214: SESSION (PART 1)

SESSION (PART 1)

While she was eating, her phone rang.

She looked at the screen, saw the name, and paused eating.

It was her professor.

She answered the call, "Professor."

A voice from the other side of the phone said, "Lin, is it? I'm glad that you have arrived. Listen, I suddenly have to go to class tomorrow morning. Can you meet me at lunchtime? Let's talk about your course then."

Xue Lin easily agreed, "Sure, I don't mind." She didn't have much to do anyway.

Her professor heard her chewing something. He inquired, "…Lin, are you eating?"

Xue Lin hesitantly replied, "…Yes."

"What are you eating?" the professor carefully asked.

"Nothing much. Just lemon butter prawn and rice."

"Just that?" The professor sounded surprised.

"Yes."

The professor was stunned and relieved at the same time. "I'm glad that you had a good time in China. It seems that your sleeping disorder has been cured."

Only then did Xue Lin notice what he meant to say. If he didn't mention it, she wouldn't have noticed so soon. "…Ah… I see…"

"What didn't you notice? Back then, either you ate a lot, or you didn't eat anything. I was worried it would get worse."

"It was getting worse but recently it got better. I'm trying to keep myself in the mood so that I don't lose it," Xue Lin answered truthfully.

"That's amazing," the professor praised her. "Keep it up. If you face any problem, don't hesitate to mention it."

"All right, Professor."

"See you tomorrow."

"Okay." After hanging up the call, Xue Lin finished her meal and went to sleep.

The next day, she went to meet her professor at the university. Professor Ivanov was in his room. As she knocked on the door, he told her to come in. When he saw her enter, he welcomed her with a warm smile on his face. "Welcome back, Lin."

Xue Lin greeted him with a faint smile. "Good to be back, Professor. How have you been?"

Professor Ivanov was a fifty-six year old psychiatrist who was also Xue Lin's teacher, well-wisher, and supporter. "I'm doing as usual. Busy with thesis papers. Sit down. Tell me about your fun in China."

"Ah… about that…" Xue Lin scratched her nose.

----

"You are married now?! How could your family do this to you?" After listening to everything, Professor Ivanov became furious. "You are such a talented child. You have a bright future. How could they do this?"

"They thought they were doing the best for me." Xue Lin cupped her face. She became depressed when she talked about it.

Professor Ivanov furrowed his eyebrows. "Let me tell you this, Lin. Suppose, a child has the talent of becoming an Einstein, and the child wants to become one. However, the parents want their children to have a normal life and force them to become one. For that child, it's not a blessing; it's a curse. It also harms society and mankind. Humans are deprived of a scientist."

"Once again, you are right. But what else could I do?" Xue Lin shrugged. "If I didn't get married back then, my life would be ruined."

"I know you did what you thought was best. I'm happy that you didn't choose that path." Professor Ivanov was pleased. He carefully inquired, "However, were you able to have a physical relationship with your husband?"

Xue Lin shook her head. "Not yet. I still feel uneasy. But we can hold hands for a long time now."

"That's a big improvement." Professor Ivanov was delighted to hear her answer. "What kind of person is your husband? From your improvement, it looks like he is a good guy."

Xue Lin thought of Ge Chen and evaluated his characters. "He has patience. He is careful around me. He tries not to be forceful. He is gentle so far."

"But you still cannot trust him completely," Professor pointed out.

Xue Li's shoulders dropped. "How can I? I cannot even trust myself. It's hard to trust others."

"It's understandable. All I can ask is for you to not think about it too much. Just go with the flow. I like how things are going. I'm glad you are thinking with your head and not emotions. You are worthy of becoming my successor. I still have an offer for you. Let me know if you want to take the position of a lecturer in our university."

"I'm still planning to join the police."

Professor Ivanov frowned. "That again? Are you thinking of revenge?"

"I can't settle down unless I'm done with this. I want to know what happened back then, and I want to punish whoever is to be blamed." Xue Lin had her reason, and she was ready to fight for her goal. She was that determined.

Therefore, Professor Ivanov couldn't prevent her actions. "Suit yourself. But I hope you can finish it as soon as possible. This is the cause of all your problems. I want you to end it soon and come back here to become my successor."

Xue Lin agreed like an obedient child. "I'll do according to your wish. But before that, I want to go to the next stage of the hypnotism method. At first, you taught me the clap method and then the snapping finger method. Now I want to learn how to do that without doing either of them."

Professor Ivanov squinted his eyes. "You mean, you want to learn how to hypnotize people with your voice?"

"No, with my eyes," Xue Lin corrected him.

Professor looked alarmed. "Lin… that's not…"

"I know it's quite impossible for some people and it is illegal. I promise you I will never misuse my knowledge." Xue Lin's voice was soft and agreeable; however, she was hiding her sharp fang behind the honey words.

Professor Ivanov wasn't easy to fool. After all, he groomed this student of his, and he could understand her way of thinking. "Lin, it's not that I don't trust you. It's just you are too obsessed with that revenge of yours, I'm worried about you."

Xue Lin knew it wouldn't be easy to deal with this. She patiently dealt with his reasons. "Thank you Professor for worrying about it but what I need is now that session on hypnotism, not concern."

"This is what criminals do, Lin. I can't let you do that even if you are using it against criminals." No matter what, he was set on with his answer.

Xue Lin wasn't his student for nothing. She stated, "I want to learn to protect myself, Professor. I can't fight like others, and nor can I talk well unless I'm angry. I need at least something to protect myself without people knowing what kind of ability I have. Everyone needs a hidden weapon to win the war."

"Lin, even so, I think you need to think again before you come to make a decision."

"You see, I'm only here in Germany only for this session. I have no other reason to be here leaving my clients in China." Xue Lin stood up. She pretended to give up.

Professor Ivanov couldn't understand if she was acting or not. He asked, "What? Clients? What clients?"

Xue Lin gave him a nonchalant response, "What else? I have a license, you know. I have customers and school students to take care of. Although I have a goal to reach, I want to have a normal occupation too. I'm not a lost sheep if that's what you are wondering."

Professor Ivanov pondered about something for a while and then answered, "I'm sorry, Lin. I misjudged you." The reason he gave up easily was because he was worried that she would have a comfortable life in China and would never come back here again. After all, many people change after getting married.

Xue Lin held back her smirk. "About the session, what's your answer?"

"Promise me you are coming back here and take over. I'd hate it if someone else took my place who isn't my favorite student," Professor Ivanov wanted her to confirm.

Xue Lin nodded. "You got it."

Professor Ivanov sighed in relief. "Let's start your session tomorrow. You need at least three months. Is your husband okay with it?"

Xue Lin bluntly answered, "I'll inform him. The last thing I need is someone else's permission."

"Atta girl." Professor Ivanov gave her a thumb's up.

------------2

"So, you will be there for three months?" Ge Chen thought he heard wrong.

"Yes," Xue Lin answered. "See you in three months." She was ready to hang up.

"Wait! I have something to ask of you." Ge Chen stopped her.

"What is it?" Xue Lin asked.

"Can I go to Germany?" When he heard a long silence from the other side of the phone, he added, "I promise not to bother you while you are studying. I'll visit the country and cook every day for you. I'll take care of the grocery shopping too."

Xue Lin was in deep thought. 'Hmm… free assistant and free meals for three months. I'd be stupid if I say 'no' to that. Moreover, I can experiment with him.'

"Sure, let's do that. When are you planning to come?"

Ge Chen was rather surprised that she agreed so easily. He imagined her to reply with a flat "no". He answered, "A week. I'll be there in a week."

"I'll be waiting."

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