Who would study psychology unless they had some issues?!
Chapter 382 - 375: The Gaze of the Crowd

Chapter 382: Chapter 375: The Gaze of the Crowd

Zhang Zihao is very sensitive and adept at distinguishing such looks.

It’s not because he has any particularly strong emotional recognition methods, but simply because of "familiarity."

He is very adept at eliciting this kind of look and the emotions it represents from his teammates in the sports team.

And then he directs them toward a specific target.

The target of these looks and emotions is usually Xu Pengcheng.

[They’re looking at me with the same eyes they used to look at Xu Pengcheng.]

As soon as this thought emerged, Zhang Zihao’s breathing became heavy.

It felt like thousands of ants were crawling on his body, and he could barely resist twisting on his chair.

Feeling uncomfortable was one aspect.

On the other hand, it was the confusion and anger of having some kind of cognition challenged.

[Why are they looking at me with such eyes, how can they look at me with such eyes?]

[Shouldn’t it be someone like Xu Pengcheng, who was always at the bottom of the class?]

[Shouldn’t it be someone like Xu Pengcheng, who disregarded the teacher’s words and compromised his training?]

[Shouldn’t it be someone like Xu Pengcheng, who held everyone back and got everyone punished because of his slackness?]

[Why are they now looking at me with such eyes?]

Zhang Zihao looked around, finding others seemingly deep in thought, but he felt as if those bowed heads were casting glances his way.

They were using some non-positive look to "stare at him"!

Meanwhile, another thought gradually surfaced in Zhang Zihao’s mind—

[Is this how Xu Pengcheng felt when everyone stared at him?]

Zhang Zihao suddenly looked up again, noticing that Nan Zhubin in front of him was looking at him with a gaze distinct from others’, sharp and indescribable, filled with meaning.

He suddenly regretted choosing the seat directly facing the teacher from another school, as he had to confront this look head-on.

"Okay, now we will enter the final segment for today."

Zhang Zihao heard the teacher sitting opposite him say this.

It seemed the gaze wasn’t deliberately pinned on him, but rather scanning the surroundings—or perhaps it was indeed fixed on him, but disguised as scanning due to being caught?

"At the beginning of the Group Counseling, we asked everyone to give scores to their emotions. Now, please once again feel your emotions after more than an hour of Group Counseling. What are your emotions now, what score would you give them, and do you have any new feelings to share with us?"

Due to the large number of participants, the Group Counseling session was quite flexible in duration. It could end as short as a regular counseling session, at 40 minutes, or extend to an hour and a half, or even nearly two hours.

Nevertheless, however long the Group Counseling, it was now wrapping up.

"I’ll give everyone 3 minutes to think, and then we’ll begin," Zhang Zihao heard Nan Zhubin say.

At the beginning of the Group Counseling, Zhang Zihao was too lazy to think.

But now, he only felt an array of messy thoughts in his head that he couldn’t organize, piece together, or integrate into a complete, articulable idea.

Although he couldn’t think things through, Zhang Zihao instinctively began to think and couldn’t help but glance sideways at the other group members during this process.

Rustle, rustle, rustle—

The sound of pen tips rubbing against paper, in his sensory perception, was extremely grating.

The 3 minutes flew by in this mentality.

"Alright, time’s up, let’s—Eh?"

Zhang Zihao heard Nan Zhubin say this.

When he realized it, he found he had already stood up unconsciously.

"It seems Zihao has a strong desire to share this time, so why don’t you go first," Nan Zhubin smiled, gesturing towards Zhang Zihao with his palm facing upward.

Zhang Zihao took a deep breath.

"I... I..."

His thoughts were a tangle, with not enough time to organize his defense.

"I feel very uncomfortable, yes, very uncomfortable. It’s because of recent events."

Upon hearing this, Teacher Xiao Zhao couldn’t help but lean forward.

"Because Coach Wang left, and everyone seems so happy... I don’t understand!"

"I just want to say, everyone followed Coach Wang for so long, didn’t improve. How many were originally ’failing’ in physical tests, but now can achieve ’good’ or even ’excellent’ levels?"

"Everyone trained like this, so why was there a problem with only one person? Does that mean the problem lies with that one person? Why doesn’t that person look more into their own issues?"

Zhang Zihao’s tone became more urgent: "Instead, now they’re blaming Coach Wang, blaming others... and me, I know some of you have opinions about me. I must say, it’s unfair!"

"I also sacrificed my training time to help other lagging students with extra practice!"

His voice rose suddenly on the last sentence, nearly cracking, leaving him breathless.

Like a lone wolf banished from its pack, walking in the forest at night, its superficial fierceness hiding inner weakness at every rustling sound around it.

But, somehow, Zhang Zihao also felt the gazes around were piercingly dazzling, turning the background resembling midnight into something like broad daylight.

"Teacher, can I speak next?" Lin Junkai, looking at Zhang Zihao, asked with a straight face and raised hand.

Nan Zhubin nodded: "After Zihao finishes speaking."

Zhang Zihao panted heavily, while Lin Junkai remained expressionless.

They looked at each other for a moment.

Zhang Zihao opened his mouth slightly, seemingly having more to say, but it all got stuck on his lips.

In the end, he could say nothing, just glare with wide eyes and sit back down.

Lin Junkai slowly stood up: "During my recent self-reflection, my emotions were very complex. I don’t know exactly how to describe it, but overall it was positive, roughly [4] or above on a five-point scale. I feel that I have grown because in this hour I’ve sorted out many things and expressed much I kept to myself, so I am satisfied with myself."

"But now, my mood is very bad, with negative emotions reaching roughly [3] or even [4]."

"Because I heard something that made me feel confused, even disgusted."

Lin Junkai stared directly at Zhang Zihao: "Zihao said many things that he thought were reasonable. We indeed have heard them many times in normal conversations, to the point where they seem unexceptionally ’correct.’"

"But here’s the issue — the standard for judging reason doesn’t belong to any individual."

"Not you, not me, and not even Wang Rui."

Lin Junkai took a deep breath: "To my knowledge, Wang Rui has already been taken into criminal detention."

Zhang Zihao’s face suddenly turned pale.