Chapter 160: Seeing a Doctor, Face Blindness

After the meal, Yun Linhe and Wang Mei gathered their things and took Yun Chenbei to the hospital.

Yun Jiao went along with them.

She held Yun Chenbei’s hand the entire time.

On the way, Wang Mei asked him, "Have you always had this problem, or did it develop later?"

Yun Chenbei looked down, thinking for a long moment. "I think it started after I accidentally fell from a tree when I was nine. After that, I gradually had trouble recognizing people."

"Why didn’t you say anything!"

Wang Mei smacked his arm a few times. "After all this time, you’re only telling us now? What if it can’t be cured!"

"Can you tell family members apart?"

Yun Chenbei slowly nodded. "I can. Even though they all look very similar, I can tell them apart."

He squeezed Yun Jiao’s hand. "And I can recognize Jiaojiao, too."

Yun Jiao squeezed his hand back, thinking, ’Brother cares about me!’ She was overjoyed.

"Oh, you..."

Yun Chenbei looked down. "Grandma was seriously ill back then, and the family didn’t have any money. It was hard to bring it up."

Wang Mei felt tears welling up. They had so many children. Aside from his reclusiveness, Chenbei had always been obedient and sensible, helping take care of his younger brothers since he was little. But a child who was so sensible—and a middle child at that—was often the easiest to overlook.

On top of that, she and her husband were busy from morning to night. Yun Chenbei had always been a quiet child. The time he climbed the tree when he was nine, it was to retrieve his younger brother’s paper airplane that had been blown up there by the wind. Afterward, he never showed any obvious signs of a problem, so no one noticed anything was amiss.

Seeing his mother crying silently, Yun Chenbei felt a mix of heartache and helplessness.

Even Yun Linhe, a grown man, felt his eyes redden. He turned away from them to wipe his eyes.

"I’m fine."

Yun Chenbei said, "I just have trouble recognizing people, that’s all. It’s not like there are that many people I need to recognize anyway."

’Actually, I’m quite comfortable on my own.’

"What do you mean, you’re fine? When I think about all those people who called you rude, I just want to go and give them a piece of my mind!"

"From now on, if anyone calls you rude again, you come and tell me. I’ll go settle the score with them!"

’So what if he doesn’t greet people? Are they some VIPs my son is required to greet?’

The fiercely protective Wang Mei had forgotten that she herself had worried and even nagged her son about this very issue before.

Once they arrived at the hospital, Yun Linhe and his wife went around asking which doctor they should see for their son’s condition.

Meanwhile, Yun Jiao waited quietly by Yun Chenbei’s side.

"Brother, if you don’t go to school anymore, will you stay home with me every day?"

Yun Chenbei glanced at his parents. "It’s not certain yet."

It made him uncomfortable to see his parents asking around so humbly.

’If... if they still want me to go to school, then... then I’ll just go.’

"I found out! For your condition, we need to see Doctor Liang, a neurologist. Come on, let’s go find him."

The hospital was crowded, and they had to wait in line for a while before it was their turn.

After listening to Yun Chenbei’s situation and conducting a thorough examination, Doctor Liang told them,

"It was likely caused by the head injury from his fall at age nine. This is acquired prosopagnosia. With our current medical capabilities, this condition is incurable. The only thing we can do is to slowly train him to recognize people..."

Hearing the word "incurable," Wang Mei’s vision went dark, and she staggered.

Yun Chenbei and Yun Linhe both reached out to steady her at the same time.

They left the hospital with a prescription, but a heavy mood had settled over them.

Wang Mei burst into sobs. "It’s all our fault. How did we not notice you’d gotten hurt?"

Yun Chenbei was at a loss. He hugged Wang Mei and gently patted her back to comfort her.

"Mom, I’m fine."

"I just have trouble recognizing people, but my body is perfectly fine. Plus, I’m learning woodworking and carving from my master. In the future, I can make a living with my skills, earn money to support myself, and even support you. Really... I’m already better off than a lot of people."

’I really don’t mind being face-blind.’

"I can recognize you all, and that’s good enough for me."

’If I couldn’t even recognize my own family, *that* would be awful.’

His reassurances made Wang Mei feel much better.

She felt awful.

’He’s the one who’s sick, yet I’m the one who needs comforting.’

"Have you been getting bullied at school?"

She grabbed her son’s hand. "Do people bully you because you don’t greet them when you run into them?"

Yun Chenbei’s eyes darted away. "N-no."

"Don’t you lie to me!"

Wang Mei’s voice grew louder, like a mother hen protecting her chick. "You always stutter and your eyes dart around whenever you lie."

Yun Chenbei: "..."

"Who are they? Take me to them! What kind of people are these? And they call themselves students, yet they bully their own classmate!"

Yun Linhe’s face was grim. "Tell us. What’s going on?"

Yun Chenbei rubbed his nose and said quietly, "It’s not really their fault. I never told them about my condition, so they didn’t know. I can’t recognize people when they greet me, so they just assumed I was weird or arrogant."

He decided not to mention the nasty things they had said to him.

He also didn’t mention the cliques that ostracized him—in truth, he was quite happy to be on his own.

"Does your older brother know about this?"

Yun Chenbei shook his head. "I never told him."

"You... What am I going to do with you!"

The mood on the way back was somber.

Just as they were nearing the village, Yun Linhe suddenly said, "Since you don’t want to go to school, then don’t."

Yun Chenbei looked at him, his eyes filled with surprise and delight.

"Dad, you agree?"

Yun Linhe sighed. "With your condition, you can’t even recognize your own classmates. How are you supposed to recognize people when you get a job? You’ll end up offending your boss and having them make your life difficult!"

"You have a talent for carpentry. Since that’s what you want to learn, then focus on that and do it well."

"They say you can excel in any trade. I’m not expecting you to become a master carpenter or anything. As long as you have a skill to support a family someday and don’t starve, that’ll be enough."

’The whole point of sending kids to school is so they can get a good job and support themselves.’

’Learning a trade accomplishes the same thing.’

The corners of Yun Chenbei’s mouth lifted, and his eyes seemed to sparkle with a new light.

"Okay! I’ll work hard!"

He hadn’t expected his father to agree so easily.

When they returned home, Granny Yun and Grandpa Yun were waiting for them.

"How did it go? Is it curable?"

Yun Linhe and Wang Mei looked crestfallen. "You know how he fell from that tree when he was nine? The doctor said he injured his brain. It’s something called acquired prosopagnosia... and it’s incurable."

Granny Yun’s vision went dark as well.

"Mom!"

"Grandma!"

The whole family rushed to her side.

"Oh... what are we going to do?"

Granny Yun cried as she held Yun Chenbei’s hand.

Yun Chenbei felt both guilty and helpless.

Yun Linhe forced a smile. "Mom, don’t you worry. At the very least, Chenbei himself is healthy. He’ll definitely be able to support himself learning carpentry from Old Man Mu."

Granny Yun wiped her tears. "But... what about when Chenbei needs to find a wife? What’s he going to do if he gets married and can’t even recognize his own wife?"

Everyone: "..."

Yun Chenbei’s face turned bright red. ’H-how did the conversation turn to this?!’