Chapter 183: The Recurring Flower Girl
After sitting in the Xu residence for a while, Ms. Fang prepared to leave. She had already moved with Tang Guangbo to the residence arranged by the government. Before leaving, she said to Xu Huo:
"Your Uncle Tang is very good at chatting. You can talk to him when you have time."
Xu Huo agreed, and the very next day, he went to Tang Guangbo's office.
The office's decoration style was simple and elegant, though the display cabinets against the wall and the desk were piled high with small boxed items. Tang Guangbo was cleaning up. Seeing him arrive, he put down the towel and, while washing his hands, said, "Move the things on the desk aside and take a seat first."
Xu Huo didn't approach the desk but instead sat down on the sofa nearby.
When Tang Guangbo came out, he brought a cup of tea and a cup of coffee, handing the tea to him. "I heard from your mother that you don't like coffee."
"I'm not used to it." Xu Huo took it and set it down, then asked, "Do you smoke?"
Tang Guangbo pointed to the sign on the back wall. "Smoking is prohibited here."
Xu Huo placed the cigarette pack he had taken out on the table. "Why is this office so messy?"
"I just got settled; a little mess is normal." Tang Guangbo paused, then said, "But you can also judge a person's psychological state by how they move objects and arrange them."
He adjusted his glasses as he spoke and smiled. "I invited you to sit at the desk, but you didn't agree. That means your subconscious doesn't want to have this conversation with me."
"No," Xu Huo said. "I just don't want to touch other people's things."
Tang Guangbo's smile didn't waver. "You've seen quite a few psychotherapists before. It's normal to feel resistant toward them."
"To other doctors, a person's mind might be diseased, but from a scholar's perspective, any psychology is merely a product of emotions. A person's change in mindset is just the ebb and flow of emotions. Strictly speaking, it can't be called an illness."
Xu Huo's expression paused. "A psychotherapist once said something similar to me."
"I'm not trying to gain your approval or lower your psychological defenses." Tang Guangbo shook his head. "The distance and defenses between people's hearts are normal. I'm not a doctor, and I don't want to study a person's mindset from a pathological perspective. I'm just offering a different viewpoint from an observer's standpoint."
"Humanity's finest evolution is thought. If a person's thinking can be easily influenced by others, then that person's emotions must be quite unstable."
"Isn't that what a psychotherapist should do?" Xu Huo countered.
Tang Guangbo shook his head again. "I'm not a psychotherapist."
Xu Huo chatted with him a bit longer before taking his leave.
Over the next week, aside from training with the Painting Woman, he went to Tang Guangbo's office almost every day to sit for a while.
During that time, he also encountered some players coming for psychological counseling. He didn't hear the detailed process, but judging from the players' expressions, the counseling was effective.
"You're here again." Tang Guangbo poured him tea as usual.
Xu Huo took a sip. "My mother also likes this tea."
Tang Guangbo's demeanor was gentle. "A few days ago, you wouldn't even drink the tea. I was worried you might think your mother and I aren't a good match."
Xu Huo looked up at him upon hearing this, then said, "You are far more outstanding than her."
Tang Guangbo shook his head repeatedly. "Don't ever let your mother hear that, or my life will be difficult."
Xu Huo smiled faintly, set down his teacup, and said, "You're very witty."
"Most of the professors and scholars I've met before are very serious, especially those with some knowledge of psychology. They can't wait to uncover the secrets in others' minds to satisfy their own voyeuristic desires."
"You're different from all of them."
Tang Guangbo looked intrigued. "Then what kind of person do you think I am?"
"An observant person," Xu Huo said. "An observant, intelligent person."
Tang Guangbo maintained a polite and proper smile. "Maybe I've picked up some of the bad habits of people who study psychology."
"You're still different from them." Xu Huo finished speaking and stood up to leave, adding, "I won't be coming anymore. I plan to return to Ting City in a couple of days. All my friends are there."
Tang Guangbo saw him to the door. "Come back often to see your mother. She may not show it, but she misses you deeply."
"I understand." Xu Huo declined his offer to see him downstairs and left the Government Building alone.
Back in the office, Tang Guangbo returned to his desk, took out the medical record from the drawer, and under the notes "Excessive psychological defenses," "Cold demeanor," and "Coldness amidst ordinary people," added a summary: "Skilled at disguising psychology for counter-inducement, possesses absolute confidence, substitutes his own judgment for factual standards, and is extremely resistant to psychological suggestion."
After writing, he added an "S" mark after Xu Huo's name.
On the other side, Xu Huo drove home with a calm expression.
After a week, he could basically conclude that if Tang Guangbo wasn't a mentally ill psychopath, then he was definitely a player.
Ever since arriving in Jing City, his interest in the local culture, history, and food was merely a form of high-speed learning. He provided psychological counseling, was gentle and polite, but fundamentally lacked a sense of belonging to humanity.
In other words, everything he did was for observation and recording, like studying animals in a human experiment.
Human emotions toward animals are weak.
His reason for coming to Jing City with Ms. Fang might have been to get close to players.
None of the players or staff he had interacted with could be trusted. The hypnotist player from the Eerie Sound Knights was incredibly formidable. If Tang Guangbo harbored malicious intent, it would be very easy for him to use players to do something.
Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that he was merely interested in observing players.
After filtering through his options, Xu Huo settled on Nie Xuan as his choice.
He was about to call Nie Xuan when the red light ahead came on. He had just stopped the car when someone knocked on the window from the roadside. "Sir, would you like to buy a flower?"
Nie Xuan's call didn't go through. Xu Huo turned to look at the person outside and waved his hand to indicate he didn't need any.
The girl carrying the flower basket walked away disappointed.
He drove through another intersection, and while waiting for the red light again, someone knocked on his window. "Sir, would you like to buy a flower?"
Xu Huo stepped on the accelerator and drove off. In the rearview mirror, the girl with the flower basket stood still, staring in the direction he had left.
Half a minute later, this person appeared in his field of vision again, chasing after his car and shouting, "Sir, would you like to buy a flower!"
Xu Huo ignored her, but then he realized he had been driving back and forth along the same road.
His calls couldn't go through either.
When he encountered the flower basket girl for the fourth time, he stopped the car and rolled down the window, saying to her, "I don't like flowers."
The girl looked disappointed but still mustered her spirits and said, "Sir, please buy one. My flowers are homegrown and very cheap."