Chapter 150: Extra (An Le)
“You?”
Xiao Xiao thought about the time he’d been bullied, how Gu Qian had secretly gone and crushed the guy’s hand. It was terrifying. If he encouraged that kind of behavior, wouldn’t things get even scarier in the future? He hesitated, then said helplessly, “That was because I was impressive, okay?”
Back then, he was still a beta. When he was bullied, other than not being as strong, he wouldn’t lose the ability to fight back because of pheromones, and he certainly wouldn’t be at an alpha’s mercy, or even beg an alpha to make a move on him. So, with a little skill, he could handle a drunk alpha just fine. Except for the first time he was tricked into signing that fraudulent contract at the bar, he had been clever enough to avoid taking any major losses, whether at work or anywhere else. He hadn’t even needed Gu Qian.
“Is that so?” Gu Qian asked.
Compared to An Le, Xiao Xiao was indeed impressive. He was a diligent worker and knew how to protect himself. But even so, with a face that could rival any omega’s and a body that “couldn’t be broken,” Gu Qian had still secretly cleaned up a lot of trouble for him. Otherwise, how would everyone in their circle have known how protective Gu Qian was of a beta? It was all because Gu Qian was always cleaning up his messes.
But Xiao Xiao didn’t know, and Gu Qian didn’t plan on telling him. His methods weren’t exactly honorable, so it was better if Xiao Xiao remained in the dark. He didn’t want to scare him off; it wouldn’t be worth it.
Xiao Xiao huffed. “Alright, let’s go home.”
Gu Qian smiled helplessly. “Mm, let’s go home.”
They walked out of the hospital hand-in-hand, their faces wreathed in smiles. It looked less like they were visiting a patient and more like they were on a date, a stark contrast to the chaos they left behind.
Just as they reached the entrance, a man rushed out of the hospital and grabbed Xiao Xiao’s arm. “Mr. Xiao, hello. Was it you who accompanied Mr. An for his surgery here before? It was all a misunderstanding with Mr. An, really. The implant might have been the wrong one. Could you please help us speak to Mr. An? We’d like to talk in person, is that okay?”
It was the director.
Lu Heng had considerable influence in the business world. Although this was a good specialty hospital, it had no powerful backing. It would be easy for Lu Heng to ruin him. The director was frantic, hoping to get Xiao Xiao’s help.
But Xiao Xiao shook his head. “I was the one who signed for the implant purchase. It cost over 6,000 yuan in total, and the state subsidized half. The implant alone was 2,300. The manual said it was guaranteed for at least ten years, meaning that with daily use, there shouldn’t be any vision problems for a decade.”
“But it’s only been two years, and Lele can’t see anymore. The fact that I haven’t sued you along with Mr. Lu is already your good luck. How do you have the nerve to ask me for help?”
The doctor who had performed An Le’s surgery had left the country long ago, and his student was gone too. So, they didn’t know the exact details of what had happened during the surgery. But no matter how cheap the implant was, it shouldn’t have only lasted for two years. And An Le was a good boy; even when he played on his phone, it wasn’t for too long. With Lu Heng watching him at home, it was almost impossible for him to strain his eyes. So, it had to be a quality issue.
He had been just as angry as Lu Heng when he found out the vision loss was due to a quality problem; his anger had just been overshadowed by Lu Heng’s. What was fortunate was that the doctor who had examined them this time was new. If it had been a doctor who knew An Le had had his surgery there before, who knows what kind of lies they would have told to deceive them.
Hearing this, the director’s face changed. “But it really was an accident! I really didn’t take that money, I…”
“Whether you took it or not, you know in your heart,” Xiao Xiao said. “When you were introducing the implants, the most expensive one in your hospital was 30,000 yuan for one eye. Mr. Lu gave you 500,000.”
With that, he took Gu Qian’s hand and walked away.
The director froze. He had indeed taken the money. An eye surgery couldn’t possibly cost that much. The expensive implants were good quality, but the cheaper ones were still usable. Since An Le and Xiao Xiao didn’t know Lu Heng had given him money at the time, he hadn’t arranged for the best implant, but he had used a mid-priced one. So, a problem like this absolutely shouldn’t have happened.
He had checked. It was a nurse who had taken the wrong implant during the surgery—a defective one.
The director gritted his teeth and decided to pin all the blame on that nurse…
An Le followed Lu Heng to another hospital, which looked much better than the one he and Xiao Xiao had chosen before. Just like last time, he went for a round of check-ups before sitting in front of the doctor to see the results.
The doctor sighed. “Where did you have the surgery done before?”
An Le didn’t speak. Lu Heng asked in a low voice, “Is there a problem?”
The doctor said, “The implant in your eye is somewhat damaged. Didn’t you feel any visual impairment after the surgery?”
An Le shook his head. “Before the surgery, I could barely see anything. After, I could see more than three meters. I thought that was great.” He had thought recovering his vision to three meters was the best possible outcome.
The doctor asked about An Le’s previous condition and finally nodded. “Recovering to that extent after the surgery was indeed the best result. It’s just that your implant isn’t good. It’s severely damaged and needs to be removed and replaced. Otherwise, continuing to use it will harm the back of your eye.”
