wait
Three years later, in Jiangcheng.
The dimly lit, cramped corridors are filled with countless delirious and frantic shouts. This is a bizarre world in a mental hospital that never sees the light of day, separated only by a wall and fence. This is the place where the mentally ill revel.
In the dimly lit, cramped hospital room, a woman with disheveled hair sat on the bed with her back to the door. She was emaciated and her hair was matted and tangled. Her dry, white hair, infested with lice from neglect, hung down, obscuring her gaunt face and making it impossible to see any trace of her former beauty.
The only light inside the room came from the rusty iron window in front of the woman, which had been specially fitted with security bars. Outside the window, across a busy road, was a small kindergarten.
The woman clutched a wooden object tightly in her withered hands, her fingers covered in scabbed blood, and her body was stained with a dark brown hue. She held the object close to her chest, muttering to herself, seemingly lost in thought.
Her eyes were misty, making everything blurry. Only her ears remained sharp, keenly detecting footsteps behind her. But her numb and confused mind couldn't process it. She ignored the noise behind her, simply clutching the things in her arms tighter, as if afraid they would be snatched away.
Behind him, a doctor in a white coat and mask opened the door, then stepped aside with a big smile to make way for the person behind him, respectfully gesturing "please".
The leather shoes creaked on the raised wooden floor as the man's long legs slowly stepped across, ignoring the doctor's ingratiating gesture.
The sparse sunlight slowly shifted, moving away from the woman's face in the shape of a burglar bars, and instead finding the tall man standing in the center. His beautiful and delicate face became crystal clear, his indifferent eyes devoid of any emotion.
"Hey, sir, this is Qin Yalin." Seeing this, the doctor behind her quickly stepped forward with a smile and explained, "A few days ago, she got into an argument and a fight with some of the other patients in her room. Our hospital was worried about something happening, so we moved her to a private room..."
The man didn't speak, but silently glanced at the bloodstains on Qin Yalin's hospital gown, his delicate eyebrows furrowing slightly.
The doctor panicked and quickly explained, "Please, please don't misunderstand! There is absolutely no patient abuse in our hospital!! She scratched herself! And those fingernails, she pulled them out herself! This patient is mentally unstable and has a tendency to self-harm! Sometimes she not only hurts herself but also others!"
"If you don't believe me, go ask around! Which doctor or nurse in our hospital hasn't been accidentally injured by her?! We've tried to control her, but medication only works temporarily, not permanently! Keeping her tied up like this isn't a solution. We've done countless psychological counseling sessions, but nothing's helped! We... we're really at our wits' end!"
Dean Li looked like he was suffering from a deep-seated grievance, his expression exaggerated, gesturing wildly as if he was afraid that the wealthy man in front of him, dressed in designer brands and exuding an aura of richness, wouldn't believe him. He wished he could transform into an actor, grab a few nurses, and put on a show for everyone in front of him.
He wanted to say something more, but then he saw the man raise his hand, his long, slender, pale fingers pointing upwards, and his face showing some impatience.
Wen Xubai said calmly, "Find someone to keep an eye on her. I'll pay for any extra expenses. Just make sure she doesn't die."
"Yes, yes, yes! Don't worry, that's for sure!" Dean Li nodded hurriedly in agreement.
Dean Li carefully observed the man's expression and found it strange that his face remained expressionless and he did not show any concern for the patient's condition.
Judging from their ages, they should be an elder and a younger relative. The fact that they were willing to pay for someone to be sent to a mental hospital suggests they are close relatives. However, this person hasn't uttered a single word since entering, and neither has the patient, who hasn't even glanced at him. The two don't seem to have a good relationship at all.
Besides, this person's outfit alone is almost equivalent to half of the hospital's annual expenses. Since they're so rich, why send them to this small hospital to suffer? Our small hospital has a limited budget and can't provide very good treatment; at most, we can only fulfill our responsibility of care. Why not spend more money and send them to a better private hospital? Maybe there's still a glimmer of hope for recovery.
Dean Li secretly wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.
After hesitating for a while, Dean Li finally steeled his heart and advised, "Mr. Wen, although I don't know what conflict you have with the patient, how can there be any grudges between family members? This patient has been here for so long, but very few people have come to see her. Now that you've come, why don't you spend more time chatting with her?"
"Please don't think I'm being long-winded. Mental patients often need the companionship and care of their loved ones the most. Sometimes, a child's words of concern are more effective than any priceless medicine!"
