He doesn't recognize anyone, and his eating, bathing, and all aspects of life are done purely out of habit. Even a complete series of actions, if interrupted, will freeze in place, maintaining the previous position without moving.
While Yan Xi was taking a shower, A Heng handed him his pajamas. Although they were placed outside the door, he stopped mechanically rubbing his hair after hearing A Heng's footsteps, and stood still under the shower.
His hair and face were covered in white foam.
Through the window, amidst the misty fog, only her large eyes, reddened by bubbles underwater, remained unblinking.
She looked into his eyes and gently knocked on the window.
His eyes briefly focused, then quietly turned to the window, looking at her with a calm, stagnant gaze.
Ah Heng gently placed her hands on his hair and slowly rubbed it, demonstrating the action to him.
He gazed at her for a long time, then began to ruffle her hair again, the movement almost identical to hers.
However, he held the doorplate awkwardly with his left hand.
Ah Heng laughed and let him be.
Yan hope used to have a bad habit when eating: he would never stop talking to her, his eyebrows would gesticulate wildly, and his saliva would almost spray to Antarctica. He would go from praising his own good looks to saying that the hula dance in Hawaii is very cool, and from saying that he hates this dish to saying that abalone actually looks like a fried egg when it is cooked.
Every time, she felt like hitting him on the head with a frying pan. "Why do you talk so much? It's so noisy, so noisy..."
Now, no one is arguing with her anymore...
The boy sat there, intently scooping rice into his bowl, like a toddler just learning to eat, serious and focused.
His movements were stiff; he carefully placed the spoon in his mouth with his right hand, then put it down, chewed, and swallowed, without even lowering his head.
She puts whatever food on his plate, and he eats it all. He no longer complains about how fatty the ribs are, and he no longer acts like a picky eater, saying things like, "I won't eat this! I won't eat it! I'd rather die than eat this!" Now he's so well-behaved...
She served him soup, and he obediently drank it, but he still didn't lower his head. He put the spoon in his mouth, and a few drops dripped onto his clothes.
Aheng took a tissue and wiped his mouth, then asked him with a smile, "Yanxi, why don't you lower your head to drink?"
He looked at her blankly, while Aheng lowered her head and made a gesture as if she were drinking soup.
He suddenly threw down the spoon, which landed in the bowl, splashing soup all over the table. He covered his nose, carefully tilted his head, and spoke.
"My nose hurts."
Ah Heng was stunned.
She reached out and brushed his hand away; on her nose, there was nothing but a red mark from where he had covered her nose.
She let go and looked at the boy, wanting to find an answer, but he had already mechanically gripped the spoon again, his gaze seemingly fixed on a certain point, yet also as if veiled by a layer of cloth.
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On the first day of school, she said, "Yanxi, you stay at home obediently. Aunt Zhang will bring you lunch at noon, okay?"
He glanced at her, then his gaze slowly drifted into the distance.
Then, after school that evening, she rushed home and saw Yan hope sitting at the dining table, still holding a spoon in his hand, motionless, while the food on the table had long since gone cold.
Rice grains were still stuck to the corners of his mouth. And the boy's clothes were soaked with soup and water, completely stained.
Ah Heng sighed and dialed the Wen family's home phone number—Grandpa, don't bother Aunt Zhang to bring you food tomorrow.
Turning around, she gazed at the young man, whose eyes were soft and gentle, and whose heart she could reach out and touch.
She said, "Yanxi, be good, okay? I'll take you to class tomorrow. Be good, okay?"
He gripped the doorplate in his left hand, lowered his head, and traced a square outline on the doorplate with his slender white index finger, remaining silent and focused.
Ah Heng smiled and said, "Yan hope, does your nose still hurt?"
He listened for a long time, and just when Ah Heng was about to give up, he slightly raised his head, looked at her, and nodded.
Then, he covered his nose tightly, his face scrunched up.
The expression showed that it hurt a lot.
She asked Siwan if Yanxi had been complaining of a sore nose when he fell ill two years ago.
Siwan smiled bitterly. Two years ago, he only said that his feet hurt.
Why?
Aheng asked him.
Siwan sighed—Dr. Zheng had asked him during hypnosis during a previous treatment, and he said that Cinderella had lost her glass slipper and her feet hurt a lot.
Aheng had a sudden thought—Yan hope…when did he return home after the accident?
Siwan frowned—she wasn't sure of the exact time, but it must have been past midnight.
At midnight, Cinderella lost her glass slipper...
At midnight, Yan hope lost himself...
At that moment, he found her and brought her home. Looking at the clock, he felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders—thankfully, it wasn't midnight yet…
He told her, "Aheng, you must be home before midnight, okay?"
Grimm's fairy tales tell us that those who don't go home by midnight will become dirty children crawling in coal dust, and will be abandoned by the world once again. Is that true...?
But why is it "nose pain" this time?
Siwan thought for a moment, then read out a phone number—call this, Dr. Zheng's number, he might know the answer.
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The next day, when I took Yan hope to school, everyone seemed to have heard something. They looked at Yan hope with even more unfocused eyes than the boy himself, and awkwardly pretended that everything was normal.
