Chapter 60

As Pei Kuang said, his public figure identity did bring some troubles. Besides, it wasn't easy to get an expert appointment at the affiliated hospital of B University either.

Therefore, Song Anan didn't look for others but went directly to find her teacher, who was the dean of the affiliated hospital of B University, Jing Wenjin. When a disciple personally came to the door, Jing Wenjin naturally didn't decline and arranged it very quickly. Soon, Song Anan came to catch people.

She took Pei Kuang and Li Dong through the staff passage of the hospital into the hospital.

If you suffer from long-term insomnia, you usually make appointments at the Neurology Department and Psychological Department. If the patient suspects the insomnia is caused by some organic diseases, they would go to the Neurology Department.

However, if the patient's insomnia is caused by excessive pressure or mental and psychological problems, they would go to the Psychological Department.

They went to the Neurology Department first. The arrangements had been made on this end. After some examinations, organic intracranial lesions or epilepsy-induced insomnia symptoms were ruled out.

Next, they had to go to the Psychological Department.

Song Anan felt relieved while also feeling somewhat worried at the same time.

She knew many people were very wary of seeing a psychologist. She was afraid Pei Kuang would be unwilling or uncooperative with the doctor later, which would be very tricky.

Pei Kuang naturally noticed the girl's apprehension in her eyes. "Don't worry, since I'm here, I won't go back on my word."

Song Anan's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Pei Kuang nodded. "Really."

When they arrived at the Psychological Department, the doctor hadn't arrived yet, so they had to wait in the consultation room.

Song Anan let Pei Kuang and Li Dong wait in the room while she went out for something.

Sitting on a chair, Li Dong looked around the consultation room and couldn't help exclaiming, "Wow, your nephew is really something. Little auntie is truly concerned about you."

Pei Kuang glanced at him without saying anything.

Li Dong went on to say, "I just went online to check. The chief physician who just gave you a consultation is an expert in the field who usually doesn't have available appointments."

"Also, I overheard little auntie saying on the phone earlier that the doctor coming here seems to be taking a day off today and was called over specially."

In fact, Li Dong didn't have any other intentions in looking for Song Anan. He just simply wanted her to help persuade Pei Kuang.

He thought that Pei Kuang and Song Anan usually seemed to get along well. Plus she was studying medicine, so maybe her words would be more useful. He really didn't expect Song Anan to use her connections to help.

After today's events, Li Dong felt even more that he should get along well with Song Anan in the future. After all, who could guarantee not getting sick for a lifetime?

So having someone who could put in a good word at the hospital would be particularly important at times like this.

However, that was for later. For now, the most urgent thing was to think about how to get him to cooperate.

Li Dong moved closer to Pei Kuang and said solemnly, "Actually, quite a lot of people in our circle see psychologists. I know you've been under a lot of pressure these past two years, this is all very normal. Don't be averse to it, it's no big deal."

Outsiders only saw Pei Kuang's current flashy and dazzling reversal to becoming a movie star, but as his agent, Li Dong was very clear about the hardships and difficulties over the past two years.

Two years ago, the matter with Xie Yin had a huge impact on Pei Kuang. Not to mention losing a lot of commercial endorsements and roles, his fans even had a large-scale fan exodus, and his commercial value plummeted.

It couldn't be helped. This was an exposed weakness of traffic stars. Exposure of a relationship was akin to collapse. Even top stars couldn't avoid it.

Plus, they hadn't fully prepared for the transformation at that time, and everything came too suddenly. No matter whether it was the artist or their team, they faced huge challenges.

Especially Pei Kuang. The pressure on him could be imagined. Fortunately, he was very bold and decisive to directly transform. From then on, the team completely abandoned the previous traffic star approach. He himself directly took root in filming crews.

It was around that time that Li Dong noticed Pei Kuang's dosage of sleeping pills increasing more and more.

At the beginning, seeing him unable to sleep night after night, Li Dong thought it was due to excessive pressure. But slowly, he also realized it.

Based on his understanding of Pei Kuang over the years, his psychological stress tolerance was far beyond ordinary people. Even in this situation, he shouldn't have such an extreme reaction.

So this situation could only mean one thing - he had other concerns or knots in his heart.

