Hong Kong variety show: The mastermind behind the scenes is emerging.

After completing his "Eastern Japan Project" with shipping magnate and tycoon Fok, this newly crowned richest man in Hong Kong, who was seen by outsiders as a manipulative and active figure, has surprisingly become quiet.

For a whole month, Lu Chen turned down all international events and postponed his trip to Shenzhen. Apart from handling some documents that required his personal signature at the Jiahe Building, he spent almost all his time at the manor on the mountaintop.

Because he and Ruan Mei are expecting their child.

For Lu Chen, this is not only his first child, but also the first anchor point for the continuation of his bloodline in this parallel world.

In late September, under the full escort of Hong Kong's top obstetrics experts, Ruan Mei checked into a deluxe ward at the Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital, which Lu Chen had already booked. While nominally a ward, it was actually a presidential suite spanning several hundred square meters, equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment and 24-hour private butler service.

Not satisfied with that, Lu Chen cleared out the entire floor. In a private hospital, money talks.

After a week of rest and observation, it was late at night in September. At two o'clock in the morning, the entire mountaintop path fell silent, with only the autumn insects chirping softly in the grass.

"Ah Chen... I think I'm going into labor."

Ruan Mei's weak and hurried voice broke the silence of the ward. Lu Chen woke up almost instantly, keenly noticing the dampness on the sheets—Ruan Mei's water had broken.

……

Inside the delivery room, the lights were bright and warm, and the air was filled with a faint smell of disinfectant. Lu Chen changed into a blue sterile gown and wore a mask. Due to his special status and approachable manner, the hospital director granted him special permission to be present during the delivery.

Ruan Mei's small, pale hands, pale with pain, gripped Lu Chen's large palms tightly. Cold sweat trickled down her smooth forehead, soaking a large patch of the pillow. Around them, four of Hong Kong's top obstetricians and gynecologists and a group of experienced nurses were working efficiently and quickly.

"It hurts... Ah Chen, it really hurts..."

Ruan Mei's voice was already trembling with sobs, the pain feeling like it was tearing her body apart. She instinctively curled up in agony. Seeing her like this, Lu Chen felt an overwhelming pang of heartache. He kept wiping the sweat from her forehead with a hot towel, then held his arm to her mouth, coaxing her in a low voice, "Sweetie, Amei, if it hurts, bite me, pinch me, it's okay. I'm not afraid of pain."

But Ruan Mei, that silly girl, even though she was in so much pain that she was on the verge of losing her mind, still stubbornly shook her head. She couldn't bear to hurt her brother Lu Chen, and even at this moment, the deepest tenderness in her heart was still restraining her instincts. Helpless, Lu Chen could only take a soft plush toy from the side and stuff it into her hands: "Then squeeze this, squeeze it hard."

At this moment, a head nurse with gray hair strode forward and gently but authoritatively instructed, "Mrs. Lu, take a deep breath! Don't shout. Shouting will deplete your energy for labor. Moreover, excessive screaming may cause unstable abdominal pressure, leading to fetal hypoxia. For the sake of your child, you must hold back and follow my rhythm: inhale—exhale—"

Upon hearing the words "bad for the child," Ruan Mei, who was in so much pain she wanted to scream, swallowed all her cries. She clenched her teeth, and her knuckles turned bluish-white from the excessive force.

"breathe--"

"It's okay, Amei, I've always been here, right in your sight." Lu Chen held her hand tightly and whispered in her ear. His high intelligence allowed him to handle a world-class financial crisis, but at this moment, he found that the only thing he could do was offer this most primal and also most poignant companionship.

"Wow--!!!"

Finally, after nearly three hours of tug-of-war, a loud and vibrant cry rang out in the delivery room. The sound was so clear and crisp, as if it had torn away the last curtain of the night.

"It's a baby! Congratulations, Mr. Lu! It's a very healthy and strong baby boy!" The attending physician took off his mask, breathed a long sigh of relief, and gave Lu Chen a relieved smile.

Lu Chen's hands trembled slightly, but he didn't immediately look at the wrinkled little life that the nurse had taken in. He bent down, held Ruan Mei's sweaty head tightly, and planted a long kiss on her forehead and cheek.

"Honey, you've worked so hard, you're amazing... We have a son."

Ruan Mei was exhausted, her eyelids almost too heavy to lift. When the nurse brought her the cleaned baby, wrapped in soft swaddling clothes, a happy and comforting smile finally appeared on her pale, almost transparent face.

