Chapter 2: Back in the Modern World, Rescued by a Forestry Tycoon
“Yuanyuan…”
"Duoduo, what's wrong?"
Lion Shepherd rushed over when he heard the commotion and asked what was going on. Duoduo told him what had happened.
Lion Shepherd was shocked. "She, she must be the messenger sent by the Beast God to save us." Just then, several males who had gone hunting nearby returned and heard about this, and they agreed wholeheartedly.
The group knelt down solemnly in the direction where Yuanyuan had disappeared to express their gratitude.
...
Yuanyuan sat up, rubbing her sore knees, and looked around in confusion at everything—the same forest, the same towering trees.
Didn't the system say it would take her back to her original world?
Why is it still in the primeval forest?
No matter how she called out to the system in her mind, it didn't respond.
Hearing footsteps approaching, she instinctively wanted to run.
The sound of a branch being crushed underfoot startled several people nearby.
Who's there?
A rough male voice came from behind her. Yuanyuan turned around and saw two men in camouflage standing not far behind her by a large tree, each holding a large machete.
Yuanyuan's face turned pale. She tried to back away, but her legs wouldn't obey her and she sat down on the ground.
"Where did this little baby come from?"
Several more people followed behind him, one of whom was carrying something that looked like a medicine box.
The others carried "iron boxes" that she had never seen before.
The men's trouser legs were covered in mud. The middle-aged man in the lead approached and stopped three steps away from her.
“Little girl,” he crouched down and gently touched her messy hair, “why are you here all alone?”
For some reason, Gu Zheng felt an inexplicable closeness to this little girl.
"Uncle...where is this?"
Yuanyuan blinked. Surprisingly, she didn't reject the uncle's approach; on the contrary, she wanted to get closer to him.
"Tell your uncle, who brought you here?"
Gu Zheng's voice was serious. He was the head of the State Forestry Administration, and this trip into the mountains was to find the legendary, extinct single-flowered orchid.
They had already sealed off this place beforehand, so how did this little girl get in? And who sent her?
"Uncle... the system brought me here, but it disappeared after bringing me back from the Beast World."
“…”
"Children should not lie."
"Yuanyuan didn't lie. The system took me to the Beast World to do a mission, and sent me back after the mission was completed. Uncle, please believe Yuanyuan, okay?"
"Oh? The Beast World?" A younger man walked up behind the handsome man. "Tell me, what did you see in the Beast World?"
Lu Yuan didn't believe it, he just thought it was funny.
Researchers like them, who deal with plants, usually see nothing but grass and flowers and rarely see children, let alone such adorable ones. They couldn't resist teasing them.
"What I said is true. In the Beast World, there are uncles who can transform, aunts with horns, and a sun as big as a house. The system told me that I can come back if I help them get pregnant."
Upon hearing this, the people behind him couldn't help but laugh.
Looking at the little girl in front of him, Gu Zheng's eyes softened a bit.
"That was a good story," he said, picking the person up in his arms.
"It's true." Yuanyuan said seriously.
"Yes, really."
Gu Zheng didn't take it to heart.
Just then, the walkie-talkie crackled to life, the sound intermittent due to signal interference.
However, he still heard what his teammate said: they had found an area where plants were suspected to be growing and asked him to go and confirm it.
Lu Zheng handed Yuanyuan to Lu Yuan, saying, "Lu Yuan, take her back to the camp first, and we'll make a decision when I get back."
Yuanyuan leaned on Lu Yuan's shoulder, watching Lu Zheng lead the rest of the men into the dense forest.
They walked quickly, but avoided the budding saplings under their feet.
She felt her pockets, preparing to give the handsome uncle the contents of the bag when he finished his work, so that he would believe her.
After walking for a short while, Yuanyuan saw three large green tents set up in the open space, with a small pot next to them. At this time, nothing was cooking in the pot.
"Come on, Yuanyuan, sit here first."
Lu Yuan carried her to a small stool in front of the tent, then turned around and pulled out two small bread rolls from a large backpack. "Are you hungry? Eat these."
Yuanyuan took the bread but didn't eat it right away. She watched as Uncle Lu Yuan went to rummage through a backpack and finally found a carton of milk for her. "Drink this after you finish the bread."
Lu Yuan also took a compressed biscuit and started eating it, walking over to the team member who was taking notes.
