rose ashes

The sudden voice in his ear startled Luo Yang, and his ears turned red subconsciously out of shame. He still pretended nothing had happened and ridiculed him for being unruly.

He didn't even have time to mop the floor, he just ran out of the door holding the blanket.

It was almost, almost exposed.
Luo Yang soothed his pounding chest, pressed his back against the closed door, and looked out the window at the garden across the street.

The May wind has already stirred up the heat, wantonly inciting the human heart that cannot resist temptation.
After experiencing the unacceptable events of yesterday, Luo Yang seemed to have received divine help and returned to normal in just one night.

Luo Yang looked no different from usual, and his work efficiency even improved after taking a break.

Everything is proceeding in an orderly manner and carefully on the track they should be on.
Until that afternoon, a man in a wheelchair came to the consultation center.

At the time of getting off work, Luo Yang was still in the office sorting out the documents that were left over from the three-day break, and the man did not go upstairs.
It was not until Luo Yang went downstairs and was about to get coffee that she saw the back of the man quietly bathing in the sunset.

The wheels of the wheelchair stretched out very long in the sunset. He was clearly sitting, but he still looked very tall.

Luo Yang smiled and walked forward to say hello.
"Mr. Fil, I've been waiting for you for a long time. Welcome."

The wheelchair turned slowly, and the last afterglow made its final stop at the horizon. Luo Yang did not push his wheelchair, but just followed behind silently.
"This is the elevator, please."

It can be seen that Fil is a very proud person, and one can even say that he has some arrogance in his bones.

But Luo Yang didn't think this was unacceptable. After all, there was someone around him who was just as conceited. It was just that after the baptism of time, he had learned to restrain himself to some extent.

The unending laughter finally made Fil show some expression other than annoyance, and he slightly squeezed the telescopic cane in his hand.
"Doctor Luo seems to be in a good mood. Is there something or someone worth being happy about?"

Luo Yang stopped smiling. The elevator arrived at the floor, the wheelchair was slowly pushed, and Luo Yang walked out slowly.

"It seems that Mr. Fil is very clear."

The man put away his cane and placed it horizontally across his legs. Even when he was sitting, it was unable to conceal his already slender figure. His cold white ankles were exposed at his trouser legs, and they looked a little sickly due to not being exposed to sunlight for a long time.

Fil never holds back when speaking, even when we first meet, and this time is no exception.
“That’s when you start to speculate about me.”

Luo Yang did not deny it, but did not feel sorry either. He just opened the door and placed the coffee in his hand in the most inconspicuous place on the side of the table, together with a pot of withered roses.
"Mr. Fil is very smart. I think you must know everything about your heart knot."

Luo Yang slowly pushed the brewed blueberry tea in front of him. The water was a little hot and there was a faint mist coming out of it, which disappeared in mid-air, leaving no trace.

"Try this. This is the blueberry tea I found when I was traveling."

Fil stared deeply into the cup of dark and slightly transparent tea on the table, pursing his lips slightly.
“I don’t like trying things that I don’t know.”

Luo Yang rubbed his cheek lightly and put down the cup in his hand. The solid porcelain bottom of the cup made a solid muffled sound on the table.
"It seems that Mr. Fil is a nostalgic person, but I don't think it is a bad habit. After all, antiques always become more interesting as time goes by, and old friends always make people miss them."

Almost unnoticeably, a tiny wrinkle appeared between Fil's eyebrows, but it was quickly smoothed out naturally.

After a long moment, Fil’s voice seemed to come from a faraway distance.
"Doctor Luo, how do you manage to remain so calm?"

"Every time I saw you, I never saw you have such strong emotions. Even when you faced my accident, you still didn't have the same emotions and expressions as anyone else I had ever seen."

Luo Yang paused with the cup in his hand, then smiled, took a sip, and his lips were moist.
"Does Mr. Fil have any pets?"

"No." He didn't even have the desire to live, so he had no way of fulfilling his responsibility towards other lives.

Luo Yang seemed to have guessed it long ago and shook his head disapprovingly, "In fact, everyone has an elephant."

"An 'emotional elephant'."
Luo Yang spread several cards with different colors on the table, each card had a different color.

Fil sat in a wheelchair, looking down at the card without lingering for too long.

"And you are the one leading this elephant, but what would you do if you wanted to be the master?"

Fil: “Naturally, control it.”

Luo Yang patiently coaxed, "Think back, every time you had an emotional outburst, did you ever have the thought of suppressing it and controlling it? What was the result each time?"

Although Fil didn't want to admit it, these were indeed the facts. Every time he tried to control his emotions, he would become more extreme, and even erupted with more self-contradictions, and he could not get out of the dead end.

Luo Yang smiled and tapped the cards on the table.
"So when you try to control your elephant without considering whether the elephant wants to move forward, the result is likely to be that you flip over."

"Animals all like to be petted, cats and dogs, and elephants are no exception. Perhaps you can try to comfort your elephant when it gets emotional, give it space, and give yourself time, instead of forcing it to stand up and continue walking immediately every time, because this will only make it more irritable."

Luo Yang put the cards on the table into a small box and handed it to Fil.
"This box is your elephant. You can try to define these colors as synonyms for your emotions. Blue doesn't have to represent sadness. Everything is up to your preference because it belongs entirely to you. Then, starting today, when you feel an emotion, take out the elephant card that you defined and try to tell it your troubles and problems. Treat it as another person facing you and feel what you really need: to extinguish the emotion immediately, or to give yourself some time, or to go on a trip, or to have a drink. It's all up to you. Try to discuss it with your elephant."

