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nChapter 81: Day One of Therapy

nAfter many days of hard work, Mo Qianxue fabricated some fairy tales and finally finished drawing a dozen of pictures to tell these tales. She sent out in the oxcart to Tong mansion.

nPeople who suffered severe autism were afraid of communicating with the outside world. They would rather live in isolation and entertained themselves, so all the stories were carefully selected by her.

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nWhen she was a child, Mo Qianxue used to have a classmate who suffered autism. He never talked voluntarily in class nor went to the toilet. He would numbly stare at you even if ask him questions. Neither was he an excellent student.

nHowever, they had a caring and wise teacher who arranged the child to sit in the first row, took special care of him and frequently encouraged him when he knew answers to the school work.

nIn addition, the teacher encouraged all the students to like, attend to and play games with him. After two semesters, Mo Qianxue felt that this classmate was much better than he had used to be. He nearly looked the same as the rest of the class, just talking less and looking a little numb.

nShe didn’t know how the boy was now, but Mo Qianxue believed that he must be normal.

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nShe had read a book which said that Einstein was autistic too and that in fact many people that suffered autism had high IQ and were high-achievers in certain fields.

nNevertheless, not all people with autism could be healed. Most of them couldn’t live without other’s assistance. They didn’t talk and had difficulty communicating with others normally.

nTherefore, Mo Qianxue wasn’t sure whether she could cure lord Tong. What she could do was to have a try first, and, if it worked, take further steps later. If it turned out to be futile, then she could only give up.

nShe talked with Mr. Tong, and he would like to cooperate with the therapy but pulled his face when he heard that Mo Qianxue would participate in the therapy personally. He had thought that she would only teach some methods or write a prescription.

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nAt this moment, it was not proper to be frank, so Mr. Tong found an excuse to leave and let the housekeeper pass a message.

nAlthough the housekeeper was also an old man, he was quite eloquent and logical, so in less than an hour, he told everything clearly.

nIt turned out that Tong Zijing not only smirked and refused to talk, but also feared of approaching people, especially women.

nWhen Tong Zijing was young, Mr. Tong thought he would turn normal as he grew up, so he kept him in his room all day long.

nAt the beginning, when his poison was just cleared, he occasionally said a few words or demanded for something every ten days, but later he became totally silent, and further later, the situation got worse and worse.

nFinally, he only tittered and spoke broken sentences.

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nAs he grew older, Mr. Tong found him a shame to let others know, so he locked his son in the room and never allowed him to leave.

nBut this wasn’t the main cause. The most fundamental one was—

nTwo year ago, Mr. Tong had done another stupid thing.

nBack then, Tong Zijing turned twenty. Seeing that he was an adult for long, Mr. Tong, on an impulse, bought him a woman to have a taste of sex, in the hope of getting a grandson so that the family could have an heir.

nUnexpectedly, Tong Zijing just had no interest in sex, totally ignoring the woman and avoiding her presence.

nFinally, in a rage, Mr. Tong should get him bound up and let the woman rape his son…

nTong Zijing, bound to the bed, cried more miserably as one could imagine.

nAfter all, Jing was Mr. Tong’s own son. The crying woke him up. Heart aching, he rushed into the room and pulled the woman off.

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nIn that situation, he pulled too hard that the woman’s clothes were torn up. Upon hearing the sound of tearing clothes, Tong Zijing stopped crying and laughed.

nIt was also since that time that Jing started to enjoy the sound of tearing clothes. And also since then, he never said a word again. Earlier before, he said one or two words from time to time.

nMoreover, currently, Tong Zijing hated being approached, especially by women.

nListening to these, Mo Qianxue trembled bodily from anger and her last trace of sympathy towards Mr. Tong was smashed up.

nIt seemed that she had to talk with him to let him know what respect was and how hateful his self-righteousness was.

nHow could he do that? How did he come up with the idea?

nDemanding a woman to insult his own son? Tying up his son and letting a woman to rape him? How ridiculous!

nShe was afraid that even if his autism was cured, this incident would remain a life-long scar to him.

nBesides, even a normal person would become a retard after a dozen of years’ locking without friends or normal communication.

nThe housekeeper, with embarrassment, was still defending for his master when Mo Qianxue rushed out.

nAs expected, not far from the room, Mr. Tong was standing under a corridor, his back arching.

n“You…”

nMo Qianxue had planned to bombard Mr. Tong with blaming, but as he turned over, she saw regretful tears on his face.

