Chapter 48: I’m Going to See a Psychologist!

It was late at night, and the old residence was quiet.

Yu Lin sat beside Xu Lifang’s coffin, using the flickering candlelight of the ever-burning lamp to light his fourth cigarette of the night.

He did not allow anyone to disturb him. Without saying a word, he stared at the old woman inside the coffin and silently dazed out. Since he was not causing trouble or making a mess, Yu Wangxiao simply let him be.

The old residence grew even quieter. Only the ethereal, gentle sound of piano music echoed through the air from time to time.

Compared to before, it seemed to sound better. The melody was still chaotic, but it no longer carried that eerie, oppressive, helpless pain.

The nannies and caregivers on night duty were already used to hearing it. They did not even think too much about it, and were still troubled over the bed that had inexplicably collapsed. They could only hurry to clean out a new guest room and swiftly lay out sheets and bedding, so Du Ning would not sleep poorly tonight.

As for Du Ning, who had awakened from unconsciousness—or rather, Yu Ling—he had no idea what had happened to his body.

Lin Jiangye tested by chatting with him for a few sentences and took the chance to observe his mental state and physical condition, only to discover that Yu Ling was actually quite happy, because his “head didn’t hurt-hurt” anymore. He looked completely lively and full of energy.

He had not even realized that previously, he had shared a body with Du Ning. His memories of other people had completely stopped at infancy nearly thirty years ago and had never grown beyond that… This situation was truly difficult to call an independent personality. But Du Ning’s hopes for him were not high. As long as he could live happily, that was enough.

If Yu Ling’s mind never grew again, perhaps he would never understand the cruel and bizarre things he had gone through. He could simply spend half his life carefree under the care of caregivers.

Perhaps this was also a good thing.

After solving the potential living-dead crisis, Lin Jiangye did not interfere further. Tedious miscellaneous matters such as reinforcing the floor and repairing the flooring would naturally be handled by a construction team tomorrow. As for Lin Yu’s deadly chain of phone calls, he was decisively dragged into the blacklist.

Lin Jiangye was exhausted. He dragged Yu Wangxiao along for a quick combat shower, then hurried to sleep and rest.

Because tomorrow was Monday… Those who had to go to school had to go to school, and those who had to work had to work. Lin Jiangye himself was fine, but he was not very willing to see Yu Wangxiao stay up late for a long time. He was already busy enough; if he did not sleep, it would definitely affect his health.

No matter how wondrous and bizarre their experiences were, in the end, they still had to return to the real world and do what was in front of them.

Yu Wangxiao had no objections. Instead, he was even more looking forward to sleep than Lin Jiangye had imagined.

When intimacy advanced uncontrollably by one step, the sense of distance would quietly retreat by one step.

They tacitly lay on the same bed, no longer separating into the master and guest bedrooms as before. Casual hugs and embraces before sleep became very natural, and there was no need to prepare another blanket.

More importantly, Lin Jiangye was actually an extremely perfect human-shaped pillow.

His arms did not fear soreness at all. He could remain unmoving as a neck pillow for an entire night. He did not need to breathe in the true sense, so Yu Wangxiao could press his head against Lin Jiangye’s chest at any time without worrying he would suffocate. His sleeping posture was good, and his sharp senses brought a full sense of security. They did not have to worry about anyone entering the room at midnight to commit murder.

Yu Wangxiao liked it very much. He did not know how to describe this feeling, but he liked it very much.

Lin Jiangye did not think that much. He was already impatient to rest, completely burying himself in Yu Wangxiao’s scent and relaxing to the extreme. Before he drifted into sleep in a daze, he vaguely discovered that the cypress flower branch above Yu Wangxiao’s head flashed, as if quietly glowing with even fresher vitality.

For no reason, without any warning.

“Why? Your happiness is always especially strange, and sometimes it’s perverted too. I don’t understand you. Humans are complicated…” he murmured a few accusations, hugged Yu Wangxiao even tighter, and closed his eyes.

Yu Wangxiao paused slightly, then laughed lowly. “Mm, my fault. Have a good dream.”

***

The next day, there was an eight-in-the-morning class. The classroom was full of students who looked as if they had lost all will to live, and the atmosphere was especially lifeless.

But when Lin Jiangye and Yu Lin appeared at the door at the same time, even walking into the classroom one after another in unexpected harmony… Li Yushen, who had originally been sleepy to death, suddenly sat up. His drowsiness vanished instantly, and his jaw nearly dropped in shock.

Even more shocking was that Yu Lin did not nest in the back row like before. Instead, he walked straight to the center seat of the first row facing the professor, sat down calmly, and expressionlessly took out his brand-new, shiny textbook.

Lin Jiangye did not look back. He walked toward the back-row seat Li Yushen had saved for him. He had just put down his things when he was suddenly dragged between Li Yushen and Ji Ting, tightly surrounded by these two bored young masters.

“…Something wrong?” Lin Jiangye froze, feeling uncomfortable all over under their perfectly identical gossiping gazes.

