ko-fi goal was reached thanks to Maggy and M.🌻 
Thank you both 💕
Xu Ze was stunned for a few seconds before reacting. Since it wasn’t polite to open the glove box in other people’s cars, he could only hand the condom to Lu Heyang.
Strangely enough, his mood didn’t have many ups and downs at this moment. Xu Ze calmly accepted the situation. It was normal and reasonable, and it wasn’t within the scope of his concern or inquiry.
“Why are you giving it to me?” Lu Heyang asked.
Xu Ze didn’t look at him and countered without fully comprehending, “Then where should I put it?”
Lu Heyang looked at him for a while, then opened his palm, “Give it to me.”
After handing the item to Lu Heyang, Xu Ze quietly fastened his seatbelt. He felt he should say something, maybe crack a joke between alphas to seem less unusual, but it was really challenging for him.
His senses began to dull. Xu Ze stared at his hands in a daze. After a while, he gradually realized that the car still hadn’t started.
Xu Ze lifted his head in confusion to look at Lu Heyang, only to find Lu Heyang looking back at him. The car’s lights weren’t harsh and a warm yellow hue fell on Lu Heyang’s eyelashes. Xu Ze stiffly turned his head.
“What are you thinking?” Lu Heyang asked as he started the car.
“Nothing,” Xu Ze shook his head.
After slowly circling out the parking lot and driving for some distance, Lu Heyang suddenly said, “Did the badge run out of credit?” He glanced at Xu Ze, then focused on the road again, “Dr. Xu’s honesty seems to be quite expensive, it’s a pity I didn’t bring my card today.”
It took some thought for Xu Ze to fully understand Lu Heyang’s meaning and connect it to Chi Jiahan’s statement that he couldn’t hide anything from Lu Heyang. Xu Ze regretted it—if only he hadn’t seen the condom and picked it up.
“I was thinking about what movie it’s going to be,” Xu Ze replied. Although he had just hastily come up with it a second ago, he was genuinely thinking about it now, so it wasn’t entirely dishonest.
Upon hearing this, Lu Heyang glanced at Xu Ze again before replying, “I’m not sure. We’ll see when we get there.”
“Okay.”
About twenty minutes later, they arrived at the drive-in theater, which was located on a large meadow by a lake. The ticket booth resembled a highway toll booth. The attendant looked inside the car to confirm the number of people and handed out two tickets.
As they drove in, they saw three large screens and more than a dozen cars parked on the grass facing different directions. Lu Heyang drove the car to the front of the screen on the right and parked.
Lu Heyang handed Xu Ze the movie ticket. He noticed Xu Ze’s dazed expression and asked, “You’ve seen it before?”
The phrasing implied that he had pretty much guessed it. Xu Ze could only nod, “Mn, I watched it last month.”
It was a crime-action movie that the hospital had given out tickets to. At that time, Xu Ze had just finished an experiment and Chi Jiahan invited him to watch it together—it was the first time the two of them had watched a movie together even though they had known each other for so many years.
“With a friend?” Lu Heyang asked as he reached to tune the radio frequency.
“Yes, with a friend,” Xu Ze looked out the window, “I’ll go buy drinks.”
“Let’s go together.” Lu Heyang tuned the channel, and the intro music played as he opened the car door.
There was a small bus that had been converted into a booth. An omega with two ponytails stood inside, smiling sweetly as she greeted them, “Hello you two! Fruit juice, milk tea, mineral water, cake, fried chicken, popcorn. See what you want?”
“What do you want to drink?” Lu Heyang asked.
Xu Ze, standing 40 centimeters away from him, said, “Grapefruit juice, I don’t need anything else.”
“Two cups of grapefruit juice.”
“OK! One moment!”
While the Omega was peeling and squeezing the grapefruit, Lu Heyang looked behind her, “Are the flowers for sale?”