An Le nodded, then looked at Lu Heng.
Lu Heng asked, “When can the surgery be done?”
The doctor looked at the time. “It’s only three o’clock. You can go pay and get admitted right now. Go to the sixth floor and find the surgeon. The surgeries are all done around five o’clock. It only takes about ten minutes, it’s very fast.”
“Thank you, doctor,” An Le said.
“You’re welcome. You should hurry.”
With that, Lu Heng had An Le wait in the hallway while he went to pay. Then he took An Le to the sixth floor to find the doctor.
When they got there, they discovered that the surgeon assigned to him was a student of his original doctor, Li Xiao. The student’s surname was Wang. He wasn’t surprised to see An Le, but there was a hint of guilt in his eyes. “How have your eyes been?” he asked.
Seeing him, An Le didn’t answer his question right away. Instead, he asked, “Dr. Wang, what are you doing at this hospital?”
Dr. Wang gave an embarrassed smile. “I’m very sorry about what happened before. That hospital was just a scam masquerading as a specialty clinic. I only found out later, but I couldn’t get in touch with you by then.” Dr. Wang hadn’t performed An Le’s surgery, so he didn’t know some of the details. But later, he noticed an empty box for a defective implant and curiously asked the others where it had gone. It was only after asking around that he found out it had been implanted in An Le’s eye.
He immediately tried to call and tell An Le but was stopped by the director. Only then did he remember the confidentiality agreement he had signed when he started. If he revealed this, he would be in breach of contract and would have to pay a huge sum. So, he gritted his teeth and said nothing. Later, when he was planning to tell An Le in secret, he found he couldn’t reach him. Both his and Xiao Xiao’s numbers were disconnected.
After that, he left that hospital and came here. He never expected to meet him again after two years.
An Le nodded. “I see.”
Dr. Wang looked at An Le again and said helplessly, “Okay, now go get your blood drawn. Then sit outside for a while. I’ll call you when it’s time.”
“Okay, thank you.” An Le nodded, then took Lu Heng’s hand and left.
Lu Heng’s mood was still unstable. He shouldn’t have let An Le go find a hospital on his own back then; he should have taken him himself. But at the time, An Le was so timid and so afraid of being a burden that he always tried to hide things from him…
Lu Heng sighed. Since he had to be hospitalized, he turned and called someone to bring them their daily necessities. An Le followed behind him. When Lu Heng finished his call, he called out, “Sir.”
“Mm.”
“Are you angry?”
“Mm,” Lu Heng said. “I’m angry at myself for not being more forceful and taking you to a good hospital back then.”
An Le pouted. “You didn’t know at the time, Sir. And that hospital, everyone said it was good. Xiao Xiao and I looked for a long time before we chose it.” They had heard it was the best eye hospital at the time. Who knew they’d pull something like this? He hugged Lu Heng and said in a small voice, “Sir, I’m sorry.”
Lu Heng stroked his face. “What are you sorry for? It’s not your fault.” With that, he took An Le’s hand. “The doctor said you still need a blood test. I’ll go with you.”
An Le nodded. Tugging on Lu Heng’s hand, he asked nurses for directions until they finally found the blood-drawing station. Seeing the doctor unwrap a long needle, An Le instinctively looked at Lu Heng.
Lu Heng smiled. “Scared?”
An Le nodded. “Mhm.”
Lu Heng pulled up a chair and sat next to him, then pulled him into his lap. “Don’t look, and you won’t be scared,” he said in a low voice.
An Le didn’t speak. He could feel the doctor wiping his vein with a cotton swab. The needle would be next. But before he could even feel the prick, he felt Lu Heng nuzzle his gland. He froze for a second, his face instantly turning red. “Sir…”
Before he could finish, Lu Heng bit down. An Le’s eyes went wide. At the same time, the doctor’s needle slid into his vein…
Thirty minutes later, An Le sat on a stool, looking at Lu Heng with a pout.
“Angry?” Lu Heng asked.
An Le turned his head away. “Hmph. How could you bite me in front of so many people?” He wasn’t in heat, and there was no special reason for it. To be bitten so suddenly like that… he had almost lost control of himself. It was so embarrassing. An Le’s face was bright red, his mouth in a clear pout. He was obviously fuming.
Lu Heng held back a laugh and pulled him into his arms. “Getting a shot hurts. A temporary mark can make you forget the pain. Don’t you like it?”
An Le squirmed angrily. “But… but that’s not how temporary marks are used! Sir, you lied to me!”
Lu Heng let out a laugh. “Lele’s gotten smarter.”
An Le now knew Lu Heng had bitten him on purpose, which only made him angrier.
Lu Heng held him and kissed his face. “There’s no reason. I just wanted to bite Lele. Everywhere we go, I want to tell everyone that Lele is mine.”
An Le froze for a second. A smile appeared in his teary eyes. “Sir is mine, too,” he said shyly.
Lu Heng couldn’t resist and kissed him again. Just then, the operating room doors opened. He bent down, scooped An Le into his arms, and walked step by step into the surgery prep room…
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