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Chapter 7: Qin Ge invited you to stay at his place.
Bai Xioyuan rushed in from outside and just happened to hear Qin Ge’s words.
“I’m so annoyed!” She placed her laptop on the table with evident displeasure, her actions seeming forceful as if driven by anger, but as it neared the table, they unexpectedly softened, and it finally settled down silently. She was skilled in the lightness technique. “You’re letting him stay at your place, right? So, do we still need to help him find a house? Qin Ge, as a leader, why are you so capricious?”
“Of course, we need to find one!” Qin Ge hurriedly replied. “It’s just temporary because, as a leader, I can’t ignore Tang Cuo when he’s being harassed like this.”
He actually regrets it now.
“I understand,” Bai Xiaoyuan’s complexion was no different from Tang Cuo’s, and her dark circles and bloodshot eyes were even worse than Tang Cuo’s. She took out a mirror and lipstick from her bag, stamped the lipstick quickly on her lips like sealing a document, and said, “Tang Cuo and Qin Ge, you guys seem to dislike Xie Zijing.”
“—Why?”
A question slowly came from the door.
The three of them looked toward the door in silence. Xie Zijing leaned against the door, biting the straw of his soy milk, his gaze shifting among the three of them.
The misty morning light seeped through the small window on the wall of the Psychological Adjustment Department. Xie Zijing’s hair and face were illuminated by the morning light and indoor lighting, and the prominent bridge of his nose cast a shadow on his lips, making him a completely different handsome man from yesterday.
He finished the last sip of soy milk, crushed the paper cup, and the straw made a gurgling sound.
“Why do you dislike me?” Xie Zijing walked into the room, threw the paper cup into the trash can, and frowned. “Did I hear wrong?”
He furrowed his brows, and the look of contemplation in his eyes turned pitiful as he looked straight at Qin Ge.
Qin Ge denied, “We don’t dislike you.”
“Then what are you whispering about? Keeping it from me,” Xie Zijing asked, “secretive, not letting me hear.”
Tang Cuo said, “We were discussing your accommodation issue.”
Bai Xiaoyuan added, “Qin Ge invited you to stay at his place.”
Qin Ge quickly corrected, “…Temporarily!”
He hastily amended it, and when he turned to look at Xie Zijing, he saw that Xie Zijing first appeared stunned, but then a smile gradually appeared on his blank face.
“Temporarily,” Qin Ge repeated.
Xie Zijing held back for a while and uttered arrogantly, “Okay.”
But anyone could see that the joy in his heart couldn’t be concealed.
Bai Xiaoyuan opened her laptop beside them, “Let’s start the meeting, and I’ll report to you what I found last night.”
After returning to the Crisis Management Office yesterday, Bai Xiaoyuan had originally planned to work overtime for a while to prepare the application for Cai Mingyue’s assistance in the investigation. However, she quickly discovered that they did not have the qualifications to submit an investigation request to Cai Mingyue.
One reason was that the Psychological Adjustment Department had not yet been established, and they couldn’t issue any documents in the name of a department.
The second reason was that, up to this point, they had no evidence to prove that Cai Mingyue needed to be investigated.
“The first issue can be easily resolved when Director Gao returns.” Bai Xiaoyuan turned her computer screen for them to see clearly, “But the key is the second issue.”
On the screen was a document titled “Opinions on Legal and Policy Issues Related to Special Human Crimes.”
Tang Cuo and Qin Ge had both spent time in the archives and quickly recalled that this was a document issued several years ago. Its contents were quite lengthy, spanning more than eighty pages, and since neither of them was responsible for organizing documents, they only had a vague impression of the title and no clear understanding of its contents.
“Is it related to our current case?” Xie Zijing asked.
“It’s closely related,” Bai Xiaoyuan jumped to page 55, “In the absence of concrete evidence, no organization or individual may initiate an investigation procedure against special humans. Furthermore, any investigation procedures related to special humans must be approved by both the Crisis Management Office and the Special Management Committee before they can be initiated.”
Xie Zijing straightened up, “Approval from two departments? That’s so troublesome. Are they indirectly shielding special humans who commit crimes?”
“I studied this document all night last night,” Bai Xiaoyuan said, “In fact, it’s meant to protect us.”
