A Bad-Hearted Doctor is Unbearably Beautiful - Chapter 70

Lu Xiao reacted with lightning speed. He unbuckled his seatbelt without a second thought, lunged out of the car, and grabbed Shen Zhao’s wrist.

His voice dropped to a low, urgent rasp. “Shen Zhao, what are you doing?”

The air in the parking lot was suffocatingly heavy; the low pressure seemed to clog their throats. Shen Zhao gave his hand a violent jerk. “Let go!”

Instead, Lu Xiao gripped him even harder, his eyes blaring with suppressed fury. “You’re protecting him that much?”

“You’ve truly lost your mind.” Shen Zhao turned, his eyes flickering with a profound sense of disappointment. “From the moment you stepped into my apartment until now, every word out of your mouth has been so aggressive it’s painful. What exactly do you want?”

In all the time Lu Xiao had known Shen Zhao, he had rarely seen him truly angry. Seeing the look on Shen Zhao’s face now, Lu Xiao felt a sudden surge of panic. His hand stiffened. “I just think his background is suspicious… and my gut tells me he’s dangerous.”

“Your gut? What you think?” Shen Zhao stared him straight in the eye. “Lu Xiao, you are a police officer. Are you really going to use something as flimsy as ‘intuition’ to judge someone?”

Lu Xiao’s Adam’s apple bobbed. For a moment, he was left utterly speechless by the rebuke.

“I pulled you out here because I wanted to discuss the case with you. Seeing you like this, there’s nothing left to say. Officer Lu, please leave.”

Shen Zhao’s gaze was cold as ice. He turned to wrench his hand away from Lu Xiao’s grip. But Lu Xiao didn’t let go; his eyes were a complex swirl of emotions. “I didn’t mean…”

“I don’t know how to explain it, but his appearance… it genuinely makes me uncomfortable. I shouldn’t have said those things. I was being a bastard.”

As he spoke, Lu Xiao actually crouched down and shook Shen Zhao’s hand gently.

“I just don’t like other people being in your house… it makes me feel miserable.”

Lu Xiao’s voice was tiny. Ignoring the people coming and going in the parking lot, the six-foot-three man crouched on the ground like a stubborn, pathetic rogue.

Shen Zhao was stunned. He hadn’t expected Lu Xiao to be this shameless. “Hey, there are people watching. Let go!”

Shen Zhao was nearly pushed to the point of laughter by the absurdity. He shook his arm, trying to get Lu Xiao to release him.

“I’m sorry. Just forgive me, okay? Best, best, best Dr. Shen? I won’t do it again. I’ll make it up to you properly~”

Shen Zhao looked at him helplessly. After a long stalemate, he finally gave a reluctant nod.

“Let’s go.”

Shen Zhao sighed and pulled Lu Xiao back toward the car. Lu Xiao let out a low chuckle, though the tension in his eyes hadn’t fully dissipated.

As Lu Xiao steered the car toward the parking gate, he held the wheel with one hand while scrolling through his screen with the other. “We’re going to the home of Xiao Cheng’s biological mother. I heard she hasn’t worked a day in years; Zhai Hongtian has likely been funding her lifestyle.”

Shen Zhao tilted his head slightly. “Mhm. What I wanted to tell you earlier also concerns Xiao Cheng. I… saw him yesterday.”

“What? I thought you went to see—”

“I did. I received a message from Nine and went to the hospital. It turns out that hospital is an investment property of Zhai Hongtian. I ran into Xiao Cheng in the lobby.”

Lu Xiao’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel, his gaze turning sharp, though he didn’t immediately speak.

Even if I shouldn’t use intuition to solve a case, there’s no avoiding this feeling. A coincidence of this magnitude is not mere luck. Someone orchestrated this meeting, and who is pulling the strings remains to be seen…

But having just angered Shen Zhao, he didn’t want to start another argument. Lu Xiao took a deep breath and retracted his gaze. “So, what did you and the kid talk about?”

Shen Zhao leaned against the window, recalling the scene in Cheng Nianchuan’s ward the previous night. “I noticed that Xiao Cheng’s body seemed even weaker than the last time I saw him.”

Lu Xiao was taken aback. “I remember when the kid was at the station, aside from being jumpy and in a bad mood, he seemed fine physically.”

“True,” Shen Zhao said slowly. “And when I encountered him, he was being taken by a nurse for a nutrient IV drip. Usually, a child with a normal diet and routine doesn’t need supplemental nutrients. Unless… his body has been in a state of depletion for a long time.”

“The kid doesn’t like to eat? Anorexia?” Lu Xiao guessed, narrowing his eyes.

“No, he doesn’t show symptoms of anorexia. Last time, I thought he looked malnourished because he’d been kidnapped for days. But after seeing him again yesterday, I have a new theory.”

Lu Xiao tapped the steering wheel thoughtfully. “Let’s hear it.”

Shen Zhao paused, his tone growing heavy. “I should clarify that this is just my speculation. Yesterday, in the drawer of Xiao Cheng’s ward, I saw many imported blood-boosting medications and various supplements. Furthermore, there were new needle tracks on his arm.”

Lu Xiao’s brow furrowed instantly. “Blood boosters?”

“Yes. The ward Xiao Cheng is in is perfectly equipped and very secure. So secure, in fact, that it feels like he is being kept there specifically to be ‘tended’ to.”

“You think Zhai Hongtian is putting him through some kind of… surgery? Or what?”

Shen Zhao’s eyes darkened. “Lu Xiao, have you ever heard of certain wealthy people abroad who, in order to keep their bodies young, don’t just spend exorbitant amounts on ‘anti-aging’ projects? Some even go as far as… a total blood exchange.”

“A blood exchange?!” Lu Xiao jumped, startled by the suggestion.

“Exactly. Drawing the blood of their young son and injecting it into their own bodies at regular intervals, eventually ensuring that more and more young blood flows through their own veins…”

Lu Xiao’s mouth hung open. “No way… that’s fucking subhuman. Could a person actually do that?”

He found it hard to believe; Shen Zhao’s guess was incredibly bold, yet it wasn’t without logic.

Shen Zhao’s expression remained somber. “As I said, it’s just a guess. But I feel like he’s treating Xiao Cheng as a living blood bank.”

Lu Xiao’s face went completely grim. He cursed under his breath, then looked at Shen Zhao. “What did Xiao Cheng say? Does he know?”

Shen Zhao shook his head. “He doesn’t understand what’s being done to him every time he goes to the hospital. He might have an inkling that something is wrong, but he doesn’t know the specific purpose. He only knows it’s what his father requires. He… is very obedient.”

Lu Xiao fell into deep thought, staring at the road ahead. “If Zhai Hongtian is capable of something so inhumane, I can’t imagine how many other disgusting secrets the Zhai family is hiding.”

Shen Zhao was silent for a long while before letting out a slow breath. “Lu Xiao, I suspect that Zhai’s private hospital might be running special medical programs we don’t know about, targeted at certain ‘clientele’.”

His gaze turned hollow and heavy. “The look in Xiao Cheng’s eyes… it reminds me of us back at the orphanage.”