Chapter 86: Rest Assured
Rong Shen never managed to say those four words after all. He walked quietly for a short distance, his voice smooth and resonant as he explained, “Huai Nan Road is in a good location. It’s convenient, and suitable for investment.”
An Tong saw nothing amiss and followed up, “Is the Health Center in Zhanzhou far from Xiangzhang Joy Residence?”
A breeze swept past. The man paused ever so slightly, looked sideways with a faint smile, “Not too far.”
Driven by the desire to understand each other better, An Tong’s questions kept coming, “So right now… do you have any other patients?”
The villa by the lake was already in sight, but Rong Shen slowed his pace, smiling at her with deliberate leisure, “Are you afraid I’ll get distracted by other patients and neglect you?”
“No,” An Tong brushed aside a stray lock of hair caught by the wind at her lips, “I was just asking.”
He took her hand again, strolling forward with a gentle smile in his tone, “Other than you, I won’t be taking on any new patients for a while. Does that put your mind at ease?”
An Tong seemed to have had her deepest worry touched, turning her face away, her rebuttal lacking conviction, “I’m not uneasy…”
She couldn’t deny it—she did have her own concerns.
Rong Shen wasn’t just a psychological therapist; he was a cultured, refined, and mature man. Learned and benevolent, the composure and experience he had cultivated over time set him apart from ordinary people.
An Tong knew all too well—even someone with her degree of psychological issues could easily develop feelings for him after spending time together. How much more so for others?
Yet such thoughts could not be voiced directly. This was his profession, and she couldn’t ask him to give it up out of selfishness.
Just then, Rong Shen led An Tong along a garden path. Watching the shifting expressions on her face out of the corner of his eye, he soothed her in a low voice, “If you’re not uneasy, don’t let your imagination run wild. Not every patient gets brought home… and cared for personally.”
As he finished speaking, he tightened his grip on An Tong’s hand, as if conveying a message—don’t undervalue yourself.
An Tong said nothing, but she returned the warm, dry pressure of his palm.
…
As dusk fell, Rong Shen received a phone call. Apparently, he had something to deal with and headed to the study.
An Tong sat idly in the living room, brewed two cups of tea, then went upstairs and knocked on the study door.
“Come in.” At that moment, he stood by the window holding his phone, turning to glance at her as she entered with the tea.
An Tong smiled at him, set down the tray, and pointed to the cups—her meaning clear.
She didn’t intend to linger; after serving the tea, she turned and left.
Rong Shen watched her retreating figure, walked to the desk, picked up a cup and took a sip.
Beyond the rich aroma of the tea, there was a faint, almost undetectable sweetness—a hint of throat-soothing Malva nuts.
…
His subordinate on the other end of the line reported a few more company matters. Rong Shen replied in a deep voice and soon ended the call.
He sat down, gazing at the teacup, lost in thought.
No wonder people say a single lie requires a hundred more to cover it.
He had used his identity as a psychological therapist to lure her into the trap of a marriage agreement.
Now, unexpectedly, he himself was caught in the web he’d spun—a self-made cocoon.
Rubbing his brow, he shook his head and sighed.
It seemed he’d have to put in some effort to change An Tong’s perspective.
…
Elsewhere, An Tong tidied up the tea set in the living room, sat alone for a while, then considered picking up An An. But remembering something else, she rose and returned to her bedroom.
A moment later, she opened her laptop—not setting up her streaming equipment, but logging first into the CodeGod live account.
The persistent buzzing came from backstage fan messages.
An Tong rarely checked her private messages. The last time she did, An An jumped onto the keyboard and accidentally sent a string of gibberish to Marshland.
It had happened suddenly; An Tong scooped up An An and quickly exited the program. Busy with moving afterward, she hadn’t logged in since.
Her expression calm, An Tong clicked into the backstage page, the volume of messages dizzying.
As she was about to return to Personal Center, new messages popped up one after another.
Head123: Master’s online! Is there a stream today?
Your Eyes Have Crumbs: Finally, you’re here! Glad I never gave up.
Marshland: CodeGod, you can’t just flirt and run! Tell me, that message wasn’t gibberish, was it!!!
Seeing these familiar IDs, An Tong’s lips curved unintentionally.
On a whim, she opened Marshland’s private message page, and after a moment’s consideration, replied: Sorry, it was gibberish.
She barely finished before Marshland replied instantly.
Marshland: Only CodeGod could make gibberish look like code—brilliant!
An Tong: “…”
The flattery was a bit too obvious.
…
She didn’t know how to respond and was about to leave it at that, but Marshland’s next words piqued her interest.
Marshland: CodeGod, I don’t know what wind blew today, but you actually replied to me. I’d like to formally invite you to join our tech giant’s R&D team and work with us on technological innovation.
Tech giant.
An Tong immediately recalled the investigation that Shi Ye had helped her avoid.
Could it be the same company?
She pondered for a few seconds, tapping the screen to reply: What kind of R&D?
Marshland: AR augmented reality technology or holographic projection. You can choose the field you’re best at. Our engineers have analyzed your code—most of it forms the underlying structure of AR.
Marshland: CodeGod, if you don’t believe me, you can check my previous messages. A long, long, long… time ago, I invited you.
Marshland: Our tech giant’s global headquarters are overseas, domestic headquarters in Xiangjiang, and branch offices in Zhanzhou, Sui City, and five other cities.
Whatever else, the sincerity of Marshland’s invitation was clear to An Tong.
But what truly moved her was the truth—her code was indeed connected to AR augmented reality technology.
As she watched messages pop up in the chat box, An Tong looked toward the window, as if weighing an important decision.
It wasn’t indecision, but rather… Shi Ye was still holding her eighty-thousand-yuan cash check.
In less than half a minute, Marshland sent over a dozen more messages.
An Tong replied with two words: Wait a moment.
Marshland: Okay, okay, I’m not in a rush. [well-behaved waiting.jpg]
An Tong returned to Personal Center, intending to check if her account balance could be withdrawn by other means, but unexpectedly, she saw a large promotional popup.
—Following CodeGod, the most valuable programming streamer, stunning beauty Yun Yun makes her debut—
Unfazed, An Tong entered Yun Yun’s stream.
The other woman wore a fox mask over the upper half of her face, long black hair draped behind, dressed in a strapless chiffon top, her voice sweet as she coded and flirted with her top supporter for gifts, clearly mastering the secret of capturing online traffic.
(End of chapter)