Chapter 42

Chapter 42 "You have a reaction to that person?"...

Facing Dr. Feng’s full of surprise scrutiny, Jian Qing calmly nodded, loosening the restraint in his hand.

Today was the weekend, and he was no longer wearing that CEO-aura-maximizing suit. Even with a cold gold-rimmed frame on the bridge of his nose, he was softened somewhat by the round silver-white cat.

There were other clients in the consultation room, so Dr. Feng could only suppress his curiosity. Only after everything was properly handled did he invite this long-time client inside.

Jian Qing’s condition was far better than expected.

Although the police had tried their best to protect the victims’ privacy, based on Dr. Feng’s years of contact with him, it was not difficult to guess who the “Xú someone” in the suburban kidnapping case was.

The leaked video from the kidnappers was bloody and violent. Dr. Feng had originally thought it would trigger the other party’s childhood painful memories, but now it seemed he had worried too much.

“Tangyuan will definitely be very happy,” remembering every cat and dog in the clinic by name, Dr. Feng pushed over a cup of warm water and smiled, “This is the first time you’ve responded to it.”

The free-roaming small animals in the waiting area usually attracted most clients, but Jian Qing was an exception, always quietly avoiding them.

Dr. Feng guessed it was probably because he found cleaning clothes too troublesome.

The adult President Jian had always been like a machine focused on efficiency.

Now, that steadily operating “machine” had developed a “malfunction,” and Dr. Feng found a long-lost sense of liveliness in the young man.

To be honest, he often felt that the old Jian Qing was lifeless—on the surface he looked flourishing, but who knew if he might quietly wither away one day without a sound.

“Has anything special happened recently?” Removing the cap from his pen, Dr. Feng asked as usual, half-expecting the other party’s habitual refusal—yet he quickly heard the young man’s slightly hesitant voice:

“…I met someone.”

Dr. Feng looked up: “Hm?”

“A person who shouldn’t exist,” Jian Qing carefully chose his words, “dangerous, unpredictable, someone who has brought many problems into my life.”

Dr. Feng didn’t quite understand: “Shouldn’t exist? A criminal you sent to prison?” Based on this description, that was all he could think of.

After all, Jian Qing alone had raised the crime-solving rate of Bei Jiang.

But the young man did not appear tense. The expression between his brows was more like pure confusion than disgust or rejection, so Dr. Feng concluded confidently: “Seems I was wrong.”

“Right?”

Jian Qing pressed his lips together and did not deny it.

After a moment, he said: “He’s very good.” Setting aside subjective factors, whether as a police officer or as a friend, Huo Linfeng far exceeded the passing line.

Dr. Feng chuckled: “That contradicts your initial description a bit.”

Because the other party didn’t just want to be friends.

His crow-like lashes lowered densely. Jian Qing unconsciously tightened his grip on the cup wall. He could clearly feel that he was being slowly pulled into Huo Linfeng’s world.

The cat fur on his trouser cuff was only the smallest proof.

That was from when the black cat had rubbed around him in circles, acting spoiled. In the end, it never jumped down from its “tree top,” determined to avoid him.

The living room space had been limited. With Jian Qing’s skills, catching the cat would not have been difficult, but he only followed instructions to refill the water and food, then left under the gaze of those green eyes.

He thought he didn’t care.

Yet, after arriving at the clinic, he still bent down and picked up another fluffy little ball.

After observing the young man quietly for two seconds, Dr. Feng, sitting on the inside of the table, suddenly had a flash of inspiration and said knowingly, "Oh, he's a suitor."

According to his own investigation, many people who were once gentle and kind would, after falling in love with Jian Qing, reveal an aggressiveness so intense it bordered on the unbelievable.

Like the Tomie depicted in horror manga, repeatedly triggering conflicts.

Dr. Feng had not yet found the source that induced this condition, but without a doubt, Jian Qing was already overwhelmed by it and had chosen to close himself off.

However, the other party had never used the word “dangerous” to describe these pursuers.

His experience in such matters was too extensive—stalking, threats, kidnapping… even if someone held a gun to his head, in Jian Qing’s eyes it was probably nothing more than minor trouble.

External forces would not shake him.

So it was an internal cause.

As his thoughts suddenly opened up like a clearing after winding paths, Dr. Feng asked in surprise: “You have a reaction to that person? Psychologically or physically?”

Jian Qing: …

Coming out today was a mistake.

“Wait, wait,” instantly straightening his posture, Feng Zhekang said, “It’s rare for you to actually speak—don’t you want to hear a professional opinion before you leave?”

Jian Qing’s movement to stand paused.

That moment of hesitation alone was enough for Dr. Feng to confirm his judgment:

Jian Qing’s attention to that person was far greater than he showed.

“Fear often comes from the unknown,” Dr. Feng said gently, having vaguely grasped the crux of the issue, “Maybe you can try contacting him—turn the danger into something you can control.”

Jian Qing: “What if I want to stay away?”

Dr. Feng shrugged: “Then you wouldn’t be telling me this.”

Rejection was Jian Qing’s most practiced response. If he truly could handle it that way, how would that person be any different from the other pursuers?

