A psychologist has to hold his professional boundaries when he runs into his proud, prickly patient in a place he never expected.
The Afternoon Visitor
下午四点的咨询室很安静，只有窗外偶尔传来几声鸟叫。
At four in the afternoon the counseling room was quiet, with only the occasional birdsong drifting in from outside the window.
林医生刚把上一位病人的茶杯收拾好，门就被推开了。
Dr. Lin had just cleared away the previous patient's teacup when the door was pushed open.
Ms. Chen
「你就是林医生？我时间不多，咱们直接说重点吧。」
"So you're Dr. Lin? I don't have much time, so let's just get straight to the point."
她一身的套装，把手提包往沙发上一扔，那姿态。
In an impeccably tailored suit, she tossed her handbag onto the sofa, her whole bearing arrogant and overbearing.
Ms. Chen
「我管着两百号人，可一回到家，连句真心话都没人跟我说。」
"I'm in charge of two hundred people, yet the moment I get home, there's not a single person who'll say one honest word to me."
Behind the Proud Shell
前几次见面，她说话又快又冲，林医生只是安静地听，很少打断。
In their first few sessions she spoke fast and sharp, and Dr. Lin simply listened in silence, rarely cutting in.
Ms. Chen
「我三岁就被了。每换一户人家，我就得重新学怎么讨人喜欢。」
"I was given up for adoption at three. Every time I moved to a new family, I had to learn all over again how to make people like me."
Ms. Chen
「后来我想通了——只要我够强，谁也不能再把我赶出门。」
"Eventually it dawned on me: as long as I'm strong enough, no one can ever throw me out again."
她说自己拼命加班、，朋友约她，她次次都推。
She told him how she threw herself into overtime and spent money freely, and whenever friends invited her out, she turned them down every single time.
Ms. Chen
「热闹是别人的。我守着自己这堵墙，谁也别想进来。」
"All that liveliness belongs to other people. I guard this wall of mine, and nobody gets to come in."
The Encounter Outside the Temple
一个周末的傍晚，林医生路过城郊的老寺庙，意外在墙根下看见了她。
One weekend at dusk, as Dr. Lin passed an old temple on the edge of town, he was startled to spot her sitting at the foot of the wall.
她没穿那身光鲜的套装，靠着墙，手里着一张旧照片。
She wasn't in that polished suit; she leaned against the wall, an old photograph clutched tight in her hand.
林医生停下脚步——按规矩，他该绕开，守住医生和病人之间的。
Dr. Lin stopped in his tracks. By the rules, he should have walked around her, holding the line between doctor and patient.
可她抬起头，那双眼睛红红的，他实在没法装作没看见。
But she looked up, her eyes red and swollen, and he simply couldn't pretend he hadn't seen her.
Ms. Chen
「照片上是收养我的第一个妈妈。我连一句谢谢，都没来得及说。」
"The woman in this photo is the first mother who took me in. I never even got the chance to say thank you."
The Wall Crumbles on Its Own
他没坐到她身边，只是在不远处站着，把话题轻轻引开。
He didn't sit down beside her; he just stood a little way off and gently steered the conversation elsewhere.
Dr. Lin
「市里有家缺人手。这是建议，不是处方——去不去，你自己定。」
"There's an orphanage in the city that's short of helping hands. This is a suggestion, not a prescription — whether you go is entirely up to you."
起初她一口，说自己又不是没事干的闲人。
At first she flatly refused, saying she was hardly some idle person with nothing better to do.
可两周后，她发来一段视频：一个小女孩正搂着她的脖子直笑。
Yet two weeks later, she sent him a video: a little girl with her arms around the woman's neck, giggling away.
Ms. Chen
「她也是被的。她搂着我那一下，我那堵墙……好像松了一块砖。」
"She was adopted too. The moment she hugged me, that wall of mine... it felt like one of the bricks came loose."