Chapter 36 Open Eyes

Chapter 36: Waking Up

As relaxed as he was, after breakfast, his roommate had to leave.

Once the roommate was gone, Lin Jianyuan felt the entire ward fall silent.

He couldn’t help but feel a little empty inside.

After a while, he realized—it wasn’t just his imagination.

It was real.

So quiet!

Lin Jianyuan pulled open the curtains and saw that the two beds on either side were actually empty!

What was going on? Where had all the other patients gone?

For a moment, Lin Jianyuan felt the unease that "everyone has gone out, and only I forgot there was an exam today."

Was there some routine activity for hospitalized patients that he didn’t know about? Like, uh, morning Baduanjin exercises or something?

Sounded pretty health-conscious.

If there really was Baduanjin to do, Lin Jianyuan would quite like to join.

Lin Jianyuan was in a mild-symptoms ward. Aside from the doctor’s rounds at 10 a.m. every day, he was basically free the rest of the time.

But this freedom was limited to the inpatient area.

The good news was, the inpatient area was quite large, with a pleasantly scenic garden downstairs and very fresh air.

The bad news was, there was a wall around the garden.

This made Lin Jianyuan feel even more like he was in prison.

But work was also like prison. Being "imprisoned" in a hospital was much better than being "imprisoned" in a company, after all…

Just then, his phone rang.

The moment Lin Jianyuan heard the ringtone, he felt inexplicably irritated. Picking up his phone, he saw it was indeed Jiang Chen.

Seeing Jiang Chen’s name already put him in a bad mood. After steeling himself for a few seconds, he answered the call with a "Hello."

"Lin Jianyuan, are you awake? How are you feeling?" Jiang Chen said.

He didn’t even want to hear this hypocritical concern from his boss.

Because the idiot boss definitely wasn’t concerned about his health—he just wanted to know when Lin Jianyuan could return to work.

Lin Jianyuan rolled his eyes and blurted out: "I’m telling you, the snail has turned into a perpetual motion machine, working nonstop at its station. Little Stone is frantically tapping on the snail shell, saying the shark teeth are coming, are you trying to get yourself killed? The Digestive System says it’s best at doing sit-ups in a coffin. My liver is too lively, I can’t take it anymore. Tomorrow I’ll bring an electrocardiogram machine to clock in."

Jiang Chen: "?"

Jiang Chen couldn’t process it right away. Lin Jianyuan kept spouting nonsense, leaving Jiang Chen completely speechless.

After a long pause, Jiang Chen asked, his lips twitching, "Uh, what did the doctor say?"

Lin Jianyuan said with a straight face: "The doctor is using a fishing rod to hang curtains in a gourd. During the blood draw this morning, I told the Digestive System to stay here for breakfast. The Digestive System said, sure, after this bite, I’ll go back and get your clothes for you."

Jiang Chen: "…"

Jiang Chen finally realized that Lin Jianyuan was beyond communication at this point. Muttering, "How did it come to this," he reluctantly hung up.

Lin Jianyuan smirked, thinking that mindless nonsense was actually quite stress-relieving.

That's so me, coming up with such a move.

Am I actually a genius?

Lin Jianyuan was feeling rather pleased with himself when he turned around and saw Dr. Cen standing at the door with a complicated expression.

Lin Jianyuan: "."

Crap. Pretending to be mentally ill in front of a psychiatrist.

Heh heh → not heh heh.

Lin Jianyuan quickly straightened up, put on a normal smile, and said, "Dr. Cen, you’re here! Didn’t you say rounds were at 10?"

"I was on night shift yesterday, so I’m doing rounds early today to finish up and get off shift," Dr. Cen said. "What were you talking about just now?"

Lin Jianyuan said earnestly, "If I told you I was spouting nonsense to make my idiot boss believe I’m really sick, would you believe me?"

Dr. Cen couldn’t help but smile. "Are you trying to prove you’re not mentally ill in a psychiatric hospital?"

Lin Jianyuan slapped his forehead, suddenly realizing: "Oh right, I don’t need to explain! I’m here because I’m sick in the first place!"

His thinking was still too limited.

Why did he keep forgetting he actually was mentally ill?

"Very good, very spirited. It seems you slept well last night," Dr. Cen nodded approvingly. Then, changing the subject, he asked, "The nurse told me your roommate stayed over last night?"

Lin Jianyuan felt a bit embarrassed: "Ah, yes. Sorry, I don’t even know how he got in. Does it violate the rules here? I’m sorry, Dr. Cen, I’ve already talked to him and made sure it won’t happen again."

Dr. Cen: "There’s no such rule, actually."

Lin Jianyuan: "Huh?"

Dr. Cen’s gaze was like a fine, dense net, enveloping Lin Jianyuan from head to toe. His eyes finally settled on the slight upward curve of Lin Jianyuan’s lips.

"I think your mental state is much better today than yesterday. What do you think?"

Lin Jianyuan thought for a moment and nodded: "Seems like it. Anyway, from the time I woke up until now, I haven’t seen any hallucinations."

Not to mention the big, flapping eyeballs and the sarcastic big mouth, he hadn’t even seen the squeeze toy or Little Stone.

