Shen Xinglan ordered the hospital to inform the Xia family that A Miao was involved in a car accident.
"How did you end up getting involved in a car accident? What about Shen Xinglan?" Xia Wan questioned her as soon as she entered the room. Yao Lili and Xia Mei carefully observed A Miao. "Where are you injured?"
A Miao raised both of her hands. "If that guy didn't dump me on the roadside, I wouldn't have been hit by a car." It was Le Yi who told her that Xia Wan might get suspicious if A Miao said that Shen Xinglan dragged her home.
"Don't tell me you've gone blind!" Xia Mei said, evidently happy over A Miao's misery. That was because the bedridden A Miao was wearing a pair of shades.
Beside her, a nurse who was preparing to leave immediately replied, "Her eyes were injured. She can't see light for the time being."
"What sort of injuries are these? You're even staying in such an expensive ward too! You're better off coming home."
Le Yi happened to enter the room at this moment and heard these words. Sarcasm flashed past his eyes but he remained smiling. "Mr. Shen said that he's responsible for this matter and thus, he'll be bearing all the costs of A Miao's hospitalization."
"You're a doctor?" Yao Lili's attitude instantly mellowed when she saw how handsome the doctor was. "Oh dear. If you put it that way, then stay put, A Miao. We'll come here every day to see you."
Xia Wan nodded fervently. "Just stay here. We'll send you food later."
"That's not necessary. The caretaker will bring me food." A Miao tugged at the corners of her mouth. Even a fool could tell what Xia Wan's intentions were. Wasn't she simply hoping to come here and see Shen Xinglan?
Neither side shared any familial affection in the first place. Their conversation ended there without anyone having any more to add. Le Yi took advantage of the silence to say that A Miao needed rest. Thus, Yao Lili and the other two left without another word. Xia Wan did not forget to reassure A Miao that she would come and see her.
After the three of them left, Le Yi smiled at A Miao. "It's quite a headache to have family members like them."
"They're not my family," A Miao replied. She then wondered if she should give Zhou Xiao a call but decided against it. Song Baohua would definitely insist on visiting her every day. That would end up affecting her business.
"Hehe!" Le Yi helped her cut an apple. "I heard you're working with Shen. Are you really that impressive?"
A Miao expressed her thanks as she accepted the apple. She pursed her lips and replied, "I don't think I'm that impressive." She knew Le Yi was referring to their plan to steal the bronze mirror and thus, did not conceal the truth. "I just haven't seen someone with similar abilities, that's all."
Le Yi turned to look at her sideways. "You said you went missing for two years. Do you think you met someone during that time and learned your current ability?"
"I don't know." A Miao sighed. "I completely don't remember what happened in those two years. My mom said that maybe it was because I was too young and suffered some kind of trauma."
"Do you think it's because you can't remember it or you simply don't have such memories?" Le Yi stared at her. "From a medical perspective, not remembering your memories simply mean that your memory fragments are too indistinct. In other words, if you encounter related experiences or objects, you might be able to recall them."
A Miao frowned. "What do you mean by having no such memories?"
"That's another explanation. We call it amnesia."
"You mean that I lost two years' worth of memories" A Miao looked stunned. "Why?"
Le Yi looked at her in amusement. "That, you'll have to ask yourself. Do you still remember under what circumstances did you return to your mother's side?"
"I do." A Miao racked her memories. "My mom said that people on a fishing boat rescued me out of the ocean and called the police. The police then found my name in the list of missing persons and contacted my mom."
"But my first impression was being in the hospital when my mom was hugging me while crying that she finally found me." Suddenly, she became somewhat excited. "Doctor Le! You have a way, don't you? Can you help me recover my memories?"
Le Yi patted her. "Sit properly. Be careful with your wounds."
"Sorry, I got too excited." A Miao leaned properly against the bed frame.
"It's normal to have such a reaction." Le Yi helped tuck her under the quilt. "No one wishes to lose a portion of their memories. If you're willing to, I'll arrange for a brain scan. We'll see if there's anything wrong with your brain."
A Miao's eyes gleamed. Without makeup covering her eyes, her eyes lent her an enticing gaze. It was enough to soften one's heart. Le Yi teased her smilingly, "No wonder your mother wants you to cover up your eyes. If you look this way all the time, I fear there would be people who would've collected you as his treasure."
"Hehe!" A Miao laughed in embarrassment. "You're exaggerating! If you've met my mom, you'll know that she was the beautiful one!"
Le Yi did not answer. He had seen Xia He's photo a long time ago and A Miao obviously did not resemble her. That meant that A Miao would certainly resemble her father. He suddenly wondered about the progress of Shen Xinglan's investigation.
"I'll help you change your bandages." He stood up and removed her bandages.
In order to ease her pain, sleeping aid was added to her medication. After he finished changing her bandages, he made her rest and left the room. Outside, he saw Shen Xinglan standing at the door.
"Did you hear everything?"
Shen Xinglan nodded. "I can't verify if she's the one."
"Let's go. We'll talk outside."
Le Yi brought Shen Xinglan to the office that the hospital especially prepared for him. Countless nurses threw them flirtatious glances along the way and some men even whispered as they pointed.