“Let it be, Jian Qing,” Dr. Feng advised earnestly, “There’s no need to suppress your feelings. Both the good and the bad are fine.”

The pain of falling into Bei Jiang, the fear after surviving a brush with death, the anger over his younger brother being kidnapped… these emotions that should have existed, he had never seen in Jian Qing.

Still water lacks waves.

He hoped the young man could find a healthy outlet. If he could even praise that mysterious pursuer, then at least the person’s character was not a problem.

He was willing to gently give things a small push.

But after that, the final decision would still belong to Jian Qing.

When he walked out of the clean and elegant consultation room, the clouds outside were visibly gathering rapidly. Within just a few breaths, heavy rain began to pour down.

Jian Qing had not brought an umbrella, so he was naturally stranded. The receptionist kindly brought him a cup of hot tea and even placed a bag of cat treats—Tomie’s favorite—on the tray.

The white fluffball curled in the corner licking its fur indeed swayed over.

Jian Qing’s body temperature was low, but it was quite warm. Leading a silly golden retriever beside it, it strutted proudly around, hopping and stepping, quickly occupying the space beside him.

“Meow.” Soft little paw pads pressed onto his knee. Tangyuan stood on its short legs and looked up, tongue curling as it successfully tasted the snack Jian Qing had opened for it.

Even the “big silly one” by the sofa got two biscuits.

In consideration of the food, it generously forgave the young man for his previously questionable taste and cold indifference. Who would have thought that after happily letting out a purring sound, the other party would actually murmur softly: “Stupid.”

Tangyuan instinctively felt that the young man was thinking about another cat.

But it had no evidence.

On the other side, Huo Linfeng, also troubled by the heavy rain, was lying on a hard earthen bed, sighing endlessly while staring at the surveillance video on his phone.

“My good son,” replaying over and over the short clip of the young man entering the house, Huo Linfeng tapped his finger at the black cat leisurely patrolling its territory and muttered under his breath, “I finally tricked someone into coming over, and you made him leave in five minutes. Showing off how smart you are now, huh?”

Wang Lai, who had roughly dried his hair and was wearing a towel on his head, stretched his neck out: “What are you mumbling about?”

Then he let out a strange shout: “Huo Linfeng! You actually installed a camera in Jian Qing’s place secretly! I’m telling Captain Yan!” resolutely nipping any criminal tendencies in the bud.

“Go, go, go, it’s my house.” Enlarging the pitch-black Mimi with two fingers, Huo Linfeng shoved the screen in front of Wang Lai’s face for him to see clearly.

Wang Lai’s brain stalled: “Your house? Jian Qing went to your place to feed the cat?”

Huo Linfeng nodded neatly: “Mm.”

“You gave him the password? You didn’t even tell me!” fully aware that the other party was not as easygoing as he appeared, Wang Lai complained, “Putting romance above friendship.”

Huo Linfeng smiled and nodded again: “Correct.”

“Correct my ass—did you even look at the investigation results for the suburban skeleton?” Wang Lai said sternly. “The victim was named Tong Tong. At the time she went missing, she lived at Qingshan Road No. 5.”

“Twenty-two years ago, she was Jian Qing’s neighbor.”

“There was a blunt force injury to the back of the head, and the body was deliberately buried, plus a pair of parents who never gave up searching. Huo Linfeng, you really know how to bring trouble upon yourself.”

Huo Linfeng raised an eyebrow: “Are you trying to say Jian Qing is the murderer?”

Wang Lai immediately rolled his eyes: “Please.”

“He was only six years old back then.”

“I just feel this whole thing is way too coincidental,” Wang Lai rubbed his arms as if he felt cold. “Right when Xu Hao was kidnapped, the kidnappers just happened to choose an abandoned warehouse in the suburbs, and just happened to have a decades-old corpse buried in the yard, and that corpse just happened to be Jian Qing’s childhood playmate.”

Even TV dramas wouldn’t dare to write it like this.

Hearing this, Huo Linfeng sat up and looked out the window, suddenly understanding what it meant to be eager to return home.

Someone was targeting Jian Qing.

He didn’t believe in vague fate, nor in superstitious notions of being a cursed lone star. When coincidences piled up, they became inevitabilities deliberately pushed forward.

But… a little girl who died so long ago—what exactly could there be…

“Don’t even think about it!” Wang Lai saw through

Also, move Mimi's wet litter box.

Actually it didn’t matter, Huo Linfeng thought. He had chosen easy-to-keep breeds—resilient to both drought and flood—and even the litter box was a covered semi-open type.

His fingertips moved, deleting the message he had already typed, and he asked: 【Where are you?】

With survival instincts maxed out and afraid of the cold, the black cat had already slipped into the bedroom. After searching the living room and not finding it, the young man frowned and replied: 【At the company.】

Huo Linfeng curved his lips.

“Jian Qing,” leaning his shoulder against the doorframe, he spoke amid the sound of pouring rain, calmly opening the voice function originally meant to call Mimi, and asked seriously, “Can you arrange a helicopter to pick me back to Bei Jiang?”

“…I kind of want to hug you.”