It all started after class that day.

I am a high school psychology teacher by profession. You know, the kind of teacher who only shows up in your classroom once a week and gives you a painless psychology lesson. My high school, like all high schools in the country, only focuses on the subjects that are examined. Subjects such as psychology, which do not take the college entrance examination, will never be taken seriously by the school. My profession is clearly in an awkward state. But fortunately, not all students think so.

I finished the fourth class of the morning, went back to the office, sat down for a short rest, drank a few sips of tea, and got ready to go home from work. Just as I was about to get up to leave, I saw Lan Tianyu, a member of Class 12 in the first year of high school, standing at the door of my office.

He was the kind of honest student who was obscure in his class, with almost no features, and I can remember him purely because he had a special surname. At the moment, he was as shy and introverted as ever, and he looked anxious as he stood in the door of his office as I realized that he was experiencing some kind of problem and wanted to talk to me about it—counseling students was another of my responsibilities at school.

It was a normal thing, and I would have received one or two of these students every day. But I could never have imagined that this seemingly ordinary meeting would lead to the horrific and unexplained series of strange events that followed.

I sat down on the rattan chair again and greeted the students at the door with the smile of a professional counselor: "Come in, Lan Tianyu." ”

He hesitated, looked at me a few times, and walked in slowly, standing in front of me, head bowed.

The first thing he needs is relaxation, and I know that.

"Don't stand like you've made a mistake." My tone was kind and kind, and I dragged a chair from the side, "Come, sit down and talk, what are you looking for me?" ”

Lan Tianyu sat in front of me, his face always had that anxious expression, and his eyes even conveyed a message of fear, which was different from the expression of ordinary adolescent when he encountered trouble. I wondered in my mind what had happened to him, but I didn't rush him to speak.

After a long while, he finally spoke: "Teacher Yu, I am a resident student, and I have been ...... for the past few nights Something incredible happened. I don't know how to understand it, and I want to talk to you. ”

I nodded. "Say it."

"It's been three days...... This happened for three nights in a row...... "He swallowed, and his body shuddered unconsciously, as if he was recalling some terrible experience.

I'm also a little curious now, staring at him and asking, "What the hell is going on?" ”

Lan Tianyu's face turned pale: "That's the case, the night before yesterday, I said ...... Morning. I suddenly woke up from a terrible nightmare, my heart beating wildly and I was breaking out in a cold sweat. Teacher Yu, I have never had such a terrible nightmare...... When I woke up, I was trembling with fear......"

I understood a little and comforted him: "It's not surprising, your current study pressure is indeed quite high, if the human cerebral cortex is in a state of tension for a long time, sometimes you will have very terrible nightmares at night......"

"No, Teacher Yu, I'm not done yet." Lan Tianyu interrupted me anxiously, "The key to the problem is not the nightmare itself. ”

I opened my mouth slightly: "What's that?" ”

"I have a habit of putting my phone next to my pillow when I sleep. Whether I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, or wake up for some other reason, I unconsciously look at the time displayed on my phone. After waking up from a nightmare that night, I also glanced at my phone as usual and found that I woke up at 4:16 a.m. ”

I was stunned for a moment and asked, "What's wrong?" Does the time of 4:16 mean anything special to you? ”

"No, there is no ...... I just took a casual look and didn't think much of it. But......" Lan Tianyu couldn't help but shudder again, "What happened in the next two nights is simply unbelievable - this kind of situation actually happened in a row!" ”

I shook my head, a little unintelligible: "You say...... What happens consecutively? ”

Lan Tianyu said in a panic: "The night before yesterday, I had the same nightmare again, and I was awakened again. I looked at the time, and it was 4:16 again. And last night it was still the case, I woke up in a nightmare, drenched in cold sweat, when I picked up my phone and saw the time ......"

"It's 4:16 again?" I asked.

"Yes."

I stretched out my hand and compared: "That is, you were woken up by the same nightmare for three nights in a row, and the time you woke up was 4:16?" ”

Lan Tianyu nodded vigorously and asked a series of questions anxiously: "Teacher Yu, how can there be such a thing?" I've never seen anything like this when I'm so old! What the hell is wrong with me? Is there any psychological explanation for this phenomenon? ”

I gazed at him, making quick judgments in my mind. Actually, I have already come to a rough conclusion in my mind, but for the sake of prudence, I still have to ask him a few more questions.

"Can you describe the content of this nightmare you have had for three days in a row?"

To my surprise, Lan Tianyu shook his head and said, "I can't remember." Every time I woke up from that nightmare, I couldn't remember the contents of the dream at all, only that it was a terrible nightmare. ”

I was keenly aware of the logic in his words: "If you can't even remember the content of the dream, how do you know that you have the same nightmare for three days in a row?" ”

"That's because...... I woke up all three nights with the same feeling. And although I can't remember exactly what happened in the dream, I have some vague impressions...... In short, I can guarantee the same nightmare. Lan Tianyu saw my questioning expression, and became a little embarrassed, "I can't tell you clearly, maybe...... It's just intuition. ”

"Okay." I didn't want to dwell on this question any longer, so I asked, "Who else have you told me about this?" ”

"I just told Wu Haoxuan, who slept in my bed. But he disagreed, saying that it was just a coincidence, and told me not to take it seriously. But I don't think so, I know it's definitely unusual. Especially when I woke up from my dream for the third time, last night, I had a very bad feeling...... Like, something is going to happen. Lan Tianyu raised his head and stared at me, and asked in fear, "What do you say, Teacher Yu?" How do I explain the strange thing I'm experiencing? What does that mean, you know? ”

Yes, I know – I thought silently in my mind – but like all experienced counsellors, I don't tell a patient about his mental illness directly, which may cause resentment and resistance from the patient. I was thinking about how to use psychoanalytic therapy to treat Lan Tianyu's paranoia and obsessive-compulsive neurosis.