Thinking of this, Li Dong subconsciously glanced at Pei Kuang.

In fact, until today, he still didn't quite understand why Pei Kuang didn't clarify the matter with Xie Yin back then.

If at the beginning, Li Dong did indeed suspect that Pei Kuang and Xie Yin were really together, but slowly he realized things were not what he thought.

Let alone other things, just Pei Kuang's attitude towards Xie Yin was absolutely not a couple's attitude, not to mention that apart from being secretly photographed by paparazzi that one time, he basically never saw them interact.

At that time, he had tried to ask the reason, but Pei Kuang only lightly explained to him not to make any response within three months.

Li Dong was already suspicious at that time. Later when he found out that most of the online love affair announcements were basically from Xie Yin's team, he roughly understood something.

Later, when he inadvertently ran into Pei Kuang answering phone calls a few times, from fragmented words, Li Dong roughly guessed that the reason Pei Kuang did this seemed to be to repay someone's favor, and it also seemed to involve some family matters.

But he didn't know the specifics. However, Li Dong vaguely felt that Pei Kuang's increasingly severe insomnia was probably related to the matter back then.

"I won't say anything else, I just want to remind you not to let little auntie down. She is truly worried about you." Li Dong said solemnly.

Just now from the corner of his eye he saw that Song Anan really cared about Pei Kuang. The worry in her eyes couldn't be concealed.

Pei Kuang lowered his eyes without speaking, seemingly lost in thought.

After a long pause, he glanced at Li Dong, and his expression turned indifferent.

Li Dong immediately understood his meaning. He was blaming him for poking his nose into this and telling Song Anan. He was planning to settle scores later.

He touched his nose and said with difficulty, "Don't look at me like that. I'm also helpless here."

Who told him to be impervious to reason, not listening no matter how he persuaded him.

Li Dong now clearly saw that probably only Song Anan could get through to him.

However, before Pei Kuang could settle scores, the door of the room was pushed open from the outside. Song Anan and a bespectacled male doctor named Xu Tao from the Psychological Department walked in. After introductions all around, Song Anan and Li Dong left, leaving only Pei Kuang and Xu Tao in the consultation room.

Xu Tao gestured for Pei Kuang to sit. "Relax, let's just chat simply first."

Pei Kuang nodded slightly.

After a simple opening, they moved into the formal consultation time.

Xu Tao could feel that Pei Kuang was very defensive and seemed to also understand some psychological knowledge.

For every purposeful question, he could give a very appropriate answer, so that all the diagnostic results tended towards normal.

But exactly because of this, Xu Tao felt there was a problem even more.

Pei Kuang was too calm the whole time. He seemed to know where his crux was, but for some reason, he was unwilling to speak it out, which was the most troublesome thing.

After hesitating for a moment, Xu Tao tentatively asked, "Mr. Pei, may I ask if you came voluntarily?"

Pei Kuang was stunned. He understood the subtext of the other party's words.

He also knew that as long as he persisted, this so-called psychological consultation could end very quickly.

But at that moment, Song Anan's worried look suddenly flashed through his mind. He thought of how she ran around anxiously for him, making calls to find connections.

After being silent for a long time, Pei Kuang finally said the first sentence that opened his heart.

"I feel that I may not be suitable for intimate relationships."

Xu Tao asked impassively, "Why do you think so?"

Pei Kuang paused for a long time before continuing, "It seems that people I want to get close to will slowly distance themselves from me..."

The consultation room gradually entered the normal process. Outside, Song Anan paced back and forth in the corridor like an ant on a hot pan.

Li Dong looked at Song An'an's expression and couldn't help feeling anxious too. He didn't know what to make of this situation that made it seem like something bad had happened to Pei Kuang.

He consoled her, "Auntie, don't worry. Nothing bad will happen."

Song An'an nodded absentmindedly, but suddenly thought of something and turned to look at Li Dong.

"Do you know when he started having worsening insomnia?"

Li Dong thought for a moment and replied, "To be specific, it should be after the incident two years ago."

Song An'an's footsteps faltered as she stared blankly towards the consultation room.

Two years ago referred to when his relationship with Xie Yin was exposed. At that time, he had suffered a major setback in his career and it was understandable that he would be under tremendous stress.

