Hello, Comrade. I'm Here to Marry You!

Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Curing an Ailment of the Heart

At first, Su Zhaozhao thought she was dreaming.

But the knocking continued.

She immediately climbed out of bed, yawned, and realized.

Someone really was pounding on the door and calling her name.

She opened the door to find a woman standing outside.

It was actually Zhao Shuqin.

She was a little surprised that Zhao Shuqin knew where she lived.

"Zhaozhao, do you have a minute?"

Seeing Su Zhaozhao’s dazed expression and messy hair, Zhao Shuqin immediately understood, and her face flushed red. "Sorry... I’m sorry. Were you sleeping? I didn’t mean to disturb you."

Su Zhaozhao rubbed her eyes, trying to look a little more awake. "It’s fine. What’s wrong?"

She was back to her usual vibrant self.

Looking at the girl’s brilliant eyes and gentle smile, Zhao Shuqin breathed a sigh of relief.

"I... I just wanted to ask if you could talk with me for a bit? Ever since what happened the other day, my heart has been in a total panic. I feel awful inside, I can’t eat, and I can’t sleep."

"Don’t think I’m just being a coward. Weren’t there a lot of seriously injured comrades on the bus with us that day? Even though they’re better now, whenever I think about how bloody they looked, my heart starts pounding like crazy. I’m scared to death!"

Listening to Zhao Shuqin, Su Zhaozhao knew she was suffering from post-traumatic stress.

Directly confronting those terrifying things had stimulated her nerves, causing changes in her nervous system and brain function.

Even for someone like her, who had experienced a lot, that night was still frightening; she had just forced herself to face it.

But she recovered quickly afterward, mainly because she had long been able to naturally process such psychological trauma.

But people like Zhao Shuqin were different. They had never experienced anything like it, and witnessing such a horrifying scene for the first time put immense psychological pressure on them.

"For something like this, why come to me?" Su Zhaozhao asked.

’I don’t think I ever revealed that I was particularly skilled in this area.’

"Because... because I didn’t know who else to turn to. I feel like, at the scene that day, I wasn’t as scared because you were by my side, cheering me on. That made me feel brave. But afterward, being alone is just terrifying." Zhao Shuqin’s face was pale. "I’ve talked to my husband about it, and I’m not as scared when he’s with me. But when he gets busy and I’m home alone with the kids, my mind just won’t be at ease."

So that was why. Su Zhaozhao led Zhao Shuqin into her room.

She had Zhao Shuqin sit down in a chair and poured her a glass of warm water. "Drink this."

The water was spiritual spring water from her space. Spiritual spring water could heal the body, so naturally, it also had some effect on the mind.

Zhao Shuqin took a sip of water.

She instantly felt as if her body had become lighter, and her tense, anxious emotions were no longer so frightening.

She didn’t know it was thanks to the water.

"Let me teach you a few methods to keep your mind from dwelling on those things."

"What methods?"

"It’s simple. For example, when your mind can’t stop thinking about what happened that day, what do you do?"

"I don’t know what to do! Sometimes I’ll just be spacing out and start thinking about that night. Other times I’ll be wiping the table or cooking, and it’ll just pop into my head..." Zhao Shuqin shook her head. "Then my heart starts racing, and it feels like it’s going to jump out of my chest."

"Let’s try a technique. Say, for instance, you’re cooking, and the events of that night suddenly pop into your head," Su Zhaozhao explained, giving Zhao Shuqin an example.

Zhao Shuqin nodded.

"You can try the 5-4-3-2-1 method. For example, right in that moment, find 5 things you can see in front of you—the pot in the kitchen, the lid, the spatula, the food in the pot... all of those count. Then, 4 things you can touch, 3 sounds you can hear, 2 smells you can perceive, and finally, 1 thing you can taste..."

Su Zhaozhao gave Zhao Shuqin examples for each, as this was a psychological technique well-suited for daily use, capable of pulling someone with post-traumatic stress out of their suffering.

After teaching Zhao Shuqin, Su Zhaozhao guided her through the exercise once.

Zhao Shuqin suddenly felt much better.

After that, Su Zhaozhao taught Zhao Shuqin a breathing technique that could also relax her frayed nerves.

「An hour later.」

Zhao Shuqin’s expression was much more relaxed. "I... I feel so much better. Zhaozhao, you’re amazing."

When she had first arrived, her heart had been full of pain. She had barely slept these past few days and was on the verge of breaking down.

But now, after Su Zhaozhao’s guidance, she felt she had regulated her emotions and was beginning to feel a bit tired.

She was dying to go to sleep right away.

"You’re welcome. If you have this kind of problem again, feel free to find me," Su Zhaozhao said with a smile.

After saying that, she froze. ’Wait, that’s not right. I’m about to leave.’

"But I..."

Just as she was about to say she would be leaving in the next couple of days, Zhao Shuqin interrupted her. "Zhaozhao, to be honest with you, quite a few people from our bus that day are suffering like this, especially the ones who were seriously injured. They’re lying in the hospital right now. I know a few of them, and they’re in as much pain as I am. If you can, could you go see them?

"There’s also a young man. He survived, but he couldn’t keep one of his legs. Do you remember him? He was the one we pulled out of the bus together."

Of course Su Zhaozhao remembered.

He was the most seriously injured man, thrown from the bus and then pinned underneath it when it flipped on its side.

Su Zhaozhao and a few others had desperately pulled him out.

’He couldn’t keep his leg...’

Su Zhaozhao recalled that he was a young man in his twenties.

He had a buzz cut... he looked like a soldier from the military district.

To become disabled for life at such a young age, and a soldier at that, was truly pitiful.

"That’s him. He’s been in the military hospital for the past few days, and I hear he’s refusing treatment and won’t eat. If it’s this hard for people like us, it must be even worse for him."

At this, Zhao Shuqin shook her head and sighed. "How pitiful."

Su Zhaozhao thought so too.

Even though she was about to leave, she couldn’t just stand by and do nothing in a situation like this.

After all, this was her profession.

Back when she was studying psychology, her professor had said that while they might not be traditional doctors in most people’s eyes, a sick heart is still a sickness. Therefore, they should help whomever they can.

Although she later majored in criminal psychology, she had never forgotten how to help people heal their minds.

"Zhaozhao, I think your analysis makes a lot of sense, and you have a way with words. After talking with you for so long, I don’t feel that awful ache inside me anymore. Why don’t you go to the hospital and see that young man?"

「Meanwhile, at the military hospital.」

On a hospital bed, a pale young man lay staring blankly at the ceiling, his expression devoid of any emotion. If not for the occasional blink, one might have mistaken him for a mannequin.

A few people stood by his side. "What do we do? Brother Zheng, Shu Lang can’t go on like this! I feel like his will to live is very weak."