The psychotherapy room was scented with aromatherapy, and a fresh glass of warm water sat on the coffee table.
Cheng Mingjiao sat on the plush sofa with one leg crossed over the other, exuding the imposing air of someone seated at a negotiating table. “What did you two talk about just now?”
“Sorry, Mr. Cheng, but patient confidentiality means I can’t tell you.” The doctor smiled.
Cheng Mingjiao narrowed his eyes. “Don’t forget who hired you.”
“Sorry,” the doctor apologized again, remaining calm and composed. “I have my principles. It has nothing to do with who hired me.”
“I’ll add one million to your fee.”
The doctor looked at him placidly.
“Two million.”
The doctor still didn’t budge.
Cheng Mingjiao lowered his crossed leg and leaned forward slightly. “Ten million.”
“I’m truly sorry, but no amount of money will do.” The doctor finally spoke.
Cheng Mingjiao stared at him for several seconds, then suddenly seemed satisfied. He leaned back into the sofa, his entire body relaxing so completely that he seemed like an entirely different person from the aggressive negotiator he had been moments before.
“Very good. You’ve passed my test,” he declared loftily. “Now we can talk.”
The doctor: “…”
“You start.” When he saw the doctor sitting there without moving, Cheng Mingjiao urged him on.
The doctor cleared his throat. “Mr. Cheng, how have you been physically since returning from the mountain?”
“Not bad.”
“And your sleep?”
“Good as well,” Cheng Mingjiao replied.
“Have you occasionally experienced…”
“Anxiety? Panic? Unease?” Cheng Mingjiao interrupted him. “I felt a little of that on the day I woke up, but I minored in psychology at university. Although I never got certified, I have a wealth of psychological knowledge. With some reasonable self-guidance, I didn’t develop any psychological trauma.”
After saying this, he stared at the doctor.
The doctor paused, then ventured, “You’re quite impressive, Mr. Cheng.”
Cheng Mingjiao didn’t seem to care about the compliment, though he maintained the appropriate degree of modesty. “I’m all right.”
“If you haven’t suffered any psychological trauma, why did you make an appointment?” the doctor asked humbly.
Cheng Mingjiao glanced at him, then at the tightly closed door.
“It’s locked. No one will disturb us,” the doctor immediately explained.
Cheng Mingjiao nodded and straightened slightly. “Although I possess a wealth of psychological knowledge, I’m still somewhat lacking in experience compared with you. So there’s something I’d like to ask you about. Perhaps you can tell me the most reasonable way to deal with it.”
“Please, go ahead.” The doctor indicated that he was all ears.
Cheng Mingjiao said, “There’s a patient with acute stress disorder who likes me. What should I do if I want her to give up on me completely without letting her know that I’m aware of her feelings, and without hurting her?”
The reference to acute stress disorder was a little too obvious.
“Are you afraid of hurting her?” the doctor asked in return.
“Not exactly.” Cheng Mingjiao answered instinctively. Then, meeting the doctor’s gaze, he hesitated. “She… is a good person. I really don’t want to hurt her.”
The doctor nodded, and the treatment room fell silent.
After a while, the doctor asked, “Are you sure she likes you?”
“Of course.”
“How can you be sure?”
Cheng Mingjiao repeated everything he had told Guo Fengnian. At the end, he summed up his thoughts with considerable distress. “She likes me far too much.”
The doctor smiled kindly. “Have you noticed that, in your description, you talk more about your own interpretation than about what she actually thinks?”
“Do you think I have erotomanic delusional disorder?” Cheng Mingjiao, with his wealth of psychological knowledge, saw through the doctor’s conversational trap at once.
The doctor calmly reassured him, “That’s not what I meant. I was just making conversation.”
“Every word spoken by a psychologist who has earned my approval must have a purpose. None of it can be casual conversation.” Cheng Mingjiao lifted his chin.
