Chapter 18

Chi Zhihan was completely bewildered.

“Am I the only one here?” Early in the morning, she had been woken up by Qi Peng’s phone call. His stern tone had instructed her to leave immediately, and the car had taken her directly to Dr. Zhao’s office, where she found herself alone.

“Because most of what I’m about to say involves speaking ill of the Qi family,” Dr. Zhao smiled while pouring Chi Zhihan a cup of tea, his tone half-serious, half-joking.

Chi Zhihan accepted the teacup with a nervous smile, feeling uneasy.

“Hiring Miss Chi was actually my requirement,” Dr. Zhao said, sitting back in his office chair, hands clasped. “Initially, it was meant to be a simple stimulus therapy. The Qi family’s situation is special, and this treatment wouldn’t affect your work or life, so we didn’t plan to reveal everything. But given the current situation, not telling Miss Chi everything would seem like we’re taking advantage of our position.”

“This story is quite long. After hearing it, if Miss Chi wants to withdraw, the Qi family won’t hold you accountable,” Dr. Zhao offered reassurance before beginning.

Chi Zhihan smiled wryly, speaking honestly, “The current atmosphere makes me a bit nervous.”

“It’s okay, most people who chat with me in this place are particularly nervous. I’m used to it,” Dr. Zhao waved his hand, smiling self-deprecatingly. “Actually, you all have misconceptions about psychologists. No psychologist can tell if you have a psychological illness just from one micro-expression – that would make them fortune tellers, not doctors.”

Chi Zhihan smiled politely.

The story was indeed long, but surprisingly, it began simply.

The person living across from her was Qi Peng’s younger brother, Qi Cheng, who was only twenty-nine years old and had been reported as living abroad for the past decade without ever appearing in the news.

This second son of the Qi family, who had lived alone in the villa since age nineteen, had developed his condition because of a rumor about the Qi family.

This rumor was one Chi Zhihan had heard before. The Qi family had made their fortune in the steel business, later transitioning to real estate and shipbuilding. After going public, their market value steadily increased, and business was consistently smooth and prosperous.

Yet, despite their success, the Qi family had never appeared on the list of eligible bachelors in gossip magazines, and the reason was this rumor: women who married into the Qi family wouldn’t live past the age of thirty-five.

The founder Qi Wangda, Qi Cheng’s grandfather, lost his wife to lung disease at age thirty-four. She left behind two sons, both of whom married. Qi Cheng’s mother suffered an amniotic fluid embolism while giving birth to him. Although she was saved initially, she suffered multiple organ damage and died of kidney failure six months later at age thirty-two. The wife of Qi Wangda’s other son, Qi Ning’s mother, died in a car accident at age thirty-five.

“It really is quite eerie,” Dr. Zhao sighed. ” After Qi Ning’s mother died in the car accident, Qi Wangda actually hired a Taoist priest to perform rituals at their home. Though the men of the Qi family wouldn’t say it aloud, they probably all carried some psychological shadows from this.”

“Qi Cheng, this child, takes after his mother in personality – sensitive and thoughtful. This matter probably left the deepest impression on him, after all, his mother’s incident happened while giving birth to him.”

“In his first year of high school, he fell in love with a girl from the neighboring class. Given his personality, he spent an entire semester thinking it over before finally writing her a love letter,” Dr. Zhao smiled helplessly. “But the next day, it was returned unopened.”

“This wouldn’t normally be a big deal. Like any teenager, Qi Cheng was heartbroken for a while but would have gotten over it. The trouble came during that year’s New Year’s Eve cultural performance, where he and that girl were the male and female hosts. People teased them about being a couple, and the girl’s face darkened immediately. After the event ended on a sour note, Qi Cheng overheard the girl discussing his family’s rumor with other classmates backstage.”

“The words must have been quite harsh. After this incident, Qi Cheng’s grades plummeted, and he became increasingly withdrawn.” Dr. Zhao shook his head. “Who would have thought that Qi Cheng’s severe psychological condition would stem from such a common incident?”

Unrequited love and rejection, then overhearing the object of one’s affection discussing one’s most sensitive wound with others in cruel terms.

In that age of careless speech and desperate need for peer approval, no one realized how their casual words might become someone else’s lifelong nightmare.

“Qi Cheng’s father, Qi Changqing, was my war buddy. To put it bluntly, he’s a bit of a brute – running the Qi family business alone while trying to raise two teenage boys. You couldn’t expect him to notice his children’s psychological state. His method of judging whether his children were behaving was simple – he looked at their grades.”

“When Qi Cheng’s grades dropped dramatically, Qi Changqing spoke with the teachers, but they couldn’t explain why, only saying that Qi Cheng had become solitary lately, stopped signing up for sports events, and stopped raising his hand in class. Qi Changqing pressured Qi Cheng to explain, but of course, the child wouldn’t talk. So out came the Qi family disciplinary method.”

Chi Zhihan looked up to see Dr. Zhao frowning slightly, his expression filled with helplessness.

“Starting from Qi Changqing’s generation, disobedient Qi family members would be confined to a room for reflection – not allowed out until they admitted their fault and begged for forgiveness. We commonly call it ‘the dark room,’ though it wasn’t actually dark – just a room with only a bed.” Dr. Zhao rubbed his temples. “While I didn’t have high hopes for the educational methods in a household full of men, this method was particularly devastating for a child like Qi Cheng…”

Qi Cheng never spoke up. Qi Wangda, feeling sorry for his grandson, had a huge argument with Qi Changqing outside the dark room. The father and son came to blows, and then Qi Cheng fainted inside the room.

