ryethenovel Chapter 2 Has this child had another episode?
Chapter 2 Has this child had another episode?
Jiang Yu was stunned.
younger sister?
Where did he get a sister?
He was an orphan from birth, without even parents, so where did this little sister come from?
She's still such a young girl.
The girl wrapped in a bath towel was looking at Jiang Yu with a resentful expression.
"elder brother!!!"
She jogged over and punched Jiang Yu on the shoulder with her little fist.
"You've gone too far! I was taking a shower, why did you suddenly open the door?!"
Jiang Yu was forced to take a half step back by her punch.
It wasn't pain, it was confusion.
What's going on?
How did she end up acting?
Jiang Yu looked at Zhang Guiqin with a pleading expression.
"Aunt Zhang...who exactly is she?"
Zhang Guiqin frowned slightly, clearly somewhat angry.
"Xiaoyu, stop fooling around. Didn't you see your sister just finished showering? You, as her older brother..."
"I really don't know her!" Jiang Yu exclaimed excitedly.
"Aunt Zhang, you know my situation. I live alone; there's no one else at home!"
"The whole neighborhood knows I'm an orphan!"
"Where did I get a sister?"
Zhang Guiqin's expression changed.
Not angry, not confused...
Rather, it is a form of vigilance.
"Xiao Yu..."
Her tone became slow and cautious.
"You are indeed an orphan, but you have a younger sister!"
"After you two came out of the orphanage, you lived together. Everyone in our neighborhood knows that."
"Although you are half-siblings, you two are as close as blood siblings, and you are inseparable all the time."
"You, as the older brother, raised your younger sister from a young age, acting as both a father and a mother. It wasn't easy for you, and everyone secretly praises you for being so sensible!"
Jiang Yu looked completely bewildered.
Who just said behind my back that I'm pitiful living alone?
How come now it's all about raising your younger sister?
What the hell is this?!
Jiang Yu felt that Zhang Guiqin was acting as him.
Perhaps it was to get revenge for the extra towel he had asked for?
Is this old man really that bad?
Thinking of towels…
Jiang Yu strode to the cabinet, opened the drawer, took out the white towel from earlier, and held it up in front of Zhang Guiqin.
"Do you remember this towel?"
"I remember, I just gave it to you," Zhang Guiqin admitted.
"Then let me ask you, I already got a towel last week, why did you give me an extra one?" Jiang Yu pressed.
"The rule from above is that a towel should be given out for every census, isn't that normal?" Zhang Guiqin shrugged.
"No, that's not what you just said!"
Jiang Yu said, word by word, "You just said that each family would only receive one, but you only gave me an extra one because I said I was an orphan and used that as a moral blackmail. You even said that only I have this privilege!"
Zhang Guiqin's brows furrowed even more, and the way she looked at Jiang Yu became increasingly strange.
"Xiaoyu, I didn't say that just now, you're mistaken!"
"..."
Jiang Yu felt a surge of anger.
You! Remembered! Wrong!
That’s it again!
How could he possibly misremember something that only happened a few minutes ago?!
Besides…
He himself doesn't know whether he is an orphan or not.
He has always been alone since he was a child.
Eating alone, sleeping alone, spending the New Year alone...
He was an orphan.
Zhang Guiqin often brings this up.
During holidays and festivals, when she sends dumplings or zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), she always says, "Xiaoyu is all alone and so pitiful."
At this moment, the girl came over looking aggrieved.
She covered her face with one hand to hide the ripples that seemed out of place, and tugged at Jiang Yu's sleeve with the other.
"Brother, you can't abandon me for a towel..."
Her voice was soft and sweet, with a hint of tears.
Anyone would soften upon hearing that.
"roll!"
Jiang Yu coldly flicked his arm.
Taking advantage of Zhang Guiqin's inattention, he snatched the notebook from her hand.
He needs to find evidence.
It's fine if they don't acknowledge the towel, but they can't falsify the registration information, right?
It was written clearly in black and white.
"Come on, look, isn't it written very clearly here..."
Jiang Yu's voice abruptly stopped.
He noticed that Zhang Guiqin had written "1" in the "Family Members" column, but now it had become "2".
In addition, there is one more person in the permanent resident population information.