The doctor said, “First, thank you for your approval. Second, since you came to see me, there’s no need to be so guarded. You do want to solve the problem, after all, don’t you?”
Cheng Mingjiao fell silent.
The doctor smiled. “Then let’s continue…”
“Do you think she likes me?” Cheng Mingjiao wasn’t so easily sidetracked.
The doctor was silent for a moment before saying, “My opinion isn’t important. What matters now is what you and she think.”
Faced with the doctor’s tactful answer, Cheng Mingjiao stated, “You’re mediocre at your job.”
The doctor: “…”
Cheng Mingjiao saw no reason to continue the conversation. He gave a dismissive “goodbye” and turned to leave.
Zhang Xiyue, sitting on the bench outside, immediately put on a smile when she heard the door open. “Mr. Cheng, you’re done already?”
Cheng Mingjiao stared at her for several seconds before asking, “Where did you go just now?”
Zhang Xiyue’s heart jolted. She played dumb. “What?”
“Did you go out?” Cheng Mingjiao frowned. “I was in there for a consultation, and you left.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…But I’m here now, aren’t I?”
“Waiting the entire time and slipping away halfway through are two different things.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
The Emperor really was a high-maintenance baby.
Although she had no idea how he had realized she’d gone out, there was no need to lie about such a minor matter, so Zhang Xiyue simply explained, “I suddenly really wanted ice cream, so I went out to get some.”
“I can tell.” Cheng Mingjiao pointed at her short-sleeved shirt. “Your clothes wanted some too.”
Zhang Xiyue followed his finger and saw a smear of ice cream on the shirt.
It had gotten there when she accidentally bumped into that young man earlier.
The young man’s face surfaced in Zhang Xiyue’s mind once again. She remembered hurriedly apologizing and offering to compensate him, only for him to give her a cold look before turning and walking away.
She had instinctively chased after him for two steps, but when she noticed the bandage wrapped around his arm, she stopped.
He seemed cold and withdrawn, yet was unexpectedly magnanimous and unwilling to hold a grudge over something so trivial.
That was Zhang Xiyue’s impression of the young man. Then she thought of someone else.
If her ice cream accidentally ended up on that person…
Zhang Xiyue shuddered. When she looked up, she found herself meeting Cheng Mingjiao’s searching gaze.
He seemed to have noticed that her mind had wandered.
Zhang Xiyue pretended to have just realized something. “So you figured out that I went out because of the mark on my shirt? Mr. Cheng, you’re incredibly observant!”
Cheng Mingjiao withdrew his probing gaze. “Mm-hmm.”
“I’ll leave right now.” Zhang Xiyue turned to go.
“Come back,” Cheng Mingjiao said.
Zhang Xiyue came back.
“Why are you leaving?” Cheng Mingjiao asked.
“My clothes are dirty. I’m afraid they’ll offend your eyes,” Zhang Xiyue explained modestly.
Cheng Mingjiao looked at her strangely. “It’s just a little stain. Why would it offend my eyes? Do you see me as the kind of boss who can’t tolerate the slightest imperfection?”
Zhang Xiyue was reminded once again of the time he had abandoned her in the Yunxi Temple parking lot. She forced a smile. “Of course not.”
Cheng Mingjiao didn’t seem to care whether he believed her or not. After one hurdle came another. “You went to buy ice cream. Why didn’t you get one for me?”
“You want some?” Zhang Xiyue asked in surprise.
Although he always claimed that he wasn’t picky about food, the Emperor was extremely particular about what he ate. He only ever ate healthy food and never touched drinks, desserts, or anything of the sort.
“I don’t.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…Then why did you ask?”
“Whether I want one is my business. Whether you thought of me is yours.”
Being an executive assistant is really no easy job.
Cheng Mingjiao cast her a sidelong glance, as if he still had something to criticize.
There was nothing Zhang Xiyue could do now to conjure up a lemon-flavored candy for him. After sighing inwardly, she pulled something from her pocket.
