Don't Lie to Your Therapist—She Already Knows Your Fate

Gao Qiuyu shook his head.

If he knew the answer, why would he have paid?

He hadn’t even earned a paycheck yet, and he was already out a thousand yuan.

"Talks too much." Wen Ying’s simple three words made both Gao Qiuyu and Zhang Wenliang turn to look at her.

’Is talking too much a disease?’

Zhang Wenliang only had to think for a moment before he understood the crucial point. "I get it."

"What?" Gao Qiuyu stared at him, hoping for an explanation.

’Was he, the subject of all this, the only one who didn’t have a clue what was going on?’

"Ask Sister Wen Ying yourself." Zhang Wenliang sat down on the sofa, casually picked up a pristine-looking book from beside him, and started to read.

"Doctor Wen, what exactly is my problem?"

"You’re talkative, but that’s not what’s fatal. The fatal part is that you speak without thinking—you have no filter." Wen Ying watched him with a calm expression as she explained, "Take what you said to me earlier, for example. You only got scared in hindsight because you realized I have the means to ruin you. If you were facing someone just like yourself—an ordinary person with no power, no influence, and no platform for exposure—would you still be so afraid and anxious?"

Gao Qiuyu thought about it carefully, then shook his head.

"One good thing about you is that you don’t lie. You know you’re not a saint, but you’re not a villain either—just a regular person with your own desires and emotions. When you make a mistake, you recognize it and apologize. But not everyone you run into is going to be like me, understand?

Since you’ve entered this circle, you should know what kind of people you’re dealing with. You could pick any one of them at random, and they’d be someone you can’t afford to offend. If you don’t watch what you say, do you really think you’ll escape the consequences?"

Gao Qiuyu shook his head again. He understood.

He also knew Doctor Wen was doing this for his own good.

’This thousand yuan stings, but it has to be worth it, right?’

"You’re agonizing over a thousand yuan, but compared to your life, or even your family’s lives, is a thousand yuan really that important?"

Gao Qiuyu immediately stood up and shook his head seriously. "Doctor Wen, I don’t regret the thousand yuan. I just want to know... what would have happened if I’d never met you?"

Zhang Wenliang had been getting engrossed in his novel. The story was about a stand-in heroine who had married a domineering CEO, and it had just reached the part where the CEO’s one true love returned. The heroine had just found out she was a substitute—it was the climax of the story.

But he looked up at Wen Ying. He, too, wanted to know what would happen to Gao Qiuyu.

’Can running your mouth really be life-threatening?’

"After reporting on Zhang Wenliang, you would’ve gained some online traffic and gotten your first paycheck. After that, you’d start tailing a rising celebrity. You’d think that all you had to do was snap evidence of his private life—proof that he was dating—and you’d make it big. And that’s exactly what you would have done. The only problem is, you’d have gotten your legs broken for it.

After a few months of recovery, your legs would heal. You’d figure that following male celebrities is too dangerous, so you’d switch to a female one. It just so happens that an actress would be in the middle of a huge online scandal for stealing a role from her supposed best friend. You’d accept a commission to get photos of her with an investor at a hotel. What you wouldn’t know is that this investor’s ancestors were not good people; before he went legit, he was the head of a triad. Do you think he’d tolerate a small-time paparazzo with no backing like you exposing him?

So this time, not only would your legs get broken again, but your wife would be threatened, and your one-year-old child... In short, your fate would have been tragic. Our meeting, you could call it destiny. But really, it’s just because I took a liking to you. That’s all there is to it."

Forget Gao Qiuyu—even Zhang Wenliang broke out in a cold sweat listening to Wen Ying.

’What century are we living in?’

’Can that kind of triad activity still happen?’

"Never assume that all of humanity is benevolent. When self-interest is on the line, human nature often doesn’t even enter the equation."

Gao Qiuyu was drenched in a cold sweat. It was precisely because his wife had given birth, because their child was only a little over a year old, that he wanted to earn more money. He wanted to give them a better life.

But if his actions brought harm to his wife and child, he would never be able to forgive himself.

He might not even be able to go on living.

If he hadn’t met Doctor Wen, he couldn’t imagine what would have become of him. He would have gone down a path of no return, and then... he would have followed his wife and son.

’No, not ’would have’. He definitely would have.’

’He would have lost his mind completely, sought revenge, and then ended his own life.’

THUMP!

Gao Qiuyu dropped to his knees right in front of Wen Ying. Sitting behind her desk, Wen Ying didn’t move. She just said softly, "Get up. You can find a legitimate job that suits you, instead of trying to make a quick buck. Have you already forgotten your own graduation project?"

Gao Qiuyu got to his feet and looked at Wen Ying, ashamed.

’He used to be the top student in his class. His graduation project even won an award. He once had the most beautiful dreams, thinking he would go on to do great things after graduating. But the gap between reality and his dreams was just too vast. It taught him that he had to give in, that he had to conform.’

’That’s how he had ended up here. He seemed to have lost his way, no longer the passionate, idealistic, and sharp-edged youth he once was.’

’Now, he was just a greasy, middle-aged man.’

"Can I... Can I still do design?" Gao Qiuyu’s spirits were low. He wasn’t the same man he had been in his youth.

He had to consider whether a job could put food on the table, whether it could provide a good life for his wife and child. He wasn’t a single man anymore, with only himself to feed.

"And why not?"

Hearing Doctor Wen’s question, a light returned to Gao Qiuyu’s eyes—a light he’d only had as a young man, one that had long since been extinguished by life.

"Thank you, Doctor Wen! I think I know what to do now! The fact that you’re telling me this means I really *can* provide a good life for my wife and child with my designs! I won’t hesitate anymore! I’m going to find a design job right now!"

Zhang Wenliang watched this scene unfold, dumbfounded. ’If Sister Wen Ying were a professional negotiator,’ he thought, ’she wouldn’t need any special skills. She could just lay out a person’s entire future for them.’

Watching Gao Qiuyu, who was now acting like he’d been shot full of adrenaline, Wen Ying reached up and rubbed her temples. ’This job really requires a lot of talking.’

"Not so fast," she said. "You have a one-month grace period to get back everything you’ve let go. If you go apply for a job right now... just think, how long has it been since you’ve actually done any design work?"

Wen Ying’s words were like a splash of cold water. He started to recall, "It’s been... more than two years, I think. For a year, I was a laborer on a construction site. It paid well, but there was a fatal accident, and my wife wouldn’t let me go back. Then I found a job as a delivery driver, but I got into an accident with that, too. That’s when I switched careers to become a... gossip... a paparazzo, which was supposed to make a lot of money."

The word "paparazzo" didn’t exactly sound glorious.