Speaking of which, where were those two stress-relief toys? Were they lost?

Dr. Cen listened to him, nodded, and wrote something in the medical chart. Then he said, "Your roommate went back?"

"Yeah, he went back. I asked him to get me some clothes, a toothbrush, and stuff," Lin Jianyuan reported honestly. "He’ll come again in the afternoon. Is that okay?"

"Of course," Dr. Cen said with a smile. "Our mild-symptoms ward isn’t very strict about visitors. Daytime visits are allowed. But if he wants to stay overnight, you still need to let the nurse know. So the nurses aren’t startled during night rounds."

"Okay, okay," Lin Jianyuan breathed a sigh of relief. He thought to himself that the psychiatric hospital was really nothing like he had imagined.

How come the management system of this mental hospital is even more people-friendly than his company’s!

Just thinking about those inhumane bullshit policies at the company, Lin Jianyuan again felt chest tightness and frustration.

He couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

Dr. Cen noticed and asked, "What’s wrong?"

Lin Jianyuan began venting to him about all the ridiculous rules at his company—like not being allowed to eat breakfast, or the new idiot supervisor who, because he was afraid of the cold, wouldn’t let anyone turn on the AC, making everyone sweat and fume.

After listening, Dr. Cen went quiet.

Lin Jianyuan: "Dr. Cen, after hearing all that, you think I have it rough too, right?"

Dr. Cen: "No. I just suddenly remembered that when summer first started and the temperature hit 30 degrees, our hospital still hadn’t turned on the AC."

Lin Jianyuan was surprised: "Huh? Wouldn’t that be heatstroke hot?"

Dr. Cen: "Yeah. The patients were so hot they were ready to riot, and we doctors and nurses were so hot we couldn’t even stand wearing our white coats—we almost felt like running around naked."

Lin Jianyuan couldn’t help but laugh: "If you all ran around naked together, wouldn’t you get admitted as patients? Why didn’t you complain to the management? How could you work in such heat?"

"Complaining wouldn't do any good," Dr. Cen shrugged. "In the end, it was the patients’ families who came to visit, and after they complained, the AC finally got turned on."

Lin Jianyuan nodded: "At least it got turned on."

Dr. Cen: "Then they turned it off again at night."

Lin Jianyuan: "..."

Lin Jianyuan started feeling hot himself out of sympathy, but he still tried to comfort Dr. Cen: "The hospital is probably just trying to conserve energy. A hospital this big must have huge electricity bills for AC. And the economy isn’t doing so great these days."

Dr. Cen said with a scoff: "Between the hospital going bankrupt and working without AC, I’d choose the hospital going bankrupt."

Lin Jianyuan put himself in those shoes and nodded in deep agreement.

"By the way, how are you feeling now?" Dr. Cen switched back to the main topic in an instant. "Any discomfort after taking the medication?"

Lin Jianyuan answered honestly: "I was feeling just so-so, but after hearing how miserable your situation is, I’m in a much better mood."

Dr. Cen looked at him helplessly: "Seems like you really consider me a brother now."

Lin Jianyuan: "Huh?"

Dr. Cen: "Afraid of your bro suffering, but even more afraid of your bro driving a luxury car."

Lin Jianyuan burst into laughter.

The entire check-up was relaxed and pleasant, just like chatting with an old friend.

Lin Jianyuan realized that since being hospitalized, he really had become much more relaxed and cheerful.

Or maybe it wasn’t because of the hospitalization.

Mainly, it was because he wasn’t working anymore.

As long as you’re free from work stress, anyone can become peaceful and balanced in body and mind.

The three-person ward currently had only Lin Jianyuan in it. Before Dr. Cen left, Lin Jianyuan couldn’t help but ask his question.

"Where did the other two go?"

Dr. Cen said: "Xiao Liu is walking his dog, and Lao Wang is practicing calligraphy."

Lin Jianyuan said in surprise: "You can bring dogs in here? And practice calligraphy? Wow, your hospital really is more people-friendly than our company."

As he spoke, he got out of bed and put on his shoes, saying, "Then I’ll go out for a stroll too. It’s free time to move around now, right?"

Dr. Cen looked at him thoughtfully.

After a moment, he said: "Yeah, free activity is allowed. But remember, this is a mental health center. You might see a lot of strange people and things you can’t understand. Don’t be afraid—everyone here is just like you. They’re just sick."

Lin Jianyuan waved without looking back: "Don’t worry, I’m very accepting."

His roommate was a set of digestive organs, and he didn’t even complain about that—what could be more absurd than that?

When Lin Jianyuan finally found Xiao Liu in the backyard, he finally understood what Dr. Cen meant.

Xiao Liu was walking his dog, but there was no dog in his hand.

He was holding a dog leash, and the other end was tied to himself.

He was walking himself like a dog.

"Hey, aren’t you... Lin... Lin-ge!" Xiao Liu greeted him enthusiastically as soon as he saw him.

Remembering Dr. Cen’s advice, Lin Jianyuan decided to play along. He walked over with a smile and said, "Yeah, yeah, Xiao Liu, you’re out for a walk too!"

