Chapter 395: Liu Wan
While soothing the baby and patting his back, Lu Weiyi asked Yin Jin, “How many times did he feed today? Did he poop? What color?”
These were the most basic things to observe when a child is sick—most parents would know this. Lu Weiyi had picked it up from watching Zhuang Mingxu read parenting books after Taotao came into their lives. Now he sounded like a pro.
Yin Jin was a devoted mother and remembered all the details. Confirming nothing seemed abnormal, Lu Weiyi chose to wait and monitor after gathering the doctors.
“Ability users recover quickly. Let’s observe for now. If the fever climbs again, I’ll call a pediatric team for a consultation.”
Yin Jin nodded. “Thank you.”
Li Wenliang returned with warm water and reached for Qin Nian, but the baby refused—grabbing Lu Weiyi’s collar tightly and not letting go.
“I’ll do it.” Lu Weiyi calmly laid the child down, undressed him, and wiped down his back, armpits, and groin area with a towel. “Dr. Li, check the storeroom for any electric heaters—bring one here.”
Li Wenliang quickly left. Yin Jin efficiently tidied up the messy room.
The walkie-talkie buzzed again. Lu Weiyi answered, “Lu Weiyi, go ahead.”
“Commander, it’s Xu Chu. Academician Zhao came personally and requested we release Miss Zhao. What should we do?”
“Has all the intel been extracted?”
“Yes, it’s all been submitted to Commander Zhuang’s office, but I can’t reach him now. As for Dr. Zhao… I’m not sure what to do.”
“I haven’t reviewed the interrogation report yet. Hold them all for now—wait for my instruction.”
“Understood.”
“Captain, it’s Wu Yue. The people we brought back—someone came looking for them.”
“Copy. Follow the previous arrangements for housing—I’ll deliver them myself later.”
Lu Weiyi kept responding while scanning the space with his mental power. He waved toward the door, and a shelf appeared in the hallway. “Grab a few fever patches—I’m going to examine him again.”
Seeing the mess in the room, Lu Weiyi was increasingly convinced the issue stemmed from the child’s crystal core. He quickly walked to the fifth underground floor, carrying the child and leaving a string of walkie-talkie chatter behind.
Less than ten minutes later, he returned with the child.
Yin Jin placed a fever patch on Qin Nian’s forehead. Then Lu Weiyi said, “The situation is a bit complicated. I’ll need to help him. Do you want to come to the villa with me, or should I take him alone?”
“I’m coming with you,” Yin Jin replied without hesitation.
“Alright, let’s go. I’ll explain more once we’re back.” Lu Weiyi quickly put away the medical shelf and left with the child. “While I’m not at the villa, have someone contact the house and check on Gu Qingzhi’s condition.”
At last, the intercom fell silent when they reached the door.
“Is he an experiment too?” Cheng Chuan suddenly asked.
Lu Weiyi had to think for a moment before realizing he’d forgotten about the man. Seeing Cheng Chuan staring at the baby wrapped in the blanket, Lu Weiyi nodded. “You could say that.”
Cheng Chuan didn’t respond, but as they entered the villa, Lu Weiyi noticed him putting the metal collar back on his neck.
“Brother Chuan,” Xia Qiao, who had already taken up the task of grading homework for the two kids, stood up and quickly came over when he saw Cheng Chuan.
“I’m fine.” Cheng Chuan patted his back. “I’ll reach out when I’ve made up my mind.”
“Alright.” Lu Weiyi signaled for someone to escort them, then pointed upstairs and asked Dean, “Any issues with Gu Qingji?”
“It’s still ongoing,” Dean replied cryptically, then pouted. “Lu, when can David take a break? I miss him.”
“…Just wait,” Lu Weiyi said, exasperated, and assigned him a task. “Go remind them to pace themselves. If it gets out of hand, tie him up.”
“OK.” Dean reluctantly went upstairs. Soon, they heard his loud knocking and clumsy Chinese: “Lu says you should take it easy…”
Lu Weiyi slapped a hand to his forehead. For the first time, he finally understood what people meant by secondhand embarrassment.
“Little Dad, is that our little brother?”
“Yes, it’s your little brother.”
Zhuang Ai Yi and Taotao came over, pulling at the blanket to look at the baby.
Lu Weiyi set the child on the couch and updated Yin Jin on the current situation.
Qin Nian was a naturally gifted ability-user, different from the rest of their group. Being so young, he couldn’t yet control his powers. There had been signs of instability before, but the suppressor device had kept things in check—until the accumulated energy in his crystal nucleus reached a breaking point today and erupted.
Zhuang Mobai believed they should guide him in using his abilities rather than suppressing them. After all, no one knew what might happen with a naturally born ability-user—especially since he was the only known one. His importance was obvious.
Lu Weiyi was the only nearby mental-type ability-user who wasn’t otherwise occupied, so the responsibility naturally fell to him.
