Jiang Yan felt deeply that the situation had spiraled beyond his understanding—he might as well have been a imperial physician in a court drama, forced by a favored concubine to fake a pregnancy pulse.
Right now, Lu Qin was acting like a tyrant king under a spell. When the scandal eventually broke, the concubine would still rise to empress, but the physician would lose his head.
He hesitated, unsure whether to nod. Two kidneys were being passed off as twins—how was that not a recipe for disaster?
Jiang Yan was no obstetrician; the only reason Lu Qin had called him in was his hands-on experience helping with Pei Dundun's birth. Twins? He had zero experience with twins. And Lu Qin would definitely be hunting down a real expert by tonight.
A real expert—say, Wen Zhenrui—took medical ethics very seriously. Even with their bond as fellow disciples, Wen Zhenrui would never help fake a diagnosis.
"Are they twins?" Lu Qin asked again.
Pei Rong stayed silent.
Jiang Yan mustered his nerve. "Yes."
Screw it—he wanted to see the show too. A stunning beauty like Pei Rong would surely improvise brilliantly. He'd just sit back and watch.
Pei Rong, who had been staring at the ceiling, turned to glance at Jiang Yan. Couldn't you have told the truth?
—That Lu Qin had requested a kidney check first because all the nightly activity had him worried about kidney deficiency.
How perfectly logical that would have been.
Lu Qin's face darkened. "Are twins harder to deliver?"
Jiang Yan clung to the instruction "zero risk" and said, "For him, it's the same either way—it'll be a C-section. You could consider delivering at seven months; the risks aren't high."
"Are you sure the risks aren't high?"
Jiang Yan did his best to bullshit his way through: "We can observe for a week. Things will be clearer by then, and there's a good chance one of the twins will naturally disappear."
Lu Qin: "Alright. Thanks for coming all this way. I'll have the driver take you back."
Jiang Yan couldn't wait to grab his things and bolt.
Lu Qin pulled out some tissues and wiped the sticky ultrasound gel off Pei Rong's skin. "Feeling okay? Whatever you need, just tell me."
Pei Rong's original intention had been to satisfy one of Lu Qin's lingering regrets—so that neither would look back with longing, and Lu Qin would stop trying so many new tricks. A cure for both symptoms and root cause.
But the twin lie had gone too far. Pei Rong was afraid it would be hard to clean up.
Lu Qin turned off the ultrasound machine with practiced ease—he'd watched closely when the technician installed it, having an unparalleled knack for learning.
He gave Pei Rong a hug, pressing close to his cool, pale neck, and murmured, "Don't think about anything. Let's wait until next week. No matter the outcome, let me take good care of you this week."
Pei Rong paused, then swallowed the words that had risen to his throat.
Fine. One week. That was what he'd originally planned anyway.
Since Lu Qin wanted to make amends—and such an opportunity would never come again—Pei Rong might as well let Lu Qin spoil him to his heart's content. Whatever consequences came when the lie unravelled in a week, he would bear them himself.
Thinking deeper, their formal reunion had, because of Pei Dundun, saddled Lu Qin with immense guilt and regret from the very start. Wasn't that, in its own way, a shackle keeping Lu Qin close? Pei Rong wanted to blow up that invisible chain with drastic measures.
As for what Lu Qin's attitude would be once that debt of responsibility was cleared—Pei Rong would wait and see, and he wouldn't regret it.
After Jiang Yan got back, he sincerely suggested, "You should turn yourself in."
Pei Rong: "We'll see."
Jiang Yan: "This is a losing game. All you're getting is a seven-day abstinence period—which doesn't really hurt Lu Qin—while handing a lever to a capitalist."
Pei Rong: "I don't need that lever anyway."
***
Lu Qin wanted to take his wife everywhere—to work, to the bathroom, to meetings…
Pei Rong: "No."
Lu Qin reasoned: "Dundun can sit in on my meetings."
Pei Rong: "So I should sit next to you reading picture books?"
Lu Qin: "You could wear headphones and watch a show."
Pei Rong sat in the office's executive chair: "I don't have as thick a face as you do."
Lu Qin pulled a few folders from the drawer: "Sign these, and you can attend meetings as a shareholder. Then you could lie down and no one would dare say a thing."
Pei Rong glanced down—they were a series of equity transfer agreements, worth not just billions, but hundreds of billions, trillions.
His bright eyes shifted thoughtfully. If he signed these, it really would look like one of those melodramatic wealthy-family plots—"fake pregnancy to steal the family fortune."
"No."
