Chapter 13

On the way back to the villa, Qi Peng insisted on accompanying her. Chi Zhihan felt strange about Qi Ning’s earlier revelation about revenge—something she wasn’t sure whether to thank them for or curse them about—which made her unable to feel warmly towards Qi Peng who had condescended to be her driver.

“In Miss Chi’s eyes, most of the Qi family must seem like a bunch of lunatics, right?” Qi Peng suddenly spoke up, glancing at Chi Zhihan as she sat stiffly, drinking from her water bottle.

…Chi Zhihan choked on her water, her face still expressionless as she glared at Qi Peng.

Qi Peng laughed, his tone softening with sincerity. “Actually, we’re really grateful to you. Believe me, I don’t usually go out of my way to be nice to women.”

Chi Zhihan forced a smile.

“After we get back to the house, I’ll turn off the camera facing your place,” Qi Peng explained the real reason he had volunteered to drive her. “You can take the next two days off and rest. The task we’ve given you isn’t easy.”

“…Turning off the camera is part of the treatment?” Chi Zhihan caught on quickly.

Qi Peng nodded, then smiled. “Does this treatment plan seem a bit fantastical to you?”

Chi Zhihan paused, then shook her head.

Qi Peng fell silent, glancing at her.

“When a loved one is sick, the whole family suffers,” Chi Zhihan said softly, her tone neither comforting nor accusatory. “I don’t know anything about psychological illnesses, but since you’ve put so much effort into this treatment plan, it should work.”

“You’re very perceptive,” Qi Peng said after a long silence, turning to look at her as they stopped at a red light. “None of us know much about psychological treatment, so we had to hire the best doctors and use the best methods.”

Her ability to sense his doubts about the treatment plan gave him a bit more confidence in it, but…

“I’m not the best, but I’ll do my best,” Chi Zhihan finished his thought for him, smiling as she looked out the window. “I know most people don’t want to trust others’ goodwill, but I know my own conscience is still intact. The person across the hall is a good person. If I can help him, I’ll do everything I can.”

“Thank you,” Qi Peng finally dropped his playful demeanor.

Chi Zhihan shook her head.

She could understand Qi Peng’s probing and Qi Ning’s awkwardness. Letting a stranger, a chef no less, participate in the treatment plan for a family member—if it were her, she’d feel uneasy too.

In a way, the person across the hall was quite fortunate. He could receive the best treatment, and his family would feel less burdened knowing they had done everything possible. Unlike her situation – in the quiet of night, she would wonder if she could have saved her father had she had more money for better medicine.

“Also, during these two days off, you can go out freely as usual, but try not to come back too late,” Qi Peng added as they neared the villa. “The person across the hall is a light sleeper, and he needs plenty of rest these days.”

“…Go out freely?” Chi Zhihan blinked. Since when had she been allowed such freedom?

“…” Qi Peng seemed momentarily speechless, then chuckled under his breath. “This silly girl…”

“The car that took you to sign the contract today is your assigned vehicle. The driver’s phone number is in the contract. During your employment, as long as it doesn’t interfere with providing three meals a day, you’re actually free to come and go as you please,” Qi Peng explained, watching Chi Zhihan’s expression grow increasingly dark. He added somewhat guiltily, “Ning Ning’s been a bit willful lately, with her pregnancy.”

…

She took back what she’d said about understanding them.

The Qi family really were lunatics!

Thinking about it, it seemed to be her own intelligence problem – she had actually believed in this setup where she couldn’t freely come and go once entering the villa. On careful reflection, Qi Ning had never explicitly required this.

…Lunatics!

…

Before entering the security code at the door, Qi Peng wiped his face. From the corner of his eye, he saw Chi Zhihan quietly open and close her door, giving him privacy.

This girl was indeed more reliable than he had imagined. Having experienced family tragedy, she was more perceptive and worldly-wise than others her age.

No wonder Qi Cheng had accepted her so quickly.

He and Qi Cheng hadn’t seen each other for almost a year, so when he opened the door, his eyes immediately reddened.

His younger brother was hiding in the shadows behind the door, still the same – pale, nearly invisible, looking somewhat panicked at him standing outside.

“It’s me.” Quickly lowering his head to hide the hoarseness in his voice, Qi Peng only smiled normally at Qi Cheng after closing the door, as if nothing had happened. “Don’t you recognize me?”

“Brother…” Qi Cheng, unaccustomed to such sudden visits without prior notice, helplessly shrank further into the shadows.

“Don’t worry, I absolutely won’t touch you this time,” Qi Peng raised both hands, speaking lightly. After taking off his shoes and walking in, he frowned, “Why isn’t the heating on?”

“It’s not cold,” Qi Cheng remained in the shadows, sweating but afraid to let Qi Peng see.

It was getting worse – even seeing family members triggered such physical reactions.

“The temperature’s dropped these past few days, and this place is so remote. If even I can’t stand it, how could you possibly…” Qi Peng frowned and unconsciously complained, then saw Qi Cheng standing in the corner trying to minimize his presence, barefoot on the floor with his toes curled up.

