Freud believed that dreams are a form of expression from the depths of the human heart and are also a product of the subconscious.
For Mo Xuan, the deepest secret hidden in his subconscious was the memory he had forgotten.
Once, Luo Shiya had taken him for extremely detailed examinations. The doctors had said that his memory nerves were indeed gradually recovering, but recovery was one thing, and when the memories would return was another.
In the past, whenever he recalled fragments, it felt as if fog had enveloped him, rendering him unable to see or hear anything.
But now, this feeling was quite peculiar for Mo Xuan. He felt like someone suddenly attached to another person's body—able to see and hear, but unable to act, merely following the slowly emerging memories, like a puppet in a puppet show, being controlled to move forward.
“Brother!”
Behind him came a delightful, excited yet childish voice. Turning around, he saw a little girl running excitedly toward him, grabbing his hand. Not far away, a beautiful girl was smiling at him.
He, or rather the 13-year-old him, was facing Luo Shiya and Luo Muqi, whom he had forgotten, or rather, the memory of the three of them.
Mo Xuan watched the past version of himself with Luo Shiya and Luo Muqi. As memories gradually resurfaced, the past was revealed bit by bit before his eyes.
At that time, they were still Luo Weiwei and Luo Xiaoxue. In fact, they hadn't deceived him much. Before their reunion, they had been the same in front of him as they were afterward.
Back then, Luo Weiwei, who would later become Luo Shiya, was quite prickly. Initially, she stubbornly denied her feelings, but now, seeing it from Mo Xuan's perspective, he realized she had looked at him with a different glow in her eyes.
“Xiaoxuan, this problem should be solved like this…”
“Xiaoxuan, remember to text me when you get back, okay?”
“Talking to you every day feels like our words will never run out.”
At that time, Luo Xiaoxue, who would later become Luo Muqi, wasn't as mischievous as she was now. Seeing him then, she was like a pure child, shy yet wishing to get closer.
“Brother, have this.”
“Brother, can you come earlier tomorrow?”
“Brother, I’ll secretly message you late at night; let’s chat, okay?”
Mo Xuan now remembered that not only did he have to chat with them in their group but also respond to their private messages.
He couldn’t help but chuckle at how he had forgotten that even back then, they had shown their possessiveness.
Luo Shiya, who checked his phone daily under the guise of helping him stay focused on studying. Luo Muqi, who pretended to be indifferent while doing homework, subtly interrogating him about whether he had been interacting with other girls.
Even the past self who had overlooked the playful squabbles between the sisters, mistakenly thinking it was just silliness.
Mo Xuan quickly understood why they behaved that way. It was an indescribable, most innocent yet profound emotion that was slowly taking root, sprouting, and eventually blossoming into a flower.
Of course, perhaps there had been some issue with that flower’s growth, causing their emotions to become overly obsessive.
“Although I was the main reason, it seems they were like this even back then… and… I had already been going along with them?”
Although he couldn’t see the expression of that past self, he could guess. It probably resembled his current self—nothing but a helpless smile or a sigh, then continuing to indulge them.
Back then, Luo Shiya and Luo Muqi were a bit overbearing, but they hadn’t yet been tormented by the pain of his amnesia.
At that time, he only had his grandmother by his side, while they were cared for by people like Uncle Zheng.
For him and them, it was largely the same as now, or perhaps from then on, they had become the most cherished for each other.
“How could I have forgotten so many things?”
He remembered their first meeting under the big tree, the Luo Shiya who waited for him daily on the balcony, the Luo Muqi who always smiled joyfully upon seeing him.
He remembered the summer nights when the three of them sat in the yard, bored, counting stars, and the winter days when the sisters chased him all over the yard with snowballs.
He remembered sitting side by side with Luo Shiya, sharing one earphone each, repetitively playing “Red Rose” and “White Rose,” diligently writing, occasionally pausing to glance at each other and smile tacitly.
