Mad Dog

Chapter 42: Healing – When spring arrives, everything will be better

Hearing Jiang Qi’s words, Zhi Qi did not respond.

The room was silent, and the girl stared at him, stubbornly asking, “I’m asking you, have you thought of me?”

Jiang Qi couldn’t help but close his eyes.

How could he not think of her? He slowly nodded.

“No, you haven’t.” Zhi Qi forced a bitter smile, shaking her head. “If you liked me that much, you wouldn’t have done what you did.”

Jiang Qi’s heart sank, and he abruptly stood up to explain, but the girl’s soft hand covered his lips.

“Shh.” Zhi Qi looked at Jiang Qi, a hint of bitterness in her smile as she saw the panic in his eyes. “But I still really like you.”

The girl’s sudden confession took Jiang Qi by surprise, causing his heart to leap.

“I even like you more.” Zhi Qi tiptoed and gently kissed the delicate line of the boy’s jaw. “I’m really grateful to that old man.”

After all, he hadn’t let Jiang Qi truly commit a crime or get blood on his hands. And Jiang Qi’s actions were precisely what she admired the most—she didn’t despise a boy with a criminal record; she only detested those without integrity.

The girl’s unexpected intimacy and expression left Jiang Qi with no time to feel delighted, only anxious. “Have you… forgiven me?”

“I’m still a bit angry, but maybe I can forgive you. But,” Zhi Qi looked steadily at him, “I want you to promise me something.”

Jiang Qi didn’t ask what it was; he simply nodded.

No matter what Zhi Qi wanted him to do, he would agree.

However, Jiang Qi didn’t expect that what Zhi Qi wanted him to promise was to stay in the hospital.

In the Fifth Hospital of Lin Lan, Jiang Qi, dressed in a blue and brown striped hospital gown, leaned against the head of the bed, looking thin and frail, with only a pair of confused eyes watching Zhi Qi as she returned after completing his admission paperwork.

“Qi Qi.” Jiang Qi hesitated for a moment before slowly saying, “Actually, I’ve been taking medication since I got out of prison… do I really have to be hospitalized?”

He felt that staying in the hospital somehow gave him an inexplicable feeling of being trapped in a ‘cage.’

“Yeah.” However, Zhi Qi’s attitude was non-negotiable. She smiled and handed the porridge she brought for him. “Just be good and listen; stay for a month first.”

Indeed, Jiang Qi didn’t have any physical ailments that required hospitalization, but his nerves and mental health needed a planned treatment in the hospital.

Zhi Qi had asked the doctor, and Jiang Qi’s condition wasn’t untreatable.

But mental illnesses always required a long process for recovery.

Jiang Qi was somewhat unwilling, but since he had promised Zhi Qi, he didn’t resist any longer.

He just lowered his head and asked sulkily like a child throwing a tantrum, “What about after a month?”

“After a month…” Zhi Qi smiled. “We’ll see then.”

She believed that Jiang Qi would undergo significant changes during this month, and perhaps he could be discharged afterward.

Because in his twenty-one years of life, Jiang Qi had rarely experienced life as a “normal person” or “ordinary person.”

From the continuous abuse and mistreatment in his youth to the disaster of imprisonment, and then his confused entry into the entertainment industry… he hadn’t had a single peaceful day.

Zhi Qi truly hoped that Jiang Qi could enjoy a few quiet days in this beautiful sanatorium in the Fifth Hospital.

There were no paparazzi with ulterior motives to disturb them, only a quiet and gentle atmosphere, just the two of them. More importantly, the hospital required registration to exit; she was the emergency contact, so she wouldn’t have to worry about Jiang Qi sneaking away again.

“Don’t worry.” The girl sat across from the boy, reaching out to gently rub his face. “I’ll come to see you after class.”

When Zhi Qi suddenly mentioned “class,” Jiang Qi remembered that he still had a dream of completing his education and obtaining his diploma, which now seemed like an unrealistic fantasy.

He didn’t want Zhi Qi to worry, forcing a smile and nodding.

After a while, he remembered something and added, “Don’t let it affect your studies.”

“I won’t.” Zhi Qi rested her chin on her hand, her big dark eyes blinking. “We’ll have a holiday soon.”

It was early January, and there was still about half a month until winter break.

Jiang Qi was momentarily stunned and muttered, “Is it that soon?”

“Yes, New Year is coming.” Zhi Qi smiled softly. “Jiang Qi, once this year is over, all the bad luck will be behind us.”

When spring comes, everything will be fine.

She would always be there for him.

Zhi Qi took Jiang Qi’s car keys and house keys, planning to go to his home to gather some daily necessities based on the location map he provided.

The place where Jiang Qi lived was still rented by Qiu Mi before, located in the bustling Lake Pavilion neighborhood in the eastern district, with convenient transportation. When Shen Lei decided to bring Jiang Qi into the industry, he rented it for two years.

Now, calculating the time, there was a little over a year left. Logically, the lease should be canceled, and the rent should be returned to Shen Lei.

But when Zhi Qi asked, Jiang Qi just shook his head. “Forget it; let’s not anger him.”

He had troubled Shen Lei a lot over the past year, making him angry. Now that he had withdrawn from the industry, there was no need to disturb him with these trivial matters.

For Shen Lei, the rent was just a drop in the ocean, but if he returned it, it would only make Shen Lei feel that he didn’t regard him as a friend.

