Chapter 009 – Going Public

Translator: Leslie

Quality Check: Vemmy

Editor: Chesh

 

The veterinary centre opened at 8:30 in the morning. Many customers who had pre-booked appointments had brought their pets to be checked. However, among the crowd was a strange man who held a small, tea colored cat. He didn’t buy anything, nor did he let the cat be checked. He simply held the cat and sat at a spot near the door. Occasionally, he would glance outside, appearing as if he was waiting for someone. 

A robot assistant approached and asked kindly, “Sir, is there anything you need help with?”

The man said that there was nothing, but he caught up to that robot a moment later. “When does Dr. Fei Cheng’s first surgery start?” 

The robot said, “In fifteen minutes.”

The man gave his thanks and returned to his seat from before.

At that moment, the sounds of a scuffle could be heard from outside. One after another, the people who had been walking into the hospital turned to look behind them, gossiping as they watched. Some of them even excitedly adjusted the recording function on their communicators and aimed them in front of them to record the scene.  

The man walked over to the entrance in confusion and his face immediately darkened.

Xiao Lingyu sensed a strange wave of energy, so he followed the source of this strong energy and saw a tall, thin man looking at him from the entrance of the treatment area with his forehead wrinkled. He raised his eyebrows slightly and took a few more glances. Seeming to remember something, he laughed and said, “I think that I see him.”

“Who?” Lei Jue’s footsteps slowly paused. 

“Feng Gu of course. Wasn’t it because of the message he sent that you didn’t refuse to let me come along with you?” Xiao Lingyu smiled as he whispered into Lei Jue’s ear, making it look unusually intimate. “Babe, I was nearly tricked by you. Turns out that you brought me out here to meet him. However, since you still know that you need to be wary of him, don’t worry. I’ll be sure to coordinate with you later.”

“Thanks.” Lei Jue smiled, but internally he couldn’t help but be somewhat surprised. It was just a text, and Xiao Lingyu hadn’t seen it at all, but he actually managed to figure it out so accurately. Inexplicably, he suddenly recalled when Xiao Lingyu gave him Emily’s severed arm.

Could this person possibly be more complex than he looked?

In actuality, Lei Jue had been overthinking. At least, he had been overthinking things this time. Xiao Lingyu had felt the powerful wave of water energy first, and only made that conclusion when he linked it with the other person’s enmity-filled gaze. 

Although he had many enemies, there couldn’t be one who would look at him with hostility then reveal a conflicted expression of fondness and anger toward the person next to him. Besides, Lei Jue had only been in Bulacca City for a few days, how many people would he know? Therefore, the most likely scenario was that Lei Jue had known that person in the first place. And of the people that Lei Jue knew, there was only one person he could think of that had immense power and would also not dare to truly show himself. 

Feng Gu had also gone through enormous effort and trouble to obtain Lei Jue’s new contact details, while avoiding Lei Jianying and Lei Haige, and had also found out that Lei Jue had made an appointment for Loquat at Bulacca City’s largest veterinary hospital. However, seeing as the elections were looming, he also didn’t want to openly go and find Lei Jue unless he wanted to provoke Lei Haige’s dissatisfaction, which was why he used an unfamiliar number to send a text message with a hidden meaning. After that, he changed his appearance using macromolecular biotechnology before coming here. He had originally thought of surprising Lei Jue and had never considered that he might be rejected. However, what he had really not expected was that, while Lei Jue would come, he would bring Xiao Lingyu along!

Lei Jue hadn’t managed to make out which one was Feng Gu; he had followed Xiao Lingyu into the medical area, and after he had shown the appointment message he handed Loquat over to the medical staff.

The time needed for the surgery and the observation period after would be about an hour. Xiao Lingyu asked Lei Jue, “Do you want to stay here, or go out for a walk?”

“Let’s go for a walk,” Lei Jue said. There were too many sick and injured animals here, and he wasn’t comfortable with the sight.

Xiao Lingyu smiled and walked over to Feng Gu, then pointed at the cat in his arms. “Hey bro, is your cat male or female?”

“Female, why?” Feng Gu did his best to maintain his calm on the surface.

“Sell her to me,” Xiao Lingyu said without an extra thought. “Name a price. My babe has a male cat,” he stroked Lei Jue’s head, “and he’s quite a match with yours.”

“Sorry, not selling,5” Feng Gu said.

He had sent people to get this cat with the intention of pairing it with Lei Jue’s male cat. How could he let Xiao Lingyu disrupt his plans halfway?

“I already said you can name the price. There’s an opportunity before you and you won’t take it?” Xiao Lingyu’s face had are you stupid? written all over it.

“Then give me—“ Feng Gu thought of an absurdly high price at the last moment to put Xiao Lingyu in a bind, but before he could finish, Lei Jue spoke from the side, “It’s so ugly, how is this worthy of Loquat?” 

When Lei Jue had wanted him, he ran off to pursue Lei Haige instead, and now he wanted to give him a cat?

