Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Lu Tingchao: "..."

*Cough.*

Abs or no abs, how could he possibly... well, he really was that type.

Food and desire—basic instincts.

Back when they were together, Lu Tingchao couldn’t keep his hands off Zhuang Ji. Later, after the Lu family’s downfall, he gradually became more reserved, and then...

Lu Tingchao couldn't resist the temptation and took a couple more looks.

"Recently, with the night filming schedule for the crew, I haven't been training much."

Zhuang Ji picked up the water on the table and took a few sips.

With no one else around, he drank casually, his prominent Adam's apple bobbing a few times, giving off a strange tension.

Zhuang Ji set down the cup, his tone flat: "Wait till I get home, and you can touch them."

Lu Tingchao: "...Oh."

Actually, he could do without touching.

Sigh... Then again… maybe a little touch wouldn’t hurt.

Lu Tingchao mentally chastised himself, then spoke up, hesitant: "By the way, I heard you have a variety show to record next week?"

"The crew's group variety show."

"Oh..."

Silence again.

These silences were getting more frequent. Anyone would say it's a sign of a relationship on the rocks.

Lu Tingchao rubbed his nose: "Will Jiang Rong be there too?"

Zhuang Ji frowned: "Why do you keep bringing up Jiang Rong? Do you know her?"

"No, just curious."

"Nothing worth wondering about. It depends on the crew's arrangements."

Fine.

Lu Tingchao held back from asking Zhuang Ji for tickets, picked up his phone, and burrowed under the covers.

The bed was big.

The air conditioning was cool.

Lu Tingchao suddenly felt a little down, but it only lasted a few seconds: "Zhuang Ji, once you’re back from filming, I have something to tell you."

Zhuang Ji still had that same gloomy look between his brows: "Running out of money?"

Lu Tingchao: "No."

Zhuang Ji: "If there's any new release you want, just send it to Lin Cheng."

"Not that either."

"Then what is it?"

Lu Tingchao scrubbed a hand over his face: "It's not a big deal, I'll tell you when you get back. Zhuang Ji, good night."

Zhuang Ji slightly furrowed his brow and, before Lu Tingchao could hang up, ended the video call first.

Lu Tingchao: "..."

Sleep was probably out of the question now.

Lu Tingchao simply changed clothes and drove off.

The loud, bright pink SUV cut through the last traces of pre-dawn darkness, speeding down the eight-lane asphalt road of North City before finally stopping outside an old, run-down but spacious residential complex in the east end.

The equally sleepless gatekeeper, speaking in perfectly standard Mandarin: "Register! Register!"

Lu Tingchao shouted back: "Already did! Already did!"

The old man came out of the gatehouse to open the iron gate for Lu Tingchao: "Come back earlier next time! You're disturbing everyone's rest!"

"Alright, I just got off work! Sigh, gotta do it for the kid's schooling, no other choice."

This complex was one of the best school district housing options in the east end, just a street away from North City's top elementary school.

The old man bolted the iron gate again, looking skeptical: "What do you do for work, young man? Not run a nightclub, are you?"

"No, no."

Lu Tingchao waved his hands repeatedly, "I'm a kept man."

Old man: "?"

Lu Tingchao had already slipped inside.

Historically speaking, this apartment could be considered the last thing the Lu family left for Lu Tingchao.

He climbed six flights of stairs, panting, and reached into his pocket only to remember he'd left the keys at home, instantly feeling completely hopeless.

Just as Lu Tingchao was debating whether to crash by the door until dawn or knock and piss off the neighbors, the door opened from the inside.

Chi Guo poked his head out: "Chao Chao, you're here?"

Lu Tingchao: "Guo Guo? What are you doing here?"

Chi Guo looked dead inside: "My brother called me three hours ago, said you and Zhuang Ji had a falling out, worried you might run off with the kid, so he sent me here to keep an eye on things."

Lu Tingchao: "..."

Chi Guo: "If there's any sign you're about to commit a crime, stop you right on the spot."

Lu Tingchao: "..."

Lu Tingchao tried to argue: "I'm not, I wouldn't."

Chi Guo: "You ran away from home in the middle of the night."

Lu Tingchao: "..."

Chi Guo: "You left home abruptly and didn’t even bring your keys."

Lu Tingchao: "..."

Chi Guo: "The night is dark and the wind's picking up!"

Lu Tingchao: "..."

Chi Guo: "This proves you had criminal intent, just unsuccessful."

Lu Tingchao: "My dear innocent Guo Guo, the community precinct is lucky to have you."

Chi Guo blushed slightly and said sincerely, "You have great taste. I was just named this quarter’s Outstanding Employee."

Lu Tingchao: "..."

Lu Tingchao closed the door and said with equal sincerity, "I really didn’t have a falling out with Zhuang Ji."

Chi Guo nodded: "I get it. You just engaged in some jerk behavior."

Lu Tingchao: "..."

Chi Guo blinked: "Anyway, from childhood to now, you’ve messed over at least hundreds, if not thousands, of people. The fact that you lasted this long with Zhuang Ji—I think you’ve really surpassed yourself."

Lu Tingchao was pleased: "Good, good! I knew you’d understand me!"

"But the Lu family is already bankrupt."

Lu Tingchao: "..."

Chi Guo said: "A can of Dou Dou’s formula milk costs hundreds. Food, clothing, housing, transportation—everything costs money. Future enrichment classes and kindergarten will be huge expenses. Chao Chao, do you know? Enrichment classes in North City are so expensive, tens of thousands per semester..."

"So I want to get a larger settlement from Zhuang Ji."

Lu Tingchao said.

Chi Guo: "..."

"No, seriously, why?"

Chi Guo said, "You worked so hard to win him back then. You even... were willing to carry Dou Dou for him. Now you have a child, everything was going smoothly. Why did you suddenly stop loving him?"

