Chapter 28: Twisted Romance
Jiang Jie didn’t notice the embarrassing behavior of her artist, she watched Jian Yi leave the clinic and turned to ask the doctor, “Dr. Huang, who was that just now? What does he do?”
The doctor looked up at her, and Jiang Shi was a familiar face, so naturally, he knew what she was thinking. He smiled and said, “Why, do you think he’s good-looking and want to recruit him as a star?”
Jiang Jie flipped her hair and smiled, “No, just asking casually.”
If it wasn’t to recruit him as a star, then it must be because he’s handsome. The doctor showed an “I understand” expression and continued, “He’s my former college classmate. He’s different from us ordinary people, he’s a genius among geniuses. You see, he looks younger than me, but he has already won many academic awards. Ah, some people are incomparable.”
Jiang Jie was surprised, “So amazing?”
“Of course. He now has his own clinic specializing in psychology, but only for the wealthy.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Jie’s interest immediately waned, and her smile faded a bit. “What, does he have class discrimination?”
The doctor shook his head. “No, it’s not that. Being a psychologist is just his hobby. His real talent lies in biology. He now has his own laboratory, not just one but more. You know Senyuan, right? Artificial gene synthesis, that’s his masterpiece.”
Jiang Jie’s interest was completely lost. The gap was too great. Even if she managed to hook up with him, at most it would only be a fleeting romance.
After chatting with the handsome guy they just met, Jiang Jie went to see her artist.
She exclaimed, “Xiao Shitou (1), you’re not in pain today?”
Jiang Shi couldn’t speak for the time being but blinked bravely to indicate that he was no longer afraid of pain.
However, his ears slowly turned red. He coughed, having been too engrossed in listening, and forgot about the pain. He definitely wouldn’t tell Jiang Jie.
After leaving the clinic, he took a break for a while, and the system regained its energy to compete with the new host.
It thought of the new host’s aversion to encountering Kou Li, so it said, “[That person just now is Kou Li’s friend.]”
Jiang Shi put on his disguise and got into the nanny’s car. Upon seeing the words on the sign, he sighed, “As expected, powerful people only associate with other powerful people.”
The system:…
“Don’t you want to have any connection with Kou Li? Shouldn’t you avoid getting close to his friends?” the system asked.
Jiang Shi detected a hint of irritability from the words.
He was surprised and asked the voice in his head, “Who are you exactly? Why are you so impatient? Do I really need to follow your plot? Is it that important to you?”
“Woah, could it be an alien trying to control my mind?”
“I’m a bit scared. If I complete your plot, will it fully take over my mind? Is it just my imagination?”
“By the way, the person I just saw seemed to be a psychiatrist. Should I ask Dr. Huang for his contact information next time? We could go see a movie together.”
“Ha, it’s a win-win situation. I’m a genius!”
Jiang Shi’s thoughts were very active. In just a few seconds, he had run through many ideas in his head.
The system listened, but it wanted to eat this idiot’s brain.
It couldn’t understand why Jiang Shi had a rebellious mindset. The system told him not to go, yet he insisted on going.
Damn it! If only it didn’t bring it up, maybe this guy wouldn’t have thought of going to see Jian Yi.
It regretted finding such a stupid host.
It must find a way to prevent this idiot from meeting Jian Yi.
If this idiot says just a few more words, that pervert could know everything.
Plus, the sudden appearance of Jian Yi made it think that it was related to the earlier probe.
If its energy was enough, it would have run away as soon as it saw Jian Yi.
But now that it couldn’t escape, it had to make sure that this host would not get close to Jian Yi.
……
There were two bowls of white congee on the table, cooked until soft and fragrant.
As he took a sip, Bian Yi could taste a hint of sweetness. This type of congee didn’t need any accompanying dishes to be enjoyable.
Kou Li sat across from Bian Yi, spooning a mouthful of congee. Before he could even bring it to his mouth, he looked at Bian Yi with a smile and asked, “How is it? It’s been a while since I’ve made it…”
Bian Yi took another spoonful and blew on it twice before taking a bite and making a sound of approval.
Kou Li’s smile deepened slightly, and he stopped asking questions, bowing his head to eat.
