232 What I Thought of Mental Illness

"You are right," said Wang Yao with a smile.

Chen Ying's working environment and salary were probably better than 90% of the employees in China. She also had the opportunity to interact with people of higher social status. It was her invisible wealth.

Of course, she also lost a lot of freedom while she was gaining from her work.

Chen Ying cooked Wang Yao a table of special dishes.

"What are these dishes?" asked Wang Yao.

"The authentic dishes from my hometown. Try them," said Chen Ying.

"Okay," said Wang Yao.

"Hmmm...they are delicious! The taste is quite special!" said Wang Yao after he had tried it.

"Thank you," said Chen Ying.

They had a break after lunch then went out together.

"Tell me about your brother," said Wang Yao.

"His condition is quite special. You will know when you see him." Every time Chen Ying mentioned her brother, she looked concerned; Wang Yao could tell from her eyes.

Chen Ying didn't drive fast as it was peak hour; they were in Beijing which had the worst traffic conditions in the country.

Chen Ying drove to a special place after about two hours.

"What is this place?" asked Wang Yao.

Wang Yao was surprised to see the name of the place. Part of it stated "Mental Illness Rehabilitation Unit." It was a nice way to put it, but in fact, the place was a mental health hospital.

That's why Chen Ying didn't want to talk about it, thought Wang Yao.

"Hey, make sure you are all in good spirit because President Trump will come to inspect this place in the afternoon!" said one of the patients.

"Trump? I thought it was Putin coming in the afternoon," said another patient.

"The price of gold only dropped temporarily; it will go up in the long run," said a patient sitting next to the window.

"Doctor, I think I'm perfectly fine, except that I've got psychosis," said one of the patients.

"Let me go! The people in this country need me!" someone shouted.

Wang Yao heard several patients talking when he was walking inside the hospital. Then he saw people he had never seen before. Those people either looked dull, or overexcited, or spooky. Essentially, none of them were normal.

"Good morning, are you here to visit a patient?" Suddenly a doctor with a slicked back hairstyle and a white coat came in front of Wang Yao and Chen Ying.

"Yes, doctor," said Chen Ying.

"Good! Try to talk more with the patient, encourage them to accept the treatment. Often the encouragement from family members will have a positive impact on their treatment." said the doctor seriously.

"Sure, doctor," said Chen Ying.

"See you later," said the doctor who was about to leave.

Wang Yao looked at that doctor with a smile.

"What's wrong, Dr. Wang?" asked Chen Ying.

"Nothing." Wang Yao turned to the doctor. "Your colleagues will arrive soon," Wang Yao said with a smile.

"What do you mean, young man?" asked the doctor seriously.

"He's over there! Chenxin, stop!" Several doctors were running towards them.

"As medical staff, you guys shouldn't be panicking. You are not professional at all!" The so-called Dr. Cheng turned around slowly and was about to leave, but he was pressed down by several male doctors.

"Damn it! Send him to the private therapy room, double the dose of his medicine," said one of the doctors.

"I think I should take more vitamins instead of Neuroleptics. I was just bleeding in my gums. I don't have a mental illness, and Thioridazine tastes weird. Why can't it be made in grape or orange flavor?" said the patient who called himself Dr. Cheng.

"Shut up! Who told you you were taking Thioridazine?!" shouted one of the doctors.

"Don't you remember that I told you I'm a medical doctor who graduated from Tsinghua University?" said the patient.

"Don't talk to him! He'll misguide you!" said another doctor.

"Remember that I've told you it's important to communicate with the patients," said the patient.

"Can someone seal his mouth?!" shouted a male doctor.

"I'm sorry, I hope he hasn't said anything to confuse you," said a female doctor who was looking at Wang Yao and Chen Ying nervously.

"Nothing, we just heard what he had told you guys," said Wang Yao.

"Good, no matter what he told you, please don't take it seriously. He almost drove one of our interns crazy last month," said the female doctor.

"Okay, I see, thank you," said Wang Yao.

"How could you tell that he was not normal?" asked Chen Ying curiously.

Chen Ying didn't suspect that the patient was a fake doctor at all.

"I could tell from his hairstyle, eye contact and the way he communicated with us," said Wang Yao. "I was just presuming."

But the way that the patient was looking at Wang Yao did make him surprised. The patient looked calm, but Wang Yao could feel something special inside him.

Maybe the patient was special in some aspects.

Soon, they met Chen Ying's brother, a drooling teenager with a silly smile on his face. He seemed to be about 15 years old.

"Hello, Miss Chen, welcome!" said a nurse.

"Zhou, your sister is here to visit you." The nurse wiped the drool around Chen Ying's brother's mouth.

"You are wrong!" Chen Ying's brother's face suddenly changed out of the blue. He looked very serious.

"The victim was murdered. He didn't kill himself!" said Chen Ying's brother.

"Why couldn't I resist his sword from the west side with my 49 sword styles?!" His look changed again.

Wang Yao was shocked.

He's got such a weird condition.

Wang Yao suddenly stretched out his arm and grabbed the wrist of Chen Ying's brother's.

"What are you doing? How dare you to be so rude to me!" shouted Chen Ying's brother.

He had switched among several identities in such a short time.

Wang Yao just ignored him. He grabbed Chen Ying's brother's wrist and checked his pulse. Wang Yao felt the strength through his arm which a teenager shouldn't possess. Fortunately, Wang Yao was strong enough to hold onto Chen Ying's brother. Otherwise, Chen Ying's brother would have escaped.

