Chapter 821: Chapter 795: What to Do When Faced with This Situation

"Sis-in-law, Fugui said she isn’t mentally ill, but isn’t she behaving abnormally? Can you analyze what kind of mindset such a person has? I’m about to explode."

"What’s there to be mad about? I’ve told you many times, not all people with mental disorders are oddballs, and being odd doesn’t necessarily mean they have a mental illness. But if you want my analysis, your female classmate is probably discontent with both her family and career, has no shame, and desperately craves attention despite having little to offer. So she concocts these things online. If she keeps on like this, she’s not far from delusions."

Qian was long accustomed to the world’s variety of oddballs; there were so many that one or two more made no difference.

"The internet will become even more advanced than it is now, and you’ll see more people like this. Some fabricate tragic backgrounds, some become keyboard warriors saving the world online, while others seem sharp online but are utterly pathetic in reality. The internet will make many people develop a split personality similar to but not quite a psychological illness."

The era’s development gave birth to such oddballs, and Qian was no longer surprised; Liumei just regretted being too naive to believe such things.

"Am I too dumb? When she said I was foolish, I also blamed myself."

"That’s kindness. I admire your innocence. Just don’t believe such things so easily in the future," Fugui said gently.

"Fugui, you knew it was fake from the start, didn’t you?"

"Yes."

"So why did you accompany me here?"

"If I told you, you’d still worry. Seeing it in person will ease your mind and you’ll be less likely to fall for it again."

"You’re really good, Fugui."

"It’s the least I can do."

Qian tugged down her eye mask, refusing to consume this heart-wrenching dog food.

They were in the county town where Liumei’s foster parents lived; Fugui wanted to visit Liumei’s parents, and Qian tagged along.

Liumei’s foster parents were actually her biological uncle and aunt, doing business in the county with a good family background, owning a large courtyard house where Liumei spent her childhood.

Her biological parents were both civil servants. She could not be taken home after birth, but fortunately, her foster parents treated her exceptionally well. They came out to greet her upon her return and were highly satisfied to see the dignified Fugui.

Fugui brought many gifts, and Liumei’s foster parents warmly welcomed everyone. Originally, Fugui wanted to leave after dinner, but suddenly hail and rain poured down.

"Seems like heaven wants to keep you here as guests. How about you all stay for the night; if the weather improves tomorrow, you can leave," Liumei’s foster mother, having not seen Liumei in a long time, took the opportunity to keep her daughter around for an extra night.

After all, the courtyard house had plenty of rooms.

"Then we’ll trouble you," Fugui noticed Liumei’s reluctance to leave her foster parents and decided to stay for the night due to the poor weather.

Qian wasn’t very comfortable staying at others’ homes, but under these circumstances, it was inconvenient to leave. They had crossed a section of mountain road to get here, and such heavy rain could potentially cause landslides or other issues.

The rain continued to pour; the weather forecast mentioned light rain, but when Qian and her company left, they hadn’t expected the forecasted light rain to turn so heavy. She wasn’t worried about anything else, just concerned for Yu Minglang on the mountains.

He was testing new recruits in the mountains. With such heavy rain, would it be dangerous there?

His phone wasn’t reachable; she didn’t know how he was doing.

Standing by the window, Qian watched the rain pouring down outside, feeling extremely anxious.

It felt as if something was about to happen.

In the evening, Liumei’s foster father and brother were chatting with Fugui, while Liumei’s foster mother accompanied Qian and Liumei in casual conversation.

Considering Liumei’s foster mother was also related to Yu Minglang, she extended extra warmth to Qian. As the women chatted, time flew until past ten at night.

At that moment, the rain temporarily stopped, and Liumei went to open the window for some fresh air.

Liumei’s foster mother suddenly remembered something.

"Good thing you returned now; if you’d come back a month earlier, it wouldn’t be as peaceful as it is now. You couldn’t even open windows at night."

Liumei’s foster mother recalled the events from a month ago with lingering fear.

"What happened a month ago? You didn’t mention this on our calls," Liumei was unaware of the situation.

Qian silently watched Liumei interact with her foster mother, seeing how well they treated Liumei and noticing the similarities in personality between Liumei and her foster mother—open-hearted and straightforward. Despite not being her biological mother, Liumei’s character greatly resembled her foster mother due to being raised by her.

Outspoken and unpretentious; in contrast, her biological mother, seasoned in the official circles, carefully weighed her words. Qian had met her once and felt Liumei was closer to her foster mother than her biological mother.

"The neighbor’s son went crazy and would stand in the yard every night at midnight, shouting and wailing. We couldn’t make out what he was yelling, seemed like it was a woman’s name."

"What? Wasn’t the neighbor an old couple with no son, just two daughters?" Liumei remembered when she left home, the neighbors were a kind old couple.

"Mr. Liu sold the house, and their daughters took the old couple abroad for enjoyment. A new family moved next door while you were gone, their son became mentally ill shortly after moving in, claiming that some actor from a soap opera was his wife and he wanted to go to Taiwan to bring her back..."

Liumei found it both funny and exasperating, "Really? Why didn’t you tell me?"

"You were busy job-hunting and all, too occupied for such news. When calling you, we’d talk about our close-knit family matters; no time for this kind of stuff. Later, his family admitted him to a mental hospital for a period, saying he was cured, but recently, he relapsed and was sent back again."

"That’s quite troubling."

"Certainly is. When he was ill, he would howl every night at half-past midnight, making your dad sleepless. He was sent for treatment, giving us some peace. Being so used to this ancestral home, had he not left, we’d have moved to the apartment in the building nearby. Had we done that, I wouldn’t be comfortable upstairs myself."

This large courtyard house, over the years, had become a cozy residence compared to apartments. Liumei’s foster mother felt almost heartbroken at the thought of moving because of a mentally ill neighbor.

"By the way, Qian, you and Fugui both studied how to treat mental illnesses, right?" Liumei’s foster mother asked Qian.

Qian smiled, "My brother does forensic psychiatric evaluations, while I am a psychologist."

"What’s the difference?"

"Simply put, he evaluates whether offenders are mentally ill, while I provide services for those with some psychological issues that aren’t severe enough to be classified as mental illness. Occasionally, I also aid psychiatric doctors in treatments."

"Do we have any laws now for dealing with neighbors like ours? If they discharge him again and he starts yelling about ’my love,’ ’you’re beautiful,’ or whatever in the yard, what should we do? Calling the police only prompts them to speak but not arrest anyone, and continually complaining would damage neighborly relations."