Lu Ban followed the petite nurse and first arrived at the lounge.

"I'll get you some clothes."

The young nurse was a little shy. She glanced at Lu Ban, walked out of the room in small steps, and brought back a set of hospital gown after a while.

After Lu Ban came out after changing, the young nurse handed him a bracelet.

"This is a bracelet that all patients have. It has information such as name on it. Some patients may forget who they are when they are confused. Your information is marked on it, so medical staff can tell that you are a visitor."

Lu Ban put on the bracelet, looked at his hospital gown, and messed up his hair. He looked like a real mental patient.

"You do look like a patient."

The young nurse smiled.

"I also added some personality traits to myself, severe paranoia, persecution delusion, schizophrenia, isn't that appropriate?"

Lu Ban smiled very brightly.

The young nurse was stunned.

It’s not because of the mental illnesses that Lu Ban mentioned, but because many patients in the hospital laugh like this.

Sometimes, those who have lost their common sense due to mental illness do not need to feel troubled to show such a sincere smile.

"My last name is Tao Tao, you can just call me Xiao Tao. We are going to the recreation room next. There are patients with mild illnesses here, such as depression, autism, and dementia."

The young nurse brought Lu Ban to the entertainment room.

It is called an entertainment room, but it actually just has a ping-pong table, sofas, benches, and a TV.

A not-so-funny crosstalk show was playing on TV. No one was playing ping-pong at the table. All the people were sitting in front of the TV, watching it.

"These patients are relatively quiet and don't like to interact with people."

The young nurse gave some instructions and brought Lu Ban in, introduced him to the others, then stood aside and let Lu Ban perform freely.

The patients glanced at Lu Ban, then their attention was drawn to the TV.

Lu Ban first found a seat and sat down, watching TV for a while. During the break, a young man came up to him.

This young man looked about the same age as Lu Ban, except that his hair was thinner. He wore glasses and looked more like a doctor than a patient.

"Did you sneak in here too?"

the young man asked.

Lu Ban's heart skipped a beat. He was still trying to figure out what was wrong with his acting when he was discovered. Then he heard the other party continue to speak.

"It's okay. I sneaked in too."

He glanced at the young nurse and lowered his voice again.

"I was originally a programmer, working overtime 996 every day, which was too tiring. Then one day, when my boss asked me to work overtime, I couldn't stand it anymore, so I scolded him. After returning home, my girlfriend started boxing like the people in the talk show. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I scolded her again and then broke up with her. After returning to my hometown, a few nosy relatives came to nag me every day about finding a girlfriend, a job, getting married, and going on blind dates. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I scolded those relatives again. Later, my parents thought I had mental problems and sent me here. In fact, I am more sober than them. I don't have to work overtime and no one urges me to go on blind dates. It's so cool."

He spoke vividly, his eyes full of excitement and delight.

“That’s amazing!”

Lu Ban suddenly felt that his idea was quite good. Living in a mental hospital, undisturbed by the outside world, it would be quiet and comfortable.

"Patient 301, it's time to take your medicine."

At this time, another nurse came in, holding a clipboard and shouted.

"Why."

The young man next to Lu Ban responded and whispered to Lu Ban.

"I'll go deal with the nurses first, you take your time."

Having said that, the young man followed the nurse out of the ward.

After a few minutes, the young man came back, sat next to Lu Ban and watched TV attentively.

"Hey, you haven't told me your name yet?"

Lu Ban patted his shoulder and asked.

But the young man looked at Lu Ban with suspicion, his eyes full of confusion.

"Do we...know each other?"

"?"

Lu Ban was stunned for a moment, then spoke.

"Didn't you say you were pretending?"

"Pretending? Huh? You actually figured it out?"

The young man came closer and lowered his voice.

"Let me tell you, I am actually an alien from Betelgeuse. I came here to investigate humans. I think you are not from this planet either. We should get along well and help each other. Those people in white clothes are very scary and cruel. You have to be careful..."

He turned around and talked about another setting.

Lu Ban didn't know for a moment which one was true?

After talking to the young man, another patient patted Lu Ban on the shoulder.

"Did he just tell you something about aliens and 996?"

The patient was a middle-aged woman who looked kind and gentle and did not look sick.

"right."

Lu Ban nodded obediently.

"Alas, he was originally a writer, I think he wrote some kind of online novel, but his grades were always bad, and he was gloomy every day, racking his brains but couldn't come up with a good story. Then, I don't know how, one of his books suddenly became popular, but looking at his grades, he felt that the world was unreal, and then it became like this. What he told you were all the settings he had written before."

The woman explained patiently.

"I see."

The creators really work hard, Lu Ban couldn't help but sigh.

"And you?"

Lu Ban looked at the woman again.

"Me? Well, there's nothing wrong with me. I just can't sleep well, have insomnia, and feel anxious. The doctor told me to rest here more. It's okay."

The middle-aged woman laughed.

“That’s good too.”

Lu Ban agreed very much.

"In fact, no one has a big problem. It's just that their brains can't think straight. The real problem is this society, alas."

The middle-aged woman sighed.

After the skit on TV was over, many patients stood up. Two patients went to the ping-pong table to play, some continued to sit on the sofa and watch subsequent advertisements, and some patients stood up and prepared to take medicine.

Lu Ban thought about it and was about to visit one more person before leaving, but the middle-aged woman suddenly grabbed his hand tightly.

"where are you going?"

The middle-aged woman looked a little panicked.

"Just walk around, take a stroll."

Lu Ban felt something strange.

The middle-aged woman hesitated to speak and followed Lu Ban, watching him come to the young nurse.

She looked at Lu Ban, then at the young nurse, and after a long while, she spoke.

"Son, you have to treat people well and tell me if the family needs anything. Do you understand?"

"Okay, Mom."

Lu Ban responded and sent the middle-aged woman away.

He turned around and glanced at the stunned little nurse.

"The mild symptoms you have here seem to be very serious problems."