Chapter 14 ( unbelievable response)

The therapist went to his professor and told him what Li Qi said to him in their last session. The professor commented.

"This development is fast and surprising. From one extreme to the other, it's disturbing and seems illogical. Beware that he is manipulating you or that he has another type of mental illness and you do not know. Beware that everything he said from the start was a lie (pathological lying), or maybe he is just being a patient who likes to manipulate and deceive others (factitious disorder).

For a brief moment, the therapist was stunned and began to recall everything that had happened with Li Qi. Then he said,

"I don't think this is the situation or that this is his case."

The professor shook his head with a motion that meant it was just a possibility and did not speak. The therapist thought more and then said, "How can I be sure of that?" "He came alone and did not leave any personal information or even contact information. I think all the information he gave me is wrong." "I even think that he uses a pseudonym and not his real name." "It is logical because he is a murderer who must hide his true identity."

The professor commented,

"Or a liar who must prevent others from discovering his lies; all you know is what he tells you, right?"

The therapist replied, "

"If this is his case, I will not be able to help him, and everything I say or do with him will be meaningless, because he already gets what he wants, which is attention." "These patients have no genuine desire for treatment because they have already fulfilled all of their desires by convincing others to believe their lies."

The professor agreed with the therapist's words with a nod of his head, then said,

"All I'm telling you is not to get too excited or emotionally involved with this case. Remember to remain unbiased and objective."

On the other hand, Li Qi was thinking about the therapist's advice to him. He went to the university and began to attend on a regular basis. At first he was shy and nervous, but one of his colleagues started talking to him spontaneously and asked him to compare his notes with Li Qi's notes, so Li Qi calmly gave him his notebook, the colleagues reviewed it, then returned it back to Li Qi after he added some things to the notes that Li Qi hadn't written and said,

"Thank you, handsome young man; by the way, you forgot to write something."

Li Qi looked at what his colleague had written and smiled. because during the lecture he had already gotten lost in his thoughts, thinking about himself. Does he look older than the rest of his colleagues? Does he seem strange to them? __ So he missed a piece of the lecture that he didn't notice. The colleague asked him:

"What is your name?" "My name is Zhao Chen, and you are?"

"I'm Li Qi."

Zhao Chen commented,

"You seem shy and untalkative. Let's be friends. A handsome guy like you will attract the attention of a lot of ladies, and your shyness will allow a talkative person like me to talk and shine up, and maybe I'll get a girlfriend quickly. What do you think?"

Li Qi nodded his head and smiled.

Zhao Chen said,

"Ah, you can talk at least a little with me."

Li Qi nodded to him again, then took notice and said,

"Ah, yes, I will." "I'll talk."

Chen laughed and embraced Li Qi's arm as he said,

"You're such a cute guy."

Li Qi was astonished because no one had ever called him cute before. Chen stayed with him throughout the whole day, leaving him at the end of the day to take the bus home while Li Qi took the train. When Li Qi returned home, he was eager to study, so he went over what he had written and organized his notes before going to check the camera recording of the day. He saw Mandolin closing the curtain as usual, so he felt excited and said,

"Why don't you give it a shot?"

He grabbed the pen and began writing a letter to Mandelin, telling her that he had joined a university to learn a new profession because he had retired from his old job, and he asked her, If she agrees to be his friend, he will be happy. " Then he said to himself, "I must add sufficient evidence to prove the credibility of my words." So he printed his university nomination letter, put the papers in an envelope, and put them in his bag.

The next day, he asked Chen to take some pictures of him—one while he's sitting on the classroom chair, another next to the college banner, and another next to the board. Then he went and printed the pictures and attached them to the contents of the envelope, then closed it and sent it from the post office.

In the evening, he was worried and nervous about Mandolin's reply, and the obsessions began to bother him to the point where he couldn't sleep.

In the early morning, he went to the post office, demanding to retrieve the letter, but the employee told him that it had already been distributed to the postman and that the envelope would reach its destination today or tomorrow. Li Qi asked for the postman's phone number, but the employee refused to give it to him. He returned to his street and stood in a corner after checking with the security of his building whether the postman had passed or not, and was told that he had not made it to the street yet. Li Qi had stood the entire day, and the postman had finally arrived in the street just before the sun set. Li Qi approached him and said angrily,

"Finally, you've arrived." "I've been waiting for you since the morning. Where have you been all this time?"

