extra ko-fi chapter (1/2) for Aneca 
double update 🎉
After less than two days in the air base, the doctors and nurses from the 195th Hospital finished their fieldwork around 2 pm the next day. Lu Heyang was busy as the sergeant had mentioned, and Xu Ze didn’t see him again before leaving the base.
Back at the hospital, colleagues from the clinical laboratory came to collect the blood and pheromone samples. After giving the samples, the doctors and nurses returned to their respective departments. Xu Ze checked his phone and found he had nothing to do for the time being. He asked the nurse from the laboratory, “Can I help?”
The most esteemed student of Professor Huang, a doctor in the Department of Pheromones and Hematology, whose most recent award-winning research coincidentally involved medical testing—the nurse’s eyes widened, “Of course, Dr. Xu! Thank you for your help!”
Xu Ze couldn’t reply with a simple “You’re welcome”. He just smiled, took the cart from the nurse, and pushed it forward into the elevator.
Around 7 pm, Xu Ze entered all the reports he had processed into the system. He was responsible for the pheromone tests. As several samples hadn’t produced any results, Xu Ze handed them over to the technician in the clinical laboratory before returning to the 7th floor.
As the elevator doors opened, a nurse from the department was about to enter. When she saw Xu Ze, she smiled and said, “Dr. Xu, your boss is here looking for you.”
“Okay.”
After getting off the elevator, Xu Ze headed for his office. Not far along, he heard the dean calling his name.
“Xu Ze.”
Xu Ze raised his head and walked over. Before he could say, “Professor Huang,” Huang Liling said, “I wanted to let you have a good rest in the afternoon, but you had to run to the clinical lab.”
“It’s fine. I’m not tired,” Xu Ze replied.
“Why not go to our lab then?” Huang Liling’s expression was torn between wanting to scold him and hesitating to do so, “Wouldn’t doing more projects here be more beneficial than this?”
The dean covered his chest and walked away frustrated while lamenting, “Medical ethics are getting worse by the day.”
It’s not like Xu Ze couldn’t understand what Huang Liling meant, having spent many years with him from undergraduate to master’s degree. This professor always spoke directly to the point of being hot-headed, but only with those he cared about. If Huang Liling didn’t care, he probably wouldn’t pay any attention to him—he wasn’t like a traditional doctor or teacher.
“I’m going back to school later.” Xu Ze asked, “Have you had dinner?”
“You should ask yourself that first.”
Since Xu Ze hadn’t eaten, he dropped the topic and asked, “Are you here to see old General Chen?”
“Mn, he’s being discharged tomorrow morning. I can’t make it in the morning, so I came today to check on him.” Huang Liling slapped an invitation into Xu Ze’s hand, “This is for the technology award ceremony, you young folks will attend.”
“Alright.”
The news of the award was announced by the school a few days ago. Huang Liling’s research team members were accustomed to it, and some were even sick of dealing with award ceremonies, so they arranged for people to take turns speaking on stage.
“Okay, let’s go eat. Afterward, I also need to visit the Military Medical University.”
“Mn.”
After walking forward, Huang Liling glanced at Xu Ze and commented, “You seem preoccupied.”
Xu Ze wanted to say no out of habit, but it seemed difficult this time. He nodded, “I’ll adjust as soon as possible.”
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.
“It’s rare for you to admit it.” Huang Liling patted Xu Ze’s arm, “Tell me if you need help. If you need a break, I’ll approve your leave of absence.”
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“Don’t waste it.” He Wei took off his police cap and tossed it on the sofa, “I’ll heat it up and take it back to the station later for my colleagues, they’re not picky.”
“Okay.”
Lu Heyang’s communicator rang and he answered. He Wei pushed a glass of lemon water toward him. When he ended the call, He Wei said, “It doesn’t matter if you didn’t fly a helicopter to pick me up, but you won’t leave without having a bite, will you?”
“I won’t,” Lu Heyang picked up his glass and casually clinked glasses with He Wei.