Lei Jue looked at the cat in Feng Gu’s arms with disgust. “Loquat doesn’t like this kind of cat.”

The cat in Feng Gu’s arms meowed sadly.

Xiao Lingyu nodded. “Alright, you’re greater than the heavens and the earth, I’ll listen to you.”

Lei Jue admired the look on Feng Gu’s face, which looked worse than crap. He wasn’t sure if it was the remnants of the original owner’s memories that were influencing him, but he had a faint feeling of amusement.

In the past, Feng Gu had thrown Lei Jue away for his own interests, but in truth, the one that Feng Gu sincerely liked more was Lei Jue. Lei Jue knew this, and that was why he despised this piece of trash even more. This clearly showed that he was eyeing the pot as even he ate from his bowl. Just how thick-faced was he?

Feng Gu didn’t continue speaking. Right then, a robot attendant suddenly walked over in their direction. “Lieutenant Colonel Xiao, have you married already?”

Robots would never ask guests this kind of question of their own accord, so someone must have had given an order to it. However, Xiao Lingyu did not question any further, simply smiling as he said, “That’s right.” He wrapped an arm around Lei Jue’s shoulders. “Isn’t my husband pretty?”

As if planned, the people by the sides shouted loudly in unison, “Yes!”

This action was so loud that Lei Jue was startled. He wasn’t sure if he was imagining it, but he felt that the moment everyone answered the air around them seemed to become heavier.

Shortly after, Feng Gu—in his altered appearance—left the place. At this time, the internet was completely plastered with the news of Marshal Xiao’s youngest son’s lowkey marriage.

The Xiao Family was immensely popular in the Northern Ling District, because they had given much of themselves to the nation over the years and ran many local charities. Even the philanderous Xiao Lingyu only went after people who were currently single, so it wasn’t often that people would speak maliciously about him. Besides, since he was witty and interesting, many people in Northern Ling—the whole nation even—liked him.

Xiao Lingyu was invited to the VIP lounge, where he propped one leg up on the other without a care. “Babe, there’s only half an hour left. It’ll be a bit tight if we go out to eat, so let’s just wait here. I’ll take you out to eat after Loquat is out.”

Lei Jue nodded nonchalantly.

Xiao Lingyu continued speaking, “Why don’t we play a game to pass the time?”

This time, Lei Jue shook his head without another thought. Even an ass would know that the games that Xiao Lingyu would think of playing couldn’t be normal.

“Man, you don’t wanna play? I was about to say let’s play rock-paper-scissors. Whoever loses has to strip,” Xiao Lingyu said with regret.

Lei Jue looked at Xiao Lingyu. “Can you tell me which animal caused your injuries?”

Xiao Lingyu gently stroked the bottle of wine, his smile restrained. “Why are you asking about this so suddenly?”

“I want to raise that type of animal,” Lei Jue said.

He was indeed very curious about what kind of animal would be able to take out such a large chunk of flesh with one swipe of its claws. Mount Fanjing had black bears, which were considered to be very strong already, but when compared to the injuries on Xiao Lingyu’s abdomen, there was no comparison.

Xiao Lingyu stared at Lei Jue for a short while, thinking of something. After that, he spoke a few words into his communicator and projected an image onto the wall. “This is the polar grey wolf that’s native to Northern Ling. An adult male wolf can grow to over three metres long. It’s amazingly strong and its speed is incredible, so don’t even think about rearing one. Even people with S-rank physique like me would find it difficult to completely control it.” Xiao Lingyu smiled seductively and lowered his voice. “The person that I was talking about yesterday—the lad whose butt I groped—he’s a B-rank fire element user with a C-rank physique. Even when he kept a wolf, he would practically be injured every day initially, never mind a double E-rank like you. You’d be smacked into paste in a minute.”   

“Then does the Northern Ling District have any animals that are even more powerful than this wolf?”

“Of course,” Xiao Lingyu laughed as he spoke. “That would be my dad.”

“Your dad?” Lei Jue was speechless. “I’m being serious here.” Were there any other sons who called their fathers animals?

“I’m also being serious. An advanced animal is still an animal. Isn’t my dad one?” Xiao Lingyu said, unconcerned. “Your Uncle Xiao is Casweir’s only A-rank metal element user. A-rank, you hear me? He can control lightning! Crack! Boom! Whoever he wants to strike, he will be able to hit them.”

Lei Jue thought, I think the one he should strike down the most is you!

There was no sign of Feng Gu outside of the pet hospital anymore, but he hadn’t left. He sat quietly in a nondescript aircraft, watching as Lei Jue and Xiao Lingyu chatted and laughed as they walk out with Loquat. Seeing this scene, the only expression left on his face was crazed envy. He really hadn’t thought that the person he wanted to see would be like this. How dare trash like him that only had his face left disrespect him? Wouldn’t the Xiao family, with their limited days left, still need to rely on the Lei family as life support after the elections? Does he actually think that he would be completely safe now that he was backed by the Xiao family? 

He was simply naive!

Feng Gu let out a heavy breath. A short while later, the aircraft he was in slowly left.