(Thanks for the monthly ticket encouragement from WhatTheHellNickname, Lightning Mad God, laflx, Lingnan Su Mengzhen, Moonlight Snowfall, I Love Sheep.)

"Teacher Liu, do you know what's going on with this kid now?" Xu Yino asked.

"Why do you ask that?" Liu Banxia glanced at her.

"Teacher Liu, it's always like this with you. Whenever you've found something new, you basically have this exact expression. Is the kid faking his leg problem? That'd be way too impressive." Xu Yino said.

"Sigh… Right now I only have a guess. If you say he's faking it, you could say that, but if you say it's a real illness, that's also possible." Liu Banxia said.

Xu Yino was listening in a daze; she had no idea what Liu Banxia meant by that.

"Didn't you just say it yourself, the kid's mom only recently started thinking about getting a divorce. If the kid found out about this and the shock was too big, could it trigger a functional disorder?" Liu Banxia said.

"Some people get too worked up and faint from anger, some people become weak all over, some end up with speech problems. There are all sorts of manifestations, way too many."

"This kid's presentation is also very particular. The leg nerves and muscles are intact, it's just that he can't move them. I feel like it might be this situation—he can't handle the blow of his parents really going through with the divorce."

"After all, even though the original family was already on the verge of falling apart, it was still a family. If the parents really get divorced, then it truly shatters."

"My god, Teacher Liu, are you serious?" Xu Yino was a bit unsettled.

Liu Banxia shook his head. "This is just my guess. I don't know if it's true or not. I just thought of a possibility. There's no solid theoretical basis, but I think we can try something."

"Try what?" Xu Yino asked curiously.

"I think the kid's symptoms are caused by psychological shock. If the kid can digest this kind of news, would that help calm him down so he doesn't have such an extreme reaction?" Liu Banxia shot back with a question.

"I've never tried this kind of thing before, and I don't even know how to explain it to other people right now. If you put it in rural terms, this probably counts as a kind of hysteria, right?"

"Let's not tell anyone for now, or a bunch of people might laugh at the two of us. I just think we can try it first. In a bit, you find a way to take the kid's mom away, and I'll have a good talk with the kid."

"Teacher Liu, can I ask, are you trying to treat the kid, or is it because you're curious, or is it that after talking to that psychological counselor you've gotten interested in this area of medical knowledge?" Xu Yino asked.

Liu Banxia rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm treating the kid. I'm trying to come up with a good method. Think of a way to get his mom out of the room."

Xu Yino gave Liu Banxia a probing look, staring so much that even Liu Banxia felt a bit guilty.

"What are you looking at? Personally I am a bit curious too, okay." Liu Banxia said helplessly.

That made Xu Yino laugh out loud. So Liu Banxia really was feeling guilty. But she was also quite interested in this situation now. If it really turned out like Liu Banxia said, it actually sounded kind of fun.

No one knew what she said to the kid's mom after she walked over, but the kid's mom left with her. Liu Banxia straightened his clothes a bit, took a deep breath, and walked over to the kid.

"When did you find out your mom and dad are getting divorced?" After sitting there in silence for over a minute, Liu Banxia suddenly asked.

"Last night."

The kid answered without thinking, then hurriedly shut his mouth.

Liu Banxia patted his shoulder. "Hard to accept, isn't it? A family just breaks up like that. When school starts again, your classmates might also find out. Do you have any thoughts about it?"

The kid was silent for a while, then shook his head.

Liu Banxia felt a bit relieved inside. At least the kid had responded. That was already a very good start.

"You already knew long ago that your parents' relationship was strained, that they had conflicts, didn't you?" Liu Banxia continued asking.

The kid nodded.

"You're a little man now, you have to shoulder your own responsibilities." Liu Banxia patted his shoulder again.

That line got the kid's attention; he looked up at him.

"Strictly speaking, this is your family business, and I shouldn't meddle." Liu Banxia said.

"It's just that I think kids nowadays understand a lot more about the world. After you understood what's going on at home, you must have your own thoughts."

"Kids now are really too smart. When I was your age, I was dumb as a rock. Though back then I also thought I was pretty awesome."

"Your family situation is a bit special. Let me help you analyze it, no idea if I'll get it right. Anyway, you can't go anywhere right now; you have to stay and be treated."