In fact, they hadn’t seen each other for over two years. Their previous meetings had been hastily arranged while traveling abroad. But even so, there was no sense of unfamiliarity. It was as if they were friends who just hadn’t seen each other during the summer break. When they met again, nothing much had changed.
“Did Yunchi say when he was coming back?” He Wei asked.
“Not sure. It depends on the situation in the war zone.”
“It’s about time to come back. The three of us haven’t gotten together since high school,” He Wei smiled, “You know, if Yunchi and I hadn’t made an effort to see you from time to time, you might have forgotten about us like everyone else.”
Lu Heyang raised his eyes after a moment, “Important people will be remembered.”
“Is that so? Then you must have few people you care about.” He Wei leaned back, tilted his head, and started to count, “Uncle Lin, Sister Qingmo, Yunchi and I, Uncle Wen…”
He suddenly paused and straightened up, “What about Xu Ze? You still don’t remember him?”
Lu Heyang didn’t answer but asked, “You think he’s important to me?”
“I don’t know,” He Wei said, “Maybe he’s not important to you, but you’re definitely important to him. After you went abroad, he asked me about you several times.”
“I asked him if he wanted me to give him your new phone number, but he said it wasn’t necessary. Well, you don’t even remember him. Someone like him wouldn’t eagerly reach out to you. Our Xiao Ze has always been good and honest. Speaking of which, it’s a pity. You two were completely different in high school but somehow became close. Now that the gap between you has narrowed, you’ve forgotten him.”
As He Wei said this, he delved into the memories of his high school deskmate and continued, “I went back to the capital three or four times, but each time Xu Ze was either supporting the frontline or attending events abroad. I was unable to see him. This time I have to…”
He looked up unintentionally and froze before he could finish his sentence. Then he exclaimed in surprise, “Hey, isn’t that—”
Lu Heyang followed his gaze and looked back. The restaurant was dimly lit. There was a transparent grand piano in the center of the water feature platform. The distant piano music mixed with the gentle sound of the water. Five people, both alphas and omegas, in white shirts and suit pants, appeared from another section. They seemed to have had a few drinks and stopped by the water feature to listen to the performance with interest.
Except for the alpha in the middle. He appeared drowsy and his eyes were vacant and unfocused. Two buttons on his shirt collar were undone, his tie hung loosely, and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. A rather unrefined clear plastic bag hung from his wrist, although its contents exuded elegance—inside were a trophy, a certificate of honor, and a handful of gold medals.
Before Lu Heyang could look away, a breeze blew past him; He Wei had already stood up and rushed over.
“Xiao Ze, my wife—!”
Xu Ze hadn’t drunk for a long time. His team had dinner together after the award ceremony today. They agreed not to return to the lab for the night and opened a few bottles of wine.
When the unidentified alpha rushed over and hugged him, Xu Ze almost flung the bag in his hand into the pond. With his mind running slowly after drinking, he was more sluggish than surprised. Xu Ze thought about it but he didn’t seem to have any friends with such behavior.
Only then did he realize it was He Wei’s voice, which he hadn’t heard in a long time.
The teammates were also startled, thinking that it was some weird person. But when they saw the epaulets and police badge on the other person’s shirt, their suspicions were dispelled a little.
He Wei put his arm around Xu Ze’s shoulder, poked at his face, and asked, “You haven’t forgotten me, right, Xiao Ze?”
Xu Ze shook his head, “I haven’t.”
“Do you know him?” a teammate asked Xu Ze.
“I do,” Xu Ze nodded.
“Did you just finish eating? Do you have any plans later? If not, why don’t you come to my table? I’ll order you an after-dinner snack.” He Wei continued to shake Xu Ze, “Okay? Okay?”
