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Chapter 3: Don’t worry, it’s not what you think.
In the late afternoon, near the time of getting off work, Qin Ge finally found the office of the Psychological Adjustment Department.
This small room, about 20 square meters in size, was hidden in a side corridor of the Crisis Management Office building and was originally used to store cleaning tools. Qin Ge had been bothering Gao Tianyue with questions like “Where is the office?” from the beginning, and by the time he reached the office door, his irritation had reached its threshold.
It was very small, very run-down, and very rudimentary. There was a small window on the wall, covered with thick dust. Inside the room, there were four desks, clean and empty, without even a pen.
Bai Xiaoyuan and Tang Cuo each brought a chair and were sitting in the middle of the office, munching on melon seeds. They had already tidied up the office, which was a bit unexpected for Qin Ge.
However, he was used to the piles of documents in the archives that almost engulfed people, so at first glance, his empty territory made him feel uncomfortable.
What he saw in front of him once again confirmed Qin Ge’s thoughts: he had indeed been deceived by Gao Tianyue.
“Chief Qin.” Bai Xiaoyuan quickly stood up when he saw Qin Ge entering. “Please review our hard work!”
Tang Cuo hurriedly collected the newspaper he had used to catch melon seed shells on his knees. The melon seed shells that he hadn’t gathered properly fell to the ground, and a big-eared Pakistani sand cat swiftly flicked its tail, sweeping the shells aside.
Qin Ge didn’t say a word. Then he saw a panda sitting on top of the melon seed shells under Tang Cuo’s feet, covering the evidence.
A cat, a panda—they really make a seamless pair. When Qin Ge thought about working with the surnames Bai and Tang, he felt a sense of impending trouble, like facing a Category 10 typhoon, with a sense of desolation in his heart.
After looking around, he asked, “Isn’t there one more Sentinel?”
“I didn’t see anyone else. It’s just me and Tang Cuo,” Bai Xiaoyuan said.
Qin Ge glanced at the carnivorous cat clinging to Bai Xiaoyuan’s ankle and said, “Carnivore, you’re a sentinel.”
Then he looked at the panda struggling to move its buttocks next to Tang Cuo and asked, “Pandas are omnivores. Tang Cuo, are you the guide or the sentinel?”
Tang Cuo’s fair complexion turned slightly red due to nervousness and embarrassment. He kept pushing his glasses up on his nose. “I-I’m a guide.”
Qin Ge recalled Gao Tianyue’s advice and decided to lighten the atmosphere in the office a bit. Perhaps by discussing Tang Cuo’s panda or trying to engage in their conversation?
“You don’t have to call me Chief Qin. Just use our names as usual. What were you two talking about just now?” He walked over to the desk near the window, put down his backpack, and asked Tang Cuo.
“We were talking about Xiao Yuan’s boyfriend,” Tang Cuo said, still nervous, “and also my boyfriend.”
Bai Xiaoyuan, holding the small cat in her arms, stood up. “Online dating doesn’t count.”
Tang Cuo stammered, “I-it’s not online dating. We’ve seen each other’s pictures.”
Bai Xiaoyuan teased, “It’s unreliable, Tang Cuo. I’ve been through it; I know. He didn’t even come to see you on Valentine’s Day. What kind of relationship is that?”
Tang Cuo pushed up his glasses again. “He’s really busy. I didn’t go to see him either.”
Bai Xiaoyuan: “But you haven’t contacted each other for a week. If you don’t talk for more than three days in an online relationship, it’s considered a breakup.”
Tang Cuo looked like he had been dealt a heavy blow; his face turned pale, and even the panda suddenly disappeared, retracting into his body.
Qin Ge thought to himself, ‘I’ve tried my best, Director Gao.’
But he had no interest in such unproductive romantic topics. “…Never mind; you two can go off work now. We’ll have a meeting tomorrow morning, and I’ll assign tasks to you.”
After Bai Xiaoyuan and Tang Cuo left, the office seemed even quieter.
Qin Ge took out his notebook and Peng Hu’s self-report and began to write down the information and thoughts he had gathered.
There was a row of windows in the corridor outside the door, and the evening sun’s rays poured in, casting a dazzling golden light on the floor.
As he was halfway through writing, the golden light on the floor was suddenly blocked.
Qin Ge raised his head and saw a person standing outside the door, wearing a black leather jacket that he had seen once before, blocking the sunlight.
