Chapter 183: The Reappearing Flower Girl

Words : 1323 Updated : Sep 30th, 2025

Chapter 183: Chapter 183: The Reappearing Flower GirlAfter sitting at the Xu family’s home for a while, Lady Fang said she had to leave, as she had already moved to the residence arranged by the state with Tang Guangbo. Before leaving, she said to Xu Huo: "Your Uncle Tang is quite the conversationalist, you can go have a chat with him when you are free." Xu Huo agreed, and he visited Tang Guangbo’s office the very next day. The office was decorated in a simple and elegant style, but the shelves along the walls and the desk were cluttered with small items in boxes. Tang Guangbo was cleaning when he saw him, put down the towel, and as he was cleaning his hands he said, "Move the things on the desk aside and take a seat first." Xu Huo didn’t approach the desk but instead sat down on the sofa nearby. When Tang Guangbo came out, he carried a cup of tea and a cup of coffee with him, handing the tea to Xu Huo, "I heard from your mom that you don’t like coffee." "I’m not used to it." Xu Huo took it and set it down, then asked, "Do you smoke?" Tang Guangbo pointed to the sign on the back wall, "No smoking here." Xu Huo put the pack of cigarettes he had taken out on the table, "Why is this office so messy?" "I’ve just settled in, it’s normal for it to be a bit messy." Tang Guangbo paused, "However, you can also judge a person’s psychological state through the way they move and arrange objects." As he spoke, he slightly lifted his glasses and smiled, "I invited you to sit in front of the desk, but you didn’t accept, which suggests that subconsciously you don’t want to engage in this conversation." "No," Xu Huo said. "I just don’t want to touch other people’s things." Tang Guangbo’s smile didn’t fade, "It’s normal for you to have developed a resistance to psychologists after having seen so many." "To other psychologists, one’s psyche may be diseased, but from a scholar’s perspective, any psychological state is the product of emotions, a person’s mental state changes are nothing but the fluctuations and shifts of emotions, strictly speaking, they cannot be classified as diseases." Xu Huo’s expression paused, "A psychologist has said the same to me before." "I’m not looking for your agreement nor trying to make you let down your guard," Tang Guangbo shook his head. "It’s normal to have distance and defenses around one’s heart. I’m not a doctor, and I don’t wish to study someone’s mentality from a pathological perspective; I am only offering a different viewpoint as an observer." "The finest evolution of humanity is thinking. If a person’s thoughts can be easily influenced by others, then that person’s emotions must be unstable." "Isn’t that what a psychologist should be doing?" Xu Huo retorted. But Tang Guangbo shook his head, "I am not a psychologist." Xu Huo chatted with him for a while longer before getting up to leave. Over the following week, apart from his special training with the Girl in the Painting, he almost visited Tang Guangbo’s office every day to sit for a while. During that time, he also encountered some players who came for psychological counseling. He didn’t hear the details, but judging from the players’ expressions, the counseling seemed to be helpful. "You’re here again." Tang Guangbo, as usual, poured him some tea. Xu Huo took a sip, "My mom likes this tea as well." Tang Guangbo’s demeanor was gentle, "The other day when you visited, you wouldn’t even drink the tea, and I worried that maybe you think I’m unsuitable for your mother." Upon hearing this, Xu Huo looked up at him then said, "You are much more excellent than she is." Tang Guangbo shook his head vigorously, "You must never let your mother hear that, or I’ll have trouble." Xu Huo slightly smiled and placed the tea cup down, "You are quite humorous." "The professors and scholars I’ve met before are mostly very serious, especially those who have studied some psychology – always eager to break through others’ secrets every minute and second to satisfy their own voyeuristic urges." "You are different from the rest of them." Uncle Tang became interested, "Then what kind of person do you think I am?" "Someone skilled at observation," Xu Huo said. "A smart person who is skilled at observation." Uncle Tang maintained his politely appropriate smile, "Perhaps I’ve picked up a few quirks from studying psychology." "You are also different from them," Xu Huo finished speaking and stood up to take his leave, adding, "I won’t be coming back after this. I plan to return to Ting City in a couple of days; my friends are all there." Uncle Tang saw him to the door, "Visit your mother more often. Although she doesn’t show it, she truly misses you." Sёarᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I understand," Xu Huo declined his offer to be escorted downstairs and left the government building alone. In the office, Uncle Tang returned to his desk, took out the medical record from the drawer, and added a new note under the words "Excessive psychological defenses," "Distant to others," "Aloof among the common folk": "Skilled at feigning psychology for counter-induction and possesses absolute confidence, replacing factual standards with his own judgments, extremely resistant to psychological suggestions." After writing, he added an "S" mark next to Xu Huo’s name. Meanwhile, Xu Huo drove home with his usual expression. After one week, he could almost confirm that if Uncle Tang were not a mentally disturbed psychopath, he must be a player. Since arriving in Jing City, his displayed interest in the local culture, history, and food was merely rapid learning. He carried out psychological counseling in a gentle and polite manner, but in reality, he felt no sense of belonging to humanity. In other words, everything he did was recorded observation, like humans observing animals used for experiments. Human emotions towards animals are weak. He followed Lady Fang to Jing City, possibly to make contact with players. All the players and staffers he had contact with were untrustworthy. The hypnotist from the Guile Sound Knights was so formidable; if Uncle Tang harbored ill-intentions, using a player to do something would be very easy. Of course, it’s also possible that he was merely interested in observing players. Therefore, after a review in his mind, Xu Huo decided on Nie Xuan. He was about to call Nie Xuan when the traffic light ahead turned red. He had just stopped the car when someone knocked on the window: "Sir, would you like to buy some flowers?" Nie Xuan’s call didn’t go through, and Xu Huo turned to look at the person outside, waving his hand to indicate he wasn’t interested. The girl holding the flower basket walked away disappointed. After passing another intersection, while waiting for the red light again, someone knocked on the window, "Sir, would you like to buy some flowers?" Xu Huo stepped on the gas and drove off. In the rearview mirror, the girl with the flower basket stood still, looking in the direction he had left. Half a minute later, the same person appeared in his field of vision again and chased after his car, shouting, "Sir, would you like to buy some flowers?" Xu Huo ignored her, but then he noticed that he had been traveling back and forth on the same road. He couldn’t make any calls out. The fourth time he encountered the girl with the flower basket, he stopped the car and rolled down the window, telling her, "I don’t like flowers." The girl looked somewhat disappointed, but still perked up and said, "Sir, please buy one. My flowers are homegrown and very cheap."

Chapter 183: The Reappearing Flower Girl

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