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

Chapter 627 Two Options
The meeting had long since ended, and the four research groups and their respective supervisors left with their own thoughts.

Professor Ji's face was even more grim than the weather outside.

He took a deep breath, but was quickly choked by the cloying smell of instant coffee inside the tent. The more he looked at the tent, the more annoyed he became, so he simply took his apprentice back to his research group's small office.

Just then, Teacher Yijinjiao returned. As the camp leaders had predicted, his hairstyle had finally become messy. It was unclear whether it was because he hadn't had time to style it or because he had been arguing with Weng Pingting all day, leaving even his hair looking disheveled.

However, upon seeing her mentor return, Teacher Jiao, whose hair had lost all its glue, still mustered her spirits and greeted him: "Teacher..."

Before he could finish a complete sentence, Professor Ji, who had been holding back all the way, finally exploded.

"This is outrageous!"

Professor Ji slammed his briefcase against the wall, and the documents inside exploded out like fireworks: "You're all people who usually act important, but when it really matters, all you do is shirk your responsibilities and pass the buck!"

"How can we do projects and conduct research with a bunch of guys like this?!"

Teacher Jiao shrank back, not daring to reply.

The students would have to clean up the mess later—but that wasn't the time to worry about that now. After quietly learning from his fellow students the reason for their teacher's outburst, Teacher Jiao dared not speak again.

Professor Ji's chest heaved as he raged for a while before he finally calmed down a bit and was able to think clearly again.

But the anger of being subtly "betrayed" and looked down upon by his peers, mixed with his unwavering determination to tackle the tough issue of "mass hysteria," was burning fiercely in his heart.

He was absolutely unwilling to admit defeat so easily.

"They're no good because they're not skilled enough and their methods are rigid!" Professor Ji said, panting, as if analyzing himself in relation to his apprentice.

"Xiao Jiao!" he suddenly called out to his apprentice.

"Have you all been reading at least one article on 'mass hysteria' every night before bed these past few days?"

Since deciding to intervene in "mass hysteria," Professor Ji has consciously begun to study and assign tasks. He has his students read papers, and he himself reads even more.

"Tell me your current understanding of 'mass hysteria'!"

When his name was called, Teacher Jiao jolted awake, and a string of words came out of his mouth like a memorized recitation: "【Mass Hysteria】is essentially an individual's way of 'converting' unbearable psychological pressure into physical symptoms through observation and suggestion in a high-pressure, closed environment! It's a distorted psychological defense mechanism, and it's irrational..."

Professor Ji stopped listening after the beginning; his apprentice's recitation seemed more like background noise for him to think.

He stood up and paced around the room. During this time, his students returned one by one, and soon everyone was there.

Professor Ji's studio is a converted small classroom, which is now perfect for holding meetings.

He strode to the blackboard, picked up the chalk, and began to write and draw; at the same time, he spoke rapidly, both explaining to the students and organizing his own thoughts:

"The principle behind 'mass hysteria' is very simple! Vague information, immense pressure, and a lack of control lead to extreme anxiety in individuals. At this point, a culturally resonant 'explanation'—such as 'Dragon King's punishment'—emerges."

"One person first shows symptoms, and others become infected socially, unconsciously imitating and amplifying them, forming a collective physical manifestation..."

The more Professor Ji spoke, the more he felt he had grasped the core of the problem.

"Traditional interventions overemphasize individual psychotherapy, which is too inefficient! We need to focus on the core issue—breaking the chain of transmission and dismantling irrational beliefs!"

"Although Lao Sun and Lao Wu didn't achieve anything significant, at least they helped us rule out a wrong answer and made us realize the inefficiency of communicating with disaster-stricken people..."

"They want to get Bai Qinghua and his team to speed things up... Well, let's go a step further and skip the relationship structure altogether!"

The students looked at each other in bewilderment.

A glint flashed in Professor Ji's eyes: "We need to use a more systematic and forceful 'science popularization' and 'cognitive bombardment' to directly impact their belief system regarding the 'Dragon King'! As long as we prove that the 'Dragon King' doesn't exist, and that their feelings are false, the symptoms will naturally disappear!"