Cheng Mingjiao was already used to her producing all sorts of things at a moment’s notice. The moment he saw her move, his expression instantly became indifferent.
Like an office worker being handed snacks by a colleague, he kept his eyes fixed on the computer, his fingers clacking away at the keyboard, while in reality, all his attention was on the other person.
“Mr. Cheng.” The colleague had reached him.
Cheng Mingjiao immediately looked over and saw her holding out a tiny box.
“I knew you don’t eat ice cream, so I didn’t buy you any. But I was still thinking about you, so I brought you this instead,” Zhang Xiyue explained earnestly.
He accepted it, only to realize that it was a medicine box. The three huge characters printed on it stabbed at his eyes like little knives.
Hemorrhoid cream.
Cheng Mingjiao drew a deep breath, then suddenly began speaking faster. “I exercise regularly, never sit for long periods, maintain a healthy daily routine, and have absolutely no signs of that sort of problem. Why did you buy this for me—”
“I didn’t buy it,” Zhang Xiyue reminded him gently. “I just picked it up. There’s no medicine inside.”
Only then did Cheng Mingjiao notice how light the box was. It felt empty. He reluctantly opened it.
A small purple wildflower appeared before his eyes.
It had just been picked and had been well protected by the box. It looked fresh and beautiful.
Cheng Mingjiao stared at the flower for a long while, then looked at Zhang Xiyue.
Zhang Xiyue said, “…I thought it was pretty, so I wanted to give it to you.”
The truth was that she had simply had a random impulse while bored. On the way back, she had kept thinking about throwing it away, but she hadn’t found a suitable trash can.
Cheng Mingjiao pressed his thin lips together. He looked rather solemn.
Zhang Xiyue felt uncertain. She wondered whether, despite always managing to fob him off, she had taken things too far this time.
Before she could apologize, Cheng Mingjiao had already turned and gone back into the psychological consultation room.
He shut the door and locked it.
Then he thrust the box containing the flower in front of the doctor. “She gave this to me.”
The doctor’s eyelid twitched.
Cheng Mingjiao said, “She only went out to buy ice cream, and she still brought me a flower. Do you still think I have an erotomanic delusion?”
The little flower in the medicine box was the kind commonly found growing by the roadside. The words “hemorrhoid cream” on the box were glaringly prominent. If one had to describe the gift in a single word, that word would undoubtedly be perfunctory.
The doctor studied Cheng Mingjiao’s smug expression. After thinking it over, he said gently, “I truly didn’t mean that just now. You don’t have symptoms of an erotomanic delusion either. If my words gave you the wrong impression, I apologize.”
He was not lying. Cheng Mingjiao’s symptoms did not, in fact, resemble erotomania.
As for what else they might be, a thorough examination would be necessary to determine that.
That was exactly the sentence Cheng Mingjiao wanted to hear. Once the doctor had said it aloud, his opinion of him rose from average to acceptable.
“At noon, I already made things clear to her. But judging from how she’s behaving now, she doesn’t seem ready to give up. What do you think I should do?”
The doctor thought for a moment, then asked, “Do you like her?”
Cheng Mingjiao froze.
The doctor continued, “If you do, why not try telling her how you feel?”
“How could I possibly?” Cheng Mingjiao looked displeased. “Do you know how busy I am every day? I have to oversee the progress of research and development, contact upstream and downstream manufacturers, manage a company with more than five hundred employees, and—”
“That’s your career. What does it have to do with your love life?” the doctor interrupted.
Cheng Mingjiao grew impatient. “I have several companies, for one thing. If I got married, just dividing up the shares would take ages. I’d also have to notify the board of directors in advance, disclose my family information, hold a press conference… All of that would be extremely troublesome, and besides, I—”
“There’s still a long road from confessing your feelings to getting married,” the doctor said with a smile, interrupting him once again. “You really don’t need to think that far ahead.”
Cheng Mingjiao abruptly fell silent.
