Doctor Lu Always Wants To Steal My Baby! Chapter 51
byChapter 51 The First Day of Awakening
“Still awake?”
It was past eleven at night, Earth time, when Lu Changqing knocked on He Chen’s door.
“Yeah. You just got back?” He Chen asked, his gaze slightly evasive.
“Finalizing the architectural plans for the new compound took some time,” Lu Changqing said, looking at He Chen. “Should I perform the treatment now?”
“No need for treatment today.” He Chen avoided Lu Changqing’s eyes, walked to his desk, and sat down. “I feel fine, and I’m busy today.”
“Busy with what?” Lu Changqing asked.
He Chen showed him the data on the Pingshan Base in his hand.
“Your health comes first,” Lu Changqing said.
“I know,” He Chen replied, his words unusually brief, his heart particularly restless.
Lu Changqing stood behind him. He Chen couldn’t see him, but he could feel his presence, feel his hand resting on the back of his chair, his gaze passing over his shoulder.
His heart started beating faster. He Chen suddenly shot up, walking to the water dispenser to pour Lu Changqing a glass of water.
Lu Changqing watched him from behind and suddenly spoke, “Is your vital energy fluctuating?”
“Huh?” Was he that obvious?
He Chen was clutching the water cup in a daze when Lu Changqing reached out and touched his forehead. He Chen immediately felt his hand was cold—no, to be precise, his own forehead was burning hot.
“Sit down, let me look at your eyes,” Lu Changqing instructed.
He Chen already understood what he was suspecting. He obediently sat down and lifted his face, allowing Lu Changqing to pull down his eyelid for examination. His breathing rhythm was steady, but his ears were inexplicably hot.
It was all the fault of the toxins.
Toxins… wait, it wasn’t the dependency. Could his recent abnormal behavior be caused by this stuff?
He Chen entertained the thought but quickly dismissed it.
Although he was slightly slow in this regard, he wasn’t so dense that he couldn’t distinguish whether his vague feelings for Lu Changqing stemmed from the heart or from desire.
Hmm, he shouldn’t be that dense, right?
He Chen’s mind was in turmoil, and he didn’t want Lu Changqing to notice. He proactively spoke, “The interval between flare-ups seems to be getting shorter. Leyan—”
“Leyan will be fine,” Lu Changqing said. His fingertip felt a slight tickle: He Chen blinked, his eyelashes brushing against his skin.
Lu Changqing suppressed a reaction, moving his finger down to gently pinch He Chen’s chin. “Let me look at your throat.”
Why look at his throat? He Chen didn’t understand.
But having a doctor examine you when you were sick provided a great sense of security in the subconscious of a stray child, so he obediently opened his mouth without raising any objections.
“Your throat was congested during the last flare-up. Although it wasn’t severe, we need to monitor it closely,” Lu Changqing explained.
After the explanation, his fingers moved down again, resting on He Chen’s carotid artery, quietly counting his pulse.
He Chen sat motionless, letting him count. However, because Lu Changqing’s fingers were pressed against his skin, He Chen grew increasingly uncomfortable, and his heart rate sped up by two beats.
Was Senior Brother checking him so carefully because, as Wen Yi said, he cared about him especially?
“It’s a bit fast.” After a moment, Lu Changqing finally released his hand.
“I just exercised, so my heart rate is faster, and my pulse might also be—”
“You were looking at data. When did you exercise?” Lu Changqing asked.
“I… exercised while looking at the data,” He Chen answered calmly.
Lu Changqing met his gaze, seemingly believing him. “You are in a volatile period, and you have toxins in your body. You need more rest. Don’t keep the string too taut; it will snap.”
“It won’t,” He Chen replied.
It wasn’t time for him to rest yet. The case hadn’t been overturned, revenge hadn’t been exacted, and now he was openly confronting the He family. He still had many things to worry about.
Thinking of this, the restlessness that had plagued him all evening suddenly subsided, replaced by a sense of clarity.
He shouldn’t be thinking about those unnecessary things.
He Chen looked at Lu Changqing. “Can we continue the experiment we were doing before?”
He was keen to use his toxin flare-ups to continue experimenting with methods to force out or suppress the toxins.
“No,” Lu Changqing answered sternly.
“We haven’t discussed the state of your mental domain. The problem is more serious than you think. This is not the time to add fuel to the fire by thinking about experiments.”
“What is the situation with my mental domain?” He Chen frowned.
“We construct mental landscapes to train and stabilize mental power, not to stimulate it. You shouldn’t cling to the past—”
“I constructed that place precisely to stabilize my mental power,” He Chen interrupted Lu Changqing.
“Perhaps it was, once,” Lu Changqing’s tone was calm. “But if you keep immersing yourself in it, it ceases to be that. It becomes drinking poison to quench thirst.”
“I haven’t,” He Chen replied, clenching his fingers.
“I believe you haven’t,” Lu Changqing silently took a breath, switching to a gentler, more persuasive tone. “Because you are very brave and never run away from reality.”
“You don’t mistake illusions for reality; you are merely commemorating them.”
