The Child Raised by a Golden Retriever Boy-Mom - Chapter 20

Mu Jingyi patted Feng You on the shoulder and promised, “Do not worry. I will do my best to contact CEO Lu. Even if only for the sake of my father, he will agree to meet with you.”

“Thank you, CEO Mu.”

Mu Jingyi was sixteen years old. There was still a hint of youth on his face, but he spoke with a mature and steady demeanor that did not belong to a typical teenager. He had already completed his secondary Alpha differentiation, but like Feng You, no specific pheromone scent had been detected.

As he left the nursing home, Mu Jingyi patted little Yubai’s head to say goodbye.

“See you next time, little Yubai. If you have time, come to my house to play with the kitten.”

“Kitten, kitten!”

Lu Yubai nodded and gave Mu Jingyi a high five as a farewell.

The temperature began to warm up gradually after the New Year. Lu Yubai had taken his scarf off early and was busy playing hopscotch in the yard. A gust of cold wind blew past, and he let out a heavy sneeze.

“Little treasure, come back here! Put your scarf on. The late spring cold is no joke.”

Feng You chased after him with a hand-knitted scarf, the bright red color catching the eye. Lu Yubai stood still and sneezed several more times. His face flushed instantly, and when he turned to look at Feng You, his gaze was dazed.

Feng You quickly bundled him up and pressed the back of his hand against the boy’s forehead. A scorching heat immediately met his skin; the child’s chubby cheeks were burning red.

“You really did catch a cold. I am taking you to the clinic. Come here, let me carry you.”

Feng You leaned down to pick Lu Yubai up. After giving Qin Youjiang a few brief instructions, he hurriedly hailed a taxi to the nearest clinic. The clinic doctor already recognized Lu Yubai and expertly noted the situation in a medical record book that was already half full.

“His fever is 37.8 degrees. Give him some fever reducers. It has not reached the point of needing an IV yet. This medicine will make him drowsy. He will feel better once he sleeps and sweats it out.”

Sitting in Feng You’s lap, Lu Yubai could no longer keep his eyes open. He leaned into Mommy’s embrace, dazed by the fever. He opened his mouth and let out a muddled hum, producing a few blurry syllables.

Feng You, who had never heard Lu Yubai speak, furrowed his brows in shock. He leaned down and pressed his ear close to the child’s lips.

“Little treasure, what did you say?”

The doctor writing the medical record was also surprised. He knew this five-year-old child had never spoken. He was always quiet, yet the fever seemed to have drawn a sound out of him. The office became deathly quiet as Feng You and the doctor held their breath.

They could only hear Lu Yubai’s tuneless mumbling. Disconnected syllables reached Feng You’s ears, but he could not distinguish any specific words. After a long while, Lu Yubai fell into a deep sleep, leaving only the sound of heavy breathing.

When they measured his temperature again, the fever had worsened significantly. The doctor had no choice but to start an intravenous course to bring the fever down. The child did not even wake up when the needle was inserted into the back of his hand; he slept very deeply.

Outside the door, the doctor stopped Feng You after he had anxiously paid the fees.

“I suspect this is a form of psychological regression. This is a phenomenon where one’s psyche retreats to a younger age under special circumstances. Perhaps this is related to when he was even younger. It could be an opportunity to untie the knot in his heart. However, my knowledge of psychology is limited. You should consult a professional.”

Feng You nodded and contacted Du Shiwei.

“Psychological regression is rare. It usually appears when experiencing great physical or mental stimulation. A high fever can trigger it as well. If he has any further reactions, please let me know immediately.”

Feng You promised to do so and sat by the bed to watch over the sick Lu Yubai. He ordered lean meat porridge for delivery and busied himself around the ward, constantly checking the IV drip.

Late into the night, Lu Yubai woke up hungry and dazed, reaching out for someone. He mouthed words, but they were unclear.

“Little treasure, wake up and eat something, okay?”

Lu Yubai opened his eyes and blinked blankly at the familiar person in front of him. His vision was blurred, and he was not fully conscious.

“C, c, cold.”

Feng You finally understood what the child was trying to say. He was saying he was cold. The medicine was taking effect, and his body was at its most vulnerable. He needed to stay warm.

He picked the child up and held him close, pulling a quilt over him. The human body temperature was comfortable, and Mommy’s embrace was warm and soft. Lu Yubai’s furrowed brow smoothed out in relief, and he wrapped his arms around Feng You’s waist. He opened his mouth again, but the sound turned back into indistinguishable syllables.

“Do not be afraid. You will get better soon. Mommy is here.”

