MY - 51

Xu Qingzhou understood what she was thinking.

“Then I won’t beat around the bush,” Jiang Xi smiled. “I do have something to talk to you about, and it is indeed about someone else.”

Xu Qingzhou smiled. “I guessed correctly.”

He said, picking up his teacup, “Go ahead, what is it?”

Jiang Xi asked, “If a person has hallucinations, is that considered a serious condition?”

Xu Qingzhou heard that and looked at her over the rim of his cup.

He was not in a hurry to answer her. He slowly finished a sip of tea. “Not necessarily. A person can have hallucinations from a fever. You can’t say a fever is serious.”

Xu Qingzhou put down his teacup. “No two people are the same in this world, so there are no identical causes of illness. The pathogenesis of each person is extremely complex and is related to their background and experiences to varying degrees. In the end, it still depends on what that person has been through. But this is also the most difficult part to solve.”

Jiang Xi looked at Xu Qingzhou and didn’t say anything.

Xu Qingzhou glanced at her. “Most of the time, patients have hallucinations because of a shadow from a certain experience in the past, which causes them to be afraid and nervous. When you try to find out what happened to them in the past, they will resist, and the more serious the condition, the more they will resist.”

Jiang Xi hummed.

She had experienced that feeling. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to get better.

Everyone in a desperate situation wants to get better and be pulled ashore by the light. If it were so easy to get better, who would want to go through that struggle?

Xu Qingzhou continued, “The reason why a psychological demon is called a psychological demon is because it entangles people in a vicious cycle. They don’t want to fall into it, but they can’t climb out.”

“Regardless of whether it’s reasonable or not, it just stands there and challenges people’s willpower. When a person can’t hold on anymore and loses, it will also return triumphantly and disappear with that person.”

Jiang Xi didn’t know what she was thinking. “That’s also why many people take their own lives.”

Xu Qingzhou probably thought of her past. He smiled. “Yes.”

He said, “Although it seems like a release, I still want to tell every patient to hold on a little longer. Maybe you’ll win one day. You never know if you’ll be the one to have the last laugh.”

Phoenixes are reborn from the ashes.

Xu Qingzhou paused, looked at Jiang Xi, and smiled. “Just like you.”

Jiang Xi: “No, I’m just a normal person.”

Xu Qingzhou didn’t comment on her words and went back to the previous topic, asking her, “Is that person you mentioned a friend of yours?”

He was indeed a friend now.

Jiang Xi: “Yes, he is.”

“What kind of hallucinations does he usually have?”

Jiang Xi was stunned. She didn’t know about that.

Xu Qingzhou understood from her expression. “He didn’t tell you, did he? That’s normal.”

Jiang Xi didn’t say anything.

Xu Qingzhou changed the question. “Then what does he do when he has hallucinations?”

Jiang Xi had a firsthand experience of this. “He attacks people.”

After a few seconds, she said, “He mistakes the people around him for other people. It seems... he also occasionally forgets what he has done.”

After she described it, Xu Qingzhou frowned slightly.

Due to his professional ethics, Xu Qingzhou rarely frowned when talking about a patient’s condition. This would cause psychological pressure on the patient, making them think their condition was serious.

Jiang Xi couldn’t understand what he meant and tentatively asked, “Is it very serious?”

Xu Qingzhou seemed to be simply confused and slowly shook his head. “No.”

“I just said whether it’s serious depends on the individual,” he looked at Jiang Xi and asked with a smile, “Are you afraid of the dark?”

Jiang Xi wasn’t afraid of the dark. On the contrary, she enjoyed being in a dark environment.

She shook her head.

Xu Qingzhou said, “You see, we’re not afraid, but there is a group of people who are afraid of the dark and can’t function without light. In more severe cases, their heart rate might quicken, their bodies might tremble, and they might even have hallucinations.”

Jiang Xi knew a little about nyctophobia.

“So,” Xu Qingzhou said, “in the end, it still depends on what that person has been through and what they are afraid of. I can’t make an accurate judgment if they’re not here.”

That’s why a psychiatrist must see the person in question.

Jiang Xi hummed.

Xu Qingzhou said, “But I can confirm that your friend should be sick, but being sick is not a big deal. It’s like having a cold or a fever. There’s no need to treat it as something terrifying.”

This was Jiang Xi’s misconception.

Perhaps because the other person was Lu Nandu, Jiang Xi couldn’t be objective from the beginning.