“Shh, little sheep, did something huge happen in your family? Brother Lin actually came to an eight-a.m. class?” Li Yushen was full of interest. “On the first day of the missing person’s return, he can be this obedient?”

“This is private…” Lin Jiangye helplessly paused for a moment. Seeing the two increasingly curious gazes pressing closer step by step, he simply revealed a little unimportant information. “Alright. Yu Wangxiao requires him not to be absent this semester. If he refuses, bodyguards will forcibly tie him up and bring him to the classroom. Even tied up, he has to attend class.”

That was indeed the truth.

Chen Ming had personally driven them to A University. Yu Lin absolutely had no chance to resist.

Of course, he had not resisted either. With obvious dark circles under his eyes, he had calmly sat in the passenger seat. Lin Jiangye suspected he had not slept at all last night. On the road, he had also kept his eyes lowered, resting quietly without speaking, rarely revealing a somewhat gloomy temperament.

Although it sounded a little inhumane—after all, the man’s mother had just died—Lin Jiangye very much hoped Yu Lin could continue maintaining this temperament.

Being quiet and obedient was his best protective color. Lin Jiangye was already utterly fed up. If Yu Lin caused trouble again, Lin Jiangye would not mind giving that pair of dark circles… some longer-lasting effects.

This level of gossip already satisfied Li Yushen very much. He secretly sucked in a cold breath and squeezed Ji Ting’s shoulder. “Ruthless! This move is damaging enough. We can’t let my dad know, or both of us will be unlucky.”

“Laughing to death. What does your bad luck have to do with me? I actually kind of want to see you tied up like a dumpling and carried to South Harbor Center, forced to listen to Little Auntie’s three-hour solo concert…”

“Hey, that’s your little auntie too. You don’t think you can escape, do you? Madam Ji’s mental state has been worrying again recently. At times like this, the one she likes tormenting most is you, not me.”

“Stop provoking my family relationships. I love listening to her play violin. You’re tone-deaf, and you like it too?”

The two somehow began arguing passionately. Taking this chance, Lin Jiangye quickly and slowly shifted backward, saving himself from the tight encirclement formed by the two of them.

As a result, just as Lin Jiangye sat down, the two of them shut up at the same time, turned their heads in perfect unison, and stared at him. Their synchronization rate was terrifyingly high.

“…Ask whatever else you want to ask quickly. Class is about to start.” Lin Jiangye sighed.

Ji Ting rubbed his flamboyant pink hair and was slightly guilty. “Cough, cough. Then… can we ask this?”

Lin Jiangye closed his eyes. “Hurry up and say it.”

Li Yushen quickly glanced toward the podium, then lowered his voice. He was much more direct than Ji Ting, but also seemed a little guilty. “When are you guys planning to kill Lin Bingsheng?”

Lin Jiangye fell silent. His eyes narrowed slightly. In the long silence, he stared at him, and a faint killing intent even rose in his heart.

In an eight-a.m. classroom containing over a hundred people, could this kind of thing be said so casually? How could Li Yushen be so certain that he would kill Lin Bingsheng?

But just then, Li Yushen coughed lightly, his expression slightly flattering. “It’s like this. The two of us have recently gone crazy from being broke, and A City is such a mess. We really don’t dare invest money casually… We just thought that if we follow behind you, we should at least be able to drink some soup.”

So that was what he was talking about?

Lin Jiangye fell silent again. Now it was his turn to feel slightly guilty.

Humanity’s strange language arts were really not something he could learn in a short period.

Seeing Lin Jiangye remain silent for a long time, Ji Ting also quietly moved over, poking out that eye-catching pink head and pressing his hands together. “Ge, Brother Lin, please just leak a little information? When the restructuring happens, I, Ji Ting, will definitely support you with all my strength and invest everything I’ve got in you.”

“…Yu Wangxiao’s birthday is coming up. Both of you should prepare gifts. Do I still need you to secretly worry about it?” Lin Jiangye slowly pushed Ji Ting’s head away, somewhat disdainfully pressing him into Li Yushen’s arms. “Recently, just be a little safer. Speak less and listen less. Too many people have already died.”

“Got it.”

“Received!”

After sending away these two “children” in Yu Wangxiao’s eyes, Lin Jiangye could finally attend class peacefully and empty his mind.

Emptying his mind was a very important step, because recently, he had become a little emotional. He did not plan to easily perform that set of cognitive self-check procedures he had carried out countless times before.

Although the self-check procedure had once been extremely efficient, allowing him to quickly recover highly focused rationality and maintain a long stretch of calm, that had all been its effect in the past.

Previously, in front of the bathroom mirror at Longjing Bay, Yu Wangxiao had merely forcefully kissed him once, and his calm had vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving him dizzy as if roasted by flames.

Lin Jiangye discovered that this procedure was simply unreliable.

And that gray cypress sphere flower further verified this fact—he should have felt sorrow over losing his mother.

