Who would study psychology unless they had some issues?!
Chapter 303 - 301: What things are "necessary"?

Chapter 303: Chapter 301: What things are "necessary"?

Xu Pengcheng paused slightly after hearing Nan Zhubin’s words, hesitating for a moment.

He nodded and repeated, "Yes, I can’t touch cake. I really hate cake."

It sounded like repetition, yet also like emphasis.

Nan Zhubin smiled.

"I can’t touch cake," what is people’s first reaction upon hearing this sentence?

What type of person uses the word "can’t" in such a context?

Facing the details revealed in Xu Pengcheng’s language expression.

Nan Zhubin directly pointed it out: "It sounds like ’can’t touch cake’ seems to be a choice you were forced into, a choice others persuaded you into?"

"Moreover, for most people, saying ’I can’t touch cake’ to express their attitude is enough; but you go further by saying ’I really hate cake,’ which seems like you’ve convinced yourself again on top of being convinced by others."

"But this repeated emphasis from multiple angles seems to suggest that your inner thoughts are not quite in line with your verbal expression."

Xu Pengcheng was stunned.

...

Sometimes, talking with these sixteen or seventeen-year-old high school students can be relatively easy.

Compared to people like Li Minglu, Doctor Chen, or even other university students, a prominent psychological development trait of high school teenagers is "lower self-reflection."

These sixteen or seventeen-year-olds rarely review their own thoughts to find the funnel within their ideas.

In some ways, it’s also easy for them to get stuck in a mental blind alley.

However, in the consulting process, as long as the consultant can point out those contradictions in their language, it’s also easy to lead them into a state of deep "sudden insight."

Adolescents rarely reflect, but it’s not that they don’t have the intelligence to do so.

At this moment, Xu Pengcheng was rendered silent by Nan Zhubin.

And through observing Xu Pengcheng’s body language and line of sight, Nan Zhubin could also ascertain that the other party was indeed thinking at the moment, not being defensive.

Nan Zhubin waited slowly.

After quite a while, Xu Pengcheng raised his head: "Teacher, you’re amazing. Is psychology really that powerful...?"

Nan Zhubin smiled and didn’t reply; he knew Xu Pengcheng had more to say.

As expected, Xu Pengcheng paused again, then awkwardly said, "I might still, um, want to eat it. But I can’t, because I’m too fat..."

At this point, Xu Pengcheng stopped and didn’t elaborate.

As the topic had developed to this point, Nan Zhubin finally got the chance to ask a question he had been pondering for a long time, without worrying that the perceived "intrusiveness" of the question would intimidate the student before him.

"Speaking of which, this should be our second time meeting." Nan Zhubin smiled, "I saw you on the playground the first time I came to the school; you seemed to be training then, right? Are you an athlete?"

With the shift in topic, Xu Pengcheng’s expression became slightly more lively and his body slightly relaxed.

"Yes, we were training at that time. I actually saw you too, Mr. Nan; you were walking with our vice-principal back then..."

"You seemed to be training hard?"

Xu Pengcheng nodded: "Yes, because I failed my previous physical tests, especially in long-distance running, so... I have to train extra."

He added, "I’m also losing weight because of this."

Familiar words, familiar reasons; Nan Zhubin seemed to have heard similar explanations from Li Mingchen before.

Nan Zhubin further asked, "Is your extra training usually like this?"

"Yes, it’s like running a few more laps after everyone’s done with their training, and not leaving until finishing those laps."

"No." Nan Zhubin shook his head, "Of course, I know what ’extra training’ is. I mean the ’form of extra training.’"

Nan Zhubin looked into Xu Pengcheng’s eyes, and the tall student’s demeanor suddenly became a bit uneasy.

The young consultant recalled, "I saw two classmates running after you back then, right? They seemed to be holding something in their hands, like a relay baton, perhaps?"

Xu Pengcheng avoided eye contact with Nan Zhubin.

His language started becoming somewhat mechanical, no longer like a conversation, but more like reciting lines prepared in advance.

"Because our coach requires everyone to finish training before we can leave. If I don’t finish my extra training, everyone has to stay with me, so it has to be this way..."

Nan Zhubin gently frowned; his question hadn’t received a direct answer.

But this avoidance itself was a definitive answer to Nan Zhubin’s closed-ended question.

He asked again, "Do you have to do extra training every day? Is it always like this?"

Xu Pengcheng paused, thinking for a long time.

The student’s next answer was still very fluent, so fluent it didn’t sound like it was thought out on the spot but rather like it had been premeditated.

"I have to pass the physical test, and to do so, I have to train extra and lose weight. And I don’t have the willpower myself, so I have to enforce a strict diet, and when training extra, I need to have teammates chasing me; otherwise, I can’t do it alone..."

Nan Zhubin narrowed his eyes, sensing he had caught onto something.

"And how do you feel about this?"

"I... feel very tired, and... constantly hungry." While saying this, Xu Pengcheng spoke with breaks, but then fluently continued, "But it has to be this way; otherwise, I can’t pass the physical test..."

"Besides seeing them chasing you, I seemed to have heard them call you by a nickname, didn’t I? Although I’m not sure what it was."

Of course, Nan Zhubin knew.

"..."

Xu Pengcheng opened his mouth but didn’t answer Nan Zhubin this time.

Nan Zhubin softly posed a question for him: "Is this ’necessary’ too?"

...

Xu Pengcheng’s breathing started to become rapid.

He no longer made eye contact with Nan Zhubin, his hands tightly gripping the chair.

Given Xu Pengcheng’s physique, even his current state, weakened from prolonged dieting, was enough to cause unease.

There are risks when a teacher faces a student, and similarly, when a consultant faces a client.

Nan Zhubin, however, did not feel uneasy; he even leaned forward slightly to physically and spatially close the gap between himself and Xu Pengcheng.

"In nearly every sentence you just said, you used ’have to.’ And when you use the word ’have to,’ your speech is unusually fluent."

"But I find those words not important, because those words don’t contain your own emotions."

"Only when you talked about being very hungry and tired did I sense your emotions," Nan Zhubin slowed his tone, "I could feel... that sentence was what you genuinely wanted to say."

Nan Zhubin asked the crucial question: "Pengcheng, those things you said you ’had to’ do—are they things you want yourself or things someone else told you?"