He Chen showed no reaction to the first sentence, but upon hearing the second, he suddenly lowered his head.
“…You are speculating about me again,” he murmured.
“My apologies,” Lu Changqing said. “I am your therapist, responsible for your condition, so I overstepped a little. If anything is incorrect, please point it out, and we can discuss it.”
So, it was only because he was responsible for the treatment?
He Chen had resolved to be straightforward, but for some reason, a hint of disappointment surfaced. He quickly suppressed this inappropriate emotion and politely said, “Thank you, Senior Brother. I don’t wish to discuss it right now. I won’t confuse illusion and reality.”
“But—”
Just as Lu Changqing was about to speak, Leyan’s sleepy voice came from behind him: “Daddy?”
He Leyan had woken up at some point and was sitting up in bed, rubbing his eyes sleepily. “Is Daddy coming to sleep with us?”
“No.” Lu Changqing glanced at the blushing He Chen, signaling him not to move, and walked toward the bed. “Daddy is just talking to Papa. Go back to sleep.”
As he spoke, he laid Leyan down, patted his back, and released a wisp of mental power, allowing the little one to drift back into dreamland.
A human sleeping pill.
He Chen thought to himself. The heat on his face slowly subsided.
But when the “sleeping pill” turned back to look at him, he still evasively turned his gaze away. “Thank you, Senior Brother. I need to sleep now too.”
Lu Changqing checked the time.
It was indeed late, and He Chen was running a fever. However, there was one urgent matter he had to discuss with He Chen right now:
“Things in Star Capital are getting chaotic due to the blood crystal allocation. The major noble families are busy exposing each other’s flaws.”
He Chen perked up an ear. “I heard a little about that.”
“I just received intelligence tonight that someone plans to use the Han River incident from three years ago to attack the He family.”
“What do you mean?” He Chen frowned.
“Someone is reporting that the He family colluded with star pirates. To be precise, they are reporting you for colluding with star pirates,” Lu Changqing said. “It appears to target the He family, but in reality, the He family is using this to target you.”
“They have a star pirate as a witness and have fabricated some half-true, half-false physical evidence.”
Heh. He Chen’s lips curled into a cold sneer. “They have evidence, and I don’t?”
“This is an opportunity,” Lu Changqing said. “The Emperor is currently inclined to support you and suppress the He family. Since the He family has delivered themselves to your doorstep, you can turn their scheme against them and expose the truth of three years ago.”
He could, indeed, but He Chen fell silent.
“Are you worried about Xiang Heng?” Lu Changqing asked.
He Chen nodded. “They will pin everything on Brother Xiang.”
“Xiang Heng is not the type to be easily manipulated. He will have evidence to implicate the He family,” Lu Changqing said.
“I fear they will silence him before he can implicate them,” He Chen said in a low voice. “I want the He family to pay for their crimes, but I don’t want to add another tombstone.”
“Do you still trust Xiang Heng?” Lu Changqing asked.
“I don’t know.” Conflict and gloom flashed in He Chen’s eyes.
“But I won’t easily abandon a friend,” he said, his gaze firming up again.
Fool. Lu Changqing watched him for a moment, then spoke gently, “If that’s the case, I have a solution.”
“To protect Xiang Heng and prevent the blame from being shifted onto you, we must first eliminate their evidence, then create a distraction to prevent them from having the energy to continue framing you.”
“Are you suggesting silencing them?” He Chen looked up and asked.
Lu Changqing subtly tapped his finger. “I know my methods aren’t entirely honorable—”
“That’s not what I meant,” He Chen said. “I’m worried that they might use it against us.”
Lu Changqing relaxed his fingers. “Don’t worry, they won’t.”
“I still have some contacts in Star Capital,” He Chen added.
“You don’t need to get your hands dirty,” Lu Changqing said without hesitation.
He Chen paused. This was for safety reasons, right? He shouldn’t overthink it…
He shouldn’t think that Senior Brother’s eyes looked gentle, after all, his eyes were just naturally like that; they looked gentle no matter what he was looking at, even when he was talking about “silencing them.”
With that thought, He Chen convinced himself and drooped his eyes listlessly.
“Tired?” Lu Changqing touched He Chen’s forehead again, but He Chen took a step back to avoid him. “I’m fine. Senior Brother, you must be tired. Get some rest early.”
Lu Changqing withdrew his fingers, looking at He Chen with slight confusion. “Do you have any fever reducers?”
“Yes,” He Chen replied. “But that inhibitor—”
“That stuff has severe side effects and causes resistance if used too much. It’s best to avoid it if possible.”
“Understood.” Then he would endure it himself.
He Chen opened the door and saw Lu Changqing out.
Lu Changqing felt increasingly uneasy but couldn’t pinpoint why. Fearing he might say or do the wrong thing, and worried about disturbing He Chen’s rest, he left He Chen’s room. After pondering for a long time, he returned to his own room.
To arrange the matters of “silencing them.”
“Daddy!”
Opening his door in the morning, Lu Changqing was surprised to find He Leyan already awake, accompanied by Big Wolf, standing outside his room. “Happy Birthday!”
