Prev | Table of Contents | Next
Chapter 20: “Hmm, it’s a signal of courtship.”
—Tenant: Prologue—
A household camera sat on the table, resembling a giant, peculiar eyeball.
In the stillness of the night, all was quiet. There was only the gentle sound of breathing in the bedroom, with no other noise to be heard. Several pots of flowers on the balcony outside the sliding glass door had all sprouted new leaves in the spring.
A slender tentacle crawled up from the edge of the balcony.
After a moment, a man also flipped in from the balcony’s edge.
The sound of the glass door lock being opened startled the person in her dreams. She opened her eyes, her heart racing faster and faster.
That person had come again.
The tentacle that had slipped through the door crack slowly pushed open the glass door, allowing the cold wind to creep in.
“Shh,” someone whispered softly, “don’t wake her up.”
The tentacle retreated.
The cold wind vanished, and the door closed. The intruder had successfully entered the bedroom.
He walked to the edge of the bed and sat down very, very gently, reaching out to stroke the girl’s hair.
The girl could only tightly close her eyes, wrapping herself in the blanket, attempting to use the meager protection to ward off the person by the bed.
“Are you having another nightmare?” The man’s voice was low and gentle. “How pitiful.”
Amidst the girl’s trembling, he hummed an inexplicable tune.
—Tenant—
On the day the Adjustment Department was officially established, Gao Tianyue brought the leaders of several other departments to congratulate Qin Ge.
The ceremony was exceptionally simple—putting up a sign, clapping hands, drinking a few sips of tea—and then everyone left, leaving Qin Ge with a work assignment.
Bai Xiaoyuan and Xie Zijing played firecracker sounds on their phones, and the noise continued until Qin Ge had finished reading the documents.
Qin Ge’s temples were throbbing. “This is so noisy.”
Bai Xiaoyuan: “Creating a bit of atmosphere.”
Xie Zijing: “We can’t set off firecrackers here; we can’t have open flames; what can we do?”
Qin Ge: “Turn it off immediately!”
Tang Cuo came back with a bag of fruit. “Takeout is here.”
The four of them sat in the room eating fruit, temporarily disregarding the rule of not bringing food into the workplace, and began discussing Qin Ge’s next work assignment.
They didn’t need to follow up on the events at 267th Hospital anymore, and the Adjustment Department itself couldn’t have as many major cases every day as the Criminal Investigation Department. Qin Ge gave them a brief introduction to the documents at hand.
“The college entrance examination preparations have begun,” Qin Ge flipped through the attachments. “This year, there are a total of 2,809 special individuals participating in the national college entrance examination, including 1,728 Sentinels and Guides.”
According to the plan, these 1,728 young Sentinels and Guides would undergo a uniform “sea area” inspection before participating in the national exam scheduled for June.
This was a new policy starting this year, and Qin Ge became even more convinced that the establishment of the Psychological Adjustment Department might have been for solving such challenging issues.
“In recent years, the mental problems of college students have become increasingly prominent, and once Sentinels and Guides suffer from mental disorders, their potential harm far exceeds that of ordinary humans,” he read from the document. “So for the next month, our department’s work is to patrol the ‘sea area’ of these kids.”
Tang Cuo hesitated for a moment and raised his hand to ask, “Our department? Both you and me?”
“Only me,” Qin Ge replied. “You are not a psychological adjuster.”
The three of them were surprised and exchanged glances.
“Over a thousand people, and just you?” Xie Zijing couldn’t believe it. “In one month?”
Qin Ge quickly flipped to the last page of the document. “Besides me, we will also have Qin Shuangshuang, the director of the Education and Employment Center, and Teacher Lu Qinglai from New Hope Academy.”
There are only three registered psychological adjusters in the entire country. With the three of them working together, Qin Ge thought it shouldn’t be too difficult.
What he was truly worried about was that if he encountered Sentinels or Guides with abnormal sea areas during the inspection process, his own work efficiency would be severely affected.
Upon hearing the names of the other two adjusters, Bai Xiaoyuan and Tang Cuo both breathed a sigh of relief.
Qin Ge couldn’t control the look in his eyes as he drifted towards Xie Zijing.
Xie Zijing sat there dazed, rubbing his chin, not showing any signs of relief.
“What are you thinking?” Qin Ge asked.
Xie Zijing remained in a dazed state until the afternoon. While Bai Xiaoyuan and Tang Cuo were busy arranging accommodations and groups for the over a thousand Sentinels, Xie Zijing, who was responsible for transportation arrangements, still couldn’t seem to focus.
Qin Ge took the opportunity and followed him outside to inquire when he left the office to get some fresh air and smoke.
Seeing Qin Ge, Xie Zijing extinguished his cigarette and remained silent, no matter how much Qin Ge asked.
“Is it because of Lu Qinglai?” Qin Ge thought for a while, believing that the issue might be related to Xie Zijing’s mentor.
Sure enough, when Lu Qinglai’s name was mentioned, Xie Zijing’s expression immediately changed.
He leaned against the wall, bit his extinguished cigarette, and sighed helplessly.
“I’m very afraid of him,” Xie Zijing said. “He is exceptionally strict with me. After I was admitted to the Crisis Management Office, I went directly to the Western Division, which was also suggested and arranged by Professor Lu. He said I would get more training there and not always think about sitting in the office. He was right, but this time, I returned from the Western Division due to suspension, and I dare not see him.”
Qin Ge started to understand.
Currently, there were only four people in the Adjustment Department, and they would inevitably come into contact with Lu Qinglai during their work. Xie Zijing was worried that Lu Qinglai would ask about his work.
“Then I’ll help you arrange it,” Qin Ge said. “You’ll be responsible for desk work and won’t go out. Bai Xiaoyuan and Tang Cuo will go with me to the field.”
