Chapter 13 (1/2)
Chapter 13
Watchmen Chapter 13: Showdown
The taxi detoured past the Black Tortoise lake from the south, and onto Dragon Coil road, heading north. They made a left turn into a villa area and finally stopped in front of a two-story building.
Jiu Jie looked at the european-style two-story villa and asked, “Is this your house?”
“This is my office, I usually work here. Come in and sit.”
Gu s.h.i.+ Chen gestured for Jiu Jie to enter after saying so.
In front of the building was a courtyard of about ten square metres that was growing simple flowers. The plants had dried up though, with the garden filled with weeds. It was obvious that Gu s.h.i.+ Chen didn’t have time to take care of them.
Right after entering the gates, there was a veranda connecting to the second level. It wasn’t very big, it only had a wall clock that reached the ground. The time was just past one o’clock. The floor was decorated with alternating black and white ceramic tiles. There were a few doors on the first level, and a curved staircase up to the second level.
When the two of them entered the house, a middle-aged woman in uniform suddenly came out from the adjacent room. She then turned toward Gu s.h.i.+ Chen, and said, “Miss, you’ve returned.”
Gu s.h.i.+ Chen made a noise of a.s.sent, then asked, “Aunt Liu, are there any appointments for today?”
Aunt Liu flipped through the planner in her hands before replying, “There are two patients. One at three pm, the other one at seven pm. Both need further diagnosis.”
Gu s.h.i.+ Chen nodded her head, “Got it.”
After that, she asked Jiu Jie, “What do you want to drink?”
Jiu Jie casually replied, “Anything is fine. Anything.”
“Aunt Liu, one gla.s.s of coffee and one gla.s.s of water. Send it to my room in a while.”
“Understood. Miss, are there any more orders?”
“No, go do your things. When I need something, I’ll call you.”
Finished speaking, Gu s.h.i.+ Chen entered the room beside her and Jiu Jie followed.
The room was very s.p.a.cious, around seventy square metres, and split into an outdoor and indoor portion. The indoor one was small, while the outdoor was large. They were connected, and the middle had no door. The whole room was furnished with european-style furniture, and the indoor portion had a large office table. The outdoor portion had a sofa, bookshelves, and other common furniture.
The room was covered with a very soft and comfortable rug.
The interior design was impressive, but concise, with warm colours as the main theme. Placing oneself in the room would inevitably make them able to relax and be comfortable.
“This is my office. Just sit anywhere.” Gu s.h.i.+ Chen said.
Jiu Jie looked around for a moment, before asking, “Is the whole villa yours?”
Gu s.h.i.+ Chen nodded, “This whole villa was given to me by Old Gu to live. After I became a psychologist, I was coincidentally missing an office, so I changed it to one.”
“Why do you call your father Old Gu?” Jiu Jie asked.
“That’s not your business.”
“You have an issue with your father, right?”
“Things you shouldn’t ask about, don’t ask.” Gu s.h.i.+ Chen returned to her icy expression. “In another two hours, a patient will arrive. At that time, go amuse yourself. Besides, this room is my library, but I can lend it to you. If you think that staying in the house is too boring, the Black Tortoise lake is not too far away from here in the west direction. You can go there to
relax.”
Jiu Jie made a noise of a.s.sent as he glimpsed at a photo frame out of the corner of his eye. He casually picked it up to look at it. The picture was of a family of three, a young couple and an innocent and unaffected little girl. The three of them faced the camera while smiling very happily. The man’s face was easily recognizable as a young Gu s.h.i.+ Tong.
Jiu Jie looked at the picture of the happy family, a certain feeling being stirred up in his heart. He fell silent as he stood there in a daze.
Gu s.h.i.+ Chen ignored him. She just sat at the office table, flipping through the papers on her desk.
After a long period of time, Jiu Jie lightly placed the photo frame back, and slowly opened his mouth to ask, “Miss Gu, I may be speaking out of turn, but there is nothing more important than familial ties. When your parents are still around, it is the most blissful thing, and it should be treasured. If not, when you lose them one day, it will be too late for regrets.”
“Too late for regrets?” Gu s.h.i.+ Chen’s head didn’t even lift up. “My family business is none of your concern, you don’t need to b.u.t.t in. You really are nosy.”
Jiu Jie shook his head. “It’s not that I’m nosy, but that I feel sorry for those that don’t know how to count their blessings.”
“Oh? So your parents are no longer around?” Gu s.h.i.+ Chen asked.
Jiu Jie didn’t answer, and turned to leave instead.
“Do your own thing, I won’t bother you. I’ll go out and have a look.” Jiu Jie said this and was about to leave.
“Wait.”
“What is it? Is there anything else?” Jiu Jie turned his head to ask.
Gu s.h.i.+ Chen looked up. “I just have to ask you one thing.”
“What is it?”
“Why did you come to Nanjing?”
Jiu Jie laughed bitterly. “I really can’t win. I already said, your father invited me, why don’t you believe me?”
“Old Gu invited you?”
“He invited me to help him with a problem.”
“Help him with what?” Gu s.h.i.+ Chen continued to ask.
Jiu Jie thought for a bit, before saying, “Your father has a very conscientious person who suffers from a serious psychological disease. It is severe enough that she may take her own life. Me being here is to help treat her.”