Love in a Mental Hospital

"I have an idea for you," Su Qing was still covering her mouth, laughing.

"Please enlighten me."

"You take off your pants and let me look at your buttocks, I guarantee you'll get what you wish for."

Gu Ran picked up his chopsticks and ate.

Taking off his pants was something he couldn't do!

"It's okay," Su Qing continued to persuade—or rather, tempt, "This is a psychiatric hospital, no one cares what you do here, believe me, really."

Gu Ran could no longer tolerate it, "I am here to be a doctor, not a patient, and certainly not to be a monkey played with by others!"

"Stay optimistic, you're so easily affected, be careful not to catch a psychological shadow from the patients."

"Don't discriminate against patients, you, a 'normal person,' are giving me a psychological shadow too!"

"I am not a normal person." The cheerful tone of Su Qing suddenly turned cold.

"Ah?" Gu Ran's feeling at that moment was like having snatched a seat from a pregnant woman, a bowl of rice from a lame man, a walking stick from a blind man.

"I am the world's number one beauty," Su Qing, who claimed not to be normal, declared.

"...Why don't you say you're the universe's number one beauty!" Gu Ran regretted his own compassion.

"Not qualified," Su Qing said, "easily led by one's emotions, ordinary treatments are one thing, but how about surgery? If it weren't for my mother insisting on you, I wouldn't let you into the clinic."

She picked up her dinner plate and got up to leave.

Gu Ran was stunned.

Not only was she an ordinary staff member who had received him, but she was also an examiner in charge of assessment?

It was over.

Gu Ran's heart felt a bit cold.

Not because he was worried about losing this job, as Su Qing had said, he was handpicked by the head of the clinic, and the contract had already been signed.

For five years, he couldn't leave, and the clinic couldn't fire him.

What truly disheartened him was that Su Qing might pass on her negative evaluation of him to the head of the clinic.

The head of the clinic was good to him, had sponsored his studies, but on professional levels alone, he did not want to disappoint him.

Gu Ran looked at Su Qing's departing figure, contemplating whether to stand up and stop her, asking her to give him another chance, to face her provocations this time with the attitude and professionalism of an interviewee.

But Gu Ran, who always excelled, had another thought: whether he was qualified or not, time would prove.

With a five-year contract, starting with a low evaluation might not be a bad thing, it would mean less pressure for him, allowing him to perform to his full potential.

Just then.

Su Qing, who had put her dinner plate back at the return point, half turned back, looking at Gu Ran.

She mimicked a 'gun' with her right hand, fired a shot at Gu Ran, then, with the 'barrel' of the gun, her pointer and middle fingers, she blew on them softly as if they were near her lips.

Her face was full of smiles.

"..."

Gu Ran wanted to curse out loud!

But having learned from his mistake, what if she wasn't teasing him, but still assessing?

He responded with a mild smile, as if all his previous emotions were fake, just playing along with her.

The self-proclaimed world's number one beauty, Su Qing, left with laughter, her laugh crisp and pleasant, like a beautiful cat stepping on your chest.

Gu Ran chewed every bite thirty times during his meal, tearing the food into tiny, mushy pieces!

The meal time had passed and the canteen was empty. The auntie waiting to collect the dishes to wash them came over and sat down across from Gu Ran, diagonally opposite.

"Just arrived today?" the auntie asked warmly.

"Yes," Gu Ran replied, his attitude slightly standoffish.

"You look fairly normal, should be able to get out of here quickly, don't be nervous."

"..."

"Is Qing your primary doctor? That's rare. Qing has never taken care of a male patient, maybe she's worried about some kind of transference of affection?"

It was transference.

A strong emotion that visitors develop towards the analyst.

In the psychology profession, it's not uncommon for patients to become lovers with their doctors. Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, had his share of ambiguous relationships with numerous female patients.

"Auntie, I am a doctor, not a patient," Gu Ran explained.

"There are patients here who also claim to be doctors."

Before Gu Ran could speak, the auntie laughed and said, "Haha, just kidding! But there really are patients here who claim they're doctors."

Immediately after, she lowered her voice, "Su Qing is one of them."

"Su Qing?" Gu Ran was taken aback.

"Yes," the auntie said sympathetically, "Poor child, so young and pretty but suffering from a mental disorder. We all cooperate with her treatment, letting her believe she's a psychologist. Only in this way can she act like a normal person. You mustn't burst her bubble."

You mustn't burst her bubble!

'Her' referred to the auntie standing before him!

Gu Ran felt the presence of a psychological shadow; the auntie before him was a severe psychiatric patient, a monster born from the Mind World!

"I see," Gu Ran said gravely, "but if she thinks she's a psychologist, she'll need to see patients and even perform surgery. Where do the patients for her come from?"

The auntie glanced outside the canteen and then told Gu Ran, "Don't be fooled by her being psychotic, a long illness makes a doctor—her professional knowledge is indeed extensive."

Gu Ran nodded, "It's true that some with mental illness do show extraordinary talents."

"Remember to go along with her, never expose her, got it?" the auntie earnestly instructed.

"Don't worry, Auntie, I still have that level of professional integrity," Gu Ran replied, changing the subject with curiosity, "Auntie, do you know why she developed a mental illness?"

In a low voice, the auntie said, "She ran a snack bar. A group of dog traffickers came to eat there and took a fancy to her dog; stole it to eat."

"When the dog traffickers returned, the first time she cooked flies for them; the second time, she deep-fried cockroach juice; the third time, she burned rats; the fourth time, she chopped off her own finger to feed them."

Gu Ran glanced nonchalantly at the auntie's left hand, minus its little finger, then lowered his gaze to the meal in front of him.

"Auntie, I need to go report in, I'll be leaving now."

"Wasting food!" the auntie instantly lost her fondness for him.

Gu Ran forced a smile but quickly made his escape.

As he walked out of the canteen, he felt an unexpected warmth throughout his body; he couldn't tell if it was because the canteen's air-conditioning was too low or because the atmosphere was too eerie.

Looking back at the deserted canteen and the auntie meticulously tidying up the trays alone, Gu Ran, pulling his suitcase, walked into the 28-degree sun towards the office building.

————

"Private Diary": August 1st, clear. The canteen is too creepy. Su Qing's butt is really round, huh.