My Youth Began With Him

“That’s true… if that’s the case, it’ll be difficult to resolve…” Jiang Xiaowei furrowed her brows.

“I know that you’re an expert in psychology. Could you help me analyze his condition? If he kills someone, is he legally responsible? This is a form of mental illness, right?”

They had discussed this topic before but they didn’t go deep…

Now that she witnessed Huo Siqian’s second personality once again, Huo Mian felt the need to actively look into the matter and dig deeper. Otherwise, she would feel like a sitting duck.

What bothered her the most wasn’t Huo Siqian’s second personality harming her or Qin Chu. They were, after all, adults and they could fend for themselves.

What scared Huo Mian the most was the possibility of him going after her daughters…

Jiang Xiaowei fell silent for a moment. “According to Article 18 of our national criminal code, when a mentally ill person, who can no longer recognize or control their own behavior, causes harm, and if confirmed by legal procedures, he shall not be held criminally responsible. However, they shall be under the strict supervision of their family members or guardians, and, if necessary, the government shall supervise compulsory medical treatment. Simply put, patients with intermittent mental illness who commit crimes during lucid states should be held criminally responsible, mental patients who have not completely lost the ability to recognize or control their own behavior should be criminally responsible, but they might be dealt a lighter sentence, so I can’t really give you a clear answer. It depends on the specificities of the case.”

“What you’re saying is…if Huo Siqian kills someone while he’s himself, he’d be criminally responsible …but it’ll be a reduced sentence?”

“Yes, that’s what I mean. The prerequisite to this is being afflicted with an intermittent mental illness. Dissociative identity disorder, in psychology, belongs to the family of intermittent mental illness. During dormant periods, they’re just like normal people. When their illness kicks in, they’re not themselves,” Jiang Xiaowei explained.

Huo Mian fell silent upon hearing this…

“Mian, what are you worried about?” Jiang Xiao could see just how worried Huo Mian was.

“Weiwei, what do you think? Does Huo Siqian really have dissociative identity disorder… or is he faking for an insanity defense?”

“So that’s what you’re worried about… well… that’s difficult to say.” Jiang Xiaowei was also confused.

“But Mian, if you’ve witnessed his other personality yourself, can’t you tell if it’s real or not? You’re so smart.”

Huo Mian shook her head. “Huo Siqian’s not an idiot. I’m afraid he’s just faking in front of me… but Song Yishi’s diary makes it seem real… but something still feels off… I really don’t know.”

“I think you’re overthinking this. Maybe it’s just a mental illness…”

“Once I find the chance I’m going to have a chat with Jiang Hong.”

“Jiang Hong? Huo Siqian’s foster mom?” Jiang Xiaowei was taken aback.

“Uhm, she raised him. If he really does suffer from the split personality syndrome, she’d know.”

“Split personality’s not a rare phenomenon anymore. When I was studying abroad, I heard my mentor talk about this woman in America, in her 40s, having more than 20 identities. She had all kinds of personalities. One of them even spoke French, but in reality, the woman had never been to France, she didn’t know a word in French. So… even her husband found it inexplicable. Technically speaking, dissociative identity is a form of mental illness, but if you investigate it further, I would seriously consider calling it a supernatural phenomenon…” Jiang Xiaowei laughed.

Before Huo Mian could reply, she received a phone call from Little Bean.

“Baby, what’s up?” Huo Mian’s voice was more than gentle.

“Mommy, hurry home! Daddy’s angry… so scary!” Little Bean said mysteriously.