LWGP - Chapter 47
Chapter 47: Innocent?
This man was a jack-of-all-trades in the capital's circles, able to mingle with high society and deal with the lowest dregs. He also had a good relationship with the officials; he was a man of considerable standing.
After all, who could guarantee they'd never have to deal with a cheating husband or a cuckolding wife? Not to mention things like kidnapping, extortion, or murder, which weren't rare at all.
This man was an absolute professional.
But at this moment, this titan of the detective industry had dragged a chair out from the conference hall, pulled it up in front of Wang Jiu, and sat down.
"Sorry, my back is injured and hasn't healed yet. I can't stand for long."
Qian Cheng held a briefcase, which likely contained something. After he sat down, the two of them seemed to have instantly returned to twenty-one years ago.
One table, two chairs.
An accomplished young psychologist facing a meek and pitiful little girl.
After Qian Cheng said this to Wang Jiu, he seemed to feel a sense of déjà vu, his memory suddenly pulled back many years.
So long ago that he had almost forgotten.
Because the girl from back then was worlds apart from the woman of today.
Wang Jiu's gaze was veiled as she said coolly, "Are you sure our relationship allows us to sit down face-to-face and have a civil conversation?"
Qian Cheng glanced at her. "You resent me for repeatedly suspecting you and conducting psychological evaluations."
Wang Jiu: "Shouldn't I?"
Qian Cheng frowned. After a long pause, he said, "Indeed. After the Old Lady took you in, she was worried you might have some psychological trauma and hoped I could counsel you. At the time, through that process, I came to understand the environment you grew up in and your personality. I truly didn't have a high opinion of you."
Wang Jiu remained silent. Qian Cheng paused, then continued, "But that wasn't enough for me to interfere with the Old Lady's choice. I wasn't so intolerant as to be unable to stomach a child. After all, countless people have undergone psychological testing with me. What kind of depraved individuals haven't I met?"
"I disliked you and found you excessively dangerous simply because I later discovered that all your test responses with me were fake!"
Li Ting also knew Qian Cheng. Hearing this, his eyes flickered. He didn't rush to manage the scene, just watched silently.
"Fake? I don't understand what you mean. I was only seven then."
"Should we treat your wound first?" Qian Cheng glanced at her abdomen and said.
"No need. I still feel we won't be talking for very long."
"Fine, then I'll make it quick."
Qian Cheng tightened his grip on the briefcase. "You were seven then. Your reactions to all my questions were perfectly in line with what a child should exhibit—insecurity, fear, numbness, and the untamed aggression from living alone in the mountains for a long time. I thought it was normal at the time and advised the Old Lady to counsel you based on my experience. Later, you began to gradually recover, becoming optimistic. You were the fastest and most perfect recovery among all my patients. But it was too perfect. Later, when I was organizing your records, I discovered that all your reactions followed a pattern—you were very kind, you were a good child, you had suffered greatly, you didn't want to hurt anyone, you didn't resent anyone, and… you needed the Old Lady to be good to you."
"Only by showing your weakness and loneliness would the Old Lady stay by your side. Whenever her work got a little busy, or when she sometimes entrusted you to my care and didn't visit for several days, your symptoms would immediately worsen. Then the Old Lady would rush over."
"But later, your condition recovered the fastest. Why? Because the Old Lady told me she had to be posted to another province, but she was worried about you. With your recurring condition, she didn't feel safe leaving you with me."
"And then you recovered, and successfully went with her."
Qian Cheng stared at Wang Jiu. "From that moment on, I had a vague feeling that something was wrong. But you had already left, and I couldn't stop it. I could only occasionally hint to the Old Lady to pay more attention to your character. But the Old Lady is very smart. She sensed my suspicion of you and reduced her contact with me. It's infuriating, really. In my youth, I also received the Old Lady's kindness; she was the one who funded me and changed the trajectory of my life… I cared about her safety, but she always valued you more, treating you like the apple of her eye. Perhaps my dislike for you was partly due to that."
Wang Jiu suddenly smiled. "Jealous? No, I think it's because you became powerful."
Qian Cheng was taken aback.
Wang Jiu said in a very faint tone, "People don't become powerful because they are cold, but they become cold because they are powerful. This applies to many people, and of course, that includes you."
Qian Cheng disliked her tone. "What about you?"
"Me? I was also very cold when I was weak. You know that full well. That's why you never trusted me, no matter how well I behaved…"
"You did behave well, but not everyone was worthy of your effort. We won't even talk about when you were little. Take when you grew up, working at the hospital. Other people's fathers and mothers die, a human tragedy. Any normal person would feel a bit of compassion upon seeing it. But you were different. You wouldn't even look. You'd just sign the papers and leave. But as soon as the Old Lady was at the hospital, in your presence, you would display normal emotions of shared sorrow and joy, a picture of compassion. And because your public persona was so good, many people would even think you avoided meeting the patients' families because you couldn't bear to witness such scenes—when in fact, you didn't care at all."
Wang Jiu raised an eyebrow. "Hiding in the bathroom to spy on me?"
Qian Cheng was expressionless. "No need to mock me. I was hiding in the men's room."