Xu Qingzhou said, “Relax. This phrase doesn’t just apply to patients. It also applies to their family and friends. Don’t be too nervous.”

Jiang Xi hummed.

Xu Qingzhou’s hand lightly touched the side of the teacup. The tea was already cold after being outside for a while.

But the sun was quite warm.

He said, “It’s cold. I’ll go upstairs and get some black tea. Let’s drink some black tea instead.”

Many young people don’t drink tea nowadays, and Jiang Xi was one of them, so she didn’t know much about it.

Xu Qingzhou explained to her, “Black tea is sweet and warm. It warms the stomach, which is perfect for winter.”

He said with a smile, getting up, “I’ll go inside and get it. You can sit for a bit.”

Jiang Xi nodded. “Okay.”

Although Xu Qingzhou’s hair wasn’t white, he was a certain age. He hadn’t married or had children all these years. He had been working abroad in his early years and was now enjoying his later years in this small town.

He seemed like a person without much of a story, a life that was rushed and ordinary, with no desires. He was more insightful than others when it came to psychology or love.

But there was no such thing as being insightful for no reason.

It was only because he had been through it that he could handle it so calmly.

Jiang Xi’s gaze moved away from Xu Qingzhou’s back.

Xu Qingzhou had a lot of free time. He enjoyed gardening, planting flowers, and reading.

There were a few pots of flowers in the yard.

The temperature in this southern city was rarely below ten degrees Celsius, so some slightly cold-resistant flowers could survive the winter.

The sun was nice today. Xu Qingzhou had probably brought the flowers out temporarily.

Jiang Xi had nothing to do, so she got up to look at the flowers.

Xu Qingzhou was gone for a while. At some point, the courtyard gate creaked open.

Someone pushed the door open and came in.

Jiang Xi was leaning against the flower stand. When she heard the sound, she stopped touching the flowers and looked up.

The green vines on the iron gate slightly obscured the figure outside.

The door was completely pushed open, revealing a boy with a slightly sickly complexion.

He probably hadn’t expected to see a stranger in the yard. He wasn’t very enthusiastic and was looking down slightly.

Jiang Xi’s gaze fell on the person, and her hand on the flower stand slowly retracted.

He didn’t close the door after entering. His hands went back into his pockets. He had broad shoulders and long legs.

Perhaps he noticed the gaze from the side. Jiang Xi finally saw Lu Nandu look up.

He probably hadn’t expected the person in front of him to be her. When he looked up, there was a hint of indifference in his eyes, and his double eyelids had a deep crease.

The moment he saw Jiang Xi, Lu Nandu was instantly stunned.

Jiang Xi wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but even though it had only been two days, she noticed that Lu Nandu’s complexion seemed to be a little worse than before.

There was even a hint of a decadent aura about him.

Lu Nandu hadn’t expected Jiang Xi to be here and didn’t react for a few seconds.

He looked at Jiang Xi. “Big... big sister.”

Jiang Xi also hadn’t expected Lu Nandu to be here. Lu Nandu hadn’t told her where he had gone, so she didn’t know where he was getting treatment.

Lu Nandu asked her, “Why are you here?”

Jiang Xi saw that he looked a little hopeful and told him the truth. “I have something to talk to Teacher Xu about.”

She wasn’t here to see him.

Lu Nandu was indeed a little disappointed. “Oh.”

Jiang Xi straightened her back slightly and walked towards him. “I’m not a psychic. I wouldn’t know where you are if you didn’t tell me.”

Lu Nandu watched her walk over and stop in front of him.

Jiang Xi looked up at him slightly. Lu Nandu probably hadn’t been in the sun much in the past two months, so he was a little paler.

However, his skin had a fragile, unhealthy look to it, and he had dark circles under his eyes.

This person was usually so high-spirited in front of outsiders. When had he ever looked like this?

Jiang Xi asked him, “Didn’t you sleep well?”

Lu Nandu subconsciously denied it. “I slept great.”

Jiang Xi raised her hand and lightly wiped the dark circles under his eyes with her thumb. “Do you want to learn how to cover them up with me first, and then come back and say that to me?”

Lu Nandu was clearly very pleased that Jiang Xi was touching him.

Jiang Xi’s palm didn’t touch the side of his face. Lu Nandu leaned in, rubbing the side of his face against Jiang Xi’s palm.

Jiang Xi looked at him. “What are you doing?”

