Pei Xingyan’s shoulders were pressed down by a pair of hands—soft, boneless hands—but the pressure was so tight that he couldn’t even catch his breath.
He didn’t notice at all when Shen Zhishu had moved behind him.
“Shen, Shen Teacher?” He forced a smile that looked more like a grimace. “Could you please let me go first? I’m having a little trouble breathing.”
“Is that so? Then can you first tell me why you know so many details about your friend?”
Her breath brushed against Pei Xingyan’s ear, waves of warmth following one after another. She was so close to him that the distance was barely ten centimeters.
Pei Xingyan didn’t dare move at all, afraid that any sudden motion would bring him even closer to her. Strictly speaking, she wasn’t exactly his teacher, but with her status, he didn’t want to end up with a bad reputation, much less get into trouble he couldn’t handle.
“I—I’m a pretty refined and easygoing person. My friends like to confide in me… sharing some private details isn’t that unusual, right?”
“Or maybe it’s because this friend you’re talking about is actually you?”
“No, it’s really not.” Pei Xingyan adamantly denied it, shaking his head frantically.
His shaking only stirred the air around him, and now he was completely enveloped by the fragrance lingering on Shen Zhishu’s body. Suddenly, a scent snuck into his nostrils and filled his mind.
Strangely, it felt faintly familiar, like he had encountered it somewhere before.
It was like a subtle déjà vu, the sensation of being in a strange place but feeling like you’d been there before.
Right now, it was the same. He sensed he’d smelled this fragrance somewhere, and his heart beat faster because of it.
But when? And where?
He couldn’t recall.
Pei Xingyan was confident that he never forgot any important person or event, but when it came to Shen Zhishu… he had no memory of her at all.
“Um… shall we continue talking about that patient?” Teacher Li on the other side stammered, glancing nervously at the two who were almost pressed together. He didn’t dare meet their eyes.
“Sure, let’s continue~” Shen Zhishu shrugged and returned to her seat.
But she didn’t look at the files on her desk anymore; instead, she stared blankly at Pei Xingyan.
“You and Teacher Shen seem pretty close… siblings?” Teacher Li laughed awkwardly and quickly steered back to the topic. “Borderline Personality Disorder is relatively common—at least more so than Dissociative Identity Disorder. Like you said, sometimes gentle, sometimes raging uncontrollably—that can be seen as a confirmed positive diagnosis.”
“Hmm…” Pei Xingyan was silent for a moment. Judging from symptoms, that was true enough…
But back then, he had clearly felt another soul, one completely different from Su Shanshan’s.
He asked again, “What about Dissociative Identity Disorder? Is there any definite way to diagnose it?”
Teacher Li stroked his chin and shook his head regretfully. “I can’t give you a precise answer. Such cases are too rare; I’ve never seen one myself. But if you want, you can come to The School’s Affiliated Hospital and have a look. That’s where I work.”
As he spoke, he pulled out a business card from his pocket. In this day and age, paper business cards were definitely an old-fashioned thing.
The card bore Teacher Li’s name and title, with the words “Chief Physician” along the side—a title equivalent to professor.
Pei Xingyan hurriedly took the small card, thanking him repeatedly.
The School’s Affiliated Hospital was well known and notoriously hard to get an appointment at. Sometimes expert consultations could be resold for thousands of yuan. Just having this connection alone was a huge convenience.
Human relationships were often built on interests, but they had to be based on knowing the other person first.
He had stumbled upon a stroke of good luck.
Before this, Pei Xingyan had never guessed that Teacher Li would be an expert at the Affiliated Hospital.
He never imagined that a simple request would bring such a top-notch doctor, summoned by Shen Zhishu herself.
Pei Xingyan glanced sideways and just caught Shen Zhishu’s gaze fixed on him.
Her eyes were slightly terrifying, as if scrutinizing a criminal.
He didn’t understand why she cared so much about whether he had a girlfriend, especially since that kind of thing wasn’t a concern at university…
“Well then, let’s leave it at that for now…” Teacher Li stood up and greeted them as he left. “Next time, bring your… uh, that friend’s girlfriend over, and we can have a more detailed talk. I’ve got some business to attend to, so I’ll be going now.”
Shen Zhishu waved briefly in farewell, neither lingering nor standing up to see him out.
She still didn’t take her eyes off Pei Xingyan.
“Teacher… aren’t you going to see him out?” Pei Xingyan wanted to say it was rude, but he was afraid he didn’t know the etiquette of the academic world. What if Shen Zhishu was some Senior Realm figure who never saw guests off?
So he just mentioned it lightly and stopped talking.
But Shen Zhishu seemed utterly unconcerned. She kept staring at him as if she wanted to pick pieces of flesh off his body with her gaze.
Being stared at like that gave Pei Xingyan goosebumps, and he was ready to use the classic “busy escape.”
“Well then, Teacher… thank you so much. I’ve got something to do, so I’ll head out—” he dashed toward the door.
“Stop.”
Shen Zhishu’s soft voice struck like a thousand-pound weight, freezing Pei Xingyan in place.
He turned around awkwardly and forced a smile. “Is there something else?”
Shen Zhishu finally stood up and slowly came to his side. She raised an eyebrow and said, “You already said thank you. So how do you plan to thank me? Bringing in a psychiatric expert like that wasn’t easy. I had to pull several strings.”
She sounded like she was bragging, ticking off the difficulties she’d endured.
Pei Xingyan was completely stunned. Who asked for repayment on the spot?
But he couldn’t say anything; she really had helped him.
So he smiled awkwardly and suggested, “Then how about I treat you to a cup of milk tea?”
He couldn’t think of anything else—either it was too expensive or too impersonal.
But inviting someone for a cup of milk tea…
Honestly, it probably wasn’t enough to coax a silly little girl. He doubted such a big shot would—
“Sure~” Shen Zhishu nodded happily and took the lead. “Let’s go now~”
Pei Xingyan’s eyes twitched. He could only conclude that this lady was probably a milk tea fanatic…
“Where to?” Shen Zhishu’s tone softened, and her eyes became gentler. She was impatient, rubbing her hands and asking repeatedly, “Where are we going?”
Pei Xingyan had no idea which milk tea place was good. He hardly ever drank the stuff, and a cup of pricier milk tea cost more than his daily meals.
Besides MIXUE Ice City, he didn’t know a single milk tea brand.
But suddenly, a bright idea struck him—he remembered something Lin Xiaoyu had casually mentioned before.
She said the mall across from the school had a milk tea shop that was especially delicious.
After a moment’s thought, he led the lady beside him and headed out of the school gates.
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