Chapter 212: Chapter 212

Xiang Yuan had called earlier to apologize for missing the last appointment and scheduled a make-up consultation. The appointment was set for this afternoon, and the secretary informed Huo Danru that the person she was expecting had arrived. Huo Danru went to greet the guest, only to find two people standing at the door. It wasn’t the expected Xiang Yuan and Shi Nian, but rather Xiang Yuan had brought a young man along.

The young man was tall and handsome, with mixed-race features of Eastern and Western descent.

Huo Danru smiled slightly, "Where’s Shi Nian?"

"Auntie Huo," Xiang Yuan stepped forward, using an affectionate address, "To be honest, I didn’t notify her to come today. I wanted you to conduct a test for me alone first."

Huo Danru nodded, "It seems you’ve finally realized the issue lies mainly with you - at least from the last consultation, you were the one unwilling to be open."

Xiang Yuan hurriedly bowed, "Yes, you’re right. That’s why I’m here alone this time, hoping to make up for this shortcoming."

Huo Danru glanced at Mark and nodded, "Alright, come in with me. I’m sorry, but your friend will have to wait outside because this involves the privacy of you and your spouse."

Mark shrugged, indicating he didn’t mind.

Xiang Yuan followed Huo Danru into the consultation room and sat down, saying with some distress, "Actually... Auntie Huo, it’s not that I’m unwilling to open up to you. It’s just that the events of those years, I don’t even know how to start explaining them to you."

That matter remains a mystery to this day, and over the past four years, he has continuously asked his colleagues in China to look into the case from four years ago. They all say it has become a cold case. The police are very secretive about it, and it’s even harder for outsiders to find out the specifics.

The lawyer colleagues in China didn’t know that Shi Nian had become his wife, so they often added at the end of their explanations: "Even the whereabouts of that murdered policeman’s wife and daughter have become a mystery. No one knows where they went after the policeman died. It’s likely that the police changed their identities to protect them, maybe even erased their household records entirely, and let them live quietly elsewhere to avoid being found by the perpetrator."

Although he himself was involved, he wasn’t entirely clear about how he fell into that trap or how he escaped. During his captivity, he was kept in darkness, receiving almost no information about the outside world, except for the TV "that person" gave him, which only showed broken images of Shi Nian, nothing else.

"Is that so?" Huo Danru frowned slightly, "If that’s the case, I can only suggest you go back and organize your thoughts first. Come see me when you’re ready."

"Auntie Huo," Xiang Yuan hurriedly stood, "The purpose of my visit alone today is actually to ask for your help with hypnosis. I want to find answers to the things I’m unclear about, and perhaps you can help me with that."

Compared to his evasiveness during the first consultation, Xiang Yuan’s open attitude this time surprised Huo Danru.

"Are you sure you’re willing to undergo my hypnosis?"

"Yes!" Xiang Yuan answered firmly, "First of all, you are an old friend of my father’s, and I have complete trust in you; more importantly, I know you are a very professional psychotherapist, and you have the ability to help me find the answers."

Huo Danru squinted, "People in the legal profession are often very unwilling to open up their inner world to others, let alone through hypnosis. Xiang Yuan, why are you willing to do this?"

Xiang Yuan looked a bit embarrassed, bowing his head, "To be honest, I once had a long talk with my father. He criticized my previous attitude, saying I have too strong a defense, unwilling to open up to others easily, leading to Shi Nian’s deepening misunderstandings of me."

He took a deep breath and looked up at Huo Danru, "To win Shi Nian back, to save our marriage, Auntie Huo, I’m now willing to do anything, willing to make every effort."

Huo Danru felt a slight tremor in her heart. She couldn’t help but think of the similarly passionate young lawyer back then. If Tang Mingyi had been willing to do the same for her and their marriage... they would still be together now.

Thinking of this, Huo Danru took a deep breath, her gaze no longer as stern as before but replacing it with the kindness of an elder.

"Good child, it’s rare to have this kind of determination. Well, since you’ve come to Auntie, Auntie will definitely help you."

Huo Danru pointed to the leather recliner by the window, "Lie down there."

Huo Danru personally drew the blackout curtains, adjusted the room’s lighting, instructed the secretary to play appropriate background music, and then told the secretary to pause all other activities, as she was going to focus entirely on Xiang Yuan’s psychological guidance.

Mark sat in the consultation room’s waiting area, facing the door of the consultation room, watching the secretary busily coming in and out. Occasionally, from the gap of the consultation room’s opening and closing door, the background music that had started to play wafted out, along with the adjusted lighting within the room.

