CH 220

After all the hospital specialists had left, only five people remained in the office.

For about half a minute, no one spoke.

The director touched the doctor’s desk and was the first to speak. “Zhang Ping, you and Xiao Chen—the two of you go out.”

The person who was named felt relieved and stood up to prepare to leave.

Lin Chen rubbed his forehead and said to Secretary Chen, “Could you please help us find two sets of clean clothes? I have them in my ward.”

“What are you going to do, Lin Chen?” The director blew his beard and stared, suddenly understanding. “You want to involve yourself in the interview with the reporters?”

“You easily catch on,” Lin Chen said calmly.

“Is this the tone you use to talk to your boss’ boss?” The director angrily said. “This was originally my job, and you want to take over everything.”

“At the barbecue stall, crazy diners bit each other, and even a police officer was killed. Have you ever thought that if this is not handled properly, it could easily become a serious crisis of public trust? Do you think the killer’s goal isn’t related to this?” The director’s face was uncertain, but Lin Chen seemed not to have noticed and was only observing Xing Conglian’s expression. He said to Xing Conglian, “The reason why government crisis public relations are important is that rumors themselves may be more terrifying than the case.”

“What’s the point of you talking if you can’t persuade anyone? Maybe you’ll offend all the media as soon as you appear!” The director continued to mutter. “If it doesn’t work, just issue a gag order.”

“This is different from a normal case. The more it is silenced, the more the public’s imagination will run wild,” Lin Chen continued.

“Are you saying that only you can handle this?”

“Please trust me.”

“Lin Chen, I’m old, and my heart isn’t good. Take it easy.” The director finally relented and asked, “How do you plan to deal with the details of the case when the media asks?”

“It’s still under investigation.”

“Why were so many police officers carrying out arrests in the Drum Tower Community and suddenly encountering such a situation? Why didn’t the police stop the tragedy from happening in advance?”

“Your questions are tricky, and I don’t know how to answer them for now.”

“Is this your response?”

“I will ask Captain Xing for the specific details.” Lin Chen turned to the old director and said, “He didn’t say no, so don’t argue with him.”

Xing Conglian had no emotions on his face earlier, but with these words, he finally came to his senses. “Wait, when did I agree?”

Lin Chen touched his face and just said, “Be good.”

Xing Conglian pursed his lips and looked fierce. He was a typical figure of great dignity when serious, and now he appeared even more imposing.

Just then, the old director’s phone suddenly rang. He was very annoyed and picked it up to see the screen flashing the two words “Huang Ze”.

When the old director was in a bad mood, he wasn’t very friendly towards Young Master Huang either. Huang Ze said something on the other end of the phone, and the old director shouted, “What’s wrong with firing two shots during a disturbance? If you don’t shoot, the number of people who die will have a zero added to the end. Are you taking responsibility, or am I?”

Huang Ze seemed to be saying something else, but the old director continued, “What’s the use of coming? I feel like your inspectorate is like a hunting dog that barks at the smell of blood. Our front-line police officers are charging ahead, while behind them is a pack of hounds and eagles chasing and biting at them. It’s chilling just to hear about it!”

After finishing his words, the old director hung up the phone without giving Huang Ze any face.

Hearing this, Lin Chen couldn’t help but turn to Xing Conglian and say, “It’s okay to beat up Huang Ze, but don’t kill him.”

Xing Conglian had already been holding back, and he was about to speak when the office door was pushed open again. Secretary Chen quickly brought two sets of clean clothes from somewhere, handing them to Xing Conglian as he said, “Captain, Officer An’s family has arrived.”

Lin Chen’s heart sank. Director Wu had already gotten up, and Xing Conglian was also about to stand up. Seeing this, the old director stared at Xing Conglian. “Do you have to be in front of everything? This is something I need to handle!” He looked at the bloodstained clothes on Xing Conglian’s body and blocked everything Xing Conglian was going to say. “Are you going to see Officer An’s family covered in blood? Hurry up and change your clothes.”

After speaking, the old director left in a hurry, and Secretary Chen followed suit.

The old director acted decisively, as if everything had happened in the blink of an eye. When the office door closed, Lin Chen took a deep look at Xing Conglian, then turned around and locked the door to the doctor’s office and turned off the lights.

“Change your clothes,” Lin Chen said to Xing Conglian.

Xing Conglian didn’t move. Lin Chen looked around the room and saw a curtain surrounding a medical bed. He pulled Xing Conglian over and brushed the curtain shut before forcibly pressing him onto the bed.

As he got closer, the strong smell of blood from Xing Conglian’s body hit him. In the faint light coming through the glass on the door, he began to unbutton Xing Conglian’s shirt without hesitation.

Xing Conglian held down his hand.

Lin Chen broke away from Xing Conglian’s hand and unbuttoned the second button of his shirt without hesitation. “Because of the lighting, the bad guys in the corridor can hardly see what’s happening in the dark, so don’t worry about anyone seeing us.”

Xing Conglian remained silent.

Lin Chen placed his hand on Xing Conglian’s chest but suddenly didn’t know what else to say. At that moment, Xing Conglian’s hand gently enveloped his stiff fingers.