He remembered bringing sugar-coated hawthorn (a type of candy fruit) for Luo Muqi from outside, the two sitting in the yard as he recounted his day and she enjoyed the candy.
He also remembered their birthdays. Luo Muqi had suddenly kissed his cheek after making a wish. Of course, Luo Shiya had done the same on her birthday…
He also remembered the day under the fireworks when Luo Shiya had courageously yet shyly kissed him.
He hadn’t told Luo Shiya that afterward, Luo Muqi had tricked him into closing his eyes during a study session and had kissed him as well…
He also recalled the time he had been injured, the sensation so vivid that Mo Xuan could almost feel the pain in his head and body.
What had he thought at that time?
Perhaps as long as they were safe, he would die without regret?
There is never misplaced affection, only whether the recipient is worth it. Luo Shiya and Luo Muqi were worth sacrificing himself for. Whether back then or now, he had never felt he had made a mistake.
In a daze, it seemed like he saw Luo Shiya and Luo Muqi running toward him, only to be blocked by people.
“Let go of me, get lost!”
Luo Shiya and Luo Muqi struggled violently, kicking and punching the bodyguards, but they were eventually forcibly taken away.
His world plunged into darkness again, unable to see or hear anything. Everything came to a sudden halt, like a movie that abruptly ended.
Mo Xuan felt his consciousness drifting like a raft adrift, utterly unable to control it, moving forward little by little.
Once, during a hypnosis session, a professor had told him, “Even if you forget something, your brain still records it. However, for reasons such as head trauma, like yours, the memory is forgotten.”
“Of course, there’s another possibility: when someone suffers a significant shock and their psyche cannot bear it, the brain’s self-protection mechanism is triggered, forcing the oblivion of those memories. Sometimes, even if you see or hear something, the brain will forcefully block it, making your vision and hearing deceive you selectively.”
“There’s also the possibility of external interference, such as from people who study psychology and hypnosis, who understand psychological suggestion. During patient treatment, the patient needs to enter deep sleep, and we can choose to suggest oblivion to certain aspects related to the hypnosis.”
For some reason, Mo Xuan suddenly recalled the professor’s words. In the pitch darkness, his body seemed to fall onto a soft bed, yet he still couldn’t do anything. He vaguely felt like he saw two people in front of him.
His ears suddenly picked up the soft murmurs of Luo Shiya and Luo Muqi. Mo Xuan couldn’t help but chuckle; he had already known this last time. Was there a need to make him relive it again?
“Sis, will this work?” Luo Muqi asked hesitantly. “Are you sure this will work? I think, given brother’s personality, we just need to tell him about the past, right?”
“We’re not sure yet,” Luo Shiya sighed. “I’ve taken him for checks and treatments, but always kept it from him.”
“I don’t want to lose him again. This is the best solution I can think of…”
“Otherwise, I’ll only be left with imprisoning him… but I don’t want to hurt him…”
Mo Xuan wanted to tell her that this wasn’t necessary, but then again… he couldn’t speak, and even if he could, this wasn’t time travel, just his memory.
Just as he thought he might keep replaying his memories indefinitely, he suddenly heard sobs.
Are they Luo Shiya, Luo Muqi, or both?
"You promised, didn't you? You wouldn't leave us again."
"Brother is such a liar. You left us before, and now you've abandoned us again!"
The soft sound of weeping and the constant echoes of complaints and murmurs in his ear suddenly made Mo Xuan feel as though his consciousness had broken free from its restraints. He could move again...
"It's been fourteen hours. Why is there still no reaction?"
Luo Muqi's eyes were red, and her voice trembled with tears as she angrily scolded several doctors: "What's the point of spending so much money on you? A bunch of useless people! If anything happens to Brother, you'll not only have to return everything you’ve taken from the Luo family, but you’ll also have to pay with your lives!"