Xu Ze hadn’t been standing steadily and almost fell into the pond. Luckily, the teammate beside him held onto him. The way He Wei acted made it hard to refuse, and since nothing else was happening tonight, Xu Ze said, “Okay.” Only after saying it, he realized that He Wei couldn’t be eating alone. It wouldn’t be appropriate for him to interrupt their meal halfway. But before he could express his concern, He Wei was already leading him away. All he could hear was Officer He telling the other teammates, “I’ll take Dr. Xu with me. I’ll make sure to send him back later.”
Xu Ze didn’t hear what his teammates said, his gaze was fixed in a certain direction.
The deep blue training suit looked almost pure black in the dim light, similar to the alpha’s eye color. Lu Heyang rested his chin on one hand as he looked over, while the other held a water glass with his index finger resting on the rim.
For some reason, Xu Ze felt that the water glass in Lu Heyang’s hand looked particularly small.
“How coincidental! We were just talking about you and then I looked up and saw you.” He Wei pulled Xu Ze over to the dining table and smiled as he asked, “Dr. Xu, do you want to sit next to Heyang or me?”
There was no need to hesitate for this question. Xu Ze said, “I’ll sit on this side.”
“OK.” He Wei moved to the seat inside and let Xu Ze sit next to him.
After sitting down, Xu Ze and Lu Heyang were almost facing each other. Out of the corner of his eye, Xu Ze saw Lu Heyang pick up the water glass and drink. He couldn’t help but look up, but unexpectedly, his eyes met Lu Heyang’s.
Xu Ze immediately averted his gaze. He thought that his movements were quick and discreet, but he wasn’t aware that his reactions after drinking had slowed down to some extent.
Lu Heyang took another glass from the side, poured half a glass of lemon water, and placed it in front of Xu Ze.
“Thank you, Colonel,” Xu Ze murmured.
“Dr. Xu, you’re too formal,” He Wei placed the order and put his hand around Xu Ze’s shoulder, “Weren’t you two quite close before? Even if Heyang doesn’t remember, there’s no need to act like a superior and subordinate.”
Xu Ze accepted whatever others said currently and replied, “Okay.”
“It seems that our Xiao Ze is really drunk,” He Wei said, touching Xu Ze’s face with his hand.
“Serve the food,” Lu Heyang said.
Serve what food? There was no need for guests to serve it themselves—He Wei thought so but still put his hand down and told the waiter, “Desserts can be served now, there’s no need to wait until after the meal. My friend wants to eat now.”
Xu Ze couldn’t remember when he had said something like “I want to eat now”.
“Come to think of it, we haven’t had a meal together,” He Wei said while eating, “Back then, you were often together with Heyang, right? What were you two up to? If you mention it, maybe he’ll recall something.”
Feeling dizzy and thirsty, Xu Ze took a sip of water. He reached out to adjust his tie, only to find it was already loose.
“Not often,” Xu Ze paused and said, “I also forgot what we did.”
In reality, he remembered it better than anyone. But the current time, situation, and people—it wasn’t suitable to bring up any of those matters, particularly what had happened between him and Lu Heyang. Xu Ze hoped that only he would know about it, as it wouldn’t serve any purpose to talk about it.
He didn’t have any grand wishes. He didn’t even think he would be able to sit across a table from Lu Heyang, and that was enough for him.
He Wei was no longer as careless as he was in high school. He could sense that Xu Ze was being evasive. He understood that if he had been the one completely forgotten by his friend, he likely wouldn’t have held onto hope that reminiscing about past stories would jog the other’s memory after such a long time. Such expectations were unrealistic.
He looked at Lu Heyang and found that Lu Heyang was looking at Xu Ze. He Wei suddenly realized that he probably shouldn’t have insisted on bringing Xu Ze over here today. If Lu Heyang was once an important friend to Xu Ze, this situation would only make Xu Ze upset.
The waiter brought the desserts. He Wei placed a bowl of ginger honey soup in front of Xu Ze, “This will help you sober up. Have some. If you can’t eat anything else, just nibble on whatever.”
“Okay, thank you.”
He Wei blinked and hugged Xu Ze’s arm, leaning his head on his shoulder, and exclaimed with relief, “It’s great that our Xiao Ze hasn’t changed at all.”
