A group of people watched Lu Chengzhou’s car leave.
After nodding to Jiang Shenyuan, Elder Bai went to the black sedan parked by the roadside.
Jiang Shenyuan turned to Mu Yu Mufeng, asking, “Are there any sleeping pills that don’t have side effects when taken for a prolonged period?”
Yu Mufeng froze for a moment and soon realized what the lawyer was talking about. He pursed his lips. “If such a thing existed, Gu Mang wouldn’t have needed the Sleeping Jade.”
Meng Jinyang suffered from chronic insomnia and had to rely on sleeping pills in order to fall asleep every night. The Sleeping Jade had helped her sleep without the pills.
Other than the one that was auctioned at Tian Que, a different one was bought at a sky-high price by Lin Shuang on Jijing Island’s black market and was sent to the lab for research. Unfortunately, there was not much progress despite the experiment having gone on for almost a year.
Lowering his eyelids, Jiang Shenyuan let out a heavy sigh. “Recommend me one with minimal side effects then.”
“Agomelatine. Just buy that for her,” answered Yu Mufeng.
Jiang Shenyuan frowned. “That’s an antidepressant.”
“It helps with insomnia too.” After a pause, Yu Mufeng added in a grave tone, “Only this works for her now.”
Meng Jinyang had long developed resistance to the other drugs.
…
At Royal Garden.
Lu Chengzhou pushed the door open and placed Gu Mang’s backpack on the cabinet at the front porch before asking softly, “Do you want to go to bed straight away or take a bath first?”
Gu Mang took off her cap and hooked it on the wall. “A bath.”
“How come your hands aren’t warm?” Lu Chengzhou led Gu Mang inside while holding her chilly hands. “I’ll go run a warm water bath for you. Spend some time soaking in it later.”
Gu Mang looked at him wordlessly in return.
Seeing that she was not responding, Lu Chengzhou glanced sideways and looked into her eyes. They were black and listless, as if all the light and warmth had been sucked out of them. He stopped, turned around to stand in front of her, held her by the shoulders, and then pulled her into his embrace, placing a hand atop her head.
With her hands hanging by her sides, Gu Mang let him hug her.
Lu Chengzhou said nothing throughout, so the entire room was extraordinarily quiet.
It was only after some time Gu Mang finally broke the silence with her husky voice. “Was it wrong for me to send her to school?”
If I hadn’t sent her to school, she would still be at the care facility and none of these incidents would’ve happened.
Lu Chengzhou stroked her hair. “Do you think she’s better off at the care facility or at school?”
“At school,” she answered. She was Meng Jinyang’s psychiatrist and she had seen the changes in her over the past year. Meng Jinyang was no longer as reclusive as before; she had started to make friends and was able to have social contact with boys. At the care facility, all she did was tended to the plants and flowers. She was always alone.
“Then it wasn’t the wrong decision,” Lu Chengzhou gently and patiently whispered into Gu Mang’s ear. “You did a great job, in fact.”
Gu Mang didn’t respond.
Lu Chengzhou released her, slung his arm around her shoulders, and led her to the master bedroom. “Go take a bath first.”
With drooping eyelids, Gu Mang hummed an assent.
…
After fetching her a change of clothes from the wardrobe, Lu Chengzhou ran a hot bath for her before leaving the bathroom and closing the door behind him. Gu Mang spent a whole 25 minutes inside before finally emerging.
There was not a single soul in the bedroom.
She was too lazy to bother with her wet hair, so she left the towel wrapped around her head. Water dripped down her hair as she made her way out of the bedroom.
From the hallway, she saw a man standing in the kitchen. Based on how the entire place smelled of milk, she knew that he must be heating some up.
His back was facing her and he was on the phone.
“Go look for it on the black market, then. Can’t you even find a single piece of the Sleeping Jade?” He paused to hear a reply for a moment before saying, “Okay. Make it fast.”