“Your hand is warm,” Lu Nandu said. “I’m just rubbing it.”

Jiang Xi was about to say he was being childish.

Lu Nandu: “Are you going to say I’m childish? I’m childish to you, and I’ll be childish to you until I’m old.”

Jiang Xi: “...”

Lu Nandu asked her, “What did you come to see Xu Qingzhou for?”

Jiang Xi didn’t answer the question directly. “Is Teacher Xu your psychiatrist?”

At this point, there was no need to hide it from Jiang Xi, but Lu Nandu was still a little unnatural. “Yeah.”

Surprisingly, Lu Nandu didn’t ask her how she knew him.

Jiang Xi didn’t think too much about it either.

Lu Nandu asked again, “What did you come to see him for?”

Jiang Xi glanced at him. “It’s not about me.”

Lu Nandu seemed relieved.

After relaxing, he started spouting nonsense. “Then you came to see Old Man Xu for me.”

He said this with a grin, and the listlessness he had when he first came in was gone.

Jiang Xi: “Yes.”

When her words fell, Lu Nandu was stunned.

He had never expected her to admit it, or rather, he had never expected that she had come to see him.

He looked at her for a long time, but in the end, he only asked, “Big sister, why are you so good to me?”

Jiang Xi met his gaze and tried to pull her hand back. “Should I be mean to you instead?”

Lu Nandu instantly grabbed her hand. “No, please don’t.”

Jiang Xi found it funny and let him do as he pleased.

She asked him again, “Do you have something to see Teacher Xu about?”

Lu Nandu did have something to see Xu Qingzhou about, otherwise, he wouldn’t have come.

“Yeah, a little bit.”

“Do you come every day?”

Lu Nandu hummed. “Pretty much at this time.”

Jiang Xi nodded and said, “Go on up.”

“If I go up, will you leave?”

Jiang Xi hadn’t planned on staying long. She just hadn’t said goodbye to Xu Qingzhou yet. Now, she would have to wait for him to finish his work before she could say goodbye.

She said, “I should still be here when you come down.”

“Really?”

Just then, the door to the inner room was pushed open, and Xu Qingzhou’s voice came from behind, gentle with a hint of a smile. “Really. She hasn’t even had the black tea I got yet.”

Lu Nandu knew Xu Qingzhou had been in the house the whole time. He had just deliberately come out at this time.

“Old Man Xu, do you have no tact?”

Xu Qingzhou smiled. “You little rascal. What tact do I need in my own house? Hurry up and go upstairs for me.”

Jiang Xi was a little surprised by this dynamic between Lu Nandu and Xu Qingzhou.

Xu Qingzhou walked over and placed a can of black tea on the table.

Jiang Xi knew that it didn’t take this long to get black tea. Xu Qingzhou had clearly stayed inside to not disturb her and Lu Nandu.

Or, from the very beginning of the conversation, he had known that the person Jiang Xi was talking about was Lu Nandu.

He said to Jiang Xi, “I’ll leave the black tea here for you. You can make some for yourself. I’ll come down with this kid later. It won’t take long.”

Jiang Xi hummed.

There was a book on the table. Xu Qingzhou grabbed it as he turned around, rolled it up, and hit Lu Nandu’s arm with it. “Go upstairs.”

After saying that, he went inside.

Lu Nandu was really too clingy.

Jiang Xi freed her hand from his and gestured to Xu Qingzhou’s room with her chin. “Go on in.”

Lu Nandu: “Then when I come down, don’t you actually leave.”

Jiang Xi smiled. “What would you do if I left?”

Lu Nandu said, “I’d find my way to your house. What else could I do?”

Jiang Xi didn’t want to argue with this person anymore. She couldn’t win. “Alright, hurry up and go in.”

“I know, I know.”

He said, then turned around and walked into the inner room.

Jiang Xi sat down on a nearby chair, ready to make some tea.

Lu Nandu, who had walked a few steps, suddenly stopped.

Jiang Xi noticed it in her peripheral vision and looked to the side.

Lu Nandu also turned to look at her.

After they met each other’s gaze for a moment, Lu Nandu spoke. “Big sister.”

He seemed to be at a loss for words, and a whole bunch of things came to his lips, but he couldn’t say a single word.

Jiang Xi didn’t interrupt him.

His lips parted and closed for a long time. In the end, he squeezed out a few words. “Please don’t despise me.”

“I’ll get better soon.”