But that didn't make sense either. If it was due to work reasons, his circumstances should have gradually improved over the past half a year, not to mention he had just won Best Actor recently.

Could it be because of his breakup with Xie Yin?

As this possibility occurred to her, a faint shadow passed through Song An'an's eyes.

In fact, over the past two years, she had been secretly keeping tabs on Pei Kuang and Xie Yin's news.

When their relationship was first exposed, both their teams did not respond. This was a common tactic adopted by many celebrities when their relationships were exposed - unwilling to announce it publicly due to contractual constraints but also unwilling to deny it outright. Precisely because of this, the public had taken it as tacit acknowledgement and confirmation of their relationship.

At that time, many people said that given Pei Kuang's status, the fact that he was willing to take things this far showed that it must be true love. But no one expected that three months later, when interviewed by reporters, Xie Yin would unexpectedly appear and deny their relationship. For a time, rumors of their breakup spread like wildfire.

There were even speculations online that Pei Kuang was the one who had been dumped.

After this incident, many sympathized with Pei Kuang, saying that he had suffered such a huge blow to his career because of this relationship, only to end up with this kind of outcome.

In contrast, Xie Yin had thoroughly capitalized on the popularity brought by the scandal. She went from an unknown 18-line actress to become a hot topic black-red female celebrity.

As an outsider, Song An'an was in no position to judge. After all, in her eyes, Pei Kuang had entered into this willingly.

Therefore, regarding their relationship, she had never asked Pei Kuang about it from beginning to end, and was also unsure if the two had truly broken up privately.

Until last year, when Xie Yin collaborated with Qiu Bai on a TV show, reuniting the original couple from the book, it was as if the storyline had gone back on track.

If that was really the case, Pei Kuang's current condition seemed to have a reasonable explanation. Song An'an thought.

-

The consultation was drawing to an end. Dr. Xu Tao had conducted a series of assessments and tests on Pei Kuang, diagnosing him with mild depression.

Pei Kuang did not seem particularly surprised by this diagnosis.

After thinking for a moment, he glanced at the exit and said, "Dr. Xu, for this diagnosis, could it..."

Xu Tao understood his unspoken words and replied, "Don't worry, we have a responsibility to maintain patient confidentiality."

"But you'll need to come back regularly for follow-up appointments and actively adhere to medical advice."

Pei Kuang nodded lightly. "Okay."

After getting Xu Tao's contact information, Pei Kuang walked out of the consultation room.

Noticing the movement here, Song An'an hurried over and asked, "How did it go? What did Dr. Xu say?"

As she spoke, she was about to head into the consultation room to look for Xu Tao.

But Pei Kuang directly reached out and grabbed her arm. "It's nothing serious. I've just been under too much pressure these past two years. I'll be fine after making some adjustments."

Song An'an paused as she seemed to understand something.

It was alright. Everyone had secrets they didn't want others to know.

If he didn't want to say, she wouldn't ask.

Song An'an quietly looked at Pei Kuang. "Okay, then promise me you'll listen to the doctor and follow medical advice."

The corners of Pei Kuang's mouth curled up slightly, and his eyes flashed with gentle warmth. "Alright, I promise you."

-

But just because she wouldn't ask didn't mean Song An'an wouldn't do anything.

Early next morning, she came knocking on Pei Kuang's door with a bunch of items in hand. "How did you sleep last night?" Song An'an asked.

Pei Kuang was taken aback. "Not bad."

Seeing the person at his door holding large and small bags, he asked puzzledly, "What's all this for?"

Song An'an exclaimed in realization and explained, "I heard from Li Dong yesterday that you're going to be resting for a period of time, so you'll be staying at home right?"

Although still unsure what she was up to, Pei Kuang nodded truthfully.

This had been arranged long ago. He had worked nearly year-round these past two years, so it was a good time to take a break.

"That settles it then," Song An'an said. "I'm here today to help adjust your bedroom environment to aid your sleep."

She had been thinking about it all of last night - the decor and layout of his home was altogether too cold and oppressive. The other areas were still fine, but the bedroom wouldn't do.

Especially since his insomnia was so severe, they had to create a good sleep environment.

Song An'an looked directly at Pei Kuang and cautiously asked, "Could you show me your bedroom?"

