Chapter 81 Morbid Desire
Outside the café's floor-to-ceiling windows are dense high-end office buildings, and inside it's so quiet that you can only hear the light clinking of cups and saucers.
As soon as Fu Jingchen sat down in the booth opposite him, his gaze was fixed on the person across from him. His tone was direct and to the point, without any preamble.
"What did you learn from President Ruan about Xiaoyi?"
Pei Lian raised his eyes, his silver hair gleaming softly under the light, a faint smile playing on his lips.
The man's well-defined knuckles held the coffee cup and gently swirled it.
"You're quite direct." He took a small sip.
"So eager?"
Fu Jingchen could sense the probing in the other person's words.
But anything related to Ruan Yi made it impossible for him to maintain his composure.
If he hadn't retained some rationality, he probably would have already snatched the coffee and forced the other person to explain themselves.
Pei Lian finally put down his cup, lightly tapping the rim with his fingertip, his tone calm.
“Miss Ruan and I were in charge of dealing with Mr. Ruan’s illness before.”
"But after Ms. Ruan went abroad, I conducted follow-up assessments with Mr. Ruan to confirm whether her condition was stable."
Pei Lian paused, then looked up at Fu Jingchen's tense jaw.
“I took the opportunity to ask Mr. Ruan some questions, and I guess you are just as interested as I am.”
Two days ago.
In the VIP consultation room on the top floor of the private hospital, the blinds were drawn tightly, letting in only a few dappled rays of light.
Ruan Ying sat on the sofa, while the man opposite her was looking down at a record book.
"Mr. Ruan, how have you been feeling lately?"
Pei Lian's voice came through the paper, carrying a professional gentleness.
Ruan Ying's complexion had improved considerably, and she smiled at Pei Lian.
"Dr. Pei, I feel much better now, and I've started to gradually stop taking the recovery medication as prescribed."
Pei Lian nodded slightly, pushed the notebook forward, and maintained a professional and composed tone.
"Your indicators have stabilized; just continue with the prescribed dosage to consolidate the results."
The man paused, then changed the subject.
"By the way, will there be any other adverse reactions after your daughter's dissociative amnesia?"
Ruan Ying felt a pang of anxiety upon hearing this and quickly shook her head.
"No, the family will not mention this matter again. Xiaoyi's condition is stable, and she is currently working abroad."
Pei Lian tapped his fingertips lightly on the table, his gaze behind his glasses seemed to darken, and he deliberately emphasized his tone.
"Really? But dissociative symptoms can sometimes manifest latently. You may appear fine on the surface, but the subconscious trauma may still be there."
“Especially when she realizes that she has a cognitive bias about the ‘past,’ the subconscious trauma is difficult to completely erase, and her behavior is more likely to deviate.”
"For example, one might subconsciously feel 'insecure' and then seek something to alleviate this anxiety."
Pei Lian raised his eyes, his gaze behind his glasses calmly landing on Ruan Ying's face.
"This kind of emotional support may be a specific event or a particular person. It may soothe emotions in the short term, but it is essentially an escape, and it is pathological."
"If you place all your sense of security on one person, the consequences will be more serious than before if you lose that support."
Ruan Ying paused, the warm glass making her fingertips go numb.
She wasn't stupid; Pei Lian's words were clearly pointed.
Ruan Ying put down her cup and tentatively began to speak.
"Dr. Pei, you mean..."
Pei Lian did not answer directly, but leaned forward slightly.
"At the scene where your daughter lost control of her emotions that day, it seemed... your daughter and her brother had a very good relationship?"
The man paused here, his voice rising slightly at the end, leaving a meaningful silence.
The consultation room fell silent instantly, with only the ticking of the wall clock echoing in the air.
How could Ruan Ying not know the intimate distance between the siblings, and Xiao Yi's dependence on Gu Zhi...
Looking at the siblings who have had a close relationship since childhood.
Ruan Ying tried to correct it, and many times.
But Xiao Yi seemed completely unaware that there was anything wrong with the other party's actions.
Those interactions, taken before both of them had finished losing their baby teeth, were hardly excessive; on the contrary, they looked heartwarming and adorable.
But as the two children grew older, things became a little strange.
To outsiders, the two might not be seen as siblings.
Ruan Ying had seen so many families with siblings and children, and while many had good relationships, those as close as this were rare, but not unheard of.
Ruan Ying explained with a hint of helplessness in her tone after hearing Pei Lian's question.
“Dr. Pei, our family situation might be a bit special.” She sighed, her fingertips tracing the cool surface of the table.
Ruan Ying never neglected to educate her daughter about cognition.
But every time she spoke, Xiao Yi would glare at her angrily, her expression always as if she were hearing those words for the first time, and she would frown and retort.
"Mom, what are you saying? Of course I know that Azhi is a younger brother and a boy. I'm not a little idiot!"
The little girl's confident yet impatient tone always made Ruan Ying feel that she was making a mountain out of a molehill.
Xiao Yi was a smart and sensible child when she was young. No one could hide anything from her. But when it came to her younger brother, she was as stubborn as a bull.