The man was shocked and justified—without knowing why—that he had been working according to his schedule since the morning and hadn't been late. Li Qi searched for the letter without waiting for permission from the young man, who was so surprised that he did nothing. Li Qi found the envelope, took it, and said,

"This is my letter,"

and then asked,

"Where do you want me to sign?"

The man indicated where he should sign, and Li Qi signed and left. The postman was stunned, but he did nothing; he just returned to his work in silence.

Li Qi returned home and sighed as he placed the envelope on the table and sat down to rest. He prepared a meal for himself and sat down to eat it while looking at the envelope. He had the feeling that the envelope was staring back at him. So he put it in a drawer to keep it out of his sight.

As he lay on the bed, waiting for sleep, he heard a voice in his head saying to him, "You coward, you coward, you're trying to avoid confrontation."

In the morning, Li Qi woke up with tired eyes and a puffy face. He got dressed to go to his university. Then he remembered that he didn't have any lectures until twelve, so he sat down again. Then suddenly, he stood up, opened the drawer, took the envelope, and put on a medical mask and a cap. Then he went to Mandolin's building. He showed the envelope to the security guard. and said,

"I forgot to deliver this letter yesterday,"

and showed him the address. The guard reached out to take the envelope, but Li Qi quickly pulled it away, saying,

"I must get the signature from the owner of the envelope."

Before the guard could think,

"Li Qi said,

Please, I need to complete this assignment and go to the office before my arrival time. I need to hurry."

The guard said,

"Okay, go up alone because I can't leave the gate and there's no one with me now."

Then he summoned the elevator for him, pressed the elevator button on the floor to which Li Qi was ascending, and then left him to go up alone.

Li Qi stood at Mandolin's door hesitatingly and thought, "No, I won't," and turned to leave, but he came back and bent down to put the envelope under the doorstep. Simultaneously, Mandolin opened the door. He then raised his head to see Mandolin standing in front of him. He quickly straightened, lifted the cap over his head, removed the mask, and said,

"I went to college and quit my old job. I don't want to intrude on you. "I just wanted to tell you that."

He said this while he was observing her face, which was covered in exclamation marks. She looked at his hand and asked,

"Is this envelope for me?"

Involuntarily, he hid the envelope behind his back, then put it back, raised his hand with it, and lowered it hesitantly. Finally, he extended his hand with the envelope, so she took it from his hand and said,

"Do you want to enter?"

He entered with shyness and obvious hesitation, took off his shoes, and sat on a sofa near the door with his head bowed, looking at the floor. His nervousness was evident from the position of his slumped body. Mandolin closed the door and sat on the same sofa as him, noticing his tension. She opened the envelope and read what was in it and saw the pictures. Then she said,

"Your university is here, isn't it?"

He nodded in agreement, so she continued,

"Are you attending this university because I came to this city?" "Did you know that I came here, so you followed me?"

He was worried and afraid to answer yes or no. He raised his head to glance at her, then bowed his head again. Then he answered,

"Yes."

She inquired,

"Yes, what?"

He explained,

"Yes, I knew that you had come to this city, and I also attended this university because of that."

She asked,

"Does that mean you knew my address and have been watching me for the past few months, but you did not try to come to me until now?" Li Qi stuttered in response,

"I-I didn't mean to spy on you, I just-I was-I-I-All I want-All I care-I'm sorry, forget it, I'm leaving."

He got up, went to the door, and leaned against the wall to put on his shoes. Mandolin stood up and approached him, saying as she grabbed his arm that had been leaning out against the wall.

"Why are you in such a hurry to leave?" " Come back; we haven't finished talking yet.

Would you like to have tea with me?"

Li Qi was surprised, but he replied innocently,

"Yes,"

and returned to sit on the sofa. Mandolin made them two cups of tea, gave him one, grabbed the other, and sat in front of him, smiling and looking him in the eyes. Li Qi became nervous and attempted to take a sip from his cup. The tea burned him. This intensified his anxiety. He placed the cup on the small table in front of him and said,

"It's hot."