“Yep!” The omega stepped aside to reveal a four-tiered flower stand against the inside wall of the bus. She hadn’t promoted the bouquets earlier because she wasn’t sure about the relationship between the two alphas. Now that she heard Lu Heyang’s inquiry, she introduced, “There’s a sign next to each flower, you can buy them individually or mix different flowers.”
“Lisianthus.” Lu Heyang quickly scanned the flower rack and made his choice.
“Sure, how many do you want?”
“17.” Lu Heyang replied, then lowered his head to type a reply on his communicator.
“OK, please wait!” The omega inserted straws into the two cups of grapefruit juice, then turned back to the flower rack and selected 17 white lisianthuses. She added a few eucalyptus leaves for decoration and wrapped the bouquet in cream-white wrapping paper.
The omega’s hands were deft and her movements were both quick and precise. The bouquet of lisianthuses was made to look simple and elegant. After cutting off the excess light green ribbon with scissors, the omega handed the bouquet directly to Xu Ze and said, “You two have a great time tonight!”
Xu Ze had been watching quietly as an onlooker, looking at the flowers that belonged to someone else. When the bouquet was handed to him, he turned around to see that Lu Heyang was holding the two cups of grapefruit juice and couldn’t carry the flowers. Xu Ze carried the bouquet for him like he was “cradling” it and walked back with Lu Heyang.
Back in the car, Lu Heyang placed the grapefruit juice cups between the seats, while Xu Ze stood outside holding the flowers.
“What’s wrong?”
Xu Ze was a little embarrassed, “Where should I put the flowers?”
The bouquet wasn’t too big or heavy so he could place it on his lap. Lu Heyang asked him, “Is it inconvenient to hold?”
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 can hold it for now,” Xu Ze was genuinely worried about the bouquet’s impending fate, “But later when you go back alone, you’ll have to put it in a position where some of the flowers might get flattened.”
Pa mbeiv fjrlis ufa rdelrtfv yfmjerf bo lar rlwqif qjmxjulcu—j rdelrtfv ybedefa kbeivc’a ibbx ubbv jcv yf ifrr atjc qfgofma ktfc ulnfc jkjs.
Oe Lfsjcu ibbxfv ja tlw obg j wbwfca yfobgf ifjclcu bnfg ab bqfc atf qjrrfcufg vbbg jcv rjlv, “Xfa lc atf mjg olgra.”
“Yxjs.” We If uba lcab atf mjg ktlif tbivlcu atf oibkfgr mjgfoeiis.
The light from the screen illuminated the car as the movie started. However, Lu Heyang turned down the volume and asked, “Who do you think the flowers are for?”
Xu Ze looked at the screen but didn’t focus on anything in particular. He said, “I don’t know.”
“What if they are for you?”
Xu Ze wrinkled his brows, unable to tell whether he was lost or baffled. If time could be turned back, not too far back, but just before they left the restaurant, if Lu Heyang had given him a bouquet at that moment, Xu Ze would have undoubtedly accepted it and been pleased.
“Can you not give it to me?” Xu Ze finally responded like this.
Even the refusal had to be phrased as a question. Lu Heyang smiled. He opened his communicator and handed it to Xu Ze.
According to military regulations, no one other than the user could operate or view a military communicator for any reason. Because of this Xu Ze could not reach out to take it. He just looked at Lu Heyang.
“If anyone finds out I showed you this, I, as the owner of the communicator, would be imprisoned as well.” Lu Heyang downplayed the situation, “Maybe it’ll be in the jail cell across from you.”
With the assurance of his future cellmate, Xu Ze stopped hesitating and took the communicator. The screen showed the person he was talking to was Song Yuke.
“Scroll up.”
Xu Ze obediently scrolled up a bit and reached around the time they bought the grapefruit juice. He saw that Lu Heyang had sent a license plate number: Check who used this car last.
Song Yuke: Copy that.
Half a minute later, Song Yuke: It was Captain Liu from the information department. Since the car was returned late, it missed the scheduled cleaning. It was supposed to be cleaned tonight, but you took the car out again. Is there a problem?
