Shi Nian bit her lip, hesitating about how to answer.
It’s easy to speak in front of others, but lying in front of Huo Danru, who is a professional psychologist herself, is as unwise as lying in front of Tang Yanqing.
Fortunately, Ye He was also present today. Though Ye He was taking care of Xiong Jie, upon hearing the word "amnesia," she imdiately turned her head: "Who has amnesia?"
Shi Nian gave an apologetic smile to Huo Danru, who then glanced over and walked over to check on Xiong Jie.
"What’s wrong with her?"
Shi Nian quickly explained the situation.
Huo Danru squinted her eyes: "Did you notice she was missing, and did you find her as well?"
Since it wasn’t convenient to involve Huangfu Huazhang in the matter, Shi Nian withheld certain details while explaining Xiong Jie’s situation to Huo Danru.
Shi Nian nodded: "Yes."
Huo Danru raised an eyebrow and stared at her: "But you didn’t choose to call the police during all this."
Huo Danru’s words were skillfully spoken, and Shi Nian understood: If it were soone else, they might suspect her in Xiong Jie’s disappearance. This situation sounds like a case of ’the guilty one crying thief,’ especially since she and Xiong Jie were already rivals, giving her ample motive.
Shi Nian took a deep breath: "Auntie Huo, it wasn’t ."
Huo Danru folded her arms, looking up at Shi Nian: "How do you want to help you?"
"Prevent her from being traumatized. If possible, help her recall the experiences before and after the kidnapping."
Huo Danru squinted at her: "I can do that, but I won’t accept you hiding things from . If you truly want my help, you’d better be honest with ."
Huo Danru’s sharpness widened Ye He’s eyes with surprise, and Shi Nian also felt sincere respect. After a short hesitation: "It’s not that I’m intentionally withholding information from you, but this involves other people’s privacy, and without authorization, it’s not convenient for to speak openly."
Huo Danru shook her head: "Do you know how a psychologist helps a patient restore lost mories?—Trust. A psychologist must gain the patient’s complete trust. She’s close to being mute now, unable to tell herself, so I have to rely on your objective description of the situation. But if you’re hiding sothing from , it’s no different from her lying to , and I won’t be able to guide her back to her deep mories correctly, and I won’t be able to help you."
Shi Nian’s face was flushed, and after a brief hesitation, she bowed deeply: "I’m sorry, I was inconsiderate. Just please help keep it confidential after listening."
Huo Danru gave a light hum: "Shi Nian, I rember I once told you, we have our own code of conduct: whether you co for marriage counseling or psychological consultation, it touches on the client’s most private aspects. So from the mont I agree to take on your case and you walk through my doors becoming my clients, we have, in essence, a confidentiality agreent. Whatever privacy you discuss in front of is protected by this agreent, and if I disclose it without your permission, you can sue ."
.
Frankly, from the start, visiting Huo Danru for marriage counseling with Xiang Yuan, to Huo Danru testifying for Mark in court, Shi Nian had so reservations about her. Moreover, due to Huo Danru’s nature, though she’s very professional while working, her mannerisms carry an air of arrogance that makes Shi Nian sowhat resistant.
But at this mont, Shi Nian’s impression of Huo Danru drastically changed.
Or perhaps this is just who she is; the things she did in the past weren’t targeting anyone specifically, but rather were her own choices.
This nature is sowhat like a popular phrase on the internet—the "Little Princess."
Similar to "Tough Love," but more genuine. "Tough Love" implies a bit of pretension, while the "Little Princess" genuinely does as she pleases, without any facade.
Though Huo Danru is older and from a previous generation, so perhaps not quite a "little" princess, her "princess" heart transcends age.
Thinking of it this way, Shi Nian felt more comfortable and smiled as she moved forward to hold Huo Danru’s arm: "Thank you. Now I’m assured. Auntie Huo, please sit down, and I’ll tell you everything truthfully."
Huo Danru seed a bit uncomfortable, instinctively trying to pull her arm back but couldn’t. She frowned at Shi Nian, thinking: why is Shi Nian just like Shen Wan, impossible to shake off?
.
Ye He and Huo Danru’s secretary stayed outside with Xiong Jie, while Shi Nian and Huo Danru confided the truth inside the office.