The word “special” in “special humans” was an insurmountable divide.
In the years when special humans officially entered people’s awareness, whenever anything strange happened, it was always suspected to be related to them.
If a plague broke out in the village, it must be the work of half-zombified humans.
If a storm causes a landslide, it must be underground people undermining the surface.
If a typhoon and tsunami flood farmlands, it must be the sea children angering the sea god.
Snowstorms blocked the mountain pass, and people and livestock froze to death. A few snowmen had to be sacrificed to appease the mountains and rivers; otherwise, the snow and wind wouldn’t cease.
Mad dogs in the city bit and killed people; it must be the work of werewolves; after all, wolves and dogs looked similar, didn’t they?
“Special” became the original sin.
Inborn bloodlines and endured suffering became the roots of their judgment.
And what brought about a change in all of this was the Sentinel Guides. They looked no different from ordinary humans on the surface, but once they entered positions of power, “special humans” finally became a formally recognized part of society rather than just subjects of study.
People gradually began to understand one thing: “They” and “us” were all the same kind of beings.
The key term was not “special,” but “human.”
“The ‘Special Human Rights Protection Act’ was promulgated in the 1980s, and this document is a supplement to the criminal-related content of that protection law. I also found out through research that, as long as someone is a special human, they can really be unjustly accused,” Bai Xiaoyuan said. “Although everyone’s living conditions have greatly improved now, discrimination still exists, but it has become more concealed, as in the case that happened with Peng Hu in the regular hospital. In short, to avoid any mistakes, this regulation is very strict. Cai Mingyue is a guide, and if we want to investigate her, we must obtain approval from the Crisis Management Office and the Special Management Committee.”
Tang Cuo sat there and said slowly, “Dealing with the Special Management Committee…”
The Special Management Committee, or in full, the Special Human Management Committee, was the highest authority for special humans. They managed the Crisis Management Office, and the transfer of Qin Shuangshuang and the appointment of Gao Tianyue were all arranged by the Special Management Committee.
“In addition, I also found out that Cai Yi, Cai Mingyue’s son, is currently the Deputy Secretary-General of the Special Management Committee,” Bai Xiaoyuan added.
Everyone in the office fell silent.
Qin Ge was the first to speak, “The second issue you mentioned, is it about Cai Yi or the lack of concrete evidence?”
Seeing that Bai Xiaoyuan didn’t answer, Qin Ge spoke seriously, “Regardless of Cai Mingyue’s son’s position, it’s not an issue for me.”
This statement was like a reassurance, and Bai Xiaoyuan breathed a sigh of relief.
“The problem is the evidence,” she said, “We have nothing, and there’s no way to verify the scene described by Peng Hu.”
Although Peng Hu’s testimony had led them to discover Cai Mingyue’s existence, there was no personal connection between Cai Mingyue and any suspicious incidents. They had no reason to investigate Cai Mingyue.
Bai Xiaoyuan took out Peng Hu’s self-report from that day.
“The only thing we can use is this report from Peng Hu,” Bai Xiaoyuan looked at Qin Ge, “Peng Hu claims that there is something wrong with his ‘sea area,’ but he’s not a psychological adjuster, so this judgment doesn’t hold much weight. If Qin Ge can provide a diagnosis that confirms an abnormality in Peng Hu’s ‘sea area,’ we can use this abnormality as a reason to apply for an investigation of Peng Hu.”
As a doctor at 267th Hospital, Peng Hu’s abnormal “sea area” would have serious consequences for both the hospital and the patients. Using this as a reason to request an investigation could be approved.
Then, just as Yan Hong had said—Cai Mingyue was the cause of Peng Hu’s abnormality, and they could legitimately list Cai Mingyue as the subject of the investigation.
Qin Ge frowned, “But Peng Hu’s ‘sea area’ is perfectly fine. I can’t fake a diagnosis to harm him.”
Bai Xiaoyuan bit her lip. Some of the lipstick she had just applied was eaten up, and her expression unexpectedly showed anxiety.
“I’ve already checked, and for a sentinel or guide who serves as a doctor, if their ‘sea area’ is diagnosed as abnormal, their medical license will be revoked, and they can never work as a doctor again,” she said in a low voice, “Peng Hu knows this is the most serious consequence, but even so, he still made this self-report. Qin Ge, he’s prepared for the worst outcome.”