"We organize centralized science popularization lectures, distribute the simplest and most easy-to-understand science books, and provide one-on-one firm cognitive correction! We want every villager to understand that they have been deceived by their own brains!"

With no more glue left in her hair, Teacher Jiao opened her mouth as if to say something, but seeing Professor Ji's unquestionable expression, she swallowed her words and simply replied, "Okay, teacher, I'll go prepare the materials and the venue right away..."

Upon receiving the master's order, the eldest disciple immediately instructed the other disciples to carry it out.

But after all the students had left, Teacher Jiao finally couldn't hold back: "...Teacher."

Professor Ji, who was drawing and writing, stopped what she was doing: "What's wrong?"

Taking a deep breath, Teacher Jiao said, "Teacher, wasn't your intervention method a bit too radical? I heard this morning that Teacher Wu was almost beaten up..."

However, Professor Ji's reaction was quite different from what Teacher Jiao had expected.

Then Professor Ji suddenly smiled and said, "It's because of the trouble that Lao Wu's side has run into problems that I made this arrangement."

"what?"

Professor Ji shook his head. He was quite patient with his top student in the research group: "We're doing this project in a disaster area, which has its downsides, since we're at the mercy of others; but it also has its advantages—"

As she spoke, Professor Ji pointed outside: "That's it. After all, we're backed by someone else's organization."

"You heard about Lao Wu almost getting into trouble this morning when you were discussing things with the camp leaders, right?"

Teacher Jiao nodded.

"Now that the camp leaders have heard about this, they will definitely pay special attention to this potential danger in the future, and therefore will be more concerned about our safety."

Professor Ji looked at his apprentice and said earnestly, "To put it another way, even if things really do get out of hand because we're too radical, the people in the camp will help us quell it. You can think of it as—if the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up."

He said, “Our group used to lead projects, so you might not be very familiar with this situation. But now you need to start learning and make full use of all the resources at hand.”

He said, "Don't worry, nothing will happen."

Teacher Jiao nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite. After listening to the teacher's instruction, he turned and left. Professor Ji, with his back to the door, looked at the blackboard he had just filled with writing, holding a water cup. His breathing quickened again, as if he were lost in thought.
-
the other side.

Weng Pingting was in the small conference room of her research group, looking at the messages that kept popping up on her phone from her supervisors in other research groups.

Lost in thought.

After a while, Bai Qinghua said helplessly, "Pingting, could you please give me back my phone first... If not, I can forward you the messages from Lao Sun and the others, okay?"

Weng Pingting pursed her lips, forwarded the message as instructed, and then tossed the phone back to its owner.

Looking back at her phone, Weng Pingting re-examined the messages: those from Professor Sun, Professor Wang, Professor Li, and even Professor Wu.

Within a few short minutes, as if by prior arrangement, they all sent messages to Bai Qinghua simultaneously.

However—although the message was intended for Bai Qinghua, the implied meaning of the message was that it was up to Weng Pingting to make the decision.

Weng Pingting watched, initially frowning slightly, then unable to resist a smile, and finally chuckling softly. She could imagine the group of old men who usually spoke eloquently at academic conferences, looking helpless and embarrassed as they faced a group of villagers who firmly believed in the "Dragon King's miracle."

“These old folks,” she shook her head. “They can’t handle things themselves, so they try to pass the buck to us, and they do it in such a roundabout way.”

"That's not all. Now they're not just trying to shift the blame, they also want us to pave the way for them."

Bai Qinghua sensed that his eldest apprentice seemed a little angry, and couldn't help but soothe him, saying, "Now is not the time to worry about these things; the disaster relief is the most important thing. Besides, academic research requires collaboration..."

Before Weng Pingting's eyebrows shot up, Bai Qinghua felt he had fulfilled his duty as a teacher and promptly shut up.

The other three members of the master's group, as well as the senior consultant that Bai Qinghua brought out from his own company, all seemed unsurprised by this.

Besides these people, there was another person present – ​​Li Lingling.

As the only outsider present, the young nurse couldn't help but feel a little reserved in this situation.