Yuanyuan took a bite of the bread and ate it in small bites.
She couldn't understand their conversation.
Only vaguely discernible words such as "number of plants" and "location landmark" could be detected.
She didn't know where she was, and the system was gone. She desperately wanted to find her mother, but she didn't know where to look.
As she thought about it, she started to cry silently.
She quickly wiped it with the back of her hand, but the more she wiped, the more it spread, and her small shoulders twitched.
Lu Yuan was just introducing her background to the two of them when he turned around and saw her crying. He quickly walked over and squatted down in front of her.
"Yuanyuan, what's wrong? Is the bread not tasty?"
Yuanyuan shook her head, her voice trembling with tears: "I...I want to find my mother, but I don't know where she is?"
"Don't worry, we'll take you to find your mom and dad once we leave here."
Yuanyuan shook her head; she didn't want to look for her father.
Lu Yuan's eyes darted around, thinking this was a perfect opportunity to get some information out of him.
"Yuanyuan, do you still remember your parents' names? Tell your uncle and he will help you post a missing person notice."
Yuanyuan's sobs subsided a little. She picked at the edge of the small stool with her fingers and thought for a while before whispering, "My...Mom's name is...Xia Zhiyun."
Where is Dad?
"Uncle, I don't want a dad anymore."
Hearing this, the two team members who were originally discussing the matter also became curious and came over to ask.
Yuanyuan didn't hide anything, and after hearing it, the others felt even more sorry for her.
"Then how did you end up here?" another team member asked, expressing his confusion. This was a primeval forest; there wasn't even a river, let alone a sea.
Yuanyuan gripped the milk carton tightly, and after a long while, she whispered, "When Dad threw me into the sea, I thought I was going to die. Suddenly, a voice in my head said it could save me, but I had to go with it to another world to do a mission."
You can only return after completing the mission.
Lu Yuan didn't react the second time he heard it. The other two looked at each other, and finally looked at Lu Yuan at the same time, wondering if the child had been scared silly.
There are indeed many scary things in the forest, so it's not surprising to get frightened.
Lu Yuan shrugged. "Maybe it's true."
"..."
Yuanyuan waited in the tent until the next morning before the handsome uncle returned.
Just as she was about to give him the contents of the bag, he hurriedly instructed the other uncles to pack up and prepare to go back.
She had no choice but to wait quietly.
When she stopped, they had already left the forest and arrived at an unfamiliar base by helicopter.
The people here are very kind to her. They not only feed her delicious food, but also help her bathe, wash her hair, and trim her nails.
By the time she realized she wanted to give the moonflower she had brought to the handsome uncle, her dirty clothes had already been taken away by her sister who had helped her take a bath, along with her clipped nails and fallen hair.
"Yuanyuan, stay here for now. Once we find your parents, we'll arrange for someone to take you back."
After the handsome uncle finished speaking, he left again. Watching his back, Yuanyuan felt inexplicably reluctant to part with him.
"What is Yuanyuan thinking about?"
Lu Yuan walked over with another auntie, and seeing her in a daze, he waved his hand in front of her.
"Uncle Gu is very busy."
Lu Yuan chuckled and pinched her cheek. "Our Professor Gu is a well-known research fanatic. The fact that they took the time to talk to you shows how much they value you."
"Doesn't he need to rest?"
"Rest is not as important as research."
"Come on, Uncle will take you to eat something delicious." Lu Yuan led her to the base canteen, which wasn't crowded at the time.
Yuanyuan saw several familiar faces inside; they were the uncles and aunts she had met in the mountains.
He warmly invited her to sit down with him.
Now she is wearing the clothes prepared for her by the base, has washed her face, and has tied her hair into two small buns.
That already adorable face looked even more adorable.
"Yuanyuan, eat this." A pretty lady put a big chicken leg on her plate.
"Thank you, Auntie!"
The pretty aunt pinched her cheek. "You're welcome. You're so cute."
"Huh?" An auntie in a white coat, who hadn't spoken until now, nudged the uncle next to her with her elbow. "Have you noticed that she looks familiar?"
Her actions attracted the attention of others, who all turned to look at her.
Her DNA report is not yet available, and many people are speculating about her identity.
Many uninformed people speculated that she was Professor Gu's illegitimate daughter who had been living away from home.
I brought it back on this occasion.
"Don't tell me she looks like Professor Gu!"
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