Doctor Lu Always Wants To Steal My Baby! Chapter 79
byChapter 79 The Little Wolf’s Possible Confession
“What are you thinking about?”
Seeing He Chen staring blankly into the air, Lu Changqing asked.
“Nothing!” He Chen raised his head, standing ramrod straight, but his hands were clasped behind his back, tightly clenched in distress.
“I’m sorry, Senior Brother.”
“Sorry for what?” Lu Changqing looked at him.
He Chen looked at Lu Changqing, then averted his gaze: “I’m sorry for making you make such a huge sacrifice.”
Sacrifice? Lu Changqing was silent for a moment: “Don’t misuse words.”
Which word? He Chen glanced at him again, wanting to speak, but felt terribly embarrassed—he would rather roll onto the battlefield immediately and kill enemies for a hundred days!
“Don’t worry about it, it’s just a small matter. Just pretend nothing happened and be the same as before,” Lu Changqing said considerately, seeing his awkwardness.
“But, how can it be the same…” He Chen whispered.
He suddenly looked at Xu Lin, his eyes a little resentful: Xu Lin understood these things best. If he were awake, he could give him some advice.
But this scoundrel was just lying there, watching him make a fool of himself.
“Ahem, let’s go outside to talk.” Being in front of Xu Lin—even though he was a vegetable—He Chen still felt some shame, so he pulled Lu Changqing out.
Just as they closed the door, Xu Lin, who had been lying in the hospital bed for three years without reaction, had a tremor in his eyeballs and fingers, one after the other.
*
“Papa, Daddy, you’re back!” Seeing the two of them enter together, He Leyan was especially happy, and He Moyan also diverted his attention from the dinner table to look at He Chen several times.
He Chen walked past them, rubbed each of their heads once, and went to wash his hands to prepare for dinner.
Lu Changqing came back with him, so naturally, he also needed to wash his hands. The two brushed past each other in the relatively cramped bathroom. Lu Changqing didn’t say an extra word or make an extra move, but He Chen inexplicably blushed again.
During dinner, He Chen kept his eyes straight ahead and sat particularly upright. When Lu Changqing put food on his plate, he accepted it all. Occasionally, he would stiffly put a little food on Lu Changqing’s plate as well.
“Papa, why are you acting like a robot?”
“Nonsense, who looks like a robot?”
He Chen put down his chopsticks, his handsome face flushed red.
“Papa just had arm surgery and hasn’t fully recovered, so his movements are unnatural,” Lu Changqing explained seriously to He Leyan.
“Oh.” He Leyan looked at He Chen with concern and handed him a cartoon spoon he hadn’t used: “Papa, use this one.”
“Thank you…” He Chen accepted it with teary eyes.
Wen Yi couldn’t hold back a laugh, pretending to choke, and turned his face away from the table.
He could tell that there seemed to be some unusual development between the Director and Commander He…
“Didn’t we agree to act normal?” Lu Changqing leaned close to He Chen’s ear and whispered.
“I am acting normal.” He Chen turned his head, but accidentally got too close to Lu Changqing. His breathing hitched slightly, and Lu Changqing’s eyes deepened. After a moment, both of them turned their faces forward simultaneously.
They ate dinner with utmost seriousness.
After dinner, He Chen returned to his room to shower. When he finished, he changed into a crisp new military uniform. He Leyan saw it and bit his little lip: “Papa, where are you going again?”
He Chen bent down and looked at him seriously: “Papa needs to go back to the Hanhe Base to inspect the defense arrangements there. Leyan, Papa will be very busy for a while, but Papa promises that once this busy period is over, I will spend quality time with you, staying with you all the time.”
He Leyan’s eyes reddened: “Will Papa be in danger?”
“No.” He Chen hugged him, his chest firm, his tone resolute, “For Leyan’s sake, Papa won’t let himself be in danger.”
“Pinky promise.” He Leyan held out his finger.
“Pinky promise.” He Chen hooked his little finger, “Leyan must also be obedient, listen to Daddy’s arrangements, and stay with your brother—”
“I’m going with you.” He Moyan appeared at the doorway at some point, looking at He Chen and saying stiffly.
After speaking, he stood there and began reciting from a book: “The military is a great affair of the state, the ground of life and death, the way of survival and ruin…”
He Chen held He Leyan and listened for a while, until He Moyan stumbled for the third time and looked at He Leyan’s mouth for a reminder for the third time. Only then did he put He Leyan down and walk toward Moyan: “You want to go that badly?”
