Chapter 223: The two childhood sweethearts

The mental stability rate is 58%. This state is no longer suitable for commanding the army.

He will gradually lose his judgment.

But Lu Hang felt that he could still hold on... and he had to hold on.

There are still seventeen days left until the end of the month.

——Two weeks, three days, eleven hours and forty-six minutes.

The Duke's men knocked on the door and summoned him to join the nobles at a cocktail party.

Lu Hang put on his clothes numbly and checked the time. Only one minute had passed.

Every second feels like a year.

The cocktail party was still held in that bright red, noisy room, and the long table was filled with people. Lu Hang walked over and subconsciously counted their seats in his mind: No. 1, No. 2... No. 27, No. 28, No. 29... No. 123, No. 124...

He sat down, with a bloody piece of medium-rare meat on his plate and a life of decadence and a band performance beside him. The bass notes of the cello were played at an unprecedentedly fast tempo. He could not hear the music and there was only emptiness and panic in his mind.

The sound of his heartbeat gradually drowned out the music in his ears and he fell into a trance.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Major General Lu, let's have a drink... You are our hope for victory now. Even His Majesty Cade wants to summon you! Clink glasses!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Xiao Lu, when we win, have them make a movie about you, a biography, and find the director of 'Back to the Past'... and put you on the cover of Interstellar Times magazine, and become famous! Haha, you will be praised by the world——"

Praise by the world?

Lu Hang vaguely thought that if his father and mother were here, hearing the praise from these dignitaries, they would definitely wipe away their tears with excitement, sighing that their child had finally made it and that their years of education had not been in vain.

But he knew in his heart that this was not the life he wanted.

He just wants to live a quiet life.

In front of him was a delicious meal with expensive ingredients that were rotting, but what he was thinking about was the butter-baked potatoes he had that night in Wildstar Prison.

His right hand dropped down and he hugged himself quietly.

stomachache.

Amid the noisy, incessant thumping of his heart, he tiredly let himself drift away.

Everything seemed to have returned to that night.

Huo Yuan, the night when she took out a pair of socks from the closet and handed them to him.

"Here you go," Huo Yuan said protectively, "Put it on and you won't be afraid anymore."

…

That was the last year before graduation.

The weather was unpredictable in late autumn, and the rain was freezing cold. Huo Yuan accidentally caught the flu in the cafeteria and fell ill.

The roommate lay on the side of the bed, looking at Huo Yuan, whose cheeks were red and who had a thermometer in his mouth, and said in a resentful tone:

"Look at our poor Yuanzi, she has contracted bird flu and has a fever like this, how can she go to work at night?"

Huo Yuan spat out the thermometer with a "Puh", sat up straight, and the towel on his forehead fell onto the quilt with a plop.

Lu Hang, who was standing by, said, "Don't move, go back to sleep."

Huo Yuan turned to look at him, his eyes still cold but clearly unfocused, "Ezi is right, I have to go to work, get out of the way! I'll be out right away--"

Before he could utter the word "fa", he fell down uncontrollably.

If Lu Hang hadn't been quick-witted, his head would have hit the stainless steel bedpost, adding new injuries.

Seeing how pitiful Huo Yuan was, the roommate wanted to jump down from the upper bunk, "I don't have classes tonight, so why don't I tutor Yuanzi instead? After all, I'm the second best in the department, and the parents of the student won't say anything."

Lu Hang turned around to stop him: "Don't, you don't even know what subject he teaches."

The roommate put his hands on his hips in dissatisfaction and said, "Who cares which course it is? As long as I can fool around for a night and get the money to give to Yuanzi, isn't that enough?"

"You don't understand the situation," Lu Hang glanced at Huo Yuan, who was confused by the fever, "I'll go."

The roommate glanced at Lu Hang suspiciously, keenly smelling a hint of adultery, "No, you two are hiding a little secret from me... You don't even want to play with me, that's too much!"

The roommate pretended to be arrogant and rolled around on the bed, but Lu Hang picked his ears and pretended not to hear him.

The three of them have been together for many years and have always had a harmonious relationship, as good as real brothers.

Even though the roommate is in a bad mood now, if the dormitory manager really comes to investigate, he will definitely be the first one to stand up and help Lu Hang cover up.

Just like that, Lu Hang hid it from the unconscious Huo Yuan, took his equipment, and worked as a "tutor" for him for the first time.

——Black “tutor”.

No one except Lu Hang knew that Huo Yuan had been making money by playing illegal games in the underground mercenary field.

He did work as a tutor in a supplementary education institution, but his boss was a bad person and always withheld one month's salary from him.

During that time, Huo Yuan's sister wanted to have an induced abortion, but the public hospital required Dan's father's signature and consent, so they could only go to a private hospital for the operation.

Private hospitals cannot use residents’ medical insurance to reimburse, and the entire set of preoperative and recovery procedures costs 50,000 star coins.

Huo Yuan went to ask the boss of the tutoring institution for money, but was kicked out. He was alone and unable to raise any money, and was so anxious that his mouth was covered with blisters. Finally, he saw an advertisement from somewhere and secretly went to play in black tournaments to make money. He came back every day with a bruised face and a swollen nose.