As if he had predicted this, Luo Yang took the initiative and said, "Mr. Fil probably thinks this is a ridiculous game, but since you are already here, why not try my ridiculous game? You won't lose anything. What do you think?"

Fil was choking on his words and took the box into his palm, stroking it carefully.
"it is good."
It's just a last-ditch effort. Things won't get any worse than now, and he no longer has any hope of rebounding, so any attempt won't cause him any loss.

/ / /
Because of Fil's unexpected visit, Luo Yang left the consulting room at nearly seven in the evening. It was still a bit light in May, so he was reluctant to leave.

"Doctor Luo, my name is Shen Mo, see you next time."

Luo Yang looked up at the sky, which seemed endless. The family's nanny car soon arrived. Luo Yang got in the car without stopping, and his figure disappeared into the door.

Since getting married, Ye Gu has reached an agreement with Luo Yang that from now on, no matter whether he is going to work or going out for social activities, he must be picked up and dropped off by the family car.
At first, Luo Yang was not used to it, but after the last incident when he was surrounded by reporters at the door of the consulting room, Luo Yang became a person who could judge the situation and knew how to act.

Fil just told her his real name, and she was in a good mood indeed. This means that the client is willing to slowly trust her, which is a great honor for a psychological counselor.

But when she looked at Mr. Shen's back, she always felt inexplicably lonely and endless sadness, as if he shouldn't be imprisoned in that small wheelchair like that.
His cane, which he always rubs in his hand out of habit, has become a part of his life.

Looking at him, Luo Yang smiled at herself. What qualifications did she have to sympathize with others?
She herself is just a person who weaves illusions with lies. Even if the world is as big as hers, it is no different from Mr. Shen's wheelchair.
Between her and Ye Gu, she even wakes up from nightmares every day. There will always be a day when the truth is exposed, but when that day comes, how will she explain it?
Luo Yang, how do you explain this?
/ / /
"Did I tell you that the cup should never be empty?"
Ye Gu tugged at the tie on his chest anxiously, his chest heaving with a heavy breath.

Liu Min trembled with fear, "But, there is still half a cup..."
Finally, the sound became smaller and smaller until it disappeared.

The phoenix eyes in the back seat were frozen, as if a ball of frozen air was surrounding the body.
"I hate the word 'half' the most. Half a cup, half finished product, half cooked. Liu Min, have I given you some illusion recently? Do you think my principles can be broken?"

Liu Min didn't dare to say anything, it was just because it was so late and he had searched everywhere but couldn't find a milk tea shop still open in this remote place.

After a long time, a heavy and long sigh came from the back seat, the tie was thrown to the last row of the car, the back of his hand covered his eyes, and the fatigue between his brows could not be concealed.
"Forget it, drive. I don't want to hear any noise."

Without stopping, the partition in the middle of the car slowly rose up, completely isolating it from the front row.

Liu Min's back was covered in cold sweat. With his sweaty hands, he carefully pulled out a tissue, fearing that he would make too much noise and wake up the tiger behind him whose beard could not be touched.

Ever since he came here and met that dejected man, Ye Gu has seemed to be in a very unstable mood.

Liu Min was very lucky to have a smooth journey, but there is a universal curse in this world that has never been broken:
The more you don't want something to happen, the greater the chance it will happen.

This curse is called "Murphy's Law".

When the car was about to turn into the villa area, Ye Gu's cell phone buzzed wildly, and the vibration was so severe that the phone fell to the ground.

"boom."

There was nothing but darkness in his opened eyes, and the suppressed corners of his lips showed emotions that were about to explode. Liu Minsheng looked helplessly at the partition in the middle of the car slowly lowering. The expected look in his eyes was about to see through him without a doubt.

"Did I tell you not to make any noise?"

Liu Min felt that he was unfair. This was Ye Gu's own phone. How could he control his phone?
But when the boss loses his temper, all the mistakes are the employees' fault.

Liu Min was very understanding and immediately lowered his head. "I won't have this problem again. I'm sorry, Mr. Ye."

After the phone screen went dark, it unexpectedly lit up again.

Liu Min keenly caught the caller.

"Mr. Ye, it's my wife calling, please see——"

The phone had been picked up, and Ye Gu's brows relaxed in a second, and his tone became completely gentle and different from before.
"Hello? Still awake?"

The person on the other end of the phone was not so clear-headed. There was even some noisy noise, mixed with the DJ's atmosphere, which was very dynamic.

Ye Gu frowned instantly, reached out and grabbed the coat from the car, stood by the car door, and looked at the darkened room on the second floor of the villa.

"Where are you?"

Luo Yang seemed to be unable to hear him and answered the question irrelevantly: "I am Luo Yang!"
Ye Gu tried his best to be patient and asked again: "I mean, where are you?"

"I said I am, Luo Yang!"
Luo Yang pressed his index finger on his other ear and shouted into the phone, feeling extremely happy.

Ye Gu guessed the culprit and was about to hang up and call the culprit when Luo Yang suddenly shouted.
"I'm just informing you! From today on, you will belong to me completely! It's just a matter of pushing it down, right? I'm not afraid! Just wait at home!"

"Also! I'm not a henpecked woman! When I was abroad, I had sex with men one after another!"
Liu Min watched as Ye Gu's expression became more and more solemn. The abrupt end of the phone call plunged him into complete darkness.

The car door slammed shut. "Go to York Bar!"

(End of this chapter)