Name: Jiang Ning
Gender: Female
Age: 12
Relationship with the head of household: siblings
Emergency Contact Person: Jiang Yu
……
Jiang Yu stared at those few lines of text for a full ten seconds.
His fingers trembled slightly.
It wasn't fear, but a vague, inexplicable sense of absurdity.
He clearly saw that Zhang Guiqin wrote "1".
But how did it become "2"?
And they also have a younger sister named "Jiang Ning".
Just as his head was buzzing...
He saw a more abstract scene.
Not far away, a door appeared on the wall behind the girl.
A pale pink door!
A handwritten note was pasted on the door: "Little Ning's Castle, no unauthorized personnel allowed (except for her brother)."
Jiang Yu's eyes widened like saucers.
There used to be just a white wall there, nothing there!
But now there's an extra room!
I've been renting a one-bedroom apartment for many years, and now it's become a two-bedroom apartment?
Jiang Yu walked over as if possessed…
The door wasn't closed properly.
A thin slit was left open, through which light shone.
He reached out and pushed the door open…
A faint floral fragrance wafted over.
A girl's bedroom came into view.
A single bed, with plush toys piled up at the head of the bed.
The bed sheet was light pink with a small floral print, and it was laid out neatly without a single wrinkle.
There are several potted succulents on the windowsill, plump and well-cared for.
Textbooks and notebooks were laid out on the desk, and next to it was a pen holder filled with colorful pens.
Several certificates of merit are posted on the wall: "Three Good Student", "Excellent Class Leader", "First Prize in Essay Competition".
……
Jiang Yu felt a chill run down his spine.
Because this room wasn't set up temporarily.
It seems they've lived there for a long time.
But how is that possible?
He took another step forward, his gaze falling on the desk.
Several picture frames were placed on the table.
In the photo, he and this "younger sister" are standing side by side, with the most famous fishermen's pier on the coast in the background.
He was wearing his favorite gray hoodie.
The younger sister tiptoed over and kissed his face, her eyes curving into two crescent moons.
The scene is so beautiful, it looks like a poster for an idol drama.
……
Each photo records a different scene and a different time.
Some of the photos have yellowed and faded at the edges.
Although Jiang Yu is not a professional photographer, he can tell that these photos are not photoshopped or artificially aged.
Zhang Guiqin appeared behind him at some point, and the masked woman was also standing at the door, peering inside.
"Xiao Yu..."
Zhang Guiqin's voice was very soft, with a hint of probing.
"Are you... disowning me again?"
The phrase "disrespectful to people" is very jarring.
Jiang Yu was stunned for a moment.
Then he turned his head...
He noticed that Zhang Guiqin's eyes had become strange.
He recognized that look.
When he was sent to a mental hospital, this is how people looked at him.
But he knew very well that he wasn't sick.
In his childhood memory, there were no trees in front of the orphanage.
But the next day he suddenly saw a ginkgo tree that was over a hundred years old standing in front of his door.
The tree is over a hundred years old, its trunk is so thick that two children cannot wrap their arms around it, and its canopy covers most of the courtyard gate.
He discussed it with other children, and they all said that the tree had always been there.
But he clearly remembered that there was nothing there yesterday.
"Jiang Yu, you must be mistaken?"
This was the first time he had ever "misremembered".
Later, such incidents became more and more frequent.
A new bridge appeared on the street I pass on my way to school, a basketball court suddenly appeared downstairs, and a 5A-level scenic spot suddenly emerged in the middle of nowhere…
A celebrity duo I'd never heard of before suddenly appeared on TV.
Everyone says, "He's really famous, didn't you know?"
Jiang Yu didn't take it seriously.
He thought he was just too careless and might not have noticed the changes around him.
Until one morning during my second year of high school.
That day, Jiang Yu walked into the classroom as usual when the morning reading bell rang.
His seat was in the last row of the class.
VIPs with only one table.
But that morning, there was a table next to him.
A boy he didn't know was sitting in his seat, showing off a steamed bun in his mouth.
Jiang Yu will always remember his name: Liang Zhichao.
Upon seeing Jiang Yu arrive, Liang Zhichao held up a half-eaten steamed bun to him.
"Want a bite?"