The person was tall, with black hair that seemed tousled as if it had been casually ruffled. His appearance oscillated between messy and carefree. There was a hint of stubble on his chin, and judging by the distribution, it seemed like he had attempted to shave but hadn’t quite succeeded. Qin Ge’s first impression of this person was that he made him uncomfortable, especially when he squinted at him with a hint of unclear teasing.
But he did have a high nose, and he looked very handsome.
The lion was nowhere to be seen, so it probably hadn’t been released yet.
“Psychological Adjustment Department?” The man’s gaze swept around the room before finally landing on Qin Ge. “Qin Ge?”
Qin Ge thought for a moment and confirmed that he didn’t know this person.
“Who are you?”
The man took two steps forward, pulled out a chair, and straddled it, extending his right hand toward Qin Ge. “Chief Qin, I’m an employee of the Psychological Adjustment Department. My name is Xie Zijing.”
Qin Ge: “…”
He was shocked, and his mind was still reeling from the various honors associated with Xie Zijing. It took him a moment to regain his composure.
Xie Zijing rested his left elbow on the table, propped up his chin, and extended his right hand toward Qin Ge, smiling at him.
“I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.” Qin Ge, after realizing, became tongue-tied and quickly grasped Xie Zijing’s hand tightly. “I-I’ve heard… no, I’ve seen your profile in the records. You’re very capable, very excellent…”
The frustration caused by Bai Xiaoyuan and Tang Cuo’s unreliability had vanished into thin air.
But Xie Zijing remained silent and continued to smile.
With Bai and Tang’s impressive records and Xie Zijing’s presence, Qin Ge couldn’t help but think that he had some excellent colleagues. So he smiled back at Xie Zijing and said, “You don’t need to be so formal. You can call me by my name. We’re colleagues and partners. We’re in a newly established department, so there isn’t much work yet, but everyone here is young and easy to get along with…”
Just as Qin Ge felt like he was rambling as if possessed by Gao Tianyue, Xie Zijing finally spoke up.
“You don’t remember me?”
Qin Ge: “…although sometimes they may be unreliable, ah?”
Xie Zijing: “It’s me, Xie Zijing.”
Qin Ge was silent for a moment, growing increasingly embarrassed. “I may have a bad memory. I’m sorry… I really can’t recall.”
Xie Zijing said, “We used to date.”
Qin Ge: “…”
In just a minute, he was shocked into speechlessness for the second time.
“I’m your ex-boyfriend,” Xie Zijing’s fingers tapped the table, showing his white teeth as he tightened his grip on Qin Ge’s right hand, which Qin Ge was trying to pull away.
Qin Ge’s smile disappeared.
His heart was filled with despair.
Another abnormal one.
Xie Zijing had arrived too late. Gao Tianyue and the colleagues from the HR department had already left, and Qin Ge couldn’t find anyone to assist with Xie Zijing’s entry procedures.
According to Xie Zijing, he had arrived that afternoon and had initially reported to the Crisis Management Office. However, HR had informed him that he needed to submit a medical examination report. By the time he obtained the report from 267th Hospital, he had arrived at the Crisis Management Office when everyone else was already gone, leaving only those working overtime.
“Could you introduce me to this department?” Xie Zijing closely followed behind Qin Ge. “Why are you not happy to see me? Don’t you think I’m more manly now than before? Look at this, my little beard! I did it myself. Do I look handsome?”
Qin Ge was extremely exhausted and irritated. If one’s level of annoyance could be expressed with an index, he had already hit 100.
There was no need for testing, interviews, or even infiltrating Xie Zijing’s “sea area” to patrol; Qin Ge could be sure that this person had a serious case of romantic delusions.
There are many sentinels and guides who have romantic fantasies, which can be evidence that their “sea” may not be normal.
People who experience romantic fantasies often live in isolated environments, have limited exposure to external information, lack social support, and have strong inner desires. Those who develop avoidant attachment during childhood are more likely to develop romantic fantasies in adulthood if they do not receive sufficient validation.
They tend to imagine having a perfect partner and irrationally fit people they encounter into their own template, believing that they have “been in love” or are “in love” with that person for no apparent reason.
Qin Ge was very familiar with this pattern. When he was studying to become a psychological adjuster, the first analytical question on the written exam was about romantic fantasies.
