The moment Lan Jin stepped into the hall, she spotted the well-behaved Lan Qiaoqiao. The little one stood obediently at Grandma Ling's side, her eyes darting around curiously. But Lan Jin knew very well that Lan Qiaoqiao was actually searching for her in the crowd.
As soon as Lan Jin turned her head, Lan Qiaoqiao's gaze landed on her walking up the stairs. The child's face lit up, her arms waving wildly as she shouted, "Mama! Mama! Here, here!"
Lan Jin raised her hand in response and called out, "Coming."
The group quickened their pace, heading toward the grandmother and child.
But not long after, Lao Shi and Zhou Zhiye had also caught up, their footsteps easily closing the distance. Just as Lan Jin's group reunited, Lao Shi appeared behind them.
Grandma Ling's hearing was still sharp. After only a brief pause, she recognized the man across from her as Ling Jiang's old partner, Lao Shi. She was immediately surprised. "Shi'er, oh my, I never thought we would meet here…"
Judging from the familiarity in her tone and the warmth of her manner, everyone was suddenly reminded of one thing: the matter of Ling Jiang being cheated on by Lao Shi had never actually been told to Grandma Ling. On top of that, Grandma Ling had always been quite satisfied with Lao Shi. Would she now see this meeting as fate and hope for the two to rekindle their relationship?
If that was truly the case…
A wave of disgust rose in Ling Jiang's chest. But Grandma Ling really knew nothing. The moment she saw Lao Shi, she treated him with the same warmth as before.
And she was not the only one acting warmly. The other was Lan Qiaoqiao. When she first noticed Lao Shi, she had no particular reaction. But the instant she caught sight of Zhou Zhiye standing beside him, her entire little body lit up with excitement. She ran straight to Zhou Zhiye's side and called out affectionately, "Uncle Zhou!"
Zhou Zhiye gave a helpless smile. "Hello, Qiao Qiao."
The moment she heard Zhou Zhiye call her Qiao Qiao so directly, the little girl became shy and ducked into Lan Jin's arms. But her curiosity was stronger than her shyness, and only a moment later she darted right back to Zhou Zhiye's side.
Lan Qiaoqiao's small mouth chattered non-stop into Zhou Zhiye's ear, and Zhou Zhiye very patiently crouched down, listening attentively to each childish word.
Lan Jin was speechless. She quickly scooped the little one back up. "Qiao Qiao, it's lunchtime now. Don't keep Dr. Zhou from eating."
Grandma Ling suddenly remembered that they had indeed come for lunch. She quickly said, "Shi'er, if you have no plans this afternoon, why don't you join us for lunch?"
"Of course." Lao Shi agreed without a second thought. But at the same time, Ling Jiang's face darkened. "He has no time."
The two completely opposite answers instantly froze the atmosphere at the table. After a moment of heavy silence, Grandma Ling finally realized something was wrong. Lao Shi and Ling Jiang no longer had the closeness they once did.
But since the invitation had already been extended, she could only smooth things over. "Let's go then, let's eat."
The third-floor cafeteria indeed had much richer meals, but the prices were high. Normally, they ate at the second-floor public hall.
After taking their trays and lining up for food, the group sat together in silence.
Lan Qiaoqiao, however, insisted on sitting next to Zhou Zhiye, beaming as she waited for Lan Jin to share food with her.
Lan Jin could honestly say that aside from Lan Qiaoqiao and Zhou Zhiye, no one at the table ate well. With everyone watching each other's expressions, how could anyone enjoy the meal?
A tasteless lunch was finally and painfully finished. As they parted, Grandma Ling politely said, "Shi'er, we'll head back for now. Since we're all in the same base, we'll meet again later."
"Yes, Grandma Ling."
…
Back at the rented room.
Grandma Ling looked at the still-silent Ling Jiang and asked, "Tell me, what have you been hiding from me?"
Ling Jiang leaned close and pouted. "Nothing can be hidden from Grandma. But my relationship with Lao Shi is not fit for us to be eating together. Please don't treat him so warmly anymore."
Grandma Ling hesitated. "Did you do something wrong to him?"
Ling Jiang felt utterly wronged. Lao Gao quickly interjected, "This has nothing to do with Sister Ling."
"Then it has to do with you?" Grandma Ling turned the sharp question on Lao Gao without hesitation.
Lao Gao, at a loss, hurriedly explained. "Of course not. It was Lao Shi who cheated."
Grandma Ling did not believe it. "Impossible. I watched Shi'er grow up. How could he do such a thing?"
"Men. You see their face, not their heart." Lan Jin cut in at the right moment. Her single remark unexpectedly brought a faint smile to Ling Jiang's serious expression.
Ling Jiang's mood eased a little, and she slowly recounted everything that had happened back at the J city base.
Grandma Ling's eyes widened as she calculated the time between the two bases. Several months had passed. She immediately scolded, "It has been so long, and you only tell me now? If I had known, I wouldn't have invited him to eat with us. That meal just now was suffocating."
"I only kept quiet because you liked him. I didn't want you to be hurt." Ling Jiang defended herself.
"No matter how much I like him, you are my own granddaughter. He treated you that way—how could I still like him?"
Lan Qiaoqiao could not understand the adult conversation, but she remembered Zhou Zhiye from lunch. Tilting her head, she asked curiously, "Uncle Zhou?"
Lan Jin explained, "Not about Uncle Zhou. We're talking about another uncle. He's the one who helped change your name, remember?"
Lan Qiaoqiao really did remember. "Remember. Yes."
And that was that.
Everyone's attention had been on Lao Shi, so when Lan Qiaoqiao mentioned Uncle Zhou, they did not think much of it. But Grandma Ling suddenly asked, "That Dr. Zhou is the same doctor who treated Qiao Qiao, right? I should have greeted him properly earlier. It was rude of me. If Lao Shi is not good, so be it, but I think that Dr. Zhou seemed quite decent."
The moment Grandma Ling praised Dr. Zhou, Lan Qiaoqiao nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes, good. Uncle Zhou!"
Although the "good" in their minds meant two completely different things, Ling Jiang dismissed the idea immediately. "Grandma, this is the apocalypse. Just surviving is already good enough. Let us focus on staying alive before talking about love. If I meet someone, then fine. If not, we cannot force it. Relationships cannot be pushed or arranged."
The thought of blind dates continuing even in the apocalypse made Ling Jiang feel she would rather be bitten to death by a mutant creature.
Before Grandma Ling could argue back, the alarm sirens of the base suddenly blared again.
[Warning, warning…]
As registered ability-users, the four of them could not sit idly by at the sound of the alarm. They rose immediately, packed up quickly, and said, "We'll go take a look. You stay here at home."
Grandma Ling sighed helplessly. "Fine, fine. You never want to listen to me anyway."