In the 1990s, cigarettes in psychiatric hospitals were not too scarce; patients could carry a whole pack of cigarettes and a lighter on them. At that time, I smoked, and a young man would stand next to me waiting for a cigarette, and I always left a long cigarette butt for him. Somehow, it became stricter later (the collection of lighters was due to a fire incident in another psychiatric hospital, and our ward also opened a north door, which was usually locked). Cigarettes were managed by the nurses, who distributed six a day, and lighting them also required finding a nurse or a health worker. At this time, there were more people waiting for cigarettes, to the extent that I had to arrange it in the corridor, giving the long cigarette butt to one person first, letting him take two puffs, then passing it to the next, and instructing them to pass it to the next person. A long cigarette butt had to be shared by two or three people, with each taking two puffs. Because they knew I provided the butts, whenever I smoked, several people would gather around. If someone hadn’t finished their share and took a couple more puffs, I would say I wouldn’t bring them next time.
On my days off from work, I took my son to play marbles at the entrance of the construction committee, and a nurse actually saw us, which she later mentioned during my hospitalization.
During my first hospitalization, Doctor Li Guohai asked me about the differences in my appearance, and I explained it to him. Director Tian Zhihong said it was a waste for the country to train me as a college student. Later, before my hospitalization, a doctor asked me if I could become the provincial W secretary. I said I could. He asked if I could make money, and I said I couldn’t, but I also mentioned that I felt great at that time.
Sometimes patients would not cooperate and would attack medical staff. Tao Lingwei said it was a common occurrence, and nurses and health workers would retaliate. For example, if a patient was tied to a bed, Hu Qimei had slapped a patient before, and male health workers were even worse. There was a man around 50 years old, very strong, who spat at the male health worker Liu who was tying him up. Once tied, Liu slapped him, and then a nurse came to do electroacupuncture, but he showed no reaction at all. Usually, patients would be in great pain, gritting their teeth and making sounds of suffering or begging for mercy, but he was expressionless, which scared the nurse into not proceeding.
There was a patient, a young man, whose family came to visit him. I heard his family member say, “Do you want to eat egg fried rice? Why don’t you say so?”
Another patient, a middle-aged man, once asked his uncle to make him some fried rice. His uncle added an egg, and he was very satisfied, telling his fellow patients that it even had an egg in it.
I was a model worker in the hospital. Once, a health worker asked me to scrub the tiles on the toilet walls, and a nurse saw it and said, “Can Ge Yimin do this?” The health worker replied, “Why can’t Ge Yimin do it?” Another nurse said to me, “Ge Yimin wants to do everything, but he just can’t do it well.”
There was a young man who often played with me. I told him, “Hou Dejian’s shrimp, Cheng Lin, was chased away by 52KX, and Hou Dejian was so angry he almost died, while I laughed to death.” Every time I said this, we would burst into laughter.
I heard my mom mention that once, back in my hometown, I was so excited by the pond that a distant relative, Su Fan, said, “I want Yimin.”
Having watched the Korean drama "I Am Legend," I liked Jun Ji-hyun, so I acted as her in the hospital, looking for Li Huazi, Jiang Xiuren, and Liang Yalin among the patients to form a Madonna band. One young man, for whom I ordered fried rice and duck blood vermicelli soup, was unnamed. I got him a water cup, which was a beverage bottle, and asked a male nurse to write his name. He didn’t know his name, and I said I knew it. I took a pen and wrote “Li Huazi,” and the nurse said, “So he’s called Huazi.”
Whenever I got sick, I was inexplicably excited. In the first few nights, I would run out to sing on the streets, wandering aimlessly, thinking I was an extraordinary person, also making a declaration.
Once, my brother took me to the hospital. On the way, I walked ahead and said I was going voluntarily. The doctor saw I was fine and said I didn’t need to be hospitalized. I then said, “G Xiao JB,” saying that Chinese people are small by nature, and he had aged and shrunk, so I got hospitalized.
One time, I took my mom to the ward and said I was being hospitalized. The doctor saw I was still fine, and I said I had money, asking my mom to take out the money from her pocket for him to see. This had some theatrical elements to it; after all, I am also an actor.
Once, a ZYJ passed away, and Doctor Tao asked me to carry the body to the hearse, and I carried it all the way to the road and loaded it onto the vehicle.