Xu Ze was self-reflecting while sitting in the passenger seat, contemplating where he might have exposed a flaw.
“Did you take the test?” Lu Heyang looked at the road and suddenly asked, “What was the result?”
The pregnancy test box was open and one stick was missing, indicating that Xu Ze had already taken the test once.
Xu Ze lowered his head, looking like he was being interrogated. He had no idea why the pregnancy test had been discovered. Lu Heyang definitely wouldn’t have touched his backpack, so it must be that the zipper wasn’t pulled properly, causing the pregnancy test to fall out on its own.
“That one isn’t accurate,” Xu Ze mumbled.
He thought he was answering cautiously, but Lu Heyang had already figured it out. Saying “that one isn’t accurate” was equivalent to admitting that the result was positive.
Xu Ze’s fingers twisted together as Lu Heyang remained silent. After some deliberation, he said, “You don’t have to worry, even if an alpha is really… pregnant, there’s no way to give birth to the baby. It would need to be aborted immediately. It won’t cause you any trouble.”
“Well, as long as it doesn’t cause me any trouble,” Lu Heyang replied in a flat tone.
It was undoubtedly a calm and composed answer, but for some reason, Xu Ze became even more uneasy.
Lu Heyang continued, “So you also took the card for the abortion clinic.”
“The person at the pharmacy put it in, not me.”
“But if you were pregnant, you’d consider going.”
Xu Ze wanted to say “no”, but he didn’t have the confidence. His thoughts were still all over the place, so he nodded, “I don’t know, maybe.”
The car felt slightly stuffy as Lu Heyang hadn’t turned on the air conditioner, perhaps he had forgotten. Xu Ze lowered the window to let the wind blow in. Lu Heyang glanced out the window before turning back, gripping the steering wheel with his knuckles tense.
“Xu Ze,” he said, sounding like a question and a sigh, “What are you thinking?”
Xu Ze wasn’t thinking anything, he was used to it. He always made his own decisions. When he encountered a problem, he solved it. It didn’t matter if he had to pay a price. He just didn’t want trivial matters to affect and distract Lu Heyang.
Handle your own affairs by yourself—a simple principle.
However, Xu Ze didn’t say it. He had a hunch that if he described these matters as “trivial”, Lu Heyang might actually scold him.
Lu Heyang didn’t speak for the rest of the ride. About half an hour later, the car pulled up in front of a secluded private hospital. Lu Heyang made a phone call, “We’re here.”
“It has been arranged,” Gu Yunchi said, “Just sign my name later.”
“Good.”
The license plate number hadn’t been registered, but the guard recognized it at a glance and swiftly opened the gate with the remote control. A doctor was already waiting outside the lobby.
Xu Ze remained oblivious throughout the process and was led around like a zombie. He underwent a blood draw, a pheromone extraction, and an ultrasound. While waiting for the results, Lu Heyang even had a nurse check Xu Ze’s eyesight.
“It’s a false pregnancy reaction,” the doctor gave the diagnosis.
Xu Ze sat on the chair, spacing out for three seconds, then asked, “So it’s not a problem?”
“It’s not a big problem, but if left untreated, your body will continue to think it’s pregnant. Hormones and pheromones will deviate from normal levels. By then, your breasts will get bigger, and you might even start producing milk. Can you accept that?”
Even the two lines on the test didn’t have the same impact as this moment brought on Xu Ze. He couldn’t quite tell if the doctor was seriously asking for his opinion, and if so, what exactly was there to ask about.
Xu Ze blinked his eyes like he was lagging. He turned to look at Lu Heyang and found that Lu Heyang was also looking at him. Although there was clearly no smile on his face, Xu Ze felt like he was smiling.
“The doctor is asking you,” Lu Heyang very kindly reminded him.
“…” Xu Ze said, “I can’t accept it.”
“Then I’ll prescribe you some medicine, remember to take it and watch your diet. I would also advise using a condom. False pregnancies in alphas are rare, but it could be due to the other alpha’s… erm, various reasons. To avoid another false pregnancy, pay some attention to this aspect, or at least refrain from ejaculating inside. Because theoretically, alphas with false pregnancy symptoms have a greater chance of getting pregnant.”
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.
