“Does this scene make you think of anything?”
Qin Wei gave no answer, only silently putting the medicine bottle in her pocket:
“No, I came here early this year too, and I had no ideas at the time, same as now. But thanks for giving me this. I think my sister may know something."
...
Su Yang: “......”
Qin Wei: “...”
Su Yang: “You are taking the Thought and Law Foundation Course exam; I cannot help you with that...”
Qin Wei shook her head, taking out the small medicine bottle from her pocket:
"I have a friend..."
"Wei Wei, you said you had terrible headaches for a while earlier this year, that was likely due to dependence on this medication. Suddenly stopping use can cause strong discomfort. The same principle applies to alcohol dependence and suddenly quitting drinking."
Su Yang quickly figured out the foreign words on the medicine bottle - medications for calming, treating insomnia, relieving anxiety and depression.
"Oh no, I mean I have a friend..."
Su Yang smiled:
"That you can talk to me about this shows you trust me. Please keep believing, although I have not started my career, I uphold medical ethics and the principle of confidentiality. What medicines you take and conditions you have are confidential."
Saying so, Su Yang took out a pen and started writing and drawing on paper, explaining in the simplest terms:
"The human brain is the most complex machine that still no one understands completely. But we now know medications, mental illnesses, traumatic life events etc can all possibly cause temporary memory loss... Have you heard of 'dissociative amnesia'?"
...
The two chatted briefly in the school cafe before going their own ways. In this short time Qin Wei gained a lot. Although Su Yang was not specialized in this field, some basic knowledge from crossing courses in college allowed him to explain the gist of it.
But for Qin Wei this was enough - she knew it was impossible to recover all lost memories. After saying bye to Su Yang, Qin Wei hurried to her exam. Having paid attention in class, the closed-book final for this course was not difficult for her.
After school, Mu Chen picked her up as driver. On the road Qin Wei told him what Su Yang said, and told Mu Chen:
"Now I really need you to tell me about my past, everything you know."
"But..."
Mu Chen tore open a candy wrapper and popped the candy in his mouth. He said earnestly to Qin Wei,
"From when you were 4 or 5 and came to Ningbo, to 14 or 15 when your mom took you back to Beijing for high school - what can I say about those 10 years? Just like now, silly times with lapses in memory. What's there to tell? Ask me about what you want to know."
“Did you change your name to go undercover?”
Qin Wei asked him.
Mu Chen was stunned for 3 seconds, then blinked at Qin Wei:
“You never passed any reading comprehension tests right? What does my name have to do with your past???”
Qin Wei looked full of anticipation:
“Come on, tell me something, I love gossip.”
“No wonder you're my sister, just as gossipy as me! Can you tell me about you and Shen Kaizhen being together? That idol is your current boyfriend right? That young actor, he's not really going to call me Uncle is he...”
Mu Chen also looked very anticipatory, and had already driven the car into the residential district, into the underground garage.
Stopping the car, Mu Chen turned to see Qin Wei glaring coldly at him.
No need to ask, this meant she was angry.
Thinking back to when Mu Chen was still an underage 7-year old without legal capacity, he stole something and was chased to be beaten. Without knowing, Qin Wei protected him, but in the end still got her head injured. Upon finding out the truth, she gave him this exact look, and chased him down the entire street with a bleeding head to pin him down for a harsh beating.
That beating left too deep an impression. So seeing Qin Wei glare at him now still made him unconsciously shrink back.
“I mean... I have no interest in your private affairs. I just wanted you to know how awful it feels to have people dig into such things...”
Mu Chen scratched his nose, his voice much softer,
“If you must know... I can also tell you... I...”
“You can leave, I won't make it hard for you.”
Qin Wei glanced at her watch,
“I still have an exam tomorrow. I want to go back now to review and sleep.”
Mu Chen nodded, about to drive away, but the electric garage door had just shut closed.
Mu Chen: “?”
Qin Wei: “!”
The siblings looked at each other, both perplexed. Qin Wei quickly took out her phone to check her schedule, specially obtained from Xiao Wang containing her roommate's work schedule. If nothing unexpected, she should be at the TV drama set for half the month with no reason to be back.
Still in driver's seat, Mu Chen leaned out the window to ask Qin Wei:
“Are we trapped like turtles in a jar?”
Qin Wei rolled her eyes at him:
“You're the turtle!”
The elevator in the garage dinged, its door opening. Qiao Sixiao laughed as she stepped out.
Qin Wei tried to stay calm:
“Why are you back?”
“This is my home!”
Qiao Sixiao pointed at the ground,
“This is my garage.”
In other words -
“None of your business.”
The shifty ones here could not refute.
“So who is that?”
Qiao Sixiao pointed at the quartz grey car, adding,
“Driving my car, in my garage - I think I have the right to know who he is?”
Saying so, Qiao walked over and knocked on the just shut car window, signaling with one hand for him to open while holding up her phone in the other, screen lit up on the yet-to-be-dialed 110.
With nowhere to hide, Mu Chen could only force out an awkward smile and open the window.
“Pervert?”
Qiao recognized him in one glance - that man from the island resort hotel.
“No no no!”
Afraid she might call the cops, Qin Wei came over to explain.
“What is it then?”
Little Qiao retorted.
Qin Wei: “The new driver!”
Mu Chen: “The new assistant!”
The two spoke simultaneously, then looked at each other. Qin Wei quickly added:
“Assistant AND part-time driver! Li Liang is on vacation!"
The roommate clearly did not believe them, eyeing the two up and down with crossed arms:
“Not some secret affair right?”
In unison again: “I’m not blind!!!”
Qiao Sixiao picked up her phone, muttering to herself:
“I’ll just call the cops then...”
Mu Chen: “!?”
Seeing this, Qin Wei tried to snatch her phone, but the roommate clearly would not compromise, firmly pushing Qin Wei away.
Little Qiao pointed at the man in driver’s seat:
“Don’t lie to me, I’ve seen this person before, at your villa house, on my birthday.”