He found it amusing, lifting the corners of his lips slightly, relaxing his expression further, casually observing the surrounding setup of the waiting area.

Inside the consultation room, under the guidance of Huo Danru, Xiang Yuan had entered the state. He returned to the darkness of those years, seeing again the small TV he used to watch back then.

He remembered correctly that the image on it was processed with infrared, which might mean Shi Nian was also in the dark, but the person monitoring her could clearly see their situation with infrared equipment. Only those trapped in the darkness like them were unable to see anything.

He became tense, his fists unconsciously clenching: "That’s right, he’s hurting her!"

He was speaking in English, so Huo Danru could clearly understand that Xiang Yuan was talking about a man harming a woman.

Huo Danru couldn’t help but frown, not expecting the knot in Xiang Yuan’s heart to be such a complex matter.

Huo Danru asked in an even tone: "Tell me, who is she? And who is he? You saw them, didn’t you? Speak up, you can do it."

Xiang Yuan’s breathing became rapid, and his eyelids started twitching quickly.

"She, she’s Shi Nian, Teacher Shi’s daughter. That’s right, it’s her! Although I haven’t formally met her before, I’ve seen her photo in Teacher Shi’s office. I’ve also heard Teacher Shi talk about her a lot... especially the scar shaped like a pair of small wings on her left ankle. I’m sure she’s Shi Nian!"

He was so agitated it seemed like he was about to jump out of the recliner several times, but Huo Danru gently extended her hand, covering his wrist, her tone still calm: "Keep talking. Don’t rush to wake up."

Xiang Yuan took deep breaths: "That person said he wanted to kill Teacher Shi... I also heard that threat, all those officers said that person was Teacher Shi’s rival, and Teacher Shi almost caught him several times. But Jiang, being sly and experienced, wanted to capture Teacher Shi yet failed. So, he kidnapped Teacher Shi’s daughter to lure him."

"And I, as Teacher Shi’s student, became his target too. In that darkness, Shi Nian and I shared the same fate, so I couldn’t just watch her get harmed by him. I had to save her, I had to save ourselves!"

Huo Danru slowly squinted her eyes: "Take a closer look and say it again, you mean to say—the one who harmed Shi Nian, who is it?"

Xiang Yuan suddenly froze, as if stumped. He struggled for a long time, his eyelids twitching even faster, until finally, he let out a long breath.

"That person is the one who kidnapped us. Yes, the one hurting Shi Nian in the darkness is the man who kidnapped us!"

Half an hour later, Xiang Yuan was fully awake.

The room’s lighting was turned up again, the curtains were opened, letting sunlight stream back in. The soothing and melodic background music had already been turned off without anyone noticing.

He took a deep breath, unable to resist stretching lazily.

It seemed like it had been a long time since he’d slept so soundly.

Huo Danru sat by the desk waiting for him. Xiang Yuan quickly got up, walked back to the chair opposite the desk, sat up straight, and respectfully asked: "Auntie Huo, did you reach a conclusion?"

Huo Danru gazed at Xiang Yuan, gently sighed: "Xiang Yuan, you and Shi Nian are both unfortunate kids, but you’re both good kids."

Xiang Yuan was taken aback, and somehow, his eyes started to feel warm.

He quickly shook his head: "No, I’m not good... I’ve done things to hurt Shi Nian, I actually despise my duplicitous behavior myself. It’s just, I don’t even know what’s wrong with me, I just can’t control myself."

Shi Nian received a call from Huo Danru at the Kangchuan University cafeteria while she was about to have dinner.

Huo Danru invited her to come to her office if she had time.

Shi Nian held her tray, glancing at Tang Yanqing who was sitting and laughing with a few students. He was sitting among them, wearing a denim shirt, looking young and handsome like a college student himself. His charming presence quietly shone, making the students around, especially the girls, laugh joyfully.

But his eyes... continuously drifted towards her.

A pretty black-haired girl sitting opposite him was smiling, trying hard to catch his attention, leaning over to block his gaze, "Professor, you said we can exploit people’s psychological weaknesses... Why don’t you show us how, exactly?"

Even from just her back, one could tell the girl was very charming.

Shi Nian took a deep breath, turned her back to speak into the phone: "Alright, I’ll be there within half an hour."

－ Official source is N0v3l.Fiɾe.net

[Three updates today, with two more to follow later]