Huo Danru also furrowed her brows: "I really didn’t expect Huangfu Huazhang to have such significant influence."
In Mark’s case, if not for Huangfu Huazhang’s unexpected appearance in court, Huo Danru might have helped the defense win, leaving her unable to let go of her feelings towards Huangfu Huazhang.
Shi Nian understood in her heart, remaining silent, but smiled.
Huo Danru then looked over: "Given Huangfu Huazhang’s influence, why didn’t you have him find a psychologist for Xiong Jie and insisted on bringing her to ?" Her eyes wandered over Shi Nian’s face, then slowly but firmly said, "You don’t quite trust him."
Shi Nian really wanted to wipe away cold sweat.
Talking with a psychologist feels like an adventure, making one feel naked and exposed, nowhere to hide.
Since it was brought up, she nodded to admit: "You’re right."
Then she took out a voice recorder from her bag, containing the voice of the doctor Huangfu Huazhang found to temporarily care for Xiong Jie, "Please listen, let know if there’s anything wrong in the recording."
The recording quietly flowed, and from Shi Nian’s non-professional perspective, it didn’t seem to have much issue, mostly advising Xiong Jie to rest and not overthink. Not able to discern any subtleties herself, Shi Nian recorded it in secret to bring it to Huo Danru to listen.
Huo Danru listened carefully, then nodded: "There’s no major issue with his approach; it’s mainly a tranquility therapy... but, he’s ’blocking,’ not ’clearing.’ aning, he’s having her recall as little as possible, avoiding harm, not letting her rember; instead of allowing her to express fear and channel it into a positive direction."
Shi Nian squinted slightly: "You an that this doctor is suppressing Xiong Jie, not allowing her to rember."
Huo Danru nodded: "One could say that."
"But from a professional standpoint, it’s just different doctors having different approaches, similar to different prescriptions, within a doctor’s scope of responsibility, it’s not fair to outrightly call his intentions malicious."
Shi Nian put away the voice recorder: "I understand. Next, please help Xiong Jie with active guidance therapy, I don’t want her to be trapped in that terrifying mory any longer."
.
Huo Danru and Xiong Jie were doing guidance therapy in the room, while Ye He and Shi Nian waited in the reception area outside.
Ye He carefully observed Shi Nian, noticing Shi Nian looked at her phone again for the nth ti but still didn’t answer.
Out of respect for Huo Danru, they set their phones to silent mode after entering her office. Shi Nian’s behavior indicated that calls were constantly coming in, but she never answered.
Ye He couldn’t help but whisper: "Doctor Huo’s session won’t end so soon, Boss, you should go outside and take the call, I’ll keep watch here, nothing will go wrong."
Shi Nian gave an awkward smile, shaking her head: "It’s okay."
The calls were actually from Huangfu Huazhang.
Seeing that the boss didn’t want to say, Ye He tactfully switched to another topic.
"Boss, why does Xiong Jie remind you of Rosa? Rosa was taken by the clown 15 years ago. And although both cases involve kidnapping, the thods are worlds apart."
Shi Nian tried to explain to Ye He: "Criminals in this world generally fall into two categories: those with organizational ability and those without it. Those without it commit impulsive cris, like suddenly attacking with a knife due to a disagreent, entirely happenstantial cris, without preditation or planning. However, those with organizational ability, will deliberately choose a certain type of victim, and their modus operandi will reflect varying degrees of similarity."
"Especially highly intelligent criminals, they have considerable counter-reconnaissance and counter-psychological profiling abilities, so they know how to disguise the similarities in their thods to confuse the police. But nature is hard to change, and those hidden commonalities will eventually surface bit by bit."
Ye He squinted: "So boss, you an that even though you see many differences in specific details between Rosa and Xiong Jie’s disappearances, you still saw so hidden commonalities beneath the differences?"
"Yes, that’s exactly what I an." Shi Nian looked down: "It’s just an intuition of mine."
Ye He asked in a low voice: "Boss, you said there were commonalities, what are they?"
Shi Nian lifted her eyes, her gaze distant.
"The criminals who took them never physically hard them. They had no physical wounds, only psychological trauma."
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[Second update this morning]
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