"Why not? There's one for Dundun too," Lu Qin said matter-of-factly. "If neither of you wants it, what's the point of me making money?"
Pei Rong's lips curved slightly. "Raising a kid costs a fortune. You keep working hard."
Lu Qin stood behind the chair and massaged his shoulders. "Let me discuss something with you. My mom's pushing to transfer shares to Dundun, and I'd like to put Dundun on my household register—it'll make things easier to handle."
With both of them on the same household register, equity transfers wouldn't raise questions about the Lu family's actual control.
"His official name is still Pei Ge."
Pei Rong: "I haven't registered Dundun anywhere yet. Putting him under your household is fine. But I don't agree with giving him something beyond his capacity at such a young age."
A multi-million-dollar watch or an excavator—sure. But shares? No need.
Lu Qin could just get a paternity test and add Dundun to his household register as his son.
Pei Rong suddenly asked with curiosity, "Mr. Lu, have you ever had a paternity test done?"
Lu Qin: "No."
Pei Rong: "Aren't you afraid I'm running a scam on you? You CEOs must be familiar with that plotline."
"Shut up. How dare you. Even if he popped out of a rock, he's still my son." Lu Qin's hands slid lower from his shoulders and gave a squeeze. "Don't think I won't touch you just because you're pregnant."
Pei Rong sucked in a breath. "Don't…"
He pushed Lu Qin's hand away. "I need to go to the bathroom."
Lu Qin: "I'll go with you."
"Absolutely not!" the beauty refused vehemently.
Lu Qin: "The bathroom floor is slippery. I can't let a pregnant man go alone."
Pei Rong's scalp tingled, and he felt genuinely put on the spot: "I don't even feel pregnant yet."
Lu Qin had a sudden brainstorm: "When your belly gets big, won't you not be able to see down there? Will I have to help hold it for you?"
Pei Rong: "Get lost."
At noon, Lu Qin knocked off work early and took Pei Rong home. Dundun would be arriving soon, and he wanted to have a meal ready to welcome the little guy back.
Pei Dundun had gone on a trip, and it wasn't convenient to bring the cats along, so Orange and Pineapple had to stay home and play by themselves.
Pei Rong thought it was a good thing Lu Qin had gotten another cat—Pineapple. Owners weren't always home, and two cats could keep each other company.
As soon as they walked in, Pineapple and Orange came bounding over with their big fluffy tails swishing, their four clear bright eyes fixed on them, as if asking when Dundun was coming back.
Orange stretched out a paw and pushed a pair of slippers toward them.
Pei Rong patted Orange's head. "Dundun will be here soon."
Pineapple, still not quite as expressive, circled around them, meowing.
Lu Qin crouched down and gave Pineapple's head a disdainful ruffle. "My wife's having twins again, and you can't even produce a single kitten?"
He declared that in this regard, the cat took after no owner of his—daily grooming his "wife" without ever actually scoring.
Pineapple: "Meowr!"
Pei Rong gritted his teeth. Bragging to a cat? How much more pathetic could he get?
"When are you going to realize Orange is a male cat?!"
He hadn't planned to say it—he wanted to see how long Lu Qin could keep being clueless.
Lu Qin: "…"
He really had never bothered to check Orange's gender.
Lu Qin scrambled to defend himself, trying not to look like an idiot but rather like a well-informed man who'd made an honest assumption: "But when Orange was in heat, didn't you handle it the way you would for a female cat?"
Pei Rong: "Yeah, because I couldn't find any solutions for a male cat. Orange was uncomfortable and came to Dundun for help. Was I supposed to just leave him hanging?"
Perfectly logical.
Lu Qin said from the heart, "When I'm in heat, you leave me hanging just fine."
Bottom of the family pecking order—worse off than the cats.
Pei Rong: "…"
Having no standing whatsoever, Lu Qin had no choice but to go cook, and he quickly whipped up three dishes and a soup.
Pei Rong frowned slightly. "Why crucian carp soup?"
Lu Qin explained, "It's from Jiang Yan's pregnancy diet recommendations. He said you love crucian carp soup."
Pei Rong had nearly drunk himself sick on that stuff back then. His face darkened. "That was Dundun who loved it. I don't."
"Dundun turned out so smart—must have been the crucian carp soup." Lu Qin ladled out a bowl, carefully picking out every bone. "Good results are worth repeating."
Pei Rong remembered how Jiang Yan used to tease him whenever he refused to drink it—asking if he was waiting for Mr. Lu to pick out the bones for him.
