Chapter 248: In Surgery
Zhuang Mingxu’s expression darkened, then Lu Weiyi lightly said, “I don’t like illegitimate children. Stay away from me.”
He had suffered enough from mistresses and illegitimate children since childhood and subconsciously rejected them—not about their character or who was right or wrong.
Xia Xiaorong’s hand froze mid-motion in the dining room. Zhuang Chengyan pretended not to see and continued serving dishes.
“You…” Xia Mingzhi slammed the table and stood up angrily. “This is my home! You—”
“This is the Zhuang family,” Zhuang Mingxu said calmly, looking at the furious youth with dark eyes that exerted invisible pressure. “Is your surname Zhuang?”
“Enough!” Old Master Zhuang interrupted the confrontation. He looked at Lu Weiyi slouched on the sofa with no care for his image.
This guy had been like this since childhood. When he first came to the Zhuang family, he would sit alone, and when tired, just fall asleep without caring about anyone around. Back then, he was ill, so Old Master Zhuang didn’t bother arguing with him.
Now that he seemed healthy, he was still so disrespectful.
“Eat!” Old Master Zhuang gave up waiting for anyone to respond and strode toward the dining room.
“Have you eaten?” Zhuang Mingxu asked.
“Yes.”
“Then stay and eat some with me.”
“No thanks. Your family is so poor you have to ask the third branch for permission to even turn on a light. I’m sure you haven’t prepared a portion for me,” Lu Weiyi complained flatly.
Zhuang Mingxu reacted, lowered his head, and said, “Sorry, I overestimated myself.”
Lu Weiyi nodded awkwardly, “Good that you know.” So after the surgery, get out quickly.
He pushed Zhuang Mingxu lightly, “Let’s eat, get it done early.”
Lu Weiyi’s words shut down the others who wanted to invite him to the table. The men in the hall ignored him and headed to the dining room. Zhuang Mingwu got up and wanted to help Zhuang Mingxu, but Zhuang Mingxu waved him off and pushed his own wheelchair to the table.
Dinner was divided between two tables: Old Master Zhuang with his two sons and daughters-in-law, and the daughters and their husbands sat at another.
Among the younger generation, Zhuang Mingwen led. He was Zhuang Mingxu’s cousin and the legitimate eldest grandson, but after an accident, his health was poor and he was weak. He divorced early, with two children living with his ex-wife. Lu Weiyi had never seen his wife or children in his previous life, nor had he ever heard about them from the Zhuang family.
Zhuang Mingwu was raised more freely. Only after his older brother’s accident was he given responsibility. His personality was set—sometimes acting foolish, impulsive, and quick to anger, easily manipulated.
Besides Zhuang Mingxu and his two illegitimate siblings, there were also the children of Zhuang Mingxu’s aunt: daughter Song Xin, 18, and son Song You, 10. They were noisy and lively.
Zhuang Mingxu hadn’t been home for years and was distant from most siblings. After chatting briefly with Zhuang Mingwen about recent events, he quickly ended dinner.
Afterwards, Zhou Bo returned saying the surgery was arranged.
With Lu Weiyi, the “cold air assassin,” around, the Zhuang family’s atmosphere was cold and awkward.
Zhuang Chengli finally asked Zhuang Mingxu, “The surgery is straightforward, but recovery won’t be easy. We don’t have healing-type ability users here. Are you sure you don’t want to wait until treatment is settled?”
“No, get it done sooner,” Zhuang Mingxu’s eyes lacked any admiration for him, leaving Zhuang Chengli momentarily speechless.
Lu Weiyi put away the phone that never passed muster and decided to return it to Xu Sa—it didn’t feel like a real zombie battle. He got up and walked to Zhuang Mingxu, “Should I call someone?”
Zhuang Mingxu thought for a moment. “Call Dean to come with us.”
Lu Weiyi took a walkie-talkie from a small concealed bag. Just as he was about to speak, Zhuang Mingxu grabbed his hand.
Zhuang Mingxu realized this was a friendly gesture—to save face, so the Zhuang family wouldn’t think he was weak without backup.
Zhuang Mingxu pressed Lu Weiyi’s finger and keyed the channel, “Calling, this is Zhuang Mingxu.”
“Received, need backup?” Xu Sa’s hoarse, dry voice came over the walkie-talkie. He had been chatting with Xu Yi about life and arranged for him and Li Zhuang to rest in the same room, sounding exhausted and drowsy.
“I have surgery tonight. Please have Dean come over. Around late night.”
“Roger!” Antonio, with Dean, lived on the second floor near the middle. Nearby were Lu Xi with Zhuang Ai Yi, and a few strong fighters separated on both sides. Li Zhuang and Xu Yi stayed in a corner. Clearly, in Lu Weiyi’s mind, Dean’s safety mattered much more than Xu Yi’s.
Xu Sa headed upstairs. The walkie-talkie crackled with voices from the other side. Hearing the noise, Zhuang Ai Yi, lively as ever, shouted, “Godfather, is that my little daddy?”
“Hey, baby, why aren’t you sleeping?” Xu Sa’s voice was gentle as he scooped the child up.
“I’m waiting for Little Daddy,” Zhuang Ai Yi said, reaching for the walkie-talkie in Xu Sa’s hand. “Calling, calling, this is Ai Yi. Is this Little Daddy?”
“No, it’s Big Daddy. Ai Yi, are you being good following your uncle?” Zhuang Mingxu’s voice was low and warm, his expression softening noticeably.