He's not very good at lying yet.

When the Lu Hang asked him about it, he said nonchalantly, "I bumped into it during training."

Lu Hang didn't expose him, but followed him when he climbed over the wall in the middle of the night and caught him backstage at the stadium.

"You need money, why don't you ask me to borrow it!" Lu Hang was inexplicably angry.

"Why would I ask you to borrow it?" Huo Yuan slapped his hand away and continued to do pre-match warm-up exercises. "I can earn it myself."

Lu Hang has always been good-tempered, but he couldn't help but say coldly: "Is it profitable to be beaten black and blue?"

Huo Yuan had a bad temper and got angry when he heard it, "You are amazing, you don't have a bruised face!"

Two hot-blooded little alphas had a fight in a pile of smelly clothes in the backstage lounge.

Lu Hang was good at shooting, and he relied on his shooting skills to improve his GPA to the top of the department. But God will not open all doors and windows for a person, so relatively speaking, his physical skills are much inferior.

Huo Yuan’s fist was so strong that he knocked out one of his teeth.

Lu Hang covered his mouth and climbed up, taking advantage of the situation to make a fuss: "Okay, you beat up your roommate, I'll tell the counselor."

Huo Yuan raised his injured chin indifferently and said, "Go ahead and sue me."

Lu Hang pulled his lower lip and said, "If I sue you, you won't be able to raise money for your sister's surgery."

Huo Yuan: “…”

Pinch it to the seven-inch mark.

How could a brother who raised his sister alone listen to such words? Huo Yuan's voice, which had just been choking, suddenly became weak:

"Then what do you say we should do? Compensate you with your teeth? Make you meals? Help you with your homework? Or chase after the omega next door?"

Lu Hang: "...Who said I like omegas, idiot!"

If you keep talking nonsense, I will beat him up when I get back.

Huo Yuan had a blank expression on her face: "It has nothing to do with Ezi. I heard your mother calling me while I was drying clothes on the balcony. Didn't she ask you to add a contact to the beautiful and gentle omega from the uncle's house in the next-door department and take her out for coffee?"

Even if Lu Hang jumped into the Yellow River, he couldn't clear himself of the blame: "She is my neighbor's sister whom I have known since primary school. I only have family affection for her."

Huo Yuan: "Oh, we have been childhood sweethearts."

Lu Hang: “…”

The anger suddenly fell into extreme silence. Neither of them said anything.

Lu Hang kept silent because he felt the more he explained, the more confusing it would become. After all, his mother did want to match him up with that sister.

But he later had a courtesy meeting with the girl. The one I like is O, and he already has a girlfriend.

Huo Yuan remained silent because he thought about it and felt that what he had just said was a bit sour.

...There's something wrong with him.

Let’s not talk about it.

Huo Yuan bent down, pulled the combat uniform out from under Lu Hang's feet, and patted the dirty dust on it. "Okay, I won't talk to you anymore. Call me outside to go on stage."

When Lu Hang saw that Huo Yuan's attitude softened, he thought it would be unfair if he didn't give Huo Yuan a way out, so he reached out and grabbed Huo Yuan, blocking the door:

"Use my money, okay? You're so tired from working every day that you can't even go to the cafeteria with me to buy buns."

Huo Yuan: “…”

Is this necessarily related to buying buns?

"Please."

“…”

Seeing him begging like this, Huo Yuan gritted his teeth and reluctantly gave him face, "...uh...ok - but I must pay you back."

"Okay!" Lu Hang breathed a sigh of relief, and his chest relaxed.

"And don't stop me from playing in the future."

"As long as you don't do it too often, you need to take a few days to rest."

There are dark blue spots under my eyelids, and I have to stay up late to play. How can I bear this?

"Six times a week." Huo Yuan bargained with him.

"twice."

"three times."

Lu Hang: "Deal."

The next day, Lu Hang found a physical bank, withdrew the money from his small account, and deposited it into Huo Yuan's account.

He cannot use electronic transfer directly. Although his parents never treated him harshly with money, they would often check the accounts to see if he bought anything he shouldn't have.

As for the whereabouts of the 50,000 star coins, Lu Hang had already thought of an excuse, saying that his mecha was broken and he needed to replace parts. If his father asked him for a repair order, he could just ask Ezi to forge one.

E Zi's family specializes in making fake electronic seals, which is a gray industry. His own skills are also very proficient, and he often helps his classmates get university internship certificates and the school cannot find out at all.

Things are going very well.

Huo Yuan's sister Huo Yao had a successful operation. The service of the private hospital was very good and the little girl had almost no sequelae.

But Huo Yuan still gritted his teeth and said that he would kill that man one day.

Lu Hang remained silent after hearing this. Now he is unable to completely solve Huo Yuan's problem. All he can do is accompany and comfort her.

After a while, Huo Yuan gradually became famous in the underground black competition. Some smaller mercenary groups extended olive branches to him.

Lu Hang, however, disagreed with these societies: "Huo Yuan, you graduated from a proper military academy. You can definitely be selected into the army corps, or join the military and police force without taking an exam. Either way is better than joining a civilian society."