Lu Heyang: What’s the deal with the condom in the car?
Song Yuke: Let me ask.
Another half minute, Song Yuke: [Picture]
Song Yuke: Colonel, this is the hotel room booking record that Captain Liu just provided. He claims the condom was accidentally left in the car yesterday, and they didn’t engage in any activities in the military vehicle.
Song Yuke: Colonel, Captain Liu said he would submit a report to you soon.
Lu Heyang: No need.
Song Yuke: OK, got it.
The conversation ended. Xu Ze turned off the communicator and wiped it with the back of his hand so as not to leave fingerprints behind. He handed the communicator back to Lu Heyang without saying a word or appearing to react.
“Can you accept the flowers now?” Lu Heyang asked.
Xu Ze maintained the posture of cradling the flowers. He needed time to process the two facts: “The condom belongs to someone else” and “The flowers are for me”. After a while, he asked, “Why are you giving me flowers?”
“Because you are accompanying me to watch a movie you’ve already seen, Dr. Xu.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Xu Ze believed this reason, “The movie was a hit, so watching it again is fine.”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve been out of touch with society for a long time.” Lu Heyang took a sip of grapefruit juice and set it down.
In truth, Xu Ze didn’t know either, Chi Jiahan had enlightened him while watching the movie.
Xu Ze carefully placed the bouquet across his lap. He meticulously adjusted the wrapping paper and the bottom flowers so they wouldn’t be crushed. Then he hesitated before asking, “Is it boring to stay in the war zone for a long time?”
“Sort of.” Lu Heyang stared at the movie screen, “So understand Captain Liu. I hope you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind.” Xu Ze quickly grasped Lu Heyang’s meaning this time and picked up the cup of grapefruit juice.
A few seconds later, Lu Heyang lowered his head to glance at the side of the driver’s seat and then looked at Xu Ze. The light of the screen flickered on his profile as the movie scenes changed. Lu Heyang called out to Xu Ze, “Dr. Xu.”
Xu Ze bit the straw that was on his tongue. Unsure of what was going on, he responded, “Huh?”
“It seems the cup is mine,” Lu Heyang reminded him.
Xu Ze immediately froze and looked at the grapefruit juice in his hand. After a moment of dead silence, he asked, “What to do now?”
“Don’t make that expression. It’s not a big deal,” Lu Heyang held out his hand and said, “Give it to me.”
“I bit it.” Xu Ze didn’t move and added, “The straw.”
“Even if you bit it, it’s still mine.”
Xu Ze felt that Lu Heyang was smiling, even though there was no smile on his face. It was definitely inappropriate to give the cup to Lu Heyang, so Xu Ze moved the grapefruit juice further away from Lu Heyang’s fingers. He said, “I haven’t drunk from my cup. You can have it.”
“Alright.” Lu Heyang retracted his hand and picked up the other cup.
The movie was fast-paced. After a third of the plot, it was an entirely new film for Xu Ze. He had fallen asleep while watching it with Chi Jiahan because he was too tired.
The protagonist discovered that his lover was missing. He frantically called her and rummaged through his things to find an important letter amidst constant busy signals on the phone. Eventually, he broke down in tears—Xu Ze watched the movie seriously this time.
With the car windows down, the late summer evening breeze swirled up the subtle scent of lisianthuses. Lu Heyang’s hand slid over the cup. His gaze was fixed on the screen. Suddenly he asked, “If a call doesn’t go through, would you keep calling?”
Xu Ze’s first reaction was that Lu Heyang was discussing the plot of the movie, but upon further reflection, it seemed to be more than that. Xu Ze detached himself from the plot while still looking at the screen. After some time, he replied, “If it’s someone important, then yes.”
With the question and answer over, the car fell silent again.
The movie ended and the credits rolled. Lu Heyang put down his grapefruit juice. His hand had just touched the gearshift when a microphone from an unknown location outside transmitted a voice, “It’s great that everyone came here to watch this movie together. Following the tradition, now it’s time for our Kiss Cam segment. Please keep your eyes on the screen. The selected viewers will receive free tickets for tonight!”