Zhuang Chengli looked at him like this and, comparing to his own usual cold hardness, felt deeply moved. Zhuang Chengye patted his brother’s shoulder and smiled silently.
Zhuang Mingwen, however, looked over curiously. After Zhuang Mingxu finished, he asked, “Is that your son?”
“Mm,” Zhuang Mingxu nodded, unable to help adding, “He’s four years old now.”
This was already a restrained show of pride. Lu Weiyi glanced at him; the tenderness on his face hadn’t faded yet.
“Bring him back to meet the elders,” Old Master Zhuang ordered, with the natural authority of a patriarch.
“…” Zhuang Mingxu didn’t respond.
Their relationship didn’t seem as harmonious as in the previous life. Nobody knew what had just happened.
Zhuang Ai Yi said a few words to Zhuang Mingxu. Meanwhile, Xu Sa informed Antonio that they were ready to come out now.
Expecting them to arrive late at night, Zhuang Mingxu immediately set off.
“Mingwu, take some people to follow your cousin and keep an eye on him,” Old Master Zhuang instructed. Zhuang Mingwu nodded and ordered people to fetch the cars.
“Two vehicles,” Zhuang Mingxu said.
“I’ll go with you,” Zhuang Chengli said.
“No need,” Zhuang Mingxu replied, pushing his wheelchair outside, with Lu Weiyi following behind.
Having been refused face, Zhuang Chengli stood in place, while Xia Xiaorong awkwardly stood beside him, looking guilty.
At the villa entrance, Antonio was with Dean, while Xu Sa and Liu Ruining stood nearby.
Lu Weiyi rolled down the car window. Xu Sa said, “Let them both go together. They insist they’re not tired and want to go see.”
No one was ever not tired on these endless journeys. This was an extra layer of protection for Dean.
Lu Weiyi nodded and ordered everyone to get into the car.
*
The base hospital was originally just a hospital, but now two more floors had been added, expanding its scope. The driver said this was the best hospital at the base. It was expensive and staffed entirely by specialists.
Someone was already waiting at the entrance to receive them. As soon as Zhuang Mingxu got out, he was pushed off for examination.
The rest of the group was led directly to the operating room, which had been prepared ahead of time.
Ning Yuan was chatting happily with Zhuang Mingwu and the two people he brought. Dean, tired, was leaning on Antonio to nap. Liu Rui sat with crossed arms on the other side of Antonio, looking fierce but curious, glancing around as if to say, “Don’t mess with me,” and you could almost see “inexperienced” written on his face.
After all the tests, two hours later, a group of middle-aged doctors in white coats pushed Zhuang Mingxu on a stretcher over. A younger doctor holding some scans asked, “Who is the family member?”
Zhuang Mingwu looked around, and as he realized it should be him, Lu Weiyi had already stepped forward.
“Hello, I’m the chief surgeon. My surname is Zhang. The patient’s injury has been untreated for a long time; the shattered bones have regrown irregularly. If we operate again, the difficulty and risks increase.” Dr. Zhang pointed to the scans for Lu Weiyi to see—the arc of the kneecap was clearly fractured, with many fragments fixed in place. One could imagine how terrible the injury had been.
“How did this happen?” Zhuang Mingwu frowned deeply. Thinking about the family member being treated like this without anyone knowing, he couldn’t help but question Lu Weiyi.
“Got it,” Lu Weiyi ignored him, took the surgery consent form, and signed immediately.
The doctor hesitated but said, “We suggest working with a healing-type ability user during surgery for continuous repair. That’s the most likely way to achieve recovery.”
“Dean,” Lu Weiyi called.
Dean came out of Antonio’s arms, rubbing his eyes.
Lu Weiyi took two bottles of functional drinks from his bag and handed them to Dean, along with two coffees.
“Our healing-type abilities are limited. I hope to focus on repairing the critical parts during surgery,” Lu Weiyi said to the doctors. Afterward, Xu Yi would be there as well.
The base’s healing ability users were limited, but this wasn’t their first time working with surgeries. They understood the process well. “We understand.”
Zhuang Mingwu looked at Dean in surprise. He hadn’t even known they brought a healing ability user.
“They’ll work together,” Lu Weiyi pointed to the two beside him. Before the doctors could speak, he said flatly, “He doesn’t understand Chinese.”
“We will…” the doctor frowned, but was cut off by Dr. Zhang raising his hand. “Okay, please go change into sterile gowns. Others prepare for surgery.”
“Counting on you guys, thanks,” Lu Weiyi took out a pack of crystal cores and handed them to Dean and Antonio.
Antonio drank a coffee while Dean downed two functional drinks. Dean nodded, patted his chest, and said in fluent Mandarin, “Don’t worry, professionals won’t fail.”
Zhuang Mingxu on the operating table chuckled. Lu Weiyi’s tense mood eased considerably.
“Wait for me to come out,” Zhuang Mingxu squeezed Lu Weiyi’s smooth hand.
Lu Weiyi nodded and watched them enter the operating room.
From start to finish, Zhuang Mingwu and his people were just for show.
“Wait, you guys…” When the operating room lights came on, tool-man Zhuang Mingwu finally realized and looked at Lu Weiyi, “You have healing-type ability users?”
Lu Weiyi glanced at him, practically wanting to write on his face, “None of your business.”
He turned and sat on the bench by the door, crossing his arms and leaning back. Liu Rui and Ning Yuan did exactly the same, like it was a group habit.
