Chapter 95: It was a good day.
The prophecy of that innkeeper from many years ago has come true. In just one night, Luquan was once again filled with clear lake water.
The morning light rose on the mountaintop, piercing through the heavy haze.
Bai Xiaoyuan and her sand cats sat on the slope, feeling dizzy from their hangover. Lei Chi walked over and sat beside her, and Bai Xiaoyuan noticed that he was soaking wet.
“Did you go into the water too?”
“Yeah.” Lei Chi looked down and saw a few sand cats jump into his lap, warm and soft. “Couldn’t find him.”
“Below is the underground water vein. If you fall in, there’s no way to survive.” Bai Xiaoyuan said, “Qin Yeshi must be crazy to send you all diving.”
“We were diving for a body.” Lei Chi responded, “If we don’t recover it, it will affect the water quality of Luquan.”
The underground water veins beneath Luquan are extremely hot. The water cools gradually as it reaches the surface but still maintains a temperature of around fifty degrees, making it a true hot spring. They took turns diving into Warehouse No. 0 throughout the night, but no one could endure the temperature for long.
“What was his real name?” Bai Xiaoyuan asked, “He definitely wasn’t Zhou You. Zhou You was an identity he stole.”
Lei Chi looked at the distant Luquan. The spring water steamed, reflecting the gradually brightening sky.
“He didn’t have a name.” The young werewolf said softly, “Everything he stole didn’t belong to him. Qin Yeshi said to refer to him as ‘Zhou Mou’ in the report.”
A person who craved a name and identity didn’t receive a complete one, even in death.
“Qin Ge said that Zhou You… the real Zhou You, once gave him one.” Lei Chi told Bai Xiaoyuan, “But before he could tell him, Zhou You died.”
Bai Xiaoyuan looked at Luquan, silent for a long time. Lei Chi had heard some things from Qin Ge; Bai Xiaoyuan’s adoptive father, Bai Fan, had died here.
Lei Chi had no candy. He searched his pockets for a while but found nothing, feeling a bit disheartened. Bai Xiaoyuan was feeling down, and he wanted to cheer her up.
But Bai Xiaoyuan pulled out two candies from her pocket—fruit candies Lei Chi had asked for on the flight. She took one for herself and put the other in Lei Chi’s palm.
As they ate the candy, Lei Chi felt a small surge of happiness but didn’t dare to confirm it immediately.
Someone shouted from below the slope: “Team Leader Lei, Captain Qin said we don’t need to dive anymore. The Western Office is sending snowmen to help us search. We don’t have to go into the water!”
Lei Chi: “Okay!”
He breathed a sigh of relief, savoring the candy.
“I drank too much, feeling dizzy.” Bai Xiaoyuan said.
Lei Chi quickly replied, “Then you should go back with Qin Ge and the others to rest.”
Bai Xiaoyuan looked at the brightening sky. The fresh morning light illuminated her slightly flushed face and sparkling eyes. She didn’t look at Lei Chi but leaned slightly against his shoulder.
Lei Chi didn’t dare to move, stunned for a long time before saying, “My clothes are wet.”
Bai Xiaoyuan: “I know.”
The sand cats jumped into Lei Chi’s lap one by one and disappeared one by one until only seven or eight were left, surrounding Bai Xiaoyuan and Lei Chi. One lay on Lei Chi’s knee, and Lei Chi suddenly stopped hesitating. He raised his hand and gently stroked the cat’s ears and the back of its head.
The sand cat wagged its tail and changed its position in his lap to get closer to his body heat.
At that moment, Lei Chi felt like the happiest person in the world.
The entire team from the psychological adjustment department had secretly gone to the Western Office. They didn’t dare to stay long and decided to return immediately after resolving the issue.
The people at the Western Office wanted to see Xie Zijing off, but Xie Zijing had already returned to 267th Hospital with Xie Liang. Qin Ge stayed at the Western Office to write the report on X’s “Sea Area” patrol. While he was busy typing, he noticed someone peeking in from outside the window.
He looked up and was startled.
It was a moving ball of fur, with long white hair covering its face and snow-white hair on its head. When it walked in from the door, Qin Ge was dumbfounded: this creature looked like a wild man, with a large pair of pants on its lower body and no shoes on its feet.
“Hello, Section Chief Qin.” The person extended a hand enthusiastically and said, “I’m the deputy director of the Western Office.”
Qin Ge met a snowman.
They all had thick fur to resist the cold, were tall, and had rough voices. The snowman in front of him indeed spoke louder than others. After talking for a long time, Qin Ge finally understood that he was talking about X.
The snowmen had been exploring the underground water veins for several days and finally found his remains near another spring.
“Half eaten by wild animals.” The snowman said, “We have many wild animals here, some of which are fierce enough to scare even snowmen.”