Jiang Yu felt completely bewildered.
"No...who are you?"
Liang Zhichao was stunned for a moment, then wiped the oil from the corner of his mouth.
"I'll be your father."
His voice was cheeky, the kind of tone boys use when joking with each other.
The surrounding classmates heard this and all chuckled, then lowered their heads to continue doing their homework.
Nobody thought there was anything wrong with it.
Isn't it normal for guys to call each other's dads?
Jiang Yu frowned.
It's fine to make this kind of joke if you're close.
But he didn't know this person.
"You're not a new transfer student, are you?" Jiang Yu put his backpack on his desk.
Liang Zhichao rolled his eyes as he chewed on his steamed bun.
"What are you doing, go away..."
"Who's messing with you?"
"?"
"Tell me, why did you switch schools? Was it for fighting or smoking?"
Seeing Jiang Yu's serious question, Liang Zhichao was dumbfounded.
The surrounding classmates were also dumbfounded.
Because everyone could tell that Jiang Yu wasn't joking.
The two went back and forth, and eventually started fighting.
The students all came over to break up the fight.
The class monitor stood up and condemned Jiang Yu for being unreasonable.
Jiang Yu got even angrier.
"You guys conspired together, didn't you? What Liang Zhichao? What classmate? You're messing with me!"
Later, the two were taken to the office by their homeroom teacher.
Jiang Yu recounted what had just happened.
From his perspective, he walked into the classroom and saw a stranger sitting next to him. He didn't recognize the person, who said his name was Liang Zhichao and that they had been deskmates for almost two years...
But he never had a deskmate; he was always alone in the last row of the classroom.
Jiang Yu felt that everyone was making fun of him.
The homeroom teacher remained silent after hearing this.
He felt that Jiang Yu was playing a trick on him.
"What's wrong with you this morning? Did I not assign enough homework?"
"Teacher, I..."
"If there's a conflict between classmates, they can talk it out. Why are you causing trouble? You two are usually such good friends, this is really worrying."
"..."
The homeroom teacher's words finally broke Jiang Yu's composure.
He told his homeroom teacher about all the things that had suddenly appeared since he was a child.
Ginkgo trees, bridges, basketball courts, 5A-level scenic spots, Liang Zhichao…
The homeroom teacher's face turned green after hearing this.
The way the other person looked at her was exactly the same way Zhang Guiqin looked at her now.
Then, Jiang Yu was sent to a mental hospital.
The diagnosis results are in…
He suffers from "delusional fictionalism with fictional memory disorder".
"Diagnosis: The patient has a long-term history of clearly defined fabricated memories, mainly manifested as a systematic denial of objective facts and a firm belief in fabricated events. Furthermore, the patient is unable to accept external feedback that aligns with the facts, and cannot correct their erroneous cognition through logical reasoning or reality testing..."
"Etiological analysis: The patient witnessed the hanging of his key caregiver (orphanage director), an event that caused severe psychological trauma. Furthermore, the lack of timely and effective psychological intervention, coupled with post-traumatic stress and long-term emotional deprivation, led the patient to develop a psychological defense mechanism centered on 'fictitious memories'..."
Treatment plan: Inpatient treatment, with antipsychotic medication (risperidone, starting dose 1 mg/day, later adjusted to 2 mg/day) to control delusional symptoms, combined with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) three times a day, focusing on reality testing training and trauma narrative therapy...
……
And so, Jiang Yu spent a year in the mental hospital.
After being discharged from the hospital, he learned to keep quiet.
He pretends not to see anything that seems unreasonable.
Seeing the thing that suddenly appeared, he pretended it had always been there.
In short, whatever everyone says goes; it's just following the crowd.
He stopped arguing with anyone.
"Yes, Liang Zhichao was my deskmate, we're both bastards!"
"How could I forget? I'm Kai Ta Chao!"
"That's our homeroom teacher's son? Oh, I remember now..."
He pretended to accept this ever-changing world, just like everyone else around him.
No matter how the world changes, it has no impact on his life.
The appearance of a tree didn't affect his eating.
The appearance of a bridge did not disturb his sleep.
The appearance of a Liang Zhichao did not affect his college entrance examination.
But now a younger sister has appeared.
What should I do?