Return of the Antagonistic Lady Boss

Chapter 97: Five Updates (Thanks to MlmpaLAo and Heshibi + Extra)

Phobias can be classified into several types, and Qian chose this method to treat Zheng Xu because she firmly believed that Zheng Xu’s phobia was caused by psychological factors, rather than genetic or inherent traits.

Zheng Xu definitely doesn’t have a cowardly or highly introverted personality; he’s very responsible. As people in the Northeast would say, he’s a real man. So having a phobia shouldn’t be typical for someone like him.

Therefore, there must have been a year when he experienced something traumatic, yet he’s either unaware of it or has selectively forgotten it, causing subconscious fear.

The only way to handle this type of phobia is to find the person who triggered it and have that person apologize to Zheng Xu in person. Qian could then slightly guide him, and the problem would be resolved.

However, even such a simple psychological issue took Qian half of her previous life to solve, and she never succeeded. So, in this life, she’s determined to figure it out.

Zheng Xu began to recall things. His voice was calm, his words concise, and his eyes were closed, very relaxed, showing he’d been guided by Qian into a subconscious state.

"When I was 5, my dad bought me a toy gun, and I liked it a lot."

Sure enough, his answer was similar to what he said in his past life. Qian stood by Zheng Xu, thinking about the past life’s events, but kept guiding him verbally.

"Were there any sad things?"

"No."

"What about when you were 6?"

"We moved homes, set off firecrackers and blew up the toilet, got chased around."

... Haha, shameless. Qian continued this year by year, asking until age 14, when she became more vigilant.

years old, that year is definitely a special turning point.

In his past life, when Zheng Xu recalled this year subconsciously, his expression was very painful. Qian hurriedly stopped the hypnosis, but every subsequent attempt also got stuck that year.

Yet just when Qian thought the issue was in that year and investigated intensely, during the following treatments, Zheng Xu could casually talk about it as just an ordinary year.

And Qian never managed to cure him after that.

So, when retreading that year in this life, Qian was nervous.

"What happened when you were 14?"

"14... fire, fire..." Zheng Xu’s expression turned pained, and Qian hastily asked him.

"What?"

But once again, Zheng Xu’s face showed pain, and sweat began forming on his forehead. Realizing it was not good for him to continue this way, Qian quickly pressed the alarm clock to bring him out of hypnosis.

It took a moment for Zheng Xu to calm down. When he sat up, his head felt a bit dizzy.

He rubbed his head; he had a vague impression of what he discussed with Qian but couldn’t remember clearly.

"Chen Xiaoqian, should I dock your consultation fee this time? Why don’t I feel as comfortable as last time?" He moved around a bit, feeling more repressed internally.

Last time was just hypnosis; this time it was treatment, and an interrupted one at that, so of course, it wouldn’t feel good.

"Zheng Xu, can you remember what happened when you were 14?" Qian trusted her intuition that age 14 was very suspicious.

"14... I think I moved with my parents to a new housing complex. Nothing special happened." Memories from more than ten years ago were not very clear.

"Was there anything special? Like, did any relatives pass away, or was there anything particularly sad?"

"No, uh, if I have to say special... that year, I... had some friction with an older female student?"

Qian was silent...

"So precocious, did the headmaster chase you to find your parents?"

"You shouldn’t marry a man who lacks experience. If a man hasn’t slept with a bunch of women before marriage, he must have issues. I think that Yu Minglang has issues."

Qian’s mouth twitched a couple of times, "Have you tried? If you haven’t tried, you have no right to speak."

Zheng Xu’s expression was as if he’d seen a ghost, which made Qian feel satisfied.

As they were preparing to end the treatment, seeing Zheng Xu looking exhausted, Qian earnestly said something.

"Zheng Xu."

"Hmm?"

"Actually, you and Yu Minglang are quite a match. You’re such a gloomy person, paired with a sunny Minglang, and you’d surely cure all disorders. You have rich experience, and he seems to have issues—a perfect complement."

As Zheng Xu was drinking, Qian’s words made him spit it out.

"Cough cough! Chen Xiaoqian, can you not disgust me when I’m drinking?"

Qian shrugged, "Didn’t you say you felt tired? I was telling you a joke to relax."

It seems she caught the habit of telling cold jokes from Yu Minglang. Qian felt that getting this new skill wasn’t bad.

It didn’t relax him, but it did successfully disgust Xu. According to reports from his underlings, Xu was especially irritable for the next few days. One of them, wearing camouflage pants, got kicked out by him.

Upon seeing Yu Erha, Xu was particularly disgusted!

In the evening, Qian received a call from Yu Minglang.

The rascal feigned interest in Qian’s daily life and then casually asked:

"Did you enjoy chatting with the capitalist today?"

Qian snorted, "It was alright."

She knew he couldn’t hold back and wanted to check up on her? His mind was as small as a needle tip. She couldn’t be bothered to expose him.

Men, being a bit petty occasionally, isn’t annoying. Qian liked teasing Yu Minglang.

"That capitalist is no good. Even in school, he was fooling around with relationships, messing with the older girls in our school during middle school, tsk tsk, big trouble this person is."

Yu Minglang spared no effort in smearing a romantic rival.

"Wait a minute! How do you know about that?" Qian recalled that Zheng Xu indeed mentioned ending his innocence by age 14.

"We went to the same middle school; he was two grades above me, total scum."

This was something Qian didn’t know in her past life. She hadn’t realized these two had such a connection, which was an important piece of information.

"Yu Minglang, could you help me check what happened to Zheng Xu when he was 14? In detail."

"Why do you want to know about this?"

"It’s for treatment purposes, and I won’t disclose my patient’s information to you. If you’re willing to help, then help, if not, I’ll find someone else."

"Helping you... isn’t out of the question. But, Chen Xiaoqian, your ideological consciousness is still lacking."

"What?" Why did the topic suddenly change to ideological consciousness?

"This... now that a relationship is established, the form of address is so distant, not in line with fine traditions."

"... What fine tradition have you shamelessly distorted now?" What is he scheming again?

"Unity and solidarity."

"Speak in human terms!"

"Your form of address towards me isn’t united or solid, leaving room for opportunists like Zheng Xu."

Yes, he’s that shameless, using the correct theory shamelessly to constantly reinforce his status. Yu Minglang mentally praised his intelligence ten thousand times.

No problem, done beautifully!