Qin Ge felt a sense of melancholy. He couldn’t describe his feelings, a mix of anger and emptiness.
“The only one left to face trial is Lu Qinglai.” He said.
“He already paid the price. Being eaten alive by wild animals is no good end.” The snowman laughed loudly and moved closer to Qin Ge. “Um, Section Chief Qin.”
Qin Ge was puzzled: “Yes?”
“Could you write a recommendation letter for me?” The snowman pulled out a few A4 sheets from his thick fur. “This is a kid from our Western Office, sixteen years old. He hasn’t been to school, but he has learned a lot from several teachers. Can he go to your Talent Planning Bureau?”
Qin Ge scratched his head: “I can write the recommendation letter, but I can’t guarantee he can go to the Talent Planning Bureau. They look at academic qualifications when hiring.”
The snowman moved closer, and Qin Ge could almost see the earnestness in his shiny round eyes: “Please help us, Section Chief Qin. This kid is really smart and can become a great snowman. Snowmen are also a rare race among special humans. I heard you wrote a recommendation letter for a sea child, and he successfully entered the Talent Planning Bureau. Please help us again.”
Qin Ge: “Xiaohai? You know about Xiaohai?”
Snowman: “We heard from the Talent Planning Bureau yesterday. The sea child can take the academic test, which means there’s a good chance.”
When they walked out of the Talent Planning Bureau office, the sea child couldn’t help but sneeze.
Zhang Qian quickly protected the form in his hand: “Don’t get it dirty.”
The joy on both their faces was unmistakable. Xiaohai had passed the review and could take the academic test at the end of the year. As long as he passed, he could become a new student at the Talent Planning Bureau next year.
This was the beginning of a changed fate.
Zhang Qian was so happy she couldn’t speak coherently: “It’s so wonderful…meeting so many good people…so wonderful.”
Xiaohai was half a head taller than Zhang Qian. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and walked with her in the warm sunshine.
“Xiaohai, do you want to find your parents?” Zhang Qian asked, “You’ll have great prospects in the future.”
Xiaohai quickly replied, “I don’t want to find them.”
Zhang Qian looked at him: “If they knew you were such a good kid, they wouldn’t have abandoned you.”
The young sea child silently looked at the woman in front of him. He suddenly realized that his fate hadn’t just changed at this moment.
On that night, when he was crying in the dark alley, when Zhang Qian took him back to her shop, his fate had already changed.
“I only have one mom.” Xiaohai said, “Whether they know how good I am doesn’t matter. Even if I weren’t good, you wouldn’t care, right?”
Zhang Qian touched his face. The gills on his face fluttered slightly in her palm, a sign of the sea child’s nervousness.
She hugged her son.
They walked forward again, but after a few steps, the sea child suddenly stopped. He crouched down, covering his eyes, his shoulders trembling.
When he received the approval notice from the head of the Talent Planning Bureau, the head’s face was beaming with joy. He said many things to Sea Child. Every year, the Talent Planning Bureau enrolls only a few Sea Child. Among the special humans, Sea Child, Cha Lao, and Snowmen, among others, are classified as “rare.” Because they are rare, their numbers are few; because they are rare, their survival rate is even lower.
“You are very important,” the head said, affectionately holding Sea Child’s hand. Sea Child was not good at speaking, but in his decade-plus of life, he had learned to read people’s emotions from many encounters. Hatred is hard to disguise as liking, and displeasure is equally difficult to fake as enthusiasm. But the head’s excitement was obvious: “Xiaohai, you are very important to our Talent Planning Bureau, to the entire Sea Child community, and even to all special humans. Your presence will certainly fill some gaps. Quan Nu, Qing Meizi, and the Mermaid Leader have all written letters of recommendation for you. You have already earned their trust and recognition. You will become a remarkable person in the future!”
“He…he said that I…he said I am very important…” Sea Child wanted to stop his tears but couldn’t control them. At that moment, he hadn’t realized what these words meant to him; but now everything felt so perfect. Standing with his mother in the sunlight and shade, in the dry wind, he suddenly understood the power of affirmation.
Zhang Qian gave him unconditional love. But he also needed others’ affirmation: to be sure he was valuable, important, and not forever the one who is denied, abandoned, and humiliated.
A boundless courage surged within him, making him believe he could overcome all obstacles.
Qin Ge brought some documents to the special ward of 267th Hospital, where Xie Liang was undergoing treatment.
To ease Xie Liang’s condition, Qin Ge visited him every day. Sometimes Xie Liang was lucid, other times confused. When lucid, he would hold Xie Zijing and cry bitterly; when confused, he would shiver on the bed, mumbling incoherently.
