Watchmen

Watchmen Chapter 13: Showdown

The taxi detoured past the Black Tortoise lake from the south, and onto Dragon Coil road, heading north. They made a left turn into a villa area and finally stopped in front of a two-story building.

Jiu Jie looked at the european-style two-story villa and asked, “Is this your house?”

“This is my office, I usually work here. Come in and sit.”

Gu Shi Chen gestured for Jiu Jie to enter after saying so.

In front of the building was a courtyard of about ten square metres that was growing simple flowers. The plants had dried up though, with the garden filled with weeds. It was obvious that Gu Shi Chen didn’t have time to take care of them.

Right after entering the gates, there was a veranda connecting to the second level. It wasn’t very big, it only had a wall clock that reached the ground. The time was just past one o’clock. The floor was decorated with alternating black and white ceramic tiles. There were a few doors on the first level, and a curved staircase up to the second level.

When the two of them entered the house, a middle-aged woman in uniform suddenly came out from the adjacent room. She then turned toward Gu Shi Chen, and said, “Miss, you’ve returned.”

Gu Shi Chen made a noise of a.s.sent, then asked, “Aunt Liu, are there any appointments for today?”
Aunt Liu flipped through the planner in her hands before replying, “There are two patients. One at three pm, the other one at seven pm. Both need further diagnosis.”

Gu Shi Chen nodded her head, “Got it.”

After that, she asked Jiu Jie, “What do you want to drink?”

Jiu Jie casually replied, “Anything is fine. Anything.”

“Aunt Liu, one gla.s.s of coffee and one gla.s.s of water. Send it to my room in a while.”

“Understood. Miss, are there any more orders?”

“No, go do your things. When I need something, I’ll call you.”

Finished speaking, Gu Shi Chen entered the room beside her and Jiu Jie followed.

The room was very s.p.a.cious, around seventy square metres, and split into an outdoor and indoor portion. The indoor one was small, while the outdoor was large. They were connected, and the middle had no door. The whole room was furnished with european-style furniture, and the indoor portion had a large office table. The outdoor portion had a sofa, bookshelves, and other common furniture.

The room was covered with a very soft and comfortable rug.　　

The interior design was impressive, but concise, with warm colours as the main theme. Placing oneself in the room would inevitably make them able to relax and be comfortable.

“This is my office. Just sit anywhere.” Gu Shi Chen said.

Jiu Jie looked around for a moment, before asking, “Is the whole villa yours?”

Gu Shi Chen nodded, “This whole villa was given to me by Old Gu to live. After I became a psychologist, I was coincidentally missing an office, so I changed it to one.”

“Why do you call your father Old Gu?” Jiu Jie asked.

“That’s not your business.”

“You have an issue with your father, right?”

“Things you shouldn’t ask about, don’t ask.” Gu Shi Chen returned to her icy expression. “In another two hours, a patient will arrive. At that time, go amuse yourself. Besides, this room is my library, but I can lend it to you. If you think that staying in the house is too boring, the Black Tortoise lake is not too far away from here in the west direction. You can go there to

relax.”

Jiu Jie made a noise of a.s.sent as he glimpsed at a photo frame out of the corner of his eye. He casually picked it up to look at it. The picture was of a family of three, a young couple and an innocent and unaffected little girl. The three of them faced the camera while smiling very happily. The man’s face was easily recognizable as a young Gu Shi Tong.

Jiu Jie looked at the picture of the happy family, a certain feeling being stirred up in his heart. He fell silent as he stood there in a daze.
Gu Shi Chen ignored him. She just sat at the office table, flipping through the papers on her desk.
After a long period of time, Jiu Jie lightly placed the photo frame back, and slowly opened his mouth to ask, “Miss Gu, I may be speaking out of turn, but there is nothing more important than familial ties. When your parents are still around, it is the most blissful thing, and it should be treasured. If not, when you lose them one day, it will be too late for regrets.”

“Too late for regrets?” Gu Shi Chen’s head didn’t even lift up. “My family business is none of your concern, you don’t need to b.u.t.t in. You really are nosy.”

Jiu Jie shook his head. “It’s not that I’m nosy, but that I feel sorry for those that don’t know how to count their blessings.”

“Oh? So your parents are no longer around?” Gu Shi Chen asked.

Jiu Jie didn’t answer, and turned to leave instead.

“Do your own thing, I won’t bother you. I’ll go out and have a look.” Jiu Jie said this and was about to leave.

“Wait.”

“What is it? Is there anything else?” Jiu Jie turned his head to ask.

Gu Shi Chen looked up. “I just have to ask you one thing.”

“What is it?”

“Why did you come to Nanjing?”
Jiu Jie laughed bitterly. “I really can’t win. I already said, your father invited me, why don’t you believe me?”

