SMVB Chapter 79

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Translator: Cheese

Outbreak

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The ramen shop was very warm. Six people surrounded one table and leisurely ate their noodles.

Little Mi tottered around on the table, looking around curiously at the people. It sniffed this, scented that.

Ye Luo had just fed it before coming over, so it wasn’t hungry at the moment. It stretched its claws out experimentally.

You Pinyan was the first to give in. She reached out to stroke it, causing Little Mi to narrow its eyes and purr in pleasure.

Xi Yun saw this and couldn’t stand it either. He picked out some meat in his bowl to feed it.

Su Tian quickly stopped him: “Xiao Yun, you eat your food, don’t give it away.”

Xi Yun was puzzled.

Su Tian: “It’s still small and can’t digest meat. Wait until we go back to find something easy to digest for you to feed, okay?”

Xi Yun thought of suckling infants and nodded, then buried his head in his noodles.

The sooner he finished his meal, the sooner he could feed Little Mi.

The charm of the soft little fluff ball was astonishing. In the blink of an eye, Little Mi skillfully captured everyone’s heart. Even the aloof Liu Kaiyan couldn’t resist reaching out to give it a few pets.

When Ye Luo witnessed these scenes, he finally put down his heart and silently lowered his head to eat his ramen.

When Su Tian made her order, she ordered small bowls for the girls and Xi Yun and large bowls for Liu Kaiyan and Ye Luo. They were all “deluxe” versions, with an extra helping of meat in each bowl.

Richly fragrant beef soup, chewy noodles, and generous beef slices…

After one sip, the scalding warmth flowed down his throat to his stomach, out to his limbs, and finally to his eye sockets. The rising steam made his eyes grow hot.

He stared at the slices of beef, suddenly wanting to cry.

When Ye Pingsheng died, he did not cry. When he escaped from the village with barely an inch of clothing¹, he still didn’t cry. Even when he was about to starve to death, he never cried…

But now, just over a bowl of beef ramen, he had the urge to cry.

Ye Luo woke up. Fortunately, Little Mi was in good spirits and was meowing cheerfully, attracting everyone’s attention.

Under Xi Yun’s urging, Su Tian and the others ate quickly. Liu Kaiyan had basically finished eating, but the girls didn’t even eat half of their food.

While Wang Haoxue left to pay the bill, Su Tian picked up Little Mi and tucked it into her backpack. She said to Ye Luo: “That’s right, I still don’t know your name?”

Ye Luo lowered his head. “Ye Luo.”

Su Tian smiled. “Ye Luo, we’ll probably be staying here for a week. If you’re not busy, you can come to the hotel at this time every day to find us and take a look at Little Mi along the way.”

Ye Luo kept his head down and said nothing.

Su Tian didn’t pursue it and left with everyone else.

Once the crowd cleared, the boss once again found Ye Luo displeasing to the eye and urged impatiently: “Ai ai ai, you finished or not?”

Ye Luo stood up. “Pack up.”

The boss angrily threw him a few plastic bags.

Ye Luo poured all the noodles left on the table inside.

The boss watched with wide eyes. He spat: “Little beggar, you’re lucky. Don’t know where you picked up a kitten and exchanged for a good meal…”

Ignoring the boss’s jeers, Ye Luo grabbed the bottle of chili oil and dumped all of its contents into a clean bag, then walked away under his eyes of incredulity.

Ramen shop boss: “…”

Fuck, he didn’t even spare the chili oil. Was he still human?

The owner of the hotel was very kind, and Wang Haoxue called him uncle. Hearing that the children had brought a kitten, he enthusiastically offered them a kitchen and kitchen utensils.

His only requirement was that they buy the cat food and water bowl used for the cat and pay for any sustained damages.

Naturally, Su Tian and the others agreed to this kind of reasonable and fair request.

After the discussion, Su Tian’s group immediately began preparing the little kitten’s food.

They bought shrimp and fish from the hotel, as well as eggs and animal offal–all tender and digestible foods. They placed the food in a pot and steamed it until it was cooked, broke it up in a blender, and finally soaked it in a bowl of Shuhua milk before feeding it to the kitten.

They made a lot, but now that the weather was cold, it wouldn’t deteriorate if kept outdoors. Whenever Little Mi was hungry, they could heat up some milk for it.

Little Mi had never eaten such good food since it was born. It wolfed down the food, and its round tummy never became flat.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but before two days even passed, everyone felt that it had grown by one whole size.