Xie Zijing stayed by Xie Liang’s side every day, having taken a long leave from work, and Qin Ge could only occasionally see him.
Fortunately, as Xie Liang recovered, Xie Zijing began to tell some jokes.
“Xie Weiran brought Jiang Yong over.” Xie Zijing told Qin Ge, “My dad wants me to swear siblinghood with Xie Weiran. She was so scared, her crab’s shell almost popped off, and she lay on the windowsill pretending to be dead.”
Qin Ge: “Jiang Yong? He didn’t affect your dad’s emotions, did he?”
Xie Zijing, sitting in the corridor with Qin Ge, took the documents from Qin Ge’s hands to look through: “No. The two of them hugged and cried as soon as they met, and after crying, they started reminiscing about the past.”
The painful parts were left untouched by both, just talking about old times was enough to soothe the two elders’ hearts.
Jiang Yong’s “sea area” was damaged while escorting X to Zero Warehouse. X tried to attack Xie Liang, and he blocked the ferocious assault for Xie Liang.
The documents Qin Ge brought were related to Lu Qinglai, some of which needed Xie Zijing’s confirmation.
Lu Qinglai met X after getting to know Xie Zijing. He learned from Xie Zijing’s “sea area” status that someone had the ability to destroy areas. The excited Lu Qinglai went through many troubles to find X and promised to take care of and help him, as long as X told Lu Qinglai how to destroy areas.
“This is an innate ability that Lu Qinglai couldn’t learn.” Xie Zijing said while looking at the documents.
Not only did he fail to learn it, but he also fell into X’s trap. He completely became a slave to the pleasure X brought, addicted to X’s ability and to X himself.
After finishing the documents, Xie Zijing showed some surprise on his face: “So his initial research direction was the connection between areas and personality.”
This was a new field that Lu Qinglai began researching during university. When he obtained his psychological adjuster’s certificate and underwent Zhang Xiao’s examination, his area was still completely normal.
But X excelled at stirring storms within areas, strong fear, pain, depression, and the intense pleasure that followed. These extreme emotions quickly disrupted Lu Qinglai’s regulatory system. His research on personalities and areas began to take a dangerous turn.
Xie Zijing smiled: “So both Bi Xingyi and I were his experimental subjects.”
“Zhou You destroyed areas and implanted false memories, while he subtly changed personalities during your mental adjustments.” Qin Ge nodded, “Repeated denial can gradually break a person from the inside out, especially those who are already unstable.”
Just like injecting a virus into a weak patient, the original resistance is already low, and the highly invasive virus faces no obstacles.
After signing the confirmation on the documents, Xie Zijing handed them to Qin Ge.
“He wanted X’s approval, didn’t he? X directly uses suggestion to influence people, while he used personality changes to influence people.” Xie Zijing leaned back in his chair, “But X only saw him as a servant, a tool.”
Qin Ge recalled the few questions Lu Qinglai had asked him.
Can a person’s personality be destroyed? After destruction, can it be rebuilt? What most effectively destroys a person’s personality?
Lu Qinglai could only stop at this point. He was only interested in destroying personalities but never asked Qin Ge: What can keep a person clear-headed and prevent them from collapsing?
Qin Ge held Xie Zijing’s hand, interlocking their fingers.
Living in this world, one meets all kinds of people, forming complex and inseparable relationships. Each relationship is a cornerstone of humanity.
Small hatreds and small loves are dissolved and amplified within these complex relationships, ultimately sinking deep to become the background color.
“Xie Zijing is very important to me.” Qin Ge said, “A lion is very important to a rabbit.”
Xie Zijing was amused by his sudden remark.
“What are you doing?” he whispered in Qin Ge’s ear, “Say something weird again, and I’ll eat you.”
Qin Ge looked at him seriously: “Really important.”
“Then do you love me?” Xie Zijing asked.
“Yes.” Qin Ge nodded.
“Not formal enough.” Xie Zijing said, “Let me think.”
Xie Weiran supported Jiang Yong out of the ward. Seeing Xie Zijing and Qin Ge, Jiang Yong couldn’t help but start sobbing again. After sending them off, Xie Zijing pulled Qin Ge and walked briskly into the ward.
Xie Liang’s spirit was good. His back was straighter, and he could already sit up in bed with the help of a support device. Seeing Xie Zijing and Qin Ge walk in, the old man smiled: “Hello, Officer Qin.”
His hair was shaved off, and his body was covered in scars, but his spirit was much better than before.
He liked Qin Ge very much. Knowing Qin Ge was the fifth psychological adjuster, he often chatted with him about past exams and interactions with Zhang Xiao during Qin Ge’s counseling sessions.
Seeing Xie Zijing and Qin Ge holding hands, a trace of surprise flashed across Xie Liang’s face.
