一路向西 粤语

Chapter 257: Breakdown

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Seeing that Fina and Snowy Lionet had gone far away, Zhang Zian picked up the bamboo basket and went back up to the second floor.

Guo Dongyue and Aunt Bai had already entered the house. The door was half-closed, so Zhang Zian pushed it open and closed it after he entered the house.

One of the design defects of old houses was that they had poor indoor lightning, Guo Dongyue’s house was no exception. There were many things in his house, but they were organized well so the house looked clean. It seemed that Aunt Bai was diligent in keeping the house clean.

The house was old, but the utilities liked electric appliances were quite new, probably brought by Guo Dongyue.

Delicious scents of dishes could be smelled from the kitchen, and Guo Dongyue’s anxious voice could also be heard from the kitchen.

“Mother, put down the scoop, let Aunt Bai handle it.”

“Yes, elder sister-in-law, give it to me.”

Zhang Zian walked over to the kitchen and observed them by standing beside the kitchen door.

A pot of soup was boiling on the gas stove. Between Guo Dongyue and Aunt Bai stood an old lady with short hair and wearing an apron. Guo Dongyue and Aunt Bai kept persuading her to put down the long scoop. For a moment, the old lady’s eyes looked like those of ordinary people, but in the next moment, she looked completely blank and confused.

“Yan Zi, who is this one? He looks quite familiar,” the old lady inquired Aunt Bai confusingly.

“Elder sister-in-law, this is your son, Xiao Yue.” Aunt Bai took over the scoop from the old lay, and opened the lid of the pot to see whether the soup was ready, then put the scoop in the soup and stirred a little bit, and closed the lid again. She probably had repeated that answer numerous times.

“My son…” the old lady smiled and looked at Guo Dongyue. Her eyes lit up for a moment, and her lips slightly opened like she was going to say something. Guo Dongyue looked at her with great anticipation.

But in the next second, the light in her eyes faded away. Her eyes were staring at the clock on the wall, as if Guo Dongyue was totally invisible to her, and she muttered, “Why isn’t Xiao Yue home? Has his teacher extended class again?”

That was one of the obvious syndromes of Alzheimer’s disease. Unlike ordinary people, victims of Alzheimer’s disease could not see things via the corners of their eyes. Everything was a blur beyond the focus of their vision. They could not even see things that were only a few centimeters away from the clock on the wall.

Within only a few seconds, the look on Guo Dongyue’s face had indicated that he had fallen from heaven to hell.

Aunt Bai turned the fire smaller on the gas stove and put the scoop aside. She consoled him, “The doctor has said this disease is irreversible. Don’t be too sad, it happens to a lot of people.”

“Yes, yes…” Guo Dongyue smiled bitterly, “I guess you are right.”

“This is her destiny!” Aunt Bai crossed her arms on her stomach and said seriously, “I know you young people probably don’t believe in destiny, but people can’t escape their destinies. Elder sister-in-law is destined to suffer from this disease. But think about that, this disease doesn’t hurt much, so she won’t feel pain physically. Compared to other more horrible diseases, this one is actually not that bad.”

Zhang Zian thought what she said made sense and was kind of comforting. Alzheimer’s disease was incurable, but the families and friends of the patients would have enough time to keep their company and say goodbye to them. From such aspects, it could be considered a merciful incurable disease… But the damages it caused to people’s souls were tremendous.

Just then, Guo Dongyue’s mother noticed Zhang Zian at the kitchen door. She was startled, and asked, “And you are…?”

Zhang Zian improvised his answer. “I’m Mr. Zhang, a teacher from school, I’m here to visit Guo Dongyue’s parents.”

If Guo Dongyue was not familiar with Zhang Zian’s personality, he probably would have fallen for that answer.

His mother did fall for that. She said nervously, “Is my son all right? Something wrong at school? Why isn’t he home? It’s so late.”

