Jiang University Psychological Center, inside the office area.
The supervisor of the center sat at his desk, his posture rigid as if he were in military training.
Before him lay the files of student clients, and he seemed to be fulfilling his duty, carefully preparing for the next client.
However, the page in front of him hadn’t been turned for twenty minutes.
And a single page barely contains 200 characters.
The sound of the office door opened.
The supervisor’s eyes focused, and all his attention concentrated instantly.
Then he heard the thumping footsteps approaching, a rhythm he found extremely familiar.
Before the supervisor became the supervisor, he was just an ordinary consultant at the Jiang University Psychological Center.
In whatever kind of workplace, there’s always someone who becomes the center of attention as soon as they appear, who always manages to handle tasks that others can’t.
Back then, the supervisor thought that "that person" would be him, having graduated with a master’s degree at a young age and secured a position; but in reality, "that person" was a consultant intern in his first year of graduate school, working part-time at the center.
That person was Nan Zhubin.
From that moment, the supervisor memorized that person’s face, temperament, and even the sound of his footsteps.
Although the shoes have changed now, the walking pace has not; even after all this time, the supervisor can easily recognize it.
The supervisor perked up his ears, hearing those footsteps moving around the office area, appearing to search for something.
Finally, it slowly approached that person’s former desk.
Yes, the location of that person’s former desk, the supervisor remembered that too.
[What is that person thinking now? Nostalgic? Regretful?]
[Why doesn’t he approach me for a chat? Does he want to?]
[How is he intervening with his clients? The same as before?]
Countless thoughts collided, tangled, and merged in the supervisor’s mind.
When they reached a peak, they suddenly dissipated.
The supervisor let out a long breath at this moment.
[No matter what, let’s handle the task at hand first.]
He felt a sense of relief at that moment.
So, he finally turned the page he hadn’t touched for twenty-five minutes and began to read it earnestly.
But, just at that moment—
With a "click," the office door opened again.
"Mr. Nan, here are the results of the scale just done by that student, for you."
Suddenly, it felt as if summer sunshine poured in, and the previously silent and awkward office atmosphere became lively.
"And that student wants to schedule another consultation; I wonder when you’ll be free next week."
Xia Tian paused at this point, as if she finally noticed another person in the office. Her liveliness, enthusiasm, and vitality, which was a dazzling 11 out of 10, suddenly retracted to only about 7.
And at this moment, the supervisor finally stood up forcefully.
He burst out in anger, "Nan Zhubin, have you let that student schedule another consultation again? She’s only under academic pressure, there’s no need for so many consultations; how will you handle it if she becomes dependent on psychological consultation? Or has she already transferred her feelings to you?!"
Nan Zhubin didn’t respond immediately.
He quietly took the documents from Xia Tian’s hand and turned his eyes towards the supervisor.
The supervisor continued his outburst throughout this process.
"Nan Zhubin, you used to make errors in judgment by intervening, have you changed tactics this time?"
"I know you’re doing consultations outside now and have found backing, but let me tell you, the students within the school are different, and the consultations here are different! Don’t think... what is this?!"
The supervisor’s rapid-fire speech made Xia Tian hold her breath involuntarily.
She quickly cast a concerned glance at Nan Zhubin, only to discover that the young consultant showed no trace of emotional fluctuation from the hostile verbal attack, instead exuding a serenity akin to "a gentle breeze brushing over a hill."
Then, he quietly organized the documents in his hand, and held them out.
The supervisor’s gaze was immediately drawn to it.
"Consultation records and materials to be archived," Nan Zhubin said.
His voice was low, carrying the unique warmth of a psychological consultant, unmarred by prior accusations and still serving to soothe emotions.
When suddenly confronted with such a thing in the midst of an emotional outburst, even the supervisor’s spirit faltered slightly.
He instinctively looked at the items in Nan Zhubin’s hands.
[Consultation intervention process: data collection...
Pre-consultation completion assignment. Including [pause in studies], [increase social interaction], [try venting], etc...]
A glance revealed Nan Zhubin’s consultation process, especially the assignments left for the client at the end.
All were by the book, and this glance caused the supervisor’s dissipating anger to gather once more.
"Such a situation still needs a second consultation..."
The supervisor’s voice abruptly stopped because as he said this, he took a second look.
[Psychological assessment and diagnosis: moderate anxiety, mild depression]
The expression on his face transformed into one of disbelief at what he was reading.
The emotions accumulated in his heart were suddenly more than half dispelled, but it wasn’t enough. He steadied himself, still wanting to say something.
But Nan Zhubin flicked his hand again, and the top of the stack of documents shifted from his consultation records to three survey forms.
"These are the scales administered after the consultation, brought by Xia Tian and completed by the student. They are short scales with about ten questions each, and you should be able to understand."
The topmost was the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (SAD).
The middle one was the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS).
The bottom one was the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS).
The supervisor’s professional instincts drove him to seek out the key options within the survey scores, and as he saw them clearly, his gaze solidified.
Nan Zhubin quietly added, "These scales were administered after the consultation, theoretically speaking, her scores should be higher when she first came for consultation."
As if waking from a dream, the supervisor almost snatched the materials from Nan Zhubin’s hands, then swiftly returned to his desk.
He pulled out a reference tool for scoring the scales, began manually calculating the scores, and then became motionless once again.