Probably because yesterdayâs program involved a third person in the family, almost all of the calls today were about this issue.
What to do if your husband has a mistress.
What to do about the seven-year itch.
There was even one asking about divorce due to her husbandâs snoring.
Xiao Qian was very familiar with these issues, as her late-night radio show was all about listening to peopleâs emotional problems. When people are in a good mood, they rarely think about seeking help from others, but when they have worries, they think about calling.
Most of these concerns had to do with family, and she had long grown numb to them. But all the while, Yu Minglang seemed deep in thought.
He began to understand Xiao Meiâs pre-marriage phobia.
She grew up in a special family, where the strained relationship between her father and mother had made her subconsciously reject marriage from an early age.
Although Jia Xiufangâs family had reorganized and seemed to be much better off now, Xiao Qian didnât go home often. Her impression of home was still stuck in that childhood filled with arguments.
Later, she studied clinical psychology and encountered all kinds of troubled people. She had seen many unhealthy families.
It was normal for her to feel anxious and fearful about marriage. Yu Minglang admitted that he felt uncomfortable when she first tried to escape marriage.
After he read some more information at the bookstore, his discomfort turned into heartache. Especially when he went downstairs to buy water and overheard two night shift workers talking, his heartache became more apparent.
When Xiao Qian finished recording the show, she saw him in deep thought, half leaning on the door. She waved in front of his eyes.
âWhat are you looking at?â
âQuit.â
âWhat did you say?â Xiao Qian thought she heard wrong.
The director on the side pretended to organize his materials while listening intently.
âQuit your job. If youâre too embarrassed to tell Professor Liu, Iâll do it.â
He didnât want her to continue doing this.
His heart ached for her after listening for a while and being exposed to these issues, thinking they must have strengthened her subconscious unease about marriage.
âWhy are you suddenly talking about this?â
Xiao Qian didnât know what had triggered him. Before they arrived, he had been fine. Why did he want her to stop after recording just one show?
âWeâll talk about it when we get back.â Yu Minglang didnât want to talk about it in front of others.
On the way back, Xiao Qian brought up the topic again.
âWhy did you suddenly want me to quit?â
âWhen I went downstairs to buy water, I overheard two night shift workers talking. They saidâ¦â Yu Minglangâs face darkened as he thought about their conversation.
âWhat did they say?â
âThey said that a radio host who worked on a psychological talk show had committed suicide before.â
âIâve heard about that too. The host before me was a really nice person, and itâs a pity that he was so young.â
The suicide rate of hosts for psychological talk shows is quite high.
In fact, not only hosts but also psychologists have high suicide rates.
âStop doing it. Why not do something else that doesnât require you to come out so late, ruin your sleep and listen to other peopleâs emotional garbage every day.â Yu Minglang originally didnât want to interfere with her work, but his heart felt blocked when he heard about the suicide.
He couldnât imagine what he would do if it were Xiao Qian.
âDo you even know what my major is? Doing clinical work means acting as a listener for all kinds of emotional problems. Dealing with emotional garbage on the radio is nothing compared to the psychological problems Iâll face later in my career. If you canât handle me doing this, what will you do when I start my real job?â
As soon as he heard that her future work would be even more serious, Yu Minglangâs mind immediately conjured up 26 ways to commit suicide, and his face went pale as if he were suffocating.
Without thinking, he blurted out.
âStop working, Iâll support you at home.â
Xiao Qian looked deeply into his eyes, âLetâs not talk about this anymore.â
As soon as Yu Minglang heard her tone, he knew he had messed things up.
âIâm just worried about you. If youâre exposed to negative information every day and itâs already affecting your own life, why do you still want to do this job?â
âWhy donât you go home too? Iâll support you. No matter how dangerous my career is, can it be more dangerous than how busy you are every day? Why do you still do your job if youâre so busy every day?â
âItâs not the same at all!â Yu Minglang was getting irritable.
âYes, it is. Many professions are considered high-risk. If you think itâs dangerous and donât want to do it, what about those vacant positions? If you think doing this job is dangerous and want to put me in a glass bottle, then who will be the psychologists?â
âDonât misrepresent what Iâm saying. Itâs not the same. I just want you to be happy every day, not under so much pressure.â Faced with her eloquence, Yu Minglang felt a bit frustrated, but he still insisted on his point of view.
âWhere did you get the idea that Iâm not happy? I donât think the pressure is that big. I can handle these counseling sessions easily, and I donât bring my work emotions home, so you donât need to worry that Iâll become depressed like those before me.â
You may not be depressed, but youâre afraid of marriage! Yu Minglang couldnât say these words; he could only feel anxious in his heart.
When they got home, he went to the supermarket. Xiao Qian thought he was buying another set of condoms, wondering why he was still buying them tonight after buying them this morning.
Oh, he must know that tomorrow and the day after are both days off, so he wants to have sex multiple times?
This idea made her a little embarrassed and somewhat anticipative. Yu Xiaoqiang was not someone who was only capable of doing the same thing multiple times, he had many surprises in store. For Xiao Qian, who was under a lot of pressure now, this might be a good way to relieve stress.
But her expectations were unfulfilled. When they got home, Yu Minglang didnât join her in taking a yin-yang bath like yesterday. Xiao Qian took a bath and went to bed early. When she saw that he wasnât reacting, she went to the living room and saw him standing on the balcony, taking a small box out of his pocket. But it wasnât filled with condoms â it was filled with cigarettes.
She had hardly seen him smoke before. What was going on that put him under so much pressure?
Xiao Qian leaned against the bedroom door, watching Yu Minglang silently smoke on the balcony, his thoughts centered on her.
Xiao Qian thought about it but decided not to disturb him. She knew that every man had a stage where they would particularly enjoy solitude.
The biggest difference between men and women is that when women have a problem, their first reaction is to confide in friends, while men prefer to retreat into their own mental world. That mental world is their secret garden. Men do not like to confide and do not need consolation. When they encounter difficulties, what they need is cigarettes, alcohol, and time alone.
Xiao Qian gave up on the idea of accompanying him and went back to her room to lie down. She needed some alone time as well.
Perhaps Qiuqiu was right about what she had once said. Inside Boss Qianâs soul lived a strong T, and sometimes her thoughts were indeed very close to a manâs.
But that night, even though he lay beside her, the nightmares that had disappeared for a day returned. Xiao Qian woke up suddenly from her nightmare, only to find that Yu Minglang hadnât slept and had been watching her intently for who knows how long.