He Moyan nodded, then lowered his head, pulled a book from his pocket, and searched for where he had stumbled just now.
“Enough.” He Chen pulled the book from his hand and tucked it back into his pocket. “Reciting books isn’t suitable for you.”
His expression became serious as he looked into He Moyan’s eyes: “Do you really want to go to the battlefield? Is this what you want?”
He Moyan nodded, with no fear in his eyes, only longing.
Idiot, that’s not a place worth longing for. But He Chen clenched his fingers, finally making up his mind: “I can take you, but let’s agree on two things first. One, you must obey command. Two, stay by my side.”
Before letting him do what he wanted, He Chen still needed to protect him for a while.
He Moyan nodded.
He originally wanted to stay by He Chen’s side anyway—to be his shadow, to protect him!
“Go shower and pack your bags. I’ll wait for you for half an hour, no longer,” He Chen said concisely.
He Moyan immediately sprang into action, bypassing him, brushing past Leyan, and quickly running into the bathroom to shower.
He Leyan pouted his little lips, trying hard to hold back, but couldn’t, and a few golden tears fell: Not only is Papa leaving, but why is Brother leaving too?
He, he’s so sad!
The child twisted around, burrowed onto the bed, and started sobbing. He Chen wanted to go over and hug him but held back, signaling Deng Tie to step forward. He clenched his fingers and exited the room.
He stood in the hallway for a moment, then turned and walked toward Lu Changqing’s room, knocking on the door.
—Before leaving, he was following “medical advice” to see Lu Changqing for a treatment session.
Lu Changqing was on a call with someone. He opened the door, let He Chen in, and asked him to wait in the living room.
He Chen sat on the sofa, unconsciously listening to his movements, but rarely heard him speak, only the occasional “Mm” and “Okay.”
“Who was that?” Seeing Lu Changqing approach, He Chen subconsciously asked.
Lu Changqing didn’t answer immediately. He Chen realized: “I asked too much.”
He did want Lu Changqing to be more transparent with him, but he shouldn’t strip Lu Changqing of all privacy. These were two different things.
“You didn’t ask too much, it was Lu Jingshan,” Lu Changqing replied.
After answering, he didn’t wait for He Chen to ask again and proactively said: “He was discussing with me which reinforcements to send to Hanhe.”
“He can decide that? Shouldn’t that be the military’s business?” He Chen asked.
“He has people in the military, so he can interfere partially.”
“However, that’s just what he thinks.”
Lu Changqing said.
“The people in the military aren’t actually his? Whose are they?” He Chen asked, looking at Lu Changqing.
Just by looking at Lu Changqing’s expression, he understood most of it.
He Chen suddenly felt a little sorry for Lu Jingshan—“I heard he was implicated in Chu Yunlan’s betrayal and was punished by the Emperor to recuperate at home?”
“He was punished, not just because of Chu Yunlan’s involvement, but also because he secretly raised a thousand private soldiers, scattered in several places under the guise of needing to act through the council. The Emperor found clues and grew suspicious of him.”
“How did the Emperor find the clues?” He Chen asked.
After asking, he looked at Lu Changqing’s expression and understood again.
“Senior Brother is truly terrifying…”
“Terrifying?” Lu Changqing raised his eyes.
“No.” He Chen knew he had misspoken, picked up the spray bottle, and squirted some water on the potted plant on the coffee table.
Lu Changqing glanced at his action and brought up the main topic: “What do you think of these so-called ‘reinforcements’?”
“They fall into three categories. Some are following the Emperor’s orders, some are undecided and might not exert themselves even if they come, and the rest are our allies?” He Chen looked at Lu Changqing.
Lu Changqing nodded.
He Chen continued, drawing several arcs on the table: “Right now, we are blocked behind the Pingliao Starfield, and they are isolated on the periphery by the defense line formed by the He family coalition. The immediate priority is to cooperate from inside and out, breaking through to our own people before others react, and forming a new defense line.”
He erased half of the outer arc and redrew an arc with a cutting angle.
“We also need to leave two hidden pieces on the opposite side,” Lu Changqing drew two dots in the newly divided area.
“The orthodox and the unexpected complement each other, endless and inexhaustible. Senior Brother understands military strategy very well.” He Chen looked up at Lu Changqing.
“I just know we need to keep cards in hand and not play them all at once. When it comes to military strategy, you are still more formidable.” Lu Changqing looked at He Chen, his eyes filled with genuine admiration.
He Chen felt his face heat up from the gaze, but he brazenly said: “You just realized? I’ve always been a top student.”
