Chapter 25: Chapter 25: Paranoid Personality Disorder

The butler wanted to feign ignorance at this point, but it was no use. As soon as he tried to divert the topic, Lin Xu dragged the conversation back with persistent inquiries.

“His mental state was off all day yesterday, extremely anxious and irritable. If there’s anything you know, maybe you could help him,” Lin Xu said with a worried look in her eyes, which were brimming with tears, pitifully pleading, “You can trust me, I’ll keep it a secret and won’t tell anyone that you told me!”

The butler hesitated for a long time.

After all, he had worked at the Ji Mansion for nine years, since the day Ji Tingyang took back the Ji Mansion and hired him.

He had witnessed the warmth between the Ji siblings, and now only Ji Tingyang was left, living alone in the mansion…

In the end, the butler’s heart softened, “Actually… Young Master Ji has been taking antipsychotic medication, for two years now.”

Lin Xu was startled.

She had not expected this answer.

“…Psychotic disorder?” Her mind raced through various conditions, including schizophrenia.

“Don’t worry, it’s just medication for anxiety and depression, to help alleviate paranoid thoughts,” the butler reassured her, seeing the panic in her expression, knowing she was overthinking it.

For a while, Ji Tingyang had been anxious and displayed symptoms of depression, which the butler initially thought were due to work stress.

Until one day, Ji Tingyang suddenly brought Wen Li back to the Mansion.

“From now on, you’ll live here. If you want anything, just tell me, and I’ll have it sent to you,” he said softly, caressing Wen Li’s cheek, his gaze intense with a trace of paranoia, “If you want to go out, tell me, and I’ll take you, or I’ll have the bodyguards accompany you.”

Wen Li’s face turned pale, her normally fair skin growing even more ghastly. Tears fell like pearls off a broken string, as she nodded helplessly and fearfully.

Ji Tingyang leaned forward slightly, placing her hand on his head, encouraging her to stroke it, and then, as if satisfied, a faint smile spread across his lips.

Yet, even so, it did not prevent Ji Tingyang from becoming increasingly deranged.

When he returned from work to an empty living room, his expression suddenly became frantic.

He rushed upstairs and violently pushed open the door at the end of the hall.

Wen Li was on the couch looking at her phone, startled by Ji Tingyang’s actions, nearly dropping her phone on the floor.

Before she could speak, Ji Tingyang, with a fierce expression, grabbed her chin, forcing her to look up at him, “Why aren’t you in the living room? Why aren’t you waiting for me to come back the moment I arrive?”

“Who are you chatting with, Xiao Yu? What’s so good about him? Do you like him that much?”

Ji Tingyang started to curse, his gaze falling on her phone, feeling his eyes burning and aching, which spread pain throughout his temples.

He snatched Wen Li’s phone and nearly smashed it to the ground, the sharp shrieks echoing in his ears.

What happened afterward, he couldn’t quite remember, only knowing it was Ji Zeqiu who dragged him out.

“Are you out of your mind!” Ji Zeqiu snarled, grabbing his collar, grinding his teeth.

Ji Tingyang’s back was against the wall, his body sliding down slowly until he was seated on the floor.

He rubbed his forehead, looking exhausted, “I don’t know…”

It happened twice, three times, becoming more frequent.

Ji Zeqiu forcibly took him to see a psychiatrist, and the diagnosis revealed he had paranoid personality disorder.

Ji Tingyang craved Wen Li’s occasional warmth so much that it led to an obsessive possessiveness toward her, often accompanied by sensitivity, suspicion, jealousy, and other symptoms.

“The causes are generally divided into genetic, environmental, and familial factors.” However, the doctor said that Ji Tingyang’s disorder was most likely due to family factors.

Perhaps it was due to an early loss of love, the absence of parents in his childhood.

Currently, there is no effective medication to treat it, but perhaps psychological therapy could be tried.

However, after two years, Ji Tingyang’s condition had not improved, and his quarrels with Wen Li became more frequent.

Until a month ago, the sudden appearance of Lin Xu interrupted Ji Tingyang’s outbursts.

After that incident, Ji Tingyang’s mood stabilized significantly, and his face held more smiles. Despite claiming it was a bother, he was still willingly accompanying her on shopping trips.

If it were her, maybe she really could cure Young Master Ji’s illness.

With this thought, the butler told Lin Xu about it.

After hearing this, Lin Xu grew silent, her mind a chaotic mess, her spirit somewhat bewildered.

Seeing her not speaking, the butler felt uneasy.

Had he said too much, causing Miss Lin to become scared? What if Miss Lin simply ran away?

He wished he had just kept his mouth shut.

As he was caught up in regret and self-reproach, Lin Xu thanked the butler and went back to her room with a solemn expression.

That afternoon, Lin Xu spent almost the entire time shut in her room, sitting in front of the computer researching about obsessive-compulsive personality disorder for hours, even forgetting to have dinner, working even harder than Ji Tingyang when he reviewed documents.

“Knock knock.”

The knocking sounded a few times before Ji Tingyang pushed the door open and sighed in relief upon seeing Lin Xu at the computer.

“What’s up?” Lin Xu looked up, puzzled.

“It’s already 9 PM, and you haven’t come down for dinner…” Afraid that you might disappear again, Ji Tingyang paused, then effortlessly changed the subject, “I was worried you might be hungry.”

She hadn’t felt it before he mentioned it, but as soon as he did, her stomach immediately grumbled.

Lin Xu looked up embarrassedly, ready to say that feeling hungry is normal and not to laugh at it. However, Ji Tingyang, true to his form as a seasoned CEO, remained unflustered throughout.

His serious demeanor made Lin Xu almost laugh.

Closing her laptop, Lin Xu asked him before going downstairs, “Have you had dinner yet?”

“I… haven’t.”

“Then that’s perfect, let’s go down and eat together!”

Lin Xu took Ji Tingyang’s hand and they went downstairs.

The dining table was set with food that had been kept warm. Lin Xu picked up her chopsticks, eager to eat a few bites, but noticed that Ji Tingyang hadn’t even started.

“Why aren’t you eating? Does it not suit your taste?” she blinked.

“No, it’s not that, I, I…” Ji Tingyang stammered.

“How about I cook you a bowl of scallion noodles?”

Almost instantly, Lin Xu felt a gleam light up in Ji Tingyang’s eyes, which quickly faded.

“Okay,” he agreed, seeming a bit reluctant.

Lin Xu smiled without calling him out and went into the kitchen to fetch the leftover noodles from last time, and started cooking.

Through the glass door of the kitchen, Ji Tingyang watched Lin Xu busily moving about, and his mood lightened as well.

He fiddled with the fingers at his side as if remembering something, then stood up to follow her into the kitchen, taking over the spatula from her hand, “How do you do this?”

Lin Xu was surprised to see he genuinely wanted to help, so she played the supervisor and instructed from the side, “First, add a suitable amount of salt, then pour a suitable amount of oil.”

“…How much is a suitable amount?”

“As much as you like.”

“…”

“Hey hey hey! That’s too much salt! Are you trying to salt yourself to death? Quickly add some water to dilute it!”

The kitchen was chaos and pandemonium, yet there was a touch of warmth.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om