Chapter Thirty-Eight: Father and Daughter

  "I'll go buy vegetables first."

  Ma Er said, and was about to go out.

  "But, Dad, shouldn't we go to the hospital?"

  Aida hastily asked.

  "The doctor just called and said he's running late, apparently something unexpected came up."

  Aida shrugged her shoulders.

  Westerners usually make appointments for everything, and now this sudden cancellation, maybe something really did come up.

  Of course, there is another reason - Mars himself did not want to go to the hospital, so he found an excuse to perfunctorily deal with it.

  After all, the mentality of mentally ill patients... is somewhat abnormal.

  Mars quickly left the house.

  "I'm going to call the doctor."

  After Mars walked away, Aida stood up.

  "What's wrong?"

  Catherine is somewhat strange.

  "Our house doesn't even have a phone - to be exact, it should be our house's phone, but since it broke down a month ago, it hasn't been replaced. He just didn't want to go to the hospital."

  "Uh..."

  It seems this is undoubtedly the second case, Mars indeed deceived them.

  "Kate, Mr. Bitman will come over later, he originally wanted to go to the hospital with dad, please explain this situation."

  "I understand."

  There doesn't seem to be a public phone booth around, so it looks like Ida will have to run for quite some distance.

  Aida got up and left the house, while Catherine stayed behind.

  Aida walked across the street and came in front of a public telephone booth.

  Just as she was about to make a call, she found someone standing behind her.

  "Dad?!"

  Aida was startled.

  "Aida, come out. I know what you're going to do." Mars still had a calm expression.

  "But Dad——"

  "No buts, listen, Ida. If you insist on me going for a check-up, maybe the next time you see me will be in a mental hospital."

  "It's just a prefrontal lobotomy... Dad..."

  Aida looked at him.

  Leucotomy is a neurosurgical procedure and the first psychosurgical procedure. It includes schizophrenia, clinical depression, and other anxiety disorders. Also included are people who were considered to have neurological conditions such as: mood swings, youthful recklessness, etc.

  This surgery was later almost abolished due to its severe side effects, but it is now a very popular surgical procedure. Americans are superstitious about this surgery being able to solve all mental problems.

  If the white matter or cortex of the frontal lobe is removed, a person will become calm. However, patients who have had their white matter cut out and become gentle are not because their mental illness has been cured, but because the high-level spiritual activity function controlled by the frontal lobe has been cut out. In other words, the patient becomes a useless person and an idiot.

  "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" This famous Japanese movie depicts such a pathological American society.

  "No buts, Ada." Mars's eyes suddenly turned red-rimmed, then he roughly yanked Ada out of the phone booth.

  "No buts, did you get it?!"

  Aida wanted to speak but stopped herself, and her eyes also started to redden, but this was completely different from Marceau's implication.

  In the 1950s and 1960s in the United States, mentally ill patients with severe violent tendencies were subjected to forced "frontal lobotomy" surgery.

  This scene on the street was just seen as a conflict between a girl and her father by others.

  At Ida's home, Catherine also welcomed a guest.

  "Oh, beautiful Miss Catherine, I never thought we'd meet here." Bitman smiled slightly at Catherine.

  "Aida has gone to make a phone call, Mr. Mars has gone to buy vegetables, if you want to find them, you'll have to wait a bit."

  Catherine said so to her opponent.

  But after waiting for half a day, neither Ada nor Mars returned, which made Catherine feel somewhat strange.

  "What's wrong with them?"

  Catherine was somewhat worried and then stood up.

  She opened the door and looked down towards the corridor, but still didn't see anyone.

  Bitman's eyes rolled around and then looked out of the window, seemingly still without seeing anyone.

  He suddenly took out a bottle from his medicine box and then took out a towel.

  "Maybe Miss Ida met Mr. Mars and then they went to the supermarket together."

  When Catherine heard Bitman's words, she also began to think so. Although New York was chaotic, the security in Philadelphia was slightly better, and Catherine guessed that things were probably like this.

  "Miss Catherine, why don't we try another brief session of hypnotherapy?"

  "A brief hypnotic trance?"

  "Right, it'll be done in about ten minutes."

  "It sounds okay. But Aida will be back soon. Thanks."

  Although it doesn't seem to have any harm on myself. After all, I've already done it once before. However, Catherine thinks that Jenny's technique is better.

  And Catherine remained wary of him.

  Bitman seems to be in a dilemma.

  He looked out of the window again.

  Still nobody.

  Then, Bitman's face suddenly became distorted...

  On the corner of the street, Mars roughly pulled Aida's collar.

  "No! I'm not going back!"

  Aida shouted loudly.

  "Shut up! You're my daughter, so come back with me now!"

  Mars became abnormally angry.

  He seemed as if he was about to erupt, but he seemed to be desperately suppressing his emotions.

  "Listen, Ida. I simply can't go to a place like that. What's the matter with your Uncle Bill now, don't you understand?"

  Uncle Bill in Mars' mouth is his comrade-in-arms. Two years ago, he was also forced by his family to undergo a lobotomy due to mental problems.

  "He's much better now! At least better than you!"

  Mars seemed to calm down suddenly.

  Aida stared blankly at him.

  "Yes, it's completely different from before, sitting at home every day has become a habit. Listen, Aida, you have to take responsibility for yourself, I love you just like I love your mother. Maybe you don't understand, but you two are really alike..."

  Tears just flowed out like this.

  "I know... you want to go to Hollywood, you want to be an actress, but I'm against it. I don't want you to walk with those people on the dark road. Ada... oh... Ada... you are my only shining light in life..."

  He suddenly knelt down.

  "Aida... I really don't want to lose you."

  Aida opened her mouth, but found tears flowing from her cheeks into her mouth.

  "But... it's just an operation that can cure you."

  "No! You don't understand!" He suddenly became violent again and pressed down on Aida's shoulders with both hands.

  "Alright, let's go home."

  Mars dragged Aida, but she refused to give in even if it meant death.

  "No! I won't go! Help! Save me!"

  Perhaps because of the previous sentence, passersby seemed to take Ada as a runaway girl and didn't pay attention to her either.

  Aida struggled desperately, but how could her strength be compared with Mars?

  But at this time, Mars suddenly put Ada down.

  "Huh?"

  Aida came to her senses, but found that Mars had already run quickly towards the front. Then following Mars' direction, she saw a small cart, and Dr. Bitman, who happened to be coming here, was now carrying a seemingly sleeping girl onto the cart.

  "Kate?!"

  Aida was startled, and by this time Mars had already rushed forward.

  ……

  Is being top or bottom really that important? Being able to advance and retreat is what truly makes a great vessel.