152: I must wash today! - 2

Jiang Ye nodded with satisfaction. "Excellent! That was the first step—identifying with it on an internal, spiritual level! Next is the second step—synchronizing your external behavior!"

His gaze shifted downward, landing on their sock-covered feet. He frowned, looking very dissatisfied.

"Look, this is your own home now. The heating is so high that it's not cold at all, yet you're still wearing socks... What does that tell us?"

"It shows that in your subconscious, you still have defenses and barriers. You haven't treated this place as a private space where you can completely relax. How can people interact with each other with a layer of socks in between? Quick, take them off. This is the second step of identification—removing physical isolation!"

Lin Wanxing: "???"

She opened her mouth, feeling that something wasn't quite right.

She could just barely understand that shout from earlier as a way to release pressure, similar to shouting in a valley.

But taking off socks... was he serious?

While she was still pondering this bizarre logic, Su Ning, who followed the principle of "not understanding but respecting and executing perfectly," had already nimbly removed both her socks.

Jiang Ye immediately cast an approving look. "How is it, Little Su? Without that layer of restraint, don't you feel instantly much more relaxed?"

Su Ning stepped on the carpet with her bare feet, stomped a bit, and hopped twice. She let out a surprised "Eh?"

"Don't say it... it really does... feel a bit more natural!"

Lin Wanxing's lips twitched. Seeing Su Ning's "successful experiment" expression, the suspicion in her heart began to waver.

Could there... actually be some scientific basis for this?

She hesitated for a moment, but eventually, unable to resist the pressure to "blend into the environment," she also bent over and slowly took off her socks, revealing her elegantly lined ankles and slender feet.

Stepping onto the carpet with bare feet, a warm sensation traveled up from her soles. It seemed... there really was an inexplicable sense of relaxation, as if a layer of invisible restraint had been lifted.

A "teachable student" smile appeared on Jiang Ye's face.

"That's more like it! Feel it? Sincerity must start from being 'grounded'! Hmm... and there's one last step, the most crucial one!"

As he spoke, he reached out and grabbed an orange from the fruit bowl on the coffee table. He peeled it and gave a segment to both Lin Wanxing and Su Ning.

"Here, take it."

The two girls took the orange segments blankly, wondering what he was up to now.

Jiang Ye casually tossed his own orange segment onto the carpet and stepped right on it.

"Since this is already 'our own home,' it doesn't matter if we get something dirty or act a little crazy occasionally. You don't need to feel any burden."

He pointed at his feet. "Come on, copy me. Crush the orange! The carpet is already covered in cookie crumbs anyway, and it'll have to be washed sooner or later. We might as well use it as a prop!"

Hearing this, even Su Ning, who usually "followed blindly," felt something was a bit off.

These three steps—shouting, taking off socks, stepping on an orange—were linked one after another. The more she thought about it... the ultimate goal didn't seem as simple as just "relaxing."

Seeing them hesitate, Jiang Ye clicked his tongue and patted the coffee table.

"You think I'm talking nonsense? This is all based on psychology!"

"It's called the 'De-familiarization Effect'! The tension brought by a strange environment stems from 'uncertainty'—you don't know where the boundaries of your behavior are."

"Actively dirtying a small area is equivalent to actively breaking the invisible rule of 'must remain perfect.' It turns you from a 'passive adapter' into an 'active transformer,' thereby eliminating your awe of the environment and relaxing your mindset."

Lin Wanxing and Su Ning glanced at each other, tilting their heads simultaneously with complex expressions.

Su Ning: *Whoa, Brother Ye actually knows this much?!*

Lin Wanxing: *As expected of a PUA Master. His theories for fooling people come in sets, and they actually sound quite plausible.*

Lin Wanxing hesitated. Looking at the clean carpet beneath her and feeling the relaxation of her bare feet, she finally decided to give it a try.

She mimicked Jiang Ye, placed the orange segment on the carpet beneath her, steeled herself, closed her eyes, and stepped down hard!

With a "squelch," the orange segment's juice splattered everywhere, leaving a small, damp yellow stain on the carpet.

A subtle mix of guilt and release welled up. Strangely, the last trace of restraint and unfamiliarity with this new environment really seemed to vanish completely with that one step.

She quickly looked at Su Ning and nodded excitedly. "Little Su, try it! It really works!"

Su Ning chuckled and gave an "Mm." She followed suit, dropped her orange segment on the floor, and stepped on it with force.

Juice splattered.

Feeling the sticky sensation under her feet and the inexplicable psychological release, she was about to say something when Jiang Ye suddenly clapped his hands excitedly.

"Oh my! Look at your feet! They're so dirty, covered in orange juice! Wait here! I'll go get some water to wash your feet!"

Lin Wanxing and Su Ning: "???"

Lin Wanxing looked at her juice-covered feet and hurriedly said, "Jiang Ye, don't bother. We can just go back to our rooms and wash them ourselves..."

"Go back to your rooms? How?"

Jiang Ye raised an eyebrow and snorted irritably. "Your feet are covered in orange juice. Won't you leave sticky footprints everywhere and get the whole house dirty? No, no! I have mysophobia! You must wash them right now!"

Su Ning looked at her sticky soles and then instinctively looked at Jiang Ye's feet.

"Brother, didn't you step on it too...?"

"Me? What about me?"

Jiang Ye looked innocent as he slowly lifted his foot, revealing the perfectly intact, though slightly flattened, orange segment underneath. "This was an instructional demonstration. I didn't actually step on it! See? It's perfectly fine!"

Su Ning and Lin Wanxing: "..."

It felt like... something was wrong, but they couldn't quite put their finger on it.

"Alright, alright, stop nagging! Hurry up and sit on the sofa. Keep your feet in the air and don't move! I'm going to get the water! It'll be quick!"

Jiang Ye didn't give them a chance to think further. He turned and walked briskly toward the bathroom, his steps light, appearing almost impatient.

Hearing the sound of splashing water from the bathroom, Lin Wanxing sat back on the sofa with a head full of question marks. She felt that the whole situation, from start to finish, was eerie.

Su Ning looked at their feet, hesitated for a moment, leaned toward Lin Wanxing's ear, and asked in a low whisper:

"Sister Wanxing... do-do-do... do you think he's... a Foot Fetishist?"

Lin Wanxing's heart skipped a beat as she fell into deep thought.