Who would study psychology unless they had some issues?!-Chapter 146 - 144: Just Short of the Final Step

[His actions and expressions were stiff, with a sense of being frozen.] freewёbnoνel-com

[Because what happened was unexpected.]

[Usually in such conversations, Li Minglu would agree with her?]

Li Minglu didn’t respond, so Wang Sui just kept staring at him, as if she were determined to wait for an answer.

Nan Zhubin quickly jumped in to redirect Wang Sui’s attention.

"According to you, your friends are curious about your life, even somewhat envious—and you are quite satisfied with this."

Sure enough, Wang Sui’s attention was swiftly diverted.

Then, Nan Zhubin asked the key question.

"How do you view the life you once shared with Mr. Li?"

...

On the surface, Nan Zhubin aimed to compare the "life as perceived by friends" with "the life Wang Sui herself perceives."

In reality, Nan Zhubin wanted Li Minglu to compare "the life as perceived by the wife" and "the life I desire for myself."

Nan Zhubin watched Wang Sui’s expression.

Through the recent interaction, he had already established a baseline for Wang Sui’s expressions.

Since he hadn’t built a sufficiently solid consulting relationship with Wang Sui, he believed she might embellish or even lie in her subsequent narratives.

However, Wang Sui seemed to feel there was no need for concealment and spoke her mind openly.

...

"I wasn’t very satisfied with our life before."

Wang Sui candidly said.

Li Minglu had also expressed this sentiment before.

This was the only point in Wang Sui’s perception of the past that aligned with Li Minglu.

The only one.

Nan Zhubin smoothly pursued, "Why not satisfied?"

"Because..." Wang Sui pressed her lips together, "Luzi didn’t care about the family at all."

From Nan Zhubin’s perspective, he could see Li Minglu clenching his fists but his body softening.

"You said Mr. Li doesn’t care about the family?"

"Yes."

Wang Sui glanced at Li Minglu, "For him, when we renovated the house, we deliberately made the biggest room his studio, but who would have guessed he’d spend all day cooped up in there, wouldn’t even step foot outside."

"I’m the one who takes the kids to school and to tutoring classes, and I’m the one who tutors them with their homework. Instead, he only comes out when the kids are free in the evening, playing with them like a child, and he always wastes money on toys and comics and such. Aren’t those things a waste of time?"

"You tell me, with him keeping so busy, shouldn’t he be able to paint a lot in a day? But Mr. Nan, guess what, sometimes when I go into clean his studio—huh, he hasn’t even touched a single painting!"

Wang Sui’s words were full of complaints.

And she wasn’t done.

"He’s home all day, doesn’t really do any work, and sometimes when I’m doing the housework, I purposely make noise. I know he can hear, but he never offers to help."

"Mr. Nan, you know, I never told friends or doctors about these things before, always just tried to save face for him. I used to only speak well of him, but this time I told you everything."

[Her chin raised again.]

[Pride?]

Nan Zhubin took a deep breath. No, it was "a craving for recognition."

He had come to understand Li Minglu’s greatest significance to Wang Sui.

Before Li Minglu fell ill, his work and life could earn Wang Sui recognition from friends.

And after Li Minglu got depression, Wang Sui used her act of "taking care of her sick husband" to gain friends’ recognition.

But the latter was clearly not as lasting or effective as the former, so the recognition Wang Sui could obtain was dwindling.

She needed more emotional value.

So now, she wanted to gain recognition from her own perspective by reflecting on her husband’s life and work before he became ill.

...

Of course, Nan Zhubin was not going to cooperate with Wang Sui on this front.

He glanced at Li Minglu and noticed that the man was starting to tremble all over.

Nan Zhubin turned back to Wang Sui, "Have you ever communicated these thoughts with Mr. Li before?"

Wang Sui nodded as if it were expected, "Of course, in life I say whatever’s on my mind, what in a family needs hiding?"

"But I said it many times, and he didn’t change, so I got tired of saying it. Later, when he got ill, it became even harder to bring it up."

At this point, Wang Sui sighed.

"Back in school, because of some things... I wouldn’t feel comfortable telling you, Mr. Nan, but back then, I always took care of him. He just had to study, and I often failed my courses in a semester because I was busy taking care of him, and barely had time for friends."

"I didn’t expect that after graduation the situation would only improve for a short while, before reverting back to what it was, with me still taking care of him."

Wang Sui patted Li Minglu’s back, as if soothing a child.

"I think, maybe people who study art are just a bit more sensitive, and then there really have been too many things happening to Luzi."

"All the way to now, only I can take care of him. Sometimes I really hope he can be a bit stronger, not to be troubled by these things anymore..."

Nan Zhubin’s heart skipped a beat.

He glanced at the wall clock, there were only two minutes left.

But at that moment, Li Minglu’s body suddenly relaxed after a period of tension.

At the same time, his body started to curl up forcefully.

[Regression... Severe regression.]

[Strong defense.]

[This is not good.]

Nan Zhubin had a premonition that today’s session was not going to yield the results he wanted.

At this moment, in whatever way one looks at it, Li Minglu didn’t seem capable of expressing his thoughts openly in front of his wife.

Even though his wife had already laid out their completely differing perceptions right in front of him.

Even though he had previously resolved to express himself with Nan Zhubin’s support.

But now, just because of a few last words from his wife, he once again redirected his motivation inward.

...

Nan Zhubin let out a long sigh.

Though regrettable, this was more the norm in consultation.

Not every consultation can be effective.

Sometimes, despite setting the stage in myriad ways beforehand, the final step falls just short, leading to failure.

This is also why many psychological illnesses—especially depression—require long-term intervention and treatment.

But Nan Zhubin still wanted to try one last time; he said to Wang Sui, "Has Mr. Li ever discussed his feelings with you in detail? For instance, what he finds most troubling during a depressive episode?"

"Not at all, did he just talk to you, Mr. Nan?"

Nan Zhubin neither nodded nor shook his head.

He just turned his expectant gaze towards Li Minglu.

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