Chapter 12 Chapter 12
To make matters worse, the mental hospital reported his condition to the National Mental Health Management System, and his file was recorded, preventing him from continuing his studies.
His case was also sent to the city health center where his household registration was located, and is managed by the health center and the village committee. With travel restricted, it is common for doctors to visit his home for follow-up visits.
His illness could no longer be concealed; the whole village knew about it, and Bai He became a celebrity. Just as Bai He was once highly praised, he was now despised.
He was a strange sight in the village, and some bored people would go to Bai He's house specifically to see him.
Because of this, his uncle and his wife had countless arguments with others, and his elderly grandparents had countless angry eyes.
Every day I witness the pain and endurance of my loved ones, and face the sighs and criticisms of the villagers.
Self-blame and anxiety almost destroyed Bai He again. For this reason, Bai He made a decision and secretly left home and went to Qing City.
For the first two years of his absence, Bai He refused to tell his family his address. No matter how much they pleaded, no matter how hard life was, he refused to budge. He didn't want to be a burden to his family.
The past two years have been difficult for Bai He. With no education or skills, he couldn't find a decent job. Due to recurring illnesses and the need for regular follow-up checkups at the health center, he couldn't maintain a stable job. So, he resorted to odd jobs on factory assembly lines and construction sites.
It was not until the rise of short video live streaming that Bai He found a suitable path for him and his life became stable.
Bai He never thought that the painting he once learned from Su Xing for fun would become his means of making a living.
Bai He rarely thinks about the past or the future. All he can do is try to make himself no worse today than he was yesterday.
Arriving at the health center, Bai He went through the checkup and registration process with familiarity. This was the "privilege" that came with being reported. Even if the condition had stabilized, he still had to go to the health center for a follow-up checkup every three months. Otherwise, expect the police to come to his door!
Bai He could recite every question the doctor asked. How was my condition? Was my medicine enough? Because I asked this question so many times every day, even the doctor's tone was perfunctory and perfunctory.
It's just a formality.
In the end, Bai He left with a large bag of medicine distributed for free by the health center.
He then drove for more than ten minutes to a hospital in the city center and checked into the psychology department. Looking closely outside, he saw that most of the people standing there were students and young people.
It's a terrifying phenomenon: the incidence of mental illness is much higher among young people than among older people. This disease is truly irrational, with no known cause.
The chief doctor inside saw him come in and greeted him in a familiar tone. Bai He is an old patient here. From the time he first became ill until he went to high school in another city, it was always this doctor who prescribed medicine for his recovery. The reason he was treated here for so long was not because of the doctor's superb medical skills, but because this was the only hospital in Gaolin City with a psychology department besides the mental hospital. He had no choice in junior high school, and the reason for high school was more complicated and practical. Due to the gradual improvement of the system, when he was in high school, he had to use his ID card to register when he went to the hospital. His father was a cautious and far-sighted person. He was worried that a record would be left in his file in the future, affecting his studies and future. Even though he was away, he took the trouble to take him back to Gaolin City Hospital for a follow-up visit. Sometimes when he couldn't come back, he would video chat with the doctor.
His father and family were worried sick about him.
However, his family's efforts were in vain. In the end, he still failed to become a normal person and live an ordinary life.
Bai He discussed his recent situation with his doctor, who ultimately prescribed him six months' worth of medication. Prescription drugs are strictly regulated, and doctors are especially cautious about prescribing them to patients with mental illness. Patients with disordered thinking, without family supervision, are prone to problems. However, Bai He's reputation was good, and he possessed sufficient self-control, so the doctor was willing to prescribe such a large dose at once.
Bai He planned to stockpile enough medicine to last him twenty years, and he was only halfway there. The medicine he took was covered by the government's medical insurance, with a small box costing only a few yuan, and a large box only around twenty yuan. Otherwise, buying so much at once would be unaffordable.
Bai He spent the next half day rushing from pharmacy to pharmacy in the city, using his medical records to buy medication. Although the pharmacies didn't prescribe much at a time, by going from one to the next, he accumulated boxes and boxes, and in half a day, he had achieved his goal.
The whole city is depressed due to the epidemic. People outside are rushing in and out wearing masks, and the usually bustling street stalls and vendors are nowhere to be seen.
As time passed, he felt more and more anxious and urgent. He couldn't help but go to the largest supermarket in the city before going home. Compared with the bleak business of clothing stores and restaurants, the supermarket was very popular. Countless pedestrians were pushing carts and some shelves were empty due to the rush to buy, which was very rare for the increasingly depressed physical stores.
Bai He bought a lot of frozen foods and snacks this time. He also bought several large freezers at the appliance section on the second floor. He didn't know how long the disaster in his dream would last, so freezing was the best way to preserve supplies. He would keep these freezers at home. He also planned to buy a dozen more freezers from several other stores to fill his space.
