Who would study psychology unless they had some issues?!

Xia Tian pressed her lips together: "The second situation... is a bit simpler to talk about."

After all, this situation is quite common in universities.

Yet, it’s common but never resolved, so it’s only "simple to talk about."

Xia Tian said, "I actually researched this issue for a while since I had to choose a supervisor myself. Fortunately, my current supervisor is pretty good."

Nan Zhubin smiled at Xia Tian.

Indeed, being able to choose a good supervisor truly is luck.

"Nowadays, many graduate students are doing private work for their supervisors under the guise of education, so many privately refer to their supervisors as ’bosses.’"

"But in reality, the relationship between graduate students and supervisors is not an employment relationship, so labor laws do not protect graduate students at school. Students are not employees of the school, and supervisors are not employers. We cannot utilize labor contract law to demand overtime pay or labor conditions."

In other words, supervisors making students work without pay is completely legal...

Nan Zhubin pressed her lips together: "Is there anything students can do?"

"There is, but not through labor law," Xia Tian surprisingly affirmed.

"The Ministry of Education has issued ’Guidelines for Graduate Supervisor Behavior,’ which clearly stipulate supervisors ’ shall not require graduate students to engage in tasks unrelated to academics, research, or social service,’ and ’shall not arbitrarily delay the graduation time of graduate students.’ For supervisors who violate the guidelines, cultivating units can take measures like counseling, restricting admissions, halting admissions, or revoking supervisor qualifications."

Nan Zhubin thought for a moment, quickly finding numerous loopholes in the seemingly rigorous wording.

Sure enough, Xia Tian continued: "But the problem is—these regulations are educational administrative, not legal."

"Their implementation depends on the school’s internal supervision mechanisms, yet in reality, many schools’ supervision mechanisms..."

Xia Tian struggled for wording: "...are essentially nonexistent."

Nan Zhubin pulled at the corner of her mouth.

"Supervisors have absolute power over students—proposal, midterm, defense, graduation—all decided by the supervisor. Students dare not resist because once they do, supervisors don’t need to explicitly punish students; they just need to delay guidance or refuse to sign, then you won’t graduate."

The cost of resistance is too high, and even then there might not be a good outcome.

This is why many graduate students continue to endure silently, choosing to dropout, or worse, instead of revolting.

"If students want to go through the formal complaint channel, the conditions are very harsh."

Xia Tian thought for a bit, dipped her finger in some tea, and dotted three watermarks on the table.

"First, the evidence chain must be complete. Emails, chat logs, task distribution sheets, timelines—these things must fit into a clear logical chain to prove that supervisors are demanding unrelated tasks with graduation qualification as leverage."

"Second, it’s best not to be just one person. If multiple students jointly complain, the evidence’s complementarity and credibility will be higher."

Nan Zhubin thought, trying to summarize: "Simply put... it’s about making a big deal out of it?"

"Hmm... not wrong," Xia Tian covered her mouth, laughing.

Nan Zhubin looked at the tea marks on the table: "And a third point?"

Xia Tian nodded.

"The third—and also most realistic—is to be mentally prepared."

"Students who take this path, regardless of the outcome, will have deteriorating relationships with their supervisors and the academic unit. If the complaint is unsuccessful, students might face even longer graduation delays; even if successful, changing supervisors and adapting to a new research group will also require time and effort."

Having finished these words, she paused.

"Truthfully... this situation isn’t good, it’s wrong, but wanting to correct it... is really difficult."

"Unless there’s some powerful external influence," Xia Tian concluded.

Nan Zhubin nodded.

Then she sighed.

Today’s discussion with Xia Tian wasn’t because he truly wanted to do something legally or academically; he coincidentally wanted to understand the situation.

At most, it might come in handy during psychological consultation later, providing some degree of [psychological education] for Jie Nianzhou.

"Forget it, let’s eat." Nan Zhubin said.

"Mm-hmm," Xia Tian nodded repeatedly.

...

Not far away, Mo Kai furrowed his brows slightly.

Watching Xia Tian and Nan Zhubin not far away with expressions serious as if discussing business, he couldn’t comprehend.

"What are those two talking about?"

"Are they like this when together privately?"

Before Mo Kai could figure it out, a sweet perfume scent wafted beside him suddenly.

"Hey there—" A girl with long straight black hair and wearing a low-cut, tight short dress walked over demurely.

"Uh... I’ve been watching you for a while over there, can I get to know you?"

The girl had an exquisite face, a tall figure not voluptuous but with a slender curve under the tight clothes. In school, she’d be the type young guys would clamor for.

Mo Kai glanced back just once, frowning even more.

Without a second thought, he replied with "No time," then continued to look at Nan Zhubin’s spot.

-----------------

When life is fulfilling, time feels like it flies by.

A month has passed.

Over the past month, Jie Nianzhou has routinely come to the consultation room to meet with Nan Zhubin at fixed times.

Just as he said, he’s trying as much as possible to exert subjective control over "psychological consultation."

In the four consultations this month, Nan Zhubin and Jie Nianzhou’s basic consultation theme remained unchanged, still focusing on managing Jie Nianzhou’s obsessive symptoms, aiming to limit his daytime "recording behavior."

Additionally, Nan Zhubin would take on the pressure of Jie Nianzhou’s daily life, listen to his thoughts on life, and offer corresponding [support].

Including the initial two consultations, a total of six consultations, progress has been consistently forward.

It’s a delightful result.

"Look, this week’s record is even steadier than last week’s."

Before Nan Zhubin was the [Behavior Monitoring Form] taught to Jie Nianzhou during the second consultation.

Jie Nianzhou continuously used this form as a basis for documenting his daily obsessive symptoms as consultation homework.

"On Sunday, only three hours of recording. Your note says ’rainy, indoor working, no review.’" Nan Zhubin smiled and asked Jie Nianzhou, "This is your first time not doing a review, right?"

In the initial phase of fixing Jie Nianzhou’s recording time, Nan Zhubin gradually tried to reduce his daily recording time in subsequent consultations—particularly when not going out.

Jie Nianzhou looked down at the line he wrote: "That day... I didn’t think much. Just, I really felt no need to record that day, since I wasn’t going out, nothing would happen, so no need for a review either..."

"That day you must have had a lot of free time, did you have a good sleep?" Nan Zhubin asked with a smile.

Jie Nianzhou shook his head: "Actually, no... The extra time was still used for work, work is never-ending..."

Maintaining his smile, Nan Zhubin steered the conversation back to a more positive direction.

"This is what I mean by ’behavioral stability,’" Nan Zhubin said, "You no longer need to expend much energy daily resisting the urge to record—it’s become something you can control."

"So... what level is my progress at now?" Jie Nianzhou asked, "According to those stages you mentioned before."

Nan Zhubin leaned back against the sofa, thinking.

"First stage—reducing compulsive behavior—this is what we’re currently doing, and doing well."

"We’ve transitioned from uncontrolled to controlled average daily recording duration, and you can start choosing the circumstances. Plus, you’re already starting to skip post-review." Nan Zhubin explained.

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