The common point between psychiatric hospitals and prisons, as well as detention centers, is that having family visits and family members depositing money and items makes life a bit easier. Those without family (no visitors, no money deposited, no items stored) suffer greatly, facing the worst possible meals every day, just plain broth and water, with no expectations and no hope. Some of these individuals without family fantasize about others giving them food, but those who have food band together to share and help each other, which is referred to as "having comings and goings." The chances of those without family receiving any gifts are extremely slim. I have a kind heart and often have visitors, and I also have money deposited, so I bought fried rice and duck blood vermicelli soup for an elderly man without family and a young orphan. Once, nurse Jia Jianqing saw this and stopped me, saying, "As long as they can fill their stomachs, that's enough."
Some individuals without family have a smoking addiction and can only wait until the smokers have finished their last few cigarettes, coming over to beg for some, saying they have none left while taking a couple of puffs until the cigarette burns their lips. Often, when one person is smoking, two or three others without family wait around, sometimes even trying to grab the cigarette butt.
Because they are only allowed six cigarettes a day, it is simply not enough. Some patients smoke halfway, extinguishing the cigarette with their fingers, saving the other half for next time, so six cigarettes can be smoked twelve times, satisfying their cravings for a while. Sometimes, even a little bit of a cigarette butt is enough to get a few puffs, which makes the nurses laugh.
There is an unwritten rule in psychiatric hospitals, a strict law: those without family cannot be discharged. Even if their condition is stable or even cured, they cannot leave because the reason is that once outside, there is no one to care for them, no one to supervise, which could lead to problems, such as being homeless or posing a danger to society. This results in some patients being hospitalized for a long time, even for a lifetime, until they die in the hospital.
Every psychiatric patient has a guardian, and without the guardian's consent, they cannot be discharged. Hu Xiaohu is a top student in the Civil Engineering Department at Southeast University, with buildings he designed in Zhenjiang, including some high schools. His brother is his guardian and does not agree to his discharge. His mother used to visit him almost every day, cooking for him and leaving some snacks, like bread. But after more than twenty years, his mother has passed away, and he still remains in the hospital.
Zhang Youlong is an adopted son, and his brother does not visit him either. Once, his brother brought a very small amount of roasted duck, to the extent that the attendant said it was leftover food. Zhang Youlong is a Christian and does not ask for cigarettes; occasionally, if someone offers him one, he says he will smoke it if given, but if not, he will "go without."
Xie Ping is a vocational school student and was previously a teacher. His brother is in Hong Kong, and neither his brother nor his uncle visits him. Since he is on a public fund, he even says that living in the hospital is quite good; when he gets sick, like catching a cold, there are doctors to treat him and medicine to take, so he has given up his freedom.
Guardians do not take them back mainly because they are afraid of having to share inheritance, providing them with a place to live, and dealing with the hassle of feeding them, so they simply keep them locked in the hospital. Of course, these patients are all covered by public medical care.
When I first started my hospitalization, there were three young nurses: Hu Qimei, Shi Lianghua, and Tao Lingwei. Hu Qimei is my junior, having studied in the same junior high school in Juyuan County, and she is a student of Sun Zhaopin, a few years younger than me. They all graduated from nursing school and were assigned to the hospital.
In her spare time, Tao Lingwei taught me to sing. At that time, my hair was quite long, and later, when she saw Hong Kong stars with long hair on TV, she said, "Ge Yimin looked like this when he first came." She has tetracycline-stained teeth.
She taught me many songs; in the early 1990s, songs from Hong Kong and Taiwan were very popular. One that left a deep impression on me was "In the Rain," with lyrics like "In the rain, I sent you; in the night, I kissed you; in spring, I had you; in winter, I left you." She would sing a line, and I would learn it from her. Years later, I noticed that her position never seemed to rise, while Hu Qimei and Shi Lianghua were promoted. She said, "As long as I can take care of you, Ge Yimin, that's enough."