Everyone burst into applause and cheers, but Xu Ze didn’t know what Kiss Cam was. He looked at the screen, which had transformed into a live broadcast of the movie theater. The lights illuminated the dozens of cars, creating a lively and spectacular scene.
The screen split into three, each showing a different perspective from three cameras. Then the cameras zoomed in and out again—suddenly, a bright spotlight shone on their faces, causing Xu Ze to squint. He saw his and Lu Heyang’s faces appear on the screen.
Xu Ze was at a loss and didn’t know what they needed to do. He asked Lu Heyang, “What does it mean?”
Lu Heyang didn’t look at him, just lifted his chin to signal Xu Ze to keep watching the screen.
The surrounding cars flashed their hazard lights and whistles filled the air. Xu Ze glanced back at the screen and thought he had seen it wrong—the captured viewers had started kissing on the other two screens.
Countless pink heart-shaped bubbles floated up on the screen, while Xu Ze and Lu Heyang looked out of place sitting properly between two passionately kissing couples.
“OK! We can see that the first and third couples have successfully completed the task, but the second couple seems a bit shy. Can everyone give them more encouragement?”
The cheering and whistling grew louder. Xu Ze didn’t feel shy, he just wanted to quickly find out where the host was hiding and have a proper negotiation to spare the second couple.
Lu Heyang closed the car window, isolating the cacophony outside. Xu Ze’s ears were relieved. He assumed that Lu Heyang intended to drive away directly, so he reached for the seatbelt—before he could touch it, he heard Lu Heyang call him, “Dr. Xu.”
Lu Heyang’s voice made everything else seem far away. Xu Ze turned his head to see that Lu Heyang was also turning toward him. His right side was in the shadow, while his left side was illuminated by the spotlight. The alternation of light and shadow highlighted his features and bone structure, which remained flawless under any lighting.
“Do you mind?” Lu Heyang asked as naturally as he had asked Xu Ze to watch the movie with him earlier. But his eyes remained unreadable.
Xu Ze stared at him without moving. Saying “I mind” was something he wouldn’t do, but saying “I don’t mind” would be inappropriate given their current relationship.
Unable to decide between “mind” and “don’t mind”, Xu Ze couldn’t think and chose the approach of burying his head in the sand—he shook his head.
Xu Ze saw Lu Heyang lean closer as if it were a hazy, surreal dream. Lu Heyang reached out and clasped the back of Xu Ze’s neck to pull him closer. He removed Xu Ze’s glasses with the other hand and tilted his head to move even closer.
Xu Ze heard his own heartbeat. Lu Heyang’s eyelashes, nose, and lips were so close that he couldn’t focus his gaze.
Lu Heyang’s eyes swept to the corner of Xu Ze’s mouth. His chin grazed Xu Ze’s jawline, and finally he lowered his head. His left cheek lightly touched Xu Ze’s right cheek.
In reality, it was more like a hug, a mere closeness of body heat and pheromones. But no matter what, on the screen, it looked like Lu Heyang had kissed Xu Ze’s right cheek, and the substitution was considered a success. The Kiss Cam segment was just barely completed.
Before straightening up and parting, Lu Heyang said to Xu Ze, “Thank you, Dr. Xu, for treating me to the movie.”
The tickets for tonight should be free due to Xu Ze’s cooperation, so from Lu Heyang’s perspective, Xu Ze had treated him to the movie. Xu Ze only managed to make out a small breathy sound, “It’s nothing.”
The trip back lasted just over half an hour. Even though it was short, Xu Ze, realizing the lack of future opportunities, felt compelled to become more talkative. He started with, “Do you and Lieutenant Colonel Gu still keep in touch?”
Perhaps surprised that Xu Ze brought up Gu Yunchi, Lu Heyang slowly stepped on the brake and reduced the speed, “Did you say Yunchi?”