After a moment, he recovered both his voice and his ability to think. “If I don’t like her, why would I confess my feelings?”
The doctor raised an eyebrow.
Cheng Mingjiao continued, “I’ve been single for twenty-eight years, and I’m perfectly satisfied with my current state. I won’t accept anyone invading every aspect of my life. Love? It’s simply a habitual attempt by human beings who fear loneliness to huddle together for warmth when they’ve lost their way. It’s an act of surrendering to instinct, a symbol of cowardice. Someone like me has no need to do such a thing, and never will.”
After arrogantly expressing his complete opinion, he demanded that the doctor come up with a reasonable solution—one that would make Zhang Xiyue give up on him without hurting her feelings.
As he made his demands, he held the hemorrhoid-cream box in both hands the entire time. The little flower inside rested peacefully, blooming without a single petal being damaged.
The doctor pondered for a moment before saying, “Why not take things slowly?”
Cheng Mingjiao’s heart stirred.
The doctor went on, “Her mental state isn’t particularly good right now. Mr. Cheng, why don’t you simply observe the situation for the time being? Once she’s recovered, you can think about the matter again. Perhaps by then, she’ll have come to her senses on her own.”
Hearing this, Cheng Mingjiao also felt that Zhang Xiyue’s psychological trauma was the most important issue at present.
The moment he realized he could put the matter aside for now, the heavy stone weighing on his heart lifted completely. He decided that this doctor really did know what he was doing.
His judgment was as excellent as ever.
Outside the consultation room, Zhang Xiyue was still waiting.
She still couldn’t figure out why Cheng Mingjiao had suddenly gone to see the doctor after accepting the flower.
Could the hemorrhoid-cream box and the roadside wildflower have been so outrageously casual that she had inflicted psychological trauma on him?
She was pondering this aimlessly when an adorable face suddenly appeared in front of her.
“Aunt Xiyue!” Liang Youyou called out loudly, hugging her teddy bear and tilting her head.
Zhang Xiyue smiled and pulled her between her legs. Then she looked up at Liang Xiao, who was following behind her. “Dr. Liang, what brings you here?”
“We came to see Mingjiao.” Liang Xiao glanced at the tightly closed door. “How much longer will he be?”
“I don’t know. He came out once just now, then went back in. It seems he had something to discuss with the doctor.”
Liang Xiao glanced at his watch, then looked once more at the closed door.
“Is there something urgent you need Mr. Cheng for?” Zhang Xiyue asked.
“It’s not me. Youyou is the one who wants to see him,” Liang Xiao explained. “She has a lot of homework today, and I’d like to take her home soon. If Mingjiao is going to be much longer, we’ll leave first.”
“No! I want to wait for him!” Youyou cried anxiously.
Zhang Xiyue found it amusing. “What do you want to see him about?”
Youyou hesitated, looking embarrassed to say.
Zhang Xiyue did not press her. She stroked the girl’s head, then patted the teddy bear’s head as well.
The teddy bear had already been washed clean. Zhang Xiyue had no idea what method Cheng Mingjiao had used, but it looked exactly as it had before—not a trace of mud remained.
Recently, Zhang Xiyue seemed to be constantly revising her impression of Cheng Mingjiao.
Whenever she thought he was a pure, unapologetic pervert, he would show that he was capable of driving into the mountains in the middle of the night through pouring rain to help a friend’s child find an old stuffed toy that held no value whatsoever in society’s eyes.
And just when she decided there was something redeemable about him, he would turn around and keep insisting that he intended to hold the toy hostage to control Youyou.
Just when she thought he was really childish enough to go to such great lengths to find the doll just to win against a kid, he wiped the doll clean with his own clothes, tucked it into his pocket carefully and tenderly, and never even thought about throwing it away even when he was on the verge of starving to death in the mountains.
And now, he had washed the doll spotlessly and returned it to Youyou intact.
