extra chapter for Ko-fi Supporter 
Thank you very much!! 💖
Xu Ze couldn’t figure out why Lu Heyang mentioned drinking less, but he still nodded and said, “I don’t drink often.” Then he slowly stood up, “I’m going to wash my hands, you can sit down.”
Lu Heyang said “Okay” but didn’t move. He saw Xu Ze standing in front of the sink, pumping two doses of hand soap. Even though Doctor Xu had been drinking, he didn’t forget the seven-step hand washing method and immersed himself in washing his hands with great seriousness. The mirror reflected his lowered head and long eyelashes.
After washing his hands, Xu Ze took off his glasses and splashed water on his face. Then he walked out of the bathroom. Lu Heyang was in the living room setting the plastic bag containing the trophies on the coffee table that Xu Ze had left at the front door.
“Did you attend the award ceremony today?” Lu Heyang asked.
“Mn.” Xu Ze nodded, “Our team won an award.”
“Congratulations.”
Xu Ze’s lips curved slightly, showing a polite and formal smile. He went to get a disposable cup at the dining table and filled it with water. Lu Heyang walked over and took the cup, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Xu Ze said, “Thank you for the ride.”
After this sentence, Lu Heyang suddenly set down the untouched cup of water and leaned against the edge of the table with one hand on the tabletop. His face was expressionless as he tilted his head slightly to look at Xu Ze.
Xu Ze immediately tensed up, unsure of what he had said wrong. He had been cautious tonight.
“What’s wrong?” He thought of a reason and asked, “Do you need me to boil another pot?”
“No need, I won’t trouble you.” Lu Heyang replied.
Although he didn’t directly address the issue, Xu Ze could hear Lu Heyang’s implication. He looked at the paper cup Lu Heyang had put down and replied just like last time, “You are the superior.”
“But you don’t seem to be my subordinate.” Lu Heyang picked up the cup that was upside-down next to the kettle. It was probably the one Xu Ze usually used. He poured half a cup of water and pushed it toward Xu Ze, “He Wei is the chief of the central police station, but you don’t address him with the formal ‘you’.”
“Are you afraid of me?” Lu Heyang looked at Xu Ze and continued, “Or is it that Dr. Xu wants to work at the air base? In that case, it would be more appropriate to use the formal you for the superior.”
Xu Ze retreated half a step, lacking confidence. He picked up the water cup and took a sip before answering in a low voice, “Neither.”
“Why then?”
“I won’t say it later.” Xu Ze couldn’t provide an answer and had to express his stand like this, even though he wasn’t sure how many more times they could have “later”.
Lu Heyang also sipped some water and said, “I don’t mean to force you, just asking.”
“It’s okay.”
As the conversation ended, the room became unusually quiet. Xu Ze nervously took a few more sips of water and unconsciously reached for his tie. Lu Heyang’s eyes moved from Xu Ze’s fingers to his throat and finally to his face. Lu Heyang asked, “Are you feeling hot?”
“A little. I forgot to turn on the air conditioner.” Xu Ze wiped his neck with the back of his hand. He finished the water in his cup and went to find the remote control for the air conditioner.
The divided bookcase framed Xu Ze’s face, shoulders, wrist, and waist in separate squares like a viewfinder capturing the details of his body. Xu Ze knelt down by the bed to reach the remote control. He raised his hand to turn on the air conditioner and then stood up again. He took off his tie, wrapped it into a loop around his index finger, and casually placed it on one of the shelves.
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.
After putting it away, Xu Ze glanced up and saw that Lu Heyang was leaning against the dining table with one leg resting on the floor, holding a cup of water and watching him through the bookshelf.
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While saying this, Xu Ze headed toward the refrigerator. Lu Heyang grabbed his arm, “Don’t bother. Let’s just sit down and rest for a minute.”
Xu Ze was thrown off balance for a step. He stopped and said, “Okay.”
The sofa was a three-seater, neither too large nor too small. Lu Heyang sat at one end, while Xu Ze opted to sit directly on the carpet. The alcohol tonight seemed to take an unusually long time to wear off. Xu Ze’s head was still dizzy. He took off his glasses and put them on the coffee table.
Lu Heyang didn’t ask why he chose the floor instead of the sofa. Instead, he said without leaving him any time to prepare, “From what He Wei said today, it seems like our previous interactions weren’t just casual conversations.”
Sure enough, Xu Ze froze. After a few seconds, he replied, “That’s right.”
“What kind of relationship was it?” Lu Heyang leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and looked at Xu Ze. “Dr. Xu, do you really not remember either?”
Xu Ze was barely able to lie to He Wei’s question, but in this intimate setting with only two people, he couldn’t convincingly say “I don’t remember”.
