Chapter 104: Morality

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"My mom's doing well—chemotherapy has been effective. If we find a suitable match next month, it shouldn't be a problem."

Su Ji summed up her mother's condition in one sentence, then gestured for An Tong to sit down while she pulled over a lounge chair, crossed her legs, and sat across from her.

The air of 'interrogation' was unmistakable.

Su Ji's first question: "How far have the two of you gone?"

An Tong had no intention of hiding it—or rather, there was no hiding it anymore.

So she reached into her pocket and pulled out a little red booklet.

Su Ji sucked in a sharp breath, snatched the marriage certificate, flipped it open, and nearly passed out.

"Is this real or fake?"

Her voice wavered, her temples throbbing.

An Tong answered with a distant look: "Real. Issued by the Civil Affairs Bureau."

Su Ji studied the photo in the marriage certificate closely. She had to admit—that hypocrite did clean up rather nicely.

The next second, catching herself, Su Ji suppressed her grudging acknowledgment of his looks and pressed on: "Didn't you say his name was Rong Jiu? Why does it say Rong Shen here?"

An Tong: "Rong Jiu is his former name."

"What era are we in, and people still have former names?" Su Ji grew increasingly skeptical. "Does the household register list 'Rong Jiu' under former names too?"

Now that they were legally married, she'd surely have had a chance to see his household register, right?

An Tong was about to nod, but paused abruptly. She had a good memory; a quick search through her recollections surfaced something.

She pressed her lips together, her voice barely audible. "It doesn't."

Su Ji's expression sharpened, her tone deadly serious: "Unbelievable. You up and got married just like that—do you even know him? Do you know his background? Do you know what he's done?"

An Tong answered stubbornly: "He's very good to me, and he helped transfer me to Zhanke University."

"Whether he's good to you is a separate matter." Su Ji wasn't about to waste more words. She pulled several sheets of A4 paper from under the coffee table. "Read these pages carefully, and tell me what you think when you're done."

"Okay."

An Tong had known Su Ji for years and rarely saw such a solemn expression on her face.

She took the documents and skimmed through them as quickly as she could.

The content was actually quite simple—or rather, it had nothing to do with her at all.

It was an abridged version of a professional ethics handbook for the psychotherapy industry.

Only the final line left a deep impression on An Tong:

—Psychotherapists are bound by clear professional ethics: during the course of treatment, they must not fall in love with their patients. Only after the therapeutic relationship has ended may a different kind of relationship develop.

An Tong sat with the document in her hands, silent for a long, long time. What troubled her wasn't the professional ethics requirement itself, but that one phrase: "must not fall in love with their patients during the course of treatment."

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Seeing her silence, Su Ji felt a knot of unease. "Sweetheart, I'm not trying to scare you, and I'm not trying to break you two up. But you kept saying he's a psychotherapist—if he has even an ounce of moral decency, he shouldn't have—"

Before she could finish, An Tong set down the A4 paper and said in a voice so faint it was nearly imperceptible: "Is us getting married... against the law?"

Su Ji: "..."

Human joys and sorrows are never quite alike, and thought processes even less so.

Su Ji had never anticipated that the point An Tong cared about was whether it was illegal.

She covered the upper half of her face and sighed endlessly. "It's not illegal. It's just professional ethics, not a legal statute. But—"

"Then it's fine." An Tong looked down at her own fingers, carefully recalling every recent moment with Rong Shen. "If I'm no longer his patient, then wouldn't he not be violating his professional ethics?"

Su Ji was stunned into speechlessness by the question, feeling like this wasn't how things were supposed to develop at all.

Still, she nodded in agreement. "Strictly speaking, that's correct."

An Tong let out an "Mm." "Then I'm not his patient anymore."

Su Ji stared flatly: "..."

So that's where she was heading all along?!

The living room fell silent. Unable to bear seeing An Tong so listless, Su Ji walked over and sat down beside her, testing the waters: "Do you like him?"

An Tong nodded without hesitation. "Yes."

"How much? Enough to follow him to Zhanzhou without a second thought?"

An Tong pressed her lips together and said nothing.

Su Ji's voice shot up. "Don't tell me you've already slept together!"

An Tong looked at her sidelong, languidly. "No."

"Thank god, thank god." Su Ji patted her shoulder, exhaling with relief. "At least you haven't lost your head entirely."

Even if he was handsome, he was still a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Su Ji's opinion of Rong Shen could not have been lower.

His behavior was nothing short of luring away a sick little flower.

The two friends sat in silence for a while, then Su Ji suddenly remembered something else. "Sweetheart, when you paid for treatment at the health center, did you sign a contract?"

An Tong's spirits were low, tinged with a lingering melancholy. "Yes, I signed twice."

"And... what name was the therapist listed under?"

"Rong Jiu."

Su Ji smacked her shoulder. "That's obviously a fake name. Forget the household register not listing it—even if it did, a former name can't be used to sign a contract. The law wouldn't recognize it. You paid good money for nothing, signed a fake contract, and you—"

An Tong didn't understand these legal details about former names, but she'd caught a crucial point.

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"You mean, the contract I signed is invalid?"

Su Ji pinched her cheek with a look of exasperation. "Exactly that—invalid. You wasted your money."

She was thinking about standing up for her dear friend, mulling over whether to consult a lawyer tomorrow.

But her dear friend, with a mind of her own, gave a faint smile, a hint of light returning to her eyes. "Since the contract is fake, that proves he didn't violate his professional ethics."

As for the therapy fees... they were nothing compared to what Rong Shen—and even his family—had spent on her.

Just the clothes Ruan Danling had bought her alone were worth seven or eight times the therapy costs.

And after they got their marriage certificate, he'd never accepted her money again. Strictly speaking, the doctor-patient relationship no longer existed.

Su Ji's single-minded goal had been to prove Rong Shen was a hypocrite, to show An Tong how treacherous the world could be.

But somehow, she'd unwittingly become an accomplice instead.

She couldn't even begin to understand what that man Rong Shen was trying to do.

If he truly was a psychotherapist, why sign a fake contract?

And if he was a fraud, why target An Tong of all people?

True, the little cabbage had psychological issues, but she wasn't so easily deceived—at the very least, she kept strong walls up around people she'd just met.

How had Rong Shen managed to break through her defenses?

Every question had no answer.

A thought took root in Su Ji's mind: she wanted to meet Rong Shen herself. Not to meddle, but because she couldn't stand by and watch An Tong fall into a trap without saying a word.

...

That evening, An Tong bought some fruit and went with Su Ji to visit Auntie Ji at the hospital. She didn't say much, staying in the ward for half an hour before leaving early.

Su Ji offered to walk her downstairs, but An Tong politely declined. Before leaving, she said to Su Ji: "Auntie will get better, and she'll definitely find a match."

"Don't worry about that." Su Ji furrowed her brows, once again advising her earnestly: "You, though—when you get back, while keeping yourself safe, try to find out what he's really after. Don't take things for granted. You can't believe everything a man says. If there's any danger, call the police first, then call me. Understand?"

An Tong thought for a moment. "When you have time, we should all meet up."

The only way to put Su Ji's concerns to rest was for her to see Rong Shen with her own eyes.

As for An Tong—even if she seemed unconcerned, how could she truly be indifferent inside?

(The End of Chapter)