“I am not her child.” Wen Xubai interrupted him calmly, saying, “Her children were all killed by her own hands long ago.”
Upon hearing this, Dean Li froze on the spot, a shiver running down his spine. Goosebumps rose all over his body, and his scalp tingled. "This...this..."
He already knew that the patient in this bed had been brought in because she had lost all her children and suffered a huge shock, but he never expected that it was this seemingly frail woman who had personally killed her... He couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.
Accident? Or murder?
Dean Li felt a slight tremor in his heart, swallowed hard, and hesitated for a long time. In the end, fear overcame curiosity. After all, he was a man of many experiences; he had spent a long time in a mental hospital. What kind of bizarre people hadn't he seen? Even someone who had killed their own parents to get in. Dean Li thought it best not to cause trouble.
The air seemed to freeze for a long time, and the awkward atmosphere made everyone in the room somewhat restless. Oh no, it was only Dean Li who was restless.
The other two were completely different. One was indifferent and expressionless, while the other was so engrossed in his own world that he seemed oblivious to everyone else and had no idea what was happening.
Dean Li coughed lightly, about to say something to ease the tension, when he saw the man in the center of the room slowly turn his head, revealing a sharply defined profile, and said coldly, "You can go out first. I have something to say to her."
"Ah? Oh, okay, okay!" Dean Li quickly flattered, "Then I'll go out first. You two can chat for a while. Just ring the bell if you need anything!"
Wen Xubai ignored him, and Dean Li, feeling awkward, left the room and closed the door behind him.
Hearing a soft "click," Wen Xubai slowly turned his gaze back to the woman in front of him who seemed to be incoherent.
Who would have thought that Qin Yalin, who used to be the most arrogant and domineering person who liked to bully others, would end up in such a wretched state?
He knew perfectly well what the hospital had done to him, whether the injuries on his body were self-inflicted or caused by others.
Wen Xubai slowly walked over, and with a swift movement of his long arm, snatched the wooden object from her arms.
It was a wooden smiley face doll, the paint on it had oxidized and peeled off, indicating it was an old, well-worn item. The doodles on it were incredibly childish and haphazard, clearly the work of a young child.
Wen Xubai raised an eyebrow.
He knows who made this.
Because he had seen it with his own eyes when Wen Xuyao and Wen Xuyi returned from kindergarten as children, presenting it to their mother as if it were a precious treasure.
The two children used to argue endlessly about who drew more.
Caught off guard, Qin Yalin was stunned to find her precious possession suddenly gone. A look of bewilderment crossed her haggard face. She looked around until she looked up and saw Wen Xubai examining the object closely. Only then did she finally realize what had happened. With a scream, she rushed over, trying to snatch the object back!
Wen Xubai caught a glimpse of her movement out of the corner of his eye and let go in advance. The woman missed her target and crashed onto a wooden table next to her. The table was already loose and unstable, and now, with the force of the impact, it shook violently, as if it would collapse at any moment.
"Give it back to me!!!"
Qin Yalin's face contorted with rage, and she was about to retaliate again when she saw the man silently reach out and hand the doll to her.
The woman snatched the item back almost instantly, then clutched it tightly to her chest like a precious jewel, quickly retreating to a corner, clearly regarding the person in front of her as a robber, her eyes filled with wariness.
Wen Xubai couldn't help but sneer as he watched the woman protect her "child." He then slowly moved forward, cornering the woman against the wall. He squatted down, looked at her panicked expression, and said calmly, "Do you remember who I am?"
The woman seemed not to understand what he was saying at all. She stared at him for a long time, neither shaking her head nor nodding.
Wen Xubai wasn't in a hurry, and they remained in a stalemate until a pleasant melody suddenly came from outside the window, breaking the tense atmosphere between them.
The voice was familiar to both of them.
Hearing the sound, Xu Bai looked in the direction of the sound and saw that inside the kindergarten outside the window, rows of children were holding hands and lining up under the guidance of their teachers, walking out of the kindergarten one by one in order. Outside the iron gate of the kindergarten, a crowd of parents had already gathered, craning their necks and looking on expectantly.
It's the kindergarten dismissal bell.
Qin Yalin reacted as if a switch had been flipped on a doll. She suddenly pushed the person in front of her away, stood up, rushed to the window, grabbed the rusty windowpane with both hands, and revealed a strange smile on her face.