After finishing their simple breakfast in silence, half an hour later, Bian Yi handed Kou Li a glass of water as he stared at the topographic map of the snowy mountains. His tone was not gentle at all, and he sounded impatient and cold.
“Take your medicine.”
Kou Li closed his notebook and looked into Bian Yi’s eyes.
There was anxiety and regret hiding in them.
Kou Li lowered his eyes and took the glass of water from Bian Yi’s hand. When he was cooking the congee just now, he had already realized that he was having an attack in front of Bian Yi.
Kou Li couldn’t fully remember the events, but thankfully he had some recollection. He hadn’t done anything irreversible to Bian Yi.
Kou Li stood up and placed the glass on the coffee table. Even though Bian Yi was looking at him with impatience, he still poured a glass of water for himself and handed one to Bian Yi.
Bian Yi was confused but accepted the glass.
Then, Kou Li took out two boxes from his luggage.
The boxes were a birthday gift that Bian Yi had given Kou Li a long time ago.
Bian Yi had spent a long time picking them out and had really liked them at the time, but they were actually small storage boxes that weren’t very useful.
Back then, he seemed to still be in high school and had the mentality of a young man, wanting to give his boyfriend a box and then write a love letter to hide in the box for them to read together when they were old and gray.
Later, when he grew up, Bian Yi remembered this and cringed at himself.
What was even worse was that he had actually written the letter, and one night when they were in the act, Kou Li had asked him to read it aloud. Bian Yi had nearly died on the spot that night.
Because the incident was so long ago, Bian Yi wouldn’t have remembered it if he hadn’t seen the boxes.
But he never expected Kou Li to keep them all this time.
The box that was supposed to hold the letters from the two lovers now contained each of their small medicine bottles.
What a twisted and ironic romance, thought Bian Yi.
“I had Jian Yi prescribe some medicine, it’s just to calm the mind and relieve emotions, there are no side effects.” Kou Li handed Bian Yi his box.
Bian Yi silently took the box and opened it. Inside was a simple note that described how to take the medicine and its effects.
When he talked to Jian Yi earlier, he didn’t mention anything about it.
Bian Yi had a feeling that Jian Yi wanted Kou Li to give him the medicine.
What kind of doctor was he? So careless and irresponsible.
Half an hour ago, the two of them had finished drinking porridge together. Half an hour later, they finished taking the medicine together.
They could be considered to have shared the joys and sorrows.
Bian Yi thought of a cold joke.
Today, they didn’t go to the snowy mountain, mainly to rest.
After taking the medicine, Bian Yi prepared to go to sleep.
This time, Kou Li didn’t prepare it in private, but instead placed the sleeping pills by Bian Yi’s pillow.
Now Bian Yi finally understood why he was able to fall asleep when he slept with Kou Li before.
It was meaningless to dwell on these things now. Bian Yi closed his eyes, opened them again, and looked back at Kou Li sitting on the sofa, furrowing his brows and asking, “Aren’t you sleeping?”
Kou Li was stunned for a moment, then pushed his glasses and got up from the sofa.
He answered, “Yes, I am. I’ll go to sleep now.”
Upon hearing his answer, Bian Yi turned his head away.
After a while, Bian Yi felt the other side of the bed sink slightly, very lightly.
The two lay on the same bed with a wide gap between them.
Bian Yi closed his eyes and couldn’t fall asleep for a while.
Perhaps those two boxes had dredged up memories from a long time ago. Bian Yi felt that the distance between them was very empty behind him. Though he was covered with a quilt, it felt like there was a draft.
Bian Yi changed his posture and lay flat, so there was no draft on his back.
But after a while, he still couldn’t fall asleep.
Bian Yi was a bit annoyed. Could Kou Li’s medicine bag be fake?
The next moment, he felt Kou Li move too.
“Ah Yi, can I hold you to sleep?” Kou Li spoke softly, like he was talking in his sleep.
Gentle and pleading.
Bian Yi was pricked again.
He really hated this kind of Kou Li.
Bian Yi turned over, facing Kou Li’s direction.
Sure enough, Kou Li hadn’t fallen asleep either.
He looked at Bian Yi for a while, and then the gap in the bed was filled.
Kou Li’s hand was placed on Bian Yi’s waist, and Bian Yi curled up in Kou Li’s arms.
After a few breaths, they both fell asleep.
