Love in a Mental Hospital

[The same year, June 13, admitted for treatment, the psychological shadow area remains insufficient.]

[October 24, 2021, fully recovered, returned to work after discharge and lived a normal life.]

[January 1, 2023, while traveling with family, snatched a three-month-old child on a high-speed train, claiming the child was a one-in-a-million martial arts prodigy and wanted to take him as a disciple.]

[January 2, 2023, admitted for treatment, the psychological shadow area remains insufficient, diagnosed with Bipolar I Disorder, treated with antipsychotic drugs and lithium salts.]

[January 3, 2023, the condition has greatly improved, maintained with just lithium salts and remained in the hospital for observation, using lifestyle therapy.]

Upon entering the ward, with three doctors and three nurses standing by, they all waited silently for Zhao Wenjie to finish his practice.

He sat cross-legged on the bed, facing the sun outside the window, breathing in and out. His breaths were clear and forceful as his chest rose and fell visibly like a toad's.

"Hoo." With a downward push of his hands, Zhao Wenjie exhaled a breath of stale air and slowly opened his eyes.

"Doctor Su." Zhao Wenjie greeted her on his own, in a tone that was gentle and friendly.

Su Qing nodded and asked, "How are you today?"

"My Inner Strength is increasing slowly," Zhao Wenjie sighed, "I am, after all, just an ordinary person who luckily entered this field. That child is the true genius, what a pity."

"Inner Strength is not real," Su Qing said.

Zhao Wenjie just smiled and shook his head, not offering any defense.

Turning back, Su Qing glanced at Gu Ran and Chen Ke: "Which one of you is interested in having a chat with him?"

"I'll do it," Gu Ran said.

Su Qing stepped aside, crossing her arms in front of her, her attitude shifting instantly from businesslike to that of a spectator to the excitement.

Gu Ran stepped forward.

"Do you really have Inner Strength?" he asked.

"Yes," Zhao Wenjie replied quietly but affirmatively.

"Can you teach me? I've always been intrigued by Inner Strength, I once fantasized about scaling walls and saving the damsel in distress."

"No need to hide it from me," Zhao Wenjie said, looking into Gu Ran's eyes, "'Scaling walls' and 'saving the damsel in distress' aren't your true thoughts. Though there was hardly any hesitation, those two phrases are the result of your reflection, because they're safer."

"What do you mean?" Gu Ran was puzzled.

"I can see the indulgence in your heart. Simply put, if you obtained Inner Strength and learned how to use it, you would engage in actions akin to those of a skirt chaser."

"Pfft!" The two female nurses turned their heads, covering their mouths to stifle their laughter.

The male nurse was also laughing, openly and genuinely.

"It's just an example, the skirt chaser is easier to understand," Zhao Wenjie laughed as well, "Maybe you just like stealing, the seven deadly sins, you know. It doesn't necessarily mean lust."

"I noticed that you separated 'obtaining Inner Strength' and 'learning how to use Inner Strength.' Is there a difference between the two?" Gu Ran asked.

"One is Internal Cultivation Methods, the other is martial arts techniques."

"I bet you don't know the martial arts techniques."

"Your guess is from your distrust of me, and I don't want to explain more, I don't know the martial arts techniques, otherwise, I wouldn't be in a psychiatric hospital, but at an academy of sciences. Only that child, a prodigy like that, could create true martial arts techniques, to let Inner Strength shine and pioneer a new discipline for humanity."

"You have quite a broad vision," said Gu Ran.

Zhao Wenjie shook his head: "It's for my own sake."

"Back to the original question, can I learn it? After all, since there are no martial arts techniques, teaching me Inner Strength shouldn't matter, right?" Gu Ran said.

"Let's give it a try," Zhao Wenjie raised his hand, adopting the posture of a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner feeling the pulse.

Gu Ran stretched his hand out toward him.

Zhao Wenjie placed his fingers on Gu Ran's wrist and closed his eyes in contemplation.

"Your talent is similar to mine; quite poor, but it's possible!" Zhao Wenjie opened his eyes, somewhat excited, "Starting tomorrow, come to my ward early, practice the breathing exercises with me, and you'll be on your way in three years!"

"Okay, I'll be here tomorrow."

The group left the ward and came to the corridor.

"Let's hear it," Su Qing nudged Gu Ran with her chin, her leader's stance full of a queen's allure.

"I've decided to learn from him for three years. If I can't get the hang of it after three years, it might make him doubt the authenticity of Inner Strength," Gu Ran said.

"Are you really going to learn it?" Chen Ke couldn't help interjecting.

"Three years to possibly cure a person with a mental disorder, isn't that worth it?" Gu Ran said, "Of course, it's just a trial."

If surgery is not an option, psychotherapy is a lengthy process, with relapses being a common occurrence.

In treating patients, psychotherapists already attempt various therapies, for the human psyche is too mysterious, unlike the body, where treatment can be directly targeted at symptoms.

Often, in front of their patients, psychotherapists are just ordinary people at their wit's end, powerless.

Su Qing nodded: "You may try, but as I am the team leader, I must remind you of something."

"Please do, team leader," Gu Ran said, bowing his head respectfully, acknowledging Su Qing's greater clinical experience.

"After learning Inner Strength, don't become a skirt chaser."

Four of the six people were holding back laughter, while one was the object of their amusement.

Gu Ran said: "I feel so foolish."

Su Qing smiled.

At that moment, Gu Ran had already sensed that whatever she was about to say was not going to be kind, but he still underestimated the venom in her words.

The psychologist with the attractive appearance said in a voice that was both gentle and teasingly: "It's not just a feeling."

...

That's going too far!

————

"Private Diary": August 2nd, clear, the day before Friday, very pleased with the office, downloaded three doctor-themed movies for study.

If I really had Inner Strength — fake or not, the law would be useless against me, right? Becoming a skirt chaser wouldn't matter, would it?

————

"Doctor's Diary": If there were no martial arts novels, what form would Zhao Wenjie's mental illness take?

I will spend three years delving into Zhao Wenjie's psyche to see what has occurred to make him so eager to escape reality.

Clearly, it must be something that he would rather die than reveal, something that has driven him to mental illness.

I want to encourage him to muster the courage to speak it out.