CHAPTER 414: CHAPTER 407: XIA YUEFENG: WHERE DID YOU SAY YOU WERE GOING AGAIN?

Nan Zhubin’s reaction left Lin Lulin quite dissatisfied; he wanted to roar again.

But in the next second, Nan Zhubin stood up, intending to leave.

This action sent Lin Lulin into a panic.

"Wait, so soon? Is it over?" His once dry throat suddenly turned anxious, "Zhuren, have you nothing left to say? Or do you think there’s something I said that was wrong? Refute me!"

Nan Zhubin did not respond immediately but nodded to show that Xia Yuefeng could indeed leave.

Without turning his head, he packed his belongings and said, "I initially thought I could hear some deep past from you, some experiences worth learning from. But now it seems you’re not much different from what I imagined, similar to those ’over-commercialized’ professionals I’ve encountered before."

"If there’s any difference, it’s that you’ve gone a bit further and crossed the line," Nan Zhubin said blandly, "but essentially—it’s just that."

After his heartfelt self-reflection, he received such a blunt truth in return.

Lin Lulin’s first reaction was confusion.

"Nan Zhubin, how could you..."

"Did you think I came to give you psychological consultation?" At this point, Nan Zhubin rarely paused.

"If you were talking about yourself from over twenty years ago, I might have sat down and chatted more. But now—"

Nan Zhubin turned his head, expression bland, neither disgusted nor angry, as if merely stating a simple fact: "Even hearing one more word from you makes me feel like I’m going to be sick to my stomach."

With those words, he exited the room and vanished in an instant.

He truly found even one more look at himself too troublesome.

Lin Lulin stood stunned, then slowly lifted his head and saw the eyes of the other two left in the room—the guard and the orderly—staring at him, almost identical to Nan Zhubin’s gaze.

That previous justification and hysteria were things they had witnessed countless times.

Every heavy criminal brought in had almost the same routine.

It was laughable that Lin Lulin, still hiding, believed these people "couldn’t understand" and waited for Nan Zhubin to come to reveal his true feelings.

Even some of the language and expressions used in this conversation might have been exactly like things they had heard before.

The guard conducted a final check of the room’s condition, while the orderly assessed Lin Lulin’s dazed state.

After confirming everything was correct, they nodded to each other and left the room.

—Bang.

With the closing of the door, Lin Lulin, in his daze, had a premonition.

This was the last time he would meet Nan Zhubin.

So brief, so hasty, so... unimportant.

From now on, barring any surprises, no one but an orderly would ever emerge from that door again.

Lin Lulin’s pupils suddenly shrank to needlepoint size, and he abruptly began to bellow.

"Ahhhhh!!!!!"

...

His hysterical cries echoed down the corridor.

In the corridor, seeing Nan Zhubin turned his head due to the alarming noise.

Xia Yuefeng patted Nan Zhubin’s shoulder: "By now an orderly should have gone over there. This type of criminal is still in the adaptation period, with time it will get better."

Nan Zhubin thought for a moment and nodded, losing interest, and continued forward.

After a few more steps, Xia Yuefeng suddenly asked, "What do you feel about Lin Lulin’s last words?"

Nan Zhubin looked at Xia Yuefeng with incredulity; would Director Xia as a director feel something about this kind of hysterical self-defense?

Xia Yuefeng stopped Nan Zhubin’s impolite gaze and thoughts: "I want to know your feelings."

Oh.

Nan Zhubin nodded, "Some of what Lin Lulin said objectively exists."

"The industry is developing wildly and chaotically, with frauds and masters running rampant, bad money driving out good. In this case, many idealistic and ethical professionals either stray off course or choose to change careers."

"To be honest, asking others to meet complete industry ethics is unrealistic. Even in my work, I can understand some unethical behavior because people need to work, need to eat, the impact of bad money driving out good is very serious, and if industry professionals don’t find ways to save themselves, they’ll be thoroughly driven out, leaving the market entirely to those so-called ’masters’."

Xia Yuefeng raised an eyebrow.

Nan Zhubin was affirming Lin Lulin, but Xia Yuefeng knew there was more to come.

Nan Zhubin continued, "Our industry has a taboo called [dual relationship], meaning consultants and visitors cannot have relationships outside of consultations."

"But even in the place I work now, many visitors are introduced by other visitors, and this ’middleman’ role seems to count as a kind of [dual relationship]. Looking at it this way, this practice also doesn’t quite align with psychological consultation ethics."

"But this unethical approach yields good results."

Xia Yuefeng looked at Nan Zhubin, indicating for him to be more direct.

"Many times, ethics are mutually contradictory. The profession’s ethics of a psychological consultant, the principles of living in society, the responsibilities of a son or husband, each has its own standard, and sometimes individuals truly don’t know which to follow."

"In such cases, one really can only dilute some principles and begin to be goal-oriented."

"But—speaking of which, Director Xia, this is pretty similar to that case we’ve been handling recently." Nan Zhubin reminded, "The one where the high school kept pushing student athletes to train harder to improve their results, eventually leading to an accidental fall."

Xia Yuefeng nodded, showing he remembered: "That PE teacher named Wang Rui, right, I remember."

"The reasoning is universal—when unsure which ethics to adhere to, abiding by the law is best. After all, morality is the standard for humans, and the law is the baseline of morality," Nan Zhubin said, "Lin Lulin clearly crossed this baseline."

"I initially wanted to gain something before leaving Jiangdu, but now it appears his story didn’t help me at all. So what he said afterward, I couldn’t be bothered to listen to."

That was Nan Zhubin’s feeling about this dialogue with Lin Lulin.

Xia Yuefeng nodded slightly, seemingly satisfied.

However, after taking a few steps, he added, "Just adhering to the law is still not enough. After all, the law is the baseline, and if you can only measure by the law, it means your morality has already hit rock bottom."

Nan Zhubin understandingly agreed: "What you say makes sense, and I think so too."

Xia Yuefeng nodded with a slightly larger arc.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, he paused his steps.

"Xiao Nan, you previously mentioned another professor took an interest in you and that you were planning to develop elsewhere, right?"

"Yes, that’s true."

"Where are you going?"

"Beidu, why do you ask, Director Xia?"