TFS | Chapter 49

“The person who was checking the evidence with you was Qi Yue?” Xu Linruan thought about it for a moment. This guy had quite a thick skin too, and she figured he and that fellow were probably very much cut from the same cloth.

“More or less.” Jiang Rang squinted with a smile. After a while, he finally caught on and looked pretty depressed. “Hey, as a doctor, shouldn’t what you care about be my emotional growth journey?”

Seeing that Xu Linruan still looked too lazy to pay him any mind, he shamelessly shifted his position again, propping his chin on one hand in a rather casual pose. “Mm… Dr. Xu, how do you think this illness of mine should be treated?”

Xu Linruan looked up at him. “So, you came to find me because you wanted to remind me that I’m not the only one being watched, right?”

“If I said no, would you treat me?” Jiang Rang raised a brow slightly. This woman was pretty smart. Even if saying it like that was a little harsh, he really had just come here to have some fun.

“And Qi Yue too, right?” Xu Linruan thought for a moment, her black pen rolling once between her fingers. Qi Xiaoyue hadn’t told her about this. Was he afraid she would worry?

“…”

Jiang Rang was a little speechless. He had only talked for such a short while, and he hadn’t gotten any useful information at all. Instead, the other side had fished plenty of things out of him. He kept trying to push the conversation along, frustrated. “No, why aren’t you listening to me? What I mean is, I actually came to see you. Can you stop ignoring me all the time?”

“Alright, I’ve basically understood everything. You can leave now.” Xu Linruan ignored him completely. She checked her phone, and it was almost time. “Psychiatrist, right? There’s a counseling office across the hall. You can go there and consult someone.”

Jiang Rang felt like he was about to explode from anger. His eyes went wide. In all his life, he had never met anyone like her. “You’re really rude, woman. You didn’t listen to a single word I said. I already told you, I came here for you to treat me.”

“Maybe you need a business card. It has the phone number for the clinic across the hall.” Xu Linruan took a little promotional card from the drawer and handed it over. “Would that work?”

Jiang Rang: “…”

Damn, that was a bit much. This woman had not seriously listened to a single word he said from beginning to end, had she?

Xu Linruan raised a brow. Seeing his dejected look, she continued, “You’re not saying anything. What, do you not know the way? If that’s the case, I can have a nurse take you there.”

“…No need…”

Jiang Rang had taken a hit. Right now, he felt a throbbing pain on both sides of his forehead and completely did not want to communicate with her anymore. This woman was too vicious. It was the first time he had met a woman who didn’t listen to a word anyone said, talked to herself, and showed absolutely no respect for others. She was way too hard to handle. No wonder Qi Yue had been totally under her thumb.

His expression made Xu Linruan unable to stop herself from laughing a little. Having dealt him a blow, she was in a pretty good mood now. How should she put it? Dealing with someone who clearly wanted other people’s attention, ignoring him was the best way to hit back. After all, this guy had taken quite a lot of advantage of her yesterday.

Seeing him slumped over the desk like he had shut himself off from the world, Xu Linruan ignored him as well and simply took her things and left the office.

…………

Qi Yue was waiting for her on the first floor. The two of them had agreed to go eat together.

About ten minutes later, his girlfriend finally arrived. Qi Yue walked up and naturally took her hand, then picked up the bag in her hand.

Xu Linruan had already gotten used to this sort of declaration of possession.

As they walked, Qi Yue looked at her. “I know a pretty good restaurant nearby. How about we eat there?”

Xu Linruan actually didn’t care, so she nodded. “Either way is fine.”

So the two of them went to a nearby couples’ restaurant with an elegant atmosphere. The food was good, and most importantly, it offered pretty decent privacy. A server led them into a clean, tidy private room.

During the meal, Qi Yue seemed a little distracted. He was waiting for her to speak. He knew that Jiang Rang had come to see her at noon, but for some reason, she hadn’t contacted him?

Did she not trust him? Or was there another reason?

After waiting a while, Qi Yue still couldn’t hold back. He brought it up as if it had just slipped out casually. “I heard Jiang Rang came to find you again at noon, right?”

Xu Linruan put down her knife and fork. “Hm? How did you know that?”

Qi Yue paused, then reacted and gave an innocent smile. “Did you forget? The nurses in the hospital are all my eyes and ears. It isn’t hard to find out about something like that.” He lowered his gaze, hiding the uneasy emotions in his eyes.

Xu Linruan thought that was odd. Though that wasn’t wrong, how would those nurses know who Jiang Rang was?

She looked up at him, her tone very gentle. “He came to say a bunch of random things. I didn’t pay him any attention, so you don’t need to worry.”

Qi Yue was silent for a moment. “Then why didn’t you look for me?”

“If I think I can handle something myself, then I don’t need to trouble you.” Xu Linruan smiled at him. She didn’t think she was that useless, and she also didn’t like the feeling of being controlled at every moment. “Also, he seemed…”

“Can you not talk about him?” Qi Yue suddenly looked up and stared at her. There was a suppressed emotion in his eyes, and even his tone was no longer casual. “I don’t like hearing you mention other men’s names.”

