Who would study psychology unless they had some issues?!
Chapter 233 - 231: The Last Link

Chapter 233: Chapter 231: The Last Link

Nan Zhubin smiled at the security guard in front of him.

The sunlight shone on his face, making it hard to say whether the sunlight warmed his smile, or his smile warmed the sunlight.

Unfortunately, this sunny scene did not serve its intended purpose, because the security guard in front of Nan Zhubin was not a female guard.

Luckily, although the guard was male, he was already over forty years old, an age where he wouldn’t resent a particularly handsome young man.

An age where one’s strength wanes, one’s mentality gradually becomes peaceful, and there’s no need to compete for masculinity here.

Some middle-aged men even become kindly, influenced by a cognitive distortion science hasn’t yet explored, seeing a bit of their younger selves in Nan Zhubin’s face, which makes them gentle and kindly.

But alas.

"Beep—buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz..."

The phone used to contact the residents was hung up for the third time after being connected, seemingly giving Nan Zhubin a hard time. Although the guard had quite a bit of trust in Nan Zhubin, he couldn’t help but begin to size him up suspiciously.

"Young man, are you really here to visit a friend?"

Nan Zhubin didn’t speak, just nodded with a smile.

He was now at the entrance of a gated community.

Behind the guard, a three-meter-high metal gate stood at the entrance to the community, through which one could vaguely see tall apartment buildings inside, and lush greenery between the buildings.

From the outside, it was clearly a mid-to-high-end community. Therefore, if Nan Zhubin couldn’t convince the guard, he definitely wouldn’t be able to meet his "friend" inside.

"Please try calling again." Nan Zhubin said with a calm, steady, and gentle voice, "Third time’s a charm; the next call should certainly get through."

The guard mumbled to himself and started to have suspicions. Given his age and work experience, he had encountered many similar, if not more melodramatic situations.

Normally, he would not have such patience. But somehow, he felt the young man in front of him didn’t seem like a bad person, so he dialed the number intended for contacting residents again.

"Buzz—buzz—"

"—Click." The call connected.

"Hello? Hello?" The guard cautiously refrained from disclosing any of the resident’s personal information, even just a surname, "There’s a young man named ’Nan Zhubin’ at the entrance claiming to have scheduled a visit with you. Do you know him?"

The guard’s tone was polite, evidently, the person on the other end wasn’t just another wealthy resident, but someone with a certain social standing.

Nan Zhubin maintained his smile.

After exchanging a few more words with the person on the other end, the guard finally nodded, then breathed a sigh of relief and pressed the button for the automatic door to open for Nan Zhubin.

Nan Zhubin followed the information he had, entered the community, found the apartment building, then took the elevator up to find the target’s door number.

"Knock, knock, knock—" He knocked on the door.

This time, the person responded quickly without further ado. The code lock clicked open with a "ding".

Upon seeing Nan Zhubin, the person inside immediately asked, "How did you get my phone number and address?"

Nan Zhubin kept smiling and answered the question first, "I contacted Chen Jie’s classmates. They hope I can help you."

Only then did he formally greet, "Long time no see, Doctor Chen."

...

Chen Jie’s father stood behind the door, scrutinizing Nan Zhubin with a wary gaze.

Indeed, it was "long time no see."

But their last meeting was far from pleasant.

At least not one that would look forward to another encounter.

However, perhaps due to some guilt from the previous encounter where he suddenly acted out against Nan Zhubin, he actually agreed to the meeting when Nan Zhubin contacted him.

Of course, this meeting was also tense.

Nan Zhubin seemed oblivious to the atmosphere, glanced around the interior of the house, "Where is your wife?"

Doctor Chen replied, "She’s staying with her family today, she’s not here."

Nan Zhubin understood the intention behind Doctor Chen’s action with ease.

"Do you think my visit might end in a conflict, so you sent her away out of duty to protect her?"

Without much need for expression analysis, Nan Zhubin knew he was right.

"Yet under such circumstances, you still chose to meet with me—what could be your mindset?"

Faced with Nan Zhubin’s question, Doctor Chen didn’t react much.

Instead of answering directly, he started a different topic on his own, "Do you still do psychological consultation?"

Nan Zhubin raised an eyebrow but didn’t mind Doctor Chen ignoring his question and answered accommodatingly,

"My consulting company is preparing to transform into emotional consulting. I’m planning to resign—in a sense, I’m indeed no longer a psychological consultant."

Nan Zhubin didn’t mention the part about working at Jiang University Consultation Center. Considering the future conversation with Doctor Chen might involve opposing topics, it was unnecessary to elaborate every detail.

Doctor Chen seemed satisfied, a momentary relaxation washed over him.

"You seem quite concerned about me continuing as a psychological consultant." Nan Zhubin commented.

Doctor Chen gave a cold laugh, "Didn’t my reaction last time make that clear?"

Nan Zhubin pondered, "And your purpose in doing so is to prevent me from creating more victims like your daughter—to prevent Chen Jie’s tragedy from repeating."

The sentence contained too many keywords, immediately causing Doctor Chen’s face to turn cold.

"I don’t want to talk to you much. But I’m very curious about why you came today, so I let the guard bring you in." Doctor Chen’s voice was stiff, "However, after seeing you, I somewhat regret it."

Nan Zhubin nodded in understanding, "Cognition and physiological response aren’t always consistent; I can cause you physiological discomfort, I understand—So I’ll keep it short."

"Strictly speaking, what I’m doing now aligns with your goal; I also wish to prevent Chen Jie’s tragedy from happening again."

The daughter’s name was mentioned again, causing Doctor Chen to frown deeply.

He was about to say something, but then saw Nan Zhubin make a move.

"What’s this... hmm?"

For ease of reading, Nan Zhubin printed out the photograph.

And the words on it firmly captured Doctor Chen’s attention.

As a father, he immediately saw his daughter’s name;

Then, as a doctor, he instinctively reviewed the names of the medications and dosages recorded after his daughter’s name.

Visibly, Doctor Chen began to breathe heavily.