The sudden voice caused everyone present to turn and look. A little girl came running out from the shadows against the backlight, her figure approaching with quick steps, her face gradually becoming clear.
Before Miao Suisui could say anything, a loud thud sounded beside her. She turned her head and saw that Han Wei had actually fallen out of his wheelchair. It seemed he had suddenly tried to stand up, but because his legs were inconvenient, he had lost his balance and fallen.
Han Xiaojun quickly helped Han Wei up, and Miao Suisui also stepped forward to assist.
“Are you alright? Why did you suddenly fall?” Miao Suisui asked.
Over there, Pan Tong had already walked up to the little girl, crouched down, and spoke to her softly, preparing to take her home.
Beside them, Han Wei suddenly grabbed Han Xiaojun’s arm, his voice trembling. “It’s Taozi! It’s Taozi!”
Miao Suisui took a full three seconds to process what Han Wei was saying. She looked in surprise at the little girl in Pan Tong’s arms.
At that moment, the little girl also saw Han Wei’s face clearly. Her small face broke into a delighted smile. She ran over with quick steps and stopped in front of him, tilting her head up to look at him. “Uncle Han!”
Han Wei’s eyes reddened. With trembling hands, he patted her head and responded.
“Where’s Daddy? Uncle Han, where’s Daddy?” Taozi asked repeatedly, her voice clearly anxious.
“Your father is here too. Uncle will take you to find him. He’ll definitely be very happy to see you,” Han Wei said. After speaking, he glanced back at the operating room, hesitation flickering in his eyes.
“It’s fine. You stay here and keep watch. I’ll take Taozi,” Miao Suisui volunteered to take over.
Miao Suisui subconsciously glanced at Pan Tong. Her expression remained as indifferent as ever, but Miao Suisui still sensed the faint disappointment in her.
The three of them walked out of the clinic together. Taozi skipped along the entire way, very happy, her steps light and lively.
“These past few days, I’ve been looking around H City for the little girl’s family. I was afraid something might happen to her, so I kept her inside watching cartoons. I didn’t expect… I ended up delaying quite a bit of time,” Pan Tong said with a light smile.
“How could that be your fault? No one could have known it would be such a coincidence.”
As they spoke, they arrived at Building C where Liu Dong lived.
After pressing the doorbell, the indoor display screen showed the visitors. Liu Dong only saw Miao Suisui and Pan Tong on the screen. He had not really met Pan Tong before, so he was puzzled as he opened the door.
“Mayor Miao, come in and have a seat. What brings you here?” Liu Dong stepped aside, one of his hands still in a cast.
At that moment, a little girl with two small buns tied in her hair suddenly darted out from behind Miao Suisui like a tiny cannonball and crashed straight into Liu Dong’s arms, bursting into tears.
“Daddy… Daddy…”
Liu Dong’s eyes reddened instantly. He looked at Miao Suisui in disbelief. When he saw her nod, tears finally slid down his cheeks. He tightly hugged the little girl in his arms, a grown man crying uncontrollably.
“My Taozi… you’re still alive! The Bodhisattva has blessed us. This is wonderful, wonderful.” Liu Dong spoke incoherently, repeatedly kissing the top of Taozi’s head and her cheeks, as if only in this way could he truly feel that his daughter was real.
Seeing this scene, even Miao Suisui could not help but have her eyes turn red, and Pan Tong beside her was already in tears.
After the father and daughter cried together for a while, their emotions gradually settled. Only then did Liu Dong, as a grown man, feel a bit embarrassed. He quickly invited Miao Suisui and Pan Tong inside and poured them water.
Taozi clung tightly to her father, unwilling to leave his side for even a single step.
When he learned that Pan Tong had saved Taozi, Liu Dong immediately wanted to kneel down to thank her. What was said about a man’s knees being worth gold meant nothing in front of his daughter.
Pan Tong pulled him up. “Taozi and I are fated to meet. She’s a very lovable child. Because of her, my own life has changed a lot. And Taozi also indirectly helped me find my enemy, so there’s no need to thank me.”
Liu Dong still wanted to give her crystal cores and food, but Pan Tong refused all of it.
The father and daughter had just been reunited, and they clearly needed their own space. After sitting for a while, Miao Suisui and Pan Tong took their leave.
“Auntie, don’t go.”
Seeing that Pan Tong was about to leave, Taozi instinctively wanted to chase after her. The bond they had built over time was not false, but she could not bear to leave her father behind either. She could only look at Pan Tong with reluctant, lingering eyes that made one’s heart melt.
“Taozi knows where Auntie lives, right? Whenever you have time, you can come play with me, okay? We won’t be far apart. We’re all in the same town.”
After Pan Tong comforted her for a while, Taozi finally waved goodbye to them.
After leaving Room C101, Pan Tong took a deep breath before continuing forward.
“You can also come visit Taozi in the future. Your A102 isn’t far from here. The two buildings are right next to each other, just a few steps away,” Miao Suisui said in consolation.
Pan Tong nodded. “I know.”
Watching Pan Tong’s somewhat lonely figure as she walked away, Miao Suisui thought that this ending was actually the best possible outcome for everyone, except that for Pan Tong, there would inevitably be a small regret.
When Miao Suisui returned to the clinic, Yu Juan’s child had already been born. As Han Wei had wished, it was a little girl, thin and small, with slightly dark skin. Yu Juan was still very weak, her gaze gentle as she looked at her husband holding their daughter and Han Xiaojun teasing his younger sister beside them. The family of four was harmonious and happy.
