Chapter 24: Two Beauties Want to Come Home With Me!

A young nurse in uniform hurried down the corridor. Jiang Cheng recognized her immediately—she was the same nurse he had met downstairs earlier.

The nurse scrutinized him from a distance. "Wait? Is it you? You’re the handsome guy from downstairs! Hold on... don’t tell me you’re the one who said Dr. Li examined your eyes this morning?"

Recognizing him and recalling the earlier phone conversation, the nurse’s expression shifted. Jiang Cheng nodded. "I’m certain! The doctor I saw this morning was the same Dr. Li I ran into downstairs, the one with mental health issues. But this morning, he didn’t seem to have any issues at all! We even chatted for a long time."

As far as Jiang Cheng was concerned, the doctor had been perfectly normal during the examination. He didn't look like someone with a mental disorder at all.

The nurse’s expression turned solemn. She sighed. "To be honest, Dr. Li’s condition started a week ago. He’s been receiving treatment in our psychiatric ward ever since. But you know, we can't keep an eye on him every single second. If you saw him this morning, it must have been during a lucid interval."

Jiang Cheng looked puzzled. "So, he’s not completely insane? He has moments of clarity?"

The nurse nodded. "Yes. Most of the time, Dr. Li is in a state of mental confusion, but occasionally he becomes clear-headed. Perhaps he returned to his old post during one of those moments."

Murong Xue and Shen Sining burst into giggles. Jiang Cheng shot a glare at Murong Xue. He knew exactly what they were laughing at: a sane man had let a psychiatric patient examine his eyes and spent half the morning chatting with him. Even to Jiang Cheng, the situation felt absurd.

"Miss, may I see Dr. Li?" Jiang Cheng asked.

The nurse agreed and led them to a patient room. Murong Xue scoffed at Jiang Cheng’s behavior, muttering under her breath, "This jerk, is he brain-damaged? Following a mental patient around! I don't get what he's thinking." Still, she followed along.

Shen Sining tugged at her arm and whispered, "Sister Murong, Brother Cheng is a good person! Please don't be so hostile toward him."

Murong Xue blinked and gave Shen Sining a long, careful look. "Tell me, Sining, you haven't fallen for this guy, have you? Why are you always sticking up for him? I’m your best friend!"

Shen Sining’s face flushed. "I..." After a long silence, she thought of something. Biting her lip, she leaned in and asked shyly, "Sister Murong, Brother Cheng said he wanted to be... a live-in son-in-law at our place. Does that count as a confession?"

She was a blank slate when it came to romance and wanted to consult Murong Xue.

"What? That jerk! A toad wanting to eat swan meat? No way, absolutely not! How could someone like him be worthy of you?" A strange tightness gripped Murong Xue’s heart.

"But Brother Cheng is really capable! With the four stones he picked, I earned five million. And do you know? He even scammed a hundred thousand Long coins out of a con artist. He treated me to a meal, and he didn't mind when I packed the leftovers, and also..." Eager to prove Jiang Cheng wasn't a "toad," Sining went on and on about his virtues. She didn't notice the expression on Murong Xue’s face shifting from disdain to shock, and finally, to deep contemplation.

As Sining spoke, her eyes sparkled with admiration. Murong Xue found herself becoming increasingly interested in this man.

Meanwhile, inside the room, Dr. Li sat on his bed, drawing on a sketchbook. He didn't notice the group enter, continuing to draw in his own world. Jiang Cheng glanced at the scattered papers on the bed. It looked like abstract Picasso—he couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Suddenly, Jiang Cheng’s eyes widened. On one of the sheets, he saw a chilling image: a woman in a red dress. The drawing was distorted, but he was certain it was a woman in red. Memories of the night of his car accident flooded his mind. It was her! It had to be her doing!

"Tell me! Who is this woman? Who is she?" Jiang Cheng lost control, grabbing Dr. Li by the collar and roaring.