However, everyone in the research group was a professional and did not put any pressure on Li Lingling with their eyes or anything else. Instead, they all looked at Weng Pingting.

They were also having a meeting.

The theme of the meeting was "mass hysteria".

"Has everyone finished reviewing the materials they have?"

Weng Pingting glanced around; the meeting had only just begun. "The materials you have here were compiled by Zhu Ren over the past two days. It's clear from this that this 'Dragon King's' 'mass hysteria' has already spread to some extent..."

Nan Zhuren has been visiting these past few days supposedly to look at archives, but many of her visitors, like Wang Lili before her, are also troubled by the "Dragon King" or by disaster victims who believe in the "Dragon King."

This allowed Nan Zhuren to collect a lot of information from various angles, even though she had not formally intervened in this "mass hysteria".

In addition to Nan Zhuren, Bai Qinghua and two other senior consultants from the research group have also visited the resettlement site in the past few days to conduct interviews and observations.

After a few brief conversations with the elderly, they reduced their visits and increased their observations.

At the same time, they not only observed the elderly people at the resettlement sites, but also took the opportunity to observe the research groups that collected data.

Then I came back and reported to Weng Pingting.

It was thanks to the efforts of these two senior consultants, Nan Zhuren and Weng Pingting, that she was able to compile the information.

“The situation has changed a bit now.” Weng Pingting smiled and forwarded the chat logs of these professors to the research group’s work group. “Several research groups that joined earlier have encountered difficulties of varying degrees. Everyone should pay attention and learn from their mistakes.”

Everyone clicked into the group chat and couldn't help but chuckle softly.

During this time, Weng Pingting also reflected on the feedback from these professors and adjusted her plans accordingly.

After doodling in her notebook for a while, she nodded in satisfaction, drawing everyone's attention back to her:
“Before we begin to deploy our work, we must make one thing clear,” Weng Pingting emphasized, “this ‘Dragon King’s’ hysteria is not a simple physical illness, nor is it ignorance. It is a huge trauma and pressure, a concrete emotional outlet that the locals find in the face of disaster, one that aligns with their local cultural understanding.”

Weng Pingting spoke in great detail, showing consideration for Li Lingling, whose foundation in psychology was relatively weak.

What she was saying at that moment made Li Lingling feel that it seemed to have a hidden meaning.

Weng Pingting continued, "Those feelings of 'dragon scales' and 'dragon ribbons' are a physical expression of their true helplessness and fear. If we simply dismiss them as 'superstition' or 'lies,' it will only deepen the antagonism and make the problem worse."

"Our strategy is to understand, accept, and then guide."

Weng Pingting set the tone first.

"Now, let's divide into groups." She then began to deploy the groups methodically, speaking quickly and clearly.

"The first group's main task is information and data analysis. Qianqian, you're in charge." Weng Pingting looked at Shi Qianqian. "Sorting through detailed information on all known cases and building a database. Focus on analyzing the timeline of symptom onset, keywords in descriptions, and connections between individuals. I need to know which symptoms appeared first, how they spread, and who the key individuals were."

Shi Qianqian nodded immediately: "I can do cross-comparison and correlation diagrams."

She had anticipated her mission.

“I’ll help you organize things when I have time, and so will the teacher,” Weng Pingting said.

She then looked at Chonghui: "The second group's main task is environmental and social network observation. Dahui, you will lead the team, with the two teachers assisting."

In comparison, these field tasks are more energy-intensive than data analysis, so they require more people.

"You will go deep into the resettlement sites, especially those with high incidence of symptoms. Instead of directly discussing the illnesses, observe daily life, communication patterns, and the emotional atmosphere. Pay attention to respected elders and leaders among the villagers. The two teachers can use your counseling skills for non-intrusive observation and listening, while Da Hui will be responsible for coordination and safety. The goal is to create a true map of relationships and emotional states in this community."

“Okay, senior sister,” Chonghui replied calmly. The two counselors nodded in agreement.

Finally, her gaze fell on Nan Zhuren and Li Lingling: "The third group's main task is core contact and assessment—Zhuren and Lingling, you are in charge."

(End of this chapter)