Qian walked over and saw a few classmates with rosy cheeks, all sweating with a stack of forms in their hands. The freshman looked as if she was about to faint from the heat, and even as Qian approached, she lacked the energy to greet her. Qian stood there, and only then did the freshman weakly nod at her.
The feeling of being on the verge of heatstroke was ever-present.
"What are you guys doing here?" Qian asked the freshman.
"The junior boss grabbed us to do market research and hand out flyers," the freshman replied, her lips dry and her speech listless.
Her undergraduate thesis and defense had concluded, so the freshman should be at ho coaxing Panpan and cozying up to her second brother. But she had applied to the sa group as Qian for graduate school, which led to getting pulled over.
"Private work?" Qian frowned with displeasure.
She hadn’t heard that the main boss needed any manpower, indicating this was a private gig the junior boss had taken, using his own students as cheap or even free labor.
"You can’t help it with private gigs; you have to bow under the eaves," sighed a junior student. "I envy Qian so much, being with the main boss nobody dares boss you around."
"Didn’t see when she tortures ?"
No one refuted that statent. The main boss had different demands on Qian compared to regular students. The favored person closest to the emperor often found themselves first to face misfortune.
"So many survey forms and flyers, when can we finish handing them out? A little more sun and I’ll pass out," complained the seniors and juniors alike.
Qian noticed the freshman working silently, not complaining, true to her character.
This situation can’t continue. The freshman, after all, was her protégé, and moreover, Qian’s second sister-in-law. She couldn’t let her faint on the street, or Mr. Yu would be worried.
But she couldn’t just pull them all away, or the freshman wouldn’t be able to fit in later.
Nor could she complain to the main boss, as this wasn’t his concern since it was the junior boss’s own people handing out flyers.
Qian turned her eyes and found a secluded spot to pull out her phone.
"Liu Li, where are you patrolling today?"
"Not patrolling today, we’re clearing urban blight."
He was a good city inspector, even taking care of small matters like tearing down advertisents personally.
"Stop clearing, co to the comrcial street and catch them red-handed; there’s a group here sullying the city image. Hurry up, bring them back to headquarters in a car, enjoy so air conditioning and tea."
"...Sis, what are you up to?"
"I’m helping establish a good city image. Hurry, bring a bigger car."
Qian hung up the phone, bought a heap of cold tea, and handed it out to the classmates. As the group rested by the roadside, a woman dressed fashionably, makeup expertly done, walked over carrying a bag, hesitating before them.
"Do you need help?" The freshman saw her wanting to speak but hesitating, so she asked. She rembered this woman had just collaborated with her on a survey report.
"Are you really psychologists?"
"Yes, we are psychologists licensed for counseling," the freshman replied. Their survey report was particularly long, and the junior boss was stingy, not providing money for gifts, leading the public to unwillingness to cooperate. With scams and pyramid sches rampant, who knew what they were up to?
Therefore, they always explained they were psychologists doing market research before asking questions.
"How do you charge?" The woman looked a bit nervous through her sunglasses, glancing around to ensure no one would identify her.
Psychologists were almost absent in major hospitals; one could only visit psychiatric hospitals for consultation, which in public perception equated to ntal illness.
Hearing they were psychologists stirred the woman’s interest to ask while keeping her inquiry hidden.
"I don’t currently charge—ah!" Before the freshman finished her sentence, Qian pinched her.
"She charges 20 bucks an hour."
"I can’t charge for consultation yet; you can seek her out," the freshman, straightforward as ever, couldn’t bring herself to ask for money, aware she hadn’t fully learnt yet, so she nudged Qian.
"How much do you charge?" The woman turned to Qian, noticing an unusual air about her.
Qian hadn’t yet responded when the phone in the woman’s bag rang, prompting her to nervously pull it out and answer.
"Oh, honey, I’m shopping outside, in the comrcial street, alone, not with anyone. Okay, I’ll wait at the signboard for you. Today’s mall signboard color? Okay, let see—" She turned around, "It’s green."
The caution in her call puzzled the freshman; when talking to Mr. Yu, she was never so tense.
After ending the call, the woman resud her normal deanor, continuing to ask Qian the price, clearly a cautious person, ticulous in her actions.
"I charge between 2000—5000 an hour," Qian glanced at the woman’s attire, noting the bruise hidden under large sunglasses, still sowhat discernible despite makeup, imagining her deanor during the call, she guessed her situation.
"Are you insane, why not just rob folks?" the woman, clearly shocked by Qian’s fee, found the disparity between 20 and 2000 outrageous!
As she turned to leave, Qian called after her.
"My apprentice is interning at Central Hospital, also a good doctor. If you wish to find her, consider scheduling an appointnt at the psychological consultation departnt when she is there, it just costs the registration fee, which is 20."
Regular registration fees were just over a dollar, but due to the lengthy patient consultation, psychological departnts were slightly pricier, practically a bargain.
"I’m not sick, won’t go."
"Fine, today I’m in a good mood, the $2000 per hour psychologist gives you a free piece of advice, the timid fear the bold, and the bold fear those with nothing to lose. If any harm continues, retaliate with all your might."
"You—?!" The woman turned, startled, how could this pricey psychologist know her query?
Even the freshman stared amazed at Qian, not understanding the situation.
"Why did you say that?" The woman’s expression shifted.
Qian calmly replied, "That’s the distinction between 2000 and 20, my apprentice will eventually reach my level, her consultation will solve your issues, just not as swiftly."
"But why suggest retaliation? Do you know ?" The woman asked warily.
"I don’t; simply a piece of advice from a psychologist’s perspective," Qian held back more. Her reticence further piqued the woman’s curiosity.
User Comments
0 comments from readers