BXBX NOVEL Chapter 174 - 173: A Turnaround
During the vacation, Dong Yi didn’t go home and stayed in the dormitory. She rarely made phone calls.
Dong Yi shook her head, “All my loved ones died in the mudslide.”
Xiao Qian immediately recorded this important information in her mind.
“How old were you at that time?” Xiao Qian asked in a conversational tone. In fact, the therapy had already begun.
“I was 6 years old. That day was our Xian ethnic group’s traditional hair-washing festival. Early in the morning, everyone, young and old, went to the river to wash their hair. I was wearing a silk Chima, which I really liked, but now I can’t remember the color of that Chima. I was looking forward to the hair-washing feast at home in the evening, to sing hair-washing songs with my family and to have a sumptuous dinner. But before the night came, the mudslide happened…”
Chima is the Xian ethnic group’s term for long skirts. Xiao Qian silently handed some tissues to Dong Yi, knowing that she had brought her back to those memories. Being a good listener is an essential quality of a psychologist.
“My Dad threw me onto the roof. He wanted to pull my Mom up, but the mudslide swept her away and he got swept away too…”
Dong Yi started to cry. Xiao Qian began to understand why Dong Yi would run upstairs when sleepwalking. She must have felt guilty, watching her parents die right before her eyes. How could a child that young bear it?
“Sometimes I think it would be better if I had died. If my Dad hadn’t carried me up, both of them might have made it together…”
“In times of crisis, all parents instinctively think of their children first.”
“No… I am a person with bad luck. I didn’t wash properly during the hair-washing festival, and I didn’t pray wholeheartedly for my family. That’s why it happened. So many people in our village died, but none experienced the death of both parents, leaving only the child.”
By the time Dong Yi said this, she was weeping uncontrollably.
Xiao Qian hoped that she would cry more to help release some of the pressure. However, simply crying was not enough.
Dong Yi didn’t describe the details, but Xiao Qian could analyze that in a more traditional village, public opinion can be terrifying. Dong Yi would undoubtedly be subject to various rumors and slander, even curses.
When people can’t vent their anger at a natural disaster, they need a release outlet. Dong Yi was made the scapegoat for the disaster and blamed for the misfortune, which was a way for people to vent their dissatisfaction with the tragedy.
No wonder Dong Yi didn’t talk to anyone. Xiao Qian suddenly wanted to cry.
It turned out she wasn’t introverted. Instead, she was an overly silent kindness. Did she fear that her interaction with others would bring them bad luck?
So, she simply guarded everyone silently, standing far away from the crowd, watching them like an outsider in their world.
“When is your hair-washing festival?” Xiao Qian thought Dong Yi might have sleepwalking episodes when it was the anniversary of the tragedy.
“Lunar June 15th.”
But the dates didn’t match up.
Xiao Qian thought for a moment and suddenly remembered the scene from the night before.
“Who was the man who came looking for you last night?”
II II
Seeing that Dong Yi didn’t want to answer, Xiao Qian changed her approach.
“With your parents gone, who raised you?”
“My uncle.”
“Was the person who came last night your uncle’s child?”
“…No, he’s the fiance my uncle found for me.”
“What?! How old is he!”
This was absurd. Dong Yi was still young, and that man looked at least thirty when not dressed as a manual worker. Dressed as a worker the night before, he looked at least forty.
“My uncle wants me to get engaged to him during the winter break.”
“That’s nonsense. It doesn’t matter whether it’s your biological parents or not, there is no such thing as arranged marriage.” Xiao Qian couldn’t stand this.
No wonder Dong Yi had been under so much mental pressure recently. It turned out there was something like this!
“My uncle said that I have cost him a lot of money since I was a child. If it wasn’t for my good grades, which allowed me to get government subsidies, he wouldn’t have let me come here. I don’t want to get married…”
At this point, Dong Yi finally showed the emotions of a young girl, crying in Xiao Qian’s arms.
Xiao Qian patted her like a mother, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here, and he can’t hurt you.”
“I want to work and earn money to give to my uncle, but he said he has already accepted 10,000 yuan from the man’s family. In our area, there is no bride price for marriage. Why did he accept the money? I have to work hard to earn money…”
A tutoring job nowadays only pays a few yuan per hour, and it’s hard to find. She didn’t know if she could earn enough.
“I’ll help you with this problem. Dong Yi, don’t take this matter too seriously for now. I’ll find a way to relieve your pressure. The burden on you is too heavy. If you don’t let it out, it will be very bad for you.”
“Boss Qian, what should I do? I…”
Xiao Qian patted her. The situation was not very optimistic.
Dong Yi’s problem was not just a minor obsession. It involved the heaviest burden of human life. If she undergoes hypnotherapy, the outcome might not be satisfactory, and simply venting her emotions isn’t enough.
“Why couldn’t I have met you earlier?”
Xiao Qian said bitterly.
After the disaster, the people in the disaster area suffered varying degrees of psychological harm. Although houses can be rebuilt, the trauma in their hearts didn’t heal.
Many people say that time can heal everything, but this is not true. Some wounds only hurt more with time, especially for someone like Dong Yi. If Xiao Qian had met her while she was still a little girl, it might have been easier.
Simply talking and expressing emotions isn’t enough right now. What can they do…?
“Dong Yi, were you sitting on the rooftop the whole time until you were rescued?” Xiao Qian could only try to grasp a random point to see if she could somehow prevent Dong Yi from going to the rooftop while sleepwalking.
“No, our house collapsed very quickly. I was saved by many uncles.”
No wonder she had such a good impression of Second Brother Yu. Xiao Qian recalled the incident at the beginning of the school term. Dong Yi was indeed very principled. When Prime Minister Turtle made fun of everyone, everyone rebelled collectively, but she stayed put, which was related to her previous experience.
“Can you detail the rescue process?”
“I was sitting on the roof and felt the water getting more and more fierce. I could even feel the shaking of the house. My mind was blank at that time. I was still watching the flood, hoping that my Mom and Dad could come up, but they didn’t. I thought they might be dead. At that time, I didn’t even know what death was.”
She was still a child. Her cognition was limited, but she vaguely felt that it wasn’t a good thing.
“Then an airplane came flying through the sky, and a very handsome uncle descended on a rope. He held me with one hand and the rope with the other. As soon as he carried me away, the house collapsed. His embrace was so warm…” Xiao Qian’s eyes brightened, and she thought, Great, there’s a chance!
Breaking the soul code could help resolve the psychological issue..