Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Even though Lin Ze was using his coat and gun while calling his name, Li Xiujin was still jealous.

Just as Lin Ze was halfway through, he suddenly spoke up, "Colonel Lin, what are you doing?"

Lin Ze's dazed eyes grew a bit clearer. Realizing it was him, he buried his face deeper into Li Xiujin's coat in utter embarrassment, clamping his legs together to hide what he'd been using...

But Li Xiujin didn't give him a chance to hide. He pried his legs apart, pulled out the gun barrel, the wet muzzle leaving a slick trail.

Lin Ze trembled lightly.

Li Xiujin pulled the utterly mortified Lin Ze into his arms and chuckled, "I didn't know you liked this?"

Lin Ze, his face flushed crimson, clutched at his shirt...

"Did you miss me?"

"Mhm..." Lin Ze answered in a barely audible whisper.

Li Xiujin told him to open up. After rubbing a couple of times, he took him into his mouth and began to suck.

Lin Ze bit the back of his hand, his eyes growing hazy again. After getting Li Xiujin's face all wet, Li Xiujin flipped him over and began infusing him with pheromones...

Li Xiujin didn't know what other omegas' heats were like, but Lin Ze seemed exceptionally fragile. Although he usually preferred to fuck Lin Ze senseless, he was gentle this time.

He waited until Lin Ze was thoroughly wet and open before slowly pushing in, then took his soft earlobe into his mouth, whispering an apology against his ear.

"I shouldn't have gone out today, did that make you feel bad?"

Lin Ze knew he must have left for something urgent. Under normal circumstances, he would have said it was fine, but right now he wanted to say yes, yet felt he shouldn't be so needy...

Seeing this, Li Xiujin coaxed him again, "I won't go out these next two days, I'll stay home with you."

Lin Ze felt a surge of happiness and security, but was ashamed of how clingy he had become. He closed his eyes without responding.

"You don't want me to?"

"I..." Lin Ze hurriedly said, "I do..."

And in that moment, Li Xiujin felt Lin Ze's love and need for him. He turned Lin Ze around, had him wrap his arms around his neck, and began planting kisses all over him...

Li Xiujin and Lin Ze didn't leave the house for two days. By the third day, Lin Ze had returned to normal. He opened his eyes to see Li Xiujin nestled against his chest, suckling contentedly in his sleep.

Although he felt hot-faced recalling how shameless he had been during his heat, Lin Ze still held Li Xiujin's head close, grateful that he had helped him through such a sweet heat.

Until a loud cry rang out, making Lin Ze think of Chong Yi. Not wanting to disturb Li Xiujin's deep sleep, he initially tried to make him let go as he would with Chong Yi, but Li Xiujin was much more alert. The moment Lin Ze touched him, he opened his eyes.

Lin Ze, still embarrassed by his actions during his heat, fluttered his eyelashes, avoiding eye contact.

"Xiu Jin, Chong Yi is crying. I'll go check on him."

Li Xiujin, as if he hadn't slept enough, frowned at him. "Last night you were clinging to me, refusing to let go. Now that you're better, it's only Li Chongyi in your heart again."

Lin Ze quickly shook his head. "It's not only Li Chongyi, there's also... you."

Li Xiujin scoffed coldly.

"It's true..." Lin Ze said earnestly.

Seeing his expression soften slightly, Lin Ze continued, "Xiu Jin, in my heart, Chong Yi is important, but he can't compare to you."

Li Xiujin's concern over who held more importance in his heart stemmed from never having been loved as a child. Lin Ze would answer each of Li Xiujin's questions seriously, letting him know he was loved.

Li Xiujin's Adam's apple bobbed, and he kissed him fiercely.

Finally held by his mother, Li Chongyi looked up with teary, aggrieved eyes, burrowing insistently into Lin Ze's arms. Lin Ze's heart ached with guilt. "Chong Yi, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Watching Lin Ze coax Li Chongyi so gently and softly, Li Xiujin was still eaten up with jealousy. He had no choice but to get dressed and head to work.

As soon as he arrived at the office, Yang Yu came to see him.

"General, following your orders, I asked Li Wei. Li Wei said he only remembers living a very affluent life before. As for what his parents looked like, he doesn't remember at all."

"He had a head injury before, which is why he forgot many things. Afraid I wouldn't believe him, he even showed me his head. There's indeed a long scar. But I still wasn't convinced, so I took him to the hospital for a check-up. The doctor also said his amnesia is a result of the head injury."

