"Chen Xi!"

The man's face instantly darkened, carrying a hint of anger.

But the young girl wasn't intimidated by this; instead, her eyes were resolute as she smiled with a calm tone, "It's okay. Even if I'm not now, I will be in the future."

"You!"

Just as the two were about to argue over this, Li Qin, who had been observing for a while, suddenly spoke up, saying lightly, "It seems... the reason you both came here is quite clear."

"So next..." Li Qin adjusted her glasses and looked at Mr. Yan, "Mr. Yan, may I have a private chat with Miss Chen?"

...

Both parties took their seats.

Chen Xi crossed her arms, while Li Qin sat with her knees angled.

The young girl let out a cold laugh and spoke first:

"What do you want to say to me? Make it quick, I'm in a hurry. Also, my mental state is fine, no issues at all."

Such impolite words didn't provoke anger or resentment from the other party.

Li Qin merely squinted her eyes, smiling as she listened to her finish, then said:

"Hmm... it seems you're quite good at pretending, especially at such a young age... I find it hard to imagine what kind of story a teenage girl has gone through to become like this today..."

There was not a trace of surprise in the young girl's eyes, only confusion and annoyance:

"Heh, I understand your kind of rhetoric. First, establish good communication, acknowledge whatever the other person says to build rapport, then further analyze and induce. Such a clumsy method is too outdated for me. You'd better come up with something else."

The other party listened intently to the entire speech, crossed her legs, leaned back against the sofa for a more comfortable posture, and said with a smile:

"What an interesting girl. Alright, I won't beat around the bush with you. To be honest..."

"Why did you pretend to like him just now?"

In an instant, Chen Xi's pupils contracted sharply, and her gaze turned fierce: "What do you mean?"

Li Qin merely chuckled at this, her expression relaxed, as if she had already seen through everything.

"Exactly what I said."

"Bullshit," Chen Xi cursed outright, not giving the other party any face, "We've only just met for less than ten minutes. What makes you say I don't like him!?"

But even with the verbal abuse, the other party maintained that smiling expression, speaking slowly as if telling a story:

"I think you might have misunderstood what I said earlier."

"What I meant was, why did you pretend to like him... for him to see?"

As the words fell, the woman quickly glanced at Chen Xi's eyes, catching a fleeting trace of panic, and smiled knowingly:

"Child, you're very good at pretending, and with your personality, you would never voluntarily show such feelings for that man in front of outsiders. You must have another motive, am I right?"

Chen Xi remained silent, her brows furrowed. This was the first time in her life she had encountered someone so difficult to fathom.

Calm and collected, her words were sharp and to the point. Within less than five minutes of meeting, she had already seen through everything. To Chen Xi, this person was... very dangerous.

"Not speaking? Then it seems I guessed right..."

Li Qin smiled brightly, waved her hand, and continued, "Perhaps you don't know, but humans often express many subconscious behaviors, language, actions, even brief breathing patterns, which can indirectly reflect the owner's mental activities."

"Even with professional training, a person cannot be completely flawless in expressing subconscious behaviors. From the moment you walked in, the words you spoke, the expressions you made, the actions you took, all conveyed one message to me..."

The woman's lips curled slightly upward:

"You want that man to know that you have a psychological problem, and it's quite severe."

As soon as these words were spoken, Chen Xi immediately retreated, causing the sofa beneath her to emit a piercing screech.

She nodded slightly, clenched her fists, her lips slightly parted, revealing sharp canine-like teeth, her whole body hunched over, breathing heavily, her eyes filled with extreme vigilance.

Like a beast's low growl before a desperate fight, Chen Xi squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth:

"Who... are... you..."

Yet even so, the other party remained unchanged, only the slightly upturned corners of her mouth and her perpetually squinting eyes.

"I said, you're a very good pretender," Li Qin said with a smile, "But there's no need for you to do so with me, just as you don't need to now."

A standoff.

Both sides were silent.

In the enclosed room, the oxygen began to gradually deplete, and Chen Xi felt her breathing becoming difficult.

This woman... was very smart... smarter than her!

About five minutes passed before Li Qin glanced at her watch, then took out a printed A4 sheet from behind and placed it on the table between them.

"Here, as I said before, you don't need to use pretense to cover up your panic. Fill out this form first."

Unexpectedly, Chen Xi didn't even look at the form, instead glaring at the other party with fierce eyes, saying word by word, "I don't need it!"

"Do you really not need it?" Li Qin maintained her smiling demeanor, but at this moment, to the young girl, her face seemed more terrifying than a ghost from hell: "At least... you need to take a report back, telling him that you're indeed very ill, but it can be treated slowly, right?"

The young girl was silent, her face slightly pale.

As mentioned earlier, Chen Xi's world was crafted by her own hands, everything within her control. But once something went beyond her control, her first reaction was...

To flee.

She stood up, turned around, and walked away without a word of farewell.

Just then, a woman's voice sounded behind her:

"If you change your mind, you're always welcome to come back and find me. Perhaps you might find other feasible methods with me."

Leaving the counseling room, Chen Xi was already drenched in sweat, swallowing hard before letting out a long sigh of relief.

This woman... was simply too terrifying... as if she could see right through her... not a second longer did she want to stay in front of her.

Chen Xi didn't believe in the so-called methods the other party mentioned, just as she didn't believe anything a stranger said. But if that method was really as the other party described...

No, no...

She was no longer that naive child. The counseling was paid for by Mr. Yan, and the problem to be solved was hers. How could the other party possibly help her voluntarily?

She was a lone wolf, and the road home was long and arduous. She had no one to rely on but herself.

Suddenly, a familiar man appeared in her line of sight, sitting up from a chair, concerned:

"Why did you come out so quickly? How did it go? Did you feel uncomfortable?"

Chen Xi opened her mouth but didn't make a sound, a hint of hesitation flashing in her eyes before she finally said:

"It was okay..."

Mr. Yan let out a long breath, a weight lifted from his chest, and his smile brightened a bit as he slightly turned to make way.

"Then... shall we go home?"

"Mm..."