Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The strange things happening at home left Shen Qingyi feeling lost at times. She wasn’t sure if she was really hallucinating or if there was something weird in her house.

If a burglar had broken in, none of her valuables were missing.

Shen Qingyi suddenly remembered a long-standing folk tale—the Snail Maiden.

The story goes that a long, long time ago, there was an orphan who lived a lonely life. He worked diligently every day, only to come home to leftovers. One day, the orphan found a snail on the side of the road and took it home to keep. From then on, every day the orphan came home to a hot meal.

At first, the orphan thought his neighbor was helping him, but the neighbor said no, which made the orphan even more curious.

That day, the orphan left early but came back. He found a beautiful maiden helping him light the fire and cook. Later, he learned that heaven had seen his pity and diligence and sent a fairy to help him. She had planned to leave once the orphan’s life was better, but he discovered her identity prematurely.

The fairy, having her identity exposed, had no choice but to return to heaven, leaving her snail shell with the orphan. The orphan used the snail shell to store his food, and his life got better and better.

(—Excerpted from the folk tale The Snail Maiden)

Shen Qingyi thought that folk tales were folk tales and reality was reality. Besides, in what way was she an orphan?

Some things don’t stand up to scrutiny. The more she thought about it, the more Shen Qingyi felt that something was wrong, especially the part about bringing something home and keeping it. It felt particularly strange.

The Snail Maiden and the Silver-throated Bushtit shouldn’t be related, right?

Lost in her thoughts, Shen Qingyi pushed open the cafe door.

Ding—

The copper bell let out a clear sound. Shen Qingyi didn’t get a greeting from Nuonuo. Instead, she saw someone with her back to her, laughing and chatting with Nuonuo at the counter.

“The coffee you make is really good. It’s the best coffee I’ve ever had.” The person had long hair, wore a white trench coat, and was leaning casually against the counter, chatting with Nuonuo.

Nuonuo was happy to be complimented on her coffee-making skills. Her eyes crinkled into a smile. “You’re too kind, ma’am. It’s mainly because our boss chose good coffee beans.”

“You can’t say that,” the woman said with a soft laugh. “Without you, coffee beans are just coffee beans. Only when they are brewed by a professional can they show their richness and deliciousness.”

“I’m just a recent graduate barista. I can’t be considered a professional.”

“You’re so good even though you just graduated? I didn’t have any skills when I just graduated~”

At this moment, Nuonuo saw Shen Qingyi walking over. She quickly put away her chatty mood and greeted her, “Good morning, manager.”

Shen Qingyi ignored Nuonuo and walked to the counter, looking at the woman holding the coffee.

Zhou Shu looked up at her and greeted her with a smile. “Good morning, Yiyi. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

The person who came wasn’t a stranger. It was Shen Qingyi’s doctor from her childhood—Zhou Shu.

Zhou Shu was 32 this year. She graduated early. The Zhou family had been doctors for several generations, with both Chinese and Western medicine practitioners, surgeons, and internal medicine specialists. Zhou Shu inherited her family’s excellent mind but chose a relatively niche field—psychiatry.

She was already able to see patients independently at the age of 20, and it was at that time that Zhou Shu came into contact with Shen Qingyi, who was only 12 at the time.

The 8-year age gap seemed like a huge difference back then, but when Shen Qingyi grew up, she realized that Zhou Shu was just a young girl back then.

Shen Qingyi led Zhou Shu to the second-floor private room. The two of them sat on opposite sides.

“Why did you suddenly come looking for me?” Shen Qingyi asked Zhou Shu calmly.

Zhou Shu rested her head on one hand, looked at Shen Qingyi, and smiled. “I’m your primary care physician. If something’s wrong with you, I’ll definitely come talk to you first.”

Shen Qingyi heard this and knew that Jiang Yi must have noticed something was wrong with her at the Shen family’s house and told Shen Hongjun, who then contacted Zhou Shu.

She closed her eyes helplessly and said, “Okay.”

Zhou Shu saw her expression, put down her coffee, and took out her phone from her bag. She said to Shen Qingyi, “We’re not doing a treatment today. Let’s get to know each other first. Just like when you were little, just cooperate with my questions and answers.”

Shen Qingyi nodded and said, “How long will this take?”

“It won’t take up too much of your time,” Zhou Shu smiled. “Don’t see me as a psychiatrist. Just see me as your older sister from next door.”

Since she had put it that way, there was no need for Shen Qingyi to refuse, especially since she did have some things she wanted to ask.

Zhou Shu fiddled with her phone. After turning on the recording function, she took out a notebook and a pen and said, “I heard you got a pet. It’s a bird?”

“Yes,” Shen Qingyi said. “A little white bushtit.”