Pei Rong had no choice but to hold his nose and drink.
Yes, he was waiting for someone to pick out the bones for him.
He took the bowl of fish soup—not a single tiny bone in sight—and decided to make peace with crucian carp soup once and for all.
The sound of a car engine came from outside. A moment later, a voice rang out before its owner appeared: "Daddy—"
Pei Dundun ran in, dove straight under the table, and wrapped his arms around his dad's thigh.
Madame Jiang followed behind, looking like she'd lost a bit of weight.
Pei Rong immediately felt a pang of guilt.
Here he was at home, being treated like royalty by Madame Jiang's son—meals brought to him, clothes laid out for him—while his own son had been in Madame Jiang's care and worn her down by a couple of pounds.
In this exchange of sons, Madame Jiang had clearly drawn the short straw.
Pei Rong rubbed his nose. But then again… Lu the Bear could be exhausting to deal with too sometimes.
So, even.
After lunch, Madame Jiang said to Lu Qin, "You're supposed to negotiate a chip supply contract this week, right?"
Lu Qin: "Yes."
Madame Jiang said affectionately, "Your father and I will handle it. Your father's still got it—we used to do these negotiations together back in the day."
Lu Qin: "Thanks, Mom. Then I'll take the week off."
After lunch, Madame Jiang went down for her nap. Pei Dundun, however, was still buzzing with energy, his eyes bright and sparkling, clinging to his dads—whom he hadn't seen for two days—and regaling them with tales from his trip.
Lu Qin: "Come on, let's go for a walk."
Pei Rong: "I want a nap too."
Lu Qin wrapped an arm around his waist, well-versed in pregnancy lore: "You need more sunlight when you're pregnant—it helps with calcium absorption. And twins make you even more prone to calcium deficiency."
Pei Dundun had already grabbed the cat leashes and was waiting by the door.
Pei Rong, outvoted by one big one, one little one, and the imaginary twins, relented: "Fine."
Lu Qin's villa complex came with its own park, and every possible safeguard had been put in place—extremely secure. Since there weren't many kids in the neighborhood—or perhaps they'd all been shipped off to various art lessons—the little park was very quiet in the afternoon. Sunlight spilled over the naturally withered lawn, warm and still when the breeze died down.
Pei Dundun ran around the grass with the two cats. Orange was a sensible cat, so Pei Rong felt comfortable letting them roam freely within sight.
Not that he could catch up anyway—and "being pregnant" meant he wasn't supposed to.
Lu Qin carefully spread a blanket over the long stone bench, as if trying to turn the cold stone seat into a plush luxury sofa.
Pei Rong watched Lu Qin's upholstery handiwork for a while and figured he'd have to sit in the sun for at least three hours just to do Lu Qin's efforts justice.
"Meowr! Meow!" Pineapple suddenly came running back, tugging at Lu Qin's pant leg.
Both dads jolted, looked up, and scanned around—Pei Dundun was nowhere in sight.
"There." Lu Qin's sharp eyes spotted him and walked over.
Pei Rong: "Where?"
Lu Qin: "Under the pavilion."
To the left stood a wooden pavilion, its six thick pillars anchored deep into the ground. The floor was suspended above the lawn, with wooden planks spaced about five centimeters apart, leaving a gap of roughly twenty centimeters between the boards and the grass.
Pineapple and Orange had been darting in and out through the gaps, and after watching them long enough, Pei Dundun decided to line up and crawl through too.
Then he got thoroughly stuck—right in the middle, trapped like a prisoner, unable to move forward or back.
Orange, in the cramped space, dug frantically at the ground with his front paws, silently widening the space around Pei Dundun. Pei Dundun stayed quiet too, waiting for Orange to rescue him so he wouldn't get in trouble.
And Pineapple—that cat—had actually run off to tattle!
Lu Qin looked at their son, who was a meter away from any edge. The fastest way would be to pry up a wooden plank from above.
Each plank was ten centimeters wide, with five-centimeter gaps between them. Removing one would give twenty centimeters of space.
Pei Rong: "Aren't you the one who can assemble a bed with your bare hands? Pry it up."
Lu Qin: "…I'll call the property management."
Lu Qin called the property office and asked them to bring tools.
"Of course, President Lu."
Pei Rong vaguely heard the sound of the whole office mobilizing to come gawk. "Pei Ge, you—"
He wanted to ask if Pei Dundun was pressed anywhere, if his breathing was blocked.
Pei Dundun, ever sensible, called back: "I'll tell the property uncle that my last name is Lu."