"I heard that doctor is the world's top surgeon."
"I searched his name online and apparently his craniotomies took half the time of regular craniotomies."
"No wonder he's called the 'Heavenly Hand'. But why would such an amazing person show up in our hospital?"
"Who knows? But I heard the dean invited him here and he'll be staying for a few months."
Le Yi closed the door, sealing the whispering voices outside. "Look at the mess you dragged me into. The dean did everything, save for kneeling down in front of me. He insisted on having me perform three surgeries for them."
"Just do them perfunctorily." Shen Xinglan did not care for his good friend's life or death. A Miao's matter caused him to nearly lose control over himself.
"You didn't find out anything?" Just from the look of him, Le Yi knew that there was not much progress in the investigation.
Shen Xinglan rubbed the space between his eyebrows. "No. We only know that she became missing in the streets when she was six. Her mother made a police report and she returned from the seaside two years later."
"It's reasonable time-wise, but the location…" Le Yi reminded him, "Isn't it a little too far off?"
"I asked Shen I to check the date that she was rescued and then got them to perform a wind speed simulation. If it's her, from the day she got into trouble and fell into the sea to the day where she was rescued, the difference was exactly one day."
Le Yi brewed coffee as he listened. "It's the instant kind. Bear with it."
"Yi, what do you think? Is she…" Shen Xinglan's eyes became confused and glazed over. If A Miao was here, she would certainly be shocked. This was not the Shen Xinglan that she knew, but a man who had sunken into memories and suffering that could not be expressed.
Back then, human traffickers sold Shen Xinglan to an assassination organization. There were at least one hundred children of similar age to him there. They were transported to an island and put through hellish training and torment. Only six children survived.
The only girl among the six happened to be one that a mysterious person on the island was interested in. She had been sent there to run errands. Yet, it was this girl who secretly brought them medicine and food whenever they became injured in the training and even when they were about to die. She had saved them countless times.
"You must've heard everything outside the door. She doesn't remember anything. Other than the timing, we don't have any proof that she's Shanshan."
Shanshan was the name that Shen Xinglan gave. It was because the girl would often speak in a soft and gentle voice but her eyes, like A Miao's eyes at the moment, seemed to be speaking. In that grim and ruthless time, it was her who warmed everyone's hearts.
"What about her scars?" Shen Xinglan looked at Le Yi. "She suffered such a great injury back then. There ought to be scars on her body."
Le Yi shook his head. "She doesn't remember and her mother said nothing as well. Moreover, I can't guarantee that her injuries would've left scars. We all have different recovery capabilities. Did you forget Ding V? No matter how heavy his injuries were, he would always recover faster than everyone else."
Shen Xinglan was frustrated. "In other words, we have no way of proving her identity."
"But is that important?" Le Yi smiled. "Whoever she is, she's yours to use."
Shen Xinglan's eyes were unfathomable. "It's a completely different story. You know how I feel."
"Then consider it to be her!" Le Yi joked. "Then you'll be a little kinder to her."
Shen Xinglan's expression shifted after hearing his friend's words. "I think she's definitely not Shanshan. Shanshan isn't as prickly as she is. She only knows how to provoke others to hate her."
"That's enough. I've wasted my time having this conversation." Le Yi stood up. "Ponder it carefully, old man. I'll arrange for A Miao to do a brain scan."
Shen Xinglan immediately asked, "You're saying that her memories can be recovered."
"I didn't say that." Le Yi walked out of his office. "We'll have to wait for the results of the scan."
Thanks to an important figure like Le Yi paving the way, A Miao was taken to the examination room for the scan. It turned out that everything was normal with her brain and there was not even any blood clot inside.
"Such an outcome isn't unexpected." Back in A Miao's ward, Le Yi started explaining the results. "Even if a blood clot forms in your brain after impact, suppresses your nerves, and causes temporary memory loss, it doesn't mean that you'll recover your memories once the blood clot disappears."
Seeing the dumbfounded look on A Miao's face, Le Yi racked his brain before saying, "Our brain is just like a database that would automatically compartmentalize our memories." He picked up several apples and placed them inside the basket.
"But if external interference happens," Le Yi said as he took out an apple and placed it on a nearby spot, "and cause a memory fragment to fall from the basket that stores all your memories. If it only falls to a nearby place…"
He moved the basket so that it sat next to the apple and then put the apple inside. "Then the brain will regain this memory fragment someday and even compartmentalizes it again." He once again took the apple out of the basket and then tossed it into the trash can.
"If this is the case, then there's no hope of regaining the memory fragment."
A Miao heaved a drawn-out sigh and stared at him in admiration. "I think you must be a very capable doctor."
"Hehe! Why would you suddenly say so?" Le Yi sat down. "I thought you'll be dejected."
"Because you translated such a complex concept into such a simple explanation." A Miao wore a complicated expression. "I'm a little disappointed but not to the point that I'm dejected. I think most kids who were trafficked wouldn't have good memories of their experience."
Le Yi smiled. "You are sure positive."
"If I'm not positive, then I'll be depressed enough to die."
The door was suddenly pushed open and Shen Xinglan walked in with a dark expression. "Looks like you must have recovered to be able to chat so happily. Then let's discuss your mission."