“Old Gu invited you?”

“He invited me to help him with a problem.”

“Help him with what?” Gu Shi Chen continued to ask.

Jiu Jie thought for a bit, before saying, “Your father has a very conscientious person who suffers from a serious psychological disease. It is severe enough that she may take her own life. Me being here is to help treat her.”

“Who’s this person?”

Jiu Jie didn’t answer, just slowly raised his hand and pointed at Gu Shi Chen.

“Me?” Gu Shi Chen was stunned, and immediately let out a startled laugh, shaking her head. “He really is confused. How many times does he need me to say it, i’m not sick.”

“Really? Just like when a drunk person says they’re not drunk.” Jiu Jie said.

“That is to say, you and Old Gu’s viewpoint is the same, you both think I’m sick?”

“No,” Jiu Jie shook his head, “it’s too early to say. I need to observe you first. If not, do you really think that I came here with you because I was scared of Zhen Dou Bi?”
Gu Shi Chen leaned against the chair with her usual icy expression. She asked coldly, “Since it’s like this, what are you preparing to do?”

“I haven’t thought much about it yet, but Uncle Gu had proposed a plan just now.”

“What plan?”

“He wanted me to pretend to be your patient and when you’re treating me, I will reverse the hypnosis onto you.”

“Oh? Then, why did you not follow his words?”

“Because that is against my principles.”

‘What principles?”

“A person needs to be upright. I’ve never lied.”

Gu Shi Chen let out a laugh. “You really are an interesting person.”

Jiu Jie shook his head. “No, once you’ve a.s.sociated with me long enough, you’ll realize I’m very stubborn.”

“Since Old Gu was the one who invited you, then that means you’re also a psychologist? Forgive my lack of knowledge, but I have never seen you before, and I know lots of renowned doctors.”

“I’m not a psychologist, but I’m able to do what many psychologists can’t.”

“For example?”

“For example, peeking into people’s hearts.”

“Oh?” Gu Shi Chen’s curiosity was piqued. “I’m also very confident in this topic. You said that you could do what many psychologists can’t. I wonder if that includes me?”

“I’ve only seen your instant hypnosis once. Speaking truthfully, it’s very amazing. I will admit defeat for that instance. However, in other areas, I have an advantage.”

“You’re referring to?”

“That’s a secret. For the time being, I can’t say.”

Gu Shi Chen stood up, and pa.s.sed the table to arrive in front of Jiu Jie. She sized him up and then said, “Everyone is always like that. They can clearly see through other people, but they are mystified by their own selves.”

“What are you saying?”

“Jiu Jie, you say that you’re here to treat me, but don’t you know that you’re a patient yourself?”

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Jiu Jie was stunned. “I’m a patient?”
　　

“Me? What problem do I have?” Jiu Jie felt that her words were very ridiculous.

“According to what I observed, you strongly suppressed your own moodiness. Even though I’m not clear on the reason, I can feel it, you have vicious intentions in your bones, and intense hatred in your heart. Towards the world, you harbour a strong disgust, but on the surface, you immediately act as a modest person with n.o.ble intentions, painstakingly complying with social ethics and approved virtues. You don’t mean your words, and your heart is full of conflict and confusion. Along with your moodiness, these two emotions are in your heart like two gears going in opposite directions. The stronger they are, the faster they spin, until one day, they will pull you apart. This is very dangerous. If there are no obstructions, and you wait until that day, your suppressed feelings will erupt like a volcano, which will either destroy yourself or destroy all the people around you.

Jiu Jie fell silent for a bit, before sneering back, “Looks like i’m not the only one observing the other.”

“Sorry, it’s a work habit.”

“That’s right, work habit. According to what I know though, you doctors also have another bad habit. You like to add oil and vinegar to the situation, make it more serious, and scare the patient senseless before even thinking about helping.”

“Do you not believe what I said?”

“With no evidence, and relying only on words, I have never believed it.”

“If I can prove it to you?”

“I’ll think about your words seriously then.”

“Fine,” Gu Shi Chen looked at her watch, and noticed it was just past one pm. She said, “Since it’s like this, I’ll give you one treatment of instant hypnosis. Honestly speaking, I’m very interested in how you came to be.”

“Okay, but you really are a rebel.” Jiu Jie said.

“Oh? What do you mean?”

“Treating the person whom your father brought to treat you, is this a demonstration of power against your father?”

“Regardless of how you understand it, Old Gu is very stubborn. If you want to convince him, actions would have a bigger effect than any words.”

“Uncle Gu brought a few people here before, did you also deal with them like this?”

“Almost there. That’s enough, let’s stop talking. I still have a patient in the afternoon. Can we begin?”

Jiu Jie nodded. “Of course. I also don’t like to waste time, let’s begin.”