Xu Zhi wasted some time collecting debts with Zhou Mu and encountered traffic jams while taking a taxi. Therefore, it had already been two hours when he arrived at Wen Shuyao’s hospital. Wen Shuyao’s face had turned dark from waiting.
Xu Zhi had no choice but to explain to him, “Shuyao, I didn’t mean not to come.”
“I know,” Wen Shuyao nodded, staring at his red lips, not giving him any face, “It seems that you can’t get away from your lover’s arms.”
Seeing that he was not really angry, Xu Zhi began to joke casually, “When you and your senior brother were having sex during office hours, I never disturbed you.”
Wen Shuyao was stopped by him and turned away without saying a word.
Xu Zhi pursed his lips and smiled, thinking about those kisses before going out again, and became distracted.
Wen Shuyao sighed heavily and said to him, “This is about the extent of your capability.”
The two of them went to Wen Shuyao’s office. Wen Shuyao went to the window first and closed the gauze curtain, then poured Xu Zhi a glass of water and asked him to sit.
Xu Zhi took the water, walked to the sofa against the wall, and sat down, waiting for Wen Shuyao’s routine questions.
Wen Shuyao walked to sit across from him and carefully observed Xu Zhi’s condition. From his face to his micro-expressions, nothing was missing.
Xu Zhi is good at observing others, but he is not used to being observed. Even if Wen Shuyao tries to be gentle with his diagnosis, he will still feel nervous, like a patient facing a doctor.
“Xiao Zhi,” Wen Shuyao said slowly, “relax.”
Xu Zhi took a deep breath and relaxed slowly, but with little effect.
Wen Shuyao took off the white coat that represented his identity as a doctor, leaned on the back of the sofa in a relaxed posture, and asked Xu Zhi, “Did you play too much last night?”
Xu Zhi swirled the water in the glass and thought about it. Although he didn’t do anything last night, kissing was indeed a bit too much and affected his sleep, so he admitted it honestly.
Wen Shuyao didn’t show any surprise. He nodded and continued to ask, “Have you taken the medicine I prescribed for you?”
“Yes,” Xu Zhi said.
“But the side effects are obvious,” Xu Zhi continued: “dizziness, slow thinking, and confusion.”
Wen Shuyao explained to him very professionally, saying that some ingredients in psychotropic drugs do have such effects, “Even so, you can’t stop taking the drugs yourself.”
Xu Zhi said nothing, and Wen Shuyao added, “The course of treatment must be sufficient…”
Xu Zhi took over his words: “…After the clinical effect is significant, the consolidation period will be at least two to six months. During the consolidation and maintenance treatment stages, the combined application of psychotherapy is also necessary.”
Wen Shuyao has been saying this since Xu Zhi first received psychological counseling from him many years ago, so much so that Xu Zhi has memorized it.
Wen Shuyao: “…”
Wen Shuyao: “Since you know, don’t make people worry.”
“Yeah,” Xu Zhi nodded obediently, “I understand.”
“Zhou Mu didn’t come with you?” Wen Shuyao asked casually.
In order to prevent Zhou Mu’s identity from being exposed, Xu Zhi did not bring Zhou Mu over but asked him to wait at home.
Xu Zhi raised his head and looked at Wen Shuyao. He didn’t detect any inquiring expressions on his face, so he nodded.
Wen Shuyao seemed to want to continue asking, but Xu Zhi resisted and said, “Don’t always bring him up, Shuyao.”
Wen Shuyao was stunned and stopped mentioning him.
On the surface, Xu Zhi seemed to be listening carefully, but in fact, his thoughts had already run away.
He didn’t buy a mobile phone for Zhou Mu, so he can’t contact Zhou Mu now.
He wanted to know what Zhou Mu was doing at home when he was away. After all, Zhou Mu was a dangerous person and was likely to cause damage to Xu Zhi’s house and property.
So when Wen Shuyao persuaded him earnestly, Xu Zhi secretly placed an order for a mobile phone and made a note to deliver it to his home within half an hour.
