honestly a little hard to ignore. She lowered her head and kept working on the chicken drumsticks in her hands, but the quicker she moved, the more obvious her discomfort seemed. It was almost like she was trying to hide her reaction by pretending to be busy. Yan Laojin saw that right away and smiled even wider, but she did not push too hard. She knew her daughter well enough to understand that if she teased her too much, Yan Cijin would just shut down and stop talking altogether. Still, the look on her face said everything. She clearly thought Bai Li was pretty good. Maybe more than pretty good.
Yan Laojin had interacted with Bai Li these past two days, and aside from everything else, just the fact that Bai Li would bring over so many things at a time like this already said a lot about her character. Most people right now were busy guarding their own rice bowls, afraid that someone else might take even one extra egg from them. But Bai Li was different. She was willing to carry over vegetables and meat, and she never acted like it was a big favor she was doing. She just said the things she said in that same calm voice and then helped without making a fuss. To Yan Laojin, that made Bai Li look more reliable than plenty of people she had known before the apocalypse. And as for those people in the group outside, the ones who had all kinds of opinions and liked to chatter like they knew everything, Yan Laojin had long since stopped caring what they said. In her eyes, they were not even worth listening to. A bunch of people could curse her daughter all they wanted, she still would not believe them. They were just like a pack of mad dogs with nothing better to do.
Lunch was ready quickly. The whole apartment smelled even better once the dishes came out of the kitchen. There was the savory smell of meat, the tangy smell of vegetables stir fried just right, and a faint sweetness from the sauce on the eggplant. Yan Cijin carried the dishes out one by one, while Bai Li was still on the sofa, watching cartoons with the little one. Since only a few channels on TV were still broadcasting anything useful, they had projected the content onto the TV screen from another device, and the little girl was watching with her eyes round and bright, clutching her kitten doll like it was her treasure. Bai Li sat beside her, looking unusually relaxed, her posture loose and quiet. She had probably not noticed it herself, but the way she sat there made her seem very easy to approach. Not cold, not distant, just someone who was quietly there, giving her attention to the little girl in front of her.
"Lunch is ready, you two come and eat," Yan Cijin said with a smile as she leaned over to pick up the little one and place her in her high chair.
The little girl was still holding her kitten toy when she was carried over, but she did not make a fuss.
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To be continued.
