On Friday afternoon, a psychological counseling agency in Beijing welcomed a special guest.

The visitor was nearly 30 years old, wearing an ironed suit, with handsome facial features and a graceful demeanor.

The front desk stayed for a moment, until the other party walked towards him, then raised his head and said politely: "Sir, do you have an appointment?" ”

The man bowed: "I made an appointment with Dr. Meng Shu at three o'clock." ”

"Dr. Meng's office is on the second floor, you come with me." The front desk led the man up to the second floor and came to an office on the right-hand side, "Dr. Meng, your visitor has arrived." ”

Ji Qingtai stood in the doorway, looking inside.

The office is about 20 square meters, with a desk, a sofa, two chairs, and a treatment certificate on the wall.

There was a long-haired woman sitting at the desk, and when she heard the voice, she looked up and smiled at him: "I was thinking that you should be there just now, but I didn't expect you to come, come in and sit casually." ”

After the woman finished speaking, she sat on a double chair and asked Chi Qingtai again, "Do you want to drink anything?" We have coffee, milk, mineral water here. ”

Chi Qingtai picked a single chair opposite her and sat down, and replied, "Warm water is fine, thank you." ”

Choosing a seat is an unintentional act that unconsciously exposes the attitude of the visitor.

Of all the seats in the room, this seat was not too close or far from her, a distance from which she could talk normally, but it was not too intimate and uncomfortable.

At this point, Meng Shu already had a preliminary impression of him: he was a very polite and measured consulter.

"Then I'll start directly," Meng Shu handed the water to Chi Qingtai and started the conversation, "I heard Lu Niandong mention it before, saying that you have been plagued by physical contact phobia for a long time, but there have been two psychological counseling sessions that have failed, right?" ”

Chi Qingtai nodded: "Yes, it's all failed." ”

"What do you think was the reason for the failure?" Meng Shu leaned forward slightly, and his attitude was very light, "Don't be nervous, let's talk casually, and the content of the consultation will be kept confidential throughout the process." ”

Chi Qingtai laughed: "If I knew the reason, I wouldn't have come to the doctor." ”

Meng Shu's gaze paused on him for two seconds, and then said, "Then let's talk about the problem you want to solve first." ”

Many counselors are silent about their questions, but the one in front of them is very calm, he raises his hands and reveals the black gloves: "I want to cure my phobia of physical contact." It didn't affect me much until recently when my mother became seriously ill and I wanted to take care of her myself, so I decided to solve the problem. ”

Meng Shu: "I can't even accept the contact of my family? ”

Chi Qingtai shook his head: "No." ”

Meng Shu: "Not since you were a child? ”

Chi Qingtai: "No. ”

Meng Shu wanted to continue on this issue and find out the reason behind it, but Chi Qingtai didn't speak again.

The temptation failed, Meng Shu changed directions, she noticed the ring on Chi Qingtai's ring finger, and asked again, "Are you married?" ”

Chi Qingtai: "It's just an emotionless business marriage." ”

The possibility of starting from the husband's side is also blocked.

Meng Shu was silent for a while.

She has received many counselors, some who chatter and ignore her problems, and some who are taciturn and resist all interactions, but the most difficult of them is undoubtedly a person like Chi Qingtai, who is very cooperative on the surface, but very defensive.

It's as if there's an invisible wall that keeps her out of the real problem.

It's hard to know where to start.

Time passed little by little, and until the end of the consultation time, Meng Shu was not able to really enter Chi Qingtai's heart, nor did he figure out what caused his phobia of physical contact.

Last night a cold spell hit, and the weather forecast said there was light snow today. The sky was overcast at noon, and by the time Chi Kiyotai came out of the consultation room, it was already snowing outside.

The driver drove a black Mercedes-Benz to stop at the door, Chi Qingtai got into the car, and made an appointment on his mobile phone for the next consultation.

Three days later, Chi Qingtai came to visit as scheduled.