Wen Shuyao pretended not to see his absent-mindedness and continued to provide him with psychological education in his own way.
Until the end, when Wen Shuyao had said he was tired, Xu Zhi still hadn’t come out of the state of waiting for the call.
Nearly twenty minutes later, Xu Zhi’s cell phone suddenly vibrated.
The number is unknown.
Xu Zhi suddenly became happy, but he didn’t want to show it clearly in front of Wen Shuyao, so he pretended to have something serious and walked quickly to the corridor with his cell phone.
The phone was connected, and Zhou Mu’s voice came through the receiver.
This was their first phone call, and Xu Zhi felt very novel and a little excited.
“Xu Zhi.” Zhou Mu called in a low voice on the phone.
“Yes,” Xu Zhi responded indifferently and asked Zhou Mu, “Why are you calling?”
The tone was as if he had no idea who wanted to call Zhou Mu or who bought Zhou Mu a mobile phone and sent it to his home.
Zhou Mu did not expose him but smiled and asked on the phone, “When will you go home?”
Xu Zhi’s heart skipped a beat because of these harmless words and then slowly floated upward like a hydrogen balloon that had broken free of its restraints.
“Whatever for?” Xu Zhi still looked unmoved.
“I’m hungry,” Zhou Mu said on the phone. “I want to wait for you to come back and take me to eat. I don’t have money.”
Xu Zhi held the phone tightly and muttered in a low voice, “You can’t live without me.”
If he wanted to define what he said, he should be talking to himself, but Zhou Mu heard it.
He admitted seriously, “Yes, I can’t live without you.”
So Xu Zhi quickly hung up the phone, walked back to Wen Shuyao’s office, and said to Wen Shuyao, “I’m going back.”
Wen Shuyao was not surprised and asked Xu Zhi, “Zhou Mu?”
“Yes,” Xu Zhi nodded, “He kept urging me to go home on the phone.”
After saying that, he looked at Wen Shuyao with a smug expression.
In this sentence, Xu Zhi emphasized two words, one on “urge” and one on “home”. He didn’t know why he said it like this, but he hoped Wen Shuyao would notice it.
Wen Shuyao sighed and said politely, “I understand. Zhou Mu urges you to go home.”
He didn’t use an emphatic tone, and Xu Zhi looked at him, dissatisfied.
Wen Shuyao looked at him for a few seconds, took the lead in defeat, and said this sentence again, using two emphatic tones like Xu Zhi.
Xu Zhi nodded with satisfaction.
“He’s quite clingy.” Wen Shuyao was speechless and couldn’t help complaining.
Not only was Xu Zhi not angry, but he also agreed with Wen Shuyao’s point of view. He looked distressed and said, “Yes, he is clingy.”
After saying that, he walked towards the door without any hesitation, “Then I’ll go home first.”
Wen Shuyao watched him walk out and suddenly stopped him, “Xiao Zhi.”
Xu Zhi turned around slightly and asked him what was wrong.
“It’s nothing,” Wen Shuyao looked at him for a few seconds and smiled, “If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.”
Xu Zhi frowned, stretched his hand behind his back, and waved it, indicating that he understood.
He thought to himself that he didn’t have time to engage in meaningless psychological counseling with Wen Shuyao now. After all, there was someone at home who couldn’t live without him, the clingy Zhou Mu, waiting for him.
The author has something to say:
1. The author is not a psychiatry major. The professional contents in the novel involving psychological counseling, drug treatment, diseases, etc. are all from reference literature. According to the needs of the writing, there are occasional refinements, streamlines, or inaccuracies. Please treat it rationally.
2. The reference books are as follows: “Psychiatry” by Tang Hongyu and Fang Yiru | “Guidelines for Drug Treatment of Mental Disorders” by Jiang Kaida | “Case Analysis of Psychological Counseling and Psychotherapy” by Wang Wei
3. In the future, professional knowledge will be mentioned in the novel, and this note will not be repeated.
