This chapter opens with a discussion between the teacher and her student. The teacher tells the student that she knows how to do the tests, but that she has begun to dread taking the tests more and more since the incident with her father. She says that she is strict with her student, but she will not use violence to punish him for his disobedience. The student says that he is not like his father, who is a violent man. He says that if he continues to act like this, he will not be able to advance in his studies. He asks the teacher if she thinks that the symptoms of anxiety that the student has described might be caused by the violence that is occurring between his father and Mr. xie, and the teacher says that it is her job to look after the student's welfare. She asks the student if he still feels nervous when he takes the mock exam three weeks after the treatment, and she says that the reason he feels nervous is because he might have associated the task with an "overwhelming pressure of failure." The teacher advises the student not to be afraid of what is yet to happen, but to focus on what he would like to accomplish.