My aunt is a magical girl, and so am I.

Chapter 23 Let Me Explain

"A little," Chu Sheng said cautiously.

Which category is the most common?

"Mobile phone privacy".

"besides?"

"Door lock."

"besides?"

"Clothes," Chu Sheng said, then quickly added, "I'm a clean person."

Xie Yunyi looked up: "How are you feeling?"

Chu Sheng's fingers trembled, and the Coke bottle cap fell onto the carpet. He immediately bent down to pick it up: "It's gone."

"Hmm." Xie Yunyi wrote a line in her notebook, not sure if she believed it or not, "Are there times when you feel like you're not yourself?"

"For example?" Chu Sheng asked tentatively.

"For example, when you stand in front of a mirror, you feel that the person in the mirror is distant from the person you imagine yourself to be. Or in certain stressful situations, you might switch to a different personality—one that is braver, more beautiful, and better at pleasing the audience. That person speaks for you, performs for you, and gets attention for you."

"No," Chu Sheng said, forcing himself to speak.

"Then why do you want to be a virtual YouTuber?" Xie Yunyi seemed to see right through her.

She put down her pen and placed her hands, folded, on her knees: "A virtual YouTuber is essentially a self that has been designed. The suit, voice, persona, live stream title, audience address, opening remarks, and closing remarks—these things help you establish an identity that can be viewed. Your interest in this industry means you have a need for 'another self.'"

Chu Sheng remained silent for a long time.

"I just want to be seen," he said.

Xie Yunyi's gaze softened slightly: "Who saw it?"

Chu Sheng lowered his head, clutching the Coke bottle: "Anything is fine."

"Anything is fine" usually means that you can't say what you want most.

"Fans, I guess." Chu Sheng thought for a moment. "People on the other side of the screen, whether they just passed by, cursed at me, or gave me a like, at least it shows they saw me."

"Where's Gu Yanru? Do you want her to see you?"

Chu Sheng chuckled dryly: "She's been watching me every day; she's almost figured me out."

"What I'm asking is to see the real you."

The real me?

"I don't want to," he said softly.

Xie Yunyi looked at him: "The reason."

"She will be disappointed."

"Is her disappointment in you more terrifying than her not knowing who you are?"

Chu Sheng didn't answer, suddenly feeling very annoyed. This woman in front of him clearly knew nothing, yet the questions she asked were so precise they were almost disgusting.

Xie Yunyi was writing something on the paper without looking up: "You care a lot about her opinion of you."

"I'm living under someone else's roof, of course I care," Chu Sheng said, his smile more like a grimace.

"Don't revert to the safe answer," Xie Yunyi said as she wrote. "Don't you have this urge that you wish she would interfere more with you?"

Chu Sheng's eyes darted around: "No!"

Xie Yunyi continued, "You pay a lot of attention to mature women. Gu Yanru, me, and probably others like that. You tend to be more obedient, more nervous, and more likely to show people-pleasing tendencies in front of them. Do you accept this assessment?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Sheng immediately blushed: "Dr. Xie, don't slander an innocent person!"

"After I pointed out that you were looking at legs, you started forcing yourself to look at the bookshelf. This is a corrective behavior after feeling ashamed," Xie Yunyi said slowly. "You're not so averse to desire itself; what you're averse to is being discovered to have desires by an authoritative woman."

She didn't press the matter further, and said seriously, "Next is identity continuity. Do you think there's a secret in your life that started very early on? This secret requires you to play the role of a normal person for a long time."

Chu Sheng's expression changed slightly. Xie Yunyi noticed this and stopped writing.

"Yes," Chu Sheng said.

Xie Yunyi didn't press him further, waiting for him to continue.

Chu Sheng looked into her eyes and said seriously, "Poor."

Xie Yunyi looked at him quietly for a while before speaking: "Have you ever been involved in dangerous activities?"

"For example, going out at high altitudes, going out at night, impulsive behavior without protection, meeting strangers offline, and participating in high-risk activities," Xie Yunyi listed one by one. "Your Aunt Gu said that there was a period of time when she couldn't contact you shortly after you arrived."

That means he's gone to the sky to fight Warcraft.

"I'm lost."

"You didn't ask for help immediately."

"I care about my image."

Are you afraid of troubling others?

"I'm also afraid of being seen as useless."

Xie Yunyi wrote this sentence: "Are you very sensitive to the word 'waste'?"

Chu Sheng paused for a moment: "Who likes being treated like trash?"

Do you often measure yourself by your sense of self-worth? For example, whether anyone pays attention to you, whether you have fans, whether you have achievements, or whether you have been recognized by someone important.

Chu Sheng fell silent. Xie Yunyi looked at the bottle in his hand: "You've practically torn the label off."

Chu Sheng looked down and found that the Coca-Cola label had been crumpled up by him.

"You can leave after answering the last few questions," Xie Yunyi said, leaning back on the sofa. "If we divide your psychological needs into four categories: being cared for, being recognized, being allowed freedom, and having secrets kept, which one do you lack most right now?"

Chu Sheng thought for a moment: "Keep the secret."

"The second one?"

"Being recognized".

"third?"

"Being allowed freedom."

"Were you the last one to be taken care of?"

Chu Sheng stubbornly replied, "I'm a grown man, I don't need anyone to take care of me."

"A bit too stubborn." Xie Yunyi nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "If there's a stage, and everyone in the audience is watching you, and they all like you. At the same time, Gu Yanru is standing at the door, and she sees you on stage. Would you want her to applaud and stop you, or pretend you didn't see her?"

Chu Sheng broke out in a cold sweat at the thought of the scene, his eyes filled with undisguised fear: "I hope she doesn't come!"

"She's here?"

"Then... let's clap."

"Why not stop it?"

"Because I've already stood up there," Chu Sheng said in a low voice. "If she stops me in front of everyone, I'll be very embarrassed."

He added in a low voice, "Dr. Xie, everyone needs to have dreams in life."

"Does your dream need her approval?"

"It's not exactly approval," Chu Sheng scratched his head, "It's just... as long as she doesn't dislike it."

Xie Yunyi's gaze became meaningful. She didn't comment on the sentence, but simply wrote another line on her notebook.

"One last question," Xie Yunyi put down her pen, "If you had to tell Gu Yanru only one truth, what would you say?"

"Aunt Gu," he said, head bowed, "let me explain."

The office was silent for a few seconds, then Xie Yunyi burst out laughing.

Chu Sheng blushed furiously: "What's so funny?"

"Very good." Xie Yunyi suppressed a laugh, put her glasses back on, and wrote a paragraph at the bottom of the notebook.

After a moment, Xie Yunyi closed her notebook, looked up at him, and said, "Chu Sheng, I have a suggestion for you."

"Please speak," Chu Sheng said, sitting up straight.

"I'm not interested in your little secrets, and you can continue to hide them." Xie Yunyi looked into his eyes, "but you'd better figure out whether you're protecting a secret or protecting the version of yourself that you're afraid Gu Yanru will see."