Qin Ge was stunned and couldn’t say a word.
Peng Hu had reported Cai Mingyue at the cost of giving up his own medical career.
Perhaps he had learned about the secret from Cai Mingyue’s “nonsense” from back then, and in the midst of numerous contradictions, Peng Hu chose a convoluted way to report it.
The first time Qin Ge met Peng Hu, he was drinking, but there was no sign of drunkenness in his eyes. That bottle of Hongxing Erguotou couldn’t really get him drunk. He was just using alcohol to gather courage and say things he couldn’t say when sober.
“Save me,” Peng Hu said to Qin Ge like that. It was only at this moment that Qin Ge understood the source of his pain and conflict. His self-report was the first domino to fall, pushed by Peng Hu’s own hand.
What exactly Cai Mingyue had done in Operating Room 6 all those years ago, Peng Hu didn’t explain in detail, but based on the various clues they had found so far, the answer was almost at hand.
The blood-stained operating room, the children who appeared through walls—these were actually the illusions that Cai Mingyue had seen.
Those children didn’t die of natural causes. They were eliminated by Dr. Cai’s own hands back then.
“I won’t write such a diagnosis.” Qin Ge didn’t hesitate in the slightest, “It’s not the truth, and it goes against the professional ethics of a psychological adjuster.”
He looked at the three people in front of him. No one voiced any objections.
“Let’s think if there are any other ways,” Qin Ge felt for the first time that he was leading them, “We can’t recklessly destroy an innocent person just to expose the guilty.”
Qin Ge had been thinking about the Cai Mingyue situation all day, and when he got off work, he was startled to find that Xie Zijing followed him to the parking lot. “What are you doing?”
As soon as he spoke, he immediately remembered the words he had blurted out this morning.
Xie Zijing was carrying a huge backpack that Qin Ge had never seen before, with a faintly excited expression on his face. “Do I need to buy a gift for the first time I visit your home?”
“Where did this bag come from?” Qin Ge asked.
“It’s my luggage,” Xie Zijing said, “I’ve left it in the reception room these past few days.”
On his first day here, he brought this backpack with him and arranged to stay in the reception room with the old man in charge. Last night, he went to stay at Tang Cuo’s place and brought his luggage with him, and today, when he came to work, he brought his luggage back to the Crisis Management Office.
“…Aren’t you tired?” Qin Ge felt quite helpless. Not only was the backpack large, but it also had sharp edges. Although he didn’t know what was inside, it was clearly not light.
“Tang Cuo’s panda is afraid of me,” Xie Zijing said, “I plan to continue staying in the reception room tonight.”
Qin Ge looked at him in a daze, and for a moment, he felt a hint of confusion from the depths of his heart.
Xie Zijing was too obedient. In an instant, he seemed to take off the mask he had previously worn in front of Qin Ge. With a simple sentence, Qin Ge found himself softening a little.
“Why don’t you stay in a hotel?” Qin Ge couldn’t help but say, “The bed in the reception room, you can’t even stretch your legs, right?”
“No need,” Xie Zijing said, “Maybe I’ll leave after Director Gao comes back.”
“Where are you going?”
“I don’t know. But didn’t you not want me to stay in the Psychological Adjustment Department?” Xie Zijing said with a smile.
Qin Ge said, “…”
His heart had already lost its level 30 gale, leaving only pity for Xie Zijing, gently lapping at the shore like a lake, but also weighing heavily on Qin Ge’s heart.
“That’s not what I meant,” he said cautiously, “I didn’t want to chase you away.”
Qin Ge knew that being soft-hearted now was very bad, but damn it, this guy was just too pitiful.
Xie Zijing had a smile on his face, “Alright then, let’s go to your place.”
“You can take the subway,” Qin Ge said, “My bike doesn’t accommodate passengers.”
Then somehow, they exchanged phone numbers, WeChat IDs, and email addresses on the way to the subway station.
As he headed towards the subway station, Qin Ge’s soft-heartedness gradually faded. Under the slight fluttering of his eyelids, he suddenly sensed some inexplicable ominous signs—it seemed like he had gotten entangled with Xie Zijing.
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