Miao Suisui did not disturb them. She took Mi Li’s paw and went home.
The next day, Miao Suisui was awakened by Mi Li’s barking. She opened her eyes and groggily remembered that there was now a new member in the house. It was no longer cold and empty.
She did not linger in bed. She got up and prepared milk soaked dog food for Mi Li, then cooked a pot of porridge for herself, eating it together with the pickled vegetables developed by Mother Su.
Mother Su’s cooking skills were impeccable. The pickled vegetables, mixed with sesame oil, were crisp and fragrant. Miao Suisui drank two large bowls of porridge and still could not stop.
After breakfast, Mi Li hovered around her feet, eager to go out and play. Miao Suisui could not resist such cuteness and resigned herself to putting on her shoes and heading out.
Just as she stepped out the door, she received a system notification that strangers had arrived in the town.
She had no choice but to take Mi Li back inside, apologizing to it and promising that once she handled the town’s affairs, she would take it out.
She hurried to the town gate just in time to see a group of seven or eight people in camouflage uniforms getting out of a vehicle, with townspeople gathered nearby watching.
“Hello, I’m the mayor of the town,” Miao Suisui stepped forward.
The man leading them removed his hat and nodded to her. “Hello, I’m Ye Huaishan, captain of the Falcon Squad from A City Base. While passing by on a mission, we accidentally discovered that a town had appeared here. We heard from the people here that the town can provide hot water and food twenty-four hours a day. Can we purchase them with crystal cores?”
Seeing their travel-worn appearance, Miao Suisui knew they had not had an easy journey.
She nodded. “Yes. Come on, let’s go to our restaurant first and get something to eat. There’s one last room left in the town. If you want to rest, you can pay a day’s maintenance fee. The room has a TV, a bathroom, and drinkable water.”
After she spoke, the younger members behind Ye Huaishan lit up with excitement.
“Thank you. Please lead the way, Mayor. We’ll go to the restaurant first,” Ye Huaishan said. A small cheer rose from behind him.
Ye Huaishan cast them a glance without expression, and the cheering immediately stopped. Even Miao Suisui could not help but smile.
Everything in the town was full of life, making Ye Huaishan and his group stare without blinking. Even a large base like A City Base could not match the scale of this town.
Soon, they arrived at Hope Restaurant. There were still quite a few people dining inside. Because the population had increased recently, sun umbrellas and tables had been set up outside the restaurant.
The outdoor seats were already full. The restaurant itself was not very large yet and did not have big round tables, so they chose two tables inside and sat down.
After the upgrade, the restaurant’s ordering system had also changed. Each table now had its own touchscreen. Orders could be placed directly on the screen, and then they only needed to wait.
With the town leveling up several times, the menu had become much richer. The members of the Falcon Squad looked at the dazzling array of dishes on the picture menu and found it hard to decide. The key point was that the prices were not expensive, but if they ordered one of everything, they were afraid they would not finish it and would waste food.
Watching them hesitate for more than ten minutes before finally finishing their order, Miao Suisui secretly let out a sigh of relief. People with decision-making difficulties were truly troublesome.
Soon, all the dishes were served, and the room filled with a mouthwatering aroma.
They could no longer hold back and immediately buried their heads, eating large mouthfuls.
Even Ye Huaishan sped up his movements. He had no choice, if he moved any slower, there would be no food left.
Eight people ordered twelve dishes. In the end, even the soup was used to dip buns. The plates were so clean that the robot that came to clear them froze for a few seconds.
A full meal left the squad members extremely satisfied. Afterward, Miao Suisui took them to look at the last available room, P102. After seeing it, the other members of the squad immediately expressed that they did not want to sleep out in the open anymore.
Ye Huaishan directly took out crystal cores and booked the last room, paying three days of maintenance fees at once.
“Our mission still has some finishing work. We’ll stay in the town for a few days,” Ye Huaishan explained.
“That’s fine, you’re welcome here. It’s just that there’s only one set of housing left in the town right now. Eight of you will be quite crowded.”
“It’s fine. There are two bedrooms and such a large living room. It’s already very spacious. We’ve stayed in a single room with more than twenty people before, we could even fall asleep standing,” Ye Huaishan said with a smile. “And with conditions like this, I believe even more people would be willing to squeeze in.”
After completing the check-in, Ye Huaishan did not return to the room with the rest of his team. Instead, he began asking about the town’s convenience food factory.
After learning that the factory could produce instant noodles, canned food, and self-heating rice, Ye Huaishan wanted to purchase a batch to bring back to the base.
When Miao Suisui heard this, her eyes lit up immediately. Wasn’t the factory created precisely for this moment?
She felt as if she could already see countless sparkling crystal cores. With this new trade channel through the factory, the town might upgrade again very soon.
“Because the space ability user in our team is only level one, the storage space isn’t large, and it already contains other items, I can only buy a smaller amount first. I’ll take ten thousand packs of instant noodles, six thousand boxes of self-heating rice, and two thousand cans,” Ye Huaishan said.
Miao Suisui quickly wrote it down in her notebook, unable to help complaining inwardly whether he had some misunderstanding about what “not large” meant.
“The quantity you want is large, so I’ll give you wholesale prices. The retail price of instant noodles is five level-one crystal cores, I’ll give it to you for three per pack. Self-heating rice retails for twenty-five level-one crystal cores, I’ll give it to you for twenty. As for canned food, I’ll reduce five cores as well, so it’ll be fifteen level-one crystal cores per can.”