What a weird pulse!

"Hi, Sis, when did you come?" Chen Ying's brother suddenly went back to his normal self.

"I just arrived," said Chen Ying softly.

"Did I speak nonsense again?" asked Chen Ying's brother.

"Not really," said Chen Ying.

"Who is he?" Chen Ying's brother looked at Wang Yao.

"He is the doctor I invited here to see you," said Chen Ying.

"Sis, no one can cure me. Don't waste time on me anymore," said Chen Ying's brother.

The teenager's eyes became bright again. The way he talked was quite mature and normal.

"His pulse has changed, too," said Wang Yao to Chen Ying.

How strange!

The teenager seemed to suffer from a personality disorder. Wang Yao didn't know what to do about him.

"What do you think, Dr. Wang?" asked Chen Ying.

"Sorry, I don't know how to treat him," said Wang Yao.

"I see," said Chen Ying. It was inevitable for her to feel disappointed.

She chatted with her brother for a short while until the doctor came to remind her of the visiting hours.

"Sis, don't worry about me anymore. You don't need to come to see me in the future," said Chen Ying's brother.

He was alert and normal during the whole time he was talking to his sister. He was no different than a normal person.

"I will get you out of here as soon as I can," said Chen Ying.

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine here," said her brother.

Even Wang Yao felt sad about him, let alone Chen Ying. Who would think it was fine to stay in a mental health institution? No one here was normal except for the doctors. Maybe even some of the doctors were not normal.

"You just saw my brother Chen Zhou," said Chen Ying after they came out of the hospital.

"He suddenly became mentally ill four years ago when he was in junior high school. We've taken him to a number of hospitals to see quite a few doctors and specialists, but he couldn't be cured. Only me in the family can take care of him now. We didn't have a choice. We had to admit him to a mental health hospital," said Chen Ying.

"So he was in junior high school four years ago, how old is he now?" asked Wang Yao.

"He has turned 18," said Chen Ying.

"18? How come he looks like a 12-year-old kid?" asked Wang Yao.

"Yes, He didn't grow older in the last four years. On the contrary, he has been getting younger." Chen Ying took out her phone to show her brother's photos to Wang Yao as if she was afraid that Wang Yao didn't understand her. The photos proved what Chen Ying said. Her brother looked younger and younger over the years. He was rejuvenating.

It raised attention from Wang Yao.

Don't tell me mental illness could make people younger. I should have observed other patients in that hospital.

"Let me think it over what I can do for your brother," said Wang Yao.

Chen Ying's brother's condition was considered extremely difficult to treat. In fact, mental illness could be a result of many factors. Up till now, most mental health conditions couldn't be treated by medicine or other methods.

"Thank you in advance," said Chen Ying.

When Wang Yao had returned to the cottage, there was a visitor waiting for him, a middle-aged woman. It was Song Ruiping, Su Xiaoxue's mother.

"Hello, Dr. Wang," said Song Ruiping.

"Hello, Ms. Song, what can I do for you?" asked Wang Yao.

"Nothing special, I just wanted to visit you on my way home," said Song Ruiping.

"Please come in and take a seat," said Wang Yao.

Chen Ying made a cup of tea for Song Ruiping.

In fact, the cottage belonged to Su Xiaoxue's family. Wang Yao just lived there with the permission of Su Xiaoxue's family. It was strange that Song Ruiping made Wang Yao feel like he was the owner of the cottage.

"How is everything going here? Are you happy with the place?" asked Song Ruiping.

"Everything is good here," said Wang Yao almost subconsciously.

"Great, I'm glad you like it here," said Song Ruiping.

She didn't stay for long.

It started to get dark. Chen Ying had made dinner. She looked a bit upset, maybe because of her brother.

Wang Yao guessed that Chen Ying probably didn't have any other family members except for her brother.

"I will go to see Su Xiaoxue again in the evening. You don't need to come with me if you don't want to." Normally Chen Ying accompanied him to Su Xiaoxue's house every time. She would wait for him outside the house. Wang Yao was happy for her to stay in the cottage as he could tell Chen Ying was in a low mood.

"I'm fine. I'll go with you. It's good for me to get out of the cottage," said Chen Ying.

Wang Yao went to the same house to see the same patient in the evening.

The gauze was gently removed from Su Xiaoxue's head. Wang Yao saw her horrible face again which was still full of ulcers. But it was different this time. There was a big difference between each side of Su Xiaoxue's face. The left side of her face was still full of ulcers, which were as dark as death and rot. But the right side started to show new pink muscle, which was as bright as an oasis in the desert.

Wang Yao deliberately applied the decoction only to the right side of Su Xiaoxue's face last time.

"It worked!" Although Song Ruiping anticipated the changes in Su Xiaoxue's face, she was too excited to hide her feelings.

"Great! It's working!" said Wang Yao.

He decided to continue with the treatment. He took out a porcelain bottle out of his pocket. The unique smell of the decoction came out of the bottle after Wang Yao had opened it.

The decoction inside the bottle was different from the one Wang Yao used last time. This time Wang Yao didn't dilute the Muscle Revitalizing powder. The decoction was as thick as honey. The drops came out of the bottle very slowly.

A very observant Song Ruiping noticed the change immediately.