Su Tian would occasionally bring Little Mi out and see Ye Luo standing in a far away corner, watching them. But before Su Tian could come over to greet him, he would turn around and disappear.

After many similar instances, Su Tian gave up on the idea of greeting him.

She waited for a reply from Bai Qiyuan’s side.

But Su Tian didn’t expect that news of Li Village’s accident would arrive earlier than word from Bai Qiyuan.

Su Tian and her friends got up early in the morning. After feeding Little Mi, they got ready to head out when Wang Haoxue jogged over to them to announce: “Tiantian, something big happened.”

Su Tian looked up. She asked, “What’s wrong?”

You Pinyan held Little Mi in her arms while teasing it, without raising her head.

Wang Haoxue slumped in a chair and took a sip of water. “It seems like a lot of people from Li Village contracted some kind of disease. Many people fell ill, foaming at the mouth, convulsing. On my way here, I saw a lot of people carrying stretchers of patients to the health clinic.”

Although West Wang Village was a rural place like Li Village, the people of West Wang Village were smart and had good character. They developed a tourism industry and agricultural products, which earned them quite a bit of money over the years. The village was also closer to the township, and its medical conditions were at least somewhat better than in Li Village.

If someone from Li Village was gravely ill, they would normally be sent to West Wang Village first. If West Wang Village couldn’t cure it, then they would transfer them to a higher level hospital.

Su Tian was stunned. So fast? Then was Ye Luo going to leave after taking revenge?

You Pinyan finally turned her attention away from Little Mi. She scolded, “Serves them right. It’s good if they die.”

After scolding, she couldn’t hold back and asked again, “Did they find out what disease?”

Wang Haoxue had a worried expression. “Don’t know. I hope it’s not an infectious disease. Otherwise, we’ll also be miserable.”

You Pinyan: “Oh, dammit.”

Wang Haoxue: “Let’s not go out to play today and just wait for the news inside… if many people in a village get sick, the probability of an infectious disease is very high.”

Just as she spoke, there was a commotion outside. Someone shouted that they wanted to check out, that there was an infectious disease and they wanted to return home this instant.

It was clear that news had spread of Li Village people getting sick.

At this time, Liu Kaiyan and Xi Yun also hurried over to them. “Tiantian, I heard…”

They stopped in place upon seeing Wang Haoxue with her.

“I already told Tiantian.” Wang Haoxue said.

Su Tian: “It’s not necessarily an infectious disease. Let’s wait and see. It’s too chaotic outside right now, and it’s easy for accidents to happen. We’ll wait in the hotel.”

She glanced over at Xi Yun, who had not spoken the entire time. “Xiao Yun, are you afraid?”

Xi Yun shook his head, denying loudly, “I’m not scared. Where jiejie is, is where I will be.”

You Pinyan: “Yeah, if there really is an infectious disease, I’ll ask my grandpa to send a medical team to escort us out.”

Wang Haoxue: “…”

Every time she heard You Pinyan speak, she always had the illusion that she and You Pinyan were not from the same world.

Su Tian parted the curtains and looked out.

The street outside was already bustling with activity.

Some people were lifting stretchers, some were carrying patients, and all of them were running in the direction of the hospital.

The skin of the patients were purplish, and they were foaming at the mouth, like an epileptic patient. The sight was extremely terrifying.

All the passerby in the proximity steered clear of those people in fear.

Su Tian was gazing out when her gaze suddenly congealed. In the small alley across the street stood a thin figure, dressed in a single tattered shirt. The skin that was exposed was frozen blue and purple. Shockingly, this person was Ye Luo.

He was too far away, so Su Tian couldn’t see the expression on his face, but she had the strange feeling that he was smiling.

Calmly, elegantly, wordlessly, admiring the scene of his own making.

Across the hotel, the ramen shop’s boss kept his doors tightly shut. He turned his head and spotted Ye Luo, and his heart felt a jolt. Wasn’t that the little beggar from two days ago?

“Hey, kid, why aren’t you quickly looking for a place to hide?”

Ye Luo lifted his gaze, staring at the portly boss.

Boss: “If it’s an infectious disease, you’ll die. Hurry up and hide! I won’t argue with you over you snatching my chili oil.”

“It’s not an infectious disease.”

Boss: “…Huh? How do you know?”

Ye Luo didn’t answer. His gaze shifted from the crowd and fell on the hotel across the road.

After that, no matter what the boss asked, he refused to speak. Finally, the boss scolded him as a lunatic and angrily slammed the door.

Su Tian observed for a moment before suddenly pulling the curtains. She said to You Pinyan, “Lend me Little Mi for a bit.”

