Lu Dongnuan looked up at him, tilting her head to the right, expressing her confusion.
Lin Mo wasn’t stupid—he understood what Lu Dongnuan meant.
But his next reaction clearly showed he thought Lu Dongnuan was the stupid one, as if the words “slow-witted” were flashing right across her forehead.
He began exaggerating his gestures, waggling his eyebrows and making faces, ending the display with a dramatic throat-slitting motion.
Lu Dongnuan’s head slowly tilted from right to left, her confusion only deepening.
True, she was a Psychologist, but she couldn’t read minds.
Still, even if she couldn’t read minds, she was at least a Psychologist.
All of Lin Mo’s micro-expressions were shouting at full volume to Lu Dongnuan that he was very frustrated, helpless, and even mournful.
The first two she could understand, but mournful?
Why?
Lu Dongnuan looked away, expression unchanged, and continued her task, patting down the frozen earth mixed with gravel.
She tried to use physical labor to suppress her surging thoughts.
The frozen earth was hard, each blow required real strength.
After she had mechanically repeated the patting motion a few times, a sudden spark struck her mind, making her hand pause in midair.
‘Wait a minute.’
She seemed to understand why Lin Mo felt mournful.
Lu Dongnuan lifted her head again, meeting his eyes.
Immediately, Lin Mo pointed at her, twisted his neck to the back, then turned it back.
“Look behind you!”
Lu Dongnuan widened her eyes and pointed at her own neck.
“Did you grow maggots on your neck?”
Next, Lin Mo performed another rapid series of gestures.
“Hiss.” Lu Dongnuan sucked in a breath and muttered, “Looks like this apocalypse really has driven people mad.”
As she sighed in her heart, a cool female voice sounded behind her.
“I think he’s probably cursing you. And quite nastily, too.”
Lu Dongnuan turned her head at the sound, her face instinctively putting on a fake smile.
Standing slightly to her right was a girl in a school uniform, a lollipop dangling from her mouth, wearing a look of serious analysis.
Lu Dongnuan had seen this person before—she was the one she’d bumped into at the mall that day.
The girl smiled as she saw Lu Dongnuan turn.
“You’re really pretty.”
“Thank you.” Lu Dongnuan responded politely.
“Hello, Doctor. I’m Tang Kezhi, the…,” she paused, playfully winking, “leader of this temporary shelter.”
“Sorry for making you do such tiring work, but we’re really short-handed.”
She pointed at Lin Mo, who was standing across with a sullen face, “Your boyfriend doesn’t seem to like me much.”
“No, he’s not my boyfriend. He’s my son.”
As soon as Lu Dongnuan finished speaking, the air seemed to freeze for a moment.
A cold wind swept the snow on the ground into a spiral, swirling between the two of them.
“Uh… ah.” Tang Kezhi’s expression stiffened, “Your child is really… quite something.”
Her gaze drifted over Lin Mo, whose face was as black as the bottom of a pot, then returned to Lu Dongnuan’s face.
“But, this… little brother of yours looks like he has a lot to say to you.” She bit down on the lollipop stick, her cheek puffing slightly.
“He was making such a fuss just now—were you two playing some game?”
Lin Mo stood in place, hands in his pockets, his back ramrod straight, jawline tight.
He didn’t even look at Tang Kezhi.
His gaze was like an ice pick, fixed firmly on Lu Dongnuan.
Lu Dongnuan met his eyes, her professional fake smile now tinged with a hint of mockery.
“No game,” Lu Dongnuan said calmly, shifting her gaze from Lin Mo back to Tang Kezhi.
“Kids grow up and stop listening.”
She said it offhandedly and even gave an appropriately weary sigh, full of indulgence for a rebellious child, splashing it right on Tang Kezhi’s face.
Tang Kezhi clearly hadn’t expected such a response, one glowing with “maternal love.”
She looked again at Lin Mo, whose whole body exuded low pressure and who couldn’t look less like a “good son,” then back at Lu Dongnuan’s “kind yet tired” face.
The smile on her lips grew a little tired, too.
“Ah… rebellious phase, huh? I understand, I understand.” Tang Kezhi finally found her voice, her tone returning to its light, if somewhat dry, cadence.
She took two steps forward, boots creaking on the snow, moving closer to Lu Dongnuan—close enough to cross the usual boundary between strangers, bringing a subtle but unmistakable sense of intrusion.
She looked up slightly at Lu Dongnuan, who was half a head taller, curiosity deepening in her large eyes.
“Doctor, are you usually good at handling disobedient children?”
Lu Dongnuan’s fake smile stayed fixed, but her gaze was calm and unruffled.
“Not bad. It mostly takes patience and a bit of professional skill.”
“Oh—” Tang Kezhi drew out the sound, switched the lollipop to the other side of her mouth, and her gaze wandered over Lu Dongnuan’s face.
“Alright then…” In the end, she scratched her head, choosing not to expose Lu Dongnuan’s lie, leaving room for negotiation.
She seemed to want to say more, but ultimately just shrugged.
The slightly thin school jacket on her shoulders swayed lightly with the movement.
“Well then, I won’t keep you mother and son from your work.” She turned away, her boots making a steady, light rhythm on the snow.
But after just a few steps, as if remembering something, she stopped, half-turned her face, backlit so her outline was a bit blurred.
“Oh, Doctor,” her voice drifted over on the wind, with a touch of subtle chill, “there’ll be some hot soup handed out in the camp tonight. Make sure to come get some. It’s cold—you need something warm in your stomach. And it’s a good chance to introduce you to everyone.”
With that, she left.
Lin Mo walked right over, watching Tang Kezhi’s departing back and spoke to Lu Dongnuan, “Just control her directly.”
Lu Dongnuan shook her head and said, “Already tried. Didn’t work well.”
“She noticed?”
“No, I didn’t use much force. If she believes I’m your mother, that means it worked.”
“Can’t you use a different excuse?”
“It fits the character setting.”
Lin Mo ignored her nonsense and said, “This is a bit unexpected. Try again tonight. If it still doesn’t work, we’ll initiate Plan B.”
“Plan B? What plan? We have a plan?”
Lin Mo gave her a disdainful look and said, “Didn’t we discuss this before we came?”
“Before we came?” Lu Dongnuan thought back carefully.
They’d decided on two options before coming—control, and escape.
Control was Lin Mo’s idea, escape was Lu Dongnuan’s.
Now she perked up.
If nothing else, backstabbing and running were her specialties.
“Alright, tonight then. I’ll go all out and force it.” Then she looked at Lin Mo and continued, “When the time comes, you have to carry me and run.”
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