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nHow could she blame and point out the fault of such a regretful and poor old man?

nTherefore, she finally swallowed the accusation.

nThe planned hot rhetoric finally turned into calming encouragement and comfort.

nAfter making agreements upon several aspects with Mr. Tong, Mo Qianxue went to Tong Zijing’s room.

nTong Zijing remained exactly the same posture as she last saw him, tittering and tearing a piece of cloth.

nMo Qianxue didn’t get too close to him but kept a certain distance and sat down, taking out the picture scrolls and picking one of them.

nThat was the story of Three Baby Pigs Make Houses.

nThe pigs in the picture was drawn in simple comic style. To be honest, she wasn’t able to draw it too complicated.

nPointing at the painting scroll, Mo Qianxue began to tell the story to Mr. Tong. Her voice was gentle and slow. While telling the story, she also acted like a kindergarten teacher and raised questions to Mr. Tong.

nAfter telling that the first pig built a grass house, she asked Mr. Tong, “Do you think this grass house is solid?”

nMr. Tong cooperated like a child and answered, shaking his head, “No. Not solid!”

nIn fact, he was also curious. He regarded himself as a man of great learning, yet he had never heard of such a story nor seen such kind of drawings.

nThey were terrible! The pig had a head bigger than the body. The wolf also had a big head. Only the house looked normal. Yet, now it wasn’t the right time to comment on the pictures.

nMo Qianxue replied, “Right. It’s not solid. Forget about it now. Let’s move on to take a look at the second house.”

nMo Qianxue asked questions while Mr. Tong answered. It took a long time to finish telling the first story.

nAt this time, Tong Zijing had stopped smirking, and his action of tearing cloth became slower and slower.

nA smile touched Mo Qianxue’s lips. It was good that he displayed certain reaction. She took out the second story and began to tell it unhurriedly.

nWhen the second story ended, Tong Zijing slowly moved over from there. Like Mr. Tong, he also sat before her and regarded her with expectant eyes.

nHis face still looked childish, but without the smirk, it was obviously a pretty face with delicate features.

nDue to lack of physical exercising for a long term, his face was pale and body skinny, which easily induced pity to him.

nThe third story was Baby Tadpole Look for His Mother.

nMo Qianxue pointed at the carp on the picture and asked Mr. Tong, “Do you think it’s baby tadpole’s mother?”

nMr. Tong was a born noble who had never seen a tadpole, so he kept shaking his head.

nThen Mo Qianxue asked Tong Zijing, and he only intently stared at the picture in her hand and didn’t give an answer.

nMo Qianxue wasn’t frustrated. It was a success as long as his attention could be attracted, because it meant that he hadn’t lost his ability to think at least.

nSince Tong Zijing didn’t answer, she continued to guide him, “Let’s take a look. The baby tadpole is black, but the carp is red. Do you think they look alike?”

nMr. Tong had entered the role and shook his head unconsciously, “No!”

n“Then let’s look at their tails. The baby tadpole’s tail is long while the carp’s tail is flat. Do you think they look alike?”

nStill, Mr. Tong gave an answer, “Not alike!”

nAfter several rounds of Q&A, Tong Zijing looked inchy for a try.

nDuring the sixth story—Crane Drinking Water, Mo Qianxue asked, “Could you tell me whether the crane will drink the water in the plate with such a long beak?”

nMr. Tong wanted to answer first but was stopped by Mo Qianxue’s glance.

nShe looked at Tong Zijing in the eye, asking slowly word by word, “Little brother, do you think the crane will drink the water in the plate? Could you tell me?”

