Chapter 3 third chapter

Akio went to visit his father after get off work the next day.How strange is the old man?With such worry and fear, he knocked on the door of his parents' house.But to his surprise, it was Zhang Yilang who came out to greet him. "Yo, why are you here today?" His father happily chatted with him and asked him about his work.By the looks of it, there was no sign of dementia at all. When Zheng Hui, who was out, came back, Akio told her his opinion, but she showed a confused expression. "Sometimes it's really normal, but when it's just the two of us he gets weird."

"I'll come and see it often, and I'm relieved that there's no major problem." After saying this, he left on the same day. A process like this was repeated once or twice, each time Zhang Yilang didn't seem to have any abnormality, but Zhenghui said that he must have gone dementia. "He hardly remembers talking to you, and he even forgot to eat the Dafu biscuits you bought for him. You should persuade your father to go to the hospital for a checkup, okay? Every time I ask him to go, he says he is not sick .” At the request of Zhenghui, the helpless Akio had to take Zhang Yilang to the hospital.The reason was to review the situation of the cerebral infarction, and Zhang Yilang agreed.

The diagnosis was that his brain had shrunk considerably, that is, he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. After returning from the hospital, Zhenghui expressed his anxiety about his future life, but Akio failed to propose a specific solution to this.He just said in general that he would help them as much as possible, because he felt that the situation was not that serious, and he couldn't make any promises without Yaeko's consent. Zhang Yilang's symptoms deteriorated rapidly after that, and it was Harumi who told Akio about it. "Brother, go see Dad once, it will scare you."

His sister's words gave him an ominous premonition. "Scary? Why is it scary?" "I told you to go and see for yourself." Chunmei just said this and hung up the phone. A few days later, Akio went to see his father and finally understood what his sister said.Zhang Yilang has completely turned into another person, his body is extremely thin, not only his eyes are empty, but he also wants to run away when he sees Akio. "Dad, what's wrong with you? Why did you run away?" Akio asked, grabbing his father's slender, wrinkled arm. Zhang Yilang let out a cry of grief, trying to free Jiang's arm.

"He doesn't recognize you anymore, it seems that he regards you as a strange uncle." Zheng Hui explained later. "What about mom? Does he still know him?" "Sometimes they know each other, sometimes they don't, and sometimes they treat me as his mother... Not long ago, they even regarded Chunmei as their wife." While they were talking about this, Zhang Yilang sat in the corridor and looked up at the sky in a daze, seemingly not listening to what they were talking about at all.Akio noticed that his fingers were red, and when asked why, he got the following answer from Zhenghui.

"He's playing the makeup game." "Makeup game?" "Looks like he's playing with my makeup, he got that finger when he was playing with lipstick, like a kid." According to Zhenghui, Zhang Yilang sometimes degenerates into a child's appearance, and sometimes suddenly returns to normal.To be precise, it should be a low memory, he can even forget the things he has done. Akio couldn't imagine what it would be like to live with such a person, he only knew that Zhenghui's suffering was extraordinary. "This is not something that can be explained clearly with a single sentence of hard work." When Chunmei and Chunmei met alone, the other party said sternly. "Last time I went to see them, Dad was making a fuss, losing his temper with Mom. The room was in such a mess, everything in the closet had been rummaged out and scattered all over the place. Dad said his treasured clock was gone. , Said that it must have been stolen by Mom, and she was blaming her."

"bell?" "It broke a long time ago, and Dad threw it away. But he didn't listen to me, and said he couldn't go out without that clock." "Go out?" "I don't know what it means to go to school, but you can't confront him in that situation. We said that we would help him find the clock and he finally calmed down. We have to comfort him that the school can go again." Akio fell silent, he couldn't believe that this happened to his father. The topic gradually extended to future plans. Chunmei lived with her in-laws, but she still said that she would help Zhenghui as much as possible.

"It's not an option to keep putting the blame on you." "But, brother, you must not be able to do it, right?" Harumi was implying that asking Yaeko for help was impossible, and Akio was speechless. In fact, after describing Zhang Yilang's situation to Yaeko, the other party's reaction was indifferent.She just expressed her sympathy for her mother-in-law with a gesture of nothing to do with herself.Akio really didn't have the courage to ask such a wife for help. Not long after that, when Akio visited his parents' house again, he smelled a strange smell as soon as he entered the door.When he thought there was something wrong with the toilet and approached the house, he found that Masae was wiping Zhang Yilang's hands, and the latter was looking around timidly, looking almost like a child.

After questioning his mother, he learned that the incident was caused by Zhang Yilang taking out his own excrement from the diaper to play.Zhenghui was so calm when she narrated all this, her expression seemed to say that she had already gotten used to it. The mother's haggardness is obvious, the once plump cheeks began to droop, the wrinkles deepened, and the eye circles darkened. Akio proposed to send his father to a nursing home, and said that he could afford the expenses, but Chunmei, who was sitting with him, was amused. "Brother, it seems that you haven't figured it out yet. We've thought about this method for a long time, and we've also consulted nursing practitioners, but it's a mess. No institution is willing to accept Dad. That's why Mom has to take care of Dad. until now."

"Why don't they accept it?" "Because Dad is too energetic, like a naughty child. Not only will he yell, but he will also run wild. If he really can sleep peacefully like a child, he will They often get up in the middle of the night. If they want to accept such a person, they have to arrange for an employee to take care of him 24 hours a day, and it will affect other elderly people, so of course the nursing home will refuse.” "But why do you need a nursing home?" "What's the use of asking me? Anyway, we are now looking for nursing homes that are willing to accept him. After all, they don't even accept half-day ones."

