Obviously, Xiao Jinang was the one who needed psychological counseling, but because of the conversation just now, their identities seemed to have been swapped, and Ming Zhou appeared to be the patient waiting for treatment.
Ming Zhou only felt that his cold and wet hand was suddenly held by someone. He could not avoid the strange touch, just like an ice cube falling into a furnace, which would melt into nothingness in an instant.
He keenly sensed the danger and panic, so he quickly retracted his hand as if pricked by a needle, and at the same time his body retreated uncontrollably, with such force that the sofa even moved a little. He was extremely alert and uneasy.
Only then did Ming Ri feel a little panic and helplessness in the darkness, which finally made him look like a blind man.
Xiao Jinang was stunned for a moment, not knowing why Ming Zhou reacted so strongly. A trace of confusion flashed in his eyes: "Doctor Ming?"
His voice was clear and crisp, and carried with it the cool air in the room, suddenly clearing people's minds.
When Ming Zhou heard his voice, he was visibly stunned for a moment, as if he finally realized something. His tense body began to slowly relax and he returned to calm.
He realized that he was in a counseling room.
He realized that Xiao Jinang was a patient.
And now I am his doctor.
"Excuse me… "
Ming Zhou apologized for his behavior just now. He raised his hand to adjust the sunglasses on his nose, trying to hide something, and returned to the role of a psychologist. After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked an irrelevant question: "How old are you this year?"
Xiao Jinang counted on his fingers, trying to recall the date when he was created by the Interstellar Executive: "Me? I'm twenty-three years old this year."
Ming Zhou said, "I am thirty-five years old."
When he said this, his tone was very calm, steady and elegant, even with a sense of eldership. At the same time, he finally understood why Xiao Jinang was so naive just now:
It turns out that the other party is only in his twenties...
This is a delicate age, less immature than eighteen, more fearless than thirty, full of enthusiasm and ambition, and at one point wanting to put the world at your feet.
But after another ten years, they will suddenly realize that the weight behind every sentence is beyond their ability to shoulder. Just like Xiao Jinang did not understand what the word "blindness" meant, and what the phrase "being friends for life" meant.
Ming Zhou took out a candy from the small box under the coffee table and gently placed it in front of Xiao Jinang. Sweets can help relieve emotions, so he often prepares some snacks under his table. This action looks a bit like coaxing a child: "You are 23 years old, you should work, right?"
"I'm working," Xiao Jinang looked out the window and pointed to an office building not far away for Ming Zhou to see, even though Ming Zhou couldn't see it. "It's inside the Hengming office building."
Ming Zhou knew this place, it was quite close: "Don't you usually communicate with your colleagues? You can try to get to know them, maybe you will make new friends."
Xiao Jinang picked up the candy on the table and tore open the candy wrapper. He lowered his head to study the candy and shook his head. His naturally curly hair looked unusually fluffy, like a sheep. "No, it's just my second day at work. I only know the boss."
Ming Zhou: "It doesn't matter. You will make more friends as time goes by."
Xiao Jinang scratched his head: "Maybe not, because the boss said that our company will go bankrupt in two months."
Ming Zhou didn't expect to get such an answer. He was stunned for a moment: "What?"
Xiao Jinang repeated it seriously: "Our company will go bankrupt in two months."
He didn't seem to be panicked at all about being unemployed, but rather quite calm.
Ming Zhou paused and said, "Have you thought about your next plan? Or are you looking for your next job from now on?"
Xiao Jinang had never really thought about it. He threw the candy in his hand into his mouth, biting it with a crunching sound, and thought hard: "But I don't know what kind of job I should look for."
His diploma from the Great Interstellar Academy of Excellence doesn't seem to be very useful in the human world.
Ming Zhou asked again: "Do you have any savings?"
Xiao Jinang paused while eating candy after hearing this, feeling a little embarrassed, and said in a low voice: "No, I haven't had time to start saving yet, but I will work hard and save money in the future~"
He doesn't look like he has any mental problems at all, on the contrary, he is quite positive.
