Clown Game

The mask was tied tightly; it took about a minute to be completely removed. He opened his mouth and let out an "Uh!" sound. It seemed to relax him a lot.

But it was this simple sound that led him to the following conclusions:

First: Judging from the voice, he was probably in his twenties, a man.

Second: He discovered that the muscles controlling his jaw were not too stiff, indicating that the mask had not been on for very long, probably put on just before he woke up.

Third: He wanted to test if there was something special about his voice, but it seemed there was nothing unusual. So why, with his hands and feet tied so securely, was he also wearing a mask that restricted even the opening of his mouth? Could it be that he was a mentally ill person prone to biting others?

At this moment, the female doctor in front seemed to have finished with the documents she was working on.

"You can go out now!" she said, gathering a pile of documents from the table and placing them at the corner of the desk.

"Okay, Mrs. Liu, uh... I'll be right outside. If something doesn't seem right, you can call me immediately," the man said, exiting the room and closing the door behind him.

Twice he called her Mrs. rather than doctor or physician. Is that a personal habit? Or maybe the woman in front wasn't a doctor. Could it be that this wasn't a mental hospital? Obviously, these questions were impossible to answer at the moment.

To tell the truth, right now, apart from his mouth and eyes, he had almost no freedom of movement, but why did the man's tone, as he left, sound as if this place was very dangerous, needing him to be on standby right outside the door, ready to burst in at any moment?

The person strapped to the gurney kept thinking this way. His thoughts were fast, seemingly beyond his control as he observed, analyzed, and inferred... and he simply couldn't stop!

At that moment, the woman in front raised her head. Almost simultaneously, he began to watch her with focused attention. The rapid shift into this state of concentration didn't bother him in the least.

Above 30 years old, wearing light professional makeup, her eyes brimming with the confidence of a successful woman, the wrinkles at the corners of her mouth and eyes were faint, indicating she didn't laugh much, or she knew how to take good care of herself. The lipstick bore a slight mark, perhaps from biting a pen or nibbling on a finger? No, smoking! The earrings seemed ordinary, but undoubtedly valuable—a woman of taste who didn't show off her wealth, and of course, she was also very rich.

The lab coat was immaculate, each corner attended to with meticulous care... Yes, she was indeed a strong-willed woman. She didn't wear a name badge, and even if she had one, he wouldn't be able to read it from this distance. However, he should be able to guess which hand she preferred to use, huh? It was surprising that such an outstanding woman didn't wear any rings on her fingers.

Whether useful or not, all this information rushed into his mind almost instantaneously.

...

Then, the woman started speaking.

"Hi..."

The person on the gurney didn't answer. From the woman's single "Hi," he got no information, so he chose to remain silent to see what else she might say.

Seeing that he didn't speak, the woman didn't show any confusion or displeasure, simply flipping open a file in front of her naturally.

"Chen Xiao?" she inquired.

"Oh, Chen Xiao, or maybe Chen Xiao!" He knew that must be his name, then frowned, "No, that's not right, it's Chen Xiao!"

Although he had only heard the pronunciation, for some reason, he felt that his name should be Chen Xiao, even if it was a somewhat strange name.

Xiao! There was something likable about the character. He thought, seemingly very pleased with the 'Xiao' in his name.

Afterward, he actually grinned and was surprised to find that he could stretch his mouth quite wide.

The woman in front of me frowned, as if she'd seen something disgusting.

"Uh... looks like my smile isn't very appealing, huh." Chen Xiao thought, but he didn't care and even stuck out his tongue, licking his lips.

Not speaking didn't seem right either, so in a very low voice, he said, "Hi, hello!"

Then, he was taken aback.

Because he had just made a simple sound, and now, upon actually speaking, Chen Xiao realized his voice was quite high-pitched and a bit grating to hear.

"What?" Mrs. Liu behind the desk frowned again, obviously not having caught what he said.

This was because Chen Xiao had purposely lowered his voice.

"Cough! Cough!... I said hi, hello!" He cleared his throat, pretending to struggle to raise his voice, then spoke even more softly.

Mrs. Liu sighed and, with a look of resignation, picked up the file from the desk and walked over.

This was exactly the outcome Chen Xiao had wanted to see.

About 168 centimeters tall, she looked a bit on the thin side overall, nothing special about the lower half of her white coat, black trousers, high heels? Then her height must be 165, or even shorter?

Would a doctor wear such shoes? But that didn't really prove anything.

By now, Mrs. Liu had come to a stop about half a meter from Chen Xiao, possibly because she thought this distance was close enough to hear her clearly, but more likely because... she didn't want to come any closer to him.

"What's wrong with your throat?" She asked, frowning.

"Cough cough!!" This time, Chen Xiao again feigned clearing his throat and replied in a normal volume, "Nothing."

Mrs. Liu shrugged her shoulders, looked down at the file in her hand, and said, "It seems we can communicate normally, so from now on, you answer whatever I ask you. If you cooperate well, you might just earn yourself a chance to be discharged. If you don't want to cooperate, you'll have to go back to the solitary ward, and given your dangerousness, you will probably stay there until you die." After a pause, she continued while looking into Chen Xiao's eyes, "Do you understand?"

".....So it seems this really is a mental hospital, and I am indeed a very dangerous patient. Has my danger level reached the point where I must be kept in a solitary ward and never possibly be released in this lifetime?" Chen Xiao quietly moved his bound arms..." Well, it appears I am indeed very dangerous."

So the question arises, this woman says I might get a chance to be discharged, but logically, someone like me would never be discharged. Could it be that my mental state has nearly normalized, meeting the criteria for discharge? And now I'm undergoing the pre-discharge test?

No, that can't be right. If I were truly that dangerous, no one would take the risk to agree to discharge me. People would prefer to lock me up forever.

So, what exactly does this woman mean by cooperate well?

Chen Xiao thought, aware that he should get an answer to these questions soon, but he couldn't help pondering.

"Alright, ma'am," Chen Xiao said, offering what he thought was a very polite smile.

Mrs. Liu frowned once again, as if the smile had repulsed her.

A sense of frustration welled up inside Chen Xiao: "Is my smile really that disgusting?"