Lu Changqing smiled: “Just studying well isn’t enough; you also have to be good at fighting. You are more formidable than a top student.”
He then grew serious: “There is another practical problem. The He family army has the ‘Hive.’ We need to break through the He family’s blockade and send Zero to Zhao Huai and the others.”
He Chen lowered his eyes and thought for a moment: “I’ll handle it.”
“You have a way?” Lu Changqing asked.
“Yes.” He Chen hesitated before speaking, “Space pirates.”
“It’s not just the He family colluding with space pirates; I’m not exactly innocent either.” He Chen pinched his fingers. “When I was investigating the Fire Fox case, I arranged for someone to infiltrate their ranks. After the Fire Fox was eliminated, he took some resources and started his own faction, never returning.”
“You tacitly allowed it?” Lu Changqing asked.
He Chen nodded: “I made an agreement with him: only rob ill-gotten wealth, and do not harm innocent lives. If he breaks the contract, I will personally clean up the mess.”
Lu Changqing nodded, looking deeply at He Chen.
“What is it?” He Chen asked.
“Nothing.” Lu Changqing said, “I just suddenly realized that you are more mature than I imagined.”
Mature enough to accept and manage those gray methods, even if those methods contradict his inherent desire for simplicity and light, and even if a cruel past torments him behind the scenes.
Although naive in some matters, He Chen was not a “child” in terms of willpower. He could handle responsibility, was good at self-reflection, and had the means—he was a fully capable adult.
Did that mean he could also accept… his true self?
Lu Changqing tightened his fingers, almost opening his mouth to say something, but suddenly changed the subject, scrutinizing the details: “The person you mentioned, how many starships does he have?”
He Chen gave a number and looked at him: “Senior Brother trusts me so easily?”
“Trust you about what?”
“Trust that I haven’t acted as a space pirate’s umbrella, colluding with them and lining my own pockets, like the He family.”
“Of course I trust you. Even if you were lining your own pockets, it would be for Hanhe, for your subordinates, and for guarding the border defense line.”
Lu Changqing’s voice was low and serious.
He Chen pinched his fingers. Was this what it felt like to be unconditionally trusted? A warm current surged in his heart. Before it finished surging, he heard Lu Changqing speak again: “Just like the ‘cooperation funds’ you’ve been demanding from me with exorbitant requests all these years.”
“…” He Chen fell silent, his face gradually turning red.
“Why are you blushing? Are you hot?”
“No,” He Chen instinctively said.
Lu Changqing smiled: “I didn’t see you being so thin-skinned when you were asking for money.”
“I didn’t know it was you then…” He Chen didn’t know why, but his skin inexplicably became thinner in front of Lu Changqing.
“Have you been taking your medicine on time?” Seeing his slightly red face, Lu Changqing remembered his pneumonia hadn’t fully healed and raised his hand to touch his forehead.
He Chen remained motionless, only his eyelids lifting, his eyelashes trembling against Lu Changqing’s palm.
“Am I running a fever again?”
“No.”
Lu Changqing withdrew his hand: “You are very healthy now.”
Beneath He Chen’s well-fitting military uniform was a body with tight muscles and perfect lines, newly revitalized and energetic.
Lu Changqing loosened his collar button and suddenly stood up: “I’m going to wash my hands and give you treatment.”
He walked into the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and used the rushing water to dampen his sudden surge of desire.
When would He Chen mature and become enlightened in that area, like he was in others? No, even a tenth of that would be fine.
Lu Changqing swallowed, dried his hands, and returned to the living room.
He Chen’s gaze had been following him. Seeing him emerge, he looked at his tall figure and the two sections of well-proportioned, strong forearms beneath the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, then suddenly turned his head away: Strange, everyone has arms, why was he staring at Senior Brother’s and recalling many scenes of them fighting hand-to-hand and grappling…
Lu Changqing looked at his blushing face, his heart stirring: “What are you thinking about?”
“I’m thinking about when Senior Brother will fight me again.”
…Lu Changqing felt a little worried.
“Time is limited, let’s do the treatment first,” he said, grabbing He Chen’s wrist.
He Chen’s expression became serious: “Senior Brother, what exactly is the situation with my Spiritual Domain? Can you give me the full picture?”
Having been lost in his Spiritual Domain twice recently, He Chen was a little nervous.
“It’s a lingering effect from the last riot. The situation is already improving, no need to worry too much,” Lu Changqing said.
“Will it happen again? Are there any signs before it happens? I don’t want to be commanding halfway through and suddenly ‘get lost’ and not be able to return.”
