Translator: Cinder Translations
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Jiang Cheng sighed theatrically. "I didn't understand at first either, but now that I think about it, she might have a mild case of Stockholm syndrome, also known as the hostage complex, so I think..."
Fatty felt a sudden jolt in his heart. "What do you mean?"
"I think she might be into me," Jiang Cheng said with a bit of helplessness.
Fatty: "..."
After waiting for a while and realizing Fatty hadn't said anything, Jiang Cheng turned his head and asked, "Why aren't you saying anything?"
Fatty took a deep breath, "Let me calm down first."
Just as Jiang Cheng was eagerly about to analyze how Chen Xiaomeng's feelings for him weren't just because he was handsome, his stomach let out an unintentional "grumble."
Fatty immediately perked up and asked if Jiang Cheng was hungry, offering to make some food.
Remembering Fatty's decent cooking skills during their mission, Jiang Cheng nodded and pointed toward the kitchen. Fatty dashed off as if fleeing.
People often say that psychiatrists aren't entirely mentally sound, and now Fatty finally believed it.
Jiang Cheng rarely cooked, and his fridge was mostly stocked with frozen foods. In the corner, there was even a box of "Kang Shuaifu" instant noodles, bought during a supermarket sale.
After half an hour of effort, Fatty managed to throw together two dishes.
There wasn't any main course, so he opened a few packs of instant noodles and stir-fried them. Once served, Jiang Cheng quickly devoured more than half of the meal on his own.
"Doctor," Fatty said after taking a bite of noodles and putting down his bowl, "Do you live here alone?"
Jiang Cheng picked up the last bits of food from the plate, shoveled them into his mouth, and wiped his mouth with a tissue. Nodding, he said, "Most of the time, yes, and I don't plan on taking anyone in."
Fatty looked crestfallen. "Doctor, don't be like that. I may not be as wise or as handsome as you, but I've done all sorts of jobs. I could definitely help out."
Jiang Cheng glanced at the empty bowls on the table as if seriously considering it, but didn't respond right away.
Fatty thought he saw an opportunity and became excited. "Doctor, you don't have to decide right away. Just think about it. I'm really useful!"
"We'll talk about it tomorrow," Jiang Cheng said, stretching his slightly stiff neck. "I'm tired. Let's go to sleep."
Fatty quickly cleaned up the dishes and took them to the kitchen, and the sound of running water came as he washed up. "Doctor, you go to bed first. I'll just sleep on the couch for the night."
But when Fatty finished washing the dishes and walked out of the kitchen, shaking the water from his hands, he found Jiang Cheng sitting on the sofa, unmoving.
"Doctor," Fatty asked, puzzled, "Is something wrong?"
Jiang Cheng looked him up and down and raised an eyebrow, "You should sleep upstairs too. I'm afraid of the dark."
Fatty froze and immediately seemed to think of something unpleasant. He panicked, "Doctor, I'm not that kind of easy person!"
"You're not?"
Fatty thought for a moment and firmly declared, "Absolutely not!"
"Alright then," Jiang Cheng replied naturally, standing up without the slightest sign of insistence. He walked toward the stairs and started climbing. As his figure was about to disappear, he paused and looked back at Fatty. "Be careful tonight," he said, pointing to the opposite wall. "In my dream, there's a door that appears right there. And unlike you, I didn't walk through it myself; I was dragged in by a giant ghostly hand that reached out from inside."
With that, Jiang Cheng turned and went upstairs without looking back.
After Jiang Cheng left, Fatty sat alone on the sofa, staring at the wall, feeling restless.
He couldn't tell if Jiang Cheng was serious. This was someone who didn't play by the rules, but in some sense, he was trustworthy—at least he had brought Fatty out of the nightmare world alive.
Every time Fatty closed his eyes, he imagined that iron door appearing again, followed by a giant, clawed ghost hand reaching out.
Pale-faced, Fatty lasted less than five minutes downstairs before he ran up the stairs, where he found Jiang Cheng leaning against the stair railing, apparently waiting for him.
Before Fatty could speak, Jiang Cheng said, "You sleep in the living room. I'll sleep inside."
Fatty followed Jiang Cheng's gaze and saw a door, separating a small living room from what was likely the bedroom.
"Doctor," Fatty said righteously, "If you're really afraid of the dark, I can consider squeezing in with you."
Lying on the mattress, Jiang Cheng wasn't very sleepy. He half-closed his eyes, staring at the empty ceiling, while scenes from the nightmare kept replaying in his mind.
Fatty was in the living room. He had suggested not closing the door so they could look out for each other.
But Jiang Cheng didn't feel the need for such care, so he politely declined. Not only did he close the door as usual, but he also locked it.
Leaving a stranger downstairs made him uneasy, so Fatty had to stay upstairs.
Recalling the recent events, Jiang Cheng naturally thought of the missing Hu Yan, and her sister who had disappeared before her.
Their disappearances were likely connected to this so-called nightmare.
According to Fan Li, those who died in the nightmare were simply "missing" in the real world.
Mysterious, unexplainable disappearances.
Hu Yan's missing person notice clearly stated that she vanished late at night, wearing light pink silk pajamas when it happened.
Even her husband, who had been sleeping right next to her, didn't notice a thing.
The middle-aged man who had died first during the nightmare mission had once asked how to escape the nightmare entirely. Fan Li had dismissed him for asking such a foolish question.
But Jiang Cheng believed there must be a way out of the nightmare. It's just that people like Fan Li, or that middle-aged man, either didn't know or weren't willing to share the secret.
As he pondered this, sleep gradually overtook him. Jiang Cheng didn't resist it and let himself drift off.
His physical strength, drained by the nightmare, had returned once the nightmare ended, but his mental exhaustion remained. This time, he slept deeply.
Half-awake, he heard a clanging sound, like someone hammering nails or doing renovations nearby. The floor even seemed to vibrate slightly.
He turned over, curled up, pulled the blanket over his head, and went back to sleep.
What finally forced him to open his eyes was a knock on the door.
"Doctor," Fatty's loud voice came from outside the bedroom door, "Are you awake?"
After getting up, Jiang Cheng quickly tidied himself up and opened the door.
The living room outside was empty, with no sign of Fatty. Jiang Cheng walked downstairs.
His phone showed that it was already 11 a.m. He hadn't expected to sleep until noon, and his head still felt a little groggy.
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What happened Next?
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