The next day, the weather in the snow mountain was still good.
Kou Li had already chosen a date, and the weather had naturally been observed by professionals.
Bian Yi wore warm clothes and went into the snow mountain with the team hired by Kou Li.
The guide leading the team was very familiar with the snow mountain, and the weather was good, so they went smoothly. The cold-proof and emergency equipment in the car were also sufficient.
And what Kou Li was looking for was a special substance. He told Bian Yi that by using this substance, the system he was studying could be extracted, and with the shielding and protective device he had already made, the system could not escape.
Bian Yi didn’t understand those special professional things, so Kou Li only told him what he could understand.
But because it sounded too simple, it seemed somewhat unreal.
Could the system that had been bothering him for so long really be caught by Kou Li? Once caught, could it really not escape?
In Bian Yi’s mind, there was also a system, but when he heard someone say that they could extract it from his mind, it had no response.
Bian Yi simply ignored it.
As long as he didn’t guess or think about it, he could temporarily avoid knowing the truth.
He was being treated, and Kou Li was being treated as well.
Wait a little longer, until he was feeling better, and then tell him what this revenge system that saved him is.
Everything went surprisingly smoothly. The team only spent one day in the snow mountains to find what Kou Li needed.
They used the equipment that Kou Li brought to pack up the things, started the engine of the car, and headed back on the same road they came from.
It was just getting dark.
Looking at Bian Yi’s dazed look, Kou Li took off his gloves and took off Bian Yi’s gloves, touching his hand. It wasn’t too cold.
Kou Li put the gloves back on Bian Yi’s hand and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Bian Yi also came back to his senses, “Nothing, it’s much faster than I imagined.”
At this moment, the secretary sitting in front of them spoke, “Mr. Bian, you only feel like today is fast. In fact, the preparation work has been done for a full month, and the location has been surveyed. Mr. Kou never acts when the conditions are not sufficient.”
Bian Yi thought for a moment and nodded, “Yes, you’re right.”
Indeed, Kou Li has always been a one-hit-wonder, ensuring that nothing will go wrong. Unlike Kou Li, he goes out on adventures with excitement and believes he is fully prepared, but in reality, there are many flaws.
However, perhaps it is precisely because Kou Li is by his side that his adventure preparations are never adequate.
The return journey was also very smooth, and Kou Li asked for Bian Yi’s opinion. In the end, the two decided to return that night.
Until the plane took off, Bian Yi was still in a daze.
Everything went too smoothly, and Bian Yi’s thoughts were drifting. Unrealistically, he wondered if he and Kou Li were characters in a novel. He even suspected that their encounters were too tragic, and today’s smoothness was the author’s mercy, not adding more disasters to them.
He actually had many questions, but he didn’t dare to ask them easily at the moment. So he could only think of other things in his mind.
After a while, there was something he could ask, and he wanted to know.
He asked Kou Li about Xiao Shu- Xiao Shu from the previous life.
Kou Li was silent for a while, as if also considering what he could tell Bian Yi.
“When Xiao Shu was seven years old, I told him that his dad at home was fake and that his real dad was kidnapped by bad guys,” Kou Li raised his head and looked at Bian Yi. “Will you blame me? Telling such cruel things to such a young child.”
Bian Yi was stunned.
Kou Li continued, “After I told him, he went to the room where I stored your old things. Maybe the room was too dark, and he fell. But that child didn’t cry. He told me he wanted to save his dad.”
Bian Yi’s eyes were sore.
He closed his eyes and asked Kou Li, “Did you take him to the hospital later? Was he seriously injured?”
Kou Li answered, “Yes, we went, but it wasn’t serious. However, he was given a wheelchair.”
Ha, the system!
It was deliberate that his second escape was set up by it.
No wonder he saw the small tree’s appearance in the hospital.
(1) In Chinese culture, it is common to give nicknames to friends or loved ones as a sign of endearment. In this case, the character 姜姐 (Jiāng jiě) calls 江石 (Jiāng shí) “小石头” (xiǎo shí tóu), which means “little rock” or “little stone.” It is likely that this nickname was given to 江石 by 姜姐 because of his surname (Jiāng) and the fact that 江石 sounds like “stone” in Chinese. The nickname also expresses a sense of affection and closeness between them.