Ruan Ying rubbed her temples and lowered her voice.
"To be honest, it was probably because I was very busy with work the year I divorced her father, and Xiao Yi was still too young, and Xiao Gu had only been living in the Ruan family for a short time."
"The two teenagers huddled together for warmth, and from that moment on, they became closer than anyone else."
Ruan Ying gazed out the window, her eyes somewhat dazed.
"I thought I'd just let them be. Xiao Yi seems cheerful, but she's actually a bit wary of strangers."
After all, my daughter doesn't have many close friends. When she was little, Xiao Xun was definitely one of them, but later...
Now, the only people close to my daughter are Gu Zhi and that little girl from the Lin family.
It's always good to have someone Ruan Ying can completely trust by her daughter's side.
This thought had comforted Ruan Ying countless times, but now Dr. Pei pointed out the word "entrustment".
She suddenly realized that behind this intimacy, there might be hidden dangers that she dared not think about.
"Could it be that you're overthinking it, doctor?"
"After all, the bond of growing up together is different."
Pei Lian's fingertips paused on the record book, his eyes narrowed slightly, and his eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly.
"Perhaps that's true." He said in a flat tone, revealing no emotion, adding only a brief comment.
"But you should still be more careful."
As silence spread through the consultation room, the man's thoughts drifted back to the day the girl's dissociative amnesia was triggered.
The girl's nominal younger brother held her tightly, his knuckles white, and the emotions surging in his eyes almost bursting through the dam of reason.
There was worry, there was heartache, but mostly...
An almost obsessive possessiveness, like the rage one feels when watching their most cherished possession being damaged.
A faint, almost eerie smile appeared on the man's lips.
He was all too familiar with this feeling. Just like when he looked at Ruan Yi, he couldn't help but want to carefully preserve this "perfect shell" and not let anyone touch it in the slightest.
But in Gu Zhi's eyes...
It was more intense and more pathological than his obsession.
It was as if they wanted to burn everyone who came near Ruan Yi to ashes.
Pei Lian has a clear understanding of himself.
In the eyes of the world, he may be very abnormal, a madman who is obsessed with sculpting "works of art".
But he had never met anyone more abnormal than himself.
The knowledge he had acquired was rapidly processing in his mind, but the theories about attachment disorders and paranoid personality disorder were insufficient to explain Gu Zhi's expression at that moment.
It seems to be more than a simple psychological problem; it's a deep-seated, absolute desire for control over "possessions."
Pei Lian put down his pen, his fingertips tapping the table unconsciously, the rhythm light and quick, as if he were keeping time for some interesting discovery.
The relationship between Ruan Yi and Gu Zhi was more interesting than he had expected.
This madman has become entangled with Ruan Yi.
The occasional glint of confusion in the girl's eyes, her almost blind trust in Gu Zhi, and the illogical, sudden thoughts that Fu Jingchen had mentioned about her...
The man's gaze fell on the diagnosis of "dissociative amnesia" in the record book, and his interest deepened.
He originally just wanted to peel back her memories to see what beautiful cracks were hidden in a perfect work of art.
But now, he suddenly wants to know more.
She wanted to know what Gu Zhi had done to her, and what lay behind their entanglement...
What twisted truth is hidden within?
Perhaps this perfect collection will be more interesting than he imagined.
The man looked up again and gave Ruan Ying a gentle smile befitting a doctor.
"Mr. Ruan, let's call it a day."
The air conditioning in the café carried the aroma of roasted coffee beans, bringing Pei Lian back from his wandering thoughts.
He looked at Fu Jingchen across from him, who was frowning the whole time. Fu Jingchen was almost crushing his coffee cup, and there was no attempt to hide the worry in his eyes.
Pei Lian slowly swirled the cup, a faint smile playing on his lips.
Of course, he wouldn't reveal all his guesses at once: Gu Zhi's obsession, the signs that Ruan Yi was being manipulated, his analysis...
These are his bargaining chips, pawns to disrupt the game, not sharp blades handed to Fu Jingchen.
He had no interest in saving anyone; he only wanted to look at the "perfect work of art" coveted by everyone...
Finally, she fell whole into his arms.
Whether it's Gu Zhi or Fu Jingchen, they are nothing more than obstacles in this game.
That's all I know.
Pei Lian spoke softly, his voice as light as a sigh.
“Ruan Yi’s condition is not right. You should know this better than I do.”
Fu Jingchen looked up, his pupils suddenly shrinking to the size of pinpoints.
He knew long ago that Gu Zhi had ulterior motives towards Ruan Yi, ever since he first saw him in the dark corridor.
But if we connect these points with Ruan Yi's sudden hostility towards him earlier...
The fragments suddenly came together, forming a silhouette that made him violent.
Could it all be because of Gu Zhi?
Pei Lian looked at Fu Jingchen's flustered expression, a satisfied sneer flashing in his eyes.
He quickly regained his calm demeanor, picked up his coffee cup, and took another small sip.
"The real show is just beginning."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