“Yes.”
“We were in different war zones, so our contact was limited.”
“Will Lieutenant Colonel Gu not be able to return to the capital anytime soon?”
Lu Heyang didn’t give a direct answer but just smiled, “Dr. Xu and Yunchi are close?”
“Not close,” Xu Ze replied, “I was just… asking.”
In high school, Lu Heyang transferred over 2.4 million to Ye Yunhua’s accounts at the nursing home and Second Hospital through Gu Yunchi. The rest of the money was later transferred to Xu Ze’s account. Over the years, Xu Ze gradually repaid that amount, with scholarships, salaries, and project rewards, hoping to eventually return it to Lu Heyang with interest.
Although Lu Heyang no longer remembered, it needed to be returned through Gu Yunchi. Xu Ze’s plan was to communicate with Gu Yunchi and ask him to return the money to Lu Heyang for some other reason without mentioning him. However, since Gu Yunchi hadn’t returned to the capital in a long time, Xu Ze could only ask Lu Heyang.
“I’m not entirely sure, might have to wait for the next ceasefire. Shouldn’t be too long though.”
“Mn,” Xu Ze nodded.
Upon reaching the apartment building, Xu Ze still couldn’t bring himself to ask when Lu Heyang would leave the capital. As they got out of the car together, Xu Ze, holding the lisianthus bouquet and the unfinished grapefruit juice, said to Lu Heyang, “Drive safe on the way back.”
“Yeah.” Lu Heyang took the condom out of his pocket and handed it to Xu Ze.
As Xu Ze stood still, Lu Heyang said, “Please throw it away for me.”
“… Okay.” Xu Ze took the condom.
“Xu Ze?”
Xu Ze turned around to see Chi Jiahan walking out of the apartment entrance.
“You’re back so late?” Chi Jiahan said as he walked down the steps, “I was just thinking—”
Chi Jiahan stopped speaking as he noticed the military vehicle. When he saw the alpha standing in front of Xu Ze, Chi Jiahan halted his steps altogether.
It had been a long time since he had seen that face. Before this moment, Chi Jiahan could hardly envision what Lu Heyang looked like now. In the Union, many people bore a resemblance to Lu Heyang, coming from elite families and attending military academies. After graduation, they typically entered the political system, participating in decision-making, delivering speeches, and straddling both the military and political spheres to maximize their influence. Chi Jiahan had encountered many such individuals in his social circle.
However, Lu Heyang seemed to draw a clear boundary and avoided any involvement in political matters. Over the years, the only time he appeared on camera was on accident—a journalist was reporting on post-war conditions, and the camera happened to capture Lu Heyang disembarking from a fighter jet and removing his helmet to talk with a soldier. The tall alpha stood beside the fighter jet. His ungroomed and somewhat messy hair hung loosely in front of his forehead. In the yellow haze of the setting sun, the blurred profile created an unexpectedly mysterious and unattainable aesthetic in what would otherwise be ordinary news footage.
Chi Jiahan’s initial reaction upon encountering the footage was that Xu Ze would probably use a USB drive to save this video—Xu Ze might be the person most skilled at picking up trash and scraps aside from scavengers.
“How come you’re here?” Xu Ze asked.
“I came to a get-together for a friend’s birthday.” Chi Jiahan continued walking. His gaze on Lu Heyang wasn’t particularly warm or friendly, “Is he your friend? Why don’t you introduce me?”
To some extent, Xu Ze felt that Chi Jiahan was sometimes as unpredictable as He Wei.
“Jiahan,” Xu Ze called him.
“Just kidding.” Chi Jiahan laughed dryly, “Colonel Lu probably doesn’t remember me either. Chi Jiahan.”
“Hello.” Lu Heyang didn’t respond to whether he remembered Chi Jiahan.
“I’ll come to your apartment later,” Chi Jiahan said to Xu Ze.
“Sure.”
