Chapter 253: Consolation Luncheon Julian's crying and shouting voice echoed in the room lit only by moonlight. Janna stood quietly at the door, not daring to take a step forward. She was afraid that after she walked in, she would find that this was not a nightmare but reality. After a long while, Janna closed her eyes, gritted her teeth and entered the room that was both Julian's bedroom, living room, kitchen and dining room. She squatted down beside her brother, did not stop him from crying, nor did she touch him who seemed frightened, but just said softly: "We don't have much debt anymore. If we lose our current job, we can still find another one. There's no need to rush... "You have enough foundation, there must be other masters willing to accept you... "What mom wants to see is that you and I can live a better life, not blame ourselves..." Janna repeated these words over and over again until Julian collapsed and was exhausted. His body gradually became limp, and he leaned against the wall by the window and fell asleep. He finally quieted down. Seeing her brother's expression gradually relaxing and no longer so frightened and painful, Jenna let out a silent breath, and the tears in her eyes lost their control and continued to drip down. After crying silently for a while, she stood up, walked to Julian's bed, picked up the quilt, and gently covered her brother who was sleeping against the wall.
After doing all this, she dragged her feet back to the room inside, which was the bedroom belonging to her and her mother Elodie. Janna lay down, staring blankly at the dim ceiling with a little moonlight with her empty eyes. She kept thinking back to what her mother had said, but she couldn't convince herself anymore. Perhaps, except for a very few lucky people, darkness is the main theme of life, and light is just an occasional embellishment. Janna suddenly grabbed her mother's pillow and covered her face with it, and her body began to show all the reactions that one would experience when sobbing. Why, why is it always dark, without any light? When will the sun rise again? I don't know what time it was, but Janna fell into a deep sleep. She was awakened by the noise outside. She turned over and sat up, rubbed her swollen eyes, and hurried out of the room. The person who caught her eye was Julian, who was making toast. He no longer had the collapse and mental disorder of last night, and was concentrating on the task at hand. Janna's lips moved for a few seconds, but what she finally said was a daily greeting: "You woke up so early?" Julian replied somewhat awkwardly: “I didn’t have dinner yesterday and woke up hungry. "Just wait a moment, the toast will be ready soon." Seeing her brother's condition, Janna not only did not relax, but became more worried. If Julian was still in the state of mental breakdown and crying like he was last night, she would feel uncomfortable, depressed and desperate, but she would not be afraid. She would force her brother to see Franca and ask her to find a real "psychologist" to provide treatment. And now, she wasn't sure whether Julian had really recovered or just looked normal on the outside. If some problems are not solved, they will keep piling up in your heart. When they break out again, they may become fatal! Janna was terrified that she would see her brother commit suicide by jumping off the building when she wasn't paying attention, just after she finished her breakfast. She observed Julian carefully for a while and felt that his hysterical breakdown was indeed gone, but he probably had not yet fully recovered mentally.
When Julian was making breakfast by himself, his movements were quick and agile, and there was no problem at all. However, once he started to communicate verbally, he became dull, rigid, and his reactions were slow. This made Janna more and more convinced that her brother had suppressed those collapses and abnormalities deep in his heart, along with his thoughts and soul. Huh... I still need to find a real "psychologist"... A layer of mist appeared in front of Janna's eyes again. Soon, Julian finished baking the bread and went to buy a can of relatively fresh milk from a street vendor. While eating breakfast without any taste, Jana looked at her brother casually and said: "I couldn't sleep last night and I feel very depressed. I want to see a psychologist. You seem to be the same. Do you want to join me?" Julian waited two seconds before answering: "I'm going to look for a job." A strong sense of sadness welled up in Jana's heart once again. My brother didn't even question the idea of seeing a "psychologist". People living in this neighborhood are reluctant to even go to the clinic to see a doctor, let alone visit a "psychologist" because of mental problems. Most of them don’t know that there is such a profession as “psychologist”, nor do they think they have any psychological problems. Thinking that a real "psychologist" might have to make an appointment, Jana did not force it. After thinking for a while, she said in an encouraging tone: “I think you should choose your employer and master carefully this time. It’s normal to not be able to find a job for three to five days. It may take one or two weeks, or even one or two months. "By then, we will both have income, and maybe we can pay off the remaining debt within this year. If I rely on myself alone, that will definitely not work. The income of underground singers is not stable, and you never know when people will no longer like you." On the one hand, Janna was