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Signing Gu Yunchi’s name meant that this report would be sent to Gu Yunchi and then permanently deleted and destroyed from the hospital’s system to ensure that no one else could access it. This was the absolute confidentiality procedure that the Gu family had set for all of Gu Yunchi’s medical records.
“Also, you’re slightly nearsighted. We’ll get you a pair of corrective glasses, which should be ready in about three days and will be delivered to your school,” the doctor added.
“There’s no need, it’s not that serious,” Xu Ze replied.
“Since you tend to squint, it’s better to have a pair,” Lu Heyang said, “Use them when you’re watching the screen in class.”
Xu Ze didn’t know how Lu Heyang had noticed his tendency to squint. He nodded and didn’t refuse again, “Okay, thank you.”
On the way back, Xu Ze maintained the appearance of standing trial and sat properly in the passenger seat. Lu Heyang closed the car window and turned on the air conditioner. He inserted a straw into the nutritional supplement provided by the hospital and handed it to Xu Ze before starting the car.
It was only tonight that Lu Heyang realized that no matter how obedient Xu Ze appeared to him, and no matter how much he trusted him, the real Xu Ze was actually an enigma. He was stubborn in all matters, akin to a tranquil lake, keeping his thoughts concealed within. He was adept at self-depletion and often sacrificed a part of himself to resolve issues, seemingly unaware of the pain that came with it.
Lu Heyang didn’t know what method Xu Ze planned to use this time to raise the 600,000, and he didn’t intend to ask. In any case, it wouldn’t be a pleasant answer.
“The doctor said to watch your diet, so I’ll have meals delivered to you three times a day from now on. I have no objection if you insist on continuing to work at the auto repair shop, but for safety’s sake, you shouldn’t ride your bike to school or work anymore. The bodyguard will take you.” After saying this, Lu Heyang added, “You can also refuse.”
Xu Ze felt relieved that there was still such a progressive and lenient multiple-choice question in the world. He was about to politely refuse, but Lu Heyang continued, “But I won’t agree.”
“… Fine,” Xu Ze said, and then asked Lu Heyang in a low voice, “Are you still angry?”
After two seconds, Lu Heyang smiled slightly, “I’m not angry.”
“It’s not like it’s your fault,” he continued.
Xu Ze reflected on himself, “But I didn’t even tell you.”
“Oh.” Lu Heyang’s expression had a hint of enlightenment as he turned to look at him, “So you also know that you should have told me.”
Xu Ze held the nutrient supplement in both hands, unsure what to say. Lu Heyang turned the steering wheel for half a circle and continued, “If you don’t want to tell me, then don’t tell me. All I can do is have people keep a close eye on you, or else you’ll go and do bad things again. Do you understand this?”
How could he not understand? Xu Ze felt so guilty now that it wouldn’t matter even if Lu Heyang wanted to lock him up. Compared to Lu Heyang’s patience, tolerance, and generosity, Xu Ze knew that he had behaved badly this time.
“I understand,” Xu Ze said, “I won’t do anything bad again.”
Lu Heyang glanced out of the car window and pursed his lips. After a moment, he turned back and said with the same calm tone, “Mn.”
Back at home, Xu Ze was still thinking about Lu Heyang’s earlier comment about being hungry. He walked into the kitchen with his back to Lu Heyang and said, “I’ll go cook the noodles.”
“Are you disappointed?” Lu Heyang asked him all of a sudden.
Xu Ze paused. After a while, he turned around with his eyes downcast, “Alphas can’t give birth in the first place.”
Because he knew this common knowledge, he hadn’t looked forward to it—Xu Ze had tried his best to control himself and not look forward to it. It wasn’t like he could give birth. Even if he could give birth, it wasn’t the right time, and above all, it would cause Lu Heyang a lot of trouble.
So, not being pregnant was the best outcome, but Xu Ze still felt a conflicting emptiness.
His life should have been very uneventful: taking care of his only relative, his grandmother, harboring his unspoken feelings for Lu Heyang, and systematically living day by day. But perhaps Lu Heyang’s arrival had made him greedy, to the point where he felt a sense of loss over something that was originally unrealistic.