Wang Jiu: "Oh, no wonder you later tried so hard to persuade the Old Lady not to live with me."
Qian Cheng: "Because I also discovered you were learning from her."
Wang Jiu seemed unconcerned. "She was good to me, I admired her. I studied medicine because of her. Is there a problem with that?"
Qian Cheng shook his head. "No, the learning I'm talking about is you imitating her way of dealing with people, even her temperament and methods. The terrifying thing is that you learned so well, you made everyone believe those wonderful qualities belonged to you."
His statement was quite frightening, but Wang Jiu found him ridiculous.
"What do you think is more terrifying, a person's thoughts or their actions? Don't you think that as a psychologist, you place far too much importance on and rely too heavily on their existence?"
"Your expression tells me—you're shocked I said that, because the Old Lady said it too, didn't she?"
Qian Cheng was indeed shocked. He suddenly thought of something, and his face darkened. "You bugged me?"
Due to her injury, Wang Jiu's face was very pale. A pale weakness, a morbid viciousness.
"I also know that you were so angry that day, you even called me a little monster to the Old Lady."
As she said this, Wang Peng and Xiao Li had already gotten a first-aid kit from the government personnel and were eagerly running over. However, they were stopped by Xiao Jue. Just as Xiao Jue was about to habitually take their first-aid kit, Xiao Li stubbornly blocked him. Wang Peng quickly scurried over like a monkey and happened to hear that sentence. He was stunned, then glared angrily at Qian Cheng.
He actually thought that based on the past Qian Cheng mentioned, the young lady's reactions were quite normal. A child relies on and trusts that one person, so of course they'd have some little tricks. It's just that the young lady had a higher IQ, making her seem smarter and more subtle.
This old man was biased.
Qian Cheng's face also paled a few shades, seemingly from shame, perhaps from anger, but he ultimately apologized. "I lost my composure. The Old Lady was also particularly angry that day. She hung up on me, blocked me, and didn't speak to me for a whole year."
Wang Jiu: "I forgive you, because I also came close to planting a bomb in your car."
Qian Cheng: "???"
While Wang Peng was still reeling, Wang Jiu took the first-aid kit from him, not even bothering to say thank you. Instead, she gave Qian Cheng a subtle look. "Trust me, my dislike for you began long before your dislike for me."
Holy shit!
Whether anyone else was thinking "holy shit," Qian Cheng certainly was. He leaped up from his chair. "Wang Jiu, you!"
He was really almost bombed?
"I'm kidding. You actually believe that?"
A faint smile played on Wang Jiu's lips as she casually opened the first-aid kit. She took off her trench coat and tossed it aside, then unbuttoned her black shirt with one hand, revealing her slender waist and the deep, gruesome gash.
There was no white skin to be seen, no hint of allure, because it was all blood.
She was a professional, and her self-treatment was practiced. From cleaning the wound to bandaging it, her movements were skilled and nonchalant.
Qian Cheng watched without asking any more questions. Instead, he composed himself and sat back down calmly.
"All these years, countless lies, countless deceptions, but only one thing was real—you care about the Old Lady, and you only care about her."
Wang Jiu narrowed her eyes and smiled. "Of course I care about her. Otherwise, I wouldn't have taken the blame for her."
"So all your groundwork was to take this blame? Just like from your dating to your marriage and even your divorce, everything was a calculated move with a hidden agenda, not the natural progression of a normal person's life."
Qian Cheng's steady statement made many people thoughtful.
Wang Jiu looked down, tending to her wound, not very concerned.
Her ex-boyfriend and ex-husband, however, perked up their ears, their expressions somewhat grim.
Could there be another fucking twist? Could it be… could it be that her heartlessness was all an act?
Qian Cheng continued on his own, "When you divorced over a year ago, the Old Lady was in a very bad mood. I thought it was simply because you divorced after being cheated on by that scum man. Later, I found out that wasn't it."
The scum man, Yan Yanting: "…"
Qian Cheng: "I was worried her bad mood would affect her health, so I asked her. She couldn't hide it and said it didn't matter if a man cheated or not; he could always be replaced. What she cared about was why you got married. I didn't understand what that meant at the time. It wasn't until after the Old Lady passed away that I was looking through some of the books she had written in the past. I saw an afterword in one where she wrote about her feelings right after giving birth to her daughter. She said she hoped her daughter would grow up happy, smart, well-behaved, beautiful, and kind—basically, that she would possess every wonderful quality. She could throw little tantrums, defy her parents by not following in their footsteps, travel the world, even go skiing in Switzerland, meet a handsome man, fall in love with him, and even have her heart broken. Then she would meet someone suitable for her, have a happy marriage, and a powerful career. If her partner betrayed her, she could walk away with grace…"
"She wrote that more than thirty years ago. Thirty years later, you re-enacted her hopes, one by one."
The ex-husband and ex-boyfriend: "???"
Compared to the previous blow of being a plaything, had they been demoted again?
So I was just a tool?
Wang Jiu narrowed her eyes, a darkness gathering within them.
