Chapter 1014 - 1014: Psychological Counseling

After the woman ran into the house, a burnt "fragrance" drifted out.

"She's boiling cornmeal porridge in the pot," Xiao Feng said flatly.

Xue Nuofu said in surprise, "You can smell that?"

"I didn't know how to cook before, so I've drunk this kind of burnt porridge more than a few times. Smells awful, but it doesn't taste that bad."

As he spoke, the woman came back to the door and invited Xiao Feng and Xue Nuofu inside.

The furnishings in the room were very simple: a sofa and coffee table, a desk, and behind it a bookcase filled entirely with books on psychology.

Next to the bookcase there was another door, and the burnt smell was coming from there.

Right then, the woman set two cups of instant coffee she had just made down on the table.

Seeing Xiao Feng looking at the bookcase, she smiled. "They're all just for show. To be honest, I haven't read a single one of them."

After that, the two sides went through a round of introductions.

Xiao Feng learned that the psychological expert in front of him was named Jia Luo, that she'd been in this line of work for five years, and as for the rest, she didn't really mention much.

Still, if Zhao Guo'an was willing to recommend her, she had to have some real skills.

"Mr. Xiao, tell me what you'd like to consult about. From this moment on, the meter's running." Jia Luo smiled and pressed a button on a Doraemon clock on the table.

Xiao Feng and Xue Nuofu exchanged a look, and both felt a deep new understanding of the phrase "time is money."

"I have a friend who accidentally killed someone. You could call it self-defense…"

After briefly explaining the background, Xiao Feng focused on describing Iron Doll's current condition in detail.

When Jia Luo finished listening, her eyes dropped, then lifted again. She smiled. "According to what you've described, this doesn't quite fit the typical reaction after killing in legitimate self-defense.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to dig out the 'real story.'

It's just that knowing the real cause is crucial for psychological treatment.

Or, I could simply hazard a guess myself…

Your friend didn't have a subjective intention to kill, but because of him, someone ended up dead. Is that a fair way to put it?"

"Yes." Xiao Feng nodded.

Having gotten a clear answer, Jia Luo stood up and walked to the desk. She took a stack of A4 paper from the drawer and handed it to Xiao Feng, along with a fountain pen. "Please fill out these forms so I can get a more detailed grasp of the patient's situation."

Xiao Feng took them and flipped through, his brows knitting. "Isn't this a bit too detailed? I don't think the household registration office even asks this much."

Xue Nuofu leaned over, craned his neck to look, and flipped a few pages back. His expression changed as well.

Indeed, the items listed on the forms were excessively exhaustive.

Beyond basic info like name, sex, and age, there were questions on personality tendencies, education level, whether he was single, and even whether he'd experienced major upheavals in childhood.

"Aside from the first page, the rest aren't strictly mandatory. But the more detailed it is, the more confident I can be about treatment, and the more obvious the results will be." Jia Luo explained with a smile.

Xiao Feng picked up the fountain pen, glanced at the clock on the table, and asked, "The time I spend filling these out doesn't count toward the bill, right?"

He genuinely suspected that this whole form-filling segment was just to burn time—which, in his book, was even worse than cab drivers deliberately taking the long way.

After all, when a cabbie takes the long way, at least he's still putting in labor.

But here, he'd be the one doing the work filling forms and still have to pay someone else.

At his words, Jia Luo covered her mouth and laughed. "Other people get charged for it, but Mr. Xiao can be an exception."

She finished speaking and stopped the timer.

Before he started writing, Xiao Feng asked, "Can I ask why I'm an exception?"

Jia Luo pondered for a moment, then answered with a faint smile, "Because… you look a lot like my first love."

Xiao Feng didn't continue the banter and lowered his head to start writing.

Xue Nuofu picked up the coffee on the table, took a sip, and at the same time observed Jia Luo across from him.

A coffee-colored sweater on top, leather skirt and stockings below; her looks weren't particularly stunning, she could only be called average.

But the intellectual, gentle beauty she carried, and the comfort she conveyed in her speech, made up for her appearance to a large extent. You could even say her temperament was enough to make people overlook her looks.

Someone like this—what exactly was her relationship with Old Zhao?

"Mr. Xue, would you like some sugar?" Jia Luo took the initiative to ask.

A trace of surprise flashed across Xue Nuofu's eyes. Just now, when he'd introduced himself, he'd only said "My family name is Xue" and hadn't mentioned his gender.

For someone who was used to being mistaken for a beauty, how could he possibly stay calm about that?

"To be honest, you're the first person who's been able to correctly peg my gender on a first meeting." Xue Nuofu said slowly, his tone containing a mix of emotions that could have been relief or something else.

Jia Luo smiled modestly. "It's nothing special. In my line of work, observation is a basic requirement.

The exterior is just a layer of disguise; the interior is what matters.

I once had a patient who was a one-meter-eighty man on the outside but a girl on the inside."

"And then what?" Xue Nuofu asked with interest.

Jia Luo sighed. "After that, I gave him a full set of psychological tests.

The results showed a sound personality. Apart from having an inner self completely opposite to his physical sex, there were no other issues.

Strictly speaking, I don't think that counts as a mental illness. But at this stage, this tiny fraction of people still can't be accepted or recognized by the general public."

The more he listened, the more intrigued Xue Nuofu became, so he said, "Would it be convenient to give me a psychological test too?"

"Does Mr. Xue feel there's something wrong with his own mind?"

"Not really, but the sick don't always perceive their own illness. Maybe if I take a test, it'll actually uncover something."

Jia Luo's eyes turned slightly, and she said in a half-joking tone, "If you want, Mr. Xue, even if there's nothing wrong, I can still help you find something."

"Are you saying I'm looking for illness when I don't have one?" Xue Nuofu asked.

"That's not what I mean." Jia Luo shook her head in denial. "You probably thought I was only joking just now, didn't you, Mr. Xue?"

"Wasn't it a joke?"

"Yes, and no." Jia Luo added half a spoonful of sugar into the coffee cup in front of her and stirred as she said, "Behind every joke, there's a certain degree of seriousness.

When I say 'yes,' I mean I really was joking just now.

And when I say 'no,' I mean that joke is something I could actually follow through on."

Just as Xue Nuofu was about to say something, Xiao Feng had already pushed the stack of A4 paper in front of Jia Luo. "That's about everything I know."

Jia Luo picked it up and looked through it, seeming a bit dissatisfied. "Can't you be any more specific?

What Mr. Xiao doesn't know, you can find out from people closer to your friend—family, or a partner."

"Then give me the forms. I'll talk to his girlfriend about it later."

"Sure."

Xiao Feng glanced at the clock on the table, stood up, and asked, "How much?"

"By the book, anything under an hour is still billed as an hour." Jia Luo smiled. "But if Mr. Xiao can answer one question for me, we can waive the fee."

Xiao Feng didn't give her the chance to ask. "I choose to pay."