CHAPTER 419: CHAPTER 412: TAKING THE INITIATIVE IN CONVERSATION

Facing the visitor’s laugh.

Nan Zhubin raised an eyebrow.

Not because of any personal emotion, but as an emotional feedback to the visitor’s reaction, conveying "I’m paying attention to you."

After that laugh, the visitor’s eyes lingered on Nan Zhubin’s face for a moment, then did not follow Nan Zhubin’s gesture to sit down.

Instead, they walked straight to the greenery by the window, turned sideways to Nan Zhubin, and cast their gaze on the potted plant.

Nan Zhubin mentally raised an eyebrow, this time with a bit of cognitive fluctuation.

This series of actions is very interesting.

Combining the visitor’s behavior outside just now and their trajectory after entering the consultation room,

along with a quick glance at the visitor’s information.

The conclusion is—

On one hand, it’s a strong form of [defense].

On the other hand, this deliberate disregard of the guidance and self-directed behavior seems like a struggle for [control].

Nan Zhubin’s mind rapidly collided with thoughts, feeling that he might try a different consultation style today.

A style with more [confrontation].

While constructing a consultation plan in his mind, Nan Zhubin was also silently collecting the visitor’s body language signals.

[The mask and hat are still not removed.]

[Spine straight, but shoulders are hunching forward.]

[Several turning actions, but never exposing the back to me, always facing sideways...]

"Hello, my last name is Nan, you can call me Teacher Nan."

Since the visitor had no intention to talk, the consultant took the lead to start the pace.

Saying this, Nan Zhubin stood up from the single sofa and walked to the window while maintaining a social distance of about two and a half meters from the visitor.

"Teacher Nan." The visitor first recited these three words internally.

Then let out a light laugh, saying: "Teacher Nan’s appearance... is quite professional, may I know your age?"

Nan Zhubin did not answer directly: "Do you have an image preset for your consultant in your mind?"

"Of course." The visitor put hands in pockets, tucked shoulders. He looked at Nan Zhubin, then out the window, then at the potted plant in front of him.

"I choose to consult a professional who can solve my problem. Such a teacher should preferably be older, but you look about my age. I spent quite a while choosing one on your website and specifically chose this free time today."

Nan Zhubin showed an apologetic expression, verbally taking a step back here: "In this aspect, our consulting center apologizes to you. If today’s consultation makes you feel your issue is unresolved, we will refund or assign a different consultant to retry the psychological consultation."

Upon hearing the apology, the visitor nodded slightly. Although wearing a mask, Nan Zhubin could see the visitor’s eyes narrowing.

This is a smile, but no longer the out-loud, emotion-showing kind of smile.

It is a heartfelt smile.

The heartfelt smile was fleeting, but after this smile, the visitor’s overall mindset shifted.

It was evident that the muscles around the visitor’s eyes relaxed considerably, no longer tense as when they first came in.

The visitor reached out a hand to play with the greenery in front.

Once again initiating an apparently unrelated topic: "This... psychological consultation, are there any rules?"

"Rules?" Nan Zhubin leaned his neck slightly forward, making a puzzled expression.

The visitor fiddled with a leaf of the plant, eyes looking out like viewing scenery: "Game rules, consultation rules, things to pay special attention to within the consultation."

Nan Zhubin nodded, making a comprehending expression: "The front desk should have had you sign the ’Informed Consent Form,’ right? The visitor’s rights should all be noted, like confidentiality clauses."

The visitor nodded, turning their gaze to Nan Zhubin: "That’s a standard, right? Provisions for all consultations. I mean — do you have any rules? Rules unique to you, specific to our consultation."

Nan Zhubin again showed an understanding expression as if his comprehension wasn’t adequate, requiring the visitor to explain once for understanding.

"If we must talk of special rules, actually there aren’t any, mainly it still depends on you." Nan Zhubin made a hand-spreading gesture.

The visitor had just shifted his gaze to the plant again, after hearing Nan Zhubin’s words, the gaze briefly returned.

While nodding in small continuous motions, he smiled with his eyes narrowed again: "Mainly depends on me? Right, using terms from your industry now, I am the ’visitor,’ a customer, correct?"

"Correct." Nan Zhubin nodded as well.

The visitor caressed the plant leaf.

"But— in our industry, ’the customer is always wrong.’" Nan Zhubin added.

...

The visitor’s actions suddenly paused.

He turned to look at Nan Zhubin, eyes moving from top to bottom and vice versa.

The consultant maintained the same body posture and temperament as before, holding a gaze with the visitor for two seconds.

Then Nan Zhubin squinted his eyes, shook his head as if helpless: "This is an old joke in our psychological consultation industry."

He gestured palms up towards the sofa, indicating to sit again. Without caring about the visitor’s reaction, he walked back to his place, settled in.

Smiling at the visitor.

"Click."

The visitor pressed firmly with his palm, directly plucking the leaf in his hand from the plant.

Then he took a deep breath, seemingly indifferent as he tossed the leaf back into the pot, went to the sofa, picked up and patted the pillow on the loveseat.

"Bang bang bang—"

The sound was loud, the visitor used great force.

Seeming dissatisfied, the visitor immediately picked up and patted the pillow on the single sofa.

Then raised an eyebrow, nodded, and sat down.

The visitor still wore a mask and hat, sank into the sofa, leaned back forcefully, arms folded over chest, crossed legs forming a relaxed position.

Both sides take seats.

Until now, the consultation truly entered the right track.

"You’ve seen my information, right?" This time the visitor took the initiative to speak.

"Of course." Nan Zhubin nodded, a prerequisite for starting consultation.

Even though today was too rushed, Chonghui still secured about two minutes for Nan Zhubin, enough for him to extract the keywords needed for this consultation.

"I’m here this time to solve two issues," the visitor said, "Recently I’ve been suffering from insomnia and often can’t concentrate."