Chapter 20: For scientific research purposes, I don’t mind

Translator: Abo Dammen

☆

Case One: The Phantom Sniper

The jammer was found in a hidden corner. Network communications and radar had returned to normal.

The Lucky Number had indeed strayed from its course, and it would take several more hours to return to Bincheng. He Maohu arranged for his men to clean up the mess. Some dealt with the body, others cleaned the casino, some guarded Ma Jing. As for the rest, they returned to their rooms to rest.

Having pulled two consecutive all-nighters, Xu Pei was utterly exhausted. 

As soon as he entered the room, he collapsed onto the bed like a corpse, mustering his last shred of consciousness to say to He Yixun, “The case is solved. I’m not a suspect. You don’t need to monitor me anymore.”

He Yixun’s attention was on his phone, browsing through piles of unread messages. “I wasn’t monitoring you.”

“Then why don’t you…..” get another room.

The second half of the sentence became a drowsy mumble. He Yixun didn’t catch what Xu Pei said. He glanced at the ‘corpse’ on the bed who had already fallen into a deep sleep, put down his phone, and lay down on his own bed. He wasn’t completely devoid of sleepiness, but there was a lot to do after disembarking. Rather than falling asleep, He Yixun preferred to rest with his eyes closed. 

So, three minutes later, he heard the ‘corpse’ on the other bed start to whimper. Turning to look, he saw the corpse hugging its arms and curling its legs, its body language screaming “I’m cold.”

Serves the corpse right for falling asleep without covering itself.

The two beds were only a fist’s width apart. He Yixun stretched out his arm, lifted a corner of the quilt, and draped it over the corpse. Then he continued resting with his eyes closed.

However, ten seconds later, the corpse turned over, and the quilt slid off. 

This time, He Yixun ignored it. But then the corpse started whimpering again. He simply sat up, pulled the quilt out from under the corpse completely, intending to cover it properly. Unexpectedly, the corpse rolled around on the bed a couple of times and woke up groggily. Seeing He Yixun holding his quilt, his dazed eyes instantly filled with disbelief. “Why are you stealing my quilt now?”

He Yixun: …..

He threw the quilt onto Xu Pei, said nothing more, and closed his eyes again.

But soon, he noticed Xu Pei’s movements were off. His breathing had noticeably become heavier, mixed with unconscious murmurs. 

This wasn’t how a corpse should behave.

Propping himself up on one elbow, He Yixun pulled down the quilt covering Xu Pei’s face. “Professor Xu?”

“Mmm.” Xu Pei’s eyelashes fluttered, slowly lifting to reveal hazy eyes. After a couple of seconds, he looked at He Yixun and said, “I think I have a fever.”

He Yixun didn’t quite understand how he could suddenly get a fever. “Is the second stage of heat a fever?” 

Here we go again.

The utterly senseless remark.

Xu Pei turned over, facing away from He Yixun. “You used an ice pack on my gland. It’d be strange if I didn’t get a fever.”

Of course, lack of sleep, physical fatigue, and low immunity just after a heat were all contributing factors. Even a steel omega couldn’t withstand that. 

“Is that so.” As he spoke, He Yixun reached his hand towards the back of Xu Pei’s collar, as naturally as one would feel a feverish person’s forehead. “Let me see.”

Realizing what He Yixun wanted to see, Xu Pei was startled. He quickly sat up, frowning with unusual seriousness. “Officer He, you can’t develop this bad habit!”

He Yixun was baffled. “Bad habit?”

“The gland is my private part. You can’t just look at it whenever you want,” Xu Pei admonished. “Many of your behaviors would be considered highly offensive where I come from. For example, you slapping my gland is like slapping my testicles. I could even sue you for sexual harassment.” 

He Yixun was puzzled. “But you don’t have those, do you?”

Xu Pei: “…..” How does he still remember that?

Xu Pei changed his approach. “Let me put it this way. If I asked you, ‘How long is your penis?’, what would you think?”

He Yixun thought for a moment and said, “If it’s for scientific research purposes, I don’t mind. 

“Although I haven’t measured it precisely, my erect length should be…”

“I don’t want to know!” Xu Pei felt like screaming for help. “I was just making an analogy to show you how offensive your behavior is.”

“Then, when you buried your face in my crotch, was that behavior offensive in your world?” He Yixun asked.

Dead memories came back to attack Xu Pei. 

To be fair, his behavior back then was far more offensive than just looking at a gland.

“That was a special circumstance,” Professor Xu said, lying through his teeth. “A true gentleman alpha would take initiative to take off his pants to care for an omega in heat.”

