Chapter 105: Restlessness

After leaving the ward, An Tong went to the duty payment area. She glanced around and saw that Su Ji had not followed, so she took out her bank card and topped up some hospitalization fees for her mother. An Tong did not lack money, but Su Ji was different. She still carried a mortgage and car loan, her days were not impoverished, yet she worked tirelessly. Apart from providing financial support, An Tong did not know what else she could do to help.

At dawn the next day, An Tong woke in the quiet flat on Yunhai Road. She stared dully at the ceiling, the problem that had troubled her all night resurfacing. Was it the instinctive dependence born from the therapeutic process toward Rong Shen, or the hormonal attraction between the sexes? The professional ethics manual was clear: psychological patients were prone to emotional resonance with their therapists, leading to transference.

An Tong tousled her long hair, pulled the quilt over her face, feeling utterly annoyed. All morning she could not untangle her thoughts. Until lunchtime, a man's call came through. An Tong looked at the note on the phone screen—[Doctor Rong]—three words. It struck a sensitive nerve. She did not answer but waited for the automatic hang-up, then opened the contacts to edit the nickname. [Rong Shen] was too stiff. [Brother Nine] was ordinary, without character. Among [Rong Ge], [Sheng Ge], [A Shen], driven by admiration, she slowly entered [Sheng Ge]. It was a stretch, but it felt better than Brother Nine.

Meanwhile, An Tong ignoring the call made the perceptive man sense something amiss. Unprecedented. Rong Shen stood before the villa's floor-to-ceiling window, lit a cigarette, and called Cheng Feng. Cheng Feng was at that moment chatting and joking with Butler Li in Yun Dian. Seeing the incoming call, he straightened up immediately. "Hello, Ninth Young Master, what are your orders?" "Where is An Tong?" Cheng Feng was taken aback. He scratched his head and stammered, "Should be at home, or perhaps at her friend's." "Su Ji?" "Yes, yesterday she mentioned an appointment with Su Ji, so I came back to Yun Dian first."

In the receiver, silence stretched for two seconds before a deep voice questioned, "Why didn't you accompany her?" Cheng Feng muttered aggrievedly, "Madam didn't instruct me to follow. She only said to contact me if the car was needed..." The man ended the call, his fingers tightening around the cigarette. His dark, deep eyes narrowed. An Tong always kept her phone close; missing calls was unlikely. Moreover, she probably wasn't staying at Su Ji's, as the latter would still need to accompany her mother in the hospital. Rong Shen pondered briefly and arrived at a guess: either an unforeseen event occurred, or... the matter concerned him. Recalling the evening An Tong had chatted with Su Ji, when her phone kept vibrating but the girl never glanced at it in his presence. Rong Shen took a drag on his cigarette, his jawline tightening.

In the afternoon at one o'clock, the business vehicle left Yunhai Road, heading back to Zhan Zhou. Although An Tong had not called Rong Shen back, she sent him a WeChat message, stating she would return in the afternoon. Her mind was a whirlpool of confusion. Long hours of speculation had not clarified the truth but trapped her in self-doubt. Cheng Feng, from the moment he entered the car, stole glances at An Tong through the rearview mirror. She looked weighed down with cares. "Little An, did you... encounter any trouble?" An Tong's vacant gaze shifted from the window back to the driver, focusing. "No." "That's good." Cheng Feng disbelieved and probed further, "Didn't quarrel with Ninth Young Master?" An Tong lowered her head, touching her fingertips. After a moment's hesitation, she went straight to the point, "What does he do at the health center in Zhan Zhou?" Cheng Feng's eyes widened in shock. "... This was a deadly question. Not only did Ninth Young Master not work there, even if he did, no one would dare assign him duties. After several seconds of internal struggle, Cheng Feng could only hedge, "This... I don't know much about." An Tong weakly lifted her eyelids. "Aren't you his driver?" Cheng Feng smiled awkwardly and improvised, "Yes, I'm the driver, but I only drive usually and rarely enter the office." "Oh..." An Tong sighed disinterestedly, "Your qualifications are excellent. If you apply yourself, you could sit in the office." Cheng Feng answered smoothly, "Positions don't have high or low, noble or humble, as long as one can earn money." An Tong couldn't extract useful information from Cheng Feng. She sighed deeply and fell silent.

Due to a traffic jam on the highway, the business vehicle returned to the Xiangzhan Yue Mansion villa only at six in the evening. An Tong alighted from the car, gazing at the stairs before the villa door, lips pursed in silence. Simultaneously, a tall, upright figure reflected in the window inside. Their gazes met across the distance. An Tong lowered her head and walked in silently. Cheng Feng sat in the car, watching quietly, wondering how Ninth Young Master would handle this 'crisis.' In the brief stop at the highway service area, he had already given a preemptive warning to Ninth Young Master. An Tong questioning his position likely stemmed from rumors heard from the loud Su Ji. In the living room, An Tong stood in the center holding her luggage bag, staring fixedly at the handsome, otherworldly Rong Shen. The problem troubling her for two days suddenly resolved, as if the clouds parted and the sun appeared. What she loved was not the psychological therapist Rong Shen, but the man before her carrying the smoke of worldly life.

Rong Shen tucked one hand in his pocket, observing her stifled demeanor, and curved his lips. "Why don't you come here?" An Tong set down the luggage bag and walked to the man, asking bluntly, "Can you continue practicing as a psychological therapist in the future?" Rong Shen lifted her chin with one hand, gazing intently into her eyes. After a moment, the man's throat bobbed. His thumb stroked her cheek, his eyes revealing comprehension. "Why ask that?" An Tong bit her lip and said slowly, "During the consultation period, therapists cannot develop romantic relationships with their patients. If I..." "Who told you we are in a consulting relationship? Hmm?" An Tong froze, staring at the man whose faint smile was not mocking, and after some time regained her voice, "Isn't it? I paid at the health center, so the transactional relationship was established..." Rong Shen placed his palm on her head, raising an eyebrow with a smile, "Do you remember how many times I charged you at the health center?" "Probably only once." An Tong said while thinking, "But I gave you a card as well..." At that instant, the smile at the corner of the man's mouth grew more pronounced, "What does the billing detail say? Do you still remember?" "Consultation service fee." An Tong, relying on her extraordinary memory, stated without hesitation the list item that had flashed by.