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

Chapter 513 An Awkward Life

As the visitor spoke, he pretended to recall something:

"After I was scammed, I found out that it wasn't just the comrade whose face was swapped by AI to chat with me; other comrades of mine were also scammed. The lawyer was hired by a comrade from a relatively well-off family."

“He told me… the group that scammed me had been arrested and was about to go to trial. He hoped… I could file some other appeals…”

At this point, the visitor hesitated, "That lawyer also told me... he contacted you?"

Nan Zhuren nodded without changing his expression: "That's right. But this is your business. I told him that if you need anything, you can only come and talk to me in person."

The visitor appeared to breathe a sigh of relief, then took another deep breath.

Increased swallowing movements, shoulders hunched inward.

[Frequent finger movements, pursing lips, and frowning.]

[There was tension and hesitation, but the intensity was not high.]

Nan Zhuren mentally assessed the importance of this matter to the visitor.

"I...don't know what to do, so I came here today to ask for the teacher's opinion."

I certainly cannot give you advice.

Nan Zhuren nodded to indicate that he understood, and then guided the conversation: "And the second thing?"

……

This part of the process doesn't involve the client telling a story and the counselor directly commenting on it; instead, the client tells the whole story, and then the counselor summarizes it.

In other words, the "thing" itself is not important; what the counselor needs to pay attention to is the client's reaction and feelings about the "thing".

The visitor understood the process and continued recalling, "The second thing... when it happened, you were actually present, Professor Nan."

Nan Zhuren gave the feedback: "I was there too?"

The visitor nodded: "It was during the lecture—no, strictly speaking, before the lecture."

"That's right, I went there as a volunteer that day. Before the lecture started, the teacher was going to assign tasks to each volunteer. Theoretically, guys like us would be assigned to more tedious tasks or heavy work like moving things."

The visitor adjusted his posture and forced a smile: "But when I went there that day, the counselor immediately assigned me to guard the back door, which was the easiest job among all the volunteers."

When smiling, the muscles around the eyes don't engage, and the corners of the mouth are pulled in a somewhat distorted manner.

[He shook his head slightly; his body language and facial expression created a contradiction.]

[Pressing her lips, clenching her teeth, her eyes briefly losing focus.]

The visitor's language, facial expressions, and body language all seemed to express themselves independently, as if each had its own thoughts.

Sure enough, the visitor said the next moment, "I don't like this."

Perhaps fearing that Nan Zhuren might misunderstand, the visitor immediately explained, "Of course, I am very grateful for the teacher's arrangement, and I am also relieved. Before this, I was worried that the teacher would have some opinion of me because of my situation."

"Even if it wasn't a misunderstanding about my character, my actions did cause him trouble in his work..."

The visitor took a deep breath and slowly exhaled: "The night I had the accident, I ran to the police station at three or four in the morning. Because my videos were posted in the school's group chat, I woke up the teacher in the middle of the night and asked the police officer to explain the situation to the teacher and ask him to disband the group chat. Then I added everyone back to the group chat one by one."

"Afterwards, the teacher reported my matter to the college secretary and communicated with the school's security department to issue a statement... In short, my matter increased the teacher's workload."

The visitor said in a low voice, "I'm worried that the teacher might have some... ill feelings towards me because of this." Nan Zhuren nodded, as if she understood.

Sensing the visitor's unease, Nan Zhuren offered some reassurance to allow the visitor to continue: "But now it seems the teacher was quite considerate of you?"

The visitor gave a wry smile: "Yes. But I always think, this is what his job requires, right? Could it be that he does this just because his position makes him 'should' do it; but he 'doesn't want to' do it, and he actually dislikes me emotionally?"

“And…” the visitor lowered his head, “even if he is ‘willing’ to do it, I still feel… I don’t like it.”

Nan Zhuren deliberately asked, "Why?"

call--

The visitor sighed deeply: "Because of my past, I caused him trouble in the past; now and in the future, he will continue to cause me this trouble... I guess you could call it 'taking care' of me."

“I don’t like this. I feel that my own problems are constantly causing trouble for others.”

After saying this, the visitor quickly added, "Of course, I am very grateful to the teacher, but... I just don't like it."

Nan Zhuren nodded, offering the visitor a gesture of support: "I understand, I get it."

I understand, this is the avoidant attachment style starting to take effect again.

At this stage, I worry about being surrounded by malice, but when others show kindness, I subconsciously reject it.

Very typical.

……

After calming himself down, the visitor took the initiative this time: "This is the second thing, and then there is a third thing."

Nan Zhuren pretended to listen attentively.

"The third thing actually happened before the second thing, but after the first thing."

The timeline is a bit messy, so the visitor explained: "Before I went to do volunteer work, my mother called me to ask how I was doing recently, and then... she brought up the matter of me being scammed, and she wanted to know more details."

The visitor paused for a moment at this point.

“She cares about me, I know.” His tone became long and low.

The visitor said, "But I broke down."

Nan Zhuren also paused for a moment. It wasn't that he needed to be silent, but rather that he felt the visitor needed a quiet environment to process their emotions at that moment.

[Breathing is shallow and rapid, accompanied by irregular, brief breath-holding.]

[Fingers and lips trembled; teeth clenched violently.]

[He recounts a painful event, but his facial muscles are stiff, and his language is completely disconnected from his emotions.]

After silently counting to three breaths, Nan Zhuren repeated, "You've broken down?"

The visitor nodded: "Yes, I broke down."

"I threw my phone on the ground, yelled and screamed, started smashing things, my mind went blank, you could say I lost the ability to think."

Having perhaps calmed down a bit, the visitor finally managed a smile and joked, "If it weren't for the 'grounding technique' you taught me, Professor Nan, my dorm room might have been reduced to ruins."

(End of this chapter)