“Is that so.” He Yixun nodded thoughtfully. “Your definition of a ‘gentleman’ is quite unique.”

Ahem. Professor Xu felt a bit guilty. He lay back on the pillow and covered his head with the quilt. “I need to rest.” 

“Do you need fever medicine?” He Yixun asked. “I can get some from the ship’s doctor.”

“No, it’s not that serious,” said Xu Pei, muffled by the quilt.

Actually, when an omega is sick, the most effective thing is an alpha’s soothing pheromones. This gentle pheromone has a calming effect and can greatly alleviate the discomfort an omega feels from illness.

However, for Xu Pei, an omega with willpower of steel didn’t need an alpha’s comfort. 

That being said, the juniper scent drifting over from the other side really was quite pleasant…

He didn’t know how long he slept. He Yixun’s voice sounded above his head. “Wake up, Professor Xu. The ship is about to dock.”

Xu Pei really didn’t want to open his eyes. He snuggled closer to the heat source in the blanket and suddenly realized something was wrong. Lifting his head, he saw He Yixun sitting beside him, hands braced behind him, while Xu Pei’s own hand was somehow resting on He Yixun’s waist, and his leg was even wrapped around He Yixun’s thigh.

The two were sharing the same blanket. 

Xu Pei was a bit dazed. He Yixun moved Xu Pei’s arm away, got off the bed with his usual expression, and slipped on his suit jacket. “I don’t know why, but you kept squeezing closer to me.”

“If I moved to your side, you’d still squeeze over.”

He Yixun didn’t bother saying the last part out loud. If it weren’t for considering Xu Pei was sick, he wouldn’t have acted as this human body pillow. No one liked being sniffed all over by a puppy while trying to rest with their eyes closed.

“I might have… been dead asleep,” the ‘steel-like’ omega said somewhat awkwardly. 

But after this sleep, although his head still felt a bit heavy, the physical discomfort had mostly eased.

By the time the Lucky Number docked, several police cars were already waiting at the pier.

Just as He Yixun was escorting Ma Jing down, Lin Mei quickly came to his side and, looking at the gangplank under her feet, said, “If you dare speak recklessly, I won’t let you off.”

This was clearly directed at Ma Jing, because besides the police, many media crews had gathered at the pier. The rapid fire of camera flashes hadn’t stopped since they appeared. 

“This is my prisoner. Mind your own business,” He Yixun said in a serious tone.

Lin Mei shot an annoyed look at He Yixun, then her gaze fell on Xu Pei on the other side. Her look was naturally not very friendly.

Not wanting Lin Mei to get any wrong ideas, He Yixun warned, “He’s also under my protection.”

Under the camera flashes, Lin Mei couldn’t make a scene. Her expression remained natural and composed, but her words were spoken through tightly clenched teeth. “Have you forgotten I’m your biological mother?” 

“You know me,” He Yixun said flatly. “I side with reason, not family.”

The moment they stepped onto the pier, the media swarmed forward.

“Mayor Lin, some say the sniper attack was staged by you. Do you have any response?”

“Was it your secretary who killed He Jun? Will He Maohu continue to provide financial support?” 

“Officer He, are you using this case to whitewash your own image?”

“We heard there’s someone with special abilities on the ship. Is he a newly hired consultant for the police force?”

“……”

Xu Pei had never seen such a spectacle. He raised a hand to block the flashes, leaning his face against He Yixun’s shoulder, utterly unwilling to have his face photographed or appear in headline news. 

Fortunately, Ma Jing said, “You can ask me anything,” drawing the focus of all the media.

Lin Mei, face dark, went over to her assistant who had come to pick her up. He Yixun called over two officers to take Ma Jing to a police car and led Xu Pei away from the media’s barrage of cameras. As Ma Jing was being escorted forward by the police, he kept answering the media’s questions. Xu Pei faintly heard the two words “Ma Ke” from afar, but the rest of his words were drowned out by the shutter sounds.

On the way to the parking lot, someone called out to He Yixun from behind. It was He Maohu, who was also heading to the parking lot to get his car. He dismissed his subordinates and glanced at Xu Pei. Xu Pei tactfully went to wait in He Yixun’s SUV, giving the father and son some space to talk.

However, the spot where they stood happened to be not far from He Yixun’s car. Even with the windows closed, Xu Pei could still hear them talking, even though he had no intention of eavesdropping. 

