After seeing Qu Sheng off, the new takeout Jiang Ying ordered arrived quickly.
Watching her call him over to eat without a trace of embarrassment, Su Heng finally had to accept reality: She truly didn’t care at all about what had just happened.
Perhaps she had been emotionally invested for a brief moment, but in her eyes, he was nothing more than a dog. Since she was so generous with her hugs and kisses, what did a minor incident like this matter to her? It was just like coming home one day to find your pet dog had torn up things all over the house. The most you’d do is drag the dog to the scene of the crime, scold it half-heartedly, and then find its airplane ears and “I’ll do it again” expression adorable, with half your anger dissipating instantly. By the next day, you wouldn’t even think about it anymore.
That was exactly how Jiang Ying was. Just an unexpected visitor had made her completely forget what had just happened.
Su Heng silently picked up his chopsticks and looked at the girl across the table.
She didn’t seem to have any intention of explaining to him, as if the words he had read out from her phone earlier were of no importance at all.
True. Who would seriously argue with a dog?
But he also had his pride… How could he shamelessly ask again when she didn’t care at all…?
So this matter that he desperately wanted her to explain could only be swallowed back down.
The meal was tasteless.
Su Heng waited until Jiang Ying finished eating before speaking as if casually.
“Tomorrow after you go to work, I have some things to do. I’ll rush back to pick you up before you get off work, is that okay?”
Look at him. He was just like a dog who had been wronged but was already wagging his tail and fawning over his master in the blink of an eye.
“Mm, okay. I don’t need you while I’m working anyway, so you can arrange whatever you like during that time.”
She didn’t hesitate at all, which made Su Heng feel even worse.
Especially the words “I don’t need you.” For some reason, they made him feel a sudden fear of being abandoned by her at any moment.
She didn’t even… worry about him getting lost anymore.
He suppressed the low mood.
“…Alright.”
As expected, she didn’t notice his dejection. Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered if he hadn’t deliberately hidden it.
Jiang Ying stood up, supporting herself with one hand on the table, and stretched her other arm across the dining table to pat his head.
Just as it looked like she might miss, Su Heng leaned forward slightly, bringing his beast ears under her palm.
“Obedient Dog.”
The fluffy touch made her smile until her eyes curved.
He lowered his eyes, letting that beast ear tremble under her palm.
You’re just doing desensitization, not throwing yourself at her. He reminded himself again that this was something necessary to do while staying by her side and using her.
The next day, after dropping Jiang Ying off at the company, Su Heng went alone to Jin Chuyun’s psychological clinic.
As he entered the lobby, he looked up at the camera ahead.
The last time he came here, he had deliberately acted intimate with her, truly carrying some malicious intent akin to declaring sovereignty.
Now, he indeed felt the gaze from behind the lens once more.
It wasn’t malicious or scrutinizing; it was clearly gentle and calm, yet Su Heng felt an inexplicable hostility rise from within. He couldn’t tell if this hostility was directed at Jin Chuyun himself or at the connection between him and Jiang Ying.
Perhaps both.
He endured this uncomfortable feeling and pushed open the door to the consultation room.
Jin Chuyun didn’t stand up eagerly to greet him, but merely nodded in a friendly manner, “We meet again.”
Su Heng took a step inside; the scent of a mountain rainstorm filled the entire room.
He didn’t like this scent.
The last time Jiang Ying left this place, she had been covered in the same smell. Part of it came from the man’s pheromones, and another part was simulated by something.
His gaze shifted to the aromatherapy diffuser on the desk, and Su Heng frowned slightly.
He knew that as a psychologist, catching his micro-expressions wasn’t difficult, but he had no intention of hiding them.
While Jin Chuyun observed him, he was also observing the arrangement of the consultation room.
Even though it was a clear day today, the simulated view outside the window showed rain, echoing the scent in the room. If Jiang Ying always experienced this when she came here, perhaps in the future, whenever she encountered a rainy day or heard the pitter-patter of rain, she would subconsciously think of this man.
This realization made him inexplicably irritated.
Jin Chuyun pushed a cup of hot tea in front of him, “Qu Sheng told me a beastman friend wanted to consult me, and I was a bit surprised.”
He paused, and his tone showed no surprise at all, “I didn’t expect it to be you.”
Qu Sheng hadn’t told Jin Chuyun who was coming.
But clearly, Jin Chuyun had already guessed before meeting him.
“So, what help do you need?”
He lifted his tea and took a sip, “As long as it’s within my capabilities.”
Again, that feeling.
Even though there was no aggressive language or action, it faintly made Su Heng sense danger.
Perhaps it was the gold-rimmed glasses hiding the sharpness in his eyes, or perhaps those eyes whose edge had been softened.
Was it only directed at him?
Or was it because she couldn’t see it, so she never noticed?
Just like when he stared at her with eyes he couldn’t hide his lust in, and she was completely oblivious too.