Zhang Xiyue thought back to the other day when Zhou Ce came to visit her, and had chatted with her about Grandma Zhao Yuzhen at Yunxi Temple.
"She's the matriarch of the Chen family. Ever since she fell ill, she's been living in the temple, and usually only her grandson comes to see her often. Mr. Cheng and I have no idea what we did to offend her. Every time we go to the temple and catch her having an episode, she throws mud at us. What terrible luck."
Probably after spending so much time around Cheng Mingjiao, she had also grown sharp, and picked out the word "every time" precisely from that bunch of meaningless complaints.
Her first reaction back then was, "You two didn't try to run her over that day, did you?"
"Huh?" Zhou Ce didn't get it, his eyes wide and innocent.
That was when she realized she'd gotten it all wrong.
So this yandere Cheng Mingjiao wasn't nearly as awful as she'd made him out to be.
At least, he hadn't actually done anything that amounted to murder for profit so far.
Zhang Xiyue pondered this, then reached out a finger and poked the little bear.
Liang Youyou smiled, and poked the little bear too.
The two were cuddled together, having a great time playing, when Cheng Mingjiao suddenly came out of the room.
Liang Youyou immediately scrambled out of Zhang Xiyue's embrace. "Uncle Cheng."
Zhang Xiyue's eyes flickered a little.
She'd known Youyou for so long, and this was the first time she'd seen her greet Cheng Mingjiao so obediently. It seemed that after the whole incident of finding the little bear, the relationship between the two of them had gotten much better.
For some reason, Zhang Xiyue felt a little relieved, and when Liang Youyou looked over, she immediately gave her an encouraging look.
Liang Youyou took a light breath, walked over to Cheng Mingyou with the little bear in her arms, and called out again, "Uncle Cheng."
Cheng Mingjiao was holding a potted cactus, and nodded at her.
Liang Youyou's expression turned solemn, with a maturity that didn't suit her age, as she bowed to Cheng Mingjiao very formally.
"I was wrong. I will never put salt in Uncle Cheng's water ever again."
"I was wrong. I will never put salt in Uncle Cheng's water ever again."
"I was wrong. I will never put salt in Uncle Cheng's water ever again."
Zhang Xiyue: "......"
Three apologies in a row, each more sincere than the last. By the end of it, Liang Youyou's face was bright red.
But Cheng Mingjiao was still nitpicking. "The angle of your bow just now wasn't big enough."
Liang Youyou blew up in a second. "You--"
Cheng Mingjiao's voice carried a hint of threat. "The little bear..."
"...I'll be more careful tomorrow," Liang Youyou conceded, sounding utterly stifled.
Only then was Cheng Mingjiao satisfied, gesturing that she was allowed to leave.
Zhang Xiyue watched the whole farce in silence, then looked over at Liang Youyou's guardian.
The guardian looked utterly helpless, indicating that this sort of daily "paying respects" had started the day Cheng Mingjiao woke up.
Someone had even gotten a lawyer to draw up a formal document, stating that the little bear's ownership belonged to him. Never mind that the document had no legal validity, it was more than enough to intimidate an elementary school kid.
Now Youyou had to come apologize to him once every single day, no matter rain or shine, until Cheng Mingjiao was discharged from the hospital. Otherwise, Cheng Mingjiao would take the little bear back, separating the girl and her bear forever, never to meet again.
Zhang Xiyue: "......"
Fine then. All the new, improved impressions she'd had of Cheng Mingjiao earlier had just been reset all the way back to square one.
After all, who would've thought that he went through all that trouble, worked so tirelessly, really just to get revenge for the salt that had been put in his water.
What a perfectly consistent yandere who holds grudges, who means exactly what he says, and has zero hidden deeper motives.
This new requirement to apologize to Cheng Mingjiao every day seemed to hit Liang Youyou pretty hard. She dragged her feet, looking completely dejected, said goodbye to Zhang Xiyue right after her apology, and scurried off.
