Dangerous Personality

onists’ amorous affections, “Mr.
Xie.”

 

The consultation room was incredibly quiet for a moment.

 

Doctor Wu was a textbook southerner, and with a bit of the local accent he very slowly inquired, “Mr.
Xie, just a minute ago I said I was stepping out for a moment, and you said, ‘That’s fine, I’ll sit here and read in the meantime.’ How did……”

 

How did it develop into this.

 

The guy with the surname Xie used a finger to prod at the cover of that book The Study of Personality in Psychology, explaining, “I was reading, but I was uncomfortable sitting in the chair over there, so I borrowed yours to sit for a while.
If you don’t believe me, ask him.”

 

(t/n: 姓解的 – loosely, “the guy with the surname Xie.” A rude way to address someone)

 

Right.

 

If covering his face with a book counted as “reading.”

 

Moreover, the way he was sitting was still extremely arrogant.

 

Chi Qing suspected that he hadn’t checked his own fortune before coming out today.
He guessed correctly that this person was not the doctor, but he hadn’t thought that he was also here to see the doctor, “You have an illness yourself, and you’re still seeing patients?”

 

“I think you’ve misunderstood,” the guy with the surname Xie truly seemed like that wasn’t his intention, “I never said I was the doctor.”

 

“Then you talked a lot of nonsense.”

 

The guy with the surname Xie’s brow twitched, “You suddenly pushed open the door and came in.
Doctor Wu wasn’t here so I could only extend some courtesy and entertain his guest.
I thought we were having a friendly exchange.”

 

“……”

 

Fuck your ‘friendly exchange.’

 

This mishap cleared up quickly, which was specifically related to the guy with the surname Xie dealing with himself.
He first said, “Apologies, I’ve offended you, it was me who didn’t clarify” and in doing so reassured the receptionist that it wasn’t her fault.
As he left he even pressed a mint into Doctor Wu’s palm, “Doctor Wu, just now I heard your voice was a bit hoarse, take care of your throat.” He even considerately helped close the door.

 

Doctor Wu stood awkwardly in the same place for a spell, “My apologies, Mr.
Chi, can you give me a few minutes to prepare? Then our session will begin right away.”

 

To tell the truth, he didn’t really want to keep being in this clinic.

 

Chi Qing pulled off a glove which he sat waiting off to the side, clicking open his phone to check the time.

 

In the end the first thing he saw when he opened his phone wasn’t the time, but instead a string of messages sent by Ji Mingrui.

 

Ji Mingrui was on duty that day, but he kept thinking about how Chi Qing said he was going to the hospital, and couldn’t help but announce his opinion.

 

– Did you see the doctor?

 

– What did the doctor say?

 

– After I got back home yesterday I thought carefully for a while, and I think that mysophobia of yours, it’s hard to cure.

 

The next string of words was longer.

 

– Do you still remember the time around when we first met? That whole first year of high school, the whole entire year, I never saw what your hands looked like.
Back then everyone in our class thought it might be that you had some kind of unmentionable disease, like you were missing a finger or something like that.

 

Chi Qing replied: It’s you who has a fucking unmentionable disease.

 

After a while, he added on another few words.

– I ran into a nutcase.

 

The actual consultation progressed smoothly; the ‘genuine model’ Doctor Wu could indeed be said to make people feel like they were in good hands.

 

Before the consultation started, Doctor Wu put down his thermos and flipped through the chart again.

 

Another chart was stacked on top of Chi Qing’s chart.
He unintentionally caught a glimpse of someone else’s chart, but that chart flashing by was difficult to ignore—it was a completely blank record form.

 

Psychologists would go through each and every discussion they had with the consultee and record the diagnosis and assessments.

 

However, not a single sentence was written on this record form, the entire paper was completely blank, without any traces of handwriting except for where the space at the very top for the name was filled in with two characters: Xie Lin.

