She stayed in the darkness for n.o.body knew how long. She only knew that she felt unable to breathe. She tried to find a way out, but even with her best efforts, she didn’t find any light shining into the pool.
Bai Yao panicked at last, so she yelled. “Ah . . . !” She heard some noises around her, but they were vague.
“Yao, are you awake? Yao?”
“Lady, my lady! I am Lian Yi.”
Bai Yao felt that her body was sore and painful, her mind full of unknown scenes of men and women, mountains and trees. But where was this place? She asked herself this, but received no answer.
Finally, she found what she thought was a floating piece of wood to save her life. It was a thick quilt that covered her and warmed her up.
Bai Yao opened her eyes to find the truth. The lamp was suspended from the ceiling, which was made of layers of fine etamine, a beautiful look. Bai Yao still couldn’t move her body. Suddenly, a face came near and frightened her. She frowned as she looked at the strange face, not knowing what to say.
The man began the talk instead.
“Yao? Are you awake? I am Dad.”
Dad? Bai Yao was surprised. She didn’t have any memory of this Dad. Soon, another woman came near them. Her old face was full of wrinkles.
“Yao, I am Mom. Can you see me?”
Mom? She also didn’t remember her. She felt like her brain was blank, with nothing in it. She couldn’t understand this scene. “Dad? Mom?”
Now she could move her lips and speak. But the voice was light, like it was being blocked up. But the parents were so happy, as if they had some precious treasure. The old lady took her hand and tears dropped down. She spoke with a trembling voice. “It is so good that you finally wake up! G.o.d bless me.”
Before Bai Yao could say more, the dad yelled with anger toward a direction. “Bai Yu, come to apologize! Without you, she wouldn’t have fallen into the pool.”
The girl who was called Bai Yu walked to her bed with fear, and she spoke through her crying. “I don’t know why. I know nothing about why Bai Yao fell in. It’s not my fault. Sister, I don’t want her to suffer from this. I have had bad sleeping since yesterday.” She began to sob. “Bai Yao, Sister Bai Yao, it’s so good that you woke up.”
The girl cried so hard, she used a handkerchief to wipe off her tears, and held Bai Yao’s cold hand as she continued crying.
“Fine, fine . . . don’t cry anymore, you may bother your sister. Waking up is the best. Ask the doctor to come to see me,” the father ordered.
Bai Yu stopped crying and stood up to go out for the doctor.
Bai Yao’s hand turned warmer as they held it. But she still couldn’t remember anything.
After a while, Bai Yu brought a doctor in. All the people around the bed walked away for the doctor.
The doctor took out a red thread to bind on her wrist, and then used his two fingers to check her pulse. After a while, the doctor said, “I am afraid that the lady has amnesia.”
This conclusion shocked everyone. The father asked with worry, “Then, is there any way to heal her?”
The doctor took back the thread and answered, “No medicine will heal this kind of illness.” He sighed, but then added, “But you could find someone the lady is familiar with to talk to her about the past. Maybe she can recover by herself.”
The father sent away the doctor and came back to comfort Bai Yao for a while. Then he ordered everyone to leave.
After several days, Bai Yao was allowed to go out to have fun. She had no memory left, so she found everything interesting and wanted to see more.
This day, a little maid accompanied her to the pool to feed the fishes. The doctor asked the maid to lead her to the pool frequently and said this might help. So in recent days, many came to accompany her to walk near the pool.
Today, the weather was so good, sunny with soft wind. In the water, the red and white koi were swimming freely. Bai Yao smiled when she saw this beautiful scene.
She was wearing a long white dress. She laughed and said, “What a beautiful scene! Why didn’t you bring me here earlier?” In Bai Yao’s eyes, everything was new. She forgot how she had fallen that day and how Bai Yu had treated her without any sympathy.
She even forgot her real ident.i.ty.
Bai Yao squatted down and cupped some water up. The water under