Ming Zhou was already thinking about whether to end the conversation as soon as possible, because his consultation was charged by the hour, and the price was not cheap. However, at this moment, Xiao Jinang noticed a pot of green plants on the windowsill, walked over and lay down on the windowsill to take a look: "Doctor Ming, do you grow flowers?"
Ming Zhou hummed.
Xiao Jinang smacked the sweet taste in his mouth and reached out to fiddle with the withered and curled leaves: "It seems to be a little short of water. Do you want to water it?"
Everyone who came into Ming Zhou's office would ask him this question, and Ming Zhou would just say, "I'll water it when I get off work."
He wanted to avoid the subject.
Xiao Jinang sensed the vitality of the flower through the flowerpot: "But if you don't water it, it can only live for two hours. It will be too late to water it when you get off work."
After he finished speaking, he noticed the paper cup on the coffee table, checked the purified water inside, and then slowly poured it into the flowerpot. The sound of the thin flowing water was extremely obvious in the quiet room.
Ming Zhou moved his ears, as if he had noticed what he was doing. He thought he was naive, but calmly exposed the truth: "It's useless. This pot of flowers has bugs and the roots are rotten."
Xiao Jinang subconsciously asked: "Then why don't you take it to treat the disease?"
"… "
Ming Zhou suddenly became quiet after hearing this.
Xiao Jinang felt the situation in the soil and found that it was not serious, but the lack of water caused the roots to shrink. He reluctantly pinched a small ball of energy to give to the flower, and then returned to sit opposite the sofa.
Ming Zhou suddenly felt that he could not use any of the psychological treatment methods he had learned in front of Xiao Jinang. He fumbled and took out another candy from under the table and gently placed it in front of him: "Do you like candy?"
Xiao Jinang said in a joyful tone: "I like it."
Ming Zhou remembered that the man followed him to the pharmacy last night and seemed to have bought a box of mints. As if to confirm something, he asked again: "Did you see me last night... I mean... did you see me?"
Xiao Jinang nodded honestly: "I have seen it, when it was raining yesterday."
He unconsciously lowered his head and touched his pocket, but it was empty, not even a coin: "I'm sorry, you gave me a box of candy, but I don't have money now, I will return the money to you when I get my salary."
It turns out it was really him...
Ming Zhou didn't know why, but he suddenly felt relieved after hearing this. He didn't know where this feeling came from, but he knew that this encounter wasn't that bad for him: "No, it's just a box of candy."
He took out some more candies from the small grid under the coffee table, and this time he didn't give them one by one, but a handful. The colorful translucent candies piled up like a small hill on the table, shining brightly under the sun.
Xiao Jinang's eyes lit up, and he subconsciously looked at Ming Zhou: "Is it for me?"
Ming Zhou nodded: "I have a lot here."
Xiao Jinang felt that Ming Zhou was a really good person, but he still felt a little embarrassed: "No, I have to pay you back."
Ming Zhou didn't want to close it. He raised his hand to adjust his sunglasses. His sleeves slipped down, revealing a thin and bony wrist with a decorative silver watch on it. "Didn't you say we are friends? Friends don't need to care so much."
He actually acknowledged the word "friend". As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he paused so slightly that even he himself could not notice it.
Xiao Jinang thought so too. There was no need to be so fussy between friends. He even gave Tang Yan a big diamond.
Xiao Jinang scratched his naturally curly hair and said, "Then when I get paid in two days, I'll treat you to a meal, okay?"
This was the first time Ming Zhou had received an invitation from someone else. He was confused as to what he felt. He did not agree immediately, but after a moment of silence, he finally agreed: "Okay..."
There's an inexplicable sense of fate.
It seemed that no matter how hesitant he was or how unsure he was about the decision, in the end there was only one answer.
This psychological consultation lasted for quite a while, and as Xiao Jinang was not on guard, Ming Zhou basically understood his situation in detail: he had no relatives, no friends, no savings, was about to face unemployment in two months, and was currently engaged in literary work.