…

Qi Peng stopped talking, turned on the heating, picked up Qi Cheng’s slippers from under the table, turned on all the lights, then crouched down to place the slippers at Qi Cheng’s feet.

“Wipe yourself,” he handed out his always-ready handkerchief, then looked away from Qi Cheng after speaking.

He probably knew the reason – Qi Cheng didn’t like using heating while painting, and being startled by his sudden visit, had tried to hide barefoot.

Though it was daytime, the curtains were drawn tight. Turning on the bright lights, he quickly glanced at Qi Cheng’s complexion – he had gained some weight since last time, no longer skeletal, though still deathly pale. Now, having been caught off guard, cold sweat was dramatically dripping from his chin.

“You look better,” Qi Peng lied blatantly, trying hard to dispel the current tension in the air. He had more important things to do today. After being forced into two or three days of psychological preparation by Dr. Zhao in the consultation room, he had to complete his mission no matter what today.

“…” Qi Cheng obediently wiped his sweat with one hand while holding the wall to put on his slippers, not wanting to expose his brother’s lie.

“Should we turn off the surveillance? It’s strange having an unfamiliar girl always flickering there,” Qi Peng pointed at the monitor where Chi Zhihan had just reached the kitchen and was now lowering her head organizing something, quickly proceeding with the first step of his mission.

“…I saw you return together,” Qi Cheng was puzzled but still followed the command and turned off the monitor. When the screen went dark, his eyebrows twitched slightly, then everything returned to normal.

While discreetly observing Qi Cheng’s micro-expressions, Qi Peng tapped the table. “I thought you were startled by my sudden visit, but you already knew it was me coming in?”

Qi Cheng bit his lip, not knowing how to explain that he had just habitually sought a hiding place upon hearing the keypad sound.

“Is that girl the treatment plan Ning Ning found for you?” Gesturing for Qi Cheng to sit opposite him and pouring him a glass of water, Qi Peng finally got to the main point.

“Mm.” Qi Cheng nodded, holding the water glass and taking small sips.

Qi Peng checked the time – fifteen minutes since entering the house, and Qi Cheng still dared not meet his eyes.

This didn’t quite match the improvement Dr. Zhao had mentioned.

“Do you feel any better?” This question wasn’t in Dr. Zhao’s prescribed script – Qi Peng had added it himself, then felt some regret, as his subconscious still didn’t quite believe in this treatment plan.

This time’s agreement was also because he had seen the self-inflicted wounds Qi Ning had photographed.

Frowning, he forcefully suppressed the anxiety in his heart and made himself return to the main topic.

Qi Cheng held his water glass without moving. Such direct questioning wasn’t familiar to him, and moreover, he himself didn’t really have an answer to this question.

Fortunately, Qi Peng quickly changed the subject after running a hand through his hair.

“I actually came back this time planning to take you to America, since there are many more psychologists there than here.” Before he finished speaking, he saw Qi Cheng, holding his water glass, stiffen and unconsciously start curling into himself. “But Dr. Zhao said your current condition isn’t suitable for such a completely unfamiliar environment – it would make no progress with your illness.”

“Moreover, he showed me your psychological evaluation report, and there has indeed been significant improvement this month.” Following Dr. Zhao’s instructions, this sentence ended with a clearly rising tone, conveying praise and affirmation.

Curled up, Qi Cheng lowered his head, his lifeless black eyes reflected in the water glass.

His treatment had finally begun, with the first scene naturally opened by his eldest brother.

Only it was rather clumsy – his brother was still more suited to being a brother, not suited for this kind of psychological counseling.

Qi Peng sighed seeing Qi Cheng’s lack of response, cleared his throat and said, “I came today just to confirm your condition, and also to learn more about Miss Chi across the hall.”

“You know about how Ning Ning set a trap to make Miss Chi have nowhere to go home to, just to get her to renew the contract with you?” Finally reaching the core issue, Qi Peng’s hands unconsciously clenched into fists, his tone noticeably tense.

Qi Cheng’s fingers holding the cup twitched slightly.

Qi Peng seized upon this tiny movement and quickly finished speaking. “Ning Ning doing such things for the treatment is indeed somewhat bullying, but if it can truly cure you, no price is too high.”

“…” Qi Cheng’s mug made a sharp sound as his nails scraped across it. Qi Peng held his breath, waiting for Qi Cheng’s reaction.

This was the first scene recreation.

In Qi Cheng’s first year of high school, he had developed a crush on a girl from the neighboring class. Their father was very strict, and upon discovering this, immediately spoke to the homeroom teacher. The teacher called that girl to the office right away and scolded her until her eyes were red when she returned to class.

The person who had informed on this matter was Qi Peng.

After this incident, Qi Cheng, out of guilt, actually became closer to that girl.

Now recreating the scene, that girl had become Chi Zhihan, and similarly, they hoped he would become closer to Chi Zhihan out of guilt.

According to the principles of exposure therapy, he should have an immediate pathological response to such a scene, and the next step of scene recreation would be planned based on the timing and degree of his response.

“If she can cure me,” Qi Peng tensely waited for Qi Cheng’s response, but unexpectedly received a very calm inquiry, “would it be possible to let her stay across the hall permanently?”