“Your brother is dead. No one will inherit my businesses now. He Maohu lit a cigarette and exhaled a heavy cloud of smoke. “Back in high school, when you exposed your classmate for cheating on an exam, I knew you and I weren’t the same kind of people.”

“No one to inherit it might be for the best,” He Yixun reacted slowly.

Hearing this, Xu Pei in the car shrank his neck down, afraid the two outside would start arguing. 

Although those who knew He Yixun understood he meant it was good that those illicit businesses had no heir, and this was exactly the kind of thing he would say, He Maohu had just lost his son. No normal person could stand that, right?

Sure enough, He Maohu flicked away the cigarette he had only taken one puff from, crushed it out with his toe, and his voice turned cold. “Sometimes I really think you’re not normal.

“Aside from you being kidnapped because of my business dealings, where have I wronged you? People outside say I’m a cuckold, but I couldn’t give a damn. I gave you the best of everything, and you turn around and become a cop to work against me.

“Do you know that if it were any other cop messing with me, I would have retaliated long ago? 

“I genuinely can’t understand how I raised such a cold-blooded creature. Do you even have a heart? Your brother is dead. Do you want to clap and cheer too?

“Are you satisfied now? One son dead, the other might as well not exist…”

As he spoke, He Maohu’s emotions welled up. He covered his face with his arm, turned half away, and used deep breaths to suppress the choke in his voice.

Xu Pei seemed to see a wave of desolation in He Maohu’s actions. 

Perhaps the ambitious, flourishing man of his early years never imagined his future would be a ruined family and lost son.

“Do you have anything else to say?” He Yixun asked.

He Maohu composed himself and looked at He Yixun as if he were a stranger. “Just stay like this. No one would be willing to be with someone like you. You’ll find out when you grow old alone.”

🕛 

The SUV drove along the straight highway towards the city. He Yixun remained silent the entire time.

Xu Pei also couldn’t figure out what he was thinking, but he felt being cursed to die alone by one’s own father was quite hurtful and that he should offer some comfort. He tentatively began, “It seems… your relationship with your family isn’t great, huh.”

He Yixun glanced at Xu Pei without much reaction. “It’s not ‘seems’. Anyone can see that.”

Alright, Xu Pei had worried too much. 

He thought He Maohu’s words might have wounded He Yixun’s soul, but it turned out Officer He was just habitually silent.

“Why is your relationship so bad?” Seeing that He Yixun didn’t seem to mind, Xu Pei asked openly. “Logically, your values shouldn’t differ that much from your parents’.”

This time, He Yixun didn’t respond immediately. Even Xu Pei himself knew that this kind of question, probing into family relationships, exceeded normal social boundaries.

But then again, the two of them had worked together so tacitly to solve the case on the cruise ship. That probably counted as… a bit of camaraderie, right? 

It probably wasn’t overstepping.

After waiting a moment, He Yixun still spoke, very slowly, with a feeling of not wanting to answer unless necessary. “I hate people who exploit loopholes in the rules.”

Just this one seemingly random sentence. Xu Pei didn’t understand the underlying logic. “And then?”

“Lin Mei loves exploiting loopholes,” He Yixun started. “For example, on my tenth birthday, she promised she would be home before 8 PM, but she came back after midnight. I said she didn’t keep her promise. She said her promise wasn’t for 8 PM but for 8 PM, so coming back after midnight didn’t count as breaking it. 

“There were many instances like this. When I was little, she liked dealing with me using these methods. So she has zero credibility with me.”

Xu Pei clicked his tongue. “That is a bit excessive.”

“I was also kidnapped when I was ten,” He Yixun added. “I heard He Maohu say on the phone with the kidnappers that even if they killed me, he wouldn’t give up the shops.

“Those shops were what he obtained legally by exploiting loopholes. Others couldn’t take them back, so they thought of using me to threaten him.” 

“Did he save you in the end?” Xu Pei asked. Since He Yixun was standing here safe and sound, it meant he was successfully rescued back then.

“No.” He Yixun’s replies abruptly shortened. Clearly, he only answered “why he hates people who exploit loopholes.” After explaining the reasons, he didn’t want to say more.

Xu Pei didn’t ask further, because he knew very well that if He Yixun didn’t want to talk, asking was useless.

He pulled his sweater collar up, covering the tip of his nose, and secretly observed He Yixun’s profile. He thought, So the imposing Officer He is actually a little pitiful person who wasn’t loved by his parents. 

He even felt a bit regretful for getting angry at him before.

Wait.

Xu Pei quickly stopped himself.

He himself was also a little pitiful person who wasn’t loved by his parents! What was with this surge of sympathy for this guy?