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

Chapter 304 Psychology Classes That Were Merely Used
Nan Zhuren waited quietly, waiting for the students around him to calm down.

Currently, if intervention is to be initiated, there is one problem that Nan Zhuren has not yet solved.

Although Nan Zhuren was now adopting the posture of a psychological counselor and was indeed beginning to use psychological counseling techniques to explore and uncover the information he wanted.

However, their current situation is not one of "psychological counseling".

The student in front of me was not a visitor who had come seeking help.

At this thought, Nan Zhuren couldn't help but think of Li Mingchen, whom she had met before. In their brief conversation, Li Mingchen had taken everything that happened to him for granted.

This situation could very well happen to the guy with the buzz cut right in front of you.

If you try to "help" by showing curiosity about the other person's situation, it might actually provoke strong defensiveness or even scare them away.

Therefore, the dialogue needs to be a bit roundabout at first.

……

With that thought in mind, Nan Zhuren looked around, picked up an unopened bottle of mineral water, twisted it open, and handed it over.

"Take a rest first—are you alright?"

Upon hearing this, the man with the buzz cut looked up and was taken aback by Nan Zhuren's concerned gesture. After a full three seconds, he reached out and responded with a bashful gesture that was quite incongruous with his physique, taking the water that Nan Zhuren offered.

Then, like a large animal fetching water in the wild, he took a small sip.

Nan Zhuren estimated that this amount of water might not even be enough to moisten her lips.

"Excuse me, teacher," the man with the buzz cut shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "This experiment... should we do it again?"

“There’s no need to do it again,” Nan Zhuren said with a smile.

The student with the buzz cut was stunned after hearing Nan Zhuren's words, and then he panicked.

Even Nan Zhuren's unique voice, which possesses the ability to "soothe emotions," coupled with her smile, could not calm the man with the buzz cut at this moment.

Fortunately, Nan Zhuren immediately added: "That was also a set of valid experimental data, and it was also very rare. In a sense, it was the most meaningful set of data I collected today."

"You've helped me a lot."

Seeing that the students had quieted down again, Nan Zhuren smiled and tried to steer the conversation in a more serious direction: "That's precisely why I have some questions for you, which could also help explain this set of data—could you do me this favor?"

Faced with this situation where "the teacher makes demands on him," the man with the buzz cut seemed to rediscover a familiar feeling, becoming increasingly quiet, and his unease finally subsided to a low point.

He nodded.

Nan Zhuren nodded in agreement; the conversation could now get on track.

"Speaking of which, I don't even know your name?"

“My name is Xu Pengcheng, teacher,” the man with the buzz cut replied.

“Okay, Pengcheng.” Nan Zhuren nodded vigorously. “My surname is Nan, you can call me Teacher Nan.”

Nan Zhuren glanced at the computer screen: "Our little psychology experiment just now seemed to have elicited a big reaction from you. Psychology is amazing, isn't it?"

Using what just happened as a starting point for the discussion also lays the groundwork for the questions that follow.

Xu Pengcheng smiled sheepishly and took another sip of water.

"You guys rarely have psychology classes, and you rarely come here either—" Nan Zhuren gestured around the surroundings, "—to the counseling room?"

This is the first question that Nan Zhuren truly wants to know.

Xu Pengcheng nodded, feigning reminiscence: "We had psychology classes in our second year of high school, one a week, but we don't anymore. As for here..."

The tall student smiled sheepishly: "...I only found out where our school's counseling center is because my teacher asked me to do this experiment."

……

Seeing Xu Pengcheng smile, Nan Zhuren smiled back. He secretly noted the answer down. Facing a student with little experience in psychological counseling, his decision not to immediately offer help with "You have a problem, let me help you," but instead to take a roundabout approach, proved to be the right one.

Nan Zhuren then continued, "Let's bring the topic back to our experiment—"

"Our experiment is an emotion-inducing experiment, which aims to observe the natural reactions of students when faced with emotionally induced materials."

"Besides 'expressing' emotions, I also attach great importance to 'interpreting' emotions."

Nan Zhuren first tried his best to align his operations with the experimental procedures.

He sorted through several photos where Xu Pengcheng's reaction was quite different from that of the other students when the images were presented.

After thinking for a moment, he decided not to follow the previous screening order, but to rearrange the questions according to the order he needed for his subsequent conversation, and asked Xu Pengcheng in turn.

The first image shown is of a [cream cake].

"Gudong."

As expected, Xu Pengcheng once again tilted his neck back slightly as he swallowed.

A contradictory state of coexistence of desire and rejection.

When Xu Pengcheng first came in, Nan Zhuren thought his listless appearance was somewhat similar to Li Mingchen's symptoms of anorexia nervosa. However, after seeing this picture, Nan Zhuren changed her mind.

—Because Xu Pengcheng showed a desire for the cake.

Severe anorexia nervosa may still present with feelings of hunger, but the physiological appetite will be reduced to an extreme level. This doesn't mean that anorexia sufferers have no appetite, but they certainly won't experience such a strong urge to eat just because of a picture.

Xu Pengcheng's "greed" was all too obvious.

Nan Zhuren therefore found Xu Pengcheng's simultaneous expression of "desire" and "rejection" quite interesting.

The young counselor asked, "What emotions did you experience when you saw this picture? Or rather, how do you feel about yourself?"

The next second, Xu Pengcheng lowered his head and stopped looking at the screen.

"I can't touch cake, I hate cake."

……

Nan Zhuren raised an eyebrow.

Xu Pengcheng's reaction and wording were quite interesting.

First, Xu Pengcheng ignored the first part of his "desire" and only expressed the second part of his "rejection".

However, when Xu Pengcheng expressed his opinion, he used the phrase "I hate cake."

It's important to know that when people are passively discussing things they genuinely dislike, they usually use pronouns—like "it" or "that thing"—unless absolutely necessary.

Because a detailed, specific name projects a concrete image in the mind, and even allows other senses to respond in sync.

For people who either have an extreme love or a strong aversion to cake, just seeing the word "cake" might fill their nose with the aroma of milk, make their tongues taste sweet, and trigger a simultaneous mental image of a cake...

If Xu Pengcheng truly disliked cakes, this would be something he would try his best to avoid.

In Harry Potter, the infamous Dark Lord without a nose was eventually referred to only as "you know who," which can be seen as an extreme example of this psychological phenomenon.

Similarly, there's the Native American berserker who earned the title "That Man" in the Assassin's Creed series.

This is the second interesting point in Xu Pengcheng's statement.

There is a third point—

Nan Zhuren paused, then repeated Xu Pengcheng's words as if to emphasize them.

You said you 'can't' touch the cake?

(End of this chapter)