 

Outside the office in the hallway:

 

Xie Lin followed the receptionist out.
When the receptionist made it back to her post, she repeatedly sighed once again, “This Mr.
Xie, what kind of problem does he actually have?”

 

“Last time, I heard Doctor Wu talking on the phone,” the other receptionist lowered her voice and said, “saying that since entering the field ten years ago he’d never run into this type of situation before—where there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the patient, as if there really wasn’t any kind of issue, but having to come for an appointment every week anyway.”

 

At that moment, the person at the center of their discussion was sitting on the sofa in the waiting room waiting for a car.

 

Just then, a cat laying nearby happened to wake up, sticking out its tongue with sleep-hazy eyes to lap at its paw.

 

Xie Lin glanced at it, stretching out a hand with the intention of stroking its head.

 

The man sat there wearing a wide smile, the kind that would easily give people a favorable impression.
However, that cat seemed like its entire body had been shocked by electricity.
Xie Lin’s hand was still hovering in mid-air; that cat instantly puffed up its fur, darting away like a wisp of smoke.

 

The consultation was an hour long in total, and consisted entirely of unremarkable conversation.
It was nothing more than words taken from one psychologist's mouth and put into another’s, repeated once again.

 

Doctor Wu also didn’t know if his consultation had produced any effect.
The gentleman with the surname Chi sat across from him throughout the entire appointment without any hint of an expression on his face.

 

“Our time is up,” customarily, Doctor Wu stood up and shook hands with his client to say goodbye, “I hope this consultation was helpful for you.
I have a lot of faith in you, and I hope you can have ample faith in yourself as well.”

 

Chi Qing planned to call a car from his phone, so he’d just pulled off one of his gloves.

 

Thus, he very clearly heard the heave of a sigh in Doctor Wu’s inner thoughts: [Ai, actually I don’t have all that much faith……but offering encouragement can never hurt.]

 

After Doctor Wu finished speaking, he realized the face of gentleman with the surname Chi finally had a bit of a change.

 

Doctor Wu, “What’s wrong, is there anything else?”

 

Chi Qing slowly extracted his hand, “No, I need to go wash my hands.”

 

Doctor Wu, “……”

 

Doctor Wu was quickly thought of something else, “I heard you wanted to set our next appointment for the 25th of this month, that’s, I’m sorry, I—”

 

“I know,” Chi Qing pushed open the door and walked out, “Your daughter’s birthday is on the 25th, you’re not available.”

 

Doctor Wu was flabbergasted, “—How did you know?”

 

Chi Qing didn’t have the patience to resolve his doubts, “Let’s plan for a different day, I’ll notify you about the specific timing.”

 

It was exactly noon when Chi Qing left, and the majority of the rainwater left on the road had already evaporated.

 

Online, Ji Mingrui was still waiting for his response.

 

– What nutcase?

 

– My friend, you went to the psychiatrist for your mysophobia right?

 

– So what did the doctor end up saying?

 

Chi Qing got into the car.
As he looked at the chatbox, he thought of what Doctor Wu said, the buzz of that distorted voice in his ear echoing endlessly.
Amidst the buzzing, he suddenly pulled off a glove and looked over his own hand.

 

At the second joint of his right ring finger, there indeed was a mole he himself had never discovered before.
That mole was quite small; if it wasn’t for his skin being excessively pale, it would’ve been difficult for someone to notice.

 

—”Your hand looks nice.”

 

—”Has anyone ever told you you have long fingers?”

 

“……”

 

Chi Qing stared at that light brown mole, trying to recall if he had heard anything other than the complete garbage coming out of his mouth when the guy with the surname Xie grabbed his hand earlier.

 

The scenery outside the window slowly passed by.

 

Only after watching it for a while did Chi Qing have a response.
That nutcase touched his hand earlier, but he didn’t mind-read anything at all.

 

________

 

木瓜黄’s author’s note:

Although the two of them are extremely dangerous, they’re both good, law-abiding citizens ha!