“As long as you don’t want to, you won’t truly get lost.” Lu Changqing said halfway, his mental power unfolded, already bringing He Chen into his Spiritual Domain, and penetrating directly into the second layer.
The entrance of that snowy village.
“I still suggest you disperse these, because the more vivid they are, the harder it will be for you to let go,” Lu Changqing stood side-by-side with He Chen, looking at the ice houses and the figures talking and laughing in front of them.
He Chen looked at the familiar faces and bit his lip.
Lu Changqing knew this was too difficult for him. He softened his tone: “There’s no rush. If it’s you, I believe you won’t truly stay here.”
“As long as you are looking forward and focusing your mental energy on the future, the past won’t truly trip you up.”
He Chen tapped his fingers: “What if I get tripped up for no reason?”
“Then cut them off.” As soon as Lu Changqing spoke, the light and shadows rotated in front of He Chen, and somehow, he suddenly appeared in the lake within his Spiritual Domain again.
Lu Changqing was underwater with him, holding a long sword that emitted light.
More shadowy water weeds wrapped around them. Lu Changqing handed the sword to He Chen: “This is your home ground. You have enough power to cut off the negative energy entangling you. But don’t strive to cut it off completely; we can coexist with these energies, as long as we don’t get trapped in them.”
He Chen glanced at him, nodded, held the sword, and firmed his resolve.
Strangely, the moment his resolve firmed, those water weeds retreated on their own.
He Chen looked at Lu Changqing. Lu Changqing smiled: “Do you believe it now?”
He Chen nodded, looked at the sword, and plunged it into the bottom of the lake: “Can I leave it here? To be my anchor.”
Lu Changqing nodded, then shook his head: “That is my mental power. If you use it as an anchor, it means opening the deep layer of your Spiritual Domain to me. I can enter and exit anytime.”
“Is there anything wrong with that?”
“The problem is that with such deep integration, you really will develop a treatment dependency on me.”
Lu Changqing said, moving to retrieve the light sword, melting it back into his body.
“Senior Brother doesn’t want me to become dependent on you?” He Chen curled his fingers.
“I do.” Lu Changqing looked at him, “But these are two different things.”
“Of course I hope you depend on me and are intimate with me, but that should stem from you ‘wanting it to be so,’ not ‘having to be so.’”
He said, his deep eyes looking at He Chen: “You also don’t like losing independence, which is why you were anxious to ‘break the habit’ back then, right?”
He Chen chuckled awkwardly: Why bring up the past… Besides, he was only acting on instinct back then, not thinking so deeply or thoroughly.
“Is Senior Brother researching solutions for treatment dependency because you dislike this unequal dependency?” He Chen suddenly asked.
“I dislike one party being controlled by the other, where joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness are not self-determined,” Lu Changqing replied.
He Chen looked at him, feeling like he understood him a little more. Life was equal and free in Senior Brother’s eyes. Even if he could easily make others dependent on him and obey his every word, he wouldn’t do so; instead, he actively tried to prevent it.
“Is Senior Brother always this principled and rational?” He Chen couldn’t help but ask.
“Do you dislike my principles and rationality?” Lu Changqing countered.
“No, I like it.” He Chen blurted out without thinking.
After he spoke, both of them paused. He Chen looked away, but Lu Changqing smiled, pointed at He Chen, and condensed and extracted an identical sword from his body, personally plunging it into the lake bottom.
He hoped He Chen would be his own anchor.
He hoped he could continue moving forward without anyone. This “anyone” included Lu Changqing himself.
He was also taking precautions, just in case He Chen discovered his “true face” one day and couldn’t accept it, so that his mental power wouldn’t suffer the kind of collapsing turmoil that Shen Xingzhou experienced.
Shen Xingzhou and Fu Chen once had such a “treatment dependency.”
“Senior Brother, what are you thinking about?”
The direct contact in the Spiritual Domain made He Chen more sensitive than usual. He vaguely sensed an unusual heaviness the moment Lu Changqing cast the sword.
“I was wondering if you truly don’t remember anything about that night?” Lu Changqing turned back, a hint of teasing in his eyes.
“…” Underwater, He Chen genuinely recalled a little—the physical entanglement…
Lu Changqing didn’t tease him further but had him sit and meditate. When He Chen opened his eyes from meditation, he was already out of the Spiritual Domain.
“Time’s up, Moyan is calling you,” Lu Changqing said.
He Moyan was indeed standing at the door, carrying a bag, neatly packed, every strand of his hair looking spirited.