"Half-time?" Harumi looked at him with a look of surprise that Akio didn't even know this. "It's a nursing facility that only takes care of the elderly during the day. Their staff was about to take a bath for Dad, but Dad went crazy and knocked down the chairs of other elderly people. Fortunately, that person was not injured." Akio felt a bit annoyed by such a grim situation. "At present, there is still a place to send him, but it is a hospital, and it is still a psychiatric department." "Psychiatry?" "Brother, you probably don't know. Now I have to take Dad there twice a week. It may be that the medicine prescribed by the doctor has worked, and the number of his madness has suddenly decreased. The hospital seems to be willing to accept him." It was the first time Akio had heard of these, which made him realize once again that he was not regarded as someone he could rely on. "Then how about putting him in that hospital? I'll pay for it..." Ke Chunmei immediately shook her head. "Short-term hospitalization is okay, but long-term hospitalization is not." "why?" "Because only patients who cannot be taken care of at home can be hospitalized there for a long time, and in this case, Dad can still take care of him at home, and it is true that Mom is taking care of him now. Of course, I am also planning to look for other hospitals." "Forget it," Zheng Hui said, "I'm tired of being rejected everywhere. Your father has worked so hard for this family these years, and I still want to take care of him at home." "But if this continues, Mom, your body will fail." "If you really think so, help mom." Chunmei stared at Zhaofu and said, "But brother, you probably can't come up with any solution, right?" "I will also look for acquaintances to see if there is any nursing home willing to accept Dad." Chun-mi sighs and says she’s already done that. I want to help but I can't do anything, so the days go by day by day.Zhenghui and Chunmei stopped crying to him, maybe they were completely disappointed.On the contrary, Zhao Fu took this opportunity to act like a normal person, and simply ignored their hard work.He immersed himself in his work, telling himself that he had other things to worry about, in order to avoid the harshness of his conscience, and then he stopped visiting his parents. After living like this for several months, he learned from Chunmei that Zhang Yilang was completely bedridden, not only his consciousness became blurred, but he couldn't even speak clearly. "I think Dad will pass away soon, shouldn't you go see him for the last time?" Chunmei said coldly. After Akio went, he saw Zhang Yilang lying in the back room.He was almost asleep all the time.That is, when Zheng Hui changed his diapers, he would open his eyes.Even so, it cannot be said that the father is still conscious, his eyes are lifeless. Akio helped his mother change the diapers together, which made him deeply understand how difficult it is to move the lower body of a person who has no intention of voluntary movement. "Mom, do you do this every day?" he asked casually. "It's all because of me, but, he's bedridden now, which makes me feel a little more relaxed. He was still noisy before." Zheng Hui, who was thinner than before, replied. Looking into his father's empty eyes, Akio had the idea of ​​wishing him to die soon for the first time. This unspoken wish came true half a year later, and of course the news was still obtained from Chunmei. Akio rushed to his parents' house with his wife and children, and Naomi showed a very curious look when he got there.No wonder, after all, he had only been in this house as a baby.Of course, for the grandfather who doesn't see him often, it's normal for Naomi who heard that he passed away to not show any sad expression. Zhang Yilang took his last breath at night, so Zheng Hui did not see the dying situation, which made her feel very sorry.But she also smiled bitterly and said that even if they lived in the same room, they would probably think that he was just asleep and not pay attention. Harumi was very angry at the sister-in-law who did not apologize, and she told Akio that she originally hoped that Yaeko would say sorry to Zhenghui for not fulfilling her responsibilities, even if it was just a superficial effort. "It's ridiculous that she came here after Dad died. If you hate coming to our house, then ask your gender to come." Akio apologizes to Harumi. "I'll go and tell her." "Forget it, you don't need to say it, besides, you must be just perfunctory me." Akio fell into silence because his sister hit the nail on the head. However, the death of Zhang Yilang solved his long-standing worries after all. After the funeral was settled, Akio felt a long-lost relaxation. But the easy time didn't last long.About three years after Zhang Yilang's death, this time Masae was injured again.She fell while cleaning at the end of the year and broke her knee. She is getting older, and the fracture is more complicated, so after the operation, she can no longer walk as freely as before.I have to use crutches when I go out, and I can't go up and down stairs at home. Really can't let such a mother live alone anymore, Akio decided to move in with her. But Yaeko was naturally not happy. "Didn't you say you wouldn't cause me any trouble?" "Just live together, there won't be any trouble." "Who will believe you when you say that?" "She just has inconvenient feet and can take care of herself. If you have any objections, we can eat separately from her. Let the mother with disabled legs and feet live alone, what will people around us say about us?" After earnest persuasion, Yaeko finally nodded.However, compared with Akio's rhetoric, it may be that the wishful thinking of being able to get a single-family house played a greater role.Due to the sluggish economic environment, Akio's income has not increased for many years, and the house he dreamed of in the past has almost come to naught. "Even if we live together, I don't intend to change my way of life." Yaeko agreed to live with Masae after such an announcement. About three years ago, the Akio family moved into their mother's house.Before the move, some interior renovations were also carried out.Approaching the newly decorated room, Yaeko said with satisfaction: "It's better to have a big house." What was even more unexpected was that she even respectfully said to Zhenghui: "Please take care of me in the future." Zhenghui, who was on crutches, smiled happily while returning the gift.When she explained to her daughter-in-law one by one the big and small things in the house, the bell on the crutch also made a cheerful sound. In this way, it will be all right, and there is no need to worry - Akio breathed a sigh of relief. He thought everything was finally settled and there was nothing to worry him about anymore. But the sky failed to fulfill his wishes, and from that day on, new troubles followed him like a shadow.