Chapter 84

Chapter 84

"Xiujin..." Lin Ze struggled, ashamed, "Chong Yi is still here..."

Li Xiujin ignored him.

Lin Ze covered his mouth, not daring to make a single sound...

Since he was only just past three months pregnant, Li Xiujin only dared to give it a lick, then held him close.

Li Xiujin smelled the scent on his chest, a rich milky aroma mixed with Lin Ze's own fragrance, making his mouth go dry...

A blush surged to Lin Ze's cheeks: "Xiujin, there isn't any... not yet..."

Li Xiujin turned a deaf ear.

By the fifth month of pregnancy, Lin Ze's belly had a noticeable roundness, that showed through his clothes. After all, he worked in an all-alpha environment, and Lin Ze was ashamed to display omega-like characteristics...

Li Xiujin told him to rest at home, but Lin Ze wished to wait until closer to the birth to stop working. So, he secretly wrapped a binding around his belly before going to work...

One day, Lin Ze couldn't resist Li Chongyi's pleas and took him to the workplace.

At lunch in the cafeteria, the moment Lin Ze turned to get some chopsticks, Li Chongyi disappeared. He hurriedly searched and finally found Li Chongyi sitting on his grandfather's lap, letting his grandfather feed him.

Lin Ze walked over: "Chong Yi, sit in your own chair."

Li Chongyi then jumped down from his grandfather's lap and obediently sat on the nearby chair.

Zhou Dingshan said: "Xiao Ze, sit down and eat with us too."

After Lin Ze sat down, Zhou Dingshan spoke: "Actually, sending Chong Yi to our side isn't a bad thing. With me here, no one will bully him."

Lin Ze put some greens on Li Chongyi's plate.

"Think about it. When Chong Yi becomes an adult, he can take over Su Wang's position and become our country's youngest Prime Minister. By then, he will surely be loved by the people."

Lin Ze put down his chopsticks, was silent for a long moment: "Xiujin and I don't have such grand expectations. We just hope he can grow up happily by his parents' side."

"Do you resent me?"

Lin Ze laughed softly: "Why would you think I resent you?"

"Because I never cared for you from the moment you were born."

Lin Ze shook his head calmly: "I don't have any feelings for you, let alone resentment."

Zhou Dingshan was taken aback and said nothing more.

Lin Ze also fell silent. Although Zhou Dingshan had no feelings for him, he did dote on his grandson Li Chongyi. Li Chongyi was also close to him. Seeing Zhou Dingshan about to leave, Li Chongyi pulled Lin Ze's hand and chased after him.

Later, realizing Lin Ze didn't want to, Li Chongyi also stopped, still holding Lin Ze's hand.

In the evening, when Li Xiujin returned, Lin Ze was sitting on the sofa, still handling official duties. To prevent Li Chongyi from disturbing Lin Ze's work, the housekeeper was chatting with Li Chongyi while cooking.

"Chong Yi, did you go to work with Mommy today? Any fun things happen?"

"Grandpa came to see me and Mommy." Li Chongyi answered while playing with a toy truck.

Hearing this, Li Xiujin immediately knew Zhou Dingshan had visited Lin Ze for that matter.

He walked softly, intending to sneak up and hug Lin Ze from behind, but Li Chongyi spotted him. Li Chongyi shouted: "Daddy, what are you doing? Don't disturb Mommy's work!"

Lin Ze, who had been focused on work, shifted his gaze from the computer screen to Li Xiujin's face and smiled: "Xiujin."

His plan foiled, Li Xiujin took revenge by deliberately scooping Lin Ze up onto his lap in front of Li Chongyi, burying his face in Lin Ze's neck.

Seeing this, Li Chongyi dropped his toy truck and launched himself into Lin Ze's arms.

"You can't hug Mommy."

Li Xiujin pushed him away: "The one who shouldn't hug is you. I'm his husband."

Li Chongyi retorted: "Well, I'm Mommy's child."

Li Xiujin scoffed coldly: "He only holds you because you're still small. When you get a bit older, you won't have that right anymore. You won't have the right to sleep with us either."

Li Chongyi was confused for a moment: "Then I want to be Mommy's husband too."

Lin Ze, who had been smiling while watching the father and son bicker, couldn't help but speak up: "Chong Yi, that's not allowed."

Li Chongyi let out a heavy 'hmph' and wrapped his arms tightly around Lin Ze, even trying to push Li Xiujin away.

They were still squabbling by dinnertime, ending with Li Chongyi crying in frustration.

After being comforted by Lin Ze, Li Chongyi, having learned the phrase from somewhere, asked: "Mommy, when can I escape my family of origin..."

Lin Ze was amused: "Chong Yi, do you know what 'family of origin' means?"

"It means Daddy always bullies me."

Lin Ze stroked his damp head: "When Chong Yi grows taller than Daddy, Daddy won't bully you anymore."

"How do I grow taller than Daddy?"

"You can't just eat meat and avoid carrots and broccoli."