But it wasn’t like that.

In Jiang Qi’s heart, Shen Lei and Qiu Mi were rare friends, and he didn’t want to disappoint them.

Zhi Qi entered the Lake Pavilion community and went upstairs. After entering the password for the door Jiang Qi mentioned, she walked in.

The room, which had been unoccupied for a while, was cold and empty, with no heating or warm air from the air conditioning turned on. As soon as Zhi Qi entered, she couldn’t help but shiver.

Then, the girl instinctively glanced around Jiang Qi’s living space.

In this high-end community, there were no apartments smaller than 115 square feet. The space Jiang Qi lived in was quite large, with nice decorations and complete furnishings, but… it felt desolate, an indescribable kind of loneliness.

It was unclear whether it was due to the cold color tones of the furniture, which leaned toward dark gray and white, or because the owner hadn’t returned for several days.

Zhi Qi sighed softly, looking around before walking into Jiang Qi’s bedroom to help him tidy up his clothes.

She had already anticipated that Jiang Qi wouldn’t have a suitcase, being so “domestic,” so she had prepared a small wheeled bag in advance, unsure if it would be enough.

As Zhi Qi entered the bedroom and opened the wardrobe by the bed, her eyes widened in shock.

It seemed that her previous worries were utterly unfounded; Jiang Qi’s wardrobe was almost empty, with hardly a few pieces of clothing.

Rather than worrying about it being “too full,” she was more concerned about whether it could even be filled at all.

Did this mean that Jiang Qi didn’t see this place as a home but merely as a “temporary stop”?

Just like a swallow returning to the south, all the journeys in between were merely resting places. As Zhi Qi thought about this, she couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

She packed the few clothes the boy had into the bag and then went to the bathroom to gather some essentials like a toothbrush and razor before planning to leave.

However, as she passed through the living room, her attention was caught by a bottle of medicine on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

Zhi Qi hesitated for a moment, loosened her grip on the wheeled bag, and walked over to the sofa.

This sofa was imported Italian soft leather that would wrinkle if sat on for too long. As she approached, she noticed shallow wrinkles on the gray surface. It seemed that Jiang Qi had slept on the sofa more than the bed since no one had been here for so many days.

Zhi Qi shook her head helplessly and sat down, lowering her gaze at the medicine bottle on the table, which was covered in a mass of tiny English words. But Zhi Qi recognized it as a painkiller.

Not just any painkiller; it was a prescription medication that could only be prescribed by a doctor.

Those who used such painkillers were generally in unbearable pain.

In an instant, Zhi Qi recalled the day at the hospital when she had lifted the thin blanket off Jiang Qi while he was asleep and unbuttoned his shirt to reveal a scene that left her stunned.

The boy’s pale, thin body was covered in countless scars.

Burns, cuts, blunt trauma… they were thickly layered.

At that time, Zhi Qi had bitten her knuckles to stifle her voice, leaving a deep imprint.

She tried to remain calm as she restored Jiang Qi’s clothes, but her hands trembled uncontrollably—on that night, the nightmare that had long eluded her returned.

In her dream, Jiang Qi was still that teenage boy, being abused and beaten by indistinct figures while she could only watch helplessly, unable to help, just looking on… Zhi Qi woke up from the dream crying.

In the middle of the night, she cried continuously, scaring Meng Chunyu

, who came over to hug her and soothingly said, “Don’t be afraid of nightmares; dreams are deceiving.”

Unfortunately, Chunyu didn’t know that her nightmares weren’t deceiving; they were real.

Zhi Qi finally understood why Jiang Qi had always worn long sleeves and long pants even in the scorching heat of July and August in Lin Lan. She had thought it was hot and had suggested he wear lighter clothing, perhaps short sleeves and shorts.

Now, looking back, she realized how naive that was.

Jiang Qi simply didn’t want to reveal his scars that couldn’t be covered.

A single crystalline tear dropped onto the medicine bottle held in her pale fingers, snapping Zhi Qi back to reality as she quickly wiped her eyes.

She sniffed, trying to suppress a self-deprecating smile—she seemed to have turned into a crybaby lately, always on the verge of tears, which was truly embarrassing.

But… she just felt so sorry for Jiang Qi.

Zhi Qi fought back the tears welling up in her eyes and glanced around, noticing that there were no tissues on the table. She opened the drawer of the coffee table to get some paper to wipe her eyes.

However, as she pulled open the drawer, the contents inside made her forget to cry.

So many, many medicines—bottles of various sizes, clearly all different types of medication.

Jiang Qi said he had been taking medication since he got out of prison, but was he just taking them indiscriminately?

Zhi Qi bit her lip, feeling a surge of unnamed anger. She stubbornly brought the suitcase over, sitting on the floor, and began tossing these bottles of medication into the bag, one by one.

She intended to go back and thoroughly ask the doctor what kind of medication Jiang Qi was taking!

Just as she reached for the last bottle, her fingertips brushed against something hard.

Zhi Qi furrowed her brow, thought for a moment, and pulled out everything in the drawer to see what was at the very bottom.

—It was a small wooden dolphin.

Carved from sandalwood, it wasn’t particularly exquisite and even had a somewhat clumsy, cute look.

But this dolphin, Zhi Qi remembered, was a gift she had given him.