Feng You took off his own jacket and draped it over Lu Yubai. He was only wearing a thin undershirt, which clung to him and outlined the shape of his muscles. The relaxed muscles were full and soft, and Lu Yubai’s head almost sank into them.

The child stopped making pained noises, but his mouth kept moving as if he were tasting something. Feng You was lost in thought when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down to see the child biting him, using as much force as they had during their first meeting.

The feverish, dazed child had regressed in behavior. He had been weaned long ago, but now he acted like a cub wanting to nurse. He focused only on gnawing as he had when they first met. When he found no milk, he began to wail loudly.

Most adults would feel a headache starting at the sound of a child crying, but for Feng You, who had not heard the boy’s voice in years, his first reaction was actually relief. He was so distracted that he did not even notice the cub started biting his chest again after crying for a while.

Only when Lu Yubai began to weep bitterly again did Feng You snap back to reality and reach for the porridge in the thermal container.

“Be good, little treasure. Do not cry. Eat something.”

Feng You wiped away the tears and fed him more than half a bowl of porridge, one spoonful at a time. The child now looked less like a five-year-old and more like a toddler of one or two.

“Do not, do not fight.”

After being fed, the child finally began to babble again, sounding as if he were trying to stop an argument.

“Does not hurt, do not cry or fight.”

Feng You became even more certain that the child was not unable to speak, but simply unwilling. In a state of clouded consciousness, the child had broken through his psychological defense to utter these unclear words.

“Do not be afraid. No one will hurt you, little treasure. Mommy is here. Mommy will protect you. There are no bad people.”

Feng You did not know if Lu Yubai could hear him. He could only repeat the soothing words over and over. Hearing the word “Mommy,” Lu Yubai fell silent for a long time, as if escaping a nightmare.

Eventually, he opened his mouth and murmured in a blurry tone, “Ma, Mommy.”

Feng You froze. A nameless surge of emotion made his nose sting. He hugged the child tightly, pressing him against his chest.

“I am here, little treasure. Mommy is here.”

The words parents usually hear when a child is two or three were heard by Feng You at a belated five years old. He accepted the title completely, no longer feeling the strangeness he had felt back at the factory. When Lu Yubai called him that, a powerful bond seemed to tie them together. Mommy had become the child’s only reliance and anchor.

In his daze, Lu Yubai opened his eyes. The familiar scent gave him an immense sense of security. He still wanted to bite. Whenever he felt anxious, he wanted to gnaw on something, so he bit down where the scent was strongest.

The intensifying scent seemed to carry him into a beautiful dream, bathing him in warm sunlight. His body was no longer cold; he was gradually warming up. Sunlight, warmth, and the scent of Mommy.

Lu Yubai finally settled down, his hands tightly gripping the clothes at Feng You’s waist. He closed his eyes and made no more sound. He was sweating a lot, and his back was wet and cold. Feng You placed a towel against the boy’s back and stood up. He carefully covered the child’s head with his jacket and began to pace slowly around the ward, singing a gentle lullaby.

“Do not cry, little treasure. Sleep well. Mommy will be here.”

The swaying embrace lulled the child into a dream. He lay obediently against Mommy’s warm chest, his mouth still moving as if savoring a delicious meal. Eventually, the strength in Lu Yubai’s grip relaxed, and he fell into a deep, steady sleep in Feng You’s arms.

Lu Yubai was no longer a toddler. His Alpha physique made him grow quickly, and his legs could already wrap around Feng You’s waist. He clung tightly to Feng You, inseparable from Mommy.

Once the child was fully asleep, Feng You sat down and finally felt the delayed ache in his arm muscles and the stinging in his chest. His left chest was red and swollen. When he looked down, his vision was blocked, and a faint bloodstain had begun to bloom on his white shirt.

It felt like a lifetime had passed, but the child’s bite was even harder than when he was younger. He had been pacing the room with the child for hours. Feng You massaged his stiff muscles and looked for ointment in the first-aid kit. He marveled at how fast Alpha children grew; in the past, he could carry Lu Yubai all day without feeling a thing.

The wound on his chest was so swollen that Feng You had to apply gauze over the ointment to keep it from being too obvious. He touched the back of his neck; the uneven teeth marks there had still not faded. He had been bitten many times, and this time was deeper than ever. Yet, unlike an unmarked Omega, he did not feel dizzy or experience any special sensation.

He reported everything that happened that night to Doctor Du Shiwei. On the other end of the phone, Doctor Du was silent for a long time before saying worriedly, “I will look into more records.”

Just as Feng You was about to ask more, he received a message from Mu Jingyi.

“CEO Lu has agreed. He wants to meet you first.”

“Send me your free time. I will schedule the appointment for you.”