Chapter 1141 - 845: Took a Step Back, Yet Still Made Progress

Hearing Nan Zhubin’s words, Jie Nianzhou stood still, digesting for quite a while.

After a long time, he finally spoke slowly, as if thinking while speaking, and even seemed to doubt what he was about to say next: "So you mean... my performance today was not a mistake. On the contrary, it is a kind of, uh, more pleasing progress?"

Faced with Jie Nianzhou’s hesitant tone, Nan Zhubin nodded affirmatively, letting his inner realizations settle.

"Yes."

"The act of ’standing out’ is more thorough in terms of [exposure], requiring more courage," Nan Zhubin summarized, "’Not standing out’ is more meaningful in reconstructing oneself."

Nan Zhubin smiled and said, "Our [exposure] is essentially intended to promote the healing process and thus reconstruct ourselves. Under this premise, blindly pursuing the degree of [exposure] is missing the point."

The bravery and success seen by outsiders do not mean progress in psychological terms.

As [psychological education], this statement finally made Jie Nianzhou accept it.

He no longer got entangled in his retreat at the time, instead recalling in detail his feelings in the conference room and his bumpy mental journey.

Nan Zhubin also quietly watched Jie Nianzhou, without making a sound.

Many of the visitor’s growth behaviors are done unconsciously, which signifies progress; however, this progress is not permanent for the visitor, and it’s easy to overlook, slowly regressing back.

Some visitors may not even have so-called progress.

Just like Jie Nianzhou’s situation today. Without Nan Zhubin pointing it out, perhaps he would have been haunted by his "retreat."

In such cases, the consultant naturally needs to help the visitor consolidate this progress, allowing the visitor to absorb and grow as much as possible.

After a while, Jie Nianzhou slowly raised his head: "So... not standing out was the right thing to do."

"Not ’right,’" Nan Zhubin shook his head, "it’s that it placed you in a different position."

Jie Nianzhou turned his gaze towards Nan Zhubin’s direction.

"If we judge this matter with ’right’ and ’wrong,’" Nan Zhubin continued, "then I’m placing you back into the old framework — you need a ’correct’ label to confirm that your actions are complete."

"But aren’t you now testing another mode — you made a decision without reverting to the step of checking ’whether I did it right or not.’"

Jie Nianzhou was silent for a moment, then turned to look in the direction of the conference room, and turned his head back.

"I was just thinking," Jie Nianzhou said slowly, "if I stood out... openly admitted at the meeting, and everyone was looking at me, Teacher Bi confirmed the recording was given by me — I might feel at that moment that ’I did it.’

"But now... I’m not sure how long that sense of ’completion’ would last."

"You had a similar experience before," Nan Zhubin helped Jie Nianzhou recall, "when you repeatedly listened to a recording every night, confirming that you hadn’t missed anything, there was a brief sense of ’completion,’ right?"

Jie Nianzhou nodded: "Right."

Nan Zhubin added, "But that sense of completion doesn’t last long."

Jie Nianzhou nodded: "Right."

"Right," Jie Nianzhou said, "once that feeling passes, I start to wonder — could there be something I missed? Then I listen again."

"And now?" Nan Zhubin asked, "Now, looking back at not standing out just now — are you reevaluating it?"

Jie Nianzhou thought for a moment, then shook his head slightly: "...No."

The corridor was quiet for a short while. Nan Zhubin didn’t speak, just stood silently waiting for Jie Nianzhou to digest.

After a long time, Jie Nianzhou exhaled a long breath, feeling that some changes had indeed happened to him.

"I might want to think about the previous feeling again later," Jie Nianzhou said, "but I don’t need to rush back to do it right away. I can wait until later, or tomorrow, to revisit it."

Nan Zhubin nodded.

This seemed to signal the end of the conversation today.

But Jie Nianzhou didn’t leave, instead, after organizing his thoughts for a while, he looked up at Nan Zhubin again.

"I..." Jie Nianzhou leaned against the wall, "I used to always think everything needed an ending. Needed to be recorded, needed to be repeatedly checked."

"But now... I reached here, stopped, no next step — is this considered an ending?"

"If you think it is, then it can be," Nan Zhubin said.

In Nan Zhubin’s view, Jie Nianzhou seemed to be standing on some invisible staircase, at that moment tentatively lifting his foot, taking a step upward.

Jie Nianzhou bowed his head and pondered for a while, took a deep breath: "Then if... I think there’s more to it, I still want to continue following up?"

"If you think it hasn’t ended, then it indeed has a continuation," Nan Zhubin said as if stating the obvious.

But Jie Nianzhou seemed to understand this roundabout statement.

He pondered for a while, shook his head: "I might think about this matter again later."

In Nan Zhubin’s eyes, Jie Nianzhou, standing on the invisible step, took a step back with one foot.

But fortunately, the other foot was still stepping on a higher place.

"Perhaps, in our next formal consultation, we can explore this issue," Nan Zhubin smiled.

Jie Nianzhou tugged at the corner of his mouth, then turned back to look at the conference room.