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

Chapter 22 Beautiful Elders

"Thank you, Dr. Xie." Chu Shengqian chuckled. "I really didn't hide anything. Aunt Gu just misunderstood. What I watched last night wasn't some unhealthy video at all."

"Oh?" Xie Yunyi rested her chin on her hand, her white coat sleeve slipping down slightly to reveal a section of her fair wrist. "What's that?"

"New media".

"Be more specific."

"Virtual streamer".

Xie Yunyi blinked, slowly took off her glasses, and placed them on the table: "I see."

Chu Sheng was secretly delighted: "You understand?"

"I understand." Xie Yunyi nodded. "It's an industry where viewers pay to hear a virtual character insult them, and then praise the streamer for their high emotional intelligence. I have quite a few cases of virtual streamers here. Would you like to learn more about them?"

Chu Sheng was stunned and shook his head.

Xie Yunyi reached for a small remote control on the coffee table next to her and turned up the white noise in the office a little.

"Let me make this clear first." She opened her notebook. "You're eighteen now, and my conversation with you will be kept secret from Gu Yanru. Unless you pose a risk to yourself or others, or are involved in legal obligations, I will not relay your exact words to her."

Chu Sheng's eyes lit up: "Really?"

"Really." Xie Yunyi smiled. "So you can keep making things up now."

"..."

"Okay." Xie Yunyi placed the pen tip on the paper. "Let me rephrase the question. What is the thing in this room that makes you most alert?"

Chu Sheng was taken aback: "Huh?"

"My first reaction."

"Door."

"reason."

"Aunt Gu is outside."

"Does Gu Yanru's presence outside make you feel dangerous?"

"There's no danger," Chu Sheng scratched his head. "It's just... if she suddenly walked in, I'd have a feeling of being caught red-handed."

Xie Yunyi lowered her head and wrote: "Caught red-handed. Do you often feel this way?"

"It's not that often."

Xie Yunyi smiled gently and leaned back on the sofa. Her posture was very relaxed, and the black tight dress was stretched taut by her ample hips.

Chu Sheng's ears started to burn after just one glance.

Xie Yunyi seemed to have expected this. She picked up her pen and tapped the notebook lightly: "You can look, but don't pretend you don't know anything after you've finished reading. Your gaze lingered for a second before you started feeling guilty."

Chu Sheng almost spat out his cola: "Wait, Dr. Xie, you wrote this down too?"

"Of course I'll remember," Xie Yunyi said with a smile. "Shame responses are very important clinical data."

Xie Yunyi didn't tease him any further: "How has your sleep been these past week? Please be as specific as possible about when you fall asleep, how many times you wake up at night, and how often you wake up early."

Chu Sheng thought for a moment: "I go to bed a little late, usually after midnight, sometimes around 1 a.m. I don't wake up often at night, but Aunt Gu wakes me up in the morning."

"The emotions when being woken up."

"Terrification."

Why?

Because I might fall asleep and turn into a silver-haired, twin-tailed gothic lolita.

Chu Sheng said in a serious tone, "Young people are all afraid of getting up early."

Xie Yunyi didn't laugh: "You're very good at turning problems into jokes. Doing so gives you a sense of control, right?"

Chu Sheng was taken aback: "This can be analyzed?"

"Yes." Xie Yunyi raised her eyes. "Let me ask a more abstract question. Imagine your life is a house. When Gu Yanru opens the door, does she see your tidy living room or your bedroom?"

Chu Sheng was stumped by the question. After thinking for a long time, he whispered, "The living room, I guess."

What's in the bedroom?

"privacy."

"Anything else?"

"A jumbled mess of stuff."

Xie Yunyi turned a page in her notebook, her fingertips resting on the paper. Her fingers were beautiful, long and slender, with neatly manicured nails. Chu Sheng had initially wanted to lower his head to avoid her gaze, but his eyes fell on her hands, and were then drawn away by the bulge in her chest, half-hidden by her white coat.

He quickly gulped down the cola. Xie Yunyi parted her red lips slightly: "Don't rush, drinking too fast will make you hiccup. Continue, have you had any obvious somatic reactions recently? Chest tightness, stomach contractions, sweaty palms, rapid heartbeat, or a feeling of blockage in the throat?"

Chu Sheng thought for a moment, and it seemed that he had all of them before going on stage yesterday, and he still had half of them when he sat here today.

"A little."

"In which scenarios is it most obvious?"

"When Aunt Gu was watching me. And... when I was being watched by someone really powerful."

"A capable person?"

"Like you."

Xie Yunyi lowered her head and wrote two words. Chu Sheng craned his neck to see, but she blocked him with the tip of her pen: "Patients are not allowed to peek at their medical records."

Chu Sheng silently shrank further into the sofa. Xie Yunyi asked again, "When Gu Yanru controls your schedule, diet, reading, and internet use, what do you feel most strongly? Anger, shame, reassurance, feeling violated, or a desire to escape?"

Chu Sheng remained silent for a long while before replying, "Yes, I have both."

Sort by intensity.

"Shame comes first, wanting to escape second, peace of mind third, and anger fourth."

Why is Anxin ranked third?

Chu Li replied matter-of-factly, "Having someone provide meals, leave the light on, and ask what time you're going to sleep... that should make you feel at ease, right?"

Xie Yunyi paused, her pen still. "You've rarely been taken care of like this before?"

"No, not exactly." Chu Sheng subconsciously explained on behalf of his family, "My parents are very good to me, they're just quite busy."

"Your guard will lower a little when you mention Gu Yanru," Xie Yunyi said, changing the subject, "especially after she took care of you."

Chu Sheng coughed lightly: "Aunt Gu is quite nice."

"You're afraid of her, yet you depend on her," Xie Yunyi said quietly, shifting her posture and leaning forward slightly.

"Chu Sheng, I have a very professional question for you, one that could easily make you feel awkward. You don't have to answer, but you can't lie."

Chu Sheng had a bad feeling and swallowed hard. "You go first."

"Are your feelings for Gu Yanru closer to fear of a teacher, attachment to a mother, or attraction to the opposite sex?"

Chu Sheng opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything for a long time.

"Emotional displacement, authority projection, attachment needs, and adolescent sexualization reactions are naturally all intertwined." Xie Yunyi narrowed her eyes when she saw that he didn't answer. "You're eighteen years old, living in the home of a mature, beautiful, controlling woman who takes meticulous care of you. It's normal to have a confused reaction."

Xie Yunyi didn't urge him, but simply tapped the notebook lightly with her pen.

"She's a teacher, isn't she?" Chu Sheng finally whispered. "She's a professor."

"Anything else?"

"elder."

"Anything else?"

"...a beautiful elder."

Xie Yunyi smiled: "That's a more honest answer."

Xie Yunyi raised her hand and brushed her loose curly hair behind her shoulder. The movement tightened her cardigan, and her white coat spread out to the sides. Chu Sheng didn't dare to look around, so he stared at the bookshelf behind her.

Xie Yunyi noticed this and deliberately asked, "Are you avoiding me now, or are you avoiding your own reaction?"

Chu Sheng knew she had ill intentions, so he remained silent.

Xie Yunyi lowered her head again to take notes: "Next question. Do you have a habit of repeatedly checking certain things? Door locks, phone records, clothing condition, physical condition, account privacy, other people's expressions."

Chu Sheng's heart skipped a beat. Checking on Xiao Chu Sheng before and after each transformation to see if he was still alive—wasn't that a form of repeated confirmation?