Mad Dog

On the weekend, Zhi Qi and Jiang Qi’s attending doctor took him out of the hospital after applying for it.
She took the boy to the marine animal rescue station to see the little dolphin she had adopted.
“Her name is Lang Lang, and she’s a girl.” Standing behind the large glass window, Zhi Qi explained to Jiang Qi while watching the smooth figure swimming freely in the deep water area, a smile of satisfaction on her lips. “She was sick for a while, but now she’s lively and full of energy.”
Jiang Qi quietly watched for a while, his voice muffled behind the mask, “Did you adopt her?”
Although this was a rescue station, there were quite a few people around. Since Jiang Qi’s face was very eye-catching, Zhi Qi didn’t let him take off his mask indoors.
Zhi Qi nodded, “I adopted her together with an older sister.”
Actually, doing this kind of ‘good deed’ was quite costly, but Zhi Qi was willing to do it.
Jiang Qi’s light-colored eyes unconsciously shifted from the dolphin in the water to the girl’s profile beside him. Zhi Qi, with her unwavering focus, seemed to have the word ‘content’ written all over her exquisite side profile.
How to put it? Zhi Qi’s thoughts were somewhat unrealistic, but she would always strive for the beliefs she held dear.
“It’s past eleven. Um, you should eat.”
Zhi Qi was extremely strict about Jiang Qi’s meals, no longer allowing him to skip meals or eat erratically, which had harmed his stomach. She glanced at her watch and said, “There are fewer people in the cafeteria at this time; I’ll take you there.”
Jiang Qi obediently nodded.
It had been about ten days since he was hospitalized, and during these days, it had always been Zhi Qi telling him what to do.
The two of them arrived at the cafeteria, where Zhi Qi told Jiang Qi to find a corner to sit in while she went to get food.
After carefully balancing the meat and vegetables, she returned with two boxes of food and allowed Jiang Qi to take off his mask to prepare for the meal. There were only a few people in the cafeteria, and the few scattered around were middle-aged workers, so it was unlikely anyone would recognize Jiang Qi.
As expected, the meal went smoothly.
Jiang Qi was still in the process of healing his stomach, so he didn’t have a big appetite. However, having grown up with limited resources, he adhered to the traditional virtue of ‘not wasting food’ and finished all the not-so-great food from the cafeteria.
“Um, it’s really bad,” Zhi Qi complained while eating, frowning and muttering, “Our school cafeteria isn’t great, but this one is even worse.”
Coming from a well-off family, Zhi Qi had been pampered since childhood. Although she wasn’t spoiled, she was very picky about food.
Jiang Qi thought for a moment and suddenly said, “I can cook for you.”
Zhi Qi was taken aback. “You can cook?”
Jiang Qi nodded and made a sound of agreement.
If he couldn’t cook for himself, he probably would have starved by now. After all these years, he had practiced enough that his cooking couldn’t be considered bad.
“Well, that’s great,” the girl said excitedly, her eyes lighting up. “Can you make it tonight?”
Jiang Qi cooking—the combination of those two keywords felt quite incongruous. Yet, she truly wanted to see and taste the food he made with his own hands.
The girl’s childlike joy softened Jiang Qi’s gaze, and he unconsciously smiled gently. “Okay.”
He had been doing well recovering in the hospital—going to bed early, waking up early, and eating three meals a day—a routine he had never had before in his life. Consequently, he looked much better now; his previously pale skin was no longer devoid of color.
As the two were talking and preparing to leave, they unexpectedly ran into an acquaintance at the end of the meal.
“Qi Qi?” A female voice came from behind Zhi Qi. She turned around in confusion to see Jiang Yu’s distinctive, voluminous waves of hair. She quickly stood up to greet her. “Sister Yu, aren’t you off today?”
Jiang Yu was a staff member at the rescue station, but it was a weekend.
“I am. Do I look like I’m here for work?” Jiang Yu, dressed in a fitted knitted dress that was definitely not a work uniform, revealed a hint of bitterness on her sweet face, shrugging helplessly. “I was supposed to go out with my brother, but I got called in to handle something after a phone call. I thought I’d grab a quick bite here since I was hungry.”
“I came to see Lang Lang…”
Zhi Qi hesitated, glancing at Jiang Qi, and saw him cleverly putting his mask back on. She finally relaxed. “I’m with my friend.”
Jiang Yu didn’t pay much attention to the masked man behind Zhi Qi. Instead, her brother, Jiang Chi, had been looking intently at Jiang Qi.
His narrowed eyes were filled with probing suspicion.
Zhi Qi felt very uncomfortable under Jiang Chi’s gaze, almost as if she were sitting on pins and needles.