Xu Linruan asked him, “What’s wrong? Are you mad?”

“No.”

He was still saying no in a situation like this. Xu Linruan didn’t believe it, but she also didn’t quite understand what he was angry about. Was it just because she hadn’t called him?

Qi Yue looked impatient, as if he was dealing with some kind of trouble. After hesitating for a moment, he restrained himself a little and touched the fingers Xu Linruan had placed on the table. “You promised me you wouldn’t have contact with him.”

Xu Linruan felt that Qi Yue was a little off. The way he said no contact made it sound like he was forbidding all communication. He had always had a strong possessive streak, but it had never been to this extent. Right now, he gave off a suffocating kind of pressure. She couldn’t possibly be controlled by him like this for the rest of her life.

She asked softly, “You mean you won’t let me contact him, or any man?”

Qi Yue tightened his grip on her fingers slightly. After a long while, he loosened them a little, as if yielding, and shook her hand gently with a smile. “Ruanruan, can we… not talk about this topic for now?”

He moved to sit beside her, his tone much gentler, as if he was giving in. “I don’t want to fight with you. We finally made it to where we are today. Can you go home with me and see my dad? I haven’t been back in a long time. When things settle down for this period, can you go home with me?”

“Go home? It’s not impossible.” Xu Linruan could feel his unease, but his habit of dodging the issue made her think something was very wrong.

“Then okay, I’ll finish the things on my plate as soon as possible.” Qi Yue pulled her straight into his arms and quickly changed the subject. “Next week, okay? I’ll come pick you up then, can I?”

“Okay.” Xu Linruan nodded in agreement. She didn’t know if this guy had been stimulated by something and become even more paranoid than before. If that was the case, then this problem needed to be solved as soon as possible.

After all, if they wanted to develop a healthy, pleasant, long-term relationship, it couldn’t rely on just one person constantly compromising.

It was obvious there was already a problem between them.

Lunch ended in a hurry.

By the time Xu Linruan returned, Jiang Rang was already gone from the office. She didn’t pay it much mind. Thinking of what Qi Yue had said about going home to take a look, she planned to request a short leave next week.

That had been the plan, but in the afternoon Xu Zhou came to find her again. Xu Linruan still found it strange. Was today some kind of special day? Why were people coming one after another to look for her?

“I came to see you because I have something to say,” Xu Zhou said, looking down at Xu Linruan as he walked up to the desk. “Haven’t you noticed that Qi Yue has been acting a little abnormal lately?”

A person who had disappeared for many years suddenly appeared. Aside from looking mostly the same as before, his personality and temper were both different from a few years ago. Did none of that seem strange?

Xu Linruan lifted her head. Her long, curled lashes trembled lightly, and a trace of confusion showed in those eyes. “What are you trying to say?”

Xu Zhou handed her a stack of photos. His long fingers rested on top of them as he said flatly, “He’s been monitoring you recently.”

The photos recorded her recent daily life, including who she had met, who she had been in contact with, and even the matter of Jiang Rang coming by that morning.

Xu Linruan said nothing. She picked up the photos and looked through them carefully once. In her mind, the conversation from lunch unconsciously surfaced. If he had really been monitoring her, then everything made sense.

Her contact with Jiang Rang had not been something the nurses told him. It had been the result of him sending people to watch her.

So he had actually lied to her.

Xu Linruan rubbed her fingers over the photos and looked up slightly at Xu Zhou. “So how did you know about all this?”

Xu Zhou raised his eyes a little. The light in the room fell across the sharply defined side of his face, and he gave a very gentle smile. “Ruanruan, I’m at least a businessman. There’s nothing in this world money can’t do.”

What he had meant was to let her know one thing, that the current Qi Yue was somewhat abnormal. Staying by his side might not be safe.

Xu Linruan fiddled with the photos, then looked up and smiled at him. “Alright, I know about this matter now. Thanks for the reminder.”

Xu Zhou looked down slightly at her. “You’re so smart. You should know that staying by his side right now isn’t safe. If you’re willing, I can help you during this time…”

Xu Linruan felt surprised. Her black-and-white eyes showed a trace of understanding. “No need. I don’t need your help for now.”

Xu Zhou paused, then stated a fact in a low voice. “You really don’t doubt it? A person who disappeared for five years, someone the authorities already declared dead, suddenly appears, and his temper and personality are both somewhat different from before…”

“That in itself is already a very strange thing.” He looked at her, his tone suddenly becoming serious. “Ruanruan, you should know there are a lot of bad people in this world.”

He bent slightly, his gaze deep as he looked at her. “And impersonating someone else’s identity isn’t an impossible thing, especially if there are huge assets he may have inherited behind him. If there really is someone with bad intentions coveting all of this, Ruanruan, can you really be sure that person is Qi Yue?”

…

The smell of disinfectant in the office was very faint, mixed with the clean fragrance of the lilies on the desk. The scent was wonderfully light.