"Hee hee hee, Xiao Ming, let’s hide! Don't let the teacher find us, or she'll spank you!" Dr. Li bared his teeth in a childish, vacant grin.

The nurse was startled and rushed to pull Jiang Cheng away. "Sir! Let go, you’ll scare him!"

Shen Sining hurried over, grabbing his arm. "Brother Cheng, what’s wrong? Are you okay?"

Murong Xue frowned, looking at Jiang Cheng with growing concern. Seeing the doctor’s childish behavior, Jiang Cheng sighed and forced himself to calm down. Even if he could get an answer, how much of it would be credible?

He released the collar and channeled his focus to examine the doctor. Indeed, he saw a cloud of energy between Dr. Li’s eyebrows. It was colorless, almost transparent, clear and vibrant like mountain spring water. Jiang Cheng’s brow furrowed. What was this? Gray energy represented illness, and logically, the doctor’s mental state should manifest as gray energy.

He glanced back at Murong Xue. Sure enough, after three seconds, a thick, ink-like black mass appeared at her brow. It seemed slightly faded compared to before, and the uncomfortable sensation it gave him had lessened. He checked other patients, and to his surprise, their energy was indeed gray—the color of sickness. Why was Dr. Li’s transparent?

Jiang Cheng’s head spun. Unable to find an answer, he decided not to dwell on it. There were many things in this world he didn't understand—the black energy on Murong Xue, his own ocular abilities, and the woman in red. His eyes had changed after meeting her. What had she forced into his mouth? Was that what granted him his power to see the value of all things? If so, he actually owed her a debt of gratitude. But what was her agenda?

After a moment of thought, he added the nurse on WeChat and transferred her twenty thousand, asking her to keep him updated on Dr. Li’s daily activities. Seeing that Jiang Cheng was handsome, generous, and offering easy money, the nurse agreed without hesitation.

Jiang Cheng left the hospital, his mind heavy, and returned to the back street to find his pickup truck. Gu Zhixia and Qin Xiaoshu had already left. Murong Xue and Shen Sining followed him closely. When he climbed into the truck, the two girls followed suit.

"Look, Miss Murong, are you done yet? I’m going home. Are you following me there too?"

"I am going home with you," Murong Xue stated flatly. Her motivation had shifted from necessity to genuine, intense curiosity about the mysteries surrounding him.

"What? Did I hear that right? I know I’m handsome, but can you not be so direct?"

"What? A beauty like me wants to go home with you, and you’re complaining?" Murong Xue retorted with a glare.

"I’m not happy! I have my privacy, okay? Besides, don't you need to sleep?" Jiang Cheng snapped.

"If I leave, I’ll just collapse on the street! Jiang Cheng, why are you so stingy? I’m a weak woman with a strange illness; are you just going to let me die? Do you have no conscience?" She pouted, looking pitiful. Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes—the woman’s acting skills were wasted on him.

"Fine, fine! I’m afraid of you. Miss Murong, I’ll take you home, you sleep, and I’ll pick you up tomorrow. You can follow me all you want then, okay? You can’t keep going without sleep!"

"No. If I go back and you don't show up tomorrow, I might just sleep forever. No, I’m coming home with you."

"My place is tiny, one room. Are we going to share a bed?" Jiang Cheng teased.

"Stop talking nonsense! I’ll take the bed, you take the floor!"

"Aren't you afraid I’ll lose control in the middle of the night and do *something* to you?" Jiang Cheng gave a lecherous smirk.

"That’s why I decided—Sining is coming with me!"

"Wait, me?" Shen Sining blinked.

"What’s that reaction, Sining? You expect me to go home with him alone? We’re best friends!"

"Oh! Okay! Sister Murong, I’ll go with you!" Shen Sining nodded with a smile.

*What? Sining, you’re in on this too?* Two beauties wanting to go home with him and share a room? Jiang Cheng was stunned. He couldn't tell if this was a blessing or a curse.