Lu Heyang didn’t say anything, he just reached out his hand to Xu Ze. It was strange that until this point, Xu Ze had upheld a facade, but the instant he saw Lu Heyang reaching out to him, all his strength seemed to vanish. He staggered two steps before collapsing into Lu Heyang’s embrace.
“Is it normal to feel disappointed?” Xu Ze’s voice was muffled as he buried his face in Lu Heyang’s neck.
“It’s normal,” Lu Heyang reassured him.
Xu Ze said, “Good,” and then admitted, “I’m a little disappointed.”
“But fortunately I’m not pregnant,” he added, “Otherwise, it would have to be aborted.”
“No, it wouldn’t.” Lu Heyang held Xu Ze’s thighs and carried him face to face to the bedroom, “The baby can stay in your belly for a few months and then be transferred to an artificial womb.”
Xu Ze had heard the biology teacher mention artificial wombs before. Only a few special organizations in the entire Union possessed this technology, and it was extremely expensive. In general, only high-ranking officials and wealthy people could qualify and afford the cost.
“But pregnancy is tough, and you’re the kind of person who would keep on going to school even while carrying a child.” Lu Heyang placed Xu Ze on the bed and stayed above him using his hands as support, “If you agree to take a year off from school—”
He raised one hand and slipped it under Xu Ze’s T-shirt, his fingers lightly hooking the waistband of his pants, “It just so happens that I haven’t had time to buy condoms yet.”
Initially, the words seemed ordinary as Lu Heyang spoke so casually and his expression was as composed as ever. Xu Ze had to observe him for a moment before grasping the underlying meaning.
Xu Ze’s first reaction was that this was definitely not something Lu Heyang would be thinking of and it was irrational.
“I…” Xu Ze didn’t know how to explain. He realized that it was because his negative emotions were too obvious that Lu Heyang would say such extremely accommodating words. He hugged Lu Heyang’s neck to bring him down a little and kissed Lu Heyang’s lower lip. He said with a willingness to acknowledge his mistakes, “I won’t think about this anymore.”
Xu Ze saw Lu Heyang’s eyebrows furrow slightly, and before he could think whether it was impatience or exhaustion, Lu Heyang grabbed his hips and flipped him over.
Lu Heyang didn’t say anything. He used one hand to clamp Xu Ze’s hands behind his back and started to pull down his pants.
…
The wind was blowing outside, but it was hot inside the room. Xu Ze panted unsteadily. He licked his burning-hot lips and said in a hoarse voice, “Where did you get it?”
There was something sticky and wet on his lower abdomen but it should all be his own. Lu Heyang didn’t finish inside this time. Xu Ze wondered where he got it, but Lu Heyang was still pressing his hands on top of his head, preventing him from reaching out to touch it.
Lu Heyang looked at him for a while and said, “On your face.”
Xu Ze believed him, but he couldn’t feel anything on his face. He stuck out his tongue and licked the corners of his mouth, but failed to lick anything.
“Is there any?” Xu Ze asked at a loss.
“Touch it.” Lu Heyang let go of his hands.
Xu Ze’s wrists were left with conspicuous red circles. Once his hands were freed, his first move wasn’t to reach for his face. Rather, he raised his hand with some effort and wiped the sweat from Lu Heyang’s chin with its back.
“I forgot to turn on the fan,” Xu Ze said, then touched his own face, “Nothing.”
Lu Heyang held Xu Ze’s slightly trembling fingers and guided them downward to rub against the base of Xu Ze’s legs, “Here. Why are you looking for this?”
“I thought you didn’t…”
“Not possible,” Lu Heyang lowered his head and gave Xu Ze a quick kiss, then asked, “Want to go wash up?”
Xu Ze shook his head. He was persistently preoccupied with Lu Heyang’s remark about being hungry, “I’ll cook noodles for you.”
“It’s too late, next time,” Lu Heyang stood up and picked up his clothes to put them on.
“I’m going abroad the day after tomorrow. The second phase of the training is about to start.” Lu Heyang went to the desk to get some tissues, “Call me if anything happens. If I don’t answer, leave a message. You can also contact the bodyguards directly. Don’t try to handle everything on your own.”
“Okay,” said Xu Ze.
This response lacked any credibility, but Lu Heyang just laughed it off. Xu Ze raised his head to look at him and was unable to resist asking, “How long will it take?”
