Chapter 11
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Shen Zhi calmly wiped his hands clean. Dr. Jiang walked up to him, carefully studying his expression before asking, "How did you feel when you were in that room alone with that girl just now? Did you experience any chest tightness? Irritability? Restlessness? Or any sudden anger?"
Shen Zhi kept his eyes lowered, remaining silent.
Dr. Jiang pressed further, "I spoke with Ansel on the phone, and he wanted me to check in with you afterward. Did you have any unusual physical or emotional reactions during the whole process?"
Shen Zhi set the hand towel aside and turned his eyes toward Dr. Jiang, his thin lips pressed tightly together. He showed zero inclination to talk.
He could hardly tell Dr. Jiang that his emotions had fluctuated for a moment back there, but for reasons entirely unrelated to his condition, though he couldn't even be sure of it himself. After all, nothing like that had happened in all these years, so the momentary shift had caught even him off guard.
Ansel was Dr. Jiang's mentor, a world-renowned psychology expert whom Shen Zhi had met the year his condition first struck. While studying in California, Dr. Jiang had come across Shen Zhi’s case file while working alongside Ansel. So when Shen Zhi insisted on returning to China this time, Ansel felt uneasy and arranged for his student to stay by Shen Zhi's side.
Seeing that Shen Zhi remained silent, Dr. Jiang rephrased his question. "Have you felt any aversion when coming into contact with other women recently?"
Shen Zhi remembered shaking hands with Guan Pinyan earlier and nodded slightly to Dr. Jiang.
Dr. Jiang looked incredulous. "So the girl in the room is the only one who didn't trigger a negative response? Has this ever happened before? A different emotional reaction to a specific individual?"
"No," Shen Zhi answered flatly.
Dr. Jiang knit his brows. "Ansel never mentioned anything like this to me. Logically, your condition should apply universally to everyone; there shouldn't be isolated exceptions like this. I need to consult with my mentor. Hold on a moment."
Shen Zhi unclasped the Qinan agarwood bead bracelet from his wrist and carefully wiped away the stray droplets of water caught between the beads.
After speaking with Ansel for a few minutes, Dr. Jiang hung up, turned back to Shen Zhi, and said, "Ansel asked me to pass along that if you didn't feel too much discomfort this time, you can try continuing to stay in contact with her. He actually advised you to take this step two years ago—after all, you can't stay isolated forever. He'll find time to talk with you in detail later."
Shen Zhi offered no reply.
Dr. Jiang picked up his medical bag and added, "This is a good sign for you. Of course, I suggest you start with simple communication first, and stop immediately if you feel any discomfort."
Shen Zhi stroked the smooth Qinan beads, lost in thought.
Just as Dr. Jiang reached the door, he suddenly turned back and added, "Oh right, since you're back in the country, you'd better use WeChat so it's easier to stay in touch. When you sent me that text earlier, it was pure luck I checked my phone after the consultation, or I easily could have missed it."
Shen Zhi gave a brief nod, and Dr. Jiang took his leave.
Meanwhile, Gu Miao and Gu Lei had driven back into the city center. All along the way, Gu Miao had been nagging endlessly: "How on earth are we supposed to buy women's underwear? Have I ever bought this kind of stuff in my life? What am I even supposed to say when we walk into the shop? The Boss didn't say who it's for, and I don't know a thing about styles! Women have different cup sizes, right? I never bought these for any of my ex-girlfriends—what kind of mess is this? People aren't going to take me for some kind of pervert, are they?"
Gu Lei had sat beside him, listening to Gu Miao babble the entire ride until he finally lost his patience. The moment they arrived, he threw open the car door and snapped, "You sure talk a lot! Complaining over buying a few items, just stay in the car."
With that, Gu Lei—built like Arnold Schwarzenegger and squeezed into a tight shirt—marched right into the lingerie boutique with a terrifying, bloodthirsty expression on his face.
If you knew what he was doing, you'd know he was there to buy underwear; if you didn't, you'd think he was there to rob the place. For half a minute, not a single shop assistant dared to step forward.
When Gu Lei finally emerged from the boutique, six massive shopping bags were draped across his thick arms, and he strutted back to the car looking utterly triumphant. Behind his back, a few young female shop assistants whispered together, speculating that this muscular giant almost certainly had some sort of unspeakable fetish. Truly, it takes all kinds!
