Chapter 349: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
“Miss Xu, I know you’ve done your best. I didn’t want this outcome either. My father never broke a promise his whole life. I didn’t expect that the first time he would, it would be to you.” Old Madam Wu looked full of guilt as she brought up the matter.
She had only slept for two hours at the hotel but still looked exhausted.
Master Wu lay half-dead on the hospital bed. Xu Youyou couldn’t possibly pull him up to help her with her task.
There were still seven days left before the mission deadline. Xu Youyou stayed by the bedside. Although she knew the chances were slim, she couldn’t help but imagine—what if?
Old Madam Wu was a restless person. She couldn’t help but fuss with the quilt on the bed, tugging at it here and there. The quilt had been brought from home.
Xu Youyou looked at the white quilt embroidered with a few small flowers. After Old Madam Wu adjusted it, the quilt now neatly covered the old man, with the little flowers falling exactly at his shoulders.
“Old Madam, do you have OCD?” Xu Youyou asked casually.
The old lady smiled sheepishly, “This old habit of mine has been with me all my life. To be honest, my father was the same. When my brother was alive, he was like this too. Even Xiao Guang is like this. It’s practically a Wu family tradition.”
Xu Youyou couldn’t help but laugh, but midway through her laughter, she suddenly realized something.
She turned her head, pretending to look out the window but actually communicating with the system.
“You said only members of the Wu family could find my box. Could the old lady help me find it?”
The system quickly replied: [That depends on whether she has truly mastered the skills.]
Xu Youyou’s face grew serious. She had tried hinting to the old lady many times, but the results were hopeless. Although Old Madam Wu vaguely knew that Master Wu wasn’t an ordinary person, she had never been involved in his matters.
According to Master Wu, “It’s a new era now. Girls can study, work, and walk proudly in the world. There’s no need to learn these family skills.”
Just as Xu Youyou was sinking into despair, the system suddenly said:
[Character determines destiny.]
Xu Youyou found this baffling and wanted to ask more, but the system fell silent.
When she turned back, she saw the old lady peeling an apple. After peeling, she cut it into eight perfectly even pieces and arranged them in the shape of a flower on a plate. After sticking toothpicks in, she called out, “Miss Xu, have some apple.”
Xu Youyou had just taken the plate when she suddenly heard a voice.
“The apple on the south side is crooked. No one even bothers to fix it.”
Xu Youyou’s hand froze. She almost dropped the plate of apples. Looking down, she saw that indeed, the piece of apple to the south was slightly crooked.
But she didn’t care about the apples anymore.
She recognized that voice.
It was Master Wu’s voice.
Could she hear his thoughts?
Suddenly, Xu Youyou remembered: when was the last time she heard thoughts like this? It was with the antique lacquer plate.
The memory was so distant she had almost forgotten she had this “golden finger” ability.
How had the system described this ability?
Right—
“A voice that comes and goes!”
Xu Youyou was immensely grateful for the system’s reward. If she could hear Master Wu’s voice, maybe there was still hope.
Xu Youyou didn’t rush to eat the apple. Instead, she leaned closer to the unconscious Master Wu and said, “Master, please wake up. Everyone’s hoping you’ll get better.”
“This little girl is really anxious… but it’s useless. Even if I want to wake up, I can’t. My body’s alive, but my soul has already left. I probably can’t return.”
Hearing this broke Xu Youyou’s heart. Medically speaking, Master Wu was still alive, but from a spiritual perspective, he was almost dead.
But this soul-separation explained why, even with his eyes closed, he could see the crooked apple.
“The quilt, the quilt! It’s not supposed to be covered like this!”
Master Wu shouted anxiously.
Only Xu Youyou could hear him. Old Madam Wu, looking troubled, had no idea what was going on.
Xu Youyou couldn’t help but ask, “Is the quilt too thin? Is the old master cold?”
“Who’s cold! This flowered quilt—those flowers are supposed to be at the bottom. Now you’re using the part I usually cover my feet with to cover my shoulders. It’s all wrong!” Master Wu complained.
Xu Youyou suddenly stood up and rotated the quilt 180 degrees. Now the flower pattern that had been over his shoulders was at his feet.
Old Madam Wu stared at her in astonishment.
Xu Youyou awkwardly explained, “Flowers grow from the ground, so it feels more natural to have them near the feet. I think Master Wu would prefer it this way.”
Even though Old Madam Wu was seriously OCD, seeing the quilt neatly arranged, she didn’t fuss any further.
Master Wu’s soul voice sounded astonished:
“What’s going on? This little girl acts like she can hear me! Can she see my soul?”
As he said this, his soul suddenly lunged toward Xu Youyou.
It was a horrifying scene, but Xu Youyou showed no reaction.
“She can’t see me.”
Just as Master Wu thought it was a coincidence, Xu Youyou suddenly said, “I can hear you.”
Old Madam Wu: ?
“Miss Xu, hear what?” Old Madam Wu asked.
Xu Youyou didn’t want to seem too strange, so she casually said, “I heard the birds outside.”
Old Madam Wu didn’t ask any more.
After brushing it off with a few words, Xu Youyou found an excuse to send Old Madam Wu out of the hospital room.
Once alone, she leaned close to the bed and said, “Master, I can hear some strange voices. I know you spent your whole life guarding that box. You took ninety-nine steps perfectly, only to fail at the last step. It must feel terrible.”
“Wow, this little girl really can hear me!”
Master Wu’s excited voice rang in her ears.
It was just as Xu Youyou said. Master Wu had kept his promises his entire life. Part of it was his noble character, but part of it was also because his obsessive-compulsive disorder had long since been incurable.
Breaking a promise was, to him, no different from dying.
Now, facing death, he wasn’t worried about his descendants or anything else. The only thing on his mind was that one last safe box.
Just one more!
And he could complete the task entrusted to him by the family!