With trembling fingers, she reached out and gently touched the child's flushed face. Two clear tears silently slid down her cheeks. At that moment, this little Jewish girl, who had once lived with her grandmother in a shack, radiated a maternal power that even Lu Chen found awe-inspiring.

As the delivery room door opened, the quiet corridor outside instantly became lively.

Lu Chen accompanied Ruan Mei back to the special care ward. After settling her down to sleep, he carried the little guy who symbolized "the future of the Lu family" out.

The corridor was filled with women. Besides Qiu Di, Laura, Ya Zi, and Lai Di who were in Hong Kong Island, even Sofia, who was in Italy dealing with the High Table Group, and Ruan Wen, who had just completed an acquisition in Japan, had made a special trip back to participate in this important moment.

"Let me see! Oh my, this nose is exactly like Achen's." Qiu Di was the first to come over, stretching out her slender fingers as if she wanted to touch it but dared not, afraid of disturbing her little nephew's sweet dream.

"It's a boy... Amei has done a great job this time." Sophia looked at the swaddling clothes, a genuine joy flashing in her eyes. As the head of the Lubers family, she knew all too well what the birth of an heir meant to the now-massive Lubers conglomerate.

The women surrounded the baby, their previous domineering aura from the business world or government vanished, replaced by the gentlest expectations.

Standing guard at the other end of the corridor were Cheng Yiyan, Huang Xizhao, and other core members of Jiahe. These capable individuals, who were usually able to handle things independently, all breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the news that "a son had been born," and some were even secretly excited.

For these veterans who had staked their entire fortunes on the giant ship that was Jiahe, Lu Chen's child was the anchor of the entire vessel. Having an heir meant that this business empire would have a clear lineage even a century later, and this political stability was far more important than a quarterly financial report.

In the afternoon, the shipping magnate and Huo Daheng also personally brought congratulatory gifts to the door.

"Little Lu, congratulations! The Lu family has a worthy successor. This child was born with a silver spoon in his mouth." Bao Chuanwang looked at the baby and chuckled, his eyes full of envy.

"This isn't a golden key, it's like he was born directly into a gold mine," Huo Daheng joked. As allies, what pleased them most was that Lu Chen had a stable successor, which meant their red alliance could be passed down from generation to generation.

Lu Chen stood by the window of the intensive care unit, looking at the bustling Central street scene outside. He knew that if he nodded, within half an hour, the news of "the birth of the eldest son of Hong Kong Island's youngest richest man" would sweep across the headlines of all of Asia like a hurricane.

In Hong Kong, a place that highly values ​​elite culture and the inheritance of powerful families, the eldest son of the Luk family tycoon naturally carries a sacred aura. The entire Hong Kong public is filled with curiosity about this baby; they want to know what this "crown prince," whose future is foreshadowed from the womb, will look like.

However, Lu Chen's gaze turned somewhat cold as he looked at his son sleeping peacefully in his swaddling clothes.

"Keep the news under wraps. I don't want to hear any media reports about my son until I give my approval," Lu Chen whispered to Huang Xizhao beside him.

There are many reasons for doing this, the primary one being safety. Lu Chen is well aware of how many people he has offended during his rise to power, whether it's the remaining drug lords in Southeast Asia or the Western conglomerates whose interests have been eroded by Golden Harvest. In this turbulent 1980s, kidnapping and assassination were never textbook examples for the children of the super-rich. Keeping a low profile was the first line of defense to protect this young life.

More importantly, it's about character. Lu Chen himself started from scratch, and he had also struggled in the lower rungs of society in his previous life, so he knew how precious that kind of resilience was. A child who grows up under media hype and the adoration of others can easily develop an arrogant and disdainful attitude.

In many people's stereotypes, being born into such a materially wealthy family means that one will inevitably squander a carefree childhood like those aristocratic children. They might even imagine that the child will grow up to be a spoiled rich kid driving a Ferrari in Lan Kwai Fong, bullying and harassing others.

But Lu Chen would never allow such a thing to happen.

"I will give him the best living conditions in the world, but I will also hold him to the strictest standards." Lu Chen gently stroked the baby's swaddling clothes and muttered to himself, "The Lu family's empire can be given to him, but he must have the skill and magnanimity to protect it. Otherwise, this vast wealth will not be a blessing for him, but a curse."

"Yes, I'll arrange it right away," Huang Xizhao replied respectfully.