If the unrequited love was the catalyst for everything, then his father and grandfather fighting because of him outside the room was the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

“By that time, Qi Cheng’s psychological state was already very poor. The external symptoms were vomiting at the mention of school and breaking into cold sweats around strangers – typical early symptoms of social anxiety disorder. Unfortunately, in China over a decade ago, even the term ‘social anxiety disorder’ was rarely mentioned, let alone taken seriously.”

“So Qi Cheng and Qi Changqing engaged in a two-year tug-of-war. Qi Changqing firmly insisted that Qi Cheng attend school, while Qi Cheng’s symptoms progressed from vomiting and cold sweats to direct fainting.”

“When I took over Qi Cheng’s case, he had already refused all communication with the outside world, showing no response to light or sound. He had completely locked himself away. It took us an entire year to help Qi Cheng gradually return to normal.” When recalling this period, Dr. Zhao seemed emotional, pausing after each sentence to take a sip of tea.

“The initial root cause was still the lack of awareness about mental illness. After improvement, Qi Cheng yearned for a normal life, and the Qi family desperately hoped he could return to school and normalcy. Although I didn’t agree that the treatment had been fully successful, I still agreed to let him try.”

“Then… on Qi Wangda’s sixty-fifth birthday, Qi Cheng had a relapse in the attic. Unable to tolerate the presence of another heartbeat near him, he moved to the small villa, where he has lived for ten years.” After finishing, Dr. Zhao let out a long sigh and stood up to refill both their cups with hot water.

Chi Zhihan didn’t know what to say, holding her cup and watching the steam rise.

Qi Cheng’s story was a tragedy.

The definition of tragedy is when everyone in the story, from their own perspective, didn’t make any major mistakes, but still, under those circumstances and that atmosphere, a tragedy occurred.

You couldn’t blame an underage high school girl for rejecting Qi Cheng because of such an eerie rumor, and for saying those cruel things about him behind his back, because even after so many years, she might have already forgotten that such a person ever existed in her memories.

You couldn’t blame a young father who had lost his wife and was raising two sons while striving for success.

And you certainly couldn’t blame an aging grandfather who was worried about his grandson.

But Chi Zhihan couldn’t help remembering how Qi Cheng looked in the darkness, covering himself with a blanket, frozen in panic.

“Your reason for hiring me is?” Chi Zhihan cleared her throat, trying to ignore the heavy emotions in her heart.

“Social anxiety disorder has a typical treatment method called in vivo desensitization therapy, which means recreating scenarios and people that trigger Qi Cheng’s emotional sensitivity, helping him gradually adapt. The girl who rejected Qi Cheng back then had similar looks, speaking manner, and build as you.” Dr. Zhao smiled. “Your company conducted a mental health test for all employees last year, which I supervised. Those who passed the psychological evaluation were later recommended as Qi Cheng’s private chefs. You were the last one.”

“This treatment originally had nothing to do with you. You just needed to stay across from him, maintain a positive attitude, do your job, and then at a fixed time, we would ask you to leave and create some false scenarios of you speaking ill of him behind his back.” Dr. Zhao saw Chi Zhihan frown and waved his hand. “Just scenarios – if we had followed the original treatment plan, you wouldn’t have even known about any of this.”

“…” No wonder the salary was ridiculously high.

“But the trust between Qi Cheng and you developed too quickly.” Dr. Zhao shook his head. “So I became a bit greedy, hoping you could be more involved. That’s also why we offered to extend your contract for another year.”

“Then why tell me everything now?” When they renewed the contract, they said the Qi family didn’t trust her enough to reveal everything. After just a few days, there was such a big change – something must have happened.

“Because Qi Cheng seems to have started seeing you as a companion.”

“You have psychological trauma from family issues. The last psychological test showed that this trauma has a permanent impact on your mental health.”

“However, most modern people have psychological scars. You handle yours well and have effective ways to release pressure, which is also why I chose you initially.”

“And Qi Cheng has discovered your psychological trauma. This feeling is somewhat like resonance, similar to how desperate people tend to find equally desperate companions.”

Chi Zhihan was startled.

She knew this resonance, and she had found it in Qi Cheng too.

“The reason I’m telling you everything today is because that bit of resonance between you and Qi Cheng can easily develop into feelings.”

“I haven’t…” Chi Zhihan instinctively denied, her face quickly reddening.

Dr. Zhao smiled and waved his hand: “Let me finish.”

“Qi Cheng’s condition has evolved from simple social anxiety disorder into severe depression. Treatment won’t be easy, and he already has suicidal thoughts. If you were just involved as I initially described, the success or failure of the treatment wouldn’t affect you much.”

“But now you’ve become friends, so I need to tell you that this treatment might be Qi Cheng’s last chance. If it fails, the better outcome would be him being sent to America for electroshock therapy. The worse outcome would be… suicide.”

“This is why the Qi family isn’t here today. No one will beg you or put any psychological burden on you. I want you to selfishly consider whether you truly want to be part of this treatment.”

“I’m a doctor – treating patients is my duty. But you’re different. Can you accept the consequences if we fail?”

…