Lu Tingchao: "Because love is like a ray of light."

Chi Guo: "...So green it makes him panic?"

Lu Tingchao: "???"

Lu Tingchao: "I didn’t say that."

Chi Guo: "But it’s highly possible you did it."

Lu Tingchao: "I haven’t done it yet!"

Chi Guo: "..."

"I suspect he put a curse on me during those years we were together."

Lu Tingchao hesitated, "Love without a curse is like a handful of sand—have a child, then drift apart."

Chi Guo: "..."

Lu Tingchao picked up on the silence: "Do you also think I’m right?"

Chi Guo shook his head: "No. I was just thinking, if Zhuang Ji ever asks about this, how can I pretend I was never part of this conversation?"

Lu Tingchao: "...Why is everyone so afraid of him?!!!"

"Because deep down, you’re afraid of him too."

Chi Guo said, "If you weren’t afraid of him at all, you’d go straight to him and ask for a divorce instead of first exposing his relationship with Jiang Rong to gain leverage. If you weren’t afraid of him..."

Lu Tingchao: "What?"

"I just suddenly remembered something a senior colleague at our office said, and it made sense."

Chi Guo sighed, "My brother never understood it, but now I think I have. Chao Chao, you don’t really love him that much either."

Lu Tingchao was confused.

Chi Guo: "The foundation of two people loving each other is honesty, trust, and joining hands."

"That’s child's play."

Lu Tingchao dismissed it, "The foundation of adult love is the old man pushing the cart, the old tree putting down roots, the old—"

"Ding dong—"

Lu Tingchao: "."

Lu Tingchao and Chi Guo exchanged a glance, then opened the door.

Two serious-looking handsome men stood at the doorway.

Lu Tingchao: "!"

Before Lu Tingchao could react, Chi Guo took a step back, hiding entirely behind him: "Mo... Director Mo."

"I’ve left the force for a long time. No need to call me that."

The handsome man on the left had a piercing gaze, broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and a cold voice, "Do you know me?"

Lu Tingchao: "?"

"Yes, yes, he’s a new colleague at our precinct!"

The handsome man on the right looked slightly younger and clearly knew Chi Guo. He gave Chi Guo a look before saying, "Someone in the community complained about a late-night disturbance. I came to check. I happened to run into Director Mo... Mr. Mo, so we came up together."

Lu Tingchao: "..."

"It’s all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! We didn’t mean to!"

Chi Guo, clearly afraid of getting docked pay, stepped out from behind Lu Tingchao, "Chao Chao, this is my colleague from the police station. The other one... well, he used to be the Deputy Chief of East City PD, but he’s left the force now. You can call him Mr. Mo."

Lu Tingchao was shocked: "Now even ordinary citizens causing a late-night disturbance rate a deputy chief coming to apprehend me in person?"

"You're not being arrested for disturbing the peace."

Mo Lingnan's brows were sharp, and when slightly furrowed, they carried a stern, imposing air. "According to multiple reports, there's a baby crying in your household at night, but no woman has ever been seen. This may involve child trafficking. Everyone in the residence must cooperate with the investigation."

Lu Tingchao fell silent.

Lu Tingchao refused to give up: "Bro, you've already resigned... can you cut me some slack?"

The man's brow tightened slightly: "Sorry. Aside from my former job, I have another identity—I'm the landlord of the apartment below yours."

"Oh, right, right..."

The young police officer who had rushed over wiped the sweat from his forehead. "It was the security guard and the tenant below you who reported it."

*

When the on-duty personnel at the precinct had finished verifying all of Lu Doudou's paperwork, they handed the folder back to Lu Tingchao with three parts doubt, three parts disbelief, and four parts scrutiny.

Lu Tingchao met Mo Lingnan's gaze with a look of three parts cool indifference, three parts mockery, and four parts nonchalance: "I gave it to you at home, but you didn't believe me. You insisted on checking it against the station’s records. Are you satisfied now?"

"Hey, Chaochao... forget it, forget it." (Chaochao is a diminutive for Tingchao, implying familiarity.)

Chi Guo tugged at Lu Tingchao's sleeve, pulling him back. "Mr. Mo is just being responsible."

"What responsibility? He's not the retired bureau chief anymore! He takes the security guard's word for it, drags us to the police station in the middle of the night without letting us sleep—is that his responsibility?"

Lu Tingchao had always been the type to be a pushover at home but tough outside. After a night of chaos without sleep, he was even more relentless when he felt he was in the right.

He took a step to the left, blocking Mo Lingnan's path. "Don't you owe us an apology at least?"

The officer in charge couldn't stand it any longer: "Mr. Lu, cooperating with an investigation is every citizen's duty. Please don't make things difficult for Mr. Mo."

Lu Tingchao: "So citizens are just supposed to accept having their rest time wasted?"

"These documents only prove that Lu Doudou is your legally adopted child."

Mo Lingnan's voice was cold and clear. "The police station will still follow up with procedures to check for any missing children. Lu Tingchao, you'd better be careful."

Lu Tingchao fell silent.

The light in the police station was dim and silent. Both the officers behind Mo Lingnan and Chi Guo behind Lu Tingchao looked particularly serious.

Only Lu Tingchao let out a mirthless laugh.

He took a step forward, stood on his toes, and in full view of everyone, looped an arm around Mo Lingnan's neck.

Then he leaned close to his ear.

"Mr. Mo, since you're so curious. Let me tell you, the child is mine. I birthed him myself."

Mo Lingnan stiffened: "Mr. Lu, show some self-respect."

"It's because I have enough self-respect that I've managed to hold back from swearing at you until now."

Lu Tingchao blew a teasing breath toward Mo Lingnan's ear. "What? Don't believe me? Want me to have one for you?"