Dr. Jiang

Hearing the sound of footsteps downstairs, Fatty poked his head out of the kitchen. "Doctor, please have a seat for a while. Dinner will be ready soon."

Jiang Cheng mumbled an "Mm," and walked to the sofa to sit down. The events of last night were sometimes clear, sometimes fragmented in his mind, giving him a slight headache.

He looked up and realized the office seemed to have been repaired.

The shelf holding patient files had previously shown signs of collapsing on one side, and Jiang Cheng, to save trouble, had simply used wide tape to hold it together.

Now, the tape was gone. Two long nails had been hammered into the broken spot for reinforcement, and the rust on the metal clamps of the shelf had also been cleaned off.

The messy wires along the wall and overhead had been carefully separated and neatly secured in their proper places.

A folded ladder was leaning against the wall, with a piece of paper tucked in between to prevent it from dirtying the wall.

On the floor by the desk lay a piece of old newspaper, with a hammer, a pair of blunt scissors, a roll of black electrical tape, and metal nails of various sizes placed on top.

It seemed this was the source of the clanging sounds from early this morning.

"Doctor," Fatty's voice came from the kitchen, accompanied by the sound of running water, making it sound lively and busy. "Do you eat spicy food? I made scallion ribs."

"Yes," Jiang Cheng shouted back. "But use a little less. I'm going through puberty, prone to acne."

Fatty's movements in the kitchen visibly paused for a moment, but quickly resumed.

As Jiang Cheng leaned back on the sofa, his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket. He took it out, glanced at it, and swiped right to answer.

"Doctor Jiang," a young male voice came from the other end of the line. "Are you at the studio now?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll be right over," the man said joyfully. "I'm nearby, about half an hour."

"Okay," Jiang Cheng nodded and hung up the phone.

Fatty happened to be carrying a pot out, the edge of which was very hot. He tore off some paper towels to wrap around the rim.

Even so, he walked over quickly, and after putting the pot down, he couldn't help but immediately pull his hand back, his thick fingers slightly reddened.

Noticing Jiang Cheng looking at him, Fatty chuckled sheepishly, saying he couldn't find anything like a basin, so he had to make do.

"There are rags in the kitchen," Jiang Cheng suddenly said.

Fatty froze for a moment, then after a few seconds, realized Jiang Cheng was talking about his burnt fingers. He was touched and said with teary eyes, "Doctor, thank you."

Unexpectedly, Jiang Cheng stared at the used paper towels and pouted, "Paper towels don't grow on trees, and you used so much at once."

"."

Despite his words, Fatty's cooking was indeed impeccable. Jiang Cheng ate more than half the pot of ribs by himself and had two large bowls of rice.

If Fatty hadn't quickly snatched the last rib, Jiang Cheng might not have even known what his own cooking tasted like.

"How was it?" Fatty looked at Jiang Cheng expectantly. "Doctor, my cooking is okay, right? I learned from the head chef at Zuixianlou back in the day. I was his apprentice."

Jiang Cheng put down his bowl and wiped the oil stains from the scallion ribs with a paper towel. "Average," he said. He let out a sudden hiccup, and after calming down, continued, "But I figured you worked so hard, I didn't want you to feel bad if I didn't eat much."

Fatty couldn't hide his disappointment and quietly put away the pot and bowls, returning to the kitchen.

Jiang Cheng looked at the table, which was so clean it could almost reflect a person's image, and suddenly said, "Fatty?"

The sounds from the kitchen paused. After a long moment, Fatty's voice came out, "Doctor, are you calling me?"

"I have a client coming over later," Jiang Cheng's voice was extremely calm, with a hint of unquestionable authority. "So I need you to..."

Fatty sighed. Ten seconds later, he replied, "I understand. I'll leave after I finish cleaning up." He paused. "Regardless, thank you, Doctor, for helping me with my nightmares."

Not long after, Fatty came out of the kitchen with his hands dried. Jiang Cheng was leaning on the sofa, and only opened his eyes when he saw Fatty approaching.

Fatty took his work coat from the hanger and put it back on. Just as he was about to say something, Jiang Cheng interrupted him, saying slowly, "There's a large supermarket nearby. They have a complete selection of ingredients, and most importantly, they're cheap."

Fatty frowned in confusion, just as he always did when he couldn't understand the man in front of him.

"I want stewed ribs for dinner tonight," Jiang Cheng said shamelessly. "Since stewing takes a lot of time, you need to go and come back quickly."

The confusion on Fatty's face gradually turned into excitement. He repeatedly agreed, "Don't worry, Doctor."

A moment later, Fatty vanished before Jiang Cheng like a gust of wind. Jiang Cheng stood up and walked to the file shelf. He ran his finger over the files, quickly pulling one out.

The cover of the file read "Hu Yan."

Opening the file, it detailed Hu Yan's performance when she was here. It was quite detailed, even recording her leg-shaking movements and how her gaze repeatedly darted towards a certain direction during their conversation, appearing extremely vigilant.

The direction she looked was towards the door.

Hu Yan disappeared after dreaming of a door. According to her, her sister did too. This was similar to Jiang Cheng's experience, but also different.

At least Hu Yan and her sister were able to convey the message about dreaming of a door. Her sister told Hu Yan on the phone, and Hu Yan told Jiang Cheng face-to-face. This meant they didn't immediately enter the door after dreaming of it.

But Jiang Cheng and Fatty were different. The moment they dreamed of the door, they entered the nightmare world.

When the knock on the door sounded, Jiang Cheng was sitting at his desk, flipping through another file. Without looking up, he said, "Please come in."

The door opened, and a very young man entered.

He was wearing a full Armani suit, tortoise-shell glasses, a shirt with a gold-embroidered collar, a blue and white striped tie, and a pair of brown leather shoes that made a light "thump-thump" sound on the old floor.

"Doctor Jiang," the young man, who exuded an aura of his own, smiled, ruining his image. Whether intentionally or not, his hair was parted in the middle, resembling a guide in a war movie.

He bowed slightly, his face full of subservience.

Jiang Cheng slowly put down the file in his hand and then looked up at him. "Pi Ruan, is this about your girlfriend again?"

"Yes," the young man said with a fawning smile. "I'm so worried about this matter, so I've come to see you again, Doctor Jiang."