He Qingshi found it utterly unbelievable. He stared blankly at Doctor Zheng across from him, his thin lips moving slightly. “Love?”
His voice was low, nearly hoarse.
A person like him, who had been dormant for such a long time, was like the endless desert spanning thousands of miles in the northwest—rolling yellow sand, not a blade of grass in sight.
He was also like a withered tree, eroded and worn down by wind and rain, growing ever more desolate, without a hint of green, completely dead.
For someone like him to be told one day that he had encountered love… it was no different from a life-giving water source appearing in the desert, giving birth to an oasis. It was like a withered tree meeting spring and sprouting again, putting forth tender buds.
How was this possible!
Love was the most impossible thing for him, because it had long since perished. His love, along with his heart, had been buried ten years ago in the nation-shaking earthquake in Wangchuan, extinguished the moment Su Miao left this world.
He had personally covered Su Miao with a white cloth, had seen her off with his own eyes. After that, he had merely existed in this world, repeating a monotonous, trivial life, day after day, year after year, destined to grow old alone.
“Doctor Zheng, you’re not joking, are you?” He just found it laughable and would believe anything but this. “You just said love?”
Doctor Zheng retracted his smile. Holding his pen, he lightly tapped the desk twice. His tone was grave, each word hammering into He Qingshi’s heart. “Perhaps it can’t be called love yet. Love is mutual. In your case, it can only be called liking. Don’t find it so unbelievable. You have developed feelings for the young woman you mentioned.”
“You’ve been through this yourself, experienced your greenhorn days. You can think back to when you met your wife. Didn’t you have similar feelings then? Liking someone—sexual impulse is the most obvious and direct characteristic. While this doesn’t completely represent love, it’s quite clear that you’ve been moved by this young woman.”
He Qingshi: “……”
Every single word Doctor Zheng said felt like a heavy hammer striking his chest, each blow resounding and powerful, shocking him to the core.
For a moment, his heart was in turmoil, his thoughts a tangled, complex mess. His mind felt like it was exploding, incapable of normal thought.
He Qingshi could no longer hear the words Doctor Zheng said next. From beginning to end, only one sentence echoed in his mind—
He had developed feelings for Huo Chuxue.
So all those strange sensations stemmed from him being moved by her. Such intense feelings, heart-piercing and bone-deep, unforgettable—and he had actually wanted to ignore them, had actually attributed them to not having been with a woman for too long.
The psychological counseling session ended. He Qingshi bid farewell to Doctor Zheng. “Thank you for your hard work, Doctor Zheng.”
Doctor Zheng walked out of the consultation room with He Qingshi, patted his shoulder, and said with deep feeling, “Encountering certain things in life is a blessing. Don’t see it as a burden. The chances of encountering true love in one’s lifetime are actually not many. Most people muddle through their entire lives in a daze.”
Doctor Zheng’s words were advice for He Qingshi. He understood very well that a person who had been dormant for ten years, whose heart had turned to ashes, living alone in this world without expectations, let alone hope—for such a person to suddenly encounter love one day, for someone to resurrect his withered heart… his first reaction would be avoidance and escape. He hoped He Qingshi wouldn’t fall into that misconception.
He Qingshi looked dazed, his head buzzing, all sorts of thoughts piled up inside, almost ready to burst. From the moment Doctor Zheng revealed the truth, he had begun to lose control, unable to think.
The man’s expression was tense, pale, devoid of color. Though he was standing, he looked utterly weak, as if he might collapse the next second.
Doctor Zheng hadn’t expected this matter to shock He Qingshi so profoundly.
But on second thought, it made sense. A person who had been lonely for ten years, living desolately in his own world with attachment and longing for his deceased wife, forever sealing off his heart, cut off from the world—no one could get in.
But one day, someone shattered those shackles, suddenly barged in, and forcefully occupied everything. Made an oasis appear in the desert, made the withered tree meet spring again, turned the tide, and resurrected his heart.
And yet, all of this had happened silently, so subtle it showed no trace. Without him even realizing it, she had already breached the defenses of his heart, making him care for her. And he, still guarding that bit of remembrance for his deceased wife, had been completely unaware.
The shock and awe he must have felt the moment he became aware of it…
After hearing Doctor Zheng’s words, He Qingshi remained silent for a long while, lost in quiet contemplation.
Finally, he said in a low voice, “I’ll head back first.”