"School's out... Yao Yao and Xiao Yi are out of school... I need to pick them up... I need to pick up my children from school..."
The more she spoke, the wider the woman's smile became. Such a flamboyant smile, which would have been the most beautiful sight on her face in the past, now appeared particularly ferocious on her pale and rough face.
Qin Yalin rushed towards the door, grabbed the doorknob, and pulled it down with all her might, but unfortunately, the door was already locked, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't open it.
She pounded on the door frantically, screaming, "Get out! Let me out!!! Wen Tingyi, it's your doing again!! Wasn't killing Song Yuxin and Ruan Qing enough?! Now you want to harm me too??? Let me tell you, I won't let you have your way, I won't let you have your way!!!"
"I...I'm going to the media! I'm going to the reporters!! I'm going to expose all the beastly things you've done!!! Let me out! Let me out!!!"
Mentally ill patients have illogical thoughts, and any sudden situation can easily lead them astray. Clearly, this is the case with Qin Yalin at this moment.
Just then, another school bell rang, startling the woman and snapping her out of her daze.
She pounded on the door even harder, shouting at the top of her lungs, "Let me out!!! Wen Tingyi! Let me out!! I need to pick up Xiaoyi and Yaoyao!! They... they'll be worried and scared if they don't see their mother after school... No, let me out!! Let me out!!"
"They won't be in a hurry."
A voice like a devil's whisper rang in her ears, and Qin Yalin froze. She slowly turned her head and saw a man watching the show leisurely with his arms crossed in the dappled sunlight.
"What······?"
"Your Yaoyao and Xiaoyi are both dead. Don't you remember?" Wen Xubai's gaze grew colder, like a knife piercing the woman's heart: "They... were all killed by your own hands. Don't you remember?"
A flood of memories overwhelmed the woman. Qin Yalin slowly clutched her head, her pupils suddenly widening: car accident, funeral, assassination attempt, and shooting... blood, corpses, screams and terror...
Qin Yalin clutched her collar in anguish, slowly sliding down the doorway. Large beads of sweat rolled down her pale forehead, and she felt as if something was stuck in her throat, suffocating from lack of oxygen…
"It wasn't me...it wasn't me..." the woman murmured in anguish.
But the cruel and merciless voice of Ke Wenxu Bai kept shattering her denials of her crimes: "If you hadn't spoiled and pampered Wen Xuyi, he wouldn't have committed so many crimes and been killed by his own sister. Wen Xuyao wouldn't have lost his beloved and fallen in the cold blood. If you hadn't been so vicious and cruel, torturing Wen Xushi to the point of near death, he wouldn't have discovered the truth about his background and killed Lin Xi. If you hadn't been so jealous, two-faced, using Lin Xi to kill Song Yuxin and instigating Wen Tingyi to kill Ruan Qing, then all of this... wouldn't have come to this."
"The situation has become like this, and it's all your own fault!"
"No!!! It wasn't me!! No, it's not like that..." Qin Yalin finally broke down in tears, "I just, I just wanted to fight for it, what's wrong with that?! What's wrong with that!!!"
But the crimes were laid bare before her, countless painful memories churning in her mind, countless sorrowful and struggling faces tearing at her soul, and countless accusing hands dragging her, bit by bit, towards hell…
Qin Yalin was terrified. She frantically tore at her hair, grabbed anything around her, and threw it at the figure in front of her. Her eyes were wide open, and she screamed wildly, "No...it's not like that...it wasn't me who killed you...it wasn't me who killed Yaoyao and Xiaoyi...it wasn't like that!!! Get away from me...get away from me!!!"
The chair was thrown up by the woman and smashed onto the table, shattering into pieces. Wen Xubai just watched her quietly as she continued to self-harm and scream, getting herself covered in blood, until the doctors and nurses outside the door noticed something was wrong and quickly opened the door and rushed in.
Several people frantically tried to restrain the woman who was flailing her arms and legs, but they couldn't stop her from screaming and cursing.
Wen Xubai just watched her silently and slowly mouthed the words.
The moment Qin Yalin understood, she felt as if she had been electrocuted, and she was powerless to struggle anymore.
Wen Xubai knew that Qin Yalin had already regained her senses, so what he said was:
"May your soul fall into the deepest hell along with □□, and be torn apart by the innocent lives you persecuted, together with Wen Tingyi."
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