According to humans, grief could have five stages: strenuous denial, anger and frustration, seeking psychological comfort and compensation, sinking into depression, and finally calmly accepting reality…

Lin Jiangye tried hard to recall his mental journey, only to silently discover that the function of the self-check procedure was actually very simple.

It directly deleted the first four stages, allowing him to instantly reach a formatted state of calm and accept reality without any grudges. Now, even if he wanted to recall the intense, genuine sorrow of losing his mother, it had already become extremely difficult.

Even such an extremely reasonable emotion had to be erased and deleted. That was absolutely unreasonable.

No wonder he had been unable to get along amicably with any colleague… But after coming to this new world, Lin Jiangye had never properly followed work procedures again.

Perhaps precisely because of this, those emotions accumulated over countless years and never expressed seemed harder and harder to suppress. They were now constantly surging outward, and becoming increasingly practiced at it.

This was a good thing. It was one of the freedoms humans had taught him. But at the same time, he also needed to learn control again.

Otherwise, today, he could suddenly and easily want to kill Li Yushen. Tomorrow, he might want to kill many people who did not suit his wishes and hurt people he did not want to hurt… Accidentally killing someone was far too easy for Lin Jiangye. It might only require one tiny emotional loss of control.

For Yu Wangxiao’s safety, he also had to control it.

***

At lunchtime, Lin Jiangye arrived at the entrance of A University on time, as usual.

But today, he was not waiting for Chen Ming to deliver food. He directly got into the black sedan that had arrived not long ago.

At the stickiest stage of a relationship, not seeing each other for only one morning would be uncomfortable. This was also something Lin Jiangye had recently learned and deeply felt.

Since that was the case, lunch definitely had to be eaten together with Yu Wangxiao. Separating would only be making himself suffer.

Lin Jiangye got into the car, tossed his backpack into the corner, and skillfully fell into the familiar embrace. His head comfortably rested on Yu Wangxiao’s lap, the landing point growing more and more accurate.

The soft suit fabric was pressed into many wrinkles, but Yu Wangxiao only slightly curved his lips. His fingertips slid into Lin Jiangye’s ink-black hair and rubbed unhurriedly.

“Hungry?”

“I wasn’t hungry at first, but as soon as I saw you, I started getting hungry.”

Lin Jiangye complained as if acting spoiled, raised his hand, and held Yu Wangxiao’s wrist. His lips pressed against Yu Wangxiao’s warm, dry tiger’s mouth, and with narrowed eyes, he kissed it, then lightly bit once.

Comfortable.

“…Hiss. That hungry?”

“Mm. I missed you.”

Yu Wangxiao lowered his eyes and laughed softly, showing no intention of withdrawing his hand at all. He especially indulged Lin Jiangye’s bad behavior. “I wanted to ask if you’d like to try the new snacks I prepared for you.”

“Since you asked like that, of course I have to try them!” Lin Jiangye instantly sat up. “Can they be eaten?”

“For me… they can’t be eaten. But you’ll like them.”

Yu Wangxiao opened the car refrigerator, and strands of cold air spread out.

Lin Jiangye looked over curiously and discovered that the amount of alcohol originally stored in the refrigerator had actually been reduced by half.

Replacing it were boxes of round, soft dumplings that looked very much like snow skin mochi. A generous amount of cocoa powder had been sprinkled over their surface, and as the car moved, they gently swayed, full of elasticity.

Lin Jiangye opened one of the boxes, smelled it, and tentatively placed one into his mouth to carefully taste it.

Biting through the flexible, soft ice skin, an unfamiliar yet familiar sweet fragrance bloomed on the tip of his tongue. Lin Jiangye was suddenly shocked, and brilliant light burst in his eyes. “What is this?!”

“Gold bars.”

Simple two words, yet they were so meaningful. The information they carried was as rich and full as the sweet in Lin Jiangye’s mouth, the texture unbelievably good.

Yu Wangxiao handed him a handkerchief. Satisfied by his surprised expression, he curved his lips and continued gently, “The power that belongs to you—I won’t easily waste it again. Whatever can be returned to you, I’ll give back to you.”

“…But why is it so delicious? Yu Wangxiao, are you a genius?” Lin Jiangye was shaken. He took the chance to directly fold the handkerchief and put it away. “Was your pastry chef hired from an alien planet?”

They had only just dug the gold bars out of the Gu family secret room and transported them back to the lab. Only one day and one night had passed. Lin Jiangye had never dreamed that he would already be able to eat something so close to the taste of the soul snowball.

Compared to that hard, tooth-grinding stone bowl, this box of gently swaying snowballs was like sweet rain from heaven.

“The extraction technology is already mature. As long as we hire more pastry chefs, it’s enough if they’re good at making snow skin mochi.” Yu Wangxiao raised his brows. “As for the flavoring part, you should praise me.”

“You’re so good. You’re the best person in the world.” Lin Jiangye carefully closed the box, then reached out and hugged him tightly, using a little too much strength. “Yu Wangxiao, I’m going to see a psychologist!”

“…Mm?”