After hearing what I said, Uncle Gazi just let out a hearty laugh.
Then he pointed at Tingyun, who was sleeping soundly in his arms, and said to me, "Girl, some things are just human nature, part of being human. If you can talk them out, it's easy to make sense of them. The scary part is when you're caught up in it and can't see clearly. Girl, you've confused yourself."
I asked in puzzlement, "Uncle Gazi, I don't quite understand what you mean."
Uncle Gazi laughed again and continued, "Let me put it this way—look at my granddaughter here. Why do I love her so much? Why, in this day and age, am I still dragging along this little burden? Isn't it because she carries the blood of our old Wang family in her bones? She's my real granddaughter. If Tingyun had nothing to do with me, even if this old man felt sorry for her being so young, who knows—maybe one day, for whatever reason, I'd end up abandoning her. But if she's my real granddaughter, then that's a different story. If something were to happen, even if it costs me this old life of mine, I'd still have to protect her, right?"
I glanced at Tingyun and thought for a moment, then said, "Uncle Gazi, I understand what you're trying to say. I understand it's human nature—just like how I feel for my own little brother. If it were someone else's kid wandering out there, I definitely wouldn't be so concerned. But that's exactly where the problem lies—Yangyang is my brother and mine alone. He has nothing to do with anyone else. Now that both Rongrong and Xiao Xue are in trouble, everyone's attention is on them. That's understandable, and I don't blame anyone. But none of that changes the fact that my little brother is still out there, alone and wandering. The issue hasn't been resolved."
"Child, what I'm about to say might not be what you want to hear," Uncle Gazi said, "but you kids are all smart—otherwise you wouldn't have made it this far, wielding weapons and surviving, right? Those so-called 'matters of human nature' are always built on certain conditions. It's like how Tingyun is still by my side, and your friend's brother and sister are still together. But you and your little brother are not. Finding him, at this point, doesn't seem like something that'll be easily done."
At this, Uncle Gazi looked at me, seemingly studying my expression, then continued:
"In that case, all you can do is take a step back and try to blend in with the people around you. After all, in this world now, trying to find someone on your own is absolutely impossible. Everyone's clearly focused on the ones they care about. You want to go out and search for your brother, and they're all worried about their own sisters, aren't they? Even outsiders who have nothing to do with it—right now they can only care about the people they can actually see."
I nodded and looked at Uncle Gazi. "So you're saying… only when everything around us is settled will they be willing to help me look for my brother?"
Uncle Gazi smiled and nodded. "Smart girl—you catch on quick, just like that."
I was truly touched that Uncle Gazi was willing to listen to me say so much, and that he took the time to comfort me like this.
But I have to admit, people are inherently selfish.
Everything he said today made perfect sense.
Yangyang is gone, and his fate is uncertain.
So, logically, I should first care about the people right in front of me, rather than continuing to resent everyone for shifting their attention away from finding my brother.
But even so, my heart didn't feel any lighter, like it would after finally spitting out something I'd been holding in.
On the contrary, it felt like an even heavier cloud had settled over it.
In other words, even Uncle Gazi thought that now wasn't the time to go out and search for Yangyang.
I forced a smile and exchanged a few more words with Uncle Gazi, then used the excuse of checking on Shen Xue to get up and head back toward Building No. 6.
On the way, I saw a young man and woman in the distance.
They looked a little familiar, and after thinking for a moment, I remembered—they were the high school couple Shen Xue had mentioned this morning, the parents of that baby.
As we walked toward each other, I finally got a good look at their faces.
Sure enough, their faces were still youthful and tender.
The baby was being carried by the boy, wrapped tightly in a small blanket so I couldn't see much, but judging by the shape, it was obvious the child had been well fed.
I found it a bit odd—was Fatty actually supplying them with baby formula?
Otherwise, how could a child that small be so plump?
And the girl looked so thin and sallow, she hardly seemed like she could be producing milk.
They noticed me from afar and gave me a long, curious look.
When they came closer, the girl spoke up and asked, "Hey~ are you new here?"
Her voice was sweet, which didn't quite match her frail appearance.
