On that night, Xu Lan treated the members of Team 2 to dinner. It was also an opportunity for Xu Lan to introduce Bai Wu to all of them. Despite the fact that Xu Lan was only able to refer to Bai Wu as his distant relative, Bai Wu was sufficiently happy. Wang Hao and the gang poured copious amounts of alcohol for Bai Wu and nudged him on. Out of everyone else on the dinner table, perhaps the most displeased person was Xiao Zhang. After all, it was he who helped to settle Xu Lan’s adoption certificate.

When Xu Lan went to wash his hands, he was stopped midway by Xiao Zhang.

“Sergeant Xu, you said that his name was Bai Wu?” Xiao Zhang blinked his eyes and stared at Xu Lan.

Xiao Zhang was a clever young man. If everyone in the group were as perceptive as him, it would be far too much for Xu Lan to handle! The rest of those scatterbrains did not even notice that Bai Wu suddenly grew up by leaps and bounds!

“Mm.” Xu Lan had no intention of concealing anything. It reached a point where Xu Lan could no longer say that it was his son, much less change Bai Wu’s surname.

“But I remembered that the other boy was also called Bai Wu.”

“The one and only! It doesn’t matter, you wouldn’t believe me anyway, so I might as well not talk about it!” Xu Lan drank quite a fair bit that night and he replied in an irritated tone.

“What do you plan to do? No one’s gonna believe you,” Xiao Zhang shook his head and asked helplessly.

“What else can I do? That b*stard doesn’t even care to consider anything before simply changing his appearances. There’s nothing I can do. Just go with the flow, I guess, I’m not even sure if I’d be staying in this world for long.”

Xu Lan waved his hand and staggered a couple of steps. At that precise moment, Bai Wu – who came searching for him – got a hold of him. Bai Wu directed a stern gaze at Xiao Zhang and brought Xu Lan back to the dinner table.

Although Xu Lan was their group leader, everyone worked together for so long that it felt as though they were all equals. Xu Lan regarded the act of introducing Bai Wu to everyone as something joyous – he drank even more. In the end the only sober people left were Bai Wu and Xiao Zhang.

“You, send them back. I’ll bring my uncle home,” Bai Wu ordered straightforwardly.

Xiao Zhang opened his mouth to speak but ultimately no words came out. He simply went ahead and quietly brought the inebriated group home.

On the way home, Xu Lan seemed restless and not the least bit tired. He poured out all of his thoughts on the case with a vigor that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

“Lemme tell y’all! I lied! Hic! Bai Wu’s not my distant relative, he’s my son!” With Xu Lan on his shoulders, Bai Wu leaned Xu Lan against the wall to take off the man’s clothes. Xu Lan vomited his stomach’s content throughout their journey and the throwing up did not seem to end anytime soon.

“Bai Wu’s not your son!” Bai Wu felt somewhat annoyed at himself, since his first reaction was to call Xu Lan ‘papa’. If he could call Xu Lan ‘uncle’, it would be so much less worrisome!

“Nonsense! If he’s not my son, then who is he?” Xu Lan strained to open his eyes in order to see who the nonsense-spewing person in front of him was.

“Bai Wu is your lover!” Bai Wu took off the man’s shoes, then carried him to a restroom.

“Lover?” In his blurred vision, Xu Lan questioned.

“Mm!” After pouring some water for Xu Lan to gargle, Bai Wu embraced Xu Lan notwithstanding the stench on Xu Lan’s body. Bai Wu then said warmly, “Don’t swallow. Spit.”

“Bah! Nonsense! Bai Wu’s clearly my son, how could he be my lover, oof…” Bai Wu covered his hand over Xu Lan’s mouth. Even in a drunken state, Xu Lan could refute him.

‘But I have no way to continue treating you as my papa, what’s to be done about that?’ Bai Wu smiled bitterly.

“Bai Wu!” Xu Lan let out a sudden shout.

Bai Wu’s was stopped in his tracks and he stiffly acknowledged his name being called. He thought that Xu Lan was so uninhibited as a result of being drunk.

“This isn’t the right way to kiss.” Following his instinct, Xu Lan looked up to Bai Wu and mumbled. His dark eyes appeared to be covered with a layer of muslin, waiting for Bai Wu to tear open.