Journey of Lies

When I arrived, I found out that Lin Shuting's psychological counseling center was located on a low-rise shopping mall floor.

Walking through the mall and upstairs, this was Jiang Xia's first time in an office building in Thailand. The tranquility upstairs contrasted sharply with the hustle and bustle of the various restaurants and shops downstairs.

She didn't let Sheng Zhi follow, and Sheng Zhi was quite sensible, saying he was going downstairs to buy some drinks. He watched Jiang Xia ring the doorbell before closing the elevator door.

Jiang Xia roughly understood; these consultation centers operate on an appointment-only basis.

After ringing the doorbell, I waited for more than ten seconds before someone came to open the door. They looked Chinese.

"Excuse me, who are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for Tina Lim (林书婷)," Jiang Xia said, handing Lin Shuting's business card to the other person.

"Tina? She doesn't have any patients scheduled for this morning..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the elevator arrived at the floor with a crisp ding.

The other person leaned over and looked over, then quickly waved: "Tina—"

Jiang Xia turned around subconsciously, just in time to meet Lin Shuting's surprised gaze.

Seeing that Lin Shuting hesitated, Jiang Xia stepped forward and said, "Dr. Lin, I'm leaving tomorrow, and I'd like to talk to you a little longer."

Lin Shuting looked troubled, carrying her bag and glancing away: "Ms. Jiang, we cannot disclose patients' privacy."

The woman who had opened the door earlier was still there. Sensing something was wrong, she asked softly, "Tina, are you alright?"

Lin Shuting nodded and walked quickly toward the office.

Jiang Xia stepped forward to block her path. "He's dead now. Don't the living even have the right to know the truth?"

Jiang Xia's voice trembled; she knew Lin Shuting must know something.

Lin Shuting remained silent, but her colleague came up to persuade her.

"Miss, let's talk this out. Dr. Lin is unavailable today, but you can reschedule..."

"Someone told me that my husband has a woman in Thailand. Is that you?" Jiang Xia asked the woman who was trying to break up the fight.

The woman was stunned and quickly waved her hand and stepped back.

Jiang Xia looked at Lin Shuting again, and asked coldly, "So that's you?"

Lin Shuting turned to the side, a backpack slung over one shoulder, her chest heaving.

In fact, Jiang Xia had already ruled out Lin Shuting's possibility last night, but she pretended not to know, which Jiang Xia couldn't accept.

"Tina, what's going on?" the woman asked in a low voice.

Perhaps the argument was too loud, attracting people from several other offices to peek out and watch.

Lin Shuting looked embarrassed and had no choice but to take Jiang Xia into her office.

The office is a suite, and there is a sunroom inside that serves as a consultation room.

Lin Shuting closed the office door and then lowered the blinds.

"Ms. Jiang, you're an office worker in China too, please don't make things difficult for me like this, okay?"

Jiang Xia didn't sit down. He looked around, then finally stared at her intently. "Are you willing to talk now?"

Lin Shuting shook her head, gripped the back of the chair, and said, "I'll say it again: those of us in this line of work absolutely cannot disclose patient privacy, unless it's the police."

Jiang Xia didn't mean to make things difficult for her. After a moment of silence, he lowered his eyes and said, "I just want to know one answer..."

"Do you want to know if Mr. Xu loves you?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xia couldn't help but laugh and shook his head, saying, "The definition of love is too abstract. He should have told you that I'm a very traditional person, even to the point of being a bit old-fashioned."

Seeing that Jiang Xia's emotions had stabilized considerably, Lin Shuting gestured for her to sit on the sofa and speak slowly.

Jiang Xia sat down nearby. The single sofa was very cozy, and the aromatherapy in the room was very subtle, perhaps with a calming effect.

"We've known each other since high school, been together in college... and since my first year of work, I've asked him almost every year when he's going to marry me?"

Lin Shuting poured a glass of warm water and placed it on the side table next to Jiang Xia.

"I originally planned to get married at twenty-five and have children before twenty-eight. If he likes it, a second child is also fine..." Jiang Xia's eyes reddened, and her smile was somewhat forced. "Six months ago, I thought he never wanted to marry me in this lifetime. After all, people say that the longer you date, the harder it is to get married."

"He proposed to me. In the year I was about to give up on getting married, he suddenly proposed to me."

The voice abruptly stopped; the humidifier in the corner was the only source of sound.

After an unknown period of silence, Jiang Xia let out a long breath.

"I just want to know, why did he suddenly propose to me?"

Lin Shuting, somewhat out of professional habit, crossed her arms and hugged her knees. Just as she hesitated, Jiang Xia's phone rang.

She was about to hang up when she saw that it was Ren Jiayi calling.

"Xiaxia, do you want me to hire someone to clean your house? That way you won't have to put in so much effort when you come over tomorrow. What's the password to the front door?"

"The password... I can't quite remember it. Oh well, Jiayi, I'll pack it myself tomorrow."

Xu Xiujie wrote down the electronic lock code for the security door in the house's brochure. He was a lazy person who was reluctant to make changes, and Jiang Xia bet that he would never change the initial code after all these years.

On the other end of the phone, Ren Jiayi said with concern, "That's fine too. Actually, it would be best if you stayed at my place. We haven't seen each other for so many years. Last night I even dreamed that we talked all night long, just like we did in college..."

Jiang Xia glanced at Lin Shuting sitting opposite him and lowered his voice, saying, "Jiayi, I'm still outside. Let's talk later when we meet."

"Where are you? It's so quiet."

Jiang Xia found it difficult to answer. She wasn't good at lying, so she could only vaguely reply, "I'm seeing a doctor. I'll talk to you later. Bye."

As soon as she hung up the phone, Lin Shuting sat up straight and said calmly, "Ms. Jiang, I really can't say too much, but I think that since Mr. Xu chose to propose to you, regardless of his true feelings, he did it willingly at that moment, didn't he?"

*

On the way back, Jiang Xia leaned back in his seat, quietly gazing out the car window.

"I bought iced Thai milk tea, don't you like it?" Sheng Zhi tried to ease the atmosphere in the car.

Two classic Thai milk teas, filled with ice, swayed slightly as the car bumped along, the ice cubes making a scraping sound.

Jiang Xia took a drink, biting the straw, and asked him, "If someone told you that your partner is cheating on you, what would you do?"

Sheng Zhi, one hand on the steering wheel, raised an eyebrow slightly. "Your husband is cheating on you?"

Jiang Xia gave him a disapproving look, as if blaming him for being too direct.

"What kind of infidelity? Emotional infidelity? Platonic infidelity? Or just sex without love?"

Jiang Xia shook his head and looked out the car window again.

Xu Xiujie doesn't seem to have much desire in that area. During their ten-year relationship, the number of times they had sex was measured in years.

But one thing is certain: it was each other's first time.

He was a gentle man, but he didn't show any enthusiasm for it; he preferred painting.

Sometimes, Jiang Xia felt that being a model for a painting was better than being his girlfriend, at least when she was a model, Xu Xiujie's eyes could always be on her.

Observing Jiang Xia's condition, Sheng Zhi tentatively asked, "Is he in Chiang Mai? I mean, your husband."

Jiangxia nodded as if possessed.

Xu Xiujie's soul, too, remains in Chiang Mai.