Rotting Land: Survive

Chapter 579 569: Promotion or Exploitation? (Part 7)

Yao Ruyi lay weakly on the hospital bed, surrounded by medical instruments. Various data continuously fluctuated, monitoring his blood pressure, blood oxygen, and heart rate. If it weren't for his occasionally rising and falling chest indicating signs of life, one might mistakenly think the person lying there was dead.

To avoid putting too much pressure on the "sickly" Yao Ruyi, Tang Xiaoquan lowered his voice as much as possible, gently saying, "Hi brother, hello, my name is Tang Xiaoquan. Can you tell me your name?"

"Yao... Yao... Ruyi!" Struggling to state his name, Yao Ruyi seemed exceptionally weak.

"Yao Ruyi, is that right?" Tang Xiaoquan repeated uncertainly, as Yao Ruyi's breathing was so intermittent that he was unsure if he heard correctly.

"Yes!" With a faint hum, Yao Ruyi nodded.

"Hehe, who would have thought this guy's quite the actor!" Huang Yong arranged for his subordinates to stay at the infirmary door and then went straight downstairs to report to Liu Fugui.

At this moment, the two were in the chairman's office, with Huang Yong listening to everything happening in the infirmary through the building's pervasive monitoring devices.

Liu Fugui did not respond to Huang Yong's exclamation. He calmly pointed to the speaker of the monitoring equipment, indicating that the latter should remain silent and listen quietly.

"Hello, Little Yao, may I ask if you're from JZ County?"

Yao Ruyi again nodded his head with difficulty.

"Over the past few months, have you stayed at the Juli Sports Arena in JZ County?" Wang Xinquan spoke very slowly, fearing that the other party might not hear clearly.

Yao Ruyi hesitated for a moment, but eventually gave a "nod" in response.

Seeing him nod, Tang Xiaoquan couldn't restrain his inner joy. He instinctively turned to look at the old Zhao and Wang Qiang beside him, finding that both were also smiling with relief.

If Yao Ruyi's words were true, given his experiences as a resident of JZ County and at Juli Sports Arena, he might really have encountered his parents. Even if he hadn't, he should know something about the later evacuation of people from the refuge.

Thinking this, Tang Xiaoquan quickly took out the photo of his parents from his pocket diary and asked eagerly, "Little Yao, at the sports arena refuge, have you seen the people in this photo?"

Yao Ruyi tried hard to open his eyes. His sallow face and bloodshot eyes looked extremely eerie.

He stared at the photo for a long time before finally shaking his head dispassionately.

Tang Xiaoquan wasn't surprised by this; to be precise, he wasn't trying to find out his parents' whereabouts from the other's mouth, but rather testing if the other party was fobbing him off. In other words, he wanted to verify if this person was lying.

It should be noted that this photo was taken when his parents were young. If Yao Ruyi had rashly concluded that he'd seen them, then without a doubt, all this was definitely a drama orchestrated by the cunning Liu Fugui to "appropriate fuel".

However, what slightly reassured Tang Xiaoquan was that Yao Ruyi gave a negative answer.

This also means that his chances of finding his parents' whereabouts had increased a bit.

Wang Qiang and old Zhao, unaware of the truth, felt a chill in their hearts after hearing Yao Ruyi's response.

They all knew whose photo Tang Xiaoquan was holding. Without adaptive thinking, both were simply worried for Tang Xiaoquan.

Unbeknownst to them, Tang Xiaoquan was quite calm, even feeling somewhat gleeful.

"Little Yao, the reason we came this time is to find out some information from you. The general story is that my parents were taken to the Juli Sports Arena in JZ County shortly after the outbreak. When I recently escaped here and learned of this news, I set off with my companions to investigate, but we found nothing. When we arrived, the sports arena was empty. So do you know what happened there? Can you tell me the whereabouts of the people from the refuge? I really need your clues to find my parents."

Not forgetting Dr. Ma's parting advice, Tang Xiaoquan did his best to control his emotions. He didn't want his anxious mood to interfere with Yao Ruyi's fragile nerves.

But achieving this was still too difficult. After all, any son or daughter, upon learning they might find the whereabouts of their missing parents, especially when the person who knows this information is right in front of them, would struggle to remain calm.

"I... I don't know where the people from the... sports arena ended up."

Upon hearing this, Tang Xiaoquan's heart sank to the bottom, and the little hope he had ignited was instantly extinguished.

But just when Tang Xiaoquan thought all hope was lost, Yao Ruyi suddenly paused, then gathered his strength again, adding, "But... I... I do know some things about the... Juli Sports Arena."

Taking deep breaths could really scare people, Old Zhao thought to himself. He knew Yao Ruyi wasn't doing it on purpose, given the latter's physical condition. Still, listening to him talk felt like going to heaven one moment, then being plunged into hell the next. As an outsider, Old Zhao found it hard to handle, let alone the person involved, Tang Xiaoquan.

But right now, Tang Xiaoquan didn't have as complicated emotions as Old Zhao. He felt like he was clutching a lifeline, eagerly pursuing, "Then, tell us what you know about the Juli Sports Arena."

Yao Ruyi nodded his head with difficulty, slowly moving his body to let his neck out from under the tight blanket, seemingly so he could speak a bit more comfortably.

What followed was a retelling of the harrowing experience he had recounted to Liu Fugui about his time at the sports arena refuge, shared once more with Tang Xiaoquan and his group.

Of course, he naturally skipped over the part about his own personal history, but even so, the original two or three-minute monologue stretched to a good ten minutes due to his heavy breathing.

Listening from the chairman's office, Huang Yong couldn't help yawning, simultaneously admiring how Yao Ruyi truly had the makings of an actor.

To think they needed him to play a patient, but he went as far as to actually fast and stay up all night to make himself look half-dead, all to make everything appear genuine.

Now it seemed the effect was indeed good, but the problem was that if this continued, it might backfire and Yao Ruyi might truly faint from exhaustion.

Of course, Huang Yong didn't really care about Yao Ruyi's life or death. As long as the transaction was completed, it would be more than fine if the latter truly died afterward.

Breathless after his narration, Yao Ruyi finally concluded, while Tang Xiaoquan stared at him for a long time without speaking. Old Zhao assumed he was in shock, fearing that his parents might be on the hijacked military vehicle Yao Ruyi mentioned.

But before Old Zhao could offer comfort, Tang Xiaoquan took the initiative, saying, "Alright, thank you, Little Yao, for telling me your situation. Rest well, and I wish you a speedy recovery."

"Let's go, Old Zhao, Strong, let's get out of here!" (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)