Chapter 2: Xiao Qian's Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
From the moment her daughter died in her arms, Xiao Qian developed severe OCD in hand-washing.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a type of anxiety disorder, and regardless of how much one resists consciously, they will still uncontrollably do things they don't want to do.
No matter how many times she washes her hands, she always feels her daughter's blood still on them. When someone triggers her disgust or abuses a child in front of her, her OCD will flare up, forcing her to wash her hands repeatedly.
If she doesn't wash her hands, she will feel weak and empty just like she does now.
Many psychologists are also patients themselves. Having contact with too many patients, they are prone to developing mental illnesses themselves, making it difficult for them to heal their own hearts.
About 5 meters ahead of Chen Xiaoqian, a middle-aged man was holding a broom, violently beating a young girl who seemed to be in her early teens.
"I told you not to steal things!"
This scene deeply stabbed Xiao Qian's nerves, and every cell in her body was now screaming, wanting to wash her hands...
The face of that girl overlapped with the memory of her daughter, Xiao Wei, who was also around this age when she died.
At this moment, Jia Xiufang had already caught up and grabbed Xiao Qian's arm.
"You dare to run away!"
"Let me go!" Xiao Qian pushed her away and quickly walked towards the man who was beating the child.
Jia Xiufang was startled by her daughter's shout, feeling as if Xiao Qian had suddenly changed into another person. The look she gave just now was terrifying.
"I've told you countless times not to steal, but you still dare to. I will—"
"Stop it!" Xiao Qian grabbed the broom from the man's hand. Looking at the girl covered in bruises, she felt an even stronger urge to wash her hands.
She clenched her teeth, using pain to distract herself.
Many people think that having a mental illness can be conquered simply by having strong willpower. But they don't realize that the scariest part of a mental illness is the inability to control one's behavior. Those who have never experienced it can never understand the despair that comes with it.
"This girl has the audacity to steal things. Don't you dare to get in the way of me disciplining her!" The man looked at Xiao Qian's face, stunned by her beautiful appearance, before snapping back to reality.
Xiao Qian had never been one to meddle in others' business. She was a top psychological counselor who dealt exclusively with high-ranking officials and wealthy clients. Her consultation fee was an astonishing five-digit RMB per hour, and even then, there would often be a long line of people waiting for her guidance.
She considered herself a very cold woman. If someone without money sought her help, she wouldn't even blink if they died right in front of her eyes—she was that heartless.
But ever since her daughter Xiao Wei died, Xiao Qian changed. Whenever she saw someone abusing a child, she would uncontrollably intervene, which was also a manifestation of her OCD.
Looking at the trembling girl hiding behind her, Xiao Qian noticed the numerous bruises on her arm and the fear in her eyes. That fearful gaze reminded her of Xiao Wei, making her urge to wash her hands even stronger.
"Are you her father?" Xiao Qian asked.
"Yes! This girl has stolen things three times in just one week. This time, she even dared to steal beer from the supermarket. I must break her hands to teach her a lesson!"
The man was an administrative staff member in the market office who was reputed for being righteous. His daughter's actions had greatly embarrassed him.
Xiao Qian looked at the girl and the man and coldly said,
"Even if you beat her a thousand times, she will not change unless you take her for proper treatment."
If she hadn't judged incorrectly, this girl suffered from kleptomania.
Stealing things they don't need was not for usage, but for satisfying their inner selves. This was quite a common mental illness.
However, the girl's father apparently didn't accept Xiao Qian's judgment. The man, feeling both ashamed and angry, pointed the stick at Xiao Qian."Get out of the way!"
Jia Xiufang rushed over, pulling Xiao Qian behind her and pointing at the man, yelling.
"If you dare touch a single hair on my daughter, just try me!"
It's alright for parents to hit their children a thousand times, but others can't even touch a single hair. This is the unique love of parents in the Celestial Empire, commonly known as, protecting their calves.
Jia Xiufang held a basin, the man held a stick, like a battlefield of contradictions met, full of the smell of gunpowder, it was somehow funny to watch.
Xiao Qian held the girl's hand, "Although I don't know what psychological trauma you have, you can't control your impulse to steal things now, am I right?"
The girl was frightened and kept shaking her head, the helpless look filled her little face at the age of eleven or twelve.
Through her, Xiao Qian seemed to see her own daughter, who had a successful career in her past life but was kidnapped by her scumbag ex-husband. By the time she got there, her daughter had already jumped off the building.
Xiao Wei loved her mother, couldn't bear to part with her, and her mother couldn't bear to part with Xiao Wei either. Deeply loving her daughter, Xiao Qian took crazy revenge on the scumbag who bullied her daughter, but her heart was still empty.
"If one day, you want to overcome this impulse to steal, you can find me at the laundry shop in Baitaling Village." Xiao Qian found it ironic.
She, the cold-blooded female devil, was vulnerable only to children. Even if her reason yelled not to meddle in other's business, her body was still out of control. That's the horror of OCD.
The impulse to save people right now was not from a doctor's mercy but driven by Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
From the moment her daughter died, she had lost the ability to love the world.
"You two, stop fighting." Xiao Qian pulled her mother back.
Jia Xiufang, being uneducated, started scolding like a shrew, protecting her own child for no reason at all. The man across from her was sprayed with saliva by her and wiped his face helplessly.
"Shrew..."
"You dare to say that again?!"
"Mom, don't talk for a while, let me say a few words. It's your responsibility as a father that your daughter turned out like this. The child must have suffered some mental shock, leading to this situation. The more you hit her, the worse it will get. You can take her to see a psychologist if you have the opportunity."
"You dare to say my daughter is mentally ill?!" The man was completely enraged.
Psychologists, in that era, were for treating mental illness. This was an insult!
He was so angry that Xiao Qian's mother couldn't help but fight back.
With the spirit of a menopausal woman who is brave and good at fighting, she kept hitting the man with the basin, relying on her thick arms, round waist, and big hands. The strong wind created by the basin forced the man to dodge awkwardly.
Xiao Qian stood outside the circle, watching the girl who had stolen things run away, her eyes gradually becoming indifferent again.
Without seeing the child, there was no trigger for her OCD. Her indifference now was the normal state.
In her previous life, she had never mistreated the world, embracing all the ugliness with a tender and tolerant heart. But had the world ever been gentle to her?
The homosexual scumbag who deceived her into marriage, suffered abuse after marriage, and after divorce, finally made great strides in her career through her own efforts, but at the cost of her daughter's life.
While her mother fought with the man, Xiao Qian had no intention of helping. She was a cold observer of the world.
Inside her 19-year-old body lived a 38-year-old indifferent soul. Except for her daughter, she felt that nothing could move her heart—
But when the angry father got annoyed by her mother's hitting and struck back with his stick, accidentally hitting her mother on the head, Xiao Qian's body reacted once again on behalf of her reason.