It seems a bit miserable no matter how you look at it.
Maybe it was because they hadn't been out for too long, but the receptionist suddenly came in quietly and whispered in Ming Zhou's ear, "Doctor Ming, a patient just came in and said he had made an appointment for a psychological consultation this afternoon, but the computer's appointment system may not have entered it, so there was a mix-up in the appointment. How long will it take for you to finish?"
Ming Zhou asked her, "What time is it now?"
The receptionist looked down at the time and said, "It's almost five o'clock now. The guest said he had an appointment at three in the afternoon, but he was late because of something. I saw that he seemed drunk and a little tipsy."
Ming Zhou didn't like seeing drunks, especially those who were not punctual. He frowned slightly when he heard this: "The consultation room will not accept people who are fifteen minutes late, not to mention that he was two hours late. It will take me a while to finish here, and it may be too late today. Please change a doctor for him and say that I am not on duty."
The receptionist had no choice but to agree, nodded apologetically to Xiao Jinang beside him, then opened the door and left.
Xiao Jinang looked up at the sky, then down at the ground, feeling a little guilty. He had added his name to the appointment list when he hacked into the computer system, which might have caused a scheduling error. At this time, it was already dark outside, and Xiao Jinang reminded him, "Doctor Ming, it's getting late, I should go."
Ming Zhou was stunned when he heard this, and was slow to react. Then he stood up from the sofa and said, "I'll take you out."
Xiao Jinang shook his head: "It's okay, I know the way."
Ming Zhou raised his hand to unbutton his white coat, and then put it on the hanger next to him: "It's okay, it's time for me to get off work, let's go downstairs together."
In fact, he still had half an hour before getting off work, but Xiao Jinang went out alone and would definitely receive a bill from the front desk staff later.
Xiao Jinang didn't think much about it. When he heard Ming Zhou say that he was just getting off work, he agreed to go downstairs with him. When they walked out of the psychological counseling room, they saw a drunk man lying on the sofa in the lounge area. He looked quite gentle, but his drunken appearance inevitably surprised the reporter: "Hey, you are really a blind man. Why are you wandering around the street?"
His loud voice immediately attracted the attention of passers-by. Pedestrians stopped and whispered to each other, and their voices all swarmed into Mingzhou's ears.
"So he's blind, what a pity..."
"That man is so uncivilized. He hit someone and didn't apologize, and he even made personal attacks..."
"What's wrong with the blind man? He didn't eat his rice..."
blind.
blind.
Ming Zhou suddenly heard his own heartbeat. He tried to leave this crowded place with the help of his memory. However, without the help of his guide stick, he couldn't even do the basic obstacle removal. He accidentally bumped into someone when he backed away, and accidentally bumped into someone again when he turned around. His steps became more and more flustered, and his glasses almost fell off.
He was like an ant trapped in a jar, with nowhere to escape but to bang his head against the wall again and again, but he could never leave this small space.
Passersby looked at him, as if they wanted to help, but were hesitant, not knowing that their gazes were like the torture of slow slicing, cutting people to pieces.
Ming Zhou's back was already sweating, and he even felt dizzy. A noisy and chaotic voice rang in his ears, coming from far away and getting closer. He couldn't tell whether it was ridicule or sympathy. He seemed to have accidentally tripped over something and almost fell down, but suddenly a hand grabbed him in time, with great force: "Doctor Ming—"
The voice was particularly familiar, it was Xiao Jinang.
Xiao Jinang had not walked far. When he turned around, he saw Ming Zhou standing on the crowded street, wandering around aimlessly as if he had lost his direction. He immediately pushed through the crowd and rushed over.
He inexplicably felt that Ming Zhou was like a lonely boat sailing on the stormy sea, which would be overturned by a wave of wind. He subconsciously grasped his arm tightly, holding Ming Zhou's body that was about to fall, frowned with worry, and asked in a low voice: "Are you okay?"
At that moment, the wind and rain stopped and the waves calmed down.