“Thank you.” Lu Changqing was momentarily stunned. He crouched down, rubbed the child’s head, his eyes soft. “How did Leyan remember this?”
“Daddy’s birthday is half a month after the Blood God Festival, so it’s easy to remember,” He Leyan replied, pulling out the gift hidden behind his back—a crayon drawing with a very… He Leyan-esque style.
The drawing featured four people: two large, one medium, and one small, along with a wolf and a snake.
The wolf and the snake had a circle of red dots around their necks. Lu Changqing immediately recognized them. “Are these the flower wreaths from the Blood God Festival?”
He Leyan nodded happily: Daddy is smart! Unlike Papa, who asked why they had rashes.
“This is Daddy, this is Papa, this is Gege, and this is me,” He Leyan introduced excitedly.
“I can see that. Thank you, Leyan.” Lu Changqing accepted the drawing, his fingers touching the hastily drawn Papa on the paper.
“Where is Papa?” Lu Changqing looked toward the opposite door.
“Papa went out to pick someone up,” He Leyan answered.
“I see.” Lu Changqing recalled that Elder Fang had mentioned that He Xiangye’s comrades were arriving these days. He had been too busy recently to pay attention to it, but it must be today.
“Let’s go eat.” He picked up He Leyan. His other hand rested on Big Wolf’s head. He wanted to stroke it but held back, instead sending a stream of mental power into its body.
He Chen immediately sensed it.
He was indeed picking up his father’s comrades. He was currently hosting them for a meal in the dining hall. Distracted for a moment, he quickly refocused on listening to them talk about his father’s past.
After settling them in, he went back to base business. It wasn’t until he returned to his residence in the evening that he learned about Lu Changqing’s birthday from Leyan.
After a moment of hesitation, he glanced at Lu Changqing’s empty room upstairs, then headed toward Lu Changqing’s office.
“I’m sorry, Senior Brother, I didn’t know it was your birthday today.”
“It’s alright.” Lu Changqing’s eyes brightened when he saw him. Whether it was his imagination or not, Lu Changqing felt that He Chen had been intentionally avoiding him today.
Suppressing his thoughts, Lu Changqing glanced at the flowerpot He Chen was holding. “Where did you dig that up?”
He Chen’s face felt slightly warm. “Downstairs, in the garden… How did you know?”
“The dirt hasn’t been completely shaken off.” Lu Changqing said, standing up. He took the “not completely shaken off” flowerpot from He Chen and placed it in the most prominent spot on his desk, carefully arranging the branches and leaves and patting down the loose soil.
“This doesn’t count. I’ll make up for it with a proper gift later,” He Chen said sheepishly.
“It counts,” Lu Changqing said, turning back. “Did you meet your father’s comrades today?”
“Yes,” He Chen replied, falling silent.
“Are you in a bad mood?”
“No,” He Chen denied. “It was good to see them and learn more about… him. It’s just—”
He Chen stopped speaking. He just didn’t know why, but he felt even more unsettled and uncomfortable inside.
“Is it regret that you couldn’t see him with your own eyes?” Lu Changqing asked.
He Chen nodded, looking up, ready to take his leave—he was here to give a gift, not to complain.
But before he could speak, Lu Changqing looked at him. “If you really want to give a gift, I have something I’d like your help with.”
“Please tell me, Senior Brother.”
“Come with me.” Lu Changqing led He Chen out of the room, into the elevator, and down to an underground hall. Many people in uniform gray outfits, moving quickly, respectfully saluted them upon sight.
Seeing their appearance and hearing their discussions, He Chen realized they were researchers. He bypassed them, looking closely at the scattered mechanical components being tested on both sides of the hall. His eyes grew increasingly focused, temporarily forgetting his inner regret and gloom.
Lu Changqing pushed open a heavily coded door and led him into a separate room. “The new generation of the Zero mecha. I’d like to invite you to do some testing and offer your feedback.”
“I can do that!” He Chen said without hesitation, fixing his gaze on the cold, dark mecha suit before him.
As soon as he finished speaking, he impatiently began unbuttoning his jacket.
“Not now.” Lu Changqing spoke, sounding like he was restraining something. “You are running a fever. It’s not suitable for combat.”
“That won’t affect anything!” He Chen continued unbuttoning, undoing half the buttons in the blink of an eye. Lu Changqing had to reach out and hold his arm. “I am a doctor. Listen to me.”
“You’re a doctor, not my dad…” He Chen muttered softly.
“What?” Lu Changqing raised an eyebrow.
He Chen looked at his close-up features, and somehow, a muffled question surged up. “Are you this responsible for every patient?”
Lu Changqing was silent for a moment. Suddenly, he seemed to understand something—though he didn’t dare be too certain.
“No,” he answered calmly, clenching his hands behind his back. “Only this responsible for you.”
This statement… He Chen’s attention completely shifted from the mecha to Lu Changqing. “Why? Because we are partners?”
“No.” Lu Changqing looked earnestly into his eyes. “Because you are you.”