Thirty Days to Hoard: Reborn into the Frost

Chapter 58: Chapter 57: Such a Good Child

Huang Yuqing jabbed a finger at Chen Momo and Xu Xiaoka. During the scuffle just now, those two had ganged up on her alone. She had definitely been on the losing end!

Xu Xiaoka’s hair was also a mess. Tucking the disheveled strands behind her ear, she complained to Gu Rongjin, ”She’s talking nonsense! We clearly already checked in, but she came to fight us for Room 1608, insisting we give it to her. When we refused, she got physical and even hit little Xiao Bao!”

With that, Xu Xiaoka pointed at Chen Xiaobao, who was sitting on the ground, wiping away his tears.

Gu Rongjin looked at the boy. Such a precious, innocent child was currently looking so pitiful and aggrieved that Gu Rongjin couldn’t help but feel a tight squeeze in his chest.

”How could anyone bully such a good child!” he thought, an inexplicable fire instantly igniting in his heart.

Gu Rongjin walked over and gently pulled Xiao Bao up from the ground. Dropping to a half-crouch, he asked softly, ”Tell Uncle, what happened?”

Xiao Bao rubbed his eyes and sniffled pitifully. ”Uncle, we had already moved into Room 1608, but the bad lady insisted on stealing our room and even hit Mommy.”

Seeing Xiao Bao looking so wronged, Gu Rongjin felt another pang of sympathy.

”Alright, Uncle understands,” he said softly. ”I’ll definitely get justice for you.”

His extreme gentleness left the onlookers dumbfounded. After all, Gu Rongjin’s handsome face was normally as cold and unreadable as an iceberg.

Gu Rongjin stood up. When he looked at Yang Shunsheng and Huang Yuqing, his tone reverted to its usual icy chill.

”This base relies on order,” he said. ”Room 1608 has already been rented to Chen Momo. No matter how much you desire that apartment, you have no right to seize it by force. What’s more, Chen Xiaobao is just a little boy. To think you could be cruel enough to bully a child—do you lack even the most basic human conscience?”

Huang Yuqing froze. She hadn’t expected Xiao Bao’s little display of weakness to suddenly pin all the blame entirely on her!

Still refusing to back down, Huang Yuqing braced herself and argued, ”Base Chief, you can’t just point out my mistakes. Chen Momo is at fault, too! Her whole family ganged up on me. Look at my hand—I’m injured! Chen Momo should be the one apologizing to me!”

Feigning grievance, Huang Yuqing showed Gu Rongjin a faint red mark on her hand. It was a scratch left by Chen Momo’s fingernail during the scuffle; had Chen Momo used just a little more force, it would have broken the skin.

However, Gu Rongjin remained completely unmoved.

”You were in the wrong first, so you will apologize first. I order you to apologize to the residents of Room 1608 immediately. Otherwise, in accordance with base regulations, I will expel your entire family from the premises. You will never be allowed to set foot inside the base again!”

Gu Rongjin’s stance was unyielding, and his frosty tone left absolutely no room for negotiation.

Hearing that they were about to be kicked out, Yang Shunsheng instantly panicked. He quickly grabbed Huang Yuqing and urged, ”Hurry up and apologize to Chen Momo! Do it now!”

They had trekked a long, grueling way to reach the base. If they were kicked out now, surviving the night would be a miracle!

Huang Yuqing also knew the grave consequences of expulsion. Outside was a frozen wasteland where all supplies had long been stripped bare by rioters. If they were driven out of the base, their only path led to death.

Reluctantly, Huang Yuqing turned to Chen Momo. ”I’m sorry. I was wrong just now. You can have Room 1608; I won’t fight you for it anymore.”

Though words of apology passed her lips, Huang Yuqing was internally grinding her teeth. Right now, she harbored a special hatred for Chen Xiaobao. That little brat with his infuriatingly handsome face had melted Gu Rongjin’s heart the moment he played the victim. He was the reason the Base Chief was so unreasonably biased toward the mother and son!

Knowing what was good for them, Yang Shunsheng followed suit and apologized. ”I’m sorry, Momo. We shouldn’t have tried to take Room 1608 from you.”

Then, he bowed to Gu Rongjin. ”I apologize, Base Chief. We’ve caused you trouble. We’ll go look at other rooms now.”

With that, Yang Shunsheng grabbed Huang Yuqing and hastily dragged her away.

Chen Momo was just about to say ”thank you,” but she watched as Gu Rongjin turned away. He walked back to Chen Xiaobao, dropped to one knee, and asked softly, ”Uncle chased the bad people away. Are you still sad?”

Chen Xiaobao shook his head. ”Thank you, Uncle,” he replied in a sweet, milky voice.

Gu Rongjin’s heart softened further. Extending a long, elegant hand toward the little boy, he offered, ”How about Uncle takes you to get something to eat?”

Chen Momo was about to speak up to stop this, but Xiao Bao—a total social butterfly and a massive foodie—instantly lit up at the mention of food. Flashing a smile as bright as a sunflower, he cheered, ”Okay! You’re the best, Uncle!”

Chen Momo was utterly shocked.

”Son, I’ve told you a million times not to take food from strangers! Have you completely forgotten already?” she thought frantically. ”Where is your brain?”

Thus, beneath Chen Momo’s bewildered gaze, Gu Rongjin took Chen Xiaobao’s little hand. The tall man and the tiny boy soon disappeared from sight.

Xu Xiaoka stared after Gu Rongjin’s retreating back and sighed dreamily. ”Sister Momo, our Base Chief is so handsome.”

”He’s certainly handsome,” Chen Momo replied. ”It’s just a pity he’s so stone-faced.”

Every time Gu Rongjin spoke to someone, he looked as if they owed him a million bucks.

At first, Chen Momo thought Gu Rongjin hated her, assuming that was why he spoke to her with such an attitude. Later, she realized he had the exact same expression when speaking to anyone else—which was to say, no expression at all.

Chen Xiaobao was the sole exception. The tone Gu Rongjin used when speaking to the boy was incredibly gentle—so gentle that even she, his own mother, would be hard-pressed to match it.

Chen Momo opened her suitcase and began taking out its contents one by one. Down jackets, padded clothes and pants, cotton shoes, and thick socks—all these went straight into the wardrobe. As for the hot water bottles, heating pads, electric space heaters, and electric blankets, they were entirely useless inside the base.

Chen Momo checked the room’s temperature. It was twenty-five degrees Celsius—neither too cold nor too hot. Just right.

The base had implemented centralized heating and insulation measures, so staying indoors wasn’t chilly in the slightest. They would only need to bundle up when going outside.

Just as Chen Momo finished unpacking, a large loudspeaker strapped to the roof outside blared to life.

”Attention! The new batch of winter survival suits and cold-proof masks has arrived. Residents who have not yet collected their winter gear, please bring your base access card to the front desk on the first floor to claim your suit and mask.”

Xu Xiaoka asked, ”Sister Momo, are those the clothes and glass-helmet-like things we saw the base personnel wearing earlier?”

Chen Momo nodded. ”Probably.”

She held her hand out to Xu Xiaoka. ”Give me your access card. I’ll go down and collect the gear for all three of us.”