Chapter 1295: The Pleasure of Pulling Teeth
The originally noisy bar had disappeared, replaced by a room that looked simple and comfortable. Their positions had also changed. Xu Huo was now sitting in the leather chair, and across an office desk, Brother Le sat on the opposite chair, the narrow seat not particularly comfortable.
Brother Le shifted his body but didn't get up. Instead, he stared at Xu Huo's face as if trying hard to recall something. "I don't know you. Who are you?"
"This is our first meeting today. You forgot—you were the one who sought me out." Xu Huo said.
"I sought you out?" Brother Le's bewildered expression fully showed he had no memory of this at all. The medicine had dulled his thinking, and for a moment he didn't even realize anything was wrong, instead following the conversation: "What did I come to you for?"
"Do you still remember what you experienced before?" Xu Huo flipped open a notebook, looking at him. "Although the blow time has dealt you is very severe, and recalling it repeatedly is painful, only this way can we prescribe the right medicine. Now, please try your best to recall."
Brother Le's thoughts followed the suggestive words, involuntarily showing a pained expression while also becoming somewhat irritable. "I don't want to bring it up again. Since you're a psychotherapist, you should be the one to figure things out, not keep bothering me over and over!"
Xu Huo showed a gentle smile. "Actually, you don't have to be so hostile toward me. Only you can overcome yourself—you are your own master. I'm merely offering some suggestions from the sidelines, an assistant. You can think of me as a decoration in the room."
Brother Le's mind wasn't completely muddled yet. "A decoration? Then why did I spend money to bring you here?"
"To assist from the sidelines." Xu Huo gave the answer. "If you need it. But even if you don't, the time we spend talking will still be charged."
"I'm not short on cash, but I won't let you people take advantage of me either." Brother Le leaned back in his chair, sneering. "Sitting there scribbling, asking a couple of symbolic questions, and getting paid handsomely—you people get all the easy deals!"
"It's clear you have a strong prejudice against psychotherapists." Xu Huo made a note in his notebook. "It's hard for a person to change their own views. How about I switch roles—a friend you can talk to?"
Brother Le didn't completely shut him out. After a moment, he asked, "Who referred you? My mother, or the last psychotherapist?"
Xu Huo noticed the change in his expression when he mentioned these two people, so he said, "Neither. Given the results of previous treatments, the clinic sent me to try. Of course, I didn't have high hopes coming in either. The final outcome of psychotherapy can't be measured by success or failure—any small help to the patient counts as progress."
Brother Le laughed. "Of course. How many people in Fresh Flower City have psychological problems every year? The government even subsidizes free treatment. Even without other patients, you wouldn't lose your job."
Given the state of ordinary residents in Fresh Flower City, the booming psychotherapy industry was only to be expected, though this information wasn't published on the Message Collection Terminal.
"Maybe besides not losing my job, I have other pursuits." Xu Huo joked. "Like opening my own clinic."
"Someone as slack as you could open a clinic? Does Fresh Flower City have no other psychotherapists?" Brother Le found it amusing. After a pause, he changed the subject. "Were you born in Fresh Flower City?"
"Just working here." Xu Huo said.
"Then you're pretty lucky." Brother Le said. "If you were born in Fresh Flower City, without status or background, growing up in a Welfare Home, you might not even have become a doctor."
"I heard most orphans in Welfare Homes receive elite education, with all aspects up to standard." Xu Huo showed slight surprise.
"That's just to fool outsiders like you." Brother Le said. "When I was young, the conditions in Welfare Homes were even worse. Except for those children who might become Players, who were properly trained, the rest were just given food and drink to grow up. I have family—you're probably curious why I know so much about Welfare Homes?"
"That's because my mother never wanted to give birth to me, so she simply dumped me in a Welfare Home."
"Later, she latched onto a man who couldn't have children and wanted to adopt one. She took the chance to bring me back. But within two years, that man died. She found another man from the Directly Administered District, but it turned out he was a distant relative's son-in-law of the Han Clan. Before she could get her hands on him, she was beaten half to death..."
He paused here, clearly omitting a part. After composing himself, he said, "Have you ever treated anyone from the Directly Administered District?"
"When my mother was being beaten, I was right there. By chance, I saw Han Yi."
"Do you know Han Yi? The standout of the third generation of the Han Clan."
"He deliberately walked over to my mother, let her blood splatter onto his shoes, and then used that as an excuse to pull out all her teeth. Thank goodness Fresh Flower City's technology is advanced—otherwise, no one would want a toothless woman..."
"After that, I often had nightmares, dreaming that Han Yi had someone pull out all my teeth. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore, so I went and had all my own teeth pulled out and replaced them with dentures."
Brother Le was already lost in his own emotions. "...Dentures are very convenient. Whenever I'm unhappy, I go get them pulled out again and replace them all with new ones. I keep the old teeth in a display cabinet, looking at them from time to time to remind myself that if I want to live, I have to keep my face on the ground... Some people like to see others grovel before them. I like it too. Those people are like new teeth..."
Xu Huo seemed to be continuously taking notes.
After the other finished his rambling account, he said, "Everyone in the game has some pressure. Finding a suitable outlet is human instinct. Your method is a bit novel, but it doesn't harm society. You can entertain yourself with it."
Brother Le suddenly laughed, a cruel glint in his eyes. "I also like pulling other people's teeth. Just like Han Yi looked at me back then. When I pull someone else's teeth, I feel like I've become him."
This was the real reason he needed to see a psychotherapist.
"How long has it been since you last saw Han Yi?" Xu Huo looked up and asked.
Brother Le was stunned for a moment, then frowned. "What do you mean?"
"What I mean is, you see Han Yi as some kind of symbol. Haven't you noticed any change in him?" Xu Huo deliberately said.
"What change? Has Han Yi changed?" Brother Le immediately said. "He just killed someone in the city center. He's still the same. How could he change!"
"When he's not in the Directly Administered District, what does he usually do?" Xu Huo turned his own question into Brother Le's.
"Why else would he leave the Directly Administered District? To find fun, of course." Brother Le said matter-of-factly. "Someone like Han Yi spends most of his time in training."
(Chapter End)