"Military police, civil servants, right?" Huo Yuan drank a small can of coffee, staring at the setting sun in a trance. "That bad guy is also a civil servant."

"Who?" Lu Hang listened attentively.

"...Nothing." Huo Yuan avoided the question, crushed the empty can, and kicked it into a trash can in the distance.

"Come on, I'll treat you to a meal." He came up and put his arm around Lu Hang's shoulders.

Lu Hang quietly glanced at the hand on his shoulder, feeling a little uneasy. "You just said you'd treat me to coffee, but you took me to a vending machine. Now you're treating me to dinner. Where are we going? The cafeteria again?"

"It's not the cafeteria, it's a great place you haven't been to."

——Ten minutes later, in a convenience store.

Huo Yuan got a drink and Lu Hang brought a hot microwave lunch box, and they found a seat on the bench in front of the glass.

They said we were treating me to a meal, but it turned out to be a convenience store meal.

However, Huo Yuan was indeed very generous to Lu Hang. He usually only bought the cheapest chicken rice, but this time he was extravagant and ordered all the meat skewers in the window, filling up the display.

And they were all pushed in front of Lu Hang.

"Eat as much as you can," Huo Yuan opened a bottle of pineapple beer, took a big sip of the overflowing orange-yellow bubbles, and burped comfortably, "If you can't finish it, take it back for Ezi as a midnight snack."

Lu Hang opened his chopsticks and picked at his seafood squid rice. "Why are you so willing to spend so much suddenly? Are you making money?"

"Hmm." A carbonated pineapple-flavored hum.

Lu Hang did not doubt it, thinking that Huo Yuan's dueling skills must have improved greatly recently, as there were no bruises on his body anymore. After winning the game, it's normal to treat him to a meal at a small convenience store.

At this time, Huo Yuan's terminal rang.

He picked up the phone, and his sister's voice came from the speaker, "Happy birthday to you, bro!"

"Well. Are you doing well in the hospital?" Huo Yuan picked up the battered beef stick and took a bite.

"Great! Brother, you are so wasteful. Why did you order such a good meal for me? Chicken, fish, four dishes and a soup for each meal. I can't finish them all."

"You have to eat even if you can't finish it," Huo Yuan said coldly, and began to scold his sister, "You are at the age when you are growing up. How can you have the strength if you don't eat? Also, you are not allowed to eat those nutritious junk foods. I prescribed nutritional supplements for you, you must drink them."

"I know...you're so fierce."

After hearing this conversation, Lu Hang paused slightly, and the food he had just swallowed became tasteless.

Huo Yuan gave a few more instructions, and finally said, "Remember to go to bed early, kid."

He relies on the money he earns from playing illegal games to support his sister. He is a poor boy who eats boxed lunches on the street, but he is surprisingly caring.

But don't hurt yourself.

Lu Hang felt his throat blocked. After a long while, he whispered, "Today is your birthday."

Huo Yuan said "hmm", "Nothing special."

Lu Hang thought about how his parents died early and he had to raise his little sister all by himself. He probably never had a birthday. He couldn't help but get excited: "How can I not have a birthday?"

Huo Yuan glanced at him in confusion and said, "It's over. You were accompanying me, weren't you?"

No wonder he was invited to dinner.

It turns out that he was considered a part of the birthday.

Lu Hang froze for a second, then rushed out with his head lowered.

Huo Yuan is a straight alpha male, and he thought his brother was in a hurry to pee, so he ignored him. Who knew that after a while, Goose called and cried:

"Yuanzi, where are you? Go out and take a look. My classmate just said that Brother Lu is crying like a tearful man outside. We have a comprehensive test tomorrow, you must not let him cry down the newly built cross-country obstacle course like Meng Jiangnu crying at the Great Wall."

Huo Yuan thought, oh no, he couldn’t have rushed out and got hit by a car and that’s why he’s crying.

To be honest, Huo Yuan has known Lu Hang for four years and has never seen him cry. Even if a piece of meat was shaved off during the training, this guy would remain calm.

But when he walked outside, he saw a man standing next to the bushes, facing the wall alone, as if he was about to confess.

Huo Yuan went over and patted Lu Hang on the shoulder. She saw that his eyes were indeed red, but not as exaggerated as E Zi said. His brain was confused for a moment, so he guessed suspiciously:

"Just eat your meal, why are you crying? It can't be--"

Lu Hang's heart suddenly rose to his throat and he swallowed nervously as if he was waiting for the verdict.

"Could it be that your brain was damaged during the mind control class today and now it's not normal?"

Lu Hang: My heart was hanging in the balance.

Huo Yuan seemed to be certain that this was his problem. With a cold expression, he said lightly and with a hint of disdain:

"Well, I'll treat you."

As he said that, he held Lu Hang's face and put his forehead against his.

Alphas cannot mark each other, and their minds cannot communicate with each other. They can only be comforted slightly, which is better than nothing.

Lu Hang: "I feel it is useless."

Huo Yuan was surprised: "Then why is your heart still beating so fast?"

Lu Hang's face didn't blush, but his heart was beating wildly: "Maybe it wasn't applied for long enough. Try again."