"She didn't say goodbye to me," Cheng Mingjiao picked on the minor detail.
Zhang Xiyue: "...... She did say goodbye, didn't she?"
"No," Cheng Mingjiao frowned slightly. "I'm adding a new clause to our contract. She has to say goodbye properly to Uncle Cheng, or I'll confiscate the little bear."
Zhang Xiyue was shocked. "You two actually have a contract?"
Cheng Mingjiao looked rather pleased with himself. "We do. Considering that documents signed by minors have no legal force, I also got Liang Xiao and Wei Chengfang to sign a copy. If one person breaches the contract, the whole family is held accountable. The deterrent effect is absolutely solid."
Zhang Xiyue: "......"
If only he put half this much thought into his work.
Speaking of work...
Zhang Xiyue walked along beside him, and asked as they went, "Mr. Cheng, you haven't been to the company for this long. Won't that affect the company's operations?"
She added another sentence right after, "After all, you're really important to the company."
Those words, in Cheng Mingjiao's ears, automatically filtered down to just four words: "you are important".
He once again found himself vexed by Zhang Xiyue's way of confessing her feelings by wrapping them up in other matters. He thought to himself, if only he had scored below 140 on the Chinese section of the college entrance exam, or if his IQ was just a little lower. Then maybe he wouldn't be able to pick up on her implied meaning.
"...Mr. Cheng?"
Why did he go silent again the second work was brought up? Was he really that unmotivated?
Zhang Xiyue grew anxious at the sight of her courtship progress remaining stuck at zero.
Cheng Mingjiao snapped back to his senses, and glanced at her indifferently. "It's fine even if I don't show up for three months."
Zhang Xiyue: "......"
If you stayed away for three months, you'd turn into a reclusive yandere with no job at all.
She said no more, walking alongside him in silence toward his hospital room.
When they reached the door of Cheng Mingjiao's ward, she adjusted her mood and was just about to say goodbye, when the caretaker brought over dinner.
For two people.
She looked over at Cheng Mingjiao.
"Eat," Cheng Mingjiao said calmly. It was obvious who had ordered the double portion meal.
Zhang Xiyue had no choice but to stay for dinner.
She'd only come to suss out Cheng Mingjiao's attitude earlier, but now, from a little past 11 AM to 7 PM, except for the time he spent seeing the psychologist, she had barely been apart from him.
Spending such intense, nonstop time with her boss left Zhang Xiyue completely drained. As soon as they finished dinner, she brought up taking her leave.
Cheng Mingjiao didn't say a word, and walked out with her.
It looked like he was seeing her out.
Zhang Xiyue was surprised by her boss's sudden display of thoughtfulness, but she didn't say anything, letting him walk her all the way out the door... down the corridor... to the elevator... and right into her own hospital room.
When he stood in the doorway of her room and said he was going to sleep with her that night, Zhang Xiyue could barely believe her own ears.
"...Could you say that again?" Her voice was trembling.
Cheng Mingjiao glanced at her, frowning. "Are you that happy?"
Zhang Xiyue: "......"
Cheng Mingjiao had no interest in the inner thoughts of someone who had a crush on him. Once he stepped inside, he went straight to the bathroom.
The sound of rushing water came muffled through the door, until a small crack opened in the bathroom door, and the sound grew clear again.
Just as the sound of the water became distinct, the voice of the Emperor also came through. "Go to my room and bring a set of change of clothes for me."
Zhang Xiyue: "......"
Cheng Mingjiao's attitude was so completely matter-of-fact that Zhang Xiyue's mind went blank for a second. By the time she snapped back to her senses, she had already done exactly what he said.
At half past seven that evening, Cheng Mingjiao came out of the shower smelling fresh, changed into a new hospital gown, and sat down on her bed. He lifted a hand and patted the spot right next to him.
"Come here," he said.
Zhang Xiyue suspected that the world she had transmigrated into was a xuanhuan novel.