Mandolin replied,

"Obviously, I'm done making it in front of you right now. Haven't you noticed?"

She smiled at him and said,

"Why do you care to tell me that you quit your previous job and that you're studying for a new profession?" "What is your goal?"

Li Qi looked at the floor and stuttered again. I was thinking—I hope—I wonder if it is possible. If you accept, would you agree to be friends with me? I'm not trying to force myself on you; I'm not breaking into your life, and I'm not trying to bother you. If you don't want to, don't worry. I'll walk away, and I won't bother you. You'll never see me again. He stood and continued,

"I'm not imposing myself on you; I'm not intruding on you."

And then he went again toward the door. Mandolin commented,

"Why do you stand up and turn away every moment?" "Aren't we talking together? Can't I talk to you while you are sitting?"

Li Qi came back and sat in his place like an obedient child. She continued,

"I didn't respond to your request. Do you ask for my friendship and then want to leave without hearing my answer? You didn't even include in your letter any means of communication for me to respond to you. Don't you want to hear my answer?"

Li Qi wondered how he forgot to give her his phone number. He nodded to her innocently and said,

"Yes, I want to know your answer."

She said to him,

"Well, now I'm late for my job, and I have to go." "I will finish at about five. Will you be done with your classes?"

Li Qi nodded to her,so she continued,

"Well, how about we have lunch together today?" "You bring the food and come here to have lunch together in the apartment, but I have to register your name at the security desk at the entrance to let you in." "What is your name?"

"Li Qi," he said.

Mandolin raised her hand to shake his and said,

"Li Qi, nice to meet you."

Li Qi shakes her hand, saying

"I'm glad to meet you too."

and he pauses. Mandolin asked him not to stop and to continue. Li Qi said,

"Nice to meet you, Mandolin."

She smiled at him and said,

"Now let's go out together." Are you going to take me to my work or do you have class now?"

He replied,

"No, the first class is at noon."

She said,

"Okay, let's go out."

She took her bag, and they left the apartment together. Then she informed the security guards that Li Qi was her friend and that he was welcome to visit her at any time, and Li Qi signed his name in the log as (Li Qi), and they left together. When Mandolin arrived at her job building, before leaving him and entering the building, she said:

"7822."

Li Qi asked,

"What is this?"

She said,

"My apartment's pin code You may come before me, so you should wait for me inside. Although I am aware that you can enter without a key, I would prefer that you do so only because I gave you the key and for no other reason.

Li Qi's features were so innocent, she moved her hand on his arm, patted his shoulder, and said,

"Don't bring spicy food, okay?"

He nodded in astonishment. She left him and entered the building, but Li Qi remained standing still, dumbfounded, until the building security came to him and asked,

"Are you waiting for something?" "Did your girlfriend forget you?" "Do you want me to call her for you?"

Li Qi came to his senses and said, "

"No, no, I'm not waiting for anything." I'm sorry, I'm leaving."

and quickly left, the guard commented,

"This young man is falling head over heels in love."

To his astonishment, Li Qi went to the university without returning home to get his bag. Therefore, he sat all day absent-minded and didn't take any notes, and at the end of his day, he brought food and returned to Mandolin's home and sat there waiting for her.

After Mandolin came back from work, they sat down together and started eating. She started the conversation by asking him what he had learned today. He replied,

"I didn't understand anything or focus on anything today."

She asked him,

"Why?"

He replied, "

"I can't believe you accepted me into your life again."

She smiled and said,

"Why not?" Are you the same person that I kicked out?" "You're a new person, aren't you?"

Her words touched Li Qi's heart to the point that he almost cried, but he prevented himself, but the tears flashed in his eyes. He asked her, "Do you really believe me?"

She simply replied,

"Yes, I believe you, and if you need anything in your studies that I can help you with, feel free to ask me." "Like, any question in mathematics or English you can ask me, and any time you need encouragement to study, come here and study here in front of me while I'm working, okay?"

Li Qi was overjoyed that he had lost his capacity to speak. So he just nodded his head in agreement.