Zhang Zian smiled calmly, “Oh, it’s nothing. It’s his turn to be on duty today, so he will be home later.”

“Okay, thanks for informing me.” His mother finally felt relieved.

Guo Dongyue and Aunt Bai were stupefied because they observed that Guo Dongyue’s mother was really relaxed. She didn’t look like she had before; instead, she looked calm as if her peace of mind was restored.

Guo Dongyue felt extremely surprised. Every time, he tried so hard to tell what was happening in reality to his mother, but it was torture for both for him and for his mother, and the effect was poor compared to the effect brought by Zhang Zian’s white lie.

Guo Dongyue reflected on his mistakes. Every day at noon, his mother would look at the clock frequently, asking why young Guo Dongyue had not come back home. Why couldn’t he come up with some white lies to comfort her earlier?

Aunt Bai was also reflecting to herself. She took care of Guo Dongyue’s mother every day, and she had noticed that his mother would become restless every day at noon. At the beginning, she would tell her that Guo Dongyue had grown up and had his own job, and that she didn’t need to wait for him to come back for lunch. But as days went by, Aunt Bai felt annoyed, and gradually ignored her vexation, or just made up some excuses casually to stop her asking.

“Mr. Zhang, please have a seat.” Guo Dongyue’s mother invited Zhang Zian into the living room warmly.

Zhang Ziany acted like he was really a teacher, crossed his legs and sat on the sofa.

“Mr. Zhang, I don’t think I’ve met you before. Which subject do you teach?” asked Guo Dongyue’s mother tentatively.

Zhang Zian answered, “I teach Chinese, and I’m also the teacher in charge of Guo Dongyue’s class.”

“Isn’t Teacher Liu the teacher in charge of his class? Is there a substitution?” Guo Dongyue’s mother was surprised.

“Yes, I’m a new one, Teacher Liu is taking a maternity leave.”

“Maternity leave?” His mother was surprised again, “Teacher Liu is a man.”

Zhang Zian adapted his answer based on the information. “Yes, he is. And his wife is pregnant, so he’s taking a maternity leave to keep his wife company… Enough about that, let’s talk about your child.”

Guo Dongyue waved at Aunt Bai indicating her to continue cooking, while he stayed in the living room quietly watching Zhang Zian talk to his mother. His mother looked quite well. She was focused and thinking clearly, speaking appropriate language, and her reactions to Zhang Zian’s words were the reactions a normal person should have, and she didn’t look like a patient of Alzheimer’s disease at all at that moment.

Guo Dongyue knew the reason why. She cared so much about his son’s performance at school, so her remaining normal brain cells could function at maximum speed, like a bonfire that had been dimming gradually was rekindled by a sudden breeze of gentle wind. Unlike the bonfire that’s burning was accelerated by the wind, brain cells functioning at maximum speeds were clearly beneficial to his mother.

Zhang Zian was not clear what Guo Dongyue was like when he was a middle school student, but it didn’t matter. He just needed to keep appraising his son as she remembered, and every word he said made the wrinkles on Guo Dongyue’s mother’s eyes blossom like flowers.

Sometimes, what Alzheimer’s patients needed was not the truth, because truth would be forgotten soon; what they needed most was caring and happiness. Guo Dongyue was a man who was too serious. He couldn’t do what Zhang Zian could do easily to make white lies. Because he was worried about his mother so much that he was always keeping in his face straight, sometimes he hated himself when he saw his stone-face in the mirror.

Time flew by. His mother remained sober for so long today. Guo Dongyue was hoping that time could slow down and freeze at this moment… if only it was him who was sitting in front of his mother and having that happy conversation.

Zhang Zian diverted the topic and inquired Guo Dongyue’s mother, “I heard that you have two parrots in your house, right?”

Guo Dongyue’s mother smiled, “Yes, Our parrots… Our parrots… Our parrots…”

Her thought experienced a breakdown. She kept repeating the same words, like a clock whose hands were stuck at the same place.