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

Chapter 148: Just One Step Away

[The movements and expressions were stiff and frozen.]

Because what happened was unexpected.

In the past, Li Minglu would always agree with her during these kinds of conversations?

Li Minglu did not answer, and Wang Sui stared at him without moving, as if she was competing with him and was determined to get an answer.

Seeing this, Nan Zhuren quickly stepped in and once again diverted Wang Sui's attention.

According to you, your friends are curious about your life, and even a little envious—and you are quite satisfied with it.

Wang Sui's attention was quickly drawn away.

Then, Nan Zhuren asked the crucial question.

How do you view your past life with Mr. Li?

……

On the surface, Nan Zhuren wanted to compare "the life as perceived by friends" and "the life as perceived by Wang Sui herself".

In reality, Nan Zhuren wanted Li Minglu to compare "the life his wife perceives" with "the life he himself desires".

Nan Zhuren stared at Wang Sui's expression.

After the exchange just now, he has established a baseline for Wang Sui's facial expressions.

Because he had not established a sufficiently strong consulting relationship with Wang Sui, he believed that Wang Sui might embellish or even lie in her subsequent narrative.

However, no, Wang Sui seemed to feel there was no need to hide anything and spoke her mind frankly.

……

"I'm not very satisfied with our life before."

Wang Sui stated frankly.

Li Minglu had previously expressed this idea as well.

The above statement is the only point in Wang Sui's understanding of the past that she shares with Li Minglu.

only one.

Nan Zhuren smoothly pressed on, "Why aren't you satisfied?"

“Because…” Wang Sui pursed her lips, “Lu Zi doesn’t care about his family at all.”

From Nan Zhuren's perspective, one can see that Li Minglu suddenly clenched his fists, but his body went limp.

"You're saying Mr. Li doesn't care about his family?"

"Correct."

Wang Sui glanced at Li Minglu: "For his sake, we specially turned the largest room into his art studio when we were renovating the house, but who knew that he would stay in the studio all day long and never leave the house."

“I’m the one who picks up and drops off the kids at school and tutoring classes, and I’m the one who helps them with their homework. He only comes out in the evenings when the kids are free, and plays with his son and daughter like a child. He’s always wasting money on toys and comics, which is such a waste of time.”

"You tell me, with him working so much, he should be able to paint a lot in a day, right? But guess what, when I go into his studio to tidy up, I see—wow, he hasn't even started painting a single picture!"

Wang Sui's words were full of complaints.

This is not over yet.

“I stay at home all day and don’t do much work. Sometimes I make noise when I do housework, I know he can hear me, but he never says anything to help me.”

"Teacher Nan, do you know, I've never told any of this to my friends or doctors before, just to save him face. I've only ever spoken well of him before, but this time I'm telling you everything."

[His chin is raised again.]

【pride?】

Nan Zhuren took a deep breath. No, it was a "desire for recognition."

He had already understood the greatest significance of Li Minglu to Wang Sui.

Before Li Minglu fell ill, his work and life allowed his friends to accept Wang Sui.

After Li Minglu was diagnosed with depression, Wang Sui tried to gain recognition from her friends by "caring for her sick husband." However, the latter was clearly not as lasting or effective as the former, so Wang Sui received less and less recognition.

She needs more emotional support.

Therefore, she now wants to gain recognition from herself by looking at her husband's work and life from another perspective before his illness.

……

Nan Zhuren would naturally not cooperate with Wang Sui in this regard.

He glanced at Li Minglu and noticed that the man was trembling all over.

Nan Zhuren turned to Wang Sui and asked, "Have you discussed these ideas with Mr. Li before?"

Wang Sui nodded matter-of-factly: "Of course, I say whatever I think in life. What family member would hide anything from each other?"

"But I told him many times, and he wouldn't change, so I got tired of saying it. Later, he got sick, and it became even harder for me to say anything."

Wang Sui sighed as she said this.

"Back in school, because of some things... I can't tell you about this, Teacher Nan, but anyway, I was always taking care of him. He only needed to study, while I often failed courses throughout the semester because of taking care of him, and I didn't have much time to spend with my friends."

"I didn't expect that after graduation, things would only improve for a while before going back to the way they were before, and I was still the one taking care of him."

Wang Sui patted Li Minglu's back, as if comforting a child.

"I think people who study art are probably more sensitive, and there have indeed been too many things that have happened to Lu Zi."

"Having come this far, only I can take care of him now. Sometimes I really wish he could be stronger and stop letting those things bother him..."

Nan Zhuren's heart skipped a beat.

He glanced at the wall clock; only two minutes remained.

But at this moment, Li Minglu's body suddenly relaxed again after a period of tension.

At the same time, his body began to curl up forcefully.

[Regression... severe regression.]

Extremely strong defense.

This is bad.

Nan Zhuren had a premonition that today's consultation would not achieve the results he wanted.

At this moment, Li Minglu doesn't seem like the type to actively express his thoughts to his wife.

Even though his wife had already exposed the contradictions in their completely different understandings to him.

Even though she had already received Nan Zhuren's support and was determined to express her opinion.

But at this moment, just because of his wife's last few words, he turned his motivation back to himself.

……

Nan Zhuren let out a long sigh.

It's regrettable, but this is the norm in consultations.

Not every consultation will be effective.

Sometimes, even with all the groundwork laid beforehand, one wrong step can cause all your efforts to be wasted.

This is why many mental illnesses—especially depression—require years of intervention and treatment.

But Nan Zhuren still wanted to give it one last try. He asked Wang Sui, "Did Mr. Li tell you in detail about his feelings? For example, what bothered him the most when he had a depressive episode?"

"No, did he just tell you, Teacher Nan?"

Nan Zhuren neither nodded nor shook his head.

They simply turned their expectant gaze toward Li Minglu.

(End of this chapter)