CHAPTER 554: CHAPTER 549: THE SHOW IS ABOUT TO BEGIN

Zhou Yunmei saw the situation and took the money back, but said with a smile, "I have money."

Luo Zhiyong understood Zhou Yunmei, so he didn’t care about these things, pursed his lips in silence.

Seeing the conversation had ended and it was getting late, Luo Honglan stood up and said, "I won’t eat here, you guys go ahead, I still need to look after Ruirui and Yaoyao back home."

Luo Zhiyong had been standing, ready to leave at any moment, hearing Luo Honglan say this, he immediately said, "I’ll leave with you, I can give you a lift on the way, it isn’t safe for a girl to be out so late on her own."

Hearing the two were about to leave, Zhou Yunmei’s eyes spun with urgency, she quickly grabbed them both, pointing at the food and saying, "I bought so much food, all prepared for you, what will we do if you don’t eat? It’ll all go to waste."

Being frugal, Luo Honglan saw several boxes of food on the table. Zhou Yunmei couldn’t finish it by herself, so she said to Luo Zhiyong, "Big brother, why don’t you eat some. You’ve missed the mess hall in the military base by now and would have to buy food anyway, don’t waste the money."

"Yes, you’ll have to spend if you buy something to eat, and I’ve already spent the money." Zhou Yunmei finally found an excuse to get Luo Zhiyong to stay. After saying that, worried that Luo Zhiyong alone wouldn’t agree to stay, she grabbed Luo Honglan and said, "Hong Lan, you eat some too. I reckon Fang Pingying’s family has already had dinner, and you won’t want to cook for yourself after getting back so late. Plus, I don’t feel at ease with you going back alone. Later, your brother has to walk you back anyways."

Luo Honglan thought it made sense, so she nodded, "Alright, let’s eat some together."

Luo Zhiyong heard this, gave a nod but didn’t say anything, silently agreeing.

During the meal, Zhou Yunmei kept asking if Luo Honglan was doing well recently, how Fang Pingying treated her, and whether Fang Pingying’s shop was making money.

Although Luo Honglan answered only sporadically, not divulging any unnecessary details, Zhou Yunmei kept asking.

However, after asking, she didn’t elaborate much, simply nodded, understanding, occasionally even saying a few good words for Fang Pingying and appeared to be quite amiable.

But for some reason, Luo Zhiyong felt oddly about Zhou Yunmei’s excessive agreeableness today, along with the content of her conversation with Luo Honglan, suggesting she had been frequenting Fang Pingying’s home. This made Luo Zhiyong lose his appetite during the meal; he ate only a steamed bun and took a bite of the dishes.

After the meal, when the two people wanted to leave again, Zhou Yunmei suddenly brought up family matters to chat about, commenting that since they had finished eating, there was no rush to go back.

At this point, Luo Zhiyong felt Zhou Yunmei was even more strange, having a hunch that her cordiality this time could be harboring a bigger conspiracy.

Thinking back on Zhou Yunmei’s past behavior, Luo Zhiyong felt more strongly that she must be up to something this time.

He wanted to see what Zhou Yunmei could possibly do that would chill their hearts, maybe even this event would shatter their already fragile mother-son relationship.

Thus, Luo Zhiyong pretended to be clueless and cooperated with Zhou Yunmei all the way, no longer insisting on going back.

About half an hour later, Luo Honglan suddenly yawned nonstop, clamoring to go back to sleep. Upon standing up, she felt unbearably tired, thinking it was due to a bad night’s sleep, she didn’t take it seriously, and called to Luo Zhiyong, "Big brother, let’s go back, I’m dead tired."

After Luo Honglan finished speaking, Zhou Yunmei’s expression was first shocked, then a flash of joy appeared, and finally, a bit nervously, she glanced at Luo Zhiyong but said nothing.

Her reaction did not escape Luo Zhiyong, who was standing aside. He thought for a moment, then also yawned, pretending to be extremely tired, saying, "Indeed, it’s probably exhaustion, I’m very sleepy too."

Hearing Luo Zhiyong’s words, Zhou Yunmei’s expression suddenly became very pleased. She then deliberately spoke to the two with a reproachful tone, "What have you two been doing to be so sleepy?"

Luo Zhiyong didn’t respond, Luo Honglan, already sleepy, sat on the bed and began to doze off, looking like she would fall asleep any second.

Zhou Yunmei glanced at the two and then said, "Forget it, both of you are so sleepy, you might as well stay here overnight. Hong Lan sleeps with me, and Zhiyong goes next door, I’ll go next door to book you a room."

"No..." Although Luo Honglan was sleepy, she still had some rationality. As she opened her mouth to refuse,

Luo Zhiyong interrupted her, "That works, it’s the weekend tomorrow and Hong Lan’s engagement, I don’t need to go back to the base, staying over is fine, I’ll get my own room."

"No need, I’ll go," said Zhou Yunmei, seemingly giving an explanation, adding, "You guys are used to spending money carelessly outside, if they ask for any amount you just pay it, I might be able to negotiate a better deal."

Luo Zhiyong didn’t object and simply nodded his head, "Alright, you go."

After Zhou Yunmei left the room, Luo Zhiyong frowned while looking in the direction she walked out to, his face flashing a hint of mockery, then he leaned on a chair in the room, pretending to sleep.

With his eyes closed, Luo Zhiyong recalled all the evening’s events. He was sure that there must have been something wrong with the dinner they ate.

To be precise, something wrong with the dishes.

He remembered that Zhou Yunmei ate very little of the dishes, it seemed she only took a few symbolic bites, then claimed that the dishes here weren’t to her taste. Afterward, she had a steamed bun and now seemed to be fine.

He himself had eaten a steamed bun too and hadn’t really eaten the dishes. He was yet to feel any significant reaction in his body, and of course, he felt a bit sleepy, but he was trained to have high self-control, which made it tolerable.

However, he still hadn’t figured out what Zhou Yunmei’s motives were.

While he was pondering, Luo Zhiyong heard very light footsteps and whispers from outside. If not for his ears being much sharper than average, he certainly wouldn’t have picked up on them.

It seemed the real drama was about to begin.

Luo Zhiyong lips slightly curled up, relaxed his body and lied down half-reclined on the chair, appearing to be deeply asleep.

Soon after, the door was opened, and the first to enter was Zhou Yunmei.

Upon seeing the two asleep, she deliberately went over and patted Luo Honglan’s face heavily, "Hong Lan, Hong Lan, are you asleep?"

Luo Honglan, who had eaten the most vegetables during the meal, was indeed asleep at this point, not even a thunderclap could wake her, unresponsive to Zhou Yunmei’s prodding.