“Lin Chen,” Xing Conglian’s low voice rang out in the space where they could barely see each other’s faces.

“What’s wrong?”

“Your hand is shaking.”

Lin Chen finally stopped and couldn’t help taking a deep breath. He withdrew his hand and took a step back, then started to unbutton his patient gown.

The sound of fabric rubbing against fabric filled the room as Xing Conglian quickly took off his shirt. Lin Chen reached for the clean clothes on the bed, but Xing Conglian’s hand covered his again.

“Lin Chen, let’s talk.”

“What do you want to talk about?” Lin Chen turned his head and looked in the direction where Xing Conglian was speaking.

Xing Conglian was about to speak when Lin Chen suddenly pushed him onto the bed and leaned over him, his hands passing through Xing Conglian’s armpits to hold him tightly.

They were both naked. Lin Chen felt the many scars on Xing Conglian’s skin, thick and thin. They didn’t kiss, but Lin Chen just held Xing Conglian tightly, his fingers almost embedding themselves in Xing Conglian’s shoulders. He could feel Xing Conglian’s icy body gradually warming up, and his stiff muscles relaxing. Finally, Xing Conglian’s hand gently rested on his waist.

“Don’t say anything about how this is inappropriate right now,” Lin Chen propped himself up a bit and said to Xing Conglian, nose to nose. “The world won’t be missing these five minutes even if it ends.”

“Sorry, I didn’t have time to call you just now.” Xing Conglian’s voice became more relaxed.

“Why apologize? Are you apologizing because you think you scared me or for some other reason?” Lin Chen asked. “Am I that fragile?”

Xing Conglian just stared at him and said, word for word, “I’m just very worried about you.”

Lin Chen quickly replied, “Worried about me? When I heard the news that the arrest had gone wrong and saw you covered in blood in front of me, I was almost scared to death. And professionally speaking, for about half a minute, I didn’t have the time to think about anyone else. I thought of hundreds of sentences to make you feel better, but suddenly I became clear-headed and remembered that I was facing Xing Conglian, not a patient or a visitor. He’s very powerful and doesn’t need any comfort from me. Then I became confused again. I’ve been trying to stay calm, like I am now, but you can see that my hands are trembling, and my speech is faster than usual. I’m telling you all this to make you understand that… “

“Lin Chen…” Xing Conglian gently stroked his back.

Lin Chen paused for a moment and began to speak in an extremely calm tone to Xing Conglian. “That everyone will have a corresponding stress response after trauma. There are almost no humans who are completely unaffected, even if they are psychopaths or those with anti-social personality disorders.” He turned Xing Conglian’s head and forced him to listen to every word he said. “I will become unprofessional and lose my calm because of you, and you will also not be able to handle everything perfectly in some sudden situations. This is all normal, and we must face it rather than telling ourselves that we are strong and can get through it, which is meaningless.”

Xing Conglian blinked; his curled eyelashes covered by a faint light.

Lin Chen lowered his head and kissed the eyes of the person on the hospital bed, whispering, “Listen, we are not omnipotent.”

Xing Conglian was no longer as numb as before. He took a deep breath and pointed to his ear, saying in a slow voice, “I understand, Consultant Lin.”

Lin Chen nodded, ready to climb off Xing Conglian’s body, but Xing Conglian suddenly pressed his back and pushed him against his chest.

Xing Conglian held him tightly, to the point where he could only maintain this posture, leaning against Xing Conglian’s flat chest, listening to the sound of Xing Conglian’s heart beating more and more slowly, although this calmness may also be his illusion. However, Lin Chen still felt that it was good; even if it was the end of the world, they could get through it.

“Lin Chen.” Xing Conglian sighed.

“What’s wrong now?”

“I want to say thank you, but I feel like it’s too cheesy,” Xing Conglian said.

Lin Chen suddenly felt like laughing, it was so difficult, yet so funny. He stroked Xing Conglian’s face, climbed off him, and as he was about to grope for the clothes on the bed that might have been messed up by them, he suddenly heard the person lying on the hospital bed say in a very quiet voice, “I love you.”

Xing Conglian didn’t move, and Lin Chen thought he was hearing things. He looked down at the person on the bed, who just sat up, reached out to touch the back of his neck, gently kissed his lips, and said again in an ordinary tone, “I love you.”

Lin Chen struggled to describe his feelings at that moment. It was so sudden and yet so ordinary. He picked up the clothes on the bed and put them on, calmly saying, “I love you too.”

All the hugs and confessions ended quickly. Lin Chen had imagined that it would take about five minutes, but when Xing Conglian let go of him, only about a minute had passed. This gave Lin Chen the illusion that he wanted to give back the minute Xing Conglian had left.

They sat on a hospital bed and quickly changed into clean clothes. The noise and clamor from the corridor seemed to rush back into the office as soon as they separated.

Lin Chen buttoned up his shirt. He had thought many times about what love was or should be and why humans needed such a thing.

But as he looked at the person next to him carefully buttoning up his clothes, he suddenly understood.

Perhaps it was because there were too many unexpected difficulties in life, it was good to have a companion to support each other.

Kinky Thoughts:

Note: Xing Conglian did say [wo ai ni] (我爱你).