Psychiatrist’s clinic.
Qin Lan looked worryingly at the man who had been sleeping on the chair for half an hour.
This is my counseling office, not a hotel. What do you think you’re doing, sleeping here like that?
For the past three days, at this hour in the afternoon, Mr. Chen would arrive on time and sleep on the chair.
He made no sounds after lying down, so Qin Lan couldn’t tell if he was asleep, and she didn’t dare to wake him either.
Because of this, Qin Lan had no choice but to cancel all her appointments. She didn’t dare let anyone near when Mr. Chen was here.
Nan Chen had done this before back then, but he’d never done this for three days in a row.
He was one of the busiest people in Flower City. His time was incredibly precious, so it was strange for him to come and sleep here for half an hour every day.
Based on her professional judgment as a psychologist, Qin Lan believes that Nan Chen was facing some big trouble.
He has a big knot in his heart that needs to be untied, but he refuses to let people peek inside his heart, so he needs an environment like a counseling center to heal.
But there was no cure. He had just come to relieve some of the agony in his heart.
Whenever he came here, his heart would hint at him that he was in a counseling office, and his problems could be solved. Such hints helped calm him down a little.
However, he wouldn’t say anything, nor would he interact with Qin Lan. So the problem was always there, unresolved.
Qin Lan got increasingly curious as to what sort of problem could’ve caused this man who was practically a huge block of ice, so much agony.
Then, Nan Chen’s leg start to move a little, and Qin Lan hurriedly handed over a glass of ice-cold water.
This was Nan Chen’s habit. He doesn’t like drinking warm beverages. It had to be either hot coffee and tea, or ice-cold water.
Nan Chen opened his eyes, took the water over and slowly drank it.
“Mr. Chen, what happened?” Qin Lan tried to communicate with him.
Nan Chen didn’t say a word.
“Is it still about that woman’s scent?” Qin Lan pressed on.
There seemed to be something complicated in Nan Chen’s eyes.
As an experienced psychologist, Qin Lan knew she had guessed it correctly.
“Recently, you’ve been coming here every afternoon to lie down for half an hour. You aren’t in love with me, are you…?”
Nan Chen almost spat out the water in his mouth before Qin Lan could finish.
This reaction made Qin Lan a little angry, Is it that impossible to fall in love with me? Am I not good-looking?
“Am I not good-looking?” Qin Lan questioned.
Nan Chen shook his head. Qin Lan was actually really pretty. Both her figure and her face looked amazing. She was definitely the most beautiful psychiatrist in Flower City.
“Then what was that reaction all about? Is it impossible for you to fall in love with me?”
Nan Chen nodded this time.
“Then who do you love?” Qin Lan seized the opportunity to attack.
Nan Chen didn’t nod, nor did he shake his head.
“You’re always like this. You go silent whenever we bring up the key points. This is a counseling office, not a hotel. If you’re just here to sleep every day instead of getting counseling, then isn’t this just a waste of resources? I’ll have you know; I charge by the hour. Even if you don’t say anything and no treatment gets done, I’ll still charge you!” Qin Lan said.
Nan Chen didn’t say anything. A mere consultation fee like this was nothing to him.
Qin Lan saw that it wasn’t working, and tried a different approach instead.
“How about this, I’ll hand you a piece of paper, and you write down five keywords on it. Write whatever bothers you. Once you’re done, I promise not to look at it. I’ll seal it in a container and let you read it again a few months later. If you refuse to say it out loud, writing it down would help somewhat. It’s the same as telling your secret to a hole in the trees, like in the movies.”
“If you keep these unspeakable secrets hidden in your heart, it will affect your mental health over time. Writing them out will help you feel much better. I know you are a strong person, but you’re still human, and humans will have weaknesses. It’s perfectly normal.”
Qin Lan was a well-known psychologist, after all. She was very good at persuading people. Nan Chen finally nodded.
Qin Lan was very excited, as she had finally broken through this block of ice.
She hurriedly grabbed a piece of paper, and handed it to Nan Chen with a pen.
“Only five keywords, so think carefully about the words you will write. Seal them into this bottle when you’re done, and I’ll store it for you.” Qin Lan said.
Nan Chen took them over, gave it a brief thought, and started to write.
After he had finished writing, he passed the paper to Qin Lan.
“Fold it and seal it into this bottle yourself, I won’t look.” Qin Lan said.
Nan Chen was unconvinced.
Did you think I’m that stupid? You can read it anytime since the bottle is kept here with you!
If you wanted to read it, then just read it in front of me! Why bother coming up with these little tricks?
“I really won’t look.” Qin Lan said.
Nan Chen nodded. He picked up the electronic lighter next to him that Qin Lan uses for smoking, and was about to burn the piece of paper.
You weren’t going to look, right? Then it would be more secure to just burn it than to seal it in a bottle.
“Hey, don’t burn it!”
Qin Lan quickly snatched the paper over, “Mr. Chen, why won’t you listen? I asked you to seal it, and you try to burn it instead? Did you think that I would read it after you leave?”
Nan Chen couldn’t be bothered to say anything as he thought, Your tricks sure are stupid for someone who’s a psychiatrist.
Nan Chen’s writing was very beautiful.
Hate. Like. Approach. Avoid. Escape.
The first four words, “hate”, “like”, “approach”, and “avoid” were two sets of antonyms.
This clearly showed that Nan Chen had contradictions in his heart, and these contradictions have been tormenting him.
As for the last word, it described what he wanted to do most. Escape.
Because he couldn’t resolve the contradiction in his heart, he arrived at a single end result, which is to escape.
After reading the five words, Qin Lan was able to more or less understand Nan Chen’s feelings.
“Since I’ve already seen them now, shall we just have a chat about it?” Qin Lan asked Nan Chen.
Nan Chen shook his head. He was not about to discuss it.
It was already difficult enough to write it out, and he really didn’t want to talk about it.
“Come on, it’ll help you out.” Qin Lan was curious.
Nan Chen nodded after giving it some thought.
“So you like someone but hate someone? Is this the first contradiction?”
Nan Chen looked at Qin Lan with contempt, and shook his head.
“Are you doubting my professionalism again?” Qin Lan was annoyed.
Nan Chen kept quiet. He did doubt Qin Lan, because she was wrong about it.
He meant he liked the scent on the woman, and hated the woman.
It was simply too strange to hate someone but like their scent that even someone as tough as Nan Chen was confused by it.
“You want to approach her to get closer to her, but you’re afraid of her rejection, so you want to avoid her instead?” Qin Lan asked again.
Nan Chen still remained quiet, because Qin Lan was wrong again.
Nan Chen wanted to avoid the woman because he would feel an unexplainable throbbing in his heart. He didn’t know whether it was because of her as a person, or her scent.
But Nan Chen also liked the scent on her, so it can also be said that he likes her to approach him. In that sense, Qin Lan did get it slightly correct.
As for “escape”, that was Nan Chen’s most hidden thought. He wanted to escape from Flower City to somewhere far away from the scent of that woman.
It was either she leaves, or he leaves.
