Chapter 2: The Distance

"Sir, please show me your ticket," the conductor said to Qian Cangyi.

"Mm." Qian Cangyi pulled the high-speed rail ticket from his pocket.

After verifying it, the conductor returned the ticket to Qian Cangyi. "Would you like any drinks? We have cola, Sprite, pulp orange juice, and mineral water."

"Mineral water will do," Qian Cangyi said, putting his ticket away.

After handing the mineral water to Qian Cangyi, the conductor pushed the cart forward to inquire of the passengers behind him.

Since I had carved a piece of flesh off A-Biao, I naturally could not continue staying in that city. As it happened, since my family already thought I was squandering my time and achieving nothing, I might as well go to a neighboring province to find a casual job. This way, I could fabricate an excuse for leaving while also letting them get used to the feeling of my absence beforehand.

When I went away for work and left home for a long time, even if an unforeseeable accident occurred, they wouldn't feel the abruptness of their son suddenly vanishing. By then, my death would perhaps have a lesser impact on them.

At this thought, Qian Cangyi turned his head and glanced out the window.

A few single-story houses, some farmland, and some trees—a very ordinary rural landscape.

At that moment, a message came through his instant messaging app. When he opened it, the sender's message simply read: *I want to cry.*

Qian Cangyi sighed inwardly, plugged his earphones into the jack, put them on, and replied, "Cry then. You'll feel better once you let it out."

"Chen Simin is considered a distant relative of A-Biao. No wonder he said he owed a favor," Qian Cangyi muttered, shaking his head.

This girl was the commission A-Biao had handed over to Qian Cangyi—the depressed girl.

Whether depression is severe depends primarily on the patient's own mental state. Therefore, once the transaction between A-Biao and Qian Cangyi was completed, the first thing Qian Cangyi did was head to Chen Simin's home to communicate with her directly.

Chen Simin's family background was quite good; at least she never had to worry about food or clothing. Even if Chen Simin spent the rest of her life staying at home, she wouldn't have to worry about starving to death. However, this was clearly impossible. Even if Chen Simin were willing, her parents wouldn't be, not to mention that she now had suicidal tendencies.

Consequently, Qian Cangyi's arrival was warmly welcomed by Chen Simin's parents.

Of course, Qian Cangyi saw right through what the two of them were thinking—they were just treating a dead horse as if it were still alive!

The three of them walked together to Chen Simin's bedroom door. Chen Simin's mother twisted the doorknob and found it bolted from the inside, so she knocked. "Simin, open the door. The doctor is here."

The identity of a doctor had been arranged for Qian Cangyi by A-Biao, primarily to make it easier to win the trust of Chen Simin's parents. After all, they wouldn't bother checking relevant licenses.

No matter how much Chen Simin's mother called out from outside the door, it remained firmly shut.

"Forget it, I'll go get the spare key!" Chen Simin's father wore a dark expression, clearly deeply frustrated by his daughter. As the saying went, a daughter was a father's little padded jacket, but when it came to making trouble, she certainly didn't make things any easier for him.

"I'm so sorry!" Chen Simin's mother turned back to tell Qian Cangyi, "My child wasn't like this before. I don't know why she caught this... what is it called? Depression? I don't see anything wrong with her. Everyone has moments when they're in a bad mood; a good night's sleep cures it. How could it be this serious? In our younger days, we never even heard of such an illness. Ah, the world changes too fast nowadays; as an auntie, I don't even know how to accept it."

Qian Cangyi knew that when she referred to it as serious, she meant Chen Simin's tendency toward suicide.

"Auntie, living conditions weren't good in the past, and medical care wasn't advanced either. Many illnesses probably took a person's life before they even fully flared up. Besides, even if depression had existed in your era, it probably wouldn't have been treated as an illness, right? You might have just thought the person was being overly delicate," Qian Cangyi replied briefly.

At that moment, Chen Simin's father walked over holding a ring of keys. After trying two of them, he unlocked the door.

Once the door was open, Qian Cangyi found the room pitch black, even though it was currently broad daylight. Chen Simin's father walked inside and turned on the light. Qian Cangyi followed closely behind and saw a girl of about fourteen lying on the bed, her head completely covered by the quilt. The window beside the bed was blocked by curtains, and upon closer inspection, even the edges of the curtains were taped to the walls.

For a middle school student, the room was of a decent size. The desk was piled with textbooks and exercise workbooks, with a neat stack of blank test sheets on the left. Several posters of a female celebrity were pasted on the wall—all of the same person. Although she could lock the door, her parents only needed to fetch a key for her constructed line of defense to become completely meaningless.

Qian Cangyi still didn't move because he needed to continue observing the "target's" condition.

The mother was not a very open-minded person. If I guessed correctly, her constant mindset has been to position her daughter for a future marriage. As for the father, he clearly doesn't care much about his daughter as an individual either. Still, the parents' mindset isn't particularly unusual; the vast majority of modern parents share this exact view. Therefore, the key to the problem must still be found within Chen Simin herself.

Qian Cangyi walked over to Chen Simin's desk.

At that moment, Chen Simin's father pulled back half of her quilt. Qian Cangyi turned his head and laid eyes on his target: her facial features were medium-to-above-average and well-proportioned; with a bit of makeup, she could easily be called a beauty. However, right now, Chen Simin had sleepy eyes, lacked all strength, and showed no reaction whatsoever to her father pulling off her bedding.

"Still sleeping, sleeping, sleeping! Get up!" Chen Simin's father roared.

Qian Cangyi raised an eyebrow, noticing that Chen Simin didn't move at all.

"Simin, just get up!" Chen Simin's mother also walked in. Her words had a slight effect, but Chen Simin merely lowered her head to look at her mother, showing no intention of getting out of bed.

Because of Chen Simin's behavior, the atmosphere in the room became extremely awkward.

"Um, if possible, could you let me talk to her alone?" Qian Cangyi flashed a gentle smile. Chen Simin's father wore a deeply reluctant expression, seeming quite unwilling, but under the tugging of Chen Simin's mother, he eventually walked out.

As for Chen Simin, she neither agreed nor objected, seeming completely indifferent to Qian Cangyi's arrival.

Qian Cangyi walked to the door, slowly pulled it shut, and locked it.

He walked to the edge of Chen Simin's bed. "Alright. To be honest, I have no interest whatsoever in your depression. However, since I gave someone my word, I'll help out a little."

Chen Simin glanced sideways at Qian Cangyi. "You're not a doctor."