As he bumped into Xu Ze, some soup from the spoon splashed onto Xu Ze’s hand. Just as Xu Ze was about to wipe it off with his other hand, Lu Heyang took two napkins and put them in his hand. Xu Ze’s eyes suddenly seemed glued to Lu Heyang’s fingers, following them until he withdrew his hand and picked up his utensils again.
Lu Heyang asked He Wei, “Don’t you still have to go to the station?”
Indeed, it was time to hurry up and eat. He Wei sat upright again and started a new conversation, avoiding the topics of high school and amnesia.
The dinner didn’t last long. He Wei received two calls from the station and had to return as soon as possible. As he stood up while cursing under his breath, he accidentally touched something wet. Since he had seen that Xu Ze hadn’t used the napkins that Lu Heyang had given him, He Wei wanted to pick them up to wipe his hands in line with the principle of not wasting. Yet, when he looked down to take them, the two napkins had vanished, and the area next to Xu Ze’s bowl was empty.
He Wei was perplexed and looked at Xu Ze, who was standing innocently with a plastic bag in one hand and the other hand in his pants pocket. As soon as he saw Doctor Xu’s face, his head also became empty. He smiled foolishly and wiped his hands on his police uniform pants.
“Wife, where do you live? I’ll drop you off before heading back to the police station,” He Wei put his arm around Xu Ze’s shoulder and said in a silly manner.
“Not far, I can go on my own.” Xu Ze paused and asked He Wei, “Can you give me your current phone number?”
“Your initiative is touching.” He Wei took Xu Ze’s phone and entered his number.
He Wei’s phone rang again and he picked it up, “Hurry hurry, what’s the rush? I’m on my way.” After hanging up, he continued to persuade Xu Ze, “You haven’t sobered up yet, it’s inconvenient to go alone.”
“Aren’t you already on your way?” Lu Heyang finished browsing his messages, turned off the communicator, and said, “I’ll see Dr. Xu off.”
Xu Ze winced. He wanted to say something, but He Wei interrupted, “Hush, Colonel Lu as a driver, hearing such treatment makes me want to shed tears, I’ll die with eternal regret if you refuse.”
As He Wei drove away, Xu Ze said, “I’ll go by myself.”
“You seemed to agree just now.” Lu Heyang looked at Xu Ze and asked, “Was it just to appease He Wei?”
“No.” Xu Ze shook his head. He wasn’t sure if it was appropriate, but he still replied, “It’s to avoid Officer He’s eternal regret.”
Unexpectedly, Xu Ze heard Lu Heyang let out a laugh. He hadn’t looked at Lu Heyang all night but now he finally lifted his head to see his face. When Lu Heyang laughed like this, Xu Ze vaguely recalled the smile that Lu Heyang had long ago—not the polite, formal kind, but one with genuine warmth, a smile that had once been very close to him.
“Get in the car.” Lu Heyang opened the front passenger door and told Xu Ze.
The smile persisted on his face and was reflected in his eyes, leaving Xu Ze unable to utter any words of refusal. He could only nod, “Okay.”
Author’s note:
He: My wife took the initiative to ask for my phone number hehe
Lu: What a pain in the ass, get lost
Not that he wei being clueless even until the last chapers 😅
He wei how are you still clueless until now?😭😭
I can’t just put my finger on it.. I’m going to lean on Lu has regained his memory and he is out to tease Xu. Probably waiting on Xu to be bold and claim him..
I love that even if he doesn’t remember Xu Ze, he’s still possessive of him and doesn’t want He Wei touching him. 😂
This is killing me, I hurt for Xu Ze, having the love of your life in front of you and he doesn’t remember you, an the worst is that Lu Heyang continues to be the same Lu Heyang as when they were in Prep. Also, I wanted to ask the author, how come Lu Heyang remembers his friends and family but not Xu Ze? Was the amnesia treatment targeted specifically to remove memories of Xu Ze and the second kidnapping?🧐