"Yep, I’m walking the dog," Xiao Liu said, shaking the dog leash in his hand.

The other end of the leash was tied to his left wrist, and the dog collar dangled loosely around his prominent wrist bones, looking like it might fall off at any moment.

Lin Jianyuan couldn’t help but glance at the dog collar a few more times. Xiao Liu misunderstood his intention and said enthusiastically, "He doesn’t bite, you can pet him!"

Lin Jianyuan: "..."

Lin Jianyuan tentatively petted the air.

Xiao Liu burst out laughing, grabbed his hand, and placed it on his own wrist: "Don’t be so scared! He really doesn’t bite—otherwise, Dr. Cen wouldn’t have let me bring him here. Right, Diu Diu? Tsk tsk tsk, Diu Diu, give paw to big brother?"

Lin Jianyuan’s hand rested on Xiao Liu’s wrist. The dog collar felt weird, but the human skin beneath it was warm.

—Wasn’t this way more normal than his digestive system roommate?

At least his roommate was cold.

With that thought, Lin Jianyuan suddenly calmed down.

He also started clicking his tongue and naturally asked, "His name is Diu Diu? What kind of dog is he?"

Lin Jianyuan stood in the yard and played with the imaginary dog for a while with Xiao Liu.

The sun gradually rose, its intense rays making the plants wilt in the heat, and the scorching summer heat slowly drove away all the patients out for a walk.

Xiao Liu also finally finished walking the dog.

He even picked up imaginary poop for the imaginary dog. Perfectly polite.

Now that Lin Jianyuan finally knew the actual reason Xiao Liu was hospitalized, he didn't feel afraid at all.

After all, we're all in the same boat.

If Xiao Liu knew what Lin Jianyuan saw every day, Xiao Liu would be the one who should be scared.

So Lin Jianyuan felt remarkably calm.

Even a sense of relief, like a weight off his shoulders.

The two walked back to the ward together. On the way, Lin Jianyuan’s phone rang again.

Lin Jianyuan checked his phone.

That weight came crashing back, even heavier than before.

"...Hello," Lin Jianyuan answered reluctantly, his voice tight. "Yu Xiuli."

Yu Xiuli got right to it: "Lin Jianyuan, what’s your computer password?"

Lin Jianyuan was immediately on alert. "Why do you need it?"

Yu Xiuli: "Don’t ask, just give me the password. I need it right now!"

Lin Jianyuan frowned. Xiao Liu, noticing his grim expression, looked at him questioningly.

Lin Jianyuan waved him away, signaling for him to go ahead, then walked over to a planter and sat down.

"My computer has tons of important stuff. Don’t touch it," Lin Jianyuan said. "Who’s taking over my work? Tell them to come to me directly for the handover."

"How many days are you taking off? Lin Jianyuan, you're being so irresponsible—just taking leave whenever you want, leaving such a mess for everybody…"

"What mess?" Lin Jianyuan said, fighting to keep his temper. "What are you trying to do with my computer? Stay out of my stuff!"

Yu Xiuli also got angry, her voice rising sharply. "Who’s messing with your things? It’s because you suddenly stopped coming to work! Quit stalling and just give me the password!"

"I’ll say it again," Lin Jianyuan felt the pressure building in his chest again, making it hard to breathe. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm. "There are incredibly important files on my computer…"

"Is this it?" Yu Xiuli suddenly muttered.

Lin Jianyuan’s heart clenched. "What?"

Yu Xiuli: "The one written on the first page of Pei Shuo’s notebook… Oh, it’s open."

Lin Jianyuan shot up from the planter. "Yu Xiuli! Don’t you dare touch—!"

The call had already ended.

The moment the call disconnected, the pressure in Lin Jianyuan’s chest reached its peak.

Bang!

The balloon exploded.

Lin Jianyuan’s vision suddenly went black.

Frowning, before he could even process what was happening, his mind was still stuck on Yu Xiuli messing with his computer.

Extreme frustration and pressure filled his chest. Lin Jianyuan took short, quick breaths, tilted his head back slightly, and squeezed his eyes tight before opening them again.

Shut. Open.

Open.

Eyes. Open.

Open. Open. Open.

Open. World.

Wor—ld—

A sliver of light gradually returned to Lin Jianyuan’s vision. He blinked several times, and the light grew brighter.

The world slowly came back into focus before his eyes.

At almost the exact same moment—

In the swimming pool, Delirium lifted his pale head.

In the basement, the Blood Thread suddenly contracted, and the massive sarcoma twitched violently.

The Eye Vine leaves coiled around the entire office building shivered faintly.

Not just in City A—at this very moment, every heretic around the world raised their heads slightly in unison.

"..." At home, while packing clothes for Lin Jianyuan, Evil Domain also froze mid-motion.

Lin Jianyuan blinked a few more times, and his vision finally returned to normal.

Huh? What’s this?

He realized he was holding something in his hand, as if he’d grabbed it without thinking when he felt dizzy.

Lin Jianyuan opened his palm and looked down.

A pale, flat vertebra lay quietly in his hand.

The vertebra was smiling silently up at him.