Xu Yan held Yueyue's hand tightly and whispered, "We'll stay here for now, we're not leaving."
Yueyue nodded obediently, not asking why they weren't leaving.
Xu Yan looked at the little girl in her arms, the girl before her was so obedient it was heartbreaking.
"No matter what happens in a moment, you must stay with me, understand? Absolutely do not run around."
Xu Yan instructed softly, and Yueyue also sensed something unusual.
She nodded, looking as if she understood but didn't quite.
Xu Yan, watching people continuously leave, ultimately chose to remain quiet.
Only after Liu Liu's figure completely disappeared into the night did the commotion inside the convenience store finally cease.
The skinny man holding a dagger, under everyone's gaze, walked towards the little girl in the white dress.
The girl's name was Fang Lan. When she saw the man approaching her, she remembered Liu Liu's warning and was wary of the man before her.
Fang Lan looked at the man suspiciously and asked, "What do you want?"
The man first assessed the girl, then, as if he had suppressed his entire demeanor, he seemed to change completely.
He appeared to have suddenly become gentle.
"Are you friends with the girl who just left?" the man asked, as if casually conversing.
The girl looked at the man before her, somewhat surprised by his gentle attitude.
He didn't seem like a bad person at all, even possessing a strangely reassuring aura.
Seeing that the man seemed to have no ill intentions, Fang Lan lowered her guard and replied softly.
"We're not exactly friends. We just met today and decided to travel together."
Although the girl's voice was very quiet, others nearby still heard her words.
Everyone immediately understood why this girl had stayed behind alone.
It turned out they weren't friends, just passersby who met by chance today.
After hearing this answer, the man's eyes instantly changed.
However, he still probed, unwilling to give up, "Then why are you here? Are you also a student?"
Fang Lan, completely oblivious to the probing in the man's eyes, instead seemed to have found someone to confide in, her eyes filled with excitement.
"Yes, I'm also a student. The reason Liu Liu and I met is because Liu Liu's mentor and my mentor happen to live in the same neighborhood."
As she said this, Fang Lan's expression dimmed again.
"But my mentor should be gone by now."
"I'm so unlucky. I finally went out, and this happened. If I can get back safely this time, I'll never wander around recklessly again."
Fang Lan's voice was muffled, as if she were complaining softly.
The man, however, had no time to indulge the girl's minor emotional outburst and continued to probe, "Then what's your major? Is it the same as that female student just now?"
Fang Lan was too engrossed in her own world, venting her emotions. If she had looked up even once, she would have noticed the strangeness in the man's eyes.
But she didn't.
She committed the biggest taboo in surviving the apocalypse: trusting others too easily.
"No, I study literature. Liu Liu studies weapon manufacturing. We are in completely different fields."
Upon receiving this answer, the fervor in the man's eyes vanished.
It was replaced by a casual nonchalance.
They chatted a few more times casually. Fang Lan looked at the man before her, a blush of youthful shyness on her face.
"What's your name? I think you're quite nice. I know you just look like a bad person on the surface, but you're actually a good person."
After saying this, Fang Lan smiled a little shyly.
The man hadn't expected that, in her eyes, he could still be considered a good person.
This realization brought him a sense of absurd self-mockery.
"You think I'm a good person?" The man asked, as if confirming with her.
Fang Lan nodded, her eyes full of conviction.
The man didn't argue, merely looking at the girl before him with a playful smile, finding her so foolish it made his heart ache.
"When Liu Liu left, she told me to be careful of you. But I think you must be a righteous person. Even though you threatened that strange mother and son with a dagger, they were the ones who acted out first. You were just upholding justice, right?"
Fang Lan spoke her thoughts proudly, as if she had finally glimpsed the man's true nature through the dense fog.
But the reality was that the man before her, after hearing so much, merely curled his lips, looking at the girl with eyes like he was examining a novelty toy.
The man found it amusing. His own impatient, casual action was seen as upholding justice by this girl.
However, the man also noticed what the girl said.
The girl who left earlier was named Liu Liu, and she had warned this girl that he wasn't a good person?
"I don't have a name. My friends call me Liu Zi."
The man's words came out like a reply.
Fang Lan murmured his name, finding it incredible.
"How can you not have a name? Liu Zi is too casual."
Liu Zi wasn't annoyed, his voice was light, "I'm an orphan. I've been called this name since I was little."
Only then did Fang Lan realize she had said the wrong thing and quickly apologized softly.
"I'm sorry, excuse me. I didn't know. Actually... actually, Liu Zi sounds quite nice."
Liu Zi was smiling, saying it was fine, but the smile never reached his eyes.
"It's alright, a humble name means easy to raise. I'm not educated like you university students. It's enough if I can learn to write my own name."
But Liu Zi's words made Fang Lan, who already felt guilty, feel even worse.
She thought she had touched a sensitive spot in this man.
Perhaps it was the inherent maternal instinct in women that, when faced with such "weakness," they always felt an inexplicable sense of salvation.
It was like some people who enjoy self-感动 (self-感动: moved by oneself, often in a way that is self-indulgent or performative).
They always believe that their love and sincere emotions can change a man who has gone astray.
"Then why didn't you listen to your friend and stay away from me?"
Fang Lan looked at Liu Zi, embarrassed, and said, "I think... you don't seem like a bad person."
Although the man before her wasn't an exceptionally handsome guy, he was decent-looking.