"So he probably isn't lying; he genuinely doesn't remember."

Li Xiujin nodded and told him about Li Wei being the Prime Minister's son.

Yang Yu was utterly shocked.

By the afternoon, Su Wang and Zhou Dingshan had made a new discovery.

A file lay on the teahouse table.

Li Xiujin opened it to find a pair of sisters.

One of the women bore a resemblance to Li Wei in the eyes and brows.

"These are the daughters of the Li Group," Zhou Dingshan began. After learning Li Wei was the Prime Minister's son yesterday, he had found information on the Prime Minister's ex-wife. "The one with curly hair is the older sister, named Li Wen. She was the Prime Minister's wife. The woman with long straight hair is named Li Jie, Li Wen's younger sister."

But Li Xiujin was puzzled. "This is Li Wei's aunt?"

"Yes."

"What's wrong? Is something off?"

"Don't you think Li Wei looks more like his aunt?"

Zhou Dingshan and Su Wang took the photo, examining it carefully, and found it was indeed true.

"Many children resemble their aunts or uncles; that's common genetically," Zhou Dingshan said.

But Li Xiujin wasn't convinced.

"Didn't you say Li Wen and Li Jie were pregnant around the same time? Li Wen's child is Li Wei, who we've found now. What about Li Jie's child?"

Zhou Dingshan and Su Wang exchanged a look. "That's a good question. It is strange. Li Wen came from a well-off family. After taking her child overseas, she should have lived comfortably. Even after they went bankrupt later, the Prime Minister provided child support. So how did Li Wei end up in the red-light district..."

"And Li Jie, after her sister took the child overseas, seemed to vanish into thin air. We can't find any trace of her."

Su Wang stroked his chin. "It's like a puzzle. The more we know, the more confusing it gets."

Li Xiujin stared silently at the photo of the two sisters, Li Wen and Li Jie.

Suddenly thinking of something, he asked Su Wang, "Can we check Liu Cheng's identity records?"

Su Wang thought for a moment. "The military has his detailed files. I have access to view them."

"Then please retrieve it for me."

Su Wang nodded. "Why did you think of investigating Liu Sheng?"

"The Prime Minister is wary of Liu Sheng because Liu Sheng knows Li Wei is his son, but how did Liu Sheng find out?"

Su Wang did find it strange when he put it that way. The Prime Minister wouldn't trust Liu Sheng enough to tell him who his biological son was, so Liu Sheng must have discovered it himself. But how did he find out? He had been working for the Prime Minister for nearly ten years and hadn't noticed any clues.

He said, "I'll go retrieve Liu Sheng's information right away."

Su Wang hurried back to his office, used his internal permissions to access the system, and pulled up Liu Sheng's file. However, aside from the date of birth, everything else gave him an error when he tried to view it. At first, he thought it was an issue with his device, but after restarting and trying again, it still showed errors. He then retrieved his own and Li Xiujin's files, which displayed normally.

Su Wang's eyes flashed with understanding. That evening, he went to find Li Xiujin.

"It's very strange. Liu Sheng's file is encrypted, and even my permissions can't access it."

"I oversaw Liu Sheng's onboarding when he joined. He told me he grew up overseas and only returned to the country as an adult. There's nothing sensitive about his identity information. I can't figure out why I can't view it."

Su Wang said, "All I know so far is the year he was born and when he returned to the country. As for who his parents are, I can't find out."

Although they couldn't find out, it indirectly lent credence to a bold suspicion in Li Xiujin's mind.

He asked, "When was Liu Sheng born?"

After Su Wang answered, Li Xiujin lightly tapped the table with his fingers. "When we were escaping with Li Wei, Li Wei said he's 22 years old this year. If he remembers correctly, his birth date is the same year as Liu Sheng's."

"Do you remember Zhou Dingshan saying that Li Wen and Li Jie were both pregnant at the same time back then?"

Su Wang's expression turned grave. "You mean, Liu Sheng and Li Wei are Li Wen's child and Li Jie's child, respectively."

Li Xiujin didn't speak. Actually, his suspicion was bolder—he suspected that both Li Wei and Liu Sheng were the Prime Minister's children.

But suspicion alone wasn't enough; they needed factual evidence. Li Xiujin focused the main investigation on Liu Sheng, planning to make a breakthrough from him.

