Obviously, the three empty chairs belonged to Yu Xiao and his two companions.
George led them over and said in a gentle tone, "Ladies and gentlemen, today we have three more members. Let us welcome them."
However, no one responded to his words. Yu Xiao secretly counted them. There were thirteen chairs in total, and ten of them were already occupied. Among the ten people were men, women, old and young, all with pale faces and dull expressions. They did not move, as if they could not hear what George said at all.
George did not care about their indifference. He warmly invited the three to come over and sit down, "Hurry up and sit down. These seats are specially prepared for you." After the
three sat down, George stood aside and looked at the thirteen people with a smile.
"Today's test has begun." George's voice was very leisurely. "Everyone here has received treatment for a period of time. In order to test the treatment effect during this period, I have specially selected an effective test method for you. The results of this test are related to your future treatment plan and bed selection. Everyone must take it seriously."
I don't know why after these words were said, those dull-looking patients all had some reaction, and everyone's eyes were filled with fear.
George paced gracefully beside the patients, and finally he stopped behind Yu Xiao and put his hands on the back of Yu Xiao's chair.
"Today's test is to tell us why you came here." George's voice was a little upbeat, as if he was in a very good mood, "Who should speak first? Why not start with our new partner?"
"This lady, the heir of the deaf, can you go first?"
Although he spoke softly, Yu Xiao could sense full of malice. She had a hunch that there was a trap here, and she would never jump into it.
"Doctor George." Yu Xiao lowered his head, his voice weak and fragile, "The reason why I came here is very complicated, and it can't be explained in one or two sentences. Let's let others speak first, and I'll sort out my thoughts first."
The smile on Doctor George's mouth widened, and just as he was about to speak, the person in front of him suddenly raised his head and pointed at a small-eyed skinny man opposite, "I think this uncle seems to have something to say, so why not start with this uncle."
The small-eyed skinny man: "..."
I just look old, but I'm actually only 31 years old. How can you call me uncle? The skinny man stammered, and then said: "Okay, then start with me."
Zhao Lan and Zhou Xiaozhen next to him breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. After Yu Xiao refused, they were worried that George would let them speak first. They couldn't think of any reason to refuse, after all, they couldn't use the same reason as Yu Xiao.
"My name is Zhang Tao, I'm 31 years old this year." The skinny man Zhang Tao said 31 years old with a loud voice, and glanced at Yu Xiao, "I work in the government, and my relatives and friends all praise me for being young and promising."
"I got married last year. My wife is a beautiful woman, and her family is well-off. Her father-in-law is a well-known local businessman. We lived happily after marriage. In order not to disturb my sleep, my wife often forced herself to sleep in the guest room. Soon she became pregnant, and I was ecstatic." Zhang Tao glanced at Yu Xiao again, "I'm young, but I've achieved success in my career, a happy family, and I'm going to be a father."
Yu Xiao was confused by the look on his face. Why did this uncle always look at me?
"I didn't expect my son was born after only seven months." Zhang Tao suddenly became excited. He sat on the chair, hunched over, and grasped the few hairs on his head tightly with his hands. "The doctor said it was a full-term birth, but how is this possible? We have only been married for seven months..."
Yu Xiao leaned back slightly. It turned out that he was just happy to be a father, so he couldn't bear the blow and entered St. Elizabeth's?
"This is not my son at all. I was very painful. I went to question her. But she said that this child was conceived before she knew me. This can only represent her past, not her infidelity to me." Zhang Tao suddenly raised his head when he said this.
Just when Yu Xiao thought he was going to explode, he suddenly said, "She has a point. If you love her, you shouldn't care about her past. She has suffered so much, I should take good care of her."
Yu Xiao: "..."
What kind of magical logic is this? Yu Xiao was shocked. Just when she was puzzled, this man's ability to endure is so strong, then why was he sent to a mental hospital.
Zhang Tao suddenly stood up and screamed in a shrill voice, "But a week later, I got off work early and she was lying on my bed with another man. I went to pull her away, but she beat me up with that man and scolded me like a dog! I won't forgive her so easily. I'm going to find my father-in-law, who will make the decision for me..."
"Hahahaha...my father-in-law really helped me. He promised to scold that woman and gave me his luxury car so I could drive home."