Xie Zijing bit his cigarette, grinning. “That won’t work either.”
Qin Ge asked, “Why?”
Xie Zijing replied, “My lion said it wants to accompany you.”
Qin Ge said, “No need. The spiritual bodies of Bai Xiaoyuan and Tang Cuo can help me alleviate discomfort.”
He knew that Xie Zijing was worried about him. It felt somewhat strange to Qin Ge—he was starting to feel a little happy.
“They won’t do.” Xie Zijing shook his head firmly. “You clearly like… my lion the most.”
Qin Ge thought there was no need to continue the conversation. He turned and left, but Xie Zijing grabbed his hand.
Xie Zijing’s grip instantly reminded Qin Ge of the night they had hotpot together and how Xie Zijing had grabbed his wrist in the dim light.
Before he could let the awkward memory resurface, Xie Zijing leaned close to his ear.
“I saw it,” he whispered with a low chuckle. “When you came to the office this morning, you took a suppressant.”
Qin Ge: “…”
Xie Zijing: “Why did you take a suppressant? Are you having a response?”
Qin Ge: “Are you trying to get punched again?”
Xie Zijing: “To whom? Me? Why? Because of the key or the kiss…”
Before Qin Ge could throw a punch, Xie Zijing playfully dodged, managing to avoid getting hit while suppressing a laugh, and he quickly returned to the office.
Without landing a hit, Qin Ge felt quite frustrated.
The suppressants were taking effect. They were quite effective suppressants—200 pills per bottle, and if you used a medical insurance card to buy them, it cost 400 yuan. If taken slowly, they could last for at least two years. Qin Ge had bought them a long time ago, and now he even suspects that the suppressants might have expired due to being left unused for so long.
Because of Xie Zijing’s proximity, the familiar warmth and palpitations were resurfacing, but he seemed to be able to control them.
…A response didn’t necessarily mean anything. Qin Ge thought that Sentinels and Guides might have such physiological reactions to any members of their own kind, and even if such a response occurred, it didn’t necessarily mean that something had to happen or that it indicated anything significant.
He wandered in the hallway for a long time until everything returned to normal, then hurriedly returned to his office to continue working.
This task was very demanding, with many trivial matters in the early stages that were enough to be exasperating. It wasn’t until Tang Cuo knocked on Qin Ge’s desk to remind him to leave that Qin Ge realized it was already past 7 o’clock in the evening.
In the office, only he and Tang Cuo remained.
“I’m leaving, Qin Ge,” Tang Cuo told him. It was drizzling outside, and he cautioned Qin Ge to be careful on the way home.
Qin Ge stayed until around 8 o’clock before packing up and leaving. He was very hungry but didn’t want to eat takeout. He thought about where to go for dinner tonight as he walked out.
During the day, there had been loud thunder, and the rain was gradually getting heavier. He walked with an umbrella until he reached the parking lot, when he suddenly noticed someone crouching next to his car.
“…Xie Zijing, what are you doing?”
Xie Zijing was squatting on the ground playing a mobile game, holding a child’s umbrella over his head with three Minions on it.
“You took a child’s umbrella???” Qin Ge was shocked.
“The grandson of the receptionist lent it to me,” Xie Zijing said. “I’m waiting for you.”
Qin Ge became even more puzzled. “Waiting for me for what?”
Xie Zijing replied, “Waiting for you to drive me home.”
Qin Ge said, “…It’s been two hours since we got off work, and you could have walked back by yourself!”
Xie Zijing said, “It’s raining, and I don’t want to walk. It’s so tiring.”
Qin Ge stared at him with a look of understanding.
Xie Zijing put his phone in his pocket and, with a cheerful smile, raised the Minions umbrella and stood up. “Then I’ll go return the umbrella and wait for you at the entrance.”
A few minutes later, Xie Zijing got what he wanted and sat in Qin Ge’s car.
The moment he closed the car door, Qin Ge suddenly felt a flutter in his heart: the car was warm, he and Xie Zijing were very close, and the intense pheromones that had scared him were rapidly spreading inside the car.
Qin Ge had to roll down the car window to get some fresh air.
Xie Zijing quickly closed it again, saying, “It’s so cold. Why are you opening the window?”
Qin Ge clenched his teeth and warned, “This is my car, and I’ll open the window if I want.”
Xie Zijing said, “You’re getting fiercer and fiercer with me.”
Qin Ge wished he could drive as fast as possible and quickly get rid of this terrifying source of heat, namely Xie Zijing.
However, due to the rain, they encountered frequent traffic jams on the road, and it took them half an hour to cover a distance that would usually take only fifteen minutes.
The effects of the suppressants were slowly wearing off. They were effective for only twelve hours, but Qin Ge couldn’t take out the bottle of medication in front of Xie Zijing.
He could only turn up the radio volume, focus on the cars ahead, and distract himself.
A Meituan food delivery rider passing by their car noticed and kindly reminded them, “Hey, why don’t you close the window? It’s raining heavily.”
Xie Zijing chuckled softly while fastening his seatbelt.
Qin Ge, infuriated, snapped, “Laugh one more time, and I’ll kick you out!”
“Qin Ge,” Xie Zijing leaned his head towards him, and Qin Ge instinctively moved away. “This is mutual, you know?”
Qin Ge asked, “What?”
Xie Zijing pointed to himself and then to Qin Ge: “You can smell my pheromones, and I can smell yours too.”
Qin Ge said, “…”
Xie Zijing took a sniff, “Hmm, it’s a signal of courtship.”
Prev | Table of Contents | Next
For every Ko-fi received for a perticular novel, I will release a new chapter!
Thank you for the update ❤️💯