Chapter 24: Leaping Madman Asylum (4)

  The contents of the package were four dark brown leather notebooks, and the owner of those notebooks was none other than Henry Rosenthal!

  A crumpled, black-ink-stained and thickened cowhide notebook, the past decade of Henry Rosenthal's life began to unfold before Jerry's eyes!

  “……On February 14, 1981, David and Davis arrived in New York from Paris, and at the same time, they also brought me a very bad piece of news! They told me that she had died, frozen to death in Japan's cold winter! I didn't believe it, no matter what, I wouldn't believe it! She wasn't such a weak person, she wasn't! A strong-willed and proud person like her, how could she possibly go to heaven because of the cold?! They were deceiving me, they were all deceiving me! I could see it from their mocking eyes, that's what they were doing, just to make me continue being a puppet controlled by them! No, I won't continue to be controlled like this, no way! I'm going to Japan, I must go to Japan, to find my lovely Jinyuxiang, to those damn guards, to the damn family, I have my own career, I have my own pursuits, I am not your puppet, you bunch of bastards……”

  “……December 1st, 1981, they all let their guard down, yes, all of them! I've been preparing for this day for almost a year! They planted informants around me! They're watching me! But today, just today, I'll make those bastards disappear! The smuggling ship to Japan is ready! A year's savings, $30,000 in smuggling fees! I'll soon see my Kum-ja! Let those bastards go to hell! Whoever dares to stop me will be sent to hell too, even if Jacob comes himself to catch me, I'll kick him aside with one foot! This old scoundrel, he's never treated me like his son, all he ever does is yell, Henfrey, are you stupid? Henfrey, I've never seen anyone as foolish as you? Henfrey, why do you hang out with those low-class people? I've tolerated him for thirty-odd years, but I won't tolerate it anymore! Starting tomorrow, I'm free!……”

  “…Today is February 5th, 1982! I don’t know how long I’ve been unconscious! The searing pain in the back of my head brought me to, and one good thing is that it’s already scabbed over! Those bastards who were responsible for smuggling stole all my money and then sold me out! Jacob, that devil, he’s not my father, I still remember clearly how he used his cane to strike my abdomen, the sound of my ribs cracking along with the cane was so crisp! Why did you do this to me?! I’m your son, I just wanted to pursue my happiness, why did you have to stop me like this?! I confronted him face-to-face, but all he did was flash a hideous grin and then used his boots to kick me repeatedly in the back, along with his two other sons! I struggled to fight back, but his bodyguards pinned me to the ground! He told me it’s because he hates me...I don’t know why he hates me, all I know is that when he was yelling, a stick hit the back of my head and then I lost consciousness...”

  “…It’s been almost a month since I woke up, if I wasn’t still counting on my fingers, I would have probably forgotten the time already! But I still don’t know where I am now. Jacob's blow finally left some aftereffects, I found that my body is starting to disobey me! I don't know what this constant **trembling means? I'm always feeling terrible! This feeling is awful! Suddenly one day, I seemed to hear a sound like a whistle! Several bodyguards rushed in from outside and dragged me out of the room! I felt like a real prisoner, a prisoner with no ability to resist at all!...”

  “…Today, I finally know where I am! They call this place a nursing home! But I'm very clear, this is actually an insane asylum! Because those guys wearing white coats are always smiling foolishly, every single one of them is crazy! Yes, crazy! Today, I saw that dull and stupid Laurie suddenly jump up and use his thick fingers to dig out the eyes of the guy named Nathan who was sleeping next to him. At that time, I even vomited out the little food I had in my stomach... This place is really not a place for humans to live... That old bastard Jacob finally appeared in front of me... You're just a bastard... If you want to resent someone, go resent your mother! She's an executioner... She killed countless Jews... And you... you're just an accidental hybrid... Do you know why you can only be called Roschelle and not Rothschild? Because you're not worthy... Leaving you alive and raising you was just to thank you for saving my life... If it weren't for that bitch getting pregnant with you while playing with me... But don't think that just because of this, I'll let you live an easy life... No way! If you can behave yourself, that would be great... That bastard Jacob finally told me the reason, although I still don't know everything... But at least I know he hates me because of my long-dead mother's mistakes... I jumped up in anger and grabbed his neck, but unfortunately, I was eventually pressed down by a group of people..."

  “……I'm not crazy, but I've been locked up in a madhouse with a bunch of lunatics! This is the Roschild family's asylum in Vienna, built with their donations. Jacob used his family connections to throw me in with this rabble. How could he do this to me? I hate him! I want to kill him! But I can do nothing. My mind is getting more and more muddled, my hands and feet shaking even harder... all these signs are telling me that my mental state is approaching collapse... but why? I don't know! Crazy Bill told me that if you don't want to die here, don't swallow those pills. Those are the medications that patients have to take every day. They call it a psychosuppressant, saying it can control patients' emotions well. At least they won't go crazy like Laurie... but Crazy Bill kept telling me that in fact they're using these medications to numb or even destroy patients' nervous systems, making it easier for them to manage. He's so neurotic and keeps whispering in my ear... I admit, I'm scared. I'm afraid I'll become as neurotic as him. So I started resisting taking the medication. I kept fighting back, but ultimately I'd be pinned down, nose squeezed shut, and forced to swallow the pills. Finally, Crazy Bill taught me a trick: hide the pill under my tongue...”

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