“Sort of ordinary friends. We had meals together.”
“Anything else?”
“Nothing more. It wasn’t an important relationship. Even if you don’t remember it, it won’t affect you—” Xu Ze paused for a moment and corrected himself, “It won’t affect you.”
The fact that losing those memories didn’t prevent Lu Heyang from getting better indicated that their relationship wasn’t meaningful. Remembering or forgetting wasn’t that important.
At times, Xu Ze wondered if their relationship had any meaning for himself. He had spent these years well: studying, working, and growing up—a life he once aspired to, a normal life unaffected by Lu Heyang’s memory loss.
Yet, such doubts were swiftly dispelled each time. Living well or not had little to do with this “meaning”. The difference was that Xu Ze applied this understanding solely to himself, without considering whether Lu Heyang felt the same way.
“Is it unimportant to you, or is it unimportant to me?” Lu Heyang didn’t seem surprised by this answer and calmly continued his questioning.
In truth, the current circumstances weren’t suitable for discussing such matters. Nonetheless, Xu Ze felt there might not be a better time than now.
“To you,” Xu Ze said.
Lu Heyang remained calm, “Did I tell you personally or is it your own interpretation?”
Xu Ze had a feeling he had walked into a trap but couldn’t find any concrete evidence. Xu Ze pursed his lips, realizing that his current capacity to react was insufficient to answer these questions. He thought that Lu Heyang had just come to drink some water, so why did it turn into an interrogation?
“Is it difficult to answer? Let’s try another question.” Lu Heyang said tolerantly, “Were you the one standing outside the hospital that year when I was discharged?”
Xu Ze turned his head in surprise because he didn’t expect Lu Heyang to remember. It was their first meeting after Lu Heyang’s memory loss and also the last time they had seen each other in many years. The unfamiliar gaze that Lu Heyang had at that time was still vivid in Xu Ze’s memory. He had thought that as a passerby he would be easily forgotten.
Xu Ze wasn’t wearing his glasses and Lu Heyang’s features were slightly blurred. Xu Ze twisted his fingers together and looked at him not knowing how to answer, while Lu Heyang patiently waited beside him.
“It was me,” Xu Ze replied after a long while.
“So, I wasn’t mistaken,” Lu Heyang said slowly, “You look the same.”
Xu Ze wanted to smile, but unfortunately, he couldn’t. He frequently encountered former high school peers at work and thought they hadn’t changed much—just because he wasn’t acquainted with them and didn’t know them well.
Ding-dong—the doorbell rang. Someone outside called Xu Ze’s name.
“Xu Ze, are you back?”
Only then did he remember that his phone had been muted during the award ceremony. Xu Ze seemed to sober up. He stood up and responded, “I’m back, just a minute.” Then he turned to Lu Heyang, “It’s a team member from our group. I’ll open the door.”
“No problem, I’ll head back as well.” Lu Heyang stood up with him.
“……Alright.”
As the door opened and Xu Ze’s face popped out, Qiu Cheng touched his ear familiarly and said with a smile, “I couldn’t reach you on the phone. Nobody knew if you were back, so I came to check.”
As soon as he said that, he noticed a hand reach out from the side of Xu Ze’s waist, its long, powerful fingers grasping the door frame and pulling the door fully open. The tall alpha stood behind Xu Ze, dressed in a deep blue Air Force training uniform.
“Uh, this is…”
“A… friend,” Xu Ze said.
Lu Heyang had removed the shoulder and chest badges from his training uniform before going to the restaurant, making it difficult for Qiu Cheng to gather any information from his attire. Moreover, Lu Heyang’s face looked exceptionally young, leading Qiu Cheng to speculate that he was probably a recent graduate of the Air Force.
“Oh, hello. I’m from the same lab as Xu Ze. I’m just here to see if he’s back.” Qiu Cheng made way for Lu Heyang and asked Xu Ze, “Do you have any fruit? I forgot to buy them today. Do you mind if I mooch off you?”
“Yes, I have some.”
“I’ll cut some then and we’ll have them together.”
As Lu Heyang walked out into the corridor, Qiu Cheng put his arm around Xu Ze’s shoulders and led him into the house. Xu Ze turned back, wanting to tell Lu Heyang to “Drive safe”. However, when their eyes met, Lu Heyang, who hadn’t said anything, suddenly asked, “Where’s the elevator?”
“It’s on both the left and the right,” Qiu Cheng answered on behalf of Xu Ze, “The right one is closer.”
Xu Ze was worried that Lu Heyang might accidentally take the wrong way, so he freed himself from Qiu Cheng’s arm and said, “I’ll take him downstairs.”
