Aunt Zhu held her close and comforted her for quite a while. Originally, she had been somewhat hesitant about whether she should skip going to the hospital herself, but after Wen Ran took several deep breaths, she said: “Aunt Zhu, go to the hospital. I’m fine, I’ll be good at home. You should go quickly to the hospital, don’t delay your medical appointment… you can’t neglect your health.”
“Then Ran Ran, why don’t you go rest for a while, okay?”
Wen Ran obediently went upstairs. Aunt Zhu hesitated for a moment, just about to call Xie Yunli, when his call came through first.
He said he was already on his way.
Aunt Zhu sent Xie Yunli a text message she had prepared in advance, beginning with: “Things you must pay attention to when spending time with Wen Ran.”
…
The therapist once said that recognizing the meaning and value behind these behaviors, and teaching her corresponding strategies to help her self-regulate better, is the more scientific approach.
Although she didn’t know whether Xie Yunli would have the patience to read through everything, or even be able to do these things as much as possible, Aunt Zhu still breathed a sigh of relief as if completing a very important task.
…
When Xie Yunli arrived, Aunt Zhu had already left.
Before leaving, Aunt Zhu had prepared lunch for them, including Xie Yunli’s portion.
She had also very thoughtfully placed sticky notes with reminders in the kitchen and other places.
After breakfast, Wen Ran would go read for a while, sit in a daze for a while, then go paint. After painting for about two and a half hours, she would come downstairs to wander around a bit, eat some snacks and fruit, and watch TV.
Xie Yunli glanced at his watch. This was about the time when her painting session would be ending.
Xie Yunli looked up at the upstairs. The bedroom door was indeed closed.
Although this villa belonged to him, the interior decoration was basically all modeled after Wen Ran’s former home.
Especially the bedroom layout, which was almost identical, and the sofa in the living room – they had spent a lot of time to custom-order the exact same style.
When she first moved in, Aunt Zhu had suggested he wait until she adapted before coming over, since no matter how similar the appearance, Wen Ran would still need time to adjust to this place.
So when Wen Ran and Aunt Zhu first moved in, he didn’t come for a full two months.
Later, each time he came over, it never exceeded an hour. Basically, he would sit for a while, chat with Aunt Zhu for a bit, then leave.
Aunt Zhu was a very competent caregiver. Every time Xie Yunli came over, she would tell him about Wen Ran’s condition in great detail. Anyone with eyes could see that Aunt Zhu loved and cared for Wen Ran like her own daughter. For Wen Ran, she was definitely more than just a simple caregiver – Wen Ran relied on her greatly, and this dependence naturally came from long-term companionship and care.
Aunt Zhu rarely left Wen Ran’s side. Now that she wasn’t here, the entire space seemed even quieter. Wen Ran upstairs was like a small animal hiding in her room, not making a sound.
The last time he came, Wen Ran had been in the basement.
The villa’s basement was originally supposed to be converted into a wine cellar or billiard room, so it was quite a large space. Later it was left empty and unused. What was she doing in there?
Xie Yunli walked to the basement door. It wasn’t locked – it opened with a push.
Inside was pitch black, nothing visible. He reached for the switch and clicked it on.
Everything in the room that surprised him was revealed before his eyes.
Xie Yunli stood there almost in disbelief for a long moment before walking in.
They were paintings – paintings that Wen Ran had created, all hung on the walls according to a certain pattern or placed on easels. Some were gray sketches, some were richly colored oil paintings, but most were scenes that seemed like fairy tales.
It was as if stepping into the fairy tale world one had been fascinated with in childhood. He even saw many classic scenes from Hans Christian Andersen and Brothers Grimm fairy tales, such as The Little Mermaid, The Three Little Pigs, The Ugly Duckling, Snow White, The Snowman…
All kinds of fairy tale scenes, fairy tale castles, little girls in princess dresses, small animals shuttling through forests, castles made of chocolate, fluffy giant animals, trains traveling through woods…
Even fairy tale art exhibitions he had seen before weren’t this rich and colorful.
All of these… were drawn stroke by stroke by Wen Ran?
What’s hard to imagine is that many people think all autistic children have monotonous, illogical inner worlds, assuming they cannot understand the many colors of this world.
Just like their alternative names – lonely disorder or children of the stars – and indeed, many autistic children do stay on their own little planets, not letting others in and finding it difficult to come out themselves. Facing such children, all their parents can do is provide endless patience and companionship, hoping their children can return from the stars to this earth that belongs to everyone.
But in fact, they still have their own thoughts. All their behaviors and language that seem abnormal to normal people are simply the most comfortable ways they’ve found to face this world. They’re also communicating with the outside world in their own way. Sometimes those strange, mantra-like repetitive words might be them thinking about and breaking down their own thoughts, or perhaps practicing words they can say, or maybe those words help calm their hearts.
Yet many people, when they see such children, will forcibly interrupt and eliminate their “rigid behaviors” without understanding the meaning behind these actions, treating all their behaviors as symptoms while never trying to understand the true meaning hidden behind these behaviors.
They cannot find truly appropriate ways to communicate with these children, making it impossible to really approach them or understand them.
But when someone truly uses patience and the right methods to enter their world, they might discover that not all autistic children have monotonous, strange inner worlds.
Among them are also many like Wen Ran – children with rich inner worlds who simply don’t know how to express themselves.
Wen Ran had put all her talent, her acquired learning, and the boundless worlds in her mind that she couldn’t express into her paintings.
Her heart contained far more than just one fairy tale world.
If any famous artist had created these paintings, they would certainly receive widespread attention.
Xie Yunli walked in and looked at each painting, then noticed many small dogs.
But these weren’t beautiful, expensive pet dogs – they were dogs hiding in alleys, placed in cardboard boxes, soaked in rain – stray dogs.
They all had different backgrounds but shared the same eyes that inevitably touched the heart.
She rarely went out – how could she have seen so many stray dogs?
Wen Ran had painted their images so vividly, and equally captured their inner worlds – lonely and helpless, gentle yet forced to appear fierce.
Xie Yunli stood inside for a full twenty-plus minutes before walking out, then gently closed the door.
She had locked away these little worlds that belonged to her in this basement, perhaps… never intending to display them before others.
He wouldn’t mention that he had come here either, because he was a cheater – Wen Ran had not given him permission to enter this world that belonged only to her.
…
Xie Yunli glanced at the time: 11:30.
He went upstairs and walked to the study door, gently knocking. “Wen Ran, it’s me. Do you want to come out and watch TV?”
After a pause, he added: “I’ll wait for you downstairs.”
After a while, he heard the careful sound of the door being opened, then silence for a few seconds – she was probably taking a few deep breaths – then the patter of her slippers as she came downstairs.
Her long hair had already been arranged by Aunt Zhu, hanging obediently behind her back. She wore a long nightgown with a cardigan over it, the hem revealing a slender, pale section of her calves.
Wen Ran rarely stayed alone in the same space with someone; most of the time Aunt Zhu was present.
If she stayed too close to an unfamiliar person for too long, she would also feel anxious and restless.
However, Xie Yunli wasn’t an outsider – he was her family, her husband whom she had married.
Wen Ran took a deep breath and carefully walked over.