"Thanks for the reminder, I will be careful." Jiang Ruolan nodded gratefully.
"Sigh, I have to say, this Jia Zhenzhen is really pitiful."
The nurse shook her head and continued, "For the past 20 years, no one has come to see her. When I started working in this sanatorium, I heard that this place was set up for her by one of our state officials. I was jealous at that time and thinking about how deeply this person loved her, and only after working for a few years did I realize that she was actually locked up here with no freedom at all."
"No one has come to see her in all these years, but I heard that she still had a good sister who would often come to visit her and chat with her. However, several years have passed and that good sister of hers stopped coming and never appeared again."
Upon hearing the word 'good sister', Jiang Ruolan tilted her head and looked at the nurse blankly, not knowing what to say.
Was Jia Zhenzhen's good sister, her mother?
Jiang Ruolan didn't have a lot of memories about her mother. The most vivid memories were of the woman in red taking Jiang Yijun and her to the building's rooftop with her messy hair.
But before that, there had been only a few vague fragments. Jiang Ruolan couldn't remember when her mother came to the United States. At that time, she was so young, so she couldn't remember it clearly.
"Jia Zhenzhen has a weird quirk. She likes to watch TV, especially about politics. I think she probably still recognized Xian Jian. I remember when I brought her food, she sat quietly in the ward watching TV, and at that time, the announcer was praising him. Jia Zhenzhen was sitting there alone, and then she suddenly started crying. Oh yes, is there someone with the surname Jiang in this country? She would pinch her leg whenever she saw him on TV. I often saw her pinching her leg until it turned to bluish purple."
"Miss Jiang. Miss Jiang, are you still listening?" The nurse asked in a low voice.
Jiang Ruolan snapped out of her daze and looked at the nurse. She then said with a smile, "I'm listening."
It seemed that the medical staff here didn't know the outside world's news because of the closed-door environment. It was rare to see someone speaking non-stop to a stranger.
Jiang Ruolan muttered to herself before asking, "Can you find out the information about the good sister who visited her for the past 20 years ago or some photos of her?"
The nurse was stunned for a moment. Apparently, she did not think Jiang Ruolan would change the topic to someone else. Immediately she became alert. The nurse looked at her hesitantly, regretting saying too much to her.
Seeing her expression, Jiang Ruolan said softly, "The woman who often comes to see Jia Zhenzhen should be my mother. She has already been gone for many years, and it was only by chance that I found out that Auntie Jia and my mother might have been good sisters after coming here. I have no bad intentions. I just wanted to know about this woman."
Seeing that the nurse was still skeptical and looked at her carefully, Jiang Ruolan smiled. "I certainly have no intention of trying to deceive you. If you don't want to say it, it's okay. I just want to know more about my mother's past. I will not make it difficult for you."
When she said that, she smiled embarrassedly at the nurse.
At this moment, the nurse opened her mouth and muttered in a low voice, "After many years, no one has specifically visited Jia Zhenzhen, and no one is interested in her friends. But Miss Jiang, your question just now was all too sudden, so I don't know if I should say it or not."
Jiang Ruolan just smiled.
"I'm just a senior nurse who has been working here for a few years. There are a lot of things I'm not sure about, but I remember that there was a wall with pictures of the past lives of all the patients. Our dean created a memory wall and had the patients' families take the old photos and put them on the wall."
"The patient would walk around and take a look, and there were also photos of Jia Zhenzhen when she was young, but there were only two of them. When the first time I saw you, I noticed that you did resemble the woman in the picture."
Jiang Ruolan turned her head to look at the sanatorium on the other side and started to realize that she didn't want to know the answer to her question anymore.
Although both she and Jiang Yijun had Zhou Qingling's picture, it wasn't much. Furthermore, their memories of their mother could only be considered blurry. However, if she started looking at other pictures, she might remember some of the memories.
In such an important place, there's her mother's pictures. It was clear how good the relationship between Jia Zhenzhen and her mother was back then.
"Miss Jiang, do you want to go there and take a look? It just so happens that I'm going to the auxiliary building to deliver something." The nurse asked kindly.
Jiang Ruolan nodded. Seeing that the nurse was indeed carrying some small medical equipment, she simply extended her hand to receive two of them. "I'll send them with you."
Seeing Jiang Ruolan holding the two medical equipment, the nurse quickly took them from her. "How can this be? Miss Jiang, what you're carrying inside your stomach right now is a treasure of the Xian Family. How can I let you carry such a heavy item."
Jiang Ruolan couldn't help but smile as she followed the nurse from behind. All the way there, the nurse kept talking about the interesting things and helplessness of the patients nearby.
Jiang Ruolan turned her head and looked at the patient's family, accompanying the patient on their walk. She remembered what they had said about Jia Zhenzhen's illness.
These patients still had their family members to accompany them, and their condition gradually stabilized. Jia Zhenzhen had already gone mad for twenty-odd years, and no one came to visit her. It was so hard to cure her illness and it was probably because of the loneliness in her bones.
They walked along the path that led to the pond on the other side of the lawn. There were three paths leading to the second building and the closest one was a cobblestone path under a tree's shade.
There were all sorts of green plants around the pond surrounded by the cobblestone path. The water was very clear, and surrounded by a fountain in the middle.
It seemed that the Xian Family did deliberately choose this remote place to build this sanitarium, just like Xian Residence. The environment here was good and the scenery was elegant and beautiful. It was indeed a place suitable for cultivating the mind.
Jiang Ruolan followed the nurse down the path to the side building, and as they entered, the nurse immediately smiled and said hello to several nurses who were walking out the front door.
When Jiang Ruolan arrived with Xian Jian this evening, all the doctors and nurses had come out to greet them, and most of them recognized her as Xian Jian's daughter-in-law. So when they saw her, no one asked her anything and allowed the nurse to take her in.
When they arrived at the so-called wall of memories, the nurse pointed at the two photos in the corner and said, "Miss Jiang, look. All these black and white photos belong to Jia Zhenzhen."
"By the way, I heard Jia Zhenzhen almost destroyed this memory wall. Fortunately, she was stopped immediately by our people."