Xu Ze looked at Lu Heyang again. After brief eye contact, Lu Heyang said, “I’ll be leaving now.”
“Drive safe.”
“Mn.” Lu Heyang nodded to Chi Jiahan and opened the door to get into the car.
“He’s gone, stop staring.” Chi Jiahan grabbed Xu Ze’s wrist and led him up the steps, “The way you two looked at each other just now was too strange.”
“Wait a bit.” Passing a trash can, Xu Ze threw the condom into it.
Chi Jiahuan’s expression became complicated, “You slept with him?”
“No, I picked it up in the car.”
“So he slept with someone else?”
“No, it was left behind by another officer.”
“And you believe that?”
“Yes, I do.”
Chi Jiahan looked at him like he was beyond redemption and then glanced at the flowers in Xu Ze’s hand, “Did he give those to you?”
“…Kind of.”
“Why make it look like a date? Xu Ze, I think you’re going to be deceived by him again,” Chi Jiahan said, “Do you know the meaning of lisianthus flowers? Eternal love or hopeless love. Which category do you think you two fall into?”
Xu Ze remained silent. Chi Jiahan continued, “Do you know that Lu Heyang’s sister has been missing for many years? And his sister’s ex-boyfriend has also disappeared from the face of the earth, and now, no one knows if he’s alive or dead.”
The Chairman’s daughter, a Union diplomat, disappeared from the public eye overnight. There were a lot of rumors, but no one would know the truth because it was completely concealed.
“Though no one can control or touch Lu Heyang now, what about you? Are you completely safe? After finally living peacefully for a few years, Xu Ze, wake up, okay?”
Xu Ze understood Chi Jiahan’s concern but didn’t know how to convey to him that there was nothing to worry about. It seemed that no matter how he explained it, Chi Jiahan wouldn’t believe it.
—
Lu Heyang parked the car at the side of the road and answered the phone.
“Colonel Lu, I checked the number you gave me earlier, but the result is a little… unusual. I specifically confirmed it from various sources, and that’s why I’m only reporting to you today.”
“What are the results?”
“The call and message records for the number have a completely blank year, which is the year you asked me to investigate.”
“Deleted manually?”
“Most likely. Even if this number wasn’t used that year, it wouldn’t be completely blank. It was probably deleted on purpose.”
“Can you find out who tampered with it?”
“I inspected the telecom unit’s relevant operations over the past five years and found no leads. So, it’s likely that it was deleted five years ago. And if it was deleted under special orders, it’s even more untraceable.”
Lu Heyang wasn’t too surprised, “Alright, got it.”
Author’s note:
My unchanging love is only for you. I’m wary of this world, but in front of you, I am willing to let go of all defenses and embrace you—the flower language of Lisianthus (unknown source)
also called Eustoma
Reading this story is like a forbidden drug… I cannot get enough of it. I always look forward to whenever Lu Heyang does anything romantic towards Xu Ze even after his amnesia
Such a pretty flower with such a gorgeous meaning…. I just hope that lu heyang finds out the truth quickly…. it’s really heart breaking to see xz like this….
Thank you for the chapter ☺️
Ohh my big babies, wishing them happy ending soon🤞🤗. Looks like the chapters will dwindle down to an end soon
While I did enjoy the story during their high school years and while I normally don’t like amnesia plot lines, let me just say that I am absolutely eating this up now that they’re adults. Fully invested and 100% on board. Oh gosh, Xu Ze breaks my heart. I need my stoic little bunny to find happiness.
i understand xu ze so bad and his story hits close to my home and people who says stuff like jiahan just infuriate me to the core. you don’t. understand what you’re talking about. it’s okay to be worried about your friend but you gotta keep that distance when you see that someone’s not willing to listen to your words instead of nagging him constantly and saying things that only you believe in
I always love the characters of the MC’s bestfriend. Like they are always the antagonist on MC’s lovelife and they’re funny. Anyway, i just admire how concern they are. I hope there’re these friends in RL.