reducing her brother's pressure in advance to prevent him from being stimulated and collapsing again due to not being able to find a job in a short period of time. On the other hand, she emphasized his importance, saying that his sister alone could not support him, so that he felt that he was still very useful and relied on responsibility to maintain his will to live and prevent him from committing suicide suddenly. Janna, who had never thought about these details before yesterday, has unconsciously been thinking about similar questions today. After repeatedly stabilizing Julian's condition, she watched her brother go out to the factory cluster in the botanical garden to look for opportunities. After resting for a while, Janna still felt a little tired and left No. 17 Pasteur Street and walked towards the nearby Saint-Germain Street. She was planning to walk slowly to White Coat Street, just as Franca got up and asked her to help her make an appointment with a real "psychologist". As she passed the intersection in a daze, Janna glanced around with empty eyes and saw a piece of news published in a newspaper at the newsstand beside her: "Congressman Hugues Artois stresses need for justice in Goodville chemical plant explosion." Jana was attracted by those words and instinctively walked over, picked up the newspaper, and quickly read the news: "… Newly elected congressman Hugues Artois believes that factory owners should not be discredited because of an accident, nor should factory owners who provide a large number of jobs and taxes to the country be unable to afford even an accident and want to seek bankruptcy, which will lead to a large number of bankruptcies, a large number of unemployment, and a new round of protests and unrest. "Hugues Artois said he would not forget the people who were injured and died in the explosion, and would seek to establish a new public welfare fund to help factory owners pay part of the accident compensation, so that the factory can continue to operate and let those who are responsible for the accident atone with more jobs and taxes. "He also said that he would introduce a bill in Congress to create a better environment for entrepreneurs, including making it easier to fire unqualified workers and employees, and more reasonable accident compensation..." Seeing this, Janna's shoulders suddenly trembled. She laughed so hard that her body shook, and she continued to laugh for a long time. After a while, she put down the newspaper and continued on her way. Before she knew it, Jenna had reached Rue Saint-Germain and the Goodville Chemical Plant, which had mostly become ruins. Looking at the extremely broken metal can, she once again thought of her mother Elodie.
Every time she walked into the factory, she would face that iconic object. A few minutes later, a face that looked strange yet familiar appeared in Janna's blurry vision. It was a woman in an old dress. She said to Jane: "Hurry, go to Market Avenue. That congressman is going to hold a condolence banquet and invites people like us to attend. Maybe we can get something out of it!" "A condolence banquet?" Janna asked blankly. The woman nodded quickly: "Yes! Wasn't your mother also injured in the explosion? Don't you remember that we met in the ward? "That congressman just went to the hospital two quarters of an hour ago, and a condolence banquet will be held soon!" "Hugues Artois?" Janna asked subconsciously. "Yes, yes, that's the name." The woman took Janna's arm and took her, who was still a little dazed, to the congressman's office on Market Avenue. More than half an hour later, the two arrived in front of the ochre-colored four-story building. Many people who were obviously poor in their attire were queuing up to be inspected and enter the hall. Janna was wearing that plain gray-blue dress today, with her hair let down naturally without any embellishment. She stood at the back of the line and moved forward little by little. Nearly a quarter of an hour later, it was finally her turn. A woman in a dark blue uniform inspected her from the head down to her boots. After confirming that she was not carrying any dangerous items, she was allowed to register, prove her identity, and then enter the banquet hall. ………… Golden Rooster Hotel, Room 207. Lumian looked at Franca who appeared at the door and said with a little surprise: "It's early today too." Franka was still wearing a women's shirt, light-colored breeches, and red boots, but she had changed into a new outfit. She chuckled and said: "I'm just worried. I'm afraid that you and Janna will agree on something, but then turn around and kill the congressman's secretary, Rona." "Do you think I'm such a reckless person?" Lumian asked back. "Yes." Franca answered without hesitation. She even wanted to add the word "most" to describe him, but after remembering a "violent man" she had met in a seaside town before, she felt that Lumian did not qualify. She breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Since you haven't acted impulsively, there shouldn't be any problem with Janna. I'm going to go see her and see if her family needs any help." As soon as Franka finished speaking, a burst of hurried footsteps came up from downstairs and headed straight over here. Lumian and Franca, who were standing at the door, looked over and saw Janna, who was wearing a plain gray-blue dress and had her hair loose, running towards them anxiously, sobbing and saying:
"My brother, my brother is crazy! He has become a madman..." (End of this chapter)