Yu Wen couldn’t understand what she met by helping him. Helping him do what exactly? Lose Li Jun? What would he think if he found out that he was fraternizing with someone else? He was a one-track-minded man, okay.

Once he liked someone, that was it. He didn’t like complicating things for himself. Actually, things were already complicated as is. That was enough drama for him. Yu Wen said, "You aren’t helping. You are only making things worse."

Lu Anu clicked her tongue and said, "What do you know? In a chemical reaction, you need a catalyst, and she is the catalyst."

Yu Wen glanced at her, and Maki waved her hand, saying, "Catalyst here." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

He turned back to his mom and said, "No, I will figure it out for myself. Thank you very much," feeling irritable, but how could his mother give up that easily?

She replied, "You really don’t want my help? What’s your plan then, huh?" making sure to hit where it hurt, and she hit really hard. Yu Wen had no words. He didn’t have a plan. In fact, he didn’t even have a way to talk to Li Jun. Right, his mother was his only way in.

Seeing him silent, she smiled even brighter. "Let me help. I guarantee by the end of this month you will see him in person." What could Yu Wen say? He could only agree. Lu Anu was so happy.

For the past few months, it was like she had the tiny Yu Wen back. The little bugger who would let her take him everywhere and dress him however she felt. She excitedly took out the food she had made for him personally and handed the steaming bowl to Maki.

Maki was more than happy just being involved. She took it and sat where Lu Anu told her to sit. Seeing how close she was, he glared at his mother, his gaze saying, "This better work otherwise, I will blame you."

Lu Anu showed a sinister smile and said, "Maki, move a little closer."

Yu Wen, "..."

Maki moved an inch closer, but the intense threat emanating from him made her want to move back further. No, it made her want to run for her life. She felt the hair all over her body standing on end, her scalp turning numb. It was like approaching a viper with its fangs dripping with venom and ready to strike.

"Move closer. Yu Wen, play nice," she said, seeing his quills standing up. Yu Wen clenched his jaw and restrained himself. Maki moved close enough that she could catch a whiff of his scent, making her legs weak. ’Fuck, how could someone so cold be this irresistible?’ she thought.

Lu Anu was satisfied. Like a director directing a masterpiece, she continued issuing instructions. "You pretend you are feeding him and act normal while I take a picture, okay?"

Hearing her say this, Yu Wen refused immediately, but his mother was very convincing. She said, "Making him jealous will speed things up. Now stop making trouble." Yu Wen felt like a hostage sitting there looking unhappy.

Lu Anu took a selfie with them in the background, and when she zoomed in on the picture, she huffed. Looking back, she said, "I can almost see the black lines coming out of you. I am not expecting you to look happy about it, I just need you to look less angry."

"Fine," he said, but Lu Anu ended up taking eight pictures, and none of them were satisfactory. He looked even angrier the more pictures she took. She had to resort to blurring the background enough for Li Jun to see what was happening, but not enough to see Yu Wen’s expression clearly.

"You should never be an actor. You are horrible at it," she said, reprimanding him. Yu Wen didn’t feel any type of way. Maki didn’t come close enough to him to bring that spoon close to his lips, but he felt so irritable that his entire soul was resisting her very presence.

Lu Anu said to Maki, "Thanks for your help. I will send you a gift card later." Maki’s eyes brightened. After dealing with Yu Wen, of course, she was excited to get a luxury handbag.

Beaming with excitement, she said, "Thank you. Good luck, General Yu," After saying that, she didn’t want to be anywhere near that ice glacier. She rushed out like she was being chased.

As soon as she was gone, Lu Anu said, "Look at you. You scared her." Yu Wen shrugged his shoulders before reaching for a snack packet from the stash Li Jun bought for him. She grabbed it out of his hand and said, "Eat your food first. Don’t waste my efforts."

Yu Wen said, "But it’s cold already."

"Whose fault is that? We could have finished this a long time ago," she retorted, but when she saw him picking up the spoon, she took the food from him. "Fine, I will go heat it up. Just stay put."

He smiled slightly and said, "You are so nice."

Lu Anu’s lips twitched as she said, "Stop trying to butter me up." She looked visibly irritated, but internally, she was happy. At least he knew how to be grateful. While heating up his porridge, she sent Li Jun the picture.

LA: Just chilling in the medical bay. What are you up to?

She sent a curious bunny sticker with a slight curl at the corner of its lips. After sending it, she closed the app and intended to ignore it all day. Was this ethical? Probably not. Was this moral? Nope. But what choice did she have? For the sake of her son’s happiness, she was willing to be the villain.

Li Jun was minding his business, beating his uncle at yet another game, when he received a message from Lu Anu. He defeated his uncle in three more moves before hurrying to open it. He was thinking it was the daily dose of Lu Anu core, which would either be a picture of what she made, pictures of what she wanted to buy, or his most anticipated, pictures of the patient.

When he opened it, it was a picture of her in the medical bay. Li Jun replied immediately.

LJ: The peach lipstick looks good.

LJ: It suits you.

"Who is that?" Damian asked while picking up his beer.