“Dad, I never properly introduced Qin Ge to you.” Standing before Xie Liang’s bed, Xie Zijing said loudly, “Today I’m laying it out. He is my lover; he is very important to me, and we are going to live together.”
Qin Ge’s face flushed red. He looked at Xie Zijing, then at Xie Liang, at a loss.
Xie Liang “oh”-ed, nodded, and after a moment of silence, said to Qin Ge: “Thank you.”
Qin Ge: “N-no trouble at all.”
Xie Liang: “Xie Zijing is a bit silly.”
Qin Ge: “No, no, he’s very good.”
Xie Liang: “Then don’t call me Teacher Xie anymore. Call me Uncle.”
Xie Zijing quickly interjected: “Call him Dad.”
Qin Ge: “Uncle.”
Xie Liang laughed for a while, a bit wistful: “There are so many things I don’t know.”
But he quickly regained his spirit: “There’s plenty of time. You can tell me slowly.”
Xie Zijing thought for a moment: “Do you know how I met Qin Ge?”
He pulled up a chair and sat by his father’s bedside, starting to tell the story. Qin Ge closed the window a bit, but the wind still blew in from outside.
The sky was a clear blue, and the green trees stretched endlessly.
It was a good day.
Epilogue—
In March, the cornelian cherry blossoms bloomed once again, covering a whole wall in the courtyard of the Crisis Management Office.
New employees were deceived by the rumor that “taking a photo with the cornelian cherry blossoms will make you rich.” Whether in the morning or afternoon, Qin Ge could see many people taking selfies or having others take pictures for them under the trees.
In the Psychologiacl Adjustment Department office, almost everything had been cleared out. Bai Xiaoyuan and Tang Cuo were sorting out the remaining miscellaneous items on the desk.
“Is everything packed?” Qin Ge reminded.
“Everything’s packed.” Bai Xiaoyuan picked up a small cardboard box. “Shall I go upstairs first? I’ve got to rush for lunch later.”
“Qing Meizi is coming?” Tang Cuo asked.
“Yes. I even brought that photo album from your sister.” Bai Xiaoyuan thought for a moment and confirmed again, “Qing Meizi is to sign her name on her own photos and write ‘my love’ on Quan Nu’s photos, right?”
“Exactly.” Tang Cuo’s face turned ashen. “She’s so obsessed with the Qingquan CP now. She used to swear she’d never ship real people.”
Bai Xiaoyuan: “You don’t understand our fun.”
She happily left the office with the box.
Qin Ge was also done packing: “I heard from Xiao Liu that Lei Chi is now not only reading books about werewolves and vampires but also starting to read Qingquan CP stories.”
Tang Cuo was shocked: “It’s all Bai Xiaoyuan’s fault!”
Qin Ge: “Don’t tell Xie Zijing; he might be upset.”
Tang Cuo, holding his box, walked out: “I’ll head upstairs too.”
Qin Ge finished packing everything and stood in the middle of the office, feeling a bit dazed.
The evening sunlight streamed in from the corridor, spreading across the floor. A year ago, in the same place, his sentinel leaned against the door frame, smiling at him.
A year passed quickly, but so many things had happened.
The Adjustment Department made significant contributions during the Lu Qinglai and X incident. After Cai Yi was promoted to Secretary General of the Special Management Committee, he specially allocated the large, vacant office on the top floor of the Crisis Management Office to the Adjustment Department. Today was moving day.
Qin Ge’s phone rang; it was a call from Xie Zijing.
“I just finished listening to the trial.” The case of X and Lu Qinglai had finally started, and Xie Zijing had taken half a day off for it. “I’m going to pick up Dad from the hospital now. What about you?”
“I’m all packed up.”
“I’ll come back to the office to meet you, and we can go together.” Xie Zijing said, “By the way, Xiaohai passed his aptitude test. Should we get him a gift?”
“We’ll discuss it when we meet.” Qin Ge picked up his box. “See you in a bit.”
Qin Ge carefully closed the door. He heard the faint sound of the wind and saw the dust swirling in the light beam, white and hazy.
The door was firmly shut.
(The end of the main story)
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Author’s note:
The main story is complete. Thank you all for accompanying me for these three months. I wish everyone taking exams today the best of luck.
There are many things I want to say, but I don’t know how to say them all at once. What I wanted to say has already been told in the story.
I hope everyone, no matter what kind of days you’re going through, works hard and studies diligently, and lives seriously (this is also for myself).
By the way, the earliest formed character in this story was Sea Child. Xie Zijing was initially designed as a [hero who wanted to slay the dragon but ended up becoming the evil dragon]. Lei Chi was originally designed as a vampire, but later I thought werewolves would be more interesting—