I was taken aback for a moment before slowly nodding and replying, "Mm, just arrived yesterday."
"Oh~" the girl drawled, looking me up and down again before asking, "That Ox King actually let you guys in?"
"Ox King?" I was a little confused.
The boy, who had been gently rocking the baby in his arms the whole time, smiled and said to me, "She's talking about the squad leader here. He's in charge of everything around here. What, you guys didn't see him yesterday?"
Only then did I realize they were referring to Fatty.
I waved my hand and said, "Yeah, we saw him. Captain Niu, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, that's him."
"Isn't this a shelter? Why wouldn't they let us in?"
I didn't really want to talk much with this young couple, so I casually made something up to brush them off.
As soon as the girl heard what I said, she immediately looked around mysteriously, then stepped closer to me and lowered her voice, saying, "You have no idea. This place—we haven't had any real authority in charge for a long time now. After the government pulled some people out, they never came back. They just left Ox King and his squad behind. Word is, all communication with the higher-ups has been cut off. Among ourselves, we've been saying that once they put up this wall, the government had no intention of looking after us anymore."
I gave a crooked smile and said, "But Captain Niu and his people are still around, aren't they?"
The girl pouted and waved dismissively. "Oh please, don't even get me started. We've all given up talking about that Ox King guy. After he handed out the last government supplies, he said they weren't going to manage us anymore. And sure, he's still technically the captain, right? They're all armed with guns and everything, but only care about feeding themselves. Thankfully the last batch of supplies was large enough to last a while—otherwise, what would folks like us with babies do? Go out and scavenge ourselves?"
I smiled faintly and said, "Yeah, that really wouldn't be right. No matter what, they should at least make sure everyone's basic needs are covered, right?"
Though that's what I said out loud, I wasn't really thinking that in my heart.
Probably because, for people like us, we'd always relied on ourselves—risking our lives outside to bring back food.
So hearing them talk like that didn't make me feel like Fatty was being all that unreasonable.
After all, even he and his group were just abandoned themselves.
Forget the emotional toll—just figuring out how to survive from here on is enough to make anyone break into a cold sweat.
Besides, at the very least, they're still doing what they can to maintain safety in the shelter.
I figure Fatty probably only told the others what he did because he didn't have a choice.
After all, they need to make sure their own supply is secured first too, don't they?
As my thoughts spun, my eyes absentmindedly wandered around—then suddenly, something seemed to click in my mind.
I fixed my gaze on the baby in the couple's arms, stared for a couple more seconds, then turned to look at the girl standing beside me and smiled as I said, "The baby's really well-behaved, huh? Not fussy at all?"
The moment the words left my mouth, I clearly saw a flash of panic cross the girl's face.
She hesitated, then cast a nervous glance at the boy holding the child.
The boy froze for a second too, then, after a pause, responded with a forced calmness, "Yeah… my son's always been good. Never makes a fuss."
I grinned even wider. "Really? Let me have a look. A quiet, well-behaved baby is the best. No one likes a kid that's crying and screaming all day."
As I spoke, I moved forward, reaching out to lift the small blanket wrapped around the baby.
Seeing me step closer, both their faces suddenly changed dramatically.
The girl quickly grabbed my arm, her expression stiff as she said, "…T-the wind's strong today… not good for the baby. Maybe another time."
I glanced at her and replied, "It's fine. I'll just lift the blanket a little bit. What's the matter, don't want anyone to see your own baby?"
I said it jokingly, pretending to tease her, still trying to move forward.
The boy holding the baby suddenly stepped several paces back.
He didn't stop until he was quite a distance away, his face just as stiff as hers.
He looked at me, then at the girl still holding onto my arm, and finally said, "Xiao Yun, the baby needs to be fed. Let's go back."
Before the girl could say anything, he turned to me and, after a long moment, forced out a smile.
"Sorry about that. We'll come visit your place some other day."
Then, without waiting for my reply, the girl quickly ran over to him, and the two of them hurried off toward the stairwell like they were fleeing.
As they left, the girl kept glancing back at me warily.
Watching their figures disappear into Building No. 4, I narrowed my eyes.
Those two are definitely hiding something.
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