After many years, this was the first meal the three of them shared in the capital since their reunion, yet He Wei didn’t find it enjoyable.
To his right, he would see the ugly silver ring on Lu Heyang’s middle finger, its crookedness revealing a simplicity that spoke of Xu Ze’s craftsmanship.
To his left, he would smell the lingering omega pheromones on Gu Yunchi, blending seamlessly with Gu Yunchi’s own pheromones, indicating a high level of compatibility between the two.
Annoyed, He Wei furrowed his brows. Today was Valentine’s Day, Lu Heyang’s family was on duty, and Gu Yunchi’s family had evening classes, which was why the two of them had time to dine together. He Wei was alone simply because Chi Jiahan ignored him, leaving him to end up dining with friends.
Feeling out of sorts, He Wei started asking for trouble, “Colonel Gu, why are you constantly glued to your phone? Didn’t all those years in the military cure your high school internet addiction?”
“Haven’t you cured your intellectual disability after so many years in law enforcement?” Gu Yunchi retorted without even lifting his head.
Automatically blocking out the personal attack, He Wei turned to find fault with Lu Heyang, “Why did you hide your relationship with Xu Ze from me? Don’t you have a conscience?”
“You’re the one who didn’t find out about it.”
“You couldn’t have told me?”
“Nope.” Lu Heyang picked food with a calm expression, “I’m rather thin-skinned.”
“You’re quite a funny guy,” He Wei curled the corner of his mouth, “Being gay right under my nose.”
“Is your heterosexual relationship still progressing smoothly?” Lu Heyang asked, “Dr. Chi seems to be off duty today. Didn’t you make plans with him?”
He Wei closed his eyes, his mind returning to his chat box with Chi Jiahan.
It couldn’t be called a chat box; it should be called a monologue box because he sent many sentences like “Dr. Chi, are you there?”, “Dr. Chi, pay attention to me”, “Xiao Chi, what are you up to?”… He hadn’t received any replies from the evening until now.
“Dr. Chi is busy.” While He Wei was heartbroken and wondered whether Chi Jiahan had blocked him, he said seemingly coolly, “It doesn’t matter, this day doesn’t matter, every day is Valentine’s Day as long as you find the right person.”
Gu Yunchi finally looked up, his face expressionless but looking like he was about to throw up.
Gu Yunchi’s phone rang. He looked at the screen and answered the call, his tone neither cold nor warm, “What is it.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“I’m done eating,” he said, then asked again, “What is it.”
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Lu Heyang drank his juice without saying a word. Ten seconds later, Gu Yunchi rose from his seat, “I’m leaving.”
“Where are you going? To pick someone up?” He Wei said, “Driver Gu, remember to settle the bill.”
Gu Yunchi glanced at him and walked out. As he passed by Lu Heyang, he raised his hand and pressed Lu Heyang’s shoulder, “Colonel Lu, please pay the bill.”
The waiter happened to knock on the door and handed Lu Heyang a beautifully packaged takeaway box. Lu Heyang took it and stood up, politely saying to He Wei, “I’m leaving too. Thank you, Officer He, for treating us to dinner.”
He Wei: ?
After waiting at the restaurant’s entrance for less than a minute, Xu Ze saw Lu Heyang coming out.
Xu Ze had just finished his evening shift and was a little hungry. He couldn’t help but notice the box in Lu Heyang’s hand, which should contain food. But until they got in the car, Lu Heyang hadn’t unveiled the contents of the box. Xu Ze wasn’t sure if it was meant for him.
Xu Ze didn’t start the car but Lu Heyang didn’t rush him. Eventually, Xu Ze overcame his hesitation and asked, “Are there leftovers in the box?”
“No, the desserts at this restaurant are good so I got an extra portion.”
“Oh.” Xu Ze nodded, then paused before asking tentatively, “Is it for me?”
Lu Heyang glanced out the window for a moment before turning back, pursing his lips and making an “Mn.”
With the affirmative answer, Xu Ze seemed encouraged, “Can I eat now?”
“Wait first.” Lu Heyang reached out and took Xu Ze’s hand. He turned his palm over and pressed it lightly, telling him, “Imagine this is the button to adjust your language program.”