Everyone looked at him quietly, thinking, what happened next?
"Then the car had a brake failure on the way home and had an accident." Zhang Tao sat down, his expression became dull again, "So I came here."
Yu Xiao: "?"
What does that mean? She didn't quite understand. This guy named Zhang Tao just came in? Wasn't he comforted by his father-in-law and didn't collapse? Did he come in because of a car accident that injured his head?
"He's done talking, let me speak next." A middle-aged woman spoke diagonally opposite Zhang Tao.
Yu Xiao looked over and saw a very fat and haggard woman. Fat was accumulated on her body, and her skin was slightly yellow and rough. Her hair was gray and hastily tied, which made her look sloppy and messy. Nothing could be seen of her facial features, only her eyes were pretty good. If she wasn't fat, her eyes would be quite big, but unfortunately they were dull.
"My name is Liu Cui, I'm 45 this year." Liu Cui didn't understand why she had to report her age, but since the previous person said it, she just said it, "I'm a housewife, my son works in a factory, and my husband is a security guard in a casino."
Liu Cui tucked her messy hair behind her ears, her eyes moved slightly, and she scanned the crowd. Then she said, "Don't look at me like this now. When I was young, I was a flower in the factory, and those stinky men followed me around every day. Later I got married, and my husband is a bicycle repairman, a craftsman. Although he is short and ugly, my mother said that men don't need to be good-looking, as long as they have the ability to make money and treat me well. And ugly men are honest and won't mess around outside."
"It was fine when we just got married, and I got pregnant soon. I gained a lot of weight after that, but he said it was okay and that fat people are more comfortable to hold." There was a faint light in Liu Cui's dim eyes, "Nine months later, I gave birth to a big fat boy, but he was in poor health, so I could only take care of him at home and couldn't go to work in the factory. After a long time, my friends stopped associating with me. Later, the factory closed down, and they all went to find jobs and do business. I wanted to go too, but my son was only in elementary school..."
You can guess what happened next without having to laugh. There are too many tragedies like this.
Sure enough, Liu Cui started to cry, tears streaming down her wrinkled face, "But that bastard actually has someone outside. What does he have the basis?! He is so ugly and has no money, how can he find a woman? And that woman is not half as pretty as I was back then!"
"I argued with him and he hit me. He also asked me to look in the mirror and said I looked like a pig." Liu Cui's eyes were full of resentment, "Isn't it because of him that I have become like this? There were so many men who liked me back then, and he was marrying above his station if I married him! But luckily, I still have a son, and as long as my son is on my side, that's enough. I will focus on my son. I hope he will have a bright future, buy a big house in a big city, and take me to live a good life."
"But..."
"But he is just like his father, a loser. He didn't do well in school, liked to play around, and dropped out of high school. At a young age, he was fooling around with women of questionable character, and even got one pregnant. He brought her back and said he wanted to get married, but the woman actually asked for 40,000 yuan as a dowry. This is going to kill my whole family."
"A woman who got pregnant before getting married is worthless. It's good enough that my son is willing to marry her. I won't give her money. But she actually had an abortion and refused to see my son again. My son was taught badly by that bad woman and quarreled with me every day at home."
Liu Cui covered her face and cried again, then choked up and said: "One day he was playing games in the room. I went in and told him to go to bed early and play games too much and he would be useless. He suddenly yelled at me and stabbed me with a fruit knife. I fell to the ground in pain. He didn't send me to the hospital, but stabbed me many times... Then I came here."
"..." Yu Xiao's eyes twitched for a while, and she probably figured out what was going on. And she was also very lucky that she didn't speak first, otherwise she would definitely die miserably. Originally, she saw that the name of the hospital was St. Elizabeth's, so she thought it was a mental hospital. Now she knows that the condition for entering this hospital is not mental illness, but death. All the patients here are dead except for the three of them.
The group of patients around her have pale faces and dull expressions. Some are dull and some are full of resentment. Some can even chat and talk. They look harmless. But who can guarantee what they will be like after knowing that there are living people around them?
"Ms. Liu's experience is really sympathetic." George adjusted his glasses hypocritically, "Then who should speak next?"
"Let me do it." In Zhou Xiaozhen's surprised eyes, Yu Xiao raised his hand, "Now let me share with everyone the reason why I came here."