A hint of bitterness tugged at the corners of Pei Dai's mouth.
He knew clearly that the displeasure in Mei Yeqin's eyes reflected her distrust of him.
Her cold gaze swept over him, looking at him as if he was a stranger, and Pei Dai felt uneasy.
"Qinqin."
His arm was grasped by Mei Yeqin, who coldly said, "I don't want water."
Pei Dai looked at Mei Yeqin. "Even if you don't want to, you need to drink some. The corners of your mouth are chapped, and it's too cold. You need some water to warm up."
She hadn't eaten yet. This was just Pei Dai's inner thoughts, unspoken.
Mei Yeqin hated the feeling she was in. Her eyes held a cold hue, and she couldn't help but say, "Pei Dai, I wonder when you've been in charge of my affairs?"
Arrogant, cold, and aloof, this Mei Yeqin was the Mei Yeqin Pei Dai had known from the beginning.
His body stiffened, a look of astonishment on his face. "Qinqin, are you blaming me?"
The blame in her eyes was undisguised, even a hint of disgust that Pei Dai didn't want to see.
This realization sent a shudder through Pei Dai's heart, leaving him feeling utterly uncomfortable.
"You don't have to act so hurt. You know what I hate most."
The woman, with her rosy lips and white teeth, uttered words that stung his heart.
Pei Dai's gaze froze. He knew what she hated, and so he never showed his emotions outwardly. Perhaps it was because their recent closeness had become unbearable. Any indifference or sarcastic remarks from her, let alone the tension now, were unbearable.
"Qinqin, won't you listen to my explanation?"
His eyes suffocated, the silent guilt threatening to overwhelm him.
"What are you explaining? Explain! You're a police officer, and you actually know how to hypnotize people?"
Mei Yeqin's brows furrowed in anger. She had never known that the pure-white boy from before possessed such a profound skill.
Yes, it was a skill.
"Saving the wounded and the dying is your job, your faith. What about hypnosis?"
Mei Yeqin tried hard to see through Pei Dai's true face, but found she could see nothing. Looking again, Pei Dai's eyes, though he was almost thirty, were still as clear as ever, without a trace of turbidity.
Even his tall figure and fair face bore traces of the boy he had been.
Pei Dai froze at the question. There were some things he'd always thought he'd never reveal. At that moment, a dark shadow fell over the man's eyes.
"Qinqin, even if people on death row, they still deserve a chance to defend themselves, right?"
Mei Yeqin saw the desolation in his eyes.
"Pei Dai, don't you need to act pitiful? Don't you know the dangers of hypnosis?"
"I've been by Ah Sui's side for so many years, knowing about his condition for so many years, and I never hypnotized him. How dare you!"
It wasn't that it was useless, or anything like that. It was just that Jiang Sui's protectiveness was too strong, and there was no breakthrough. If forced, or even attempted to force, hypnosis on the boy, it would only worsen his condition, not improve it.
A worsening of his condition was what Mei Yeqin feared most.
She couldn't possibly try again, the pain of losing a loved one was gone. Her eyes were cold and lusterless.
Pei Dai twitched his lips a few times, trying to reach forward and grasp Mei Yeqin's fingers, but the woman quickly shook them off.
"Pei Dai, stay away from me."
Her eyes held a deep, inky darkness, a blackness that could never be erased, a horrifyingly sticky blackness.
Pei Dai's hand half-dropped in the air, the corners of his mouth twitching, forcing an ungainly smile. "Qinqin, I didn't mean to hypnotize Ah Sui. He was only slightly aware at the time, and I wanted to give it a try. You were worried about him, weren't you? He wasn't in a good state, and I wanted him to open up and receive treatment..."
There was a hidden meaning behind hypnosis, but Pei Dai knew he couldn't reveal it. He kept silent, his earnest words failing to gain Mei Yeqin's approval.
"Slightly awareness, try?"
"Is Ah Sui a experimental thing? Pei Dai, do you have any successful cases? You asked him to open up, you asked him to receive treatment. Why? You're an outsider. I've been with him for so many years, ten years. I was afraid something might happen to him, so I didn't dare to use extreme measures. Why you?"
The sight of an outsider shattered all the light in Pei Dai's eyes, never to be seen again.
Mei Yeqin's low growl, filled with pain and fear of loss, tugged at Pei Dai's heart, like an invisible hand tugging at it, the pain nearly numb.
His lips trembled slightly. "I'm sorry, Qinqin, I was wrong. I shouldn't have acted on my own."
At this moment, no matter what explanation he offered, even if he tore it out to the bone, Mei Yeqin would still believe he was wrong.
One outsider was enough proof.
Pei Dai's fingers drooped limply.
Mei Yeqin's words were too harsh, too full of anger, overshadowing her coldness. Pei Dai dared not look directly at her. He could only lean closer, wanting to squeeze Mei Yeqin's hand.
He tried his best to reconcile and make amends. "Qinqin, you just saw it, didn't you? It worked quite well. Please forgive me, okay? I'll never be so reckless again..."
His voice trembled slightly.
Because Mei Yeqin didn't dodge his hand this time, Pei Dai felt a bitter sting in his heart, a fear like a single-plank bridge.
Mei Yeqin's brows knitted together. What she couldn't stand most was his displays of weakness. It was completely different from his usual aloof demeanor. It was as if the heavens and the earth had forsaken him, as if she was a bad woman.
"Whether it works or not, you can't use Ah Sui as a experimental thing."
Mei Yeqin's eyes were deep, still as cold as ever, as she glanced at Pei Dai's sorrowful, unreal face.
"Pei Dai, I will never have love. Your love for me is useless. I may never marry in my lifetime."
He knew, knew what she was thinking, but the easing of relations over the past few days had indeed caused Pei Dai to have unrealistic thoughts again, and this blow had brought him back to his original form.
He knew all this.
But when she said these words herself, Pei Dai felt his ears spin.
The man who had always been a strong man seemed to be shaky at this moment.
"I know, Qinqin. It's okay. I can be with you. I know you're lonely. It's okay."
These repeated "It's okay" didn't seem to be spoken by Mei Yeqin, but rather to himself.
Hearing these words, Mei Yeqin frowned fiercely.