Xu Ze instantly accepted the setting of becoming a robot without a doubt. He said, “Okay.”
After that, Lu Heyang pinched Xu Ze’s hand again and said, “Turn your questions into statements.”
After a moment of thought, Xu Ze tried it out, “I want to eat now.”
It was an extremely uncharacteristic way of speaking for him. Xu Ze spoke without confidence, but Lu Heyang laughed and praised him, “Our Robot 17 is really smart.”
He opened the box and handed Xu Ze a piece of dessert, “Let’s try next time too.”
Xu Ze held the dessert and didn’t quite understand, “Why are you doing this?”
“I like it when you ask me for things rather than me giving them to you.”
Xu Ze half-understood, but only grasped that Lu Heyang had said he liked it, so he nodded.
Just as he took a bite of the dessert, there was a sudden thud from the driver’s side window. Xu Ze was so frightened that he almost choked. He turned and saw He Wei pressing both his hands against the window with a fierce expression on his face.
“…” Xu Ze slowly lowered the car window, “Officer He?”
“Dr. Xu, what a coincidence, you and Heyang are in the same car.” He Wei put on a fake smile, “Where are you going?”
Not knowing if He Wei was already aware of his and Lu Heyang’s relationship, Xu Ze tried to conceal as much as possible, “We ran into each other by chance. I’m dropping Colonel Lu home.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Heyang casually threw in three words, “Watching a movie.”
“You lied. You’ve become dishonest,” He Wei looked at the huge blue diamond ring shining on Xu Ze’s middle finger and shook his head in disappointment, “You’re no longer my Xiao Ze.”
“Okay,” Xu Ze showed no sign of regret. It seemed like he had never been He Wei’s Xiao Ze to begin with.
This angered He Wei even more. He squeezed almost half of his body into the car through the window, gripped Xu Ze’s shoulder, and said angrily, “I don’t blame you. You’ve been corrupted by Heyang. He’s a pervert. I grew up with him so I know him very well.”
Xu Ze turned to look at Lu Heyang, who was leaning against the front passenger seat and giving him an innocent look.
A few seconds later Xu Ze turned back and asked He Wei seriously, “Why are you making such jokes all of a sudden?”
“I…!” He Wei’s outraged movements were too extreme. His head banged against the car roof, making him cover his head and yelp in pain.
At that moment, Lu Heyang reached out and pressed Xu Ze’s palm again, “Officer He paid for tonight’s dinner and dessert.”
After receiving the instructions, Robot 17 began to operate. Xu Ze said, “Thank you, Officer He.”
“Who cares,” He Wei radiated an aura of being wronged, “Get lost both of you.”
Xu Ze finished the dessert in his hand and started the car. Before leaving, he thought about it and said to He Wei, “Jiahan was called back home today. He might not be in a good mood.”
“Oh?!”
He Wei unlocked his phone and found a message from Chi Jiahan two minutes ago, summarizing his harassment of the night: Are you sick?
“Hey? Dr. Chi.” He Wei immediately dialed Chi Jiahan’s number, “I was hit by Dr. Xu’s car. Can you come pick me up? Right, I hit my head. H-he and Heyang ran away, wuwu…”
Xu Ze closed the car window and drove a few meters before asking Lu Heyang, “What’s wrong with Officer He?”
“He’s sick.”
“What’s the disease?” Xu Ze was surprised.
Lu Heyang said, “He’s got some issues mentally.”
Xu Ze didn’t know if Chi Jiahan knew about this, and he didn’t know how serious it was or whether it would affect his career… Xu Ze became worried for a moment and fell silent. He questioned with rare doubt in his voice, “Then why hasn’t Officer He been suspended for treatment?”
Lu Heyang nodded thoughtfully, “Good question.”
Translator’s note:
I almost felt bad for He Wei 😂
(The extras are lighthearted like this and won’t be angsty 👌 also I won’t be doing the extras in the physical books because they are exclusive extras)
extraaaas!! i didn’t know there were extras 🥹 am i in heaven?
Poor He Wei! Thank you for the fluff!!
the robot switch bit was such a green flag 😭 casually helping him be a little less insecure