“I remember you never had a pet when you were little. Why did you suddenly want to get one?”

“That day when I came home, I felt like there was a sound outside the door. I went out and saw the bird, so I took it in.”

Shen Qingyi suddenly paused when she said this.

Zhou Shu noticed she had stopped and looked at her curiously. “What’s wrong?”

Shen Qingyi was silent for a while before looking at Zhou Shu and saying, “The day I found Little Chubby, I had several auditory hallucinations. One was in the taxi, and the other was when I found it.”

Shen Qingyi remembered the taxi one very clearly. The hallucination said it was windy on the roof of the car.

At home, she heard someone crying outside her door. That was when Shen Qingyi saw a little bushtit passed out at her doorstep.

Zhou Shu’s eyes darkened. She seemed to have thought of something and wrote a few words in her notebook before asking, “And after that? Has anything special happened recently?”

Shen Qingyi thought for a moment and said, “Recently, I’ve been dreaming of the same person, and I always feel like there’s another person in my house.”

“Okay, let’s take it one step at a time,” Zhou Shu said calmly, asking, “First, tell me about your dream. Who is the person in your dream? Is it someone you know in real life?”

“No, I’ve never seen her in real life.”

“Then do you remember what she looks like?”

“Yes. She’s very fair-skinned and cute. She looks a few years younger than me and appears in my dreams every night.”

Although Shen Qingyi knew she shouldn’t hide anything during treatment, she still didn’t tell Zhou Shu that the girl in her dreams wasn’t wearing clothes.

Shen Qingyi never intended to hide the fact that she liked girls, but she had yet to meet someone who made her heart flutter. The girl in her dreams was not wearing clothes and sleeping next to her. It was too difficult to talk about.

Zhou Shu sensed that Shen Qingyi was hiding something, but she didn’t press her. If the patient didn’t want to talk about it, she wouldn’t pry.

“What do you think of that girl?” Zhou Shu asked. “Is she friendly?”

Shen Qingyi nodded with certainty. “Yes. And I also feel that the other person in my house doesn’t have any malicious intentions toward me.”

Whether it was the clean and tidy room or the delicious food, Shen Qingyi didn’t think the person had any malicious intent.

Zhou Shu’s light-colored pupils looked at Shen Qingyi. She nodded slightly and scribbled on the paper. “Then let’s talk about the things you’ve been experiencing with that mysterious person.”

…

Zhou Shu left after lunch. Shen Qingyi looked at her retreating back and felt a sense of emptiness.

“Let’s end our conversation here for today,” Zhou Shu said, putting away her phone and notebook. “I might come see you again in a couple of days. Can I come to your house then? Finding a place where you feel at ease for your treatment will be good for your condition.”

Shen Qingyi looked at Zhou Shu, her hands trembling slightly, but she refused to give in. “Can I take this to mean that I’m having another episode?”

“Shen Qingyi, you’re an adult now. I can’t hide certain things from you, and I need your cooperation for the subsequent treatment,” Zhou Shu said, her hands in her pockets, looking at Shen Qingyi. “Schizophrenia is hereditary to a certain extent, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it will be passed down to you. Although you did have this kind of phenomenon when you were little, it has been well-controlled.”

Zhou Shu looked at her and said reassuringly, “Maybe you’ve been under too much stress recently, and with a little bit of a trigger, you became like this. But you have to believe me, you are not a schizophrenic. You will get better.”

Am I stressed out recently?

Shen Qingyi looked at the half-empty cup of coffee and couldn’t think of anything that could have caused her stress lately.

Shen Qingyi originally had a great future. She had excellent grades and was very smart. However, Shen Hongjun wouldn’t allow her to work. He would rather spend some money to open this cafe for her than have Shen Qingyi expose herself to the complicated social environment.

Shen Hongjun was scared. He had indeed loved his ex-wife, but that love couldn’t withstand the daily madness.

Will I also become like that one day?

[Yiyi, your mom also got sick at your age. I hope you’ll get proper treatment.]

Shen Qingyi still clearly remembered the words Shen Hongjun had said to her when he came to her cafe a few days ago. In fact, she knew exactly what Shen Hongjun didn’t say.

Her mother got sick at her age. Shen Hongjun was afraid that she would also get sick, so he suddenly became so concerned about her. As soon as he saw a little sign, he immediately had Zhou Shu come over to treat her.

What a caring father.

Shen Qingyi sighed softly, picked up the coffee, and drank it all in one go.

The coffee went down her throat and into her stomach. The sour and bitter taste filled her mouth, and her intestines also rumbled, feeling the intense bitterness, like a ray of light that was not meant to be seen. All that awaited her was darkness.

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