That day, as he took his leave, Director Wang told me how to deal with Father if he should become confused again. Afterwards, whenever Father had one of his episodes, we simply shifted around some of the things in front of him and he would relax. To be honest, in the beginning I didn’t believe it would work, but after doing it several times I could see how well it worked – for example, when he’d suddenly mistake Ah-bing or myself for someone else, we’d simply change our clothes or rearrange our hair and he’d recognize us again as if he had just woken from a dream. Other episodes were the same: all we had to do was make several small changes as the situation demanded, and Father would seem to come to his senses. Sometime later, and without even trying, we discovered a particularly useful method: whenever Father had one of his moments during which he argued that this wasn’t his home, all we needed to do was turn on the television or the radio and he’d be fine. Perhaps this was because the image on the television and the sound emanating from the radio were always changing. But whatever the reason, after making this discovery we had certainly eliminated a major headache. At least now when we brought him home we wouldn’t have any more trouble. Unfortunately, new problems began to present themselves one after another. At times, he would mistake such-and-such a person for someone else; or he’d misunderstand what someone said. There was always one damn thing after another; some crazy or bizarre social gaffe or other that he’d commit. Whilst those behind those red walls might possibly understand, what about everyone else? Eventually, the other families in the compound all said that Father had gone mad, and they all avoided him.