Medicine

Translator: Cinder Translations

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"Doctor," the fatty said as he watched Jiang Cheng finish his second bowl of rice, "Eat a bit slower, no one's fighting you for it."

Jiang Cheng poured himself a bowl of soup, drank it all in one go, and then put the bowl down, satisfied, wiping his mouth with a napkin. At this point, the fatty had barely finished half of his first bowl of rice.

With a concerned tone, Jiang Cheng asked, "Why aren't you eating any of the dishes?"

The fatty glanced at the plate, where only two small pieces of potato remained, and the soup pot, where a lonely cabbage leaf floated in circles. He slowly put down his chopsticks, "Doctor," he said, lifting his head, "I'm trying to lose weight lately."

"Oh," Jiang Cheng nodded, "Then I won't persuade you to eat more."

After the meal, the fatty, as usual, went to the kitchen to wash the dishes, while Jiang Cheng sat at the desk in the studio. The crisp sound of typing on the keyboard gave off a casual, indifferent vibe.

After washing the dishes, the fatty sat on the sofa, drying his hands while asking Jiang Cheng if this studio only handled patients with mental health issues. Jiang Cheng confirmed that it did.

The fatty blinked, as if there was something he couldn't quite figure out, "Doctor, I saw a lot of medicine in the kitchen cabinet earlier, but most of them are for treating external injuries and pain relief. Why are you stocking up on those?"

Jiang Cheng seemed perfectly healthy. The fatty even doubted if he could out-eat him, so it didn't seem like Jiang Cheng needed them.

Surprisingly, when Jiang Cheng heard what the fatty said, he seemed to seriously think about it for a moment. Then, he walked to the kitchen and pulled out a box of cooling pain relief patches.

He opened the box, took out one patch, and then turned around, looking at the fatty with an examining gaze.

He occasionally glanced down at the patch in his hand.

The fatty felt uneasy under Jiang Cheng's gaze, and a sense of foreboding crept over him. "Doctor," he said hurriedly, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing," Jiang Cheng put the patch away, returned it to its original spot, and walked back to sit at his desk as if nothing had happened.

The fatty still had some doubts, but thinking about the nightmares, he felt like it didn't matter anymore.

The afternoon passed by uneventfully. When there were no customers, the fatty tidied up the area in front of the door. Upon returning, he somehow ended up dozing off on the sofa.

When he woke up, it was already dark. He rubbed his eyes and realized Jiang Cheng was no longer sitting at the desk. Turning around, he noticed there was no sign of Jiang Cheng in the kitchen either, which made him instantly alert.

It was already dark, and who knew when the nightmare would strike. Without Jiang Cheng around, any nightmare could be his undoing.

"Doctor?" the fatty called out.

The surroundings were quiet, no one answered.

The fatty started to panic, and just as he was about to go upstairs to look, the door suddenly opened. A tall, slim shadow came in first.

Jiang Cheng walked in, carrying several bags, and casually closed the door behind him.

The fatty, as if seeing a beacon of hope, excitedly asked, "Where did you go?"

Jiang Cheng handed a few bags to the fatty, who saw they were filled with small boxes—the same medicines he had seen earlier in the cabinet.

"What's this..."

"Medicine," Jiang Cheng said as he took off his jacket and hung it on the coat rack, "Just put them in the cabinet where you saw them earlier."

"Doctor, why are you buying so much medicine?"

Jiang Cheng walked over to the shelf where patient files were kept, pulled out one with a red label, and while flipping through it casually, replied, "Just keeping them on hand."

The fatty's confusion deepened. It was just the two of them here, and neither of them was hurt. Who were all these medicines for?

Suddenly, a memory flashed in his mind—the scene he had witnessed in the villa during the task. His thighs went cold, and cold sweat immediately broke out on his forehead.

He started wondering if Jiang Cheng was a psycho planning to imprison him, just like the family in the villa task.

Those painkillers and external injury medicines must be prepared for him, to keep him alive if he got seriously injured.

The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Jiang Cheng's initial talk about kicking him out now seemed like a tactic to lure him in.

No wonder Jiang Cheng could see through the villa family's scheme so quickly—they were the same kind of people!

That's how he saw through their trap so easily!

He had to find a way to escape from here, and fast.

Just as he was racking his brain to come up with an excuse to leave the studio without arousing Jiang Cheng's suspicion, Jiang Cheng's voice suddenly broke through his thoughts, "No one's interested in imprisoning or torturing a fat guy."

The fatty looked sharply at Jiang Cheng, who was leaning against the desk, flipping through the file without even looking up.

Jiang Cheng turned a page and continued, "Your legs are your own. You can leave anytime, but once you walk out that door, don't think about coming back."

"Can I really leave?" The fatty hesitated. This person in front of him seemed a bit odd, and his thinking wasn't quite normal, but he didn't seem like a truly evil person.

After a few seconds, the fatty made up his mind, "Doctor, I think it's best if I stay. We can look out for each other."

He paused, then licked his lips, feeling a bit embarrassed, "But could you tell me what all these medicines are for?"

Jiang Cheng let out a breath, like he had finished whatever he was working on, closed the file, and looked at the fatty. His gaze seemed to ask, *Do you really want to know?*

The fatty nodded eagerly.

Jiang Cheng pursed his lips with some reluctance, as if seriously considering it, "Alright," he sighed, "I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to reveal this secret. It's very important to me."

The fatty, feeling the weight of the moment, sat up straight. The atmosphere felt solemn, like a vow was about to be made.

He guessed Jiang Cheng might have some embarrassing condition, which required all those medications.

He remembered Jiang Cheng once saying that 30 seconds was more than enough for something, while they were dealing with Chen Xiaomeng.

Maybe he wasn't lying.

Suddenly, the fatty began to feel sympathy for this decent-looking man in front of him.

He sighed inwardly, thinking how life was truly fair. Everyone had their own hidden pain, buried deep where no one else could see, and now Jiang Cheng was willing to confide in him.

With this in mind, the fatty looked at Jiang Cheng with an encouraging gaze, "I'm ready, you can begin."

"Alright," Jiang Cheng nodded, "The bandages are for tying you up. The medical tape works great for sealing your mouth to keep you from screaming and alerting the police. The painkillers are to ensure you stay conscious while being tortured. I also have two boxes of stimulants, but those are hard to come by and expensive, so whether you get to use them depends on your luck," Jiang Cheng paused, as if remembering something, and continued, "Oh, and I've got some hallucinogens I plan to mix into your drinking water. Don't worry, I'll give them to you soon."

Fatty: "???" 

(End of the Chapter)

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