He spent one and a half hours working during the two-hour consultation. Only in the last ten minutes, he asked Meng Shu for a cup of coffee. After drinking, Chi Qingtai stepped out of the treatment room.

At the end, he politely said to her, "Thank you, Dr. Meng, the coffee is delicious." ”

Meng Shu is a psychiatrist with many years of experience, but in the face of a patient like Chi Qingtai, he can't help but have a headache.

During the meal, Meng Shu chatted with his colleagues about it. They don't share the patient's information or treatment, but the feeling of powerlessness doesn't take words to detect it.

"The patient is troublesome this time?" A colleague asked him.

Meng Shu raised his forehead: "He made me start to doubt my professional level. ”

"You should have come to my office," said the colleague with a dejected face, "I'm going to be mentally disturbed by him." ”

Other people's suffering is the best antidote to life, Meng Shu laughed: "So exaggerated? ”

Colleague: "See the consulting chair against the wall in my office?" ”

"See," Meng Shu nodded, a little curious, "Why did you move the chair out again recently?" ”

Speaking of this, my colleague's expression became even more ugly: "You don't know, I've been sitting against the door for the last few times, I'm afraid that if something is wrong during the consultation, the patient will attack me directly, and I can run away a little earlier when the time comes." ”

Knowing that there were more difficult consulters than Chi Qingtai, Meng Shu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and the unhappiness in his heart dissipated a lot.

Four days later, Chi Qingtai visited again.

He seems to have been busy lately and has put off all the consultations for a day. Now he sat on the couch, and there was a faint dark bluish under his eyes, especially on his pale face.

This time he didn't even work, and when he came in, he was lying on the sofa with his clothes closed, and he was actually going to sleep.

Meng Shu raised his eyebrows: "Mr. Chi, my hourly wage is very expensive, are you sure you want to sleep here?" ”

The man on the couch didn't answer, only breathing heavily.

Ten minutes before the end of the consultation, Ji Qingtai woke up on time.

"Doctor Meng," he looked at Meng Shu, "I found someone I didn't resist, and I want to try the systematic desensitization method with him." ”

Meng Shu raised her head in some surprise, she thought that there was no progress in these three consultations, but she didn't expect that Chi Qingtai had already begun to prepare for action.

But she quickly reacted that it was not her credit, but ......

Meng Shu raised his head, and his mood was a little complicated for a while: "You have already had this kind of thought?" ”

"Don't be disappointed, it was Dr. Meng who gave me courage." After Chi Qingtai finished speaking, he stepped on the spot again and left the room.

For a psychiatrist, it is a bit frustrating that she did not bring about the patient's change. But in any case, it's a happy progress.

Meng Shu laughed: "Looking forward to your next visit." ”

After leaving the clinic, Chi Qingtai asked his secretary to order a cake for him. Xie Shuyan's birthday is on this Sunday, after all, he is asking for help, and Chi Qingtai is ready to maintain the customer relationship first.

On Xie Shuyan's birthday, Chi Qingtai got up early in the morning.

This year, there was a lot of rain, and there were several snowfalls in Beijing in winter. Chi Qingtai drove out in the light snow and decided to continue to live at Xie Shuyun's side tonight.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, he finished his work and drove to the mall to pick up a custom-made Montblanc fountain pen.

Chi Qingtai found out before that Xie Shuyun likes to use this brand of fountain pen very much.

The pen given by the heart patient on the plane had been used by Xie Shuyun before, but he didn't expect to lose it one day when he went out of the emergency room and never found it.

So Chi Qingtai directly bought him a box this time, all engraved with his name, even if the doctor often lost his pen, it was enough for him to use it for a while.

Ji Qingtai put the gift box in the back seat, and went to the cake shop to pick up the cake made in advance.

A work phone came in the phone, and Ji Qingtai stepped aside to answer the phone, not noticing, and the clerk put an extra handwritten card inside.

