The Devil Doctor's Spicy Love
Chapter 288: Not quite himself

Chapter 288: Not quite himself

Jia blinked and felt as if that name rang a bell.

Yang Cheng answered, reading her question. "Xie Mulan’s father."

"Oh yes. That’s why the name felt familiar," she nodded.

So they studied together, she thought.

Jia then also recollected how it seemed that Mingshen and Mulan knew each other from before.

"Ah so that’s why..."

"Why what?" Yang Cheng tilted his head.

"You are looking for Mingshen and Xie Mulan’s possible relationship, right? I heard that from her."

"Have you met her?"

"Twice. At the charity event, though I didn’t know it was her because of the mask and then at the bureau the next day when she came to bail out Bai Yingtai. She had asked Mingshen to offer her a date. I don’t think he did that."

"No, he didn’t," he replied without much expression.

Jia suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. Yang Bingqing was someone who openly announced her intentions for Jia to marry Mingshen even though Jia was quite vocal about her disagreement. And here was Yang Cheng who favored a different woman for him.

Ugh wait, so does Uncle find me bothersome?

She tried to smile her best. "I am sorry if I am causing any problems for Miss. Xie. But rest assured, I am not interested in Mingshen that way."

He paused and looked at her. "Why are you apologizing to me?"

"Be-Because she is your good friend’s daughter and so you want Mingshen and her to get together, right?"

He frowned. "No, that’s not the reason."

She blinked again.

"Then?"

He stared at her with an unreadable gaze as if he momentarily stepped into a stupor.

"Uncle?"

He withdrew his gaze and said in a low voice, "I cannot tell you that. I am sorry."

"Oh no, no, please don’t apologize," she slightly panicked. "It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have pushed you. It’s totally okay if you don’t want to say it. I was just naturally curious."

Idiot Jia! Switch off your cop interrogation mode! She berated herself in her mind.

She asked to divert the subject, "Can I look at more pictures?"

"Yes."

Yang Cheng turned over to each and every page, showing her the photos. He wasn’t in many of them and she guessed that he preferred solitude. But in whatever few pictures he was in, Xie Zi Han definitely accompanied him.

She smiled. "It seems like you were not just good friends but best friends."

"I guess so. I only talked to him."

"Your classmates?

"I kept to myself. I didn’t like people much. I still don’t."

"..."

She wondered how he and Yang Bingqing gelled with such stark contrast in their personalities. She saw how Yang Cheng wasn’t very particular about his dressing sense in the pictures, almost shabby, whereas Xie Zi Han was always very prim and proper.

I guess Mingshen got it from Aunt Bingqing then, she coughed.

"Oh this is Big Ben," she pointed at one picture, "You studied in London?"

"Yes."

She beamed. "That’s cool. London is very beautiful, I heard."

"It is," he said. "You want to go there?"

"I would love to have a trip there one day," she sheepishly grinned.

"Mingshen can take you."

Her brow twitched hard. "...I would prefer a trip filled with solitude."

Jia wasn’t sure if she saw an illusion but it felt like Yang Cheng smiled. So very, very, teensy tiny bit that she couldn’t be too sure if he really smiled or not.

W-wait, was he teasing me? Does Uncle really tease people?

"What does Mr. Xie specialize in?"

When she didn’t hear a reply, she looked up at him from the photo album.

"He doesn’t practice medicine," he replied.

"Oh."

The next question that popped into her mind was what was he if he wasn’t a doctor? But she felt that it would be too prying so she let it be.

Yang Cheng promptly closed his photo album and kept it aside. Jia smiled. "Thank you for showing it to me. I really enjoyed looking at them!"

"Hm."

Then he asked, "How is your work going?"

"Oh it’s fine I guess...?" She sighed. "I am looking for a way to get into Huayuan to find a person but..."

"Huayuan won’t let you. Certainly not a cop."

She sighed again. "It’s difficult. But thankfully we still have some leads. I just hope something shows us the way."

"There will. You are an earnest woman. Luck usually finds its way to good people."

She awkwardly smiled. "That’s what I thought during today’s roulette game at the club, but Zhuo Syaoran proved it otherwise."

That name made Yang Cheng oddly silent.

"...You met him?"

Jia felt a slight disturbance in the air. "Yes. Actually, it was the third time in the past few months."

"Mingshen was there too?"

"He refused to leave my side even for a second."

"I see."

It was as if Yang Cheng thought about a particular thought but was already back to his usual self. But in that one moment, Jia had caught a slight tremor in his hand and a faint flicker in his gaze.

Is there something wrong?

Even Mingshen was not...quite himself during the whole roulette game...

"Are you getting decent sleep?" Yang Cheng asked.

Jia stumbled a bit at that question. "Yes, yes, I do."

"You don’t seem well rested to me," he sharply pointed out.

"It’s just the stress of the case..." she nervously chuckled.

He frowned in displeasure. "Do you like when people lie to cops to escape their guilt?"

The corner of her mouth twitched.

"It’s the same with doctors. You cannot protect the society if you don’t get confessions. We cannot protect you if you aren’t honest either."

She sweated. "N-No, I mean-"

"But I guess Mingshen will handle that," he said without much emotion as if he was stating some fact.

"..."

Jia got up and said, "I should go back to my room. Thank you for showing me the photos again."

He gave a slight nod.

Jia headed back the same way she came, her heart feeling very lighter after talking to Yang Cheng. He spoke very little but she still felt like they had a fun conversation.

Uncle Cheng is a quiet man but he is so cool, she smiled.

She stepped in her room and closed the door behind her, but a shadow lurked outside at a distance.

Mingshen stared at the empty space ahead as watched Jia walk in, his gaze not betraying his unreadable thoughts.