He Chen stood up, walked a few steps toward the door, then turned back to look at Lu Changqing: “Senior Brother, I will look forward and focus my mental energy on the future.”
He said, his voice inexplicably lowered: “A future that includes Senior Brother.”
“Thank you.” Lu Changqing’s lips curved slightly, then he grew calm, looking at He Chen, “You don’t need to rush into any decision just because we did that. I told you, it was just treatment.”
“I’m not rushing! I thought about this before.”
He Chen said this, blushing, and hurried away.
Lu Changqing smiled again, then paused: Was he talking about a future of sworn brotherhood?
Judging by the extent of his blush, probably not?
Lu Changqing stood at the doorway, watching him go downstairs and disappear. He wanted to remain composed, but he couldn’t control the corners of his mouth.
It wasn’t until He Chen’s figure walked out the main door and disappeared that he slowly reined in his smile. In the deepest part of his eyes, anxiety and unease gradually surfaced.
*
The heat on He Chen’s face only subsided after boarding the starship.
After briefly thinking about his confession, which he wasn’t sure counted as one, and Lu Changqing’s reaction, he forced his mind back to the war.
On the grand scale, the war was for a better future.
But in the details, He Chen still had to be responsible for every one of his soldiers, minimizing casualties to the greatest extent.
Just as he was engrossed in deduction and calculation, the military communicator on the warship suddenly rang: “Commander, we have a situation. We detected a Myster starship in the gamma-2 zone.”
Myster? He Chen stood up and walked toward the central control: “Send me the image.”
“Yes.” The other party sent an image that looked familiar to He Chen. “After comparison, the overlap rate with the previous Sirius Tribe warship is 99.97%. We judge it to be the same starship.”
Sirius Tribe… Him again? He Chen frowned slightly: “Only one ship?”
“Yes.”
“Expand the search radius,” He Chen ordered.
“Yes. The opponent is actively transmitting a signal to us.”
“Content?” He Chen asked.
“Myster language, currently being deciphered.” The terminal said, sending over a segment of audio.
Gibberish, it was Rupert’s voice: “Pasni Gege, have you been waiting obediently for me? The taste of rutting isn’t easy, is it? I told you, you would need me!”
He Chen’s face tightened: “No need to decipher!”
He was going to make him shut up right now!
*
“Gege is indeed anxious.” Meeting on the screen across the starships, Rupert stared at He Chen, glancing at his clean ear.
He naturally knew that He Chen wouldn’t keep his “mark,” but it was this kind of “Pasni Gege” that made him yearn.
“What are you here for again?” He Chen asked in the Sirius language, subtly observing Rupert’s side.
Rupert himself seemed normal, but his servants were more numerous than last time, and almost all of them were injured.
“I’m here to seek refuge with Gege,” Rupert said.
“Lost another battle?” He Chen raised an eyebrow.
At the same time, he secretly speculated whether the people Lu Changqing sent to Myster were still safe, and whether Rupert’s presence here was related to them.
However, Rupert didn’t mention them at all, so it seemed unrelated.
“I lost the battle. I, Rupert, dare to lose and admit it. I’m here to seek refuge with you. If you don’t believe me, you can have your men disarm me and escort me over to see!”
He Chen was planning to do just that.
Under fire suppression, he had his men board the Sirius Tribe starship and bring Rupert over.
After a thorough search, stripped of all weapons, Rupert felt several pounds lighter as he was brought before He Chen.
“Pasni, I’m serious, let’s cooperate.” Rupert said seemingly sincerely. He even used the Blue Star language for the word “cooperate,” so everyone present could understand.
“Cooperate? What do you have?” He Chen asked in the Sirius language.
“I have people, namely me!” Rupert said shamelessly, then suddenly reached out and grabbed He Chen’s wrist.
He Chen tried to shake him off, but Rupert suddenly spoke: “Wait!”
“Why is your vitality not high? Who helped you suppress the toxins?!”
Rupert shook his head as he spoke: “No, you Blue Star people can’t suppress the Sirius toxin; your constitution can’t handle it! Have you not gone into rut yet?”
That didn’t seem right either. He had timed his arrival precisely, worried that the hateful pet would really explode from the toxin and kill himself.
“What does it mean, ‘constitution can’t handle it’?” He Chen’s expression changed slightly, but he endured and didn’t reveal any clues.
“You Blue Star bugs, unless you’ve bathed in the Sirius Lake like you did, you can’t share the burden of the toxin.”
“Tell me, did one of my tribesmen detoxify you?!”