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

A gentle breeze blew past, making the leaves rustle. The sound of birds chirping could be heard every so often.

Zhang Wenliang glanced over at the person rock climbing on the opposite cliff, about a few dozen meters away, before leading Wen Ying to continue their ascent.

About three minutes later, they reached the cave Zhang Wenliang had mentioned.

The cave, which had seemed so huge to him as a child, now suddenly felt small and cramped.

Wen Ying listened to Zhang Wenliang’s reflection but didn’t say anything. She was suddenly reminded of her own past.

She, too, had once lived in a fairly large village. It took her five minutes to run from her grandmother’s house to her own home each day.

She remembered the road seeming a bit long, the houses along it seeming rather tall, and the road itself seeming very wide.

But when she grew up and returned to her hometown many years later, everything suddenly seemed smaller. The houses had all shrunk, and she could now touch the once-unreachable eaves with a simple jump.

The roads had actually widened, yet she always felt that the sky above seemed a little lower than it did in her childhood.

Places that had seemed enormous in her childhood, places that took forever to cross, now only required a few minutes.

Everything seemed to have changed, yet at the same time, it felt as though nothing had changed at all.

The only difference was that there was no one left in her hometown for her to miss.

She would probably never go back to the place where she grew up.

For many people, growing up was probably just such a process of constant departure and letting go.

People say the elderly are prone to nostalgia, but Wen Ying felt that those in this awkward, in-between age were even more likely to reminisce about the past.

Ultimately, they didn’t enter the cave. After reaching the summit, Zhang Wenliang could no longer see the person climbing the opposite cliff.

The two of them sat on the summit, gazing at the world below them, at the vast landscape stretching out before them.

For Zhang Wenliang, it was an emotional experience. He hadn’t been here in a very long time.

As for Wen Ying, she felt no nostalgia. After all, this wasn’t a place she had ever lived.

"Sister Wen Ying, I think I’ve figured out the answer."

"Then what did you choose?"

"My second personality is still a part of me. I think coexisting is the fairest choice."

"Aren’t you afraid?"

Zhang Wenliang shook his head.

"You won’t regret it?"

Zhang Wenliang shook his head. "I don’t know, but I know that right now, I won’t regret it. Psychological issues, a second personality... those are my own problems, and I have to overcome them."

Wen Ying didn’t say anything more, nor did she try to counsel him. Zhang Wenliang was a genius, the kind of person who would be the super-scholar protagonist in a novel.

People like him had their own way of living and thinking.

’The only thing I can do is sell him a protective talisman, I guess.’

"Sister Wen Ying, I never really liked using the internet before, but now I think it’s not so bad to go online once in a while. I’m going to follow you, Sister Wen Ying."

Having found his reason, Zhang Wenliang unlocked his phone and opened the Weibo app, which he hadn’t used in a long time.

After logging in, he searched for "Psychologist Wen Ying" and then clicked Follow.

After doing this, just as he was about to exit the app, Zhang Wenliang caught sight of a photo of Sister Wen Ying.

’Wait, looking closer... is that me?’

’Was this taken on Wenxiang Street?’

’Was it those reporters?’

"Sister Wen Ying, are we trending?" Although he didn’t use social media much, Zhang Wenliang still knew what "trending" meant. He wasn’t living under a rock, after all; he was a modern man.

Zhang Wenliang tapped on the trending topic, and his expression instantly froze.

’I thought Sister Wen Ying and I were trending together, but it looks more like she’s the one trending, and I just got dragged along for the ride.’

Three of the top ten trending topics were about Sister Wen Ying.

#NewbieDirectorScammedDoctorWenStepsIn

#DoctorWenWithSuperScholar

#DoctorWenLiftsPersonWithOneHand

Zhang Wenliang had been there for the last two trending topics, so he knew what they were about. He tapped on the first one.

When he read that the newbie director had been scammed by his own buddy, he could only think how outrageous it was!

’Are people really that gullible these days?’

Zhang Wenliang opened the comments under the trending topic:

[Sure enough! No criminal can escape Doctor Wen’s livestream!]

[Damn! They were buddies for so many years, and he had no idea his friend’s family was worth billions?]

[After seeing this, I immediately beat my best friend half to death. What do I do if he won’t admit he’s a billionaire?]

[A director this dumb? Are you sure this isn’t scripted? Since when are rich people this gullible?]

[The user above doesn’t get it! There was another rich second-gen guy on Doctor Wen’s stream before. He was also kind of dumb and got scammed out of a ton of money by a woman! Not all rich people are sharp!]

[I’m crying! Why can’t you guys just let my story die already? Can’t a man browse the internet in peace?]

[Bwahahaha! I clicked on their profile. The user above really is that rich second-gen guy. I’m dying! Hahaha!]

[So is this rich second-gen guy going to get dragged out and publicly shamed by Doctor Wen’s fans every single time? I feel bad for the guy... for like, three seconds!]

[So that scammer got sent to prison to run a sewing machine, right? Anyway, we just wanna know, when is Doctor Wen going to be on a variety show?]

"Sister Wen Ying, are you really going to be on a variety show?"

Hearing Zhang Wenliang’s question, Wen Ying leaned over to glance at his phone. "They’re paying four million. Might as well go and earn some money for my retirement fund."

"..."

’Wow, Sister Wen Ying really plans ahead, doesn’t she? She’s so young and already thinking about her retirement?’

’This must be that hyper-competitive grind everyone talks about online.’

’Still, for four million... if I had the time, I’d want to join too.’

But when he thought about his coursework, Zhang Wenliang decided his studies were more important.

"When your show airs, Sister Wen Ying, you have to let me know! I’ll get my roommates to watch it with me!"

"No, no, absolutely not. You geniuses should be studying hard at university. Go hole up in the library when you have free time, don’t waste it watching some variety show. All of you belong to the nation!"

"Are you worried you’ll be a bad influence on me, Sister Wen Ying?"

Zhang Wenliang asked with a smile.

"I just figure that since I can’t make any major contributions to the country myself, I should at least encourage others to do so. Take you, for example. You’re such a genius, born to serve the nation, aren’t you? Your ideals, your ambitions, your future—they all align perfectly with the country’s development. It’s a perfect fit."

Zhang Wenliang nodded in earnest agreement.

He genuinely thought so, which was why he had already booked a flight back to school for the next day.

His roommates had recorded the lectures for the classes he’d missed, and he made sure to catch up on his studies every night before resting.

"Sister Wen Ying, I don’t know when we’ll see each other again. Do you have any parting words for me?"

"One thousand yuan for a dose of medicine. Want it?"

"Yes."

"Scan the code."

On the picturesque summit with its fresh, clean air, Zhang Wenliang unhesitatingly opened his payment app and scanned the code.

The chime of the "one thousand yuan received" notification seemed especially loud up here.

The scene was surprisingly harmonious.

"Here you go."

Zhang Wenliang couldn’t see where Sister Wen Ying had produced it from, but she handed him a small pouch.

It was about the size of an egg.

Zhang Wenliang held the pouch. It looked very ordinary, like the kind sold at Uncle Zhang’s general store for two yuan apiece.

He opened the small pouch, and inside was—