Pei Kuang was still rather bewildered, but responded with an "Okay."

After entering, Song An'an changed into slippers in the foyer. She then headed straight for the bedroom area.

Problem was, there were several bedrooms in this house and she didn't know which one belonged to Pei Kuang.

Song An'an turned back to look at Pei Kuang. He smiled and pointed to a room. She pushed open the door without hesitation and walked right in.

As expected, it was consistent with the living room - the same cold, austere style.

Song An'an took out a notebook from her backpack. It contained information she had researched late into the night on how to set up a sleep-inducing bedroom environment.

After going through the checklist, there was quite a lot that needed changing here. The things she brought today were rather limited, mostly just some small decorations. She would order the rest online for direct delivery.

First thing to change would be the bed sheets and comforter.

She really hadn't expected that someone as meticulous as Pei Kuang would actually live so crudely. The bed linens were not at all kind to skin.

Then there was the bedside lamp. Its light was too strong and needed replacing with a lower wattage one.

And also...

After ticking off a list of complaints, Song An'an belatedly realized she hadn't consulted the owner's opinion at all.

She blinked and asked hesitantly, "Um, is it okay if I change the things I mentioned just now?"

Pei Kuang was still in a dazed state. By instinct, he glanced around the bedroom.

Come to think of it, despite living here so long, he really hadn't noticed any issues.

Just as he was about to say something, a little furball suddenly darted into the bedroom from outside.

Both their gazes were instantly drawn to it - it was Qiuqiu.

Song An'an's eyes lit up. She immediately shoved the notebook into Pei Kuang's hands and went to pick up Qiuqiu.

Having not seen each other for two years, Qiuqiu possibly didn't recognize Song An'an at first and acted very resistant.

Song An'an was extremely patient, calling out its name over and over.

Gradually, it seemed Qiuqiu remembered Song An'an and stopped struggling. Instead, it meowed plaintively in her arms, as if complaining about why she hadn't come to see it for so long.

Holding Qiuqiu, Song An'an felt a pang of guilt.

She knew that a major reason Pei Kuang had adopted Qiuqiu was because of her, yet she had left it entirely to him these past two years.

Song An'an glanced at Pei Kuang, then lowered her head and murmured, "I saw your Moment."

Two years ago, her deliberate distancing had started by no longer replying to his messages promptly, often not replying for a long time, and only occasionally bringing it up by saying she was busy with schoolwork.

Later, Pei Kuang contacted her less frequently, only sending the occasional short video of Qiuqiu. After that, he didn't even send videos anymore, but started posting Qiuqiu's videos on his Moment.

Pei Kuang softly uttered an "mm", "I know, they were for you to see."

Song An'an was caught off guard by his frank admission.

Although she had guessed that he was posting them for her to see, hearing Pei Kuang acknowledge it outright still made her feel guilty.

She let out a breath and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't deliberately ignore your messages back then."

Just that she didn't dare to.

She was afraid of losing her composure, and also afraid of witnessing his feelings for Xie Yin firsthand.

But when she thought about it carefully, Pei Kuang hadn't done anything wrong from beginning to end. It was her who had said she wanted to see the puppy frequently, so he sent her videos often.

Even when his relationship with Xie Yin was exposed, he was busy and harried, but he still didn't forget to send her regular updates on the puppy.

This time Pei Kuang didn't say 'I know, you're very busy' or anything like that. Instead, he asked half-jokingly and half-seriously: "Then why is that? Do you find me annoying?"

Song Anan quickly waved her hands. Find him annoying?

How could that be possible?

"No, no, I really don't find you annoying."

Feeling like this explanation was a bit lame, Song Anan gritted her teeth and said, "You know, Xie Yin and I don't get along very well, so..."

This time it was Pei Kuang's turn to be surprised. It seemed he had never considered this could be the reason. A fleeting look of relief flashed through his eyes.

Song Anan pursed her lips and said with her head lowered, "You like her so much, I didn't want to put you in an awkward position."

Pei Kuang was stunned for a moment, and reflexively explained, "I've never liked her that way."

Song Anan suddenly lifted her head, shock filling her gaze.

He had never liked Xie Yin?

How could that be...!