After taking the cake, Chi Qingtai bought another bouquet of flowers, and then drove back to Huating Jingzhou.

Xie Shuyun hadn't gotten off work yet, Chi Qingtai asked the restaurant to deliver dinner, and waited for someone to come back while working from home, but he didn't expect Xie Shuyun to return for a long time.

It seems that I can't wait for anyone today, so at eleven o'clock in the evening, Chi Qingtai put the cold dishes in the refrigerator, closed the computer and went back to the room.

At the same time, Xie Shulazy took off his surgical gown and walked out of the operating room with a tired face.

He arranged three surgeries for himself today, stood for more than ten hours in a row, and finally returned home late at night.

At this time, Chi Qingtai had already washed up and was ready to go to bed, and when he heard the sound of the door opening downstairs, he put on his slippers and went downstairs.

"Xie Shuyun," the hour hand on the wall pointed to twelve o'clock, and Chi Qingtai stepped on the spot and said to him, "Happy birthday." ”

Xie Shulaan came in from outside in black, with the slaughter of the wind and snow outside.

Hearing this, he glanced up at Chi Qingtai, his eyes were sharp and cold, as if he had returned to the appearance they had when they first met.

"Thank you," Xie Shulan walked past him, his voice emotionless, "but I'm not a birthday." ”

Chi Qingtai looked up, only to see Xie Shu's tired side face, his hair was soft and on his forehead, and he didn't have much energy.

Ji Qingtai turned around and went back to his room, not mentioning anything more about asking him to help with the treatment.

In the end, he crossed the line.

They are just a contractual relationship, and Xie Shuyun has no obligation to help him.

It's just that without Xie Shuyan, he still has to find new candidates to cooperate with the treatment, and he will have one more job in the future.

Chi Qingtai took a pill of melatonin and slept very deeply at night.

In the middle of the night, Xie Shulaan woke up with stomach pain.

He had three surgeries in line today, only ate one meal, and was already so hungry that he couldn't stand it, so he put on his clothes and went downstairs to find something to eat.

Originally, he just wanted to find something to make do, but he didn't buy food on duty this weekend, and the stock in the refrigerator was estimated to be empty.

However, when he opened the refrigerator, he was stunned.

The refrigerated cabinet was full of food, and there was a beautifully packaged box in the middle.

- Xie Shuyun, happy birthday.

He suddenly remembered what Ji Qingtai said to him when he came back.

I remember the pajamas that Chi Qingtai was wearing at that time, his face was sleepy and ready to sleep, and when he knew that he was back, he went downstairs to say birthday wishes to him.

But what did he say at the time?

At that time, he was tired and sleepy, and he had just deleted a few blessing messages on his phone, and he was in a very bad mood.

Even with Chi Qingtai, he didn't have a good face.

- Thank you, but I don't have a birthday.

Xie Shu held his forehead lazily, a little unable to believe that he had said such a thing.

But Chi Qingtai didn't know about him, and the other party just wanted to celebrate his birthday......

Xie Shuyu picked up the cake box from the refrigerator, as if he was holding his heart during surgery, and gently put the cake on the table.

Pull open the ribbon and inside is a beautiful cherry chocolate cake with a handwritten card next to it. Quoting Shen Congwen's verse:

"Between the green mountains and green waters,

I want to hold your hand,

Walking across the bridge,

On the bridge are green leaves and red flowers,

Under the bridge is the flowing water people,

At the other end of the bridge is green silk,

This end of the bridge is gray hair. ”

On this cold winter night, Xie Shulazy stood under the night light and read this poem, unable to come back to his senses for a long time.

In the past few days of agreement marriage, he has been acting very measured, and he deliberately did not treat Chi Qingtai too well, just because he was afraid that the other party would fall and like him.

But he never expected that even if he was so restrained, Chi Qingtai would already ......

It's a pity he couldn't respond.

Xie Shu closed his eyes lazily and fell into deep self-blame.