He first had someone monitor Liu Sheng and found that Liu Sheng led a very regimented life, arriving and leaving work on time every day, with no social activities, no girlfriend, or any lovers.

It wasn't until two weeks later that the person monitoring him discovered a new destination.

"He went to a shelter for stray cats and dogs and stayed there for a whole day before leaving."

Li Xiujin and Yang Yu, who was still limping, went together to the stray cat and dog shelter Liu Sheng had visited.

It was in the suburbs, a large farm with iron fences dividing it into sections. Each section had two dogs or a few cats. Although the conditions were a bit basic, the animals were well-groomed, clearly showing that the people here took good care of them.

Yang Yu couldn't help but ask, "Liu Sheng came here... he wouldn't be so psychologically disturbed as to start abusing and killing cats and dogs, would he?"

Before Li Xiujin could answer, a thin middle-aged man walked out of a simply built shed. He leaned on a crutch, one leg standing on the ground, the other pant leg empty, tied into a knot that swayed with his movements.

The middle-aged man asked warily, "Who are you?"

"Oh, we heard that animals can be adopted here. My son's birthday is soon, and I want to adopt a puppy as a birthday gift for him."

Hearing they were there to adopt animals, the middle-aged man's expression softened. "You can adopt, but you must provide your home address, workplace, and identification documents."

Yang Yu had come prepared with the relevant documents. He handed them over. "I understand. This is to prevent people from adopting and then abusing the animals."

The middle-aged man completely let down his guard. "I have no choice. Several puppies adopted before were abused."

Yang Yu was telling the truth about his son. His son's birthday was indeed approaching, and he had said he wanted a puppy as a birthday gift this time. Originally, Yang Yu planned to buy him an expensive breed, but after thinking about it, adopting a rescue would be better. So when the middle-aged man showed them around, Yang Yu took it very seriously, which further improved the other's impression of him.

Seeing that Yang Yu had gained the owner's trust, Li Xiujin gave Yang Yu a look. Yang Yu immediately understood and began to ask questions.

"Do many people come here to adopt?"

"Very, very few. Nowadays, people prefer expensive, beautiful animals and look down on these local dogs and cats. Plus, they're all disabled—I picked them up. Most of them end up staying here. Originally, I only had a small area, but it kept expanding. I'll probably have to expand again in the future."

"That must cost a lot of money, right?"

"It does, but thankfully, there are kind people who sponsor it."

"Are there many sponsors?"

"Only one person. He's been sponsoring me for two or three years."

"Then that person must be quite wealthy." Yang Yu continued fishing for information.

"He seems to be a military officer. Anyway, he's very generous every time. You can tell he genuinely loves animals, just like you—a kind and caring person. He doesn't just donate money; he comes every two weeks to personally take care of the animals."

"Although he dresses very elegantly, he's very skilled at caring for animals. He said his mother was often sick when he was young, so he had to take care of her."

"He had to take care of his mother at such a young age? What about his father?"

"They probably divorced. Whenever his father is mentioned, his expression turns very unpleasant. The mother and son likely didn't have a good relationship with the father."

Yang Yu glanced at Li Xiujin.

Li Xiujin nodded.

Yang Yu stopped probing and picked out a white puppy. "I'll take this one."

The puppy was placed in a cage and then put into the car by the owner. Following Li Xiujin's instructions, Yang Yu also donated some money, for which the owner was extremely grateful.

On the way back, Yang Yu looked at the puppy. "I can't believe someone as beastly as Liu Sheng would sponsor stray cats and dogs long-term."

"Liu Sheng's actions, though inconsistent with his character, are still normal. General, why did you suddenly have him monitored?"

Li Xiujin voiced his suspicion.

"Liu Sheng is also the Prime Minister's child?!" Yang Yu exclaimed, then quickly covered his mouth, realizing he had spoken too loudly. After calming down, he thought this guess, though bold, wasn't impossible.

Li Xiujin turned to look out the car window, organizing the information they had gathered in his mind.

Yang Yu then said, "If your guess is correct—that Liu Sheng and Li Wei are both the Prime Minister's children—it means the children Li Wen and Li Jie were carrying back then were both the Prime Minister's."

"General, what do we do next?"

Li Xiujin said, "Next, we need to extract information from Liu Sheng to verify whether this guess is true."