The Price of Memory

How does one make a person lose their memory?

At this moment, Mu Yaochen gripped her phone, consumed by a palpable dread.

She yearned for Luo Yao to lose his memory, to forget his own name, to erase Su Mengqi’s very existence from his mind.

Only then would Luo Yao be truly pure.

Never had Mu Yaochen imagined she would one day care so profoundly about Luo Yao’s opinion of her, or obsess so intently over his demeanor towards her.

Given the chance, she would start anew at this very moment.

Mu Yaochen’s mind had begun to unravel; she was convinced that Luo Yao’s resistance stemmed solely from Su Mengqi.

At present, Mu Yaochen longed to tear Su Mengqi limb from limb.

To induce amnesia, beyond a severe head injury, another method involved inflicting extreme psychological trauma, which could also cause a person to forget crucial events.

Mu Yaochen, however, could never bear to see Luo Yao’s head harmed once more.

Yet, stimulating Luo Yao’s mind was an avenue she could explore, though the question remained: what kind of stimulus would be most effective?

Mu Yaochen was now exceptionally calm.

She sat motionless in her chair, yet her mind churned with images of Luo Yao’s hateful expression upon waking.

Mu Yaochen was deeply conflicted; she both desired to apologize to Luo Yao upon his awakening and wished for him never to wake, to avoid facing his unique look of resentment.

‘No, I won’t allow it.’

She simply wanted Luo Yao to lose his memory; in that state, he would be like a blank canvas, upon which she could effortlessly imprint her own mark.

****

Meanwhile, in the hospital room, Luo Yao slowly opened his eyes, only to find one of his arms encased in a plaster cast, utterly immobile.

A dull haze still clouded his mind.

It was likely due to his head injury, but it wasn’t debilitating.

Simultaneously, the room’s bright lights pierced Luo Yao’s freshly opened eyes, causing him considerable discomfort.

He couldn’t drift back to sleep, sensing that Mu Yaochen had yet to depart.

Moreover, with the lights on, a caregiver was surely present.

Thus, Luo Yao dared not make any sudden movements.

Luo Yao’s subtle shift had not, however, caught the caregiver’s attention.

But what would happen next?

Mu Yaochen had intended to force herself upon him, but ultimately failed.

His injury, a direct result of her actions, was certainly advantageous; he believed it would surely stir some measure of regret within her.

Yet, how should he proceed?

Truth be told, this was Luo Yao’s first time playing such a part.

He would undoubtedly be fully conscious the following day, but his approach to Mu Yaochen would dictate the future’s trajectory.

At this moment, Mu Yaochen’s greatest fear was likely his waking up, remembering the night’s events, and resenting her; what she most wished to see was his amnesia.

Only a memory-wiped Luo Yao could possibly appease Mu Yaochen’s desires.

Such a melodramatic plot twist was impossible, especially since he was perfectly lucid.

Luo Yao lay comfortably in bed, his mind already formulating a plan.

‘Enough,’ he thought. ‘After all this thinking, I should just sleep.’

Luo Yao slept soundly that night.

Mu Yaochen, however, remained outside the door, pondering throughout the entire night.

****

The next morning, Luo Yao awoke naturally, his eyes opening to find a pair of eyes gazing back at him.

“He’s awake.” The voice sounded like a woman’s, but the person quickly departed upon seeing Luo Yao open his eyes.

“What happened?” Luo Yao questioned, looking around with a hint of confusion after waking.

Yet, he seemed to have forgotten the injury to his arm, attempting to prop himself up with it.

“No, your arm is injured!” A woman, seeing Luo Yao try to rise from the bed, promptly pressed him back down.

“It hurts so much…” This time, Luo Yao wasn’t acting; he had genuinely forgotten about his fractured arm.

“You need complete rest now; just lie still,” the doctor stated gravely to Luo Yao, a subtle hint of admonishment in their tone.

“Understood,” Luo Yao replied, glancing at his injured left arm before looking up at the scolding doctor.

Unable to discern their features or build beneath the sterile suit, he simply nodded in a dazed manner.

“Alright, since there’s no head trauma, he can be moved to a regular ward shortly,” the doctor announced, disregarding Luo Yao’s somewhat vacant gaze as they spoke to the nearby caregiver.

“And once the room is ready, family can be allowed in.”

After that, Luo Yao found the doctors’ conversation incomprehensible.

What he did understand, however, was that he would soon be seeing Mu Yaochen.

Luo Yao swallowed hard.

He had, in fact, forgotten a rather important detail the previous night.

He had forgotten how extreme Mu Yaochen could sometimes be; he could only hope that yesterday’s events hadn’t provoked her too much.

Soon, Luo Yao’s transfer was complete.

The moment he was wheeled out of the room, he spotted a visibly exhausted Mu Yaochen.

Judging by her appearance, she must have been up all night, still wearing the same clothes from the day before.

“Luo Yao, Luo Yao! Are you alright?” Upon seeing Luo Yao wheeled out, Mu Yaochen became instantly frantic, practically lunging towards him.

“Family member… no, Ms. Mu, please calm down.

The patient is still very weak.”

In truth, Luo Yao was not as gravely injured as Mu Yaochen imagined.

His most significant injury was merely the fractured arm; the rest were only superficial scrapes.

The doctors’ cautious approach was solely due to Luo Yao’s unique status.

“Understood,” Mu Yaochen replied, surprisingly compliant, trailing quietly behind the doctor.

Following closely behind, Mu Yaochen desperately wished for Luo Yao to lift his head and grant her a single glance.

Just one glance—that would be enough to satisfy her.

Ultimately, Luo Yao was settled in the hospital’s VIP private room, a privilege afforded by Mu Yaochen, as the entire hospital was, after all, hers.

“Alright, you may all leave if there’s nothing else.

I’ll call if anything comes up,” Mu Yaochen instructed the attending physician responsible for Luo Yao, after he was comfortably settled, then gently closed the door.

At this moment, Mu Yaochen’s emotions were profoundly complex.

She knew Luo Yao was conscious; she had been the first to be informed of his awakening.

She had struggled to rush into the room then, but fortunately, the doctors and nurses nearby had managed to restrain her.

Consequently, however, every doctor and nurse who had dared to stop her was immediately fired.

Now, Mu Yaochen was remarkably composed as she quietly approached the bedside.

Sometimes, she would silently pray for Luo Yao to wake up.

Gazing at the injured Luo Yao lying in bed, Mu Yaochen’s thoughts inevitably drifted back to the time after she had ‘bought’ him.

She distinctly recalled Luo Yao having a fever back then.

“Luo Yao?” Mu Yaochen whispered, her tone tentative.

She longed for him to respond, in any way possible, if only he would open his eyes and look at her.

“Hm.” Luo Yao slowly opened his eyes, yet they held not a flicker of emotion, merely staring blankly at Mu Yaochen.