Who would study psychology if they didn't have some kind of problem?

Chapter 108 You Don't Need to Speak—Just Kidding
Nan Zhuren sat expressionlessly on the best sofa specially provided for the experimental subjects in the laboratory.

Huang Xin took a deep breath and forcibly activated his emotional control.

"Zhu Ren, is it because of what happened back then that you're overthinking things? I feel..."

"You were just trying to kick me out, which was a defensive move; now you're denying it."

Nan Zhuren did not hesitate to use the rhetoric of psychoanalysis to directly block Huang Xin's words.

This incident also caused Huang Xin's emotions, which had just begun to calm down, to surge up again.

……

Theoretically speaking, with Nan Zhuren's current ability of "micro-expression analysis - beginner level", he can obtain all the information he wants through talk therapy.

Exhaustive search will suffice.

He can extend 99 guesses from a single piece of known information, and then eliminate 98 unnecessary possibilities using the "yes or no" options to arrive at the unique answer.

Given enough time and imagination, Nan Zhuren can find answers to all his questions.

However, this is only "theoretically".

In reality, no one would obediently endure being questioned by Nan Zhuren, especially with dozens or hundreds of questions at a time.

Even if Nan Zhuren reduces the "possibilities" that need to be verified to "a few" by constantly collecting information, it still won't work.

Getting others to answer questions honestly is more important and more difficult than asking them.

For example, when dealing with Wang An, Nan Zhurenhua spent far more time setting up psychological traps than the time spent revealing the truth through micro-expression lie detection.

Now, Nan Zhuren is facing Lin Lilin, a psychology professor whose cunning far surpasses that of Wang An.

Nan Zhuren had very few opportunities to ask him questions.

The mentor, playing on home turf, could interrupt Nan Zhuren at any time and then kick the impetuous young consultant out.

Nan Zhuren didn't want to reveal his micro-expression lie detection and interrogation skills to the other party too early. If he couldn't hit the mark on the first try in front of a psychology master of this level, he might not have a second chance.

Therefore, when Nan Zhuren was gathering information from Lin Lilin, he knew when to stop.

He has already obtained several directions of information that can be extended from there.

These directions will lead to more than a dozen possibilities that require "yes or no" questions to determine when to build.

At this point, you need to find someone who can be honestly interrogated by him.

For example, Huang Xin.

……

"As you can see, senior, I just came out of the teacher's office."

"The teacher gave me a simple psychological counseling session, and we had a very pleasant and harmonious conversation."

"In other words, I'm normal when I come out of the teacher's office; but if you kick me out of the lab now and I go to the teacher again, I'll become—strange."

"No matter what the teacher wants to hide from me or what he wants me to do, it will all be in vain because of what you did and said to me in the lab."

Nan Zhuren said sincerely, "Senior brother, you don't want the teacher to have such a misunderstanding, do you?"

Huang Xin stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

The big-nosed junior brother, who had just seen his junior off, was so frightened by the atmosphere that he froze on the spot, not daring to move.

Nan Zhuren glanced at his junior brother with the big nose, his gaze lingering on the other's face for a few moments before waving his hand.

"Junior brother, this is none of your business. Go read some literature. Your teacher has high hopes for you."

"As for you, senior brother," Nan Zhuren turned to Huang Xin, "you don't actually need to speak later—if that can lessen your sense of guilt."

"You're quite considerate, aren't you?" Huang Xin took a deep breath: "What do you want to know?"

Nan Zhuren tightened his gaze, his eyes sweeping over every detail of Huang Xin's face like the infrared beams of a surveillance camera.

"When I went back to the school to give a speech, you all followed me the whole time. You were actually watching me and being wary of me, right?"

Huang Xin steadied himself and regained his composure. Although he lacked social experience, his profession had exposed him to all sorts of people, giving him ample experience in dealing with people. He was not someone who could be easily threatened.

Since Nan Zhuren is so eager to know the answers, I will answer them. I will answer some unimportant questions correctly, but omit the crucial ones, and may even give him nine parts truth and one part falsehood.

There's no need to hide this question, so I'll answer it honestly. Wait for me—

“Right? Very good—let’s continue.” Nan Zhuren nodded.

Huang Xin, who was about to speak, suddenly froze.

And then, there was even less chance to speak.

"Are you staring at me and being wary of me because of the teacher's instructions?"

"Wait, this is a bit complicated—it started out of my own volition, and then I was instructed by the teacher, is that right?"

"Very good, that's right now."

Huang Xin's eyes widened even further, now larger than a normal person's eyes.

"So, is the reason you're targeting me like this because of my expulsion back then?"

"Yes—so that means there's more to the story about my dismissal?"

"Yes—I was fired because I took the blame. Actually, the responsibility for what happened back then lies with you, right?"

"Wrong? Wait a minute—'you' actually bear no responsibility. The responsibility lies with the teacher, or rather, 'mainly' with the teacher, right?"

"This time it's right."

"So now the teacher is worried that I'll sense something's wrong and bring up things that were already settled, which is why they're so eager to kick me out of Jiang University, and even out of the psychology field, right?"

When Nan Zhuren asked this question, he did not answer it himself.

He has said enough.

Every word he uttered was a sharp sword, a heavy hammer, shattering Huang Xin's already fragile psychological defenses.

But Nan Zhuren also deceived Huang Xin.

His statement to Huang Xin, "You don't actually need to say anything in a moment," was a lie.

In the conversation just now, Nan Zhuren didn't need Huang Xin to speak, because these were questions where the answer could be determined by the "yes or no" option.

At the same time, Nan Zhuren also used this method to create an atmosphere of "I know everything, and there's no use in hiding it from you."

The goal was to completely defeat Huang Xin.

This will encourage him to proactively explain himself when faced with subsequent questions that are difficult to answer with a simple "yes or no" answer.

In order to achieve this goal, Nan Zhuren needs Huang Xin to personally say "yes".

Even if everyone already knows the answer, the psychological impact on Huang Xin is absolutely different when the same answer comes from Nan Zhuren versus Huang Xin.

Huang Xin's forehead was now soaked with cold sweat.

His lips twitched for a long time before he slowly uttered a single word.

"……Yes."

(End of this chapter)