"We're all tied to our family members one way or another. No matter what happens, they're still your parents. In this kind of situation, forget putting it on a kid your age—even if it were me, it wouldn't be easy to handle."

"Anyway, as long as it's held together, it's still a family. But from how things look now, keeping it going isn't that easy."

"You've seen how much your mom has suffered, but you also don't want the family to fall apart, so you've been torn all this time. Even with what happened today, you haven't said a word."

After hesitating a moment, the kid nodded. "I know my mom's exhausted. It's been years now. Back then they could still keep up appearances. These past two years my dad's rarely home—often ten days, half a month, even one or two months and he's gone."

"But my dad's not bad to me. Every time he comes back, he buys me some gifts, and sometimes he takes me out to buy clothes and shoes."

"But why is the adult world so complicated? He obviously already had my mom and me, so why did he still have to find someone else outside, and even have a child with her?"

"I've been working hard in school. I don't waste money. Mom said she didn't get a divorce for my sake and has endured until now. Why use me as an excuse? I shouldn't have been born, then they wouldn't have all these problems."

By the time the kid got to this point, he was already sobbing so hard he could barely talk.

"You silly kid, how could you 'not' have been born?" Liu Banxia pulled out a tissue for him.

"You're already here in this world, and you've lived all these years. I don't believe you haven't had a single happy moment. Actually, you're not really trying to blame them. Deep down you just don't want this family to fall apart."

"You've already mentally prepared yourself to deal with this, you just don't want to accept it. I ran into a similar situation myself a while back. In the end, you still have to face it yourself."

"Running away doesn't work. What's coming will come anyway. Think it through properly. At this point it's no longer about who you should blame. It's already happened. What you need to think about is how you're going to face it and live your life from now on."

"You've probably been pretty independent since you were little. What other people say is always just what they say. The decision in your own heart is the real thought that will support you."

"Anyway, I still haven't figured out what's causing your leg problem yet. In a bit I'll arrange a ward for you. Also, to give you some peace and quiet, I'll use a bit of my authority to keep other patients out of that room."

Hearing that, the kid gave him a slightly surprised look, then nodded.

He walked out and waved to Xu Yino and the kid's mom who were not far away.

"Doctor, just now Doctor Xu said you were doing the last examinations. Did you find anything?" the kid's mom asked anxiously.

"We have a bit of a lead, but it's still not very certain." Liu Banxia said.

"But when I was chatting with your son just now, I found another issue. Have you basically never talked to him about what's going on in the family?"

The kid's mom frowned, then nodded.

"If you trust me, your kid is really bottled up right now. At his age, even if you don't say anything, he still knows what's going on. And he told me he heard you and your husband talking about divorce last night. It's hard for him to accept." Liu Banxia said.

"That's impossible. We were talking in the living room last night. He was already asleep." the kid's mom said.

"But he told me he heard it yesterday. He's not that little anymore. He has his own thoughts. Have a good talk with him. Divorce isn't just between the two of you; it also has to do with your child." Liu Banxia said.

"In the past you stayed in the marriage for his sake. Now that you've made up your mind, then formally talk to him about it. This isn't a small thing—it will affect his future life too, and he also needs to be part of it."

"Anyway, I just chatted with him a bit and felt that he has a lot of thoughts inside, all jumbled up. If this isn't handled well, his legs won't be the main issue anymore. It might affect his mind."

As Liu Banxia spoke, he tapped his own head.

The kid's mom nodded thoughtfully.

"Head to the ward first later. I'll arrange an empty room for you. Whatever you want to say, you can talk there without anyone disturbing you." Liu Banxia added.

"Thank you, doctor, thank you." the kid's mom said gratefully.

She of course knew how hard it was to get an empty ward in a hospital.

And what Liu Banxia had just said did move her. When it came to divorce, she had thought about her son before, which was why she had put up with things for so many years.

But after she truly decided to divorce, she hadn't breathed a word of it to the kid. She'd never imagined that the conversation with her husband last night had actually been overheard by her son.

Her son was everything to her, and now Liu Banxia was saying this could lead to psychological problems, which made her panic. She had to have a good talk with him and make everything clear.