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

Chapter 91: What I hope will work is [emotional readjustment], not [charm].

Nan Zhuren already had a plan in mind.

However, the visitor's emotions had not yet calmed down, so Nan Zhuren was still waiting.

At this moment, I really wish my "emotional readjustment" could be used on others.

Nan Zhuren then used some words of emotional reassurance, which took some time.

"Thank you for listening to me for so long, Teacher Nan. I really didn't want to come for counseling at first because of this. I was worried... about what you would think of me."

The visitor finally stopped crying.

Nan Zhuren avoided the part about "opinions," and only said:

"I'm glad you ultimately chose to come here."

Then he took control of the consultation: "I've heard a lot from you, and I know a lot about you. And it seems that all of these things have a common cause, which is the argument you had with your boyfriend the night before last."

"Yes." The visitor seemed to have found an outlet. "If I hadn't argued with my boyfriend that day, I wouldn't have encountered so many ridiculous and unpleasant things afterward!"

"That argument was also the reason you scheduled your consultation. So, back to the point—what do you hope to gain from this consultation?"

Consultation cannot be conducted meaninglessly; establishing consultation goals is of paramount importance.

But the visitor suddenly got stuck at this point.

She glanced at Nan Zhuren and pursed her lips.

After a few breaths, he shook his head: "I don't know either, I just... don't want to be like this anymore."

Nan Zhuren maintained her smile: "It's alright. Helping visitors explore their problems and clarify their thoughts is also part of my job. So now I want to know more details, which requires your help to recall, is that alright?"

"Okay." The visitor nodded.

She straightened her posture, adopting an eager-to-try stance.

"Let's rewind to the time when you had your argument. He brought up marriage with you, and you refused because you felt he didn't love you."

The visitor's eyes flickered: "Yes."

Nan Zhuren smiled: "But judging from your subsequent behavior, it seems there's something deeper besides that reason. At the time, you weren't just thinking 'he doesn't love you enough,' right?"

The visitor straightened his neck: "I don't want to be pressured into marriage... I feel I'm still young, and I don't want to decide my future like this."

Why do you think your boyfriend suddenly brought this up, and why did he choose that particular time?

"……What's the meaning?"

Nan Zhuren deliberately asked, "So, did your boyfriend suddenly and inexplicably issue this ultimatum? There was no warning in the days or weeks before?"

The visitor shrugged and answered quickly and casually, "Maybe, he acted strangely that day."

“That’s normal,” she added. “Men are becoming more and more like women these days, don’t you think? They’re always thinking about getting married and having kids, it’s ridiculous.”

Nan Zhuren raised a question: "But you said before, 'I was watching a drama, and he was playing games next to me. Everything was normal. But he suddenly stopped, turned to me, and then his eyes welled up with tears.' It seems like it happened very suddenly, like it was caught off guard."

The visitor blinked: "It was very sudden, but his expression was strange when he was eating that day."

Her speech quickened, and she nodded rapidly in small, rapid movements as she spoke.

"I started to feel sad then, and I knew something was wrong. I could tell."

"So I asked him what was wrong? He replied, 'I don't want to go on like this anymore.'"

"Then I got annoyed and said, 'Fine, so now it's back to the either-or choice of getting married or breaking up, right?'"

enough.

Nan Zhuren decisively interrupted, "So it was actually you who issued the 'ultimatum,' not your boyfriend." "It was actually you who pressured your boyfriend to marry you, not the other way around, right?"

……

The visitor was speechless.

Her beautiful eyes widened, and for a moment a look of confusion appeared on them.

"What...did I give the order?" She seemed to want to gloss over the past.

"Final ultimatum." Nan Zhuren refused to try and get away with it.

"No, it's him who keeps bringing up marriage; he's the one pressuring me..."

“‘Repeatedly mentioning’ and ‘final ultimatum’ are two different concepts.” Nan Zhuren interrupted him again. “And—was it really him who ‘repeatedly mentioned’?”

The visitor opened his mouth.

But looking into Nan Zhuren's eyes, he suddenly couldn't say a word.

What she had been hiding was now brought to the forefront, leaving her no choice but to confront it.

So she fell silent and began to think.

Of course, she herself would never be able to take this step. Perhaps the other party would start to play defensively again and make up some new story or reason.

So Nan Zhuren seized the opportunity when the other party began to think and raised his hand.

He softened his tone again: "There are some contradictions in the story you told today, but there is one thing that remains constant. Do you know what it is?"

The visitor asked, bewildered, "What?"

“Fear—or rather, terror.”

Nan Zhuren shared what he had recorded using micro-expression analysis: "Your experience at the bar last night terrified you, but the expression of this fear is consistent with your emotions when you recounted your argument with your boyfriend. To put it more directly—the fear you felt because of the bar incident is an extension of the fear you felt during your argument with your boyfriend."

"It's you who desperately wants to get married, not your boyfriend. But you've been rejected multiple times, which has made you feel frustrated and even fearful."

"No one likes fear, and this fear is not only a blow to your emotions, but also a blow to your feminine charm."

Nan Zhuren glanced at the other woman's bodycon skirt and exquisite makeup.

"So you desperately want to eliminate this superimposed fear. You've chosen two approaches: one is to go to a bar hoping to be approached by men; the other is to switch roles when you come here to talk to me, your counselor, portraying yourself as someone who, because of your youth, doesn't want to settle down quickly and is even willing to go to a bar for a fling immediately after rejecting someone's marriage proposal."

"But none of these are you."

Nan Zhuren's words were very impolite.

The visitor fell silent.

This defensive silence is very common during a standoff.

Nan Zhuren glanced at the clock, just as he was about to summarize the consultation and wrap it up.

The visitor suddenly looked up: "These... Professor Nan, you were able to see them all in such a short time?"

She shifted nervously in her low-cut, sleeveless, bodycon dress: "Are all counselors... this amazing?"

Nan Zhuren blinked.

　I went to see the movie "Good Things" last night, it was good.

　　Well, the author himself is just like the book's title—he has some flaws, which is why he studied psychology.

　　Watching this movie gave me a sense of healing. It wasn't much, but it was very comforting.

　　Even without the healing effect, it's still a pretty good comedy. Highly recommended!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)