Chapter 49: Like sunlight
"Did you already know Chen Chong wouldn't rush over for revenge?" In the café, Tang Wu had ordered a shaved ice and was scraping at the ice crystals with her spoon, stroke after stroke, but her mind was full of what had just happened.
"No. Actually, for a moment back there, I think Chen Chong did want to charge at me," Su Can said after some thought.
The spoon in Tang Wu's hand suddenly stopped. Anyone who had not witnessed what had happened at school would naturally have no idea how practiced and vicious Chen Chong's three slashes at Mao Xiaoshi had been. But when that same misfortune threatened to befall someone else, those who had relished discussing it were sure to turn deathly pale at once.
"Leisi made a beautiful woman out of clay and named her Pandora. Pandora had Pandora's Box as her dowry. The god told her that the box contained the most ominous things and must never be opened! But like other girls, Pandora was curious about mysterious things. In the end, she couldn't resist opening it. All the diseases, madness, evil, jealousy, and other calamities inside flew out across the world. From then on, the human world was filled with ugliness and disaster." Su Can smiled. "This is psychological reactance, also called oppositional psychology-a state of mind in which people often adopt contrary attitudes, words, and actions toward certain things and demands to protect their self-esteem." Lately, Su Can had devoted all his spare time after class to works on behavioral psychology. He recalled the earlier scene.
He said, "Chen Chong was in precisely that extremely conflicted, oppositional state just now. Seeing me instinctively made him angry, but it also made him think of the consequences he would face if he