Huh?

Everyone was puzzled. They bewilderedly watched Su Tian pick up her backpack and gently place Little Mi inside.

“Tiantian, where are you going?”

Everyone asked.

Xi Yun grabbed onto her without letting go. “Everyone is saying that there is an infectious disease outside. Jiejie, don’t go out.”

Su Tian pinched the little boy’s face and reassured, “I’m just going downstairs, not very far, don’t worry.”

But everyone remained worried. Finally, the group headed downstairs together.

The hotel owner was getting a headache from the line of guests checking out. When he saw Su Tian’s group, he smiled bitterly. “You guys are also checking out?”

Su Tian: “We won’t check out early.”

The boss was stunned. He looked over at Wang Haoxue, saw her shake her head, and smiled. “I thought you were also… but Li Village’s people all falling ill together really is strange. It’s no wonder everyone is afraid.”

The boss’s wife snorted and added after his words, “If you don’t do bad things, you won’t be afraid of ghosts knocking at your door. The way I see it, Li Village’s people have committed too many crimes, and this is their retribution.”

Boss: “What retribution? Feudalist thoughts! Superstition! Ignorance! Lacking knowledge!”

Boss’s wife: “What did you say?”

Boss: “Yeah, it’s retribution! They deserve it, we’re not afraid!”

Su Tian and the others: “…”

From the distance, Ye Luo spotted Su Tian and the others come out. He pursed his lips and maneuvered through the crowd of people.

Su Tian stopped by the side of the road and was looking around when there suddenly came a boy’s cold voice. “Looking for me?”

Su Tian turned her head and immediately smiled in relief upon seeing Ye Luo.

“You’re finally here. If you didn’t come, I don’t know what I would do with Little Mi.”

Ye Luo asked: “What’s wrong with Little Mi?”

Su Tian didn’t answer and opened her backpack. Little Mi was lounging at the bottom of the bag and poked its head out. It clearly remembered Ye Luo, because upon seeing his face, it immediately stretched out its paws and tried to climb out, meowing anxiously.

Ye Luo studied it for a while and concluded: “It gained weight.”

This cat had been with him for so long but hadn’t grown much, but it only took two days with Su Tian for it to gain a layer of fat.

Su Tian: “It eats a lot.”

Ye Luo: “What did you feed it?”

Su Tian explained the cat food recipe. Ye Luo swallowed his saliva.

The little beast was very lucky, eating even better than him. No wonder it had gained weight in two days.

Ye Luo: “Are you getting ready to leave?”

Su Tian nodded helplessly. “Originally we were going to stay for a few more days, but so many people suddenly fell ill today. I called my mom, and she asked me to hurry back…”

The group of people standing not far away behind Su Tian: “…???!!!”

When did Tiantian call Auntie He? Auntie He didn’t even know what happened here, okay?”

No, Tiantian wasn’t getting ready to leave in the first place. Why did she lie to this Ye Luo boy?

Although they didn’t understand, these people had almost a blind faith in Su Tian. Not to mention the bigger kids, even the youngest Xi Yun silently kept his mouth shut, not tearing down Su Tian’s stage.

Sure enough–

Ye Luo’s heart sank. He had stood guard outside the hotel entrance because he was afraid that Su Tian would think that it was an infectious disease and want to leave.

He still remembered Su Tian had said that her mom didn’t let her keep a cat.

Su Tian hugged Little Mi, sighing. “I also can’t bear to leave Little Mi. Is your family around here? If not, why don’t you bring Little Mi and leave with us? Infectious diseases are too scary.”

Ye Luo: “…”

He silently shook his head, handing over the deposit that Su Tian had given him, completely untouched. Then he reached over to take Little Mi.

“It’s not an infectious disease.”

He turned to leave, thinking to himself: this beast wasn’t didn’t have good luck. After just two good days, it had to continue to suffer with him.

Su Tian suddenly grabbed him again.

He looked back.

The girl shot him a warm and cute smile:

“Little Mi can’t eat well with you. Give me two days. I’ll make more cat food for Little Mi. You take the food to feed it.”

Damn, this Big Boss really was stupid. He was starving to death and still didn’t touch the money given to him.

Then she would just directly give him food, and give more of it. He definitely wouldn’t starve himself to death while keeping the food, right?

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[1] 衣不蔽体: lit. clothes not covering the body; fig. poverty-stricken

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Cheese: i forgot to include this, but happy belated new years! may all your resolutions be fulfilled and your days be filled with blessings 🙂

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