Seeing his state, Doctor Zheng was worried and advised, “Go back and calm down properly. If there’s anything you can’t figure out, come back to see me. You can call me too.”
He Qingshi gave a soft “Mhm,” then stumbled down the stairs.
Then he went to the parking lot to get his car.
Distracted, not in his right state of mind, he didn’t even know what he was doing.
At the entrance of the clinic, he bumped into someone head-on.
The two collided without warning, both stunned, momentarily dumbfounded.
The person who was bumped into instead apologized to him anxiously, “Sorry, sorry…”
A very familiar female voice instantly pulled him back to reality. He looked up and found the person familiar too.
“Jiang Nuan?” He Qingshi straightened up, looking at the girl before him, puzzled. “What are you doing here?”
So the girl he had seen in the corridor earlier was Jiang Nuan. No wonder she had seemed so familiar.
Hearing the familiar voice, Jiang Nuan suddenly froze. She hurriedly raised her head to see He Qingshi standing before her. She instantly became unbearably nervous.
“Teacher He…” She nervously gripped the strap of her backpack, her face pale, her words unclear. “Teacher He, I…”
“Are you here for a consultation?”
That little nurse had said Doctor Wei specialized in providing psychological counseling for patients with poor financial situations. And he had previously heard from Class 3’s counselor, Teacher Meng, that Jiang Nuan’s family circumstances were not good.
He recalled Jiang Nuan’s series of unusual behaviors since April and guessed she had likely encountered some misfortune, developed psychological issues, and come to the clinic to see a doctor.
Everything matched up!
“No!” Jiang Nuan jumped in agitation, exclaiming loudly, “Who said I’m here for a consultation? I’m not!”
The girl’s emotions seemed particularly intense. Her plain, clean little face flushed bright red, her whole person ill at ease.
Involving privacy, He Qingshi didn’t feel it appropriate to ask more, nor did he dare to provoke her. After all, most people considered seeking a psychologist for counseling to be a shameful thing, something to be hidden.
He raised the car keys in his hand, changing the subject. “Heading back to school? I can give you a ride.”
For some reason, the moment Jiang Nuan heard this, her expression changed drastically, turning completely white. Her whole body shrank and trembled as if under attack. She replied with extreme stiffness and agitation, “No need, no need! I’ll go back myself…”
He Qingshi: “……”
Her manner actually seemed a bit peculiar, almost deranged, as if she had encountered something similar before.
Before he could finish his sentence, she had already run off, hurriedly, in a panic. She ran so frantically he had no chance to ask for details.
Watching the girl’s fleeing figure, He Qingshi knitted his thick brows into a deep frown, unable to smooth them out for a while.
By the time he reacted, Jiang Nuan had already run out of sight, impossible to catch.
Since she was already gone, he let it be. His own issues weren’t resolved yet; he was at his wit’s end and really didn’t have the mental energy to deal with a student’s problems.
Nevertheless, he still called Class 3’s counselor, Teacher Meng, to inform him to pay more attention to Jiang Nuan recently.
Teacher Meng also took Jiang Nuan quite seriously. Over the phone, he said, “Don’t worry, Teacher He. I’ll pay more attention. I’ll find time to talk with her again, see if I can find out what’s going on.”
After finishing the call with Teacher Meng, He Qingshi continued walking toward the garage.
“Click, click, click…” Immediately after, a rhythmic sound of high heels came from behind him, the footsteps brisk and compact.
He Qingshi turned around to see a female doctor in a white coat walking toward him, her aura intensely cold.
The female doctor stopped before him, her expression cold and stern. She raised an eyebrow and spoke, “Was that girl just now your student?”
“She’s a student in my class.” He Qingshi nodded, looking at the female doctor. “Are you Doctor Wei? My student’s psychologist?”
“That’s right.” Wei Shuangsheng nodded in acknowledgment.
“What’s wrong with my student?” He Qingshi asked with concern. Jiang Nuan’s current state was truly worrying.
Wei Shuangsheng raised an eyebrow, looking at He Qingshi with disdain. “What’s wrong with her? Don’t you know?”
He Qingshi: “……”
“What do you mean by that, Doctor Wei?” He was completely baffled.
Wei Shuangsheng clearly had no desire to speak further with him. She turned and walked away, throwing down a sentence, “Beasts in gentleman’s clothing appear every year, but this year there seem to be especially many.”
He Qingshi: “……”