Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 776 Reunion with the Mute Girl!

"Huh? The mute girl? How did you know I live here?"

When Hu Ming returned home with slightly unsteady steps, he immediately saw the mute woman dressed in a white t-shirt and jeans sitting at the door of his residence!

Nowadays, the residences here are guarded around the clock by numerous people, both openly and covertly.

Most of these people probably already knew about the relationship between the girl and their second master; otherwise, this kind of gatekeeping action with such clear implications would have likely resulted in her being dragged into a dark room and severely tortured long ago.

"..."

The mute girl looked up blankly, and it took her a long time to realize that the man standing in front of her was the man she had been longing for.

Her eyes held a hint of resentment. She had originally wanted to share the joy of being able to talk with Hu Ming as soon as possible, but that joy had been completely consumed during the three days of waiting.

Did you see that immense joy and emotion?

That's all! It's all gone now, not a single drop!

The mute girl stood up, intending to say something, but a slight pang of sadness escaped her lips, and she gave up, instead quickly gesturing in fluent sign language—

I'm not called "Mute Girl," I have a name! Also, where have you been these past few days? I couldn't get through to you on the phone. If it weren't for Little Flower saying you'd be perfectly safe, I would have thought you'd vanished into thin air!
That wistful, aggrieved little expression... oh my...

Hu Ming leaned back tactically and gasped.

Also, my name isn't "Mute Girl"? My name isn't "Hey"? Why does that sound so familiar? Are you also Chu Yuxun?
"Well, anyway, come in and have some water first... I know your name isn't 'Mute Girl,' it's 'Chuchu,' your brother told me."

"But don't you think calling you 'mute girl' would be more endearing? Or... 'little mute'?"

Hu Ming smiled slightly, took out his key, opened the door, and pulled the reluctant mute girl—no, the little mute—into the room.

Even though no one lives here during this period, a professional housekeeping service company will send someone to clean the house every few days.

Hu Ming quickly brewed a pot of tea and poured twice the amount.

My name isn't Little Mute!
The mute girl made a few simple gestures to express her dissatisfaction.

"I remember, Atou seems to have recovered from your illness, and should be able to speak normally now, right?"

Hu Ming didn't take it seriously. He stepped forward, supporting the back of the little mute girl's head with one hand and gently pressing the other on her fair and delicate slender neck.

In the middle of his throat, where his vocal cords are located, Hu Ming clearly felt a hard, foreign object sensation that was completely different from his soft body structure.

Hu Ming vaguely remembered that the mute girl's condition was caused by a congenital vocal cord malformation that prevented her from speaking. A Tou's treatment involved implanting a voice-simulating reed to replace the vocal cords, so that the little mute could speak like a normal person.

Then...

Under the disgruntled gaze of the little mute boy, Hu Ming pried open the boy's mouth again, magically produced a flashlight, and shone the light inside.

"Be good, listen to me, don't make a fuss, okay..."

Hu Ming coaxed the little mute boy like a child.

"...Get out of the way! Dr. Atoo's medical skills are amazing! I can speak like a normal person now!"

The little mute boy slapped Hu Ming's hand away in annoyance, letting out a slightly hoarse voice. After all, his vocal organs were no longer the vocal cords he was born with, but metal reeds, so his voice had a slightly strange hoarse quality.

However, it's not unpleasant to listen to; it even has a mature, husky feel to it.

"Then why are you still pretending to be mute with me? Have you been a little mute for so long that you've gotten used to it?" Hu Ming sat back down and said with amusement.

I don't want to talk to you...

"Where have you been for the past three days? Your phone was off, and all you guys were doing were dangerous things. I almost thought you'd been accidentally killed, okay?"

The little mute girl let out a soft snort. Although the slight grievance in her heart had dissipated a lot the moment she saw Hu Ming, she was still a little angry.

For three days, except for eating and sleeping, the little mute boy stayed at Hu Ming's door almost all the time, afraid that he would miss it if he wasn't careful.

"Killed? You really dare to think that? Putting aside how absurd this conjecture is, just imagine if I were accidentally killed, wouldn't the whole of Beijing be thrown into chaos for a while?"

"Regarding the phone issue, I had some personal matters to attend to and am not in a position to contact the outside world..."

That's incredibly inconvenient!
Hu Ming subtly rubbed his lower back. Luckily, he was in good physical condition, otherwise he really wouldn't have been able to handle it.

"You're just bragging. You think the whole of Beijing will be in chaos for a while? What do you take Beijing for?"

The little mute girl didn't believe it. Although she knew Hu Ming's identity was definitely not that simple, wasn't this an exaggeration?
Hu Ming shrugged, unconcerned.

Hu Ming, now a powerful figure with influence in both the underworld and legitimate society.

Thinking it over carefully, it involves legitimate business dealings, occasional fieldwork, and transactions with those important figures.
Oh right, he's also a legitimate university professor of archaeology!
Unbeknownst to many, so many years have passed, and Hu Ming has become a big shot in various industries in Beijing!
However, it must be said that Hu Ming still prefers working in the fields...

Black? White?
Even this pure color is insufficient to describe Hu Ming's current situation.

Hu Ming was neither black nor white, but rather a delicate shade of gray.

But the little mute girl is, after all, just a simple, independent modern woman, and many things don't benefit her from being exposed to them.

Hu Ming wasn't the kind of childish guy who couldn't help but show off everything he had in front of beautiful women.

"a-secret-makes-a-man-man!"

Hu Ming chuckled lightly.

"...Mystery makes men manly? That's probably the idea, right? But it's grammatically incorrect; it's a rather colloquial phrase."

The little mute boy pondered the words carefully.

Based on their previous interactions alone, the mute girl knew that Hu Ming was no ordinary person. After all, could someone who so readily resorts to guns and knives to kill be an ordinary person?
Whether mystery can make a man more masculine is something the little mute man doesn't quite understand.

After all, in the past twenty years, apart from her brother, she had rarely had much contact with men due to her own ego.

However, there's one thing the little mute is very clear about: a mysterious man, or rather, a man with a story, will attract more women's curiosity.

This might explain why more and more young women are attracted to older men these days.
Although Hu Ming's face doesn't resemble that of a weathered old man at all, but rather looks more like a vibrant high school student, a...

A handsome young man.

This made the little mute boy feel a little guilty, which was fine. It was like a mature, independent woman seducing a handsome underage boy...

It has to be said that in interpersonal relationships, especially between men and women, physical appearance undoubtedly plays a huge role.

"A-secret-m akes-a-man-more-attractive."

The little mute boy smiled, casting aside his slight guilt, and pulled Hu Ming along as they ran outside.
"Come on, let's go shopping together. No matter what you do for a living, you can't completely escape from the lives of ordinary people, can you?"