“Sure, I’ll go wash the fruits.” Qiu Cheng glanced at Lu Heyang, unable to understand why this alpha needed guidance to get downstairs.
After Xu Ze closed the door, Lu Heyang walked to the left. Xu Ze thought about advising him that going to the right would be a shorter route but decided against it and remained silent.
“Is it okay to leave someone in your apartment?” In the elevator, Lu Heyang pushed the button for the first floor and asked.
“It’s okay, he’s someone I know.”
“Is he the type of person you can enter the passcode in front of?”
After thinking for a while, Xu Ze confirmed that Qiu Cheng didn’t know the passcode to his house. So, he replied, “No, no one else knows my passcode.”
Lu Heyang just hummed without saying anything.
The night breeze was a little chilly as they left the lobby. Xu Ze stayed on the stairs and intended to wait for Lu Heyang to leave before going back. However, Lu Heyang told him, “Wait for me.”
“Okay.” Xu Ze didn’t ask anything.
A moment later, Lu Heyang drove the car to the bottom of the stairs. He opened the door and got out. Standing on the lower steps, he appeared slightly shorter than Xu Ze. The warm yellow glow of the streetlamp shone on Xu Ze’s awake but not quite sober face, resembling an old photograph. The tips of his hair and his collar swayed gently in the wind.
“Dr. Xu, you asked me earlier what kind of person you are.” Lu Heyang looked at him, “It seems I have an answer now.”
The answer came suddenly and Xu Ze’s eyes widened.
“Someone who isn’t honest,” Lu Heyang said.
Xu Ze’s expression became bewildered as Lu Heyang handed him a box, “This is for you.”
Still recovering from the “not honest” rating, Xu Ze asked in an almost breathy voice, “What is it?”
“A reward.” Lu Heyang curled his lips into a smile, “A reward for Dr. Xu to be more honest with me next time.”
After saying this, Lu Heyang didn’t linger. He turned and walked down the steps, waving to Xu Ze before getting into the car and closing the door.
As the car drove away, Xu Ze stood in place for over a minute. He lowered his head to look at the heavy navy blue velvet box in his hands and slowly opened it. Inside was a golden badge with eagle wings encircling the Union emblem, which was the symbol of the Union Air Force.
“You’re back?” Qiu Cheng had set a plate of fruit on the coffee table, “What’s that in your hand?”
“A memento, I guess.” Xu Ze replied.
“The Air Force guy gave it to you just now? Can I take a look?”
Still dazed, Xu Ze opened the box and handed it to Qiu Cheng.
Qiu Cheng was stunned with just a glance, “Did he say he wanted to give this to you?”
“What is it?” Xu Ze was puzzled.
“This is the honorary badge commemorating the 64th anniversary of the founding of the Union Air Force. It’s made of pure gold.”
“Is it expensive?” Xu Ze became concerned.
“No, these honorary badges aren’t meant to be sold. The military only awards them to officers of the rank of field officers and above. You know, the kind you wear on your military uniform during celebrations or award ceremonies along with other medals.” Qiu Cheng picked up the badge and flipped it over, “I’ve seen one at an elder’s house before. The back should have a custom engraving…”
The words stopped abruptly as Qiu Cheng looked at the inscription on the back of the badge, catching some key points like “Air Force Colonel” and “Lu Heyang”.
He began to think about Xu Ze’s Air Force friend: the youthful face, the cold and distant expression, the pheromones of an S-level alpha, and the name that had only appeared in military news.
“Did he really say he wanted to give this to you?” Qiu Cheng asked again in disbelief.
Xu Ze hesitated for two seconds and said, “He forgot it at my place.”
Qiu Cheng found it absurd, “But didn’t you just bring it from outside?”
OMGOMG I’m getting giddy from Lu Heyang’s actions towards Xu Ze. He always knows how to deal with him, no matter the memory loss🥳
Even after loosing his memories, Heyang still knows how to deal with our lovely Xu – “not honest” – Xe 😌😌
Thanks for the chapter!!!!
Xu – “not honest” – Ze not omg autocorrect 😭😭
Lol he’s eating vinegar ~
Thank you for the chapter ☺️
Is it a reward or a way to mark his future territory ?😁 At first I missed their youth and the high school part but now I’m more and more interested in this new part (even if army is definitely not my cup of tea)
🤭🤭
never honest 🥲
No matter where, what or when, Lu Heyang will always have a place in his heart for Xu Ze. With memories or not, deep inside he can feel that Xu Ze is and has been someone special in his life. 🥹🥹🥹
I WANT TO SLEEP BRO PLEASE LET ME
BUT JUST KEEP TO READING AAREGGHHHH