And he had scored full marks on that question.
Qin Ge had previously seen some information about Xie Zijing in the archives. The records showed that his parents had died in an accident before he entered college, and after joining the Crisis Management Office, he had worked in the most challenging and least populated western region office for a long time, operating in the extremely isolated snow-covered areas.
So now, on one hand, he found Xie Zijing extremely annoying, and on the other hand, he pitied him.
This pity was mixed with Qin Ge’s anger and frustration.
But the professional ethics of a psychological adjuster reminded him that he should not easily shatter anyone’s romantic fantasies. If romantic fantasies were a key aspect of a sentinel or guide’s “sea,” disrupting them could lead to the collapse of their “sea area.”
So when it came to Xie Zijing’s words, Qin Ge neither denied nor acknowledged them.
He shifted the conversation’s focus and silently criticized Gao Tianyue.
“So where are you planning to take me?” Xie Zijing noticed that they had arrived at the parking lot. “Straight to your place? Isn’t that a bit too much? We’ve just reunited; shouldn’t we talk about our feelings first? Of course, I’m not that concerned…”
“You’ll have to figure out where to stay by yourself.” Qin Ge replied while unlocking his electric bike. “Be at the office before 7:50 a.m. tomorrow. Goodbye.”
Xie Zijing chuckled a few times. “Why are you so shy?”
Qin Ge had to defend himself, saying, “I’m not shy.”
Xie Zijing touched his own chin. “How about I come over to your place?”
Qin Ge: “…”
Xie Zijing added, “Don’t worry, it’s not what you’re thinking.”
Qin Ge: “…What am I thinking? What are you thinking?!”
The gentleman in the communication room poked his round head out of the window and looked in this direction.
Qin Ge closed his mouth, and the wind signal hanging in his mind had already risen to level 30—if there were really level 30 wind signals, he was sure that it was definitely the appearance of Xie Zijing.
“Alright.” Xie Zijing smiled and said, “I won’t tease you anymore. I’ll take care of my accommodation. Goodbye.”
When he drove past the speed bumps in front of the Crisis Management Office, because he was driving too fast, Qin Ge’s electric bike bounced high, causing his buttocks to hurt.
All kinds of grievances could only be piled up on Gao Tianyue.
The next day at work, Qin Ge rushed to find Gao Tianyue first, but was told that Gao Tianyue was on a business trip and would only be back in a week.
He was extremely frustrated, so he first went to the archives room to calm his mood and then gathered the courage to walk through the side door and enter his own office.
As soon as he entered, he was hit by a strong smell of alcohol.
Bai Xiaoyuan and Tang Cuo were snacking on melon seeds just like yesterday, and there was also Xie Zijing, who was eating a jianbing guozi (a type of Chinese street food).
But the smell of alcohol was coming from a stranger in front of the three of them.
He waved a bottle of Hongxing Erguotou in his hand, sniffed it, and roared, “Am I afraid? If I were afraid of blood and dead bodies, could I have been a doctor for so long?”
Qin Ge didn’t have the energy to be angry with anyone anymore. He looked at Bai Xiaoyuan beside him and asked, “Who is this again?”
“The doctor,” Bai Xiaoyuan said in a low voice, “He says his name is Peng Hu. He was drinking and crying outside the Crisis Management Office early in the morning, insisting on seeing you.”
Qin Ge: “…Seeing me? Why? Is our small department so famous?”
Bai Xiaoyuan: “You’re the only psychological adjuster in the Crisis Management Office. Dr. Peng said his ‘sea area’ has a problem. He heard that you went to the hospital to find him yesterday but couldn’t, so he came here himself and asked you to save him.”
Tang Cuo pinched his nose and said, “But what he’s seeing are hallucinations, which are symptoms of mental disorders…”
The alcohol fumes made his usually fair skin turn an abnormal shade of red.
Unexpectedly, as Tang Cuo’s words fell, Peng Hu suddenly became angry. He stood up abruptly and raised the bottle of alcohol high.
Xie Zijing reacted quickly and immediately took the bottle from his hand. “Take it easy; don’t get excited,” he said with a smile to Peng Hu. “Let’s drik after we finish talking.”
“It’s not a hallucination! I really saw it! I’m definitely not mentally ill!” Peng Hu’s face was flushed from the alcohol and anger. “Those children who keep crawling in and out of the wall—they were all so young!”
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