“More than twenty days. At that time you should be preparing for the exams.”
He didn’t ask Xu Ze which schools he planned to apply to. But Xu Ze had already checked that the top military academies in the Union were all in distant foreign countries, across straits or oceans.
This implied that the end was not far away.
Thinking about all this while things were still calm, Xu Ze wondered if he was being overly pessimistic, except that he never seemed to have any optimistic views about it either.
The tally 卌 had already been written several times in the notebook. Xu Ze would count them all again every day after drawing a new stroke, like a greedy miser constantly counting the gold and silver treasures in his hands over and over again.
“Why didn’t the bed squeak?” Lu Heyang suddenly asked.
“I fixed it,” Xu Ze said. During the summer vacation, when Lu Heyang came here before going to the summer camp, the bed had squeaked all afternoon because of them. Although it was still uncertain whether Lu Heyang would come again, Xu Ze spent several hours the next day reinforcing the bed with nails and wooden planks and even putting foot covers on all four legs of the bed.
Lu Heyang reached out to ruffle Xu Ze’s messy hair even more and said, “Is there anything you can’t fix?”
Xu Ze sat motionless, under the impression that he was fixing his hair, and replied, “A lot.”
Lu Heyang smiled and touched Xu Ze’s face with the back of his hand—it was hot. He said, “I’m leaving.”
“Mn.”
Lu Heyang drove out of the residential area and stopped at the roadside. He unlocked the doors. Jiang Wen opened the door and got in.
“The project in the Westside has undergone some changes. It might fall into the hands of the Wei family.” Jiang Wen asked, “Do we need to disclose anything about the club in advance?”
“It doesn’t matter. Keep investigating, and gather information on everyone involved.” Lu Heyang started the car, “Do you have any leads on Xu Ming’s case?”
“It’s a drug-related case, but the information we have is vague. If we dig deeper, it might attract the attention of the police department.”
“Who were the colleagues on the mission?”
“We’ve only identified three so far. Currently, two of them are in the Union government and one is in the intelligence agency.”
They all held high positions, making it even more difficult to extract information from them. Lu Heyang said, “Compile the existing information for me first.”
“Alright.”
“Uncle Wen, in a few days, I need you to go abroad in person and find someone from the He family.”
Jiang Wen nodded, “I’ll delegate my current tasks and set out in a few days.”
Lu Heyang hadn’t been too curious about what happened before he was ten years old. He figured that if he couldn’t remember it, he couldn’t remember, and there was no point in trying to find out. But that day, as Lu Heyang was listening to Xu Ze talk about his childhood while standing beneath the tree by the wall of the nursing home’s inpatient building, for no apparent reason, Lu Heyang simply decided to find out.
No longer just fixated on “what exactly happened to me”, Lu Heyang changed his perspective. Over these ten years, Lu Chengyu had gone through two major elections: the election for the Foreign Minister of the Union Council ten years ago, and the election for the Chairman of the Union four years ago.
In the election ten years ago, Lu Chengyu’s competitor was named He Yi, who was the Minister of the Special Council at that time. Two years after Lu Chengyu’s successful campaign, members of the He family began to disappear one after another from both the Union government and the national government.
Imprisonment, dismissal, and disciplinary action—resigning on one’s own terms was the most dignified outcome.
Thus this time, Lu Heyang started with the He family and learned that He Yi’s younger brother had settled in some small country. Despite his reluctance to disturb him, he still had to ask Jiang Wen to go there.
“Send some more people to Xu Ze’s side. If he wants to do something, there’s no need to stop him forcefully, because you might not be able to. Though he shouldn’t resort to violence against you guys,” Lu Heyang smiled, “Keep a close eye on him, and don’t let him get hurt.”
“Understood.”
Author’s note:
Gu Yunchi receiving the checkup report: Tsk, tsk
(Nothing more than a false pregnancy, go easy on the judgment 🙏
On one hand, I wrote this plot out of my immorality, and on the other hand, I did it to magnify the flaws in Xu Ze’s character. He is used to keeping things to himself and solving them on his own, and he won’t change this in the future.)
I’m happy he’s not pregnant but disappointed as well… 🥺 just hope everything will go well for Xu Ze
Xu ze wont rely on others? :’) i still hope he wouldnt get himself in danger…