"Over a year ago, the Old Lady must have had an epiphany. That's what made her so furious. She had a huge fight with you. I was so worried that day, afraid you'd fly into a rage and harm her. But in the end, you just let her scold you, and not long after, you went to that small, run-down hospital in Lin City."
Zhang Xu: Fuck! Our hospital may be small, but it's not run-down!
But he also understood. So, Lao Wang was really that twisted?
Actually, it seemed okay.
"I think Lao Wang just valued the Old Lady too much and wanted to make her happy," Zhang Xu defended Wang Jiu.
Qian Cheng's face was impassive. "Then ask her. Never mind anything else, just the matter with that scum ex-husband… Why did he insist on a divorce?"
This time, Wang Jiu looked up and smiled. "Because he was afraid of me, of course."
Qian Cheng: "A scum man who was deceived by you for several years and thought he had the upper hand, why would he suddenly discover your perverse experiments?"
Yan Yanting couldn't hold back any longer. "What do you mean? Was she doing it on purpose?!"
He stared at Wang Jiu, not so much questioning as in disbelief.
Oh, he didn't need Wang Jiu to answer. He already had his answer from the look Qian Cheng was giving him, the kind one gives an idiot.
His vision went a little dark. "So, you deliberately wanted me to divorce you? But those pictures of corpses, and the data on those test subjects… my data was in there…"
Wang Jiu said very naturally, "Don't you watch American TV shows? You can find plenty of pictures like that on Baidu."
Don't I watch American TV shows? You know damn well I don't!
No, wait, I think you know all too well!
Yan Yanting: "What about the data?"
Wang Jiu: "I've touched no fewer than several hundred human bodies. Is there a problem with me writing down physical data from memory? Even if you never lay on my table, I bought all your underwear. Is it that strange?"
So it really was her design from the very beginning!
One link after another!
Fuck!! Yan Yanting leaned against a nearby tree, unable to catch his breath for a long moment.
"Why? Just for the Old Lady? Just because you needed a marriage partner?"
Wang Jiu was wrapping a bandage around herself. Hearing his words, she glanced at him. "Compared to the other candidates, you were the victor, the lucky one who ultimately became my husband. Happy?"
Yan Yanting: "…"
Most men couldn't stand being played by a woman, but… not always.
Yan Yanting's personality was quite extreme. On one hand, he had extreme self-esteem; on the other, he was extremely pragmatic and admired strength. That was why he didn't resent the Xiao family's power or Xiao Qing's breakup, because in his view, their choice was correct.
Conversely, because Wang Jiu was so strong, he also felt that her actions weren't that out of line.
But he was still angry, which was why he was leaning on the tree.
Qian Cheng felt this person understood human nature even better than he, a psychologist, did. Look at how she had this man wrapped around her finger.
"Did you ever consider that they genuinely liked you? Of course, excluding those two scum men. I'm talking about others."
"Are you spouting all this nonsense to persuade me to reform, or are you afraid I'll kill other people?"
Wang Jiu sneered.
Qian Cheng felt that he really still disliked her. Because when she was pretending, everything she said was a lie, and when she wasn't pretending, she couldn't fucking speak properly.
"No."
"Oh, so you're afraid I'll kill the rest of the Yang family. The… innocent, as you would put it?" Wang Jiu's eyes and tone were particularly innocent.
Tinged with a three-tenths chill.
Qian Cheng: "So you really do plan to annihilate the entire Yang family?"
Everyone was startled.
This was psychological guidance. Qian Cheng was forcing out Wang Jiu's true thoughts.
Li Ting quickly glanced over at Qi Dong's group. Qi Dong's expression was a bit stiff, but he still tapped his phone a few times.
On the other side, Wang Jiu lowered her eyes. "What nonsense are you talking about? How could I?"
Qian Cheng was expressionless. "From the moment you deliberately emphasized that you didn't resent Yang Dong and Yang Yu, I knew you were lying. And every one of your lies has a purpose."
Wang Jiu was also expressionless. "From the moment you didn't rush to take out the contents of your briefcase and tell me plainly, but insisted on adding your own subjective commentary, I knew you wanted to persuade me to reform."
Qian Cheng: "I also know that other people's words are meaningless to you. It's useless for me to say anything."
Wang Jiu: "Mm."
Qian Cheng: "…"
Fine. With a dark face, Qian Cheng opened his briefcase and took out two letters.
"Here. This is one the Old Lady wrote seven years ago, and this one was written after your fight over a year ago. She kept them with me, saying that once she died, I could read them, and then decide whether to bring them out based on the situation."
"I've read them. I originally intended to hand them over to you, but the Old Lady was very farsighted. Given today's situation, she would definitely agree to me making them public."
Wang Jiu frowned. "She left those for me. What are you making public?"
She tried to take them, but Qian Cheng seemed to have anticipated it. He quickly tore open the newer envelope, pulled out the first letter, and read the first sentence aloud.
"Ah Jiu, sit down. You are not allowed to snatch the letter."
Old thing, you've learned to add drama, haven't you? That's definitely not in the letter!
Wang Jiu didn't believe it, but Qian Cheng turned the letter around for her to see.
The first sentence was, indeed, exactly that.
And then…
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