Luo Shiya remained silent, only weeping as she held Mo Xuan's hand, her tears falling drop by drop onto the back of his hand. She hurriedly wiped them away in panic.
The night before, after Luo Shiya and Luo Muqi finished their meeting, they had planned to check on Mo Xuan. Seeing him sleeping, the sisters, with a mischievous intent, tried to wake him up, but no matter what they did, Mo Xuan showed no response.
If it weren't for the gentle rise and fall of his chest and his even, steady breathing, one might have thought he was already dead.
Luo Shiya and Luo Muqi immediately sensed something was wrong and quickly asked Uncle Zheng to bring some people along and call an ambulance to rush Mo Xuan to the best hospital in Capital.
"Vice President Luo, we’ve thoroughly examined him, and there’s really nothing wrong," the leading doctor said cautiously. "Mr. Mo’s body is very healthy. It’s just that... it seems he doesn't want to wake up on his own."
"He’s awake... he's awake..."
Mo Xuan’s voice startled everyone in the room. Luo Shiya, after a brief moment of surprise, immediately threw herself on him, weeping and pounding on his chest.
Luo Muqi, not caring if anyone else was present, leapt onto the bed, her feet leaving the ground, and she burst into tears in Mo Xuan’s arms.
"Alright, alright, thank you all for your hard work!" Uncle Zheng clapped his hands and smiled as he made a gesture to usher them out. "Our young ladies were simply too concerned and lost their composure. We apologize for their not-so-cordial attitude."
After the doctors were sent out the door, Uncle Zheng immediately changed to a cold expression, his voice lowering as he said, "You’re all top professionals in your field. I’m sure you understand that some things are best left unseen, and a bit of selective deafness won’t hurt, right?"
The doctors nodded quickly. Please, they weren’t foolish enough to gossip about the Luo family. The relationships between those three inside the room? Let’s just say they had no interest in finding out.
Uncle Zheng saw the doctors off and then wisely closed the door to the ward. Mo Xuan tightly embraced both Luo Shiya and Luo Muqi, tears streaming down his face as he laughed.
"I'm sorry... I made you wait for so long..."
"It all came back to me..."
"Thank you for waiting for me, for still running toward me after all this time..."
"Though it was late, I’m back now... Weiwei, Xiaoxue, I'm home..."
A year later, at an international exchange art exhibition held in the country, the long-missing Luo Muqi suddenly unveiled her latest work.
Known as a genius girl, at the peak of her career, Luo Muqi had unexpectedly announced through Luo Corporation’s media that she would no longer be publishing any works.
Thus, when Luo Corporation staff brought a new painting by Luo Muqi, it naturally drew a lot of attention.
"That’s strange. Her style seems to have changed quite a bit."
"You can still tell it’s her work, but this time it feels... different somehow..."
A few years ago, in one of her publicly displayed paintings, a formerly withered tree not only regained its vitality but also became even more lush and flourishing.
In the painting, a boy with a bright smile was pulling a girl and a little girl forward, running. Around the three of them, four adorable little fairy-like children danced around them.
In her previous works, even amidst the warmth, one could feel the underlying nostalgia and emotional resonance. However, in the two darker paintings, one was filled with despair, while the other was suffocating, almost sickly.
But this painting, it symbolized a kind of rebirth.
Luo Muqi herself did not appear at the exhibition. Many people inquired about her whereabouts, but Luo Corporation staff remained tight-lipped. Not that they didn't know, but even if they did, they wouldn’t share it with outsiders...
Meanwhile, at the same time, a long-empty beachfront villa on the other side of the ocean suddenly became lively…
"Wei'er, Xue'er, get up, it’s time for school!"
"Shiya, Muqi, please get off me, okay? I have to go see Jing'er and Ling'er!"
"Stop messing around! I need to make breakfast, and not only are you all not helping, but you're causing trouble. I’m not running away, so let me go!"
"I really won't run! Now, could you all give me some space, please?"