Conseillère militaire et princesse

Chapitre 13

A, B, C, and D said in a chaotic voice, "It's not just a feeling, it's a real cry, isn't it?"

The old postman stood by the window: "She was definitely crying. A man and a child were downstairs hitting her and trying to forcibly take her away!"

Upon hearing this, Ding Yan immediately stood up: "Let's go down and take a look!"

Aunt Mei said, "Forget it, it's their family matter, let's not meddle!"

Ding Yan said seriously, "No! We have to do something about it! When I was a child, my father often beat me when he was drunk. If the neighbors had just treated it as someone else's family matter, I would have been beaten to death long ago! Besides, she is our long-time tenant!"

Ding Yan rarely acted so seriously, and everyone couldn't help but straighten up as well, with even A, B, C, and D standing at attention as if they were ready to be called upon at any moment.

"Go! Get down!" Ding Yan didn't even change her shoes, opened the door and rushed out. Old Postman followed closely behind her, followed by Aunt Mei and the others. Xiao Mi rushed out of the toilet: "Wait for me! I'll call Da Mi down!"

Downstairs, Kang Hui's clothes were torn and blood was seeping from the corner of her mouth, but she still desperately backed away, refusing to go with this devilish father and son.

"A, B, C, D, snatch Sister Kanghui back!" As soon as Ding Yan finished speaking, the four brothers rushed over. One kicked the man away, one pulled the child away, and the other two carried Sister Kanghui behind Ding Yan.

"It's you again, you little bitch?" the man said sternly. "Don't interfere with our family affairs!"

When Ding Yan heard him call her a "bitch," she turned pale with anger. She remembered that when she was a child, the mother of the little boy she had fallen in love with had also called her that. She tried her best to control herself: "Sister Kang Hui is not Yao Ying at all, and of course she is not your wife."

"Hmph! How do you know? Even the police and hospital tests confirm it!" the man said smugly.

"None of that counts! Only when Sister Kang Hui admits it does it count! Sister Kang Hui!" Ding Yan turned around and asked loudly, "Are you Yao Ying? Do you know these two people? Are you this man's wife?"

Kang Hui licked the blood from her lips and shook her head firmly.

"Mommy..." Xiao He cried pitifully, "Mommy... why won't you take us? Why won't you take Xiao He?"

Kang Hui clutched her chest, which he had once bitten painfully, and turned her head away in disgust.

Xiao Jia couldn't help but say, "You brat! Stop pretending!"

Xiao He suddenly said bitterly, "Mom! Are you still thinking about Xiaoping? Xiaoping is dead!!!"

Seeing that the other side outnumbered him, the man knew he was no match for them, so he spat on the ground and said, "You just wait! I'll be back!"

After saying that, he pulled Xiao He up and left without looking back. Kang Hui breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground.

18.

“Tell us the truth. No matter what you say, no matter what the truth is, we will stand by your side!” Ding Yan asked Kang Hui earnestly after returning home.

Kang Hui's eyes darted around, her brows furrowed tightly, and she murmured, "I...I really...I don't know anymore...Everyone in that town knows me. And when I returned to the temple in that town, it felt strangely familiar. And..." Her eyes welled up with tears again, "And when that child mentioned Xiaoping, I don't know why, my heart ached...But I really am Kang Hui!"

The old mailman said, "Could it be that he's lost his memory?"

"Hmm~ Hmm~" Ding Yan nodded, "How about we try hypnosis?" After saying that, she looked at Kang Hui with a questioning gaze.

Kang Hui curled up on the sofa, looking completely lost.

Aunt Mei continued, "But you should think it over carefully. If you really have amnesia, and the part you've forgotten is about Yao Ying, I think it must be a very painful memory. Sometimes, it's better to never remember certain things."

Kang Hui's brows furrowed even more.

She lowered her head, pondered for a few minutes, and said firmly, "If it really is amnesia, I agree to hypnosis! Because... because I want to know who Xiaoping is? I want to know why hearing that name hurts my heart so much!"

Aunt Mei sighed and glanced at Old Postman.

Old Mailman emerged from behind the curtains and said, "I'll schedule an appointment with Dr. Liu right away."

Dr. Liu was an old friend of Lao You and had tried to treat Lao You's "identity disorder" with hypnosis. However, just as Lao You was gradually recovering, Dr. Liu discovered that the sick Lao You was a happy Lao You, while the gradually recovering Lao You was a suffering Lao You.

He decided to forgo treatment because he didn't want his old friend to be unhappy.

Old Postman was indeed happy, happy and lucky.

Because he met Ding Yan, a strange girl who was both mischievous and understanding, cold yet warm-hearted. This girl gave him space to live, and also gave him meaning in life.