“These next few days are critical. I’ll start guiding him to use his powers. For now, stay here,” he said. Then, taking out an octopus-shaped controller, he briefly explained what it did and said bluntly, “Just to be upfront: you’re going to be in close contact with my whole family, so I need to take some precautions.”
“I understand.” Yin Jin, preferring it used on himself rather than Qin Nian, responded swiftly, even eagerly. “I’ll wear it all the time. Can you not put one on him?”
“He’s just a child, and I’m very worried,” Yin Jin added, unusually soft in tone for someone typically so resolute.
“Your behavior is his guarantee. I won’t make things hard for a child for no reason,” Lu Weiyi replied—by now, he had learned not to make absolute promises.
With the agreement in place, Lu Weiyi skipped asking Gu Qingyue and directly placed the control mechanism near Yin Jin’s heart with his powers.
Shi Shi, who never got involved in base affairs, emerged once the talk was done and found a suitable room for Yin Jin.
Lu Weiyi left in a hurry to settle Tang Bai’s wife and daughter.
He handed Liu Wan a blindfold. “I’m taking you to see Xu Wen, but I can’t let you know where we are.”
Liu Wan obediently put it on, clutching Tang Tingting tightly. The three of them left in a vehicle, heading toward Beidao.
Xu Wen hadn’t come alone—many ordinary people from the Pingjin Base came with him. The group totaled over a thousand.
After registration, they were scattered into various areas. Thanks to Tang Tingting, Xu Wen was assigned to the housing reserved for minors.
This area housed all children under fourteen and was maintained by the base. They had half a day of classes and the rest working. Their living conditions were better than those in the adult freezing zones, with heating that ensured no one would freeze to death.
“Put this on.” Lu Weiyi parked the vehicle and handed Liu Wan a cotton coat.
Liu Wan didn’t dare look around, obediently putting it on. She was so thin that she could wrap the entire Tang Tingting in her arms with room to spare.
Their assigned room was on the second floor. Lu Weiyi led the way, and Liu Wan followed, occasionally stealing glances around, trying to guess their location.
“This is the Yuebanwan Base,” Lu Weiyi said plainly. “Pingjin Base is about to have a conflict with us. We need your husband’s cooperation, so you’ll be staying here for a while.”
“This is the best living area in the base,” he added, stopping to look back at her. “I hope you live here quietly until it’s time to leave. If you do anything suspicious, the bomb on his body will go off at any time.”
Liu Wan looked at him in terror, gesturing frantically with one hand.
Dong Hongyuan, who had come out to check on the noise, saw the scene and examined the two, noting that one of them held his beloved daughter. He nodded at Lu Weiyi. “Base Leader.”
Seeing that he lived next door, Lu Weiyi realized the placement had been deliberate. He nodded back and asked, “How’s the child? Has the cold affected her?”
“She’s alright.”
“There’s a supply point here for children’s needs. You can request anything necessary.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Dong Hongyuan bluntly asked, “Do you have formula? Xiao Bao’s won’t last much longer.”
As they talked, the neighboring room door opened, and a strange man poked his head out. Seeing people in the hallway, he stepped out quickly and called, “Liu Wan!”
Liu Wan hurried over, signing anxiously. The man nodded and gently pushed her and Tang Tingting into the room.
Lu Weiyi didn’t pay them any more attention. He searched through his space for a moment, then forgot where he had stored the formula. “I’ll go check. I’ll have someone send it over shortly.”
“Thank you, Base Leader,” Dong Hongyuan said, then nodded to Xu Wen and went back inside.
“Hello, Base Leader Lu,” Xu Wen greeted Lu Weiyi.
“Hello.” Lu Weiyi was sure that Tang Bai must have thoroughly briefed them before sending them over. After reminding Xu Wen how to contact him, he finally turned and left.
**
Gu Qingji and Gu Qingyue didn’t wake up until noon the next day. It was Xi Shi who, worried that the two might have had an accident after staying locked in their room for an entire day and night, had the ever-unconcerned Dean go in and check on them.
That was when he discovered both of them had fevers, caused by injuries—though the locations of their wounds differed.
Given their different upbringings, Dean rudely woke them up, healed their injuries, and even came out to describe everything in exaggerated detail. Had it not been for a pale and weak Gu Qingji struggling out of bed and gritting his teeth to shout Dean’s name, Dean might’ve described the exact appearance of their wounds.
The villa rooms had been modified by several earth-type ability users, and every unit now had a bedroom, a living room, and a bathroom. A few people who had come back for lunch out of curiosity stood outside the door peering in.
“I found a traditional Chinese medicine doctor to take a look at you,” Zhuang Mingxu stood at the door, looking inside.
Gu Qingji wanted to carry the exhausted Gu Qingyue to the living room, but his legs were shaking so badly he could barely stand, so he had no choice but to have his mutated vines move him.
The elderly doctor took their pulses while the others scattered around the hallway or the small sitting room, observing the two brothers with amused and curious eyes. Gu Qingyue was so weak he couldn’t even muster up any extra emotion.