Furrowing her brows, she grabbed Jiang Qi’s hand and greeted Jiang Yu, “Sister Yu, we’ll be leaving now.”
Jiang Yu didn’t stop them but smiled inquisitively. “Qi Qi, is this your boyfriend?”
Hearing Jiang Yu call out ‘Qi Qi,’ Jiang Chi clearly paused for a moment, and his gaze grew even more meaningful.
Only then did Zhi Qi remember that Jiang Yu had mentioned her brother was an agent at some entertainment company. She had once thought about asking him to help her get tickets, but for various reasons, it hadn’t worked out.
At this thought, the girl’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.
She lowered her head, avoiding Jiang Yu’s gaze, vaguely replied that she would talk about it next time, and quickly pulled Jiang Qi away.
Zhi Qi couldn’t help but feel a little anxious. The reason she had let Jiang Qi stay in the hospital and brought him to this relatively quiet rescue station was to let him live a normal life, away from the spotlight. But why did matters related to the entertainment industry keep creeping in?
Even coming to see Lang Lang, she bumped into Jiang Yu’s agent brother.
What an infuriating coincidence.
Zhi Qi’s mind was in disarray, and thinking about the entertainment circle made her so restless that she bit her lip, so she didn’t notice the change in the boy’s expression behind her.
Wearing a mask and hat, Jiang Qi’s prominent nose and amber-like eyes showed a trace of imperceptible loneliness.
He hadn’t paid attention to Jiang Chi; he had only noticed that when the girl had been playfully asked by Jiang Yu, “Is this your boyfriend?” the little girl had looked flustered and had kept silent, just pulling him along.
It seemed… people shouldn’t get too carried away with their emotions.
Thinking this way, the headache he hadn’t had for days began to throb again.
When in pain, people tend to write impulsively—resentfully, Jiang Qi thought. He really felt a bit resentful.
The boy, who had been quietly following Zhi Qi, reached out, his long fingers gripping the girl’s wrist like an iron hoop, forcing Zhi Qi to turn around.
The girl was lost in her thoughts, and without any defense, she was suddenly pulled into his embrace. Surprised, she looked up and was met with Jiang Qi’s enigmatic gaze.
“Jiang Qi?” Zhi Qi felt that at that moment, Jiang Qi’s eyes were filled with astonishment, like a volcano hiding fire and ice, filled with aggression and possessiveness, making her heart race uncontrollably. She stuttered, “Wh-what’s wrong?”
Could it be that Jiang Qi was having another episode?
Suppressing her urge to swallow hard at his handsomeness, she trembled and asked, “Why are you suddenly… um, excited?”
She didn’t even know what words to use to describe the feeling Jiang Qi gave off at that moment.
Jiang Qi stared at her for a while, lowered his eyes, and his voice was muffled behind the mask. “Just now…”
“Miss Zhi!” Unfortunately, his words were cut off by a voice from not far away, making both of them instinctively look over.
It was Jiang Chi, tall and leggy, who had chased after them.
Seeing him, Zhi Qi’s eyes sharpened immediately. She took a step forward, shielding Jiang Qi behind her—she was quite a bit shorter than him, making the scene somewhat comically protective.
As Jiang Chi approached and saw Zhi Qi’s wary demeanor, he couldn’t help but smile. “Miss Zhi, you seem to have quite an opinion of me?”
“You’re Jiang Yu’s agent brother, right?” Zhi Qi wasn’t interested in playing around with Jiang Chi. Seeing that he had approached her, she knew what he was after, so she bluntly asked, “Is there something you need?”
The young girl was quite clever. Jiang Chi maintained his smile, but his gaze shifted to Jiang Qi behind her.
As their eyes met, Jiang Chi noticed that in Jiang Qi’s eyes, besides indifference, there was no emotion—no curiosity, no surprise, nothing at all.
“Mr. Jiang.” Jiang Chi slightly nodded, politely saying, “Can we talk for a moment?”
His eyes sparkled with eagerness, as if he were a person in winter who had found a spark of fire. He knew
that during this time, almost all gossip reporters were trying to track down Jiang Qi’s whereabouts, and here he had stumbled upon him—wasn’t this like finding a great opportunity?
However, this ‘great opportunity’ had never followed the usual path, disinterested in playing coy or dealing with others.
Jiang Qi just glanced at him coldly and said, “I don’t have time.”
After speaking, Jiang Qi took Zhi Qi’s hand and walked away without looking back.
This left Jiang Chi standing in place, utterly stunned. He watched the slender backs of the young man and woman walking away, his dark eyes gradually deepening.