After hanging up the phone, the old postman said to Kang Hui, "You'll sleep here tonight. I'll arrange a guest room for you. Don't worry about your safety; A, B, C, and D will be on duty 24 hours a day to ensure your safety."

A, B, C, and D snapped to attention and gave Kang Hui a military salute, which made Kang Hui laugh.

She hadn't laughed in a long time. It turns out that sometimes people who seem annoying aren't actually annoying at all.

Sometimes when we dislike someone, we assume that person must also dislike us. But is that really the case? Heh.

19.

Dr. Liu arrived very early. He is a very loyal person and a very open-minded and excellent psychologist. He only knew that his old friend had been taken in by a "master" and was living a happy and comfortable life, but he never expected that this "master" was such a young child, and a child who kept sucking his blood.

He hadn't expected Old Post's new family to be so peculiar. He glanced at Old Post, then at Ding Yan and Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding, then at Aunt Mei, Dami, and Kang Hui, and finally, he fixed his gaze on Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, and Ding Yan, saying, "Should we treat this girl, or these four brothers?"

He believed they were all sick people.

Ding Yan pouted: "I'm not sick!"

"We are the healthiest and smartest dogs in the world!" A, B, C, and D exclaimed in unison, "We don't need treatment either!"

"Then..." Dr. Liu stood in the center of the living room, looking both innocent and comical.

“It’s me,” Kang Hui said softly. Then, the old postman explained the whole story to Dr. Liu.

Dr. Liu didn't seem too surprised. He nodded and asked, "Are there any quiet and comfortable rooms here?"

"Let's go to the workshop." Old You led Dr. Liu and Kang Hui towards the workshop, with Da Mi carrying Dr. Liu's toolbox and following behind. Ding Yan also hurriedly stood up, intending to follow.

"You all wait here," Dr. Liu said, standing at the door. "Just this lady and I will go in." He then turned to Kang Hui and asked, "Is that alright?"

Kang Hui nodded.

The door to the workspace was tightly closed; the room was soundproof, comfortable, and secluded.

Ding Yan poked his head out with a gossipy air: "Sigh... I should have known better than to make that place so soundproof..."

Aunt Mei chuckled and playfully pinched her nose: "You, try to be less curious! Less curiosity means less trouble!"

Ding Yan lay on the sofa, muttering to herself, "What kind of past did Sister Kang Hui have?"

Kang Hui felt safe, even a little warm. She closed her eyes and followed Dr. Liu's gentle, kind, magnetic, and fatherly voice, slowly immersing herself in a soft, pale yellow hue.

“Yes, I am Kang Hui.” She smiled.

"No, to be precise, I feel like I am Kang Hui, and I hope to be Kang Hui..."

20.

“We are very good friends,” Kang Hui said with a sweet and happy smile.

"I met Kang Hui in high school; we attended a boarding school specializing in arts. Before I met her, I was always insecure, withdrawn, and unhappy. My parents were devout, even fanatical, Buddhists. I grew up under their strict, even harsh, discipline, where I was not allowed to do anything. I was not allowed to eat candy, play, sleep, or lie, even if it was well-intentioned. All the shortcomings and emotions of a normal person were forbidden."

I always felt like a robot, at best their trained pet, a vessel for their fanatical faith. Later, I chose that boarding high school under the pretext of wanting to restore Buddhist statues, hoping to escape their constraints. In truth, I had no confidence in art; I felt I had absolutely no talent.

"Everything changed after I met Kang Hui. Kang Hui is cheerful, lively, and kind. She always encourages me, saying that I have great artistic talent, especially in painting. She encourages me to express my feelings on the canvas according to my own ideas, and encourages me to make more friends and communicate, study, and have fun with my classmates. We became best friends. I have always liked her, admired her, and hoped to become a person as good as her. Sometimes, I even feel that Kang Hui is my only family in this world!"

"Later, Kang Hui met Lan Ming. Lan Ming was sunny, handsome, and very humorous. He often made us laugh out loud. He and Kang Hui were the perfect match..." At this point, "Kang Hui" frowned.

"But what about it?" Dr. Liu encouraged her to continue.

“But… I also like Lan Ming, of course, only silently, never daring to express it, nor able to. Because I know that would hurt the two most important people to me. Fortunately, Kang Hui told me everything about their relationship, including their first kiss…” Kang Hui continued with a smile: “She almost always took me with her on dates, partly hoping I would become more outgoing; partly because dating was forbidden at school back then, taking me along prevented gossip from reaching the teachers. So, although I never confessed, I was very happy, it felt like my own relationship. Just like that, I was content.”