Class teacher Ms. Lin frowned—Wen Heng, this…
Ah Heng smiled and said, "Teacher Lin, you don't need to be in a difficult position."
She carried her schoolbag, pulled Yan hope along, and brought her whole family to sit in the corner of the last row.
Mary's eyes reddened. She followed behind Ah Heng, kicked the others away, and sat down next to them.
Ah Heng smiled and said, "Let me make this clear first, I only raise pigs, not rabbits."
Rou Si, her face red and teary-eyed, glanced at Yan Xi, who was born in the Year of the Pig, then hugged Aheng and began to cry and wring her arms—"My poor Aheng, why is your life so miserable..."
Xin Dayi blinked her tears and nodded—"That's right, that's right, just as pitiful as Xianglin's Wife..."
Rousi let go, slammed her hand on the table, and pointed—Xin Dayi, you're talking nonsense! At least Xianglin's wife had a wedding ceremony and a child, but my sister didn't even hold your brother's hand more than a few times before she became a widow!
Ah Heng was speechless, her lips twitching as she glanced at Yan hope.
Thank goodness the child couldn't understand...
During lunch, Yan hope didn't lower his head. His movements were mechanical, like a child. The sauce from the ribs dripped onto his coat. Xin Dayi took a spoon, scooped out some ribs, and was about to feed him.
"Yan Meiren, this is your favorite food. I'm condescending to feed you. You need to get better soon, you know?" The spoon hadn't even touched Yan Xi's lips yet, it was still hanging in mid-air. Her big, dark, bright eyes instantly filled with tears, making her look as aggrieved as a child.
Immediately, her slender hand, somewhat roughly, pushed away Xin Dayi's spoon.
Xin Dayi was startled and stood frozen in place.
Aheng asked in surprise, her voice gentle, "Yanxi, what's wrong? Does your nose hurt again?"
He remained silent, covering his nose, his muffled voice growing longer.
Rou Si opened her mouth wide—what…what does this mean? Yan hope wouldn’t be…a fool…uh…Xin Feifei, why the hell are you covering my mouth!
Ah Heng smiled faintly, glanced at the two of them, and the two felt guilty and lowered their heads to eat.
She turned to Yan hope, and the boy started to awkwardly put ribs into his mouth again, the sauce about to drip off.
However, once he was lost in his own world, his expression returned to its innocent state, unlike his previous expressionless face.
Ah Heng smiled, looking at him with an expression of indulgence and doting.
In the front row, several class monitors were urging students to hand in their homework. They walked around and around, and one of the boys accidentally bumped into Yan hope when he walked to the back.
The person walked away in a hurry, like a gust of wind, shaking off what Yan hope was holding in his left hand.
He stopped, saw it was Yan hope, and felt a little awkward. He bent down to pick it up.
Yan hope got food stuck in his throat and looked at his left palm; it was empty.
Suddenly, as if possessed, she pushed the boy to the ground, straddled him, her eyes fierce, and began to beat him mercilessly, making soft, guttural noises.
"Thief, my home, my home, give it back to me..."
Chapter 46
When Mary pulled the two apart, the child who had been hit was terrified and had no idea what had happened.
Ah Heng sighed, picked up the doorplate, and felt a lump in his throat as he held it in his hand.
"No, Yanxi, no one is taking your home away."
The boy looked at her blankly, then looked down and saw the doorplate on his left palm. Finally, he clenched his fist and felt at ease.
She apologized to the boy who had been hit. Although he wasn't seriously injured, he was still upset about being attacked so suddenly. His face darkened, and he spoke to Ah Heng.
"Yan hope is out of his mind. I won't argue with him, but Wen Heng, given his condition, we should send him to a mental hospital as soon as possible to avoid him hurting anyone!"
Xin Dayi was furious—"You fucking idiot! Believe me or not, I'll send you to a mental hospital right now!!"
The man glanced at Xin Dayi, snorted, and knew he couldn't afford to offend these children of high-ranking officials. Besides, the boys in his class always looked up to Xin Dayi, so he awkwardly left the last row.
Mary wanted to say something to comfort Aheng, but Aheng smiled and looked at Yanxi—"Our Yanxi isn't stupid, is he?"
The boy looked down at his "home" with great interest, without any reaction.
He used to call her "our Aheng" so proudly. "Our Aheng is so beautiful, cooks so well, and is so funny. Do you know that?" If you do, that's normal, because that's Young Master Yan's truth. If you don't know, that's okay. I'll keep saying "our Aheng" so you all know that my truth is your truth too.
His logic was that he wanted the whole world to know how wonderful his baby was.
So, Yanxi, our Yanxi, is it too late for me to start calling you that now?
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On Saturday, Aheng took Yanxi to the hospital for treatment. According to Siwan, Yanxi's condition should initially be treated with psychotherapy. Only if it cannot be well controlled will medication be used.
That was when Aheng first entered Tianwu General Hospital; she didn't yet possess the ability of prophecy. From then on, Yanxi would live here.
Holding Yan hope's hand, she felt that it wasn't necessarily a bad thing that he was so engrossed in his own world that he couldn't pay attention to his surroundings.