Entering the small room, Xia Xiaoling sat face to face with Dr. Xu. It was the same routine as before, with only slight changes in the questions.
After talking for a while, Xia Xiaoling didn’t feel anything unusual. It was like chatting with an old friend.
Time passed second by second. Before long, Xia Xiaoling walked out of the room.
Vivi had been standing at the doorway for quite some time. When she saw Xia Xiaoling come out, she hurried over and asked anxiously, “Sister Xia, how did it go?”
Xia Xiaoling gently patted her small head and said softly, “It’s fine. Um… just some mild dependency symptoms. Nothing serious.”
“Then can I take the test too?”
“What are you joining the fun for?”
Xia Xiaoling sounded a little helpless. Just as she was about to pull the little girl away, Dr. Xu’s voice came from behind them.
“If she wants to be tested, let her come in. I’m here to help anyway. Helping one is helping, helping a few is the same.”
Dr. Xu stood at the doorway, her gaze sweeping over Vivi before she tidied up the documents in her hands.
Earlier, just by observing her, she had already noticed that this little girl’s behavior and movements didn’t look like those of an ordinary child.
That sparked her curiosity. Xia Xiaoling glanced at Dr. Xu and said apologetically, “Sorry to trouble you.”
“I told you, it’s fine. Come in, little girl.”
“Oh—okay~”
Vivi’s body stiffened for a moment. Even though she had been a girl for quite a long time now, being called “little girl” still made her feel a bit uncomfortable.
Dr. Xu narrowed her eyes slightly, as if she had noticed something, and a faint smile curved her lips.
The door closed again. Vivi sat down across from Dr. Xu.
For some reason, when facing Dr. Xu’s eyes, Vivi always felt as if she were being seen through completely.
“Alright, don’t be nervous. How old are you this year, little girl?”
“I want the truth~”
Vivi froze for a moment, then whispered, “Fifteen…”
She had originally wanted to say ten, but when she saw Dr. Xu’s sharp eyes, she didn’t dare make it sound that low.
“You’re fifteen?”
Xia Yu frowned at the side, her gaze sweeping up and down Vivi. No matter how she looked at it, this height didn’t seem like that of a fifteen-year-old.
‘Probably malnutrition,’ she thought, recalling what Xia Xiaoling had said before about the child’s situation.
Dr. Xu didn’t react much. She simply raised her eyebrows and wrote it down.
“Alright. Has anything happened recently that made you feel uncomfortable?”
Vivi thought about it and realized that she really hadn’t felt uncomfortable lately. The only thing that bothered her a little was Blood Wei.
She downplayed it and said a few vague things, deliberately not exposing Blood Wei. To an outsider, it just sounded like something similar to a secondary personality.
Dr. Xu nodded and took notes, then continued asking more questions.
Throughout the conversation, Dr. Xu constantly observed Vivi’s small movements—her posture, habits, and reactions—taking everything in clearly.
She wrote the final stroke on the paper, marking the end.
“Um… can I see my results?” Vivi asked.
“Yes, wait a moment. Let me organize it.”
“Okay.”
After a short while, Dr. Xu spoke slowly. “Mild schizophrenia. For your situation, it’s best to tell your family, or someone close to you.”
“Medication-based treatment can damage neurological function. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, I don’t really recommend it.”
“Alright, thank you, Dr.—I mean… sister~”
Dr. Xu watched Vivi leave, then shifted her gaze to Xia Yu.
“Did you feel it?”
“Huh? Feel what?”
Xia Yu shook her head, not understanding the meaning behind Dr. Xu’s words.
Dr. Xu smiled faintly and placed another paper document in front of her.
“Mild schizophrenia, gender cognitive error? How did you judge that? I didn’t notice it at all.”
Dr. Xu waved her hand and leaned back against the chair.
“It’s normal that you couldn’t tell. She hid it very well. During the conversation just now, many of the things she said were lies.”
“The purpose was to prevent us from noticing anything abnormal.”
“Then why did she come to you for psychological counseling in the first place?” Xia Yu asked.
Dr. Xu shrugged, took a sip of the tea on the table, and said calmly, “It’s simple. She’s already aware that she has symptoms of schizophrenia, so she came to me.”
“As for the gender cognitive error… that’s exactly what she was deliberately hiding. She should be aware of that issue herself.”
“As for why she’s hiding it, I don’t know the specific reason. But that little girl is definitely not simple.”
“Oh, right. What’s her relationship with your sister? I think it’d be best to keep your sister a bit farther away from her.”
Xia Yu pondered for a moment, then briefly explained Vivi’s situation.
“I see…” Dr. Xu said softly. “That child is pitiful too. By the way, have you found any information about her biological parents?”
“Or checked her identity details? If it were me, I’d definitely do that. I wouldn’t want someone with such an unclear background around me.”
Her gaze swept over Xia Yu casually. Xia Yu seemed to be jolted awake by those words, a glimmer of realization flashing in her eyes.
“Yeah. I’ll go check it later.”
“May I take a look at my sister’s and her student’s reports?”
“Oh, they’re all here. Take a look yourself.”
Xia Yu picked up Xia Xiaoling’s report and saw the neat handwriting on it.
Mild Dependency Syndrome…
“What exactly is dependency syndrome?” Xia Yu asked.
“Mm… simply put, it means developing a very strong sense of dependence on something.”
“I feel that your sister’s dependence may come from Vivi. That’s very dangerous. I think it must be curbed, or her condition could get worse and worse.”
Hearing this, Xia Yu’s heart sank.
It seemed she really did need to look into Vivi’s background.
Although the Xia Family wasn’t some massive powerhouse, in the old town it was still considered one of the top families.
There was no guarantee that Vivi approaching her sister didn’t have some hidden motive.
If her background turned out to be clean, then fine—at worst, they could just treat it as raising a daughter for her sister.
But if she found out something she shouldn’t…
Then she wouldn’t blame herself for being ruthless.
As Xia Yu was still calculating in her mind, Dr. Xu’s voice sounded again.
“As for Wu Menghan, her situation is a bit more complicated. Anxiety, unease, and mild depression. Did someone in her family die recently?”
Xia Yu fell silent. She didn’t know much about Wu Menghan, only that she was her sister’s student.
Seeing that Xia Yu couldn’t answer, Dr. Xu didn’t press further and continued, “Wu Menghan just needs a psychological anchor. If she has one, there won’t be much of a problem.”
“But if she doesn’t, she might completely collapse.”
She sighed lightly. “Sigh… what kind of people has your sister ended up around? One after another, all mentally unstable. It’s gotten to the point that even she’s starting to seem a bit abnormal.”
Xia Yu: ……