“I also hoped that Lan Ming would fall in love with me through getting to know me, but that was obviously impossible. After graduating from high school, Kang Hui and Lan Ming both went abroad to study. Although I felt lonely, I still wished them well.” As she said this, her brows furrowed again.

"After graduation, my parents wouldn't allow me to go to university. Instead, they made me marry someone I barely knew and inherit their church business. At first, the man was quite polite to me, but gradually, he started beating and abusing me. His peculiar sexual habits were even more unbearable." Kang Hui became somewhat agitated.

“Later, we had a son…” She paused for a moment, then continued, “A year later, we had a daughter. Our son was named Xiaohe, and our daughter was named Xiaoping…” Tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke of Xiaoping: “I don’t know why, but Xiaohe, as the older brother, didn’t cherish his sister at all. He often beat and bullied her, and once he almost blinded her. When Xiaoping was six years old, one night… one night…” She suddenly opened her eyes wide, stood up, and cried out, “Xiaohe smothered Xiaoping with a pillow! His father saw it, but didn’t stop him; he even raped Xiaoping’s corpse! They’re not human! They, father and son, are all devils! I never want to live with them again!”

twenty one.

Kang Hui, or rather, Yao Ying, fully recalled the past, that bleak past.

She fled that home and contacted Kang Hui, who had returned to China alone. At that time, Kang Hui and Lan Ming had just broken up.

Two wounded women comfort and encourage each other, and begin their lives of painting anew.

Just as Kang Hui said, Yao Ying is very talented in painting. In addition, her work at the temple in recent years has earned her recognition from many people. Everyone says that her paintings shine with the radiance of Buddhism. And the relationship between Kang Hui and Lan Ming has also improved.

However, on that day, when Kang Hui was driving Yao Ying home, they had a car accident.

Kang Hui became a vegetable, while Yao Ying's injuries were not serious. After secretly leaving the hospital, she always felt that she was Kang Hui. To be precise, she always firmly believed that she was Kang Hui.

Dr. Liu said she was suffering from "dissociative hysteria," a type of "psychogenic fugue state." This is a mental illness caused by self-protection. This type of mental illness differs from ordinary memory loss; patients do not feel they have lost their memories, and their behavior after the onset of the illness is no different from that of a normal person—they are simply living as a completely different person.

When Yao Ying came out of the workroom, she was pale and haggard, with empty eyes, as if life had completely lost its meaning for her.

Dr. Liu sighed, "Sometimes, curing a so-called mental illness may be the very beginning of suffering. I've done all I can; please try to persuade her." With that, he got up to leave.

Aunt Mei poked her head out from the kitchen: "Have some soup before you go, it's exactly 5 months..."

Dr. Liu smiled and shook his head, looking quite tired: "I'm tired too. I'll go back and get some rest."

"Dami, see Dr. Liu out!" Ding Yan gave Dami a look, and Dami took a thick envelope and went out.

The old postman sighed, "Lately, I've been doing all sorts of unprofitable deals."

"Sister Kanghui...are you alright?" Ding Yan asked cautiously.

Yao Ying shook her head and said, "Just call me Yao Ying..."

"Huh?" Ding Yan jumped up from the sofa. "You're really Yao Ying? You're really that brat's mother, that bad man's wife?"

Yao Ying nodded. Now, who was whose was who no longer mattered. She no longer wanted to face those realities.

She stood up, bowed deeply to Ding Yan and the old postman, and said, "Thank you!"

"Don't mention it! Don't mention it!" Ding Yan hurriedly helped her up. "I've said it before! A close neighbor is worse than a distant relative!"

Yao Ying's lips curled up slightly, which could be considered a smile: "I want to take a quiet walk by myself."

"Aren't you afraid of running into them again?" Ding Yan asked with concern.

“If it were Kang Hui, she would definitely be scared. But I am Yao Ying now, and I know how to face them.” After she finished speaking, she stubbornly went out the door.

twenty two.

Even Yao Ying couldn't face that hellish life. Should she sue them for murder? So many years had passed, there was no evidence. Should she get a divorce?

Yao Ying shook her head helplessly. She knew that even if she got divorced, even if she fled to the ends of the earth, they would still find her. Even if they couldn't find her, she wouldn't be able to escape from such immense hurt and pain.

The Buddha said, "If I don't go to hell, who will?"

Yao Ying died, hanged herself in an abandoned park. Just like that stranger once said, people with moles on their necks will die of suffocation.

The day before she died, she killed her husband and son.

Ding Yan drank the blood, sat cross-legged on the sofa, put down the newspaper in his hand, and said unhappily:

"The newspapers are such liars! They say Sister Kanghui committed suicide out of guilt! Humph! I'm going to confront them!"