nTong Zijing’s thinking mode remained at three or four years old. Certainly, he didn’t have the concept that he had grown to an adult now, so she called him little brother.

nMr. Tong was a little shocked at such an improper addressing term. But for his son’s change in facial expression, he would have long stormed out.

n“No…no!” Finally Tong Zijing spoke again.

nMaybe because he hadn’t spoken for too long, the two words were articulated like squeezing out the last trace of toothpaste. His voice was hoarse and low. It almost inaudible if they hadn’t listened carefully.

nHowever, such light and low voice was enough to cheer up Mo Qianxue and make Mr. Tong shed tears.

nHe had thought that in this life he couldn’t hear his son talking any more.

nIn view of lord Tong’s participation, Mo Qianxue encouraged, “Little brother, you’re right. I think the same way. Mr. Tong, do you agree?”

nMr. Tong wiped out his tears while keeping nodding, “Yes, I agree.”

nThen Mo Qianxue told one more story and got up, “Little brother, it’s late. I should go home now. I’ll come and tell your stories tomorrow, okay?”

nTong Zijing didn’t reply, numbly staring at her, eyes full of expectations.

nMo Qianxue asked again, “Don’t you like me here? I’m so sad.”

nStill no reply.

n“Do you want the crane drawing? I give you that as a gift, okay?”

n“…Yes.”

n“I like you very much. Tomorrow I’ll be here to play with you, okay?”

n“Great…”

nOn this day, Tong Zijing said more words than the past ten years.

nMo Qianxue stood up and walked out. Mr. Tong followed up.

n“It’s promising that your son could be cured, but I hope that we should add one more item in our agreement.”

n“One more item? Fine! As long as Jing’s getting better, it’s okay if you add one hundred more items.”

nMr. Tong thought that Mo Qianxue wasn’t satisfied by one valley, so he bit his teeth, preparing for Mo Qianxue to blackmail him at this critical phase of treatment.

nThe first item in their agreement was that the ownership of the valley would be transferred to Mo Qianxue as long as lord Tong’s condition got better.

nThe second was that no matter what methods Mo Qianxue applied, Mr. Tong shouldn’t interfere and must try his best to cooperate.

nThird, he mustn’t paly tough to Tong Zijing nor make decisions on his behalf.

n“Forth, please don’t lock him up in the future. Let him get out more to walk around. If you’re worried about him, find some trustworthy servants to follow him, but please don’t tell him what to do.

nEven if he would fall, let him stand up on his own.”

nThe expected blackmail didn’t come, but what she proposed was a condition even harder for him to accept.

n“How can he go out on his own? No way!”

n“If you were locked up for more than a decade, will you be healthy like now?” The words were impolite. If another person dared to say these, he

/ she would immediately be driven away.

nDespite his response, Mo Qianxue continued, “You’ve blocked his windows to leave the room in darkness forever; you forbid him from getting sunshine. It’s you that turn him into this…”

nThe most selfish behavior was to imprison a person in the name of love.

nBy Mo Qianxue’s unsparing accusation, Mr. Tong finally lowered his arrogant head.

n“I…I was wrong, but I feel restless to let him go out alone.”

n“I don’t mean him going outside right now. By his current state, he won’t go out even if you push him.” Mo Qianxue was sorrowful.

nShe couldn’t deny that this old man loved his son, but when the wrong way was applied, love would turn to harm.

nMr. Tong contemplated for a while and finally made up his mind, “I agree if you accompany him out.”

n“Good. Then please help him get prepared. I’ll take him to the garden tomorrow and out of the mansion later.”

n“…”

nThe proposal came so quick that Mr. Tong was allowed no time to regret it and had to approve.

nThen no matter what, Mo Qianxue added, “I suggest some brain-boosting food for Zijing. Remember, don’t make him medicine. Let me see. Give him more beans and mushrooms. Do you know hericium? …”

nOn hearing the names of food, Mr. Tong’s frowning brows finally loosened and hurriedly ordered his housekeeper to get the hericium.

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