Su Heng narrowed his eyes, “Before that, I hope you can keep this confidential in front of her.”
There was no need to mention who “she” was.
The atmosphere floating between the two was already somewhat tense.
Even though it was a completely ordinary consultation and visit, both men seemed to tacitly treat this conversation as an unspoken contest and a mutual probe they both understood.
“Of course.” Jin Chuyun’s lips maintained their ever-precise curve.
Su Heng cut straight to the chase: “I’m allergic to a certain suppressant patch.”
Suppressant patch?
…Heat suppressant patch?
Male beastmen mostly have reactive heat cycles, meaning there is likely someone around him who triggers his heat.
Jin Chuyun’s expression finally changed; the corners of his mouth, which had been perpetually lifted, flattened somewhat. It wasn’t a big movement, but enough for Su Heng to notice.
As expected.
She wasn’t just a simple patient to him.
But he also didn’t seem to have that kind of romantic feeling for Jiang Ying.
Su Heng couldn’t determine that for now.
But regardless of what he intended for her, the relationship between a psychologist and a patient was inherently unequal in power. Not to mention if Jiang Ying might develop transference for Doctor Jin during therapy, just by virtue of being her doctor, his control over all information about her condition already made her the weaker party in this relationship.
Jiang Ying trusted Jin Chuyun, but Su Heng couldn’t.
Furthermore… Jin Chuyun was that person’s son.
Someone raised under Jin Congmin’s guidance—how could he possibly be part of the beastman-friendly faction?
That in itself was a contradiction.
Or there was another possibility: this identity, and the profession Jin Chuyun had “chosen,” were his disguise all along.
What secret was he hiding? Who was behind the sudden abnormal escalation in the Federal Front Line battles? Rumors from multiple sources pointed to Jin Congmin as the mastermind. Could he find clues from Jin Chuyun?
For various purposes, he had to find a way to get involved in Jin Chuyun’s treatment of Jiang Ying, to find his weak points and eliminate the danger for her.
Su Heng continued, “I want to know if there are other items or methods that can suppress the heat cycle.”
Jin Chuyun had already returned to his initial expression.
That fleeting impatience seemed as if it had never occurred, leaving no trace in his demeanor.
“That is a rare situation, but similar cases have indeed existed.”
Jin Chuyun said, “We can first run a test on the components of the suppressant drug, then make further judgments.”
With Qu Sheng’s recommendation as a link, Jin Chuyun couldn’t really tamper with anything.
Su Heng agreed to his suggestion.
The results came out quickly.
Jin Chuyun handed him the test report, “The main ingredient of the suppressant drug is what you’re allergic to. Other suppressant products use this ingredient as well, so you won’t be able to use any of them.”
An answer within expectations.
Su Heng had already mentally prepared for this worst outcome.
He put down the report, “I wonder if Doctor Jin has any alternative methods?”
“Sorry, as far as I know, currently on the market, only these medicinal therapies can suppress and alleviate the physiological phenomena of beastman heat.”
Su Heng’s fingertips on the sofa tapped rhythmically; although no sound was made, such a noticeable action was completely ignored by Jin Chuyun.
He maintained a defensive posture the entire time, even if no obvious physical tells were shown.
“However,” Su Heng stopped his probing and continued, “I believe this is a psychological problem.”
“…” Jin Chuyun smiled, “I don’t understand what you mean.”
“I only have these symptoms when I’m with her. I don’t think this ‘physiological phenomenon’ can target a specific person.”
In order to get involved in Jin Chuyun’s treatment of Jiang Ying, he even voiced a suspicion he himself refused to admit, “I seem to have a dependence on her that goes beyond the employment relationship, but I can’t control this psychology. I think this might be the key reason triggering my heat cycle.”
Su Heng looked up at Jin Chuyun and indeed saw the smile disappear from his face.
“So, I’d like to ask Doctor Jin to help me from a psychological perspective.”
He continued, “But I don’t want her to know my condition and cause unnecessary misunderstandings.”
Jin Chuyun didn’t respond for a long while.
The tea in front of him seemed to have gone cold.
He picked up the teacup, lowered his eyes to the surface of the tea, and poured the ruthlessness he didn’t want to expose into the tea.
The tea surface rippled, and the faint, cold golden chill gathering in his eyes also vanished at that moment.
“I think I understand.”
Jin Chuyun raised his eyes again, and his lips once again hung a flawless smile, “Coincidentally, it’s about time for Jiang Ying’s cognitive disorder therapy to enter the next stage. If you can participate in the treatment, I can use your interactions to guide her towards a more correct cognition of beastmen. At the same time, through your interactions, I can find the reasons for your inexplicable dependence on her, and then deduce the root cause that triggers the physiological phenomenon of the heat cycle.”
Both sides knew this was an aware probe and game of wits.
Who would be the victor was yet unknown.
Su Heng extended his hand to shake Jin Chuyun’s, “Thank you. This weekend, I’ll come with her.”