He bought a lot of things, but it was not noticeable at all under the circumstances because the supermarket was responsible for delivering the refrigerator to his door.
On the way home, Bai He accidentally saw a scrap collection station and his eyes suddenly lit up.
Oh! How could he have forgotten such a treasure trove.
Although scrap yards collect waste, many things can be reused. Nowadays, people's living conditions are very good and they have good material requirements. Many things do not have any problems, but are abandoned because they are old or damaged in appearance.
During Bai He's two most difficult years, he particularly enjoyed visiting junk shops, where he always found valuable finds. He even found his air conditioner there, and it's still working great after several years. He also found wooden tables, chairs, and other small items. Books that cost dozens of yuan outside were only two yuan per pound at the junk shop.
Bai He found an old-fashioned pedal tricycle inside. Although it was a bit old and had some minor problems, Bai He could fix it himself. Bai He also found a few bicycles, and after selecting and choosing, he soon had a pile of them. Bai He decided to drive over to pick them up the next day.
But plans can never keep up with changes.
The next morning, several village cadres wearing protective clothing came to Bai He's home, including his uncle, who was the village secretary.
They issued a quarantine notice to Bai He. Because Gaolin City also had an outbreak, and coincidentally, the source patient had come from Qing City, Bai He, who had also just arrived from Qing City, was naturally their focus of prevention.
Bai He accepted the village committee's arrangement calmly without any objection and isolated himself at home for fifteen days.
He knows the horror of the epidemic better than anyone else, and he went to the hospital yesterday, so the risk of infection is indeed very high.
His cooperation made several village cadres who were vigilant and prepared for the worst breathe a sigh of relief. After all, the other party was a mental patient. Several of them glanced at Bai He, who had an extremely outstanding appearance, with deep regret in their eyes.
Being suddenly isolated didn't affect Bai He much. This was one of the benefits of living at home: every day, his grandparents would leave fresh vegetables at the front door, ensuring he had no worries about food and clothing. With plenty of time, he reorganized his space, cleaned the pond in his yard, and reclaimed the vegetable garden to plant various vegetables. He also called his uncle to ask him to help buy a few chicks to raise in the backyard.
Bai He's days were full and fulfilling. But things were changing dramatically outside. The pneumonia virus hadn't been quickly resolved by the government as everyone had hoped. Instead, it was getting worse over time. In just a few days, Gaolin City had seen hundreds of cases, leaving everyone feeling threatened.
No one dared to go out. In the severe environment, even the aunties who loved visiting neighbors stayed at home and watched TV and mobile phones.
Baihe is a place where villagers deliberately avoid when walking, and it is no exaggeration at all.
Fortunately, technology is advanced nowadays. Although transportation is restricted and people cannot gather in groups, we can still keep track of each other's situation through video chat.
Grandma Bai, who had nothing to do tonight, started a family video chat.
The person on the other end of the video is Bai He's cousin Bai Yu. Bai Yu's grades were average when she was in school and she only got into a junior college, but she was a very opinionated person. She ignored her family's dissuasion and went to study in a school in the capital, which was far away from home.
There are many job opportunities in big cities, and Bai Yu is hardworking and studious, so he finally settled down in a big city.
She had a good salary and a promising future, which usually won her respect among relatives. But what bothered her was that Bai Yu, who was already 30 years old, had not only not solved the major issues in her life, but had also never even been in a relationship.
Bai Yu is not very pretty, but she is definitely not ugly. However, what has always puzzled the Bai family is that with such good conditions, she is completely isolated from the opposite sex. Her family introduces her to some men, and she never refuses, but the conversation always ends without any follow-up.
It wasn't until this year when Bai Yu accidentally let slip during a chat that everyone realized she had secretly found a partner. This made the entire Bai family very excited and excited, after all, this was the first person in the third generation of their family to find a partner.
The Bai family is looking forward to it, but Bai Yu is very clear-minded. She will not introduce him to her family until they are ready for marriage.
Now Bai Yu is the only one in the family away from home, and the capital where she lives is a hard-hit area by the epidemic, with various cross-infections and mutations. How can she not make her family worry about her being alone away from home?
As usual, Grandma Bai and her aunt persuaded the career-oriented Bai Yu to go home temporarily to avoid danger. They thought she would flatly refuse as before, but unexpectedly she agreed.
Bai Yu, on the other side of the camera, had a serious expression on his face. "Mom and Dad, the situation in the capital is much more serious than you can imagine. There are infected people everywhere. People in our community are being dragged to the crematorium every day. Our company has been closed for three days, and we don't know when we can resume work."
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