Li Chongyi hated carrots and broccoli the most, often asking Lin Ze or his grandfather to pick them out. Now, determined to grow taller than his father, he gritted his teeth and agreed: "I'll eat more of them from now on!"

"Chong Yi is so great."

Flushed with praise from Lin Ze, Li Chongyi felt shy, burying his face in Lin Ze's embrace. He chattered on to Lin Ze before slowly falling asleep.

After Li Xiujin finished showering and returned to the room, his first action was to carry Li Chongyi to the housekeeper, and then settled into Lin Ze's arms himself.

"Zhou Dingshan went to see you today?"

"Mhm."

"Still hasn't given up on the idea of taking Li Chongyi to the Central Headquarters."

"It seems not."

"Did you waver?"

Lin Ze thought for a moment: "No."

Li Xiujin gave an acknowledging hum, then unbuttoned his top, and found a red mark from where it had been bound.

"Was it too tight?"

Remembering something, Lin Ze quickly shook his head, "N-no, nothing..."

Li Xiujin's Adam's apple bobbed, "How about I buy you some omega underwear then?"

The thought of wearing something like that made Lin Ze's face flush, "I'll just wear thicker clothes, it's fine..."

But Li Xiujin seemed to have an idea, a glint appearing in his eyes.

"Feed me."

Lin Ze then shyly arched higher, his tone indulgent and doting, "Xiujin, here..."

*

While Lin Ze was working in his office, there was a knock at the door. After telling the person to come in, he realized it wasn't Lu Mo but a young, handsome, unfamiliar face.

"Lieutenant General Lin, Colonel Lu asked me to deliver these documents to you."

Seeing Lin Ze looking him over, he introduced himself, "I'm newly transferred, a monitoring officer, currently working under Colonel Lu."

Lin Ze nodded gently.

Afterward, whenever Lin Ze worked with Lu Mo, this person would follow. Over time, Lin Ze noticed he was very diligent at work, a promising talent, and began to look out for him intentionally or unintentionally.

What started as a superior's appreciation for a subordinate gradually gave rise to idle gossip.

Upon hearing rumors that the other party liked him and that he himself was being indiscreet, Lin Ze laughed in exasperation. After ordering Lu Mo to discipline those spreading rumors, Lin Ze didn't dwell on it and continued to mentor him as before.

Once, during excavation, they encountered an object their sensors couldn't detect. Lu Mo couldn't decide whether to continue digging and came to consult Lin Ze.

Lin Ze said, "Let me go down and take a look myself."

Lu Mo was shocked, "Lieutenant General, you're pregnant! And General Li explicitly instructed me to supervise you and ensure you don't engage in any dangerous activities."

Lin Ze thought for a moment, "It's fine, I'll take proper precautions. As for Xiujin, don't tell him."

"But..."

"Alright, it's decided."

In the afternoon, Lin Ze put on protective gear and followed the on-site workers down into the underground tunnel. Some paths were rugged and uneven, so Lin Ze carefully cradled his belly. At the spot where they couldn't dig further, Lin Ze collected a soil sample and had someone take it up for testing. Then he observed the area closely. Based on experience, he already had a suspicion but couldn't be sure. Soon, the person who went for testing returned, confirming Lin Ze's suspicion—it was just a particularly hard type of rock.

After confirming there was no issue, Lin Ze instructed them to proceed with blasting.

However, no one expected the rocks to be densely packed. During the blast, a shockwave ripped through, knocking down those nearby. Although Lin Ze was standing farther away, he still struck his head.

The entire worksite quickly sounded the alarm, and Lu Mo hurriedly helped Lin Ze leave.

Fortunately, the soldiers weren't seriously injured, and Lin Ze only had a minor scrape. But the location was too conspicuous—just below his temple, impossible to cover even with hair.

Lin Ze used the window as a mirror, becoming anxious.

He had promised Xiujin he would only do non-dangerous tasks.

Lu Mo remarked beside him, "I told you not to go. Now look, when the General sees the injury on your face, he'll definitely be angry."

Lin Ze sighed helplessly. Before heading home, he cleaned the wound again with gauze to make it appear less severe.

As soon as Li Xiujin got home, he noticed the abrasion on Lin Ze's face, his brow instantly furrowing, "What happened?"

"Did you do dangerous work again?"

Lin Ze said guiltily, "No, Xiujin, I just accidentally bumped into a wall."

"Really?"

"Mhm, mhm..."

Li Xiujin didn't believe him. While Lin Ze was showering, he called Lu Mo. Lu Mo's story matched Lin Ze's, but it still didn't dispel Li Xiujin's doubts.

The next day, after finishing work, he had Yang Yu drive him to the command center. Sure enough, he heard from other soldiers that Lin Ze had personally gone to the excavation site and was injured in a blast, as well as rumors that Lin Ze had taken a special liking to a newly transferred, handsome, and very young monitoring officer...

When Lin Ze finished work, he saw Li Xiujin's car parked at the command center entrance. For some reason, a sense of foreboding welled up inside him.

After getting in the car and seeing Li Xiujin's cold expression, Lin Ze's heart sank.

Realizing he wouldn't be let off the hook easily tonight...