After Dr. Jiang left, Shen Zhi grabbed a throw blanket and returned to the room from earlier. The girl on the sofa hadn't changed her posture at all. The rich, elegant fragrance in the air had allowed her to sleep peacefully.
Shen Zhi laid the blanket over her body. Instead of lingering to look at her, he walked over to the desk on the side and opened his laptop, preparing to work. Yet several minutes passed, and his eyes remained fixed on the screen without moving. His thoughts drifted back to a summer long ago, to the very first time someone had placed a small, soft bundle of life into his hands. It had been such a strange, wondrous feeling.
Xie Qianqian had actually only slept for about fifteen minutes. In her hazy state, she felt as though she had returned to the seaside of Bincheng, right outside her family's house. She was stepping on the soft sand with her bare feet, the texture so vivid and real. In front of her was the painted wooden gate of her courtyard, and through the glass window, she could still see Ms. Muzi bustling about inside.
She burst into a sprint toward the wooden gate, but her feet felt impossibly heavy. No matter how long she ran, she couldn't reach it. Suddenly, the quicksand beneath her feet began to cave in, and the deafening sound of waves crashing against the rocks filled her ears, threatening to swallow her whole. As her body slowly sank into the sand, she let out a terrified scream.
Then, her eyes snapped open, and she sat up abruptly.
Shen Zhi had already dimmed the overhead lights, but she still stared blankly for a moment in confusion. She was normally extremely vigilant and rarely fell asleep so easily in an unfamiliar environment.
Behind her, a deep, magnetic voice spoke up: "Did you have a nightmare?"
Xie Qianqian leaped off the sofa in an instant and whirled around. Shen Zhi was sitting quietly in a spacious plush armchair, his form partially shrouded in shadow. Seeing her sharp reaction, he knit his brows slightly. "Keep your movements small. Don't pull on your wound."
Only then did Xie Qianqian belatedly touch her shoulder. Shen Zhi had pulled her clothes back into place, and although the wound throbbed with a faint pain, she could no longer feel any foreign object embedded inside.
Right at that moment, Gu Miao and Gu Lei returned. As soon as Gu Lei walked in, he was carrying several huge shopping bags. When Gu Miao saw Xie Qianqian standing there, he nearly jumped out of his skin, Shen Zhi had never brought any woman home before.
Once, back at his estate in Beverly Hills, an older female relative had paid him a visit. After she left, he had the entire house thoroughly sanitized, even throwing out the sofa she had sat on. To avoid such unnecessary hassle, he had declined all home visits ever since, let alone actively inviting a member of the opposite sex into his home.
So seeing Xie Qianqian here made Gu Miao feel like he was looking at a ghost. Then it clicked—there wasn't another woman in the building, which meant the underwear the Boss ordered them to buy was without a doubt for her. But why was he handing out underwear to a female employee on her very first day on the job? Gu Miao didn't dare ask, didn't dare think, and couldn't guess the reason at all.
Nudging Gu Lei, he whispered, "Give her the stuff."
Only then did Gu Lei snap back to reality and hand all six bags draped over his arms directly to Xie Qianqian, completely burying her small frame beneath them.
Shen Zhi stared at the mountain of shopping bags, looked up at Gu Lei, and pressed a hand to his forehead. He said to Xie Qianqian, "The next room over is empty. Go ahead in there."
Perplexed, Xie Qianqian opened one of the bags to peek inside. When her eyes fell upon a bright crimson lace bra, a strange blush instantly flushed across her face, and she turned around to walk out.
Unfortunately, Gu Lei—that iron-clad straight-laced guy—had a taste that was just as bluntly direct. Although he had bought a pile of bras in all different sizes, every single one had been chosen according to his personal aesthetic: intensely sexy, full of push-up styles with heavy Western flair, and even some that were completely sheer. It was an utter muddle between everyday underwear and provocative lingerie.
Xie Qianqian opened all the shopping bags and stared blankly at the pile of colorful items for a long moment. In the end, she had no choice but to painstakingly pick out a white bra that used relatively the most fabric to put on.
While she was inside changing, Gu Miao squatted on the steps outside, sucked in a breath through his teeth, and asked, "Say, why do you think the Boss had us buy underwear for Qian Duo?"
Gu Lei pulled a massive slab of chicken breast from the freezer and said with smug self-assurance, "Can't you tell? It's not like you don't know—with Mr. Shen looking the way he does, doesn't he draw attention wherever he goes? He's definitely worried Qian Duo might catch feelings or get ideas about him. I mean, they're going to be seeing each other every day from now on, right? How awkward would that be! So he gave her a pile of underwear to give her a reality check right off the bat—the Boss's move here is truly brilliant."
Gu Miao asked, utterly bewildered, "What does giving underwear have to do with giving a reality check?"
Gu Lei gave him a look of utter disdain. "How have you still not connected the dots? Look at Qian Duo—she's just a little green girl. Suddenly receiving a whole pile of underwear, she'll definitely think Mr. Shen is dropping hints and trying to hit on her or take advantage of her! Mark my words: if nothing goes wrong, the girl will be so spooked she won't even dare to come back tomorrow. It's just a shame about her great martial arts skills."
"..." Gu Miao nodded, suddenly enlightened. What a absolute master of logic.
After Xie Qianqian finished changing, she noticed the study door was half-ajar. She knocked lightly, and Shen Zhi looked up at her. Taking a few steps inside, she tugged awkwardly at her tracksuit top.
Shen Zhi's gaze casually grazed past her chest. He had initially assumed she was underdeveloped, yet changing into proper underwear gave her such a surprisingly voluptuous silhouette. Once again, that inaccessible shadow flashed through his mind, causing him to lower his eyes.
Xie Qianqian asked, "What about the object pulled out of me?"
Shen Zhi looked back down at the materials beside his hand and answered, "I had the doctor take it back for analysis. Do you know if people still use hidden weapons like this in China?"
Xie Qianqian knit her brows slightly and replied, "Yes, quite a lot. My Master had a bias against hidden weapons—he felt true martial artists should be upright and open, so he looked down on underhanded tricks. Because of that, our martial arts school never taught it. But I heard Master mention before that there are many sects in China specifically dedicated to hidden weapons. Anyone can pay to learn, and these sects recruit their own disciples and send them out into all sectors of society. It's a huge community."
As she spoke, her gaze drifted to the antique wooden bead bracelet resting flat on the table near Shen Zhi's hand. The rich, mellow fragrance floating delicately through the air was exceptionally soothing to her.
Keeping his head lowered, Shen Zhi spoke in a deep, smooth voice: "I'll be staying in Haishi for a while soon. Since you're injured, don't come with me."
"You won't be safe," she answered without a second thought.
The faint hint of an arc flickered at the corner of Shen Zhi's lips as he looked up at her coolly. "Afraid something will happen to me?"
Xie Qianqian nodded with total sincerity. "This is my very first assignment. My reputation is extremely important."
"..." Shen Zhi raised an eyebrow, slowly setting down the documents in his hand. Leaning back against the chair, he suddenly felt as though he were merely a product she was managing—one she was preparing to use as a glowing advertisement once the job was done.
Translator's Notes
"钱多" (Qian Duo): Gu Lei misremembers or puns Xie Qianqian's name as "Qian Duo" (literally "lots of money"), matching the playful/comedic subtext in their interactions.
Qinan beads (奇楠珠): Kept as Qinan beads / Qinan agarwood, a rare and high-grade form of agarwood prized for its fragrance and soothing properties.
TRANSLATOR'S NOTES
Glossary Additions & Adaptations
星誼傳媒 (Starry Entertainment): The major entertainment company controlled by Guan Pinyan (Guan Ming's elder sister).
關品妍 (Guan Pinyan): Eldest daughter of the Guan family, head of Starry Entertainment.
一間堂 (Yijiantang): Shen Zhi's private ancestral courtyard home in the capital.
蔣醫生 (Dr. Jiang): Shen Zhi's personal physician.
Translation & Tone Notes
Atmosphere & Humor: Preserved the heroine's dry internal monologue regarding the spooky, antique interior of Yijiantang ("If someone wanted to film an adaptation of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio...").
Shen Zhi's Condition: Preserved the subtle hints about Shen Zhi's touch aversion / psychological discomfort around women without explicitly explaining it prematurely, staying true to the source narrative's pacing.
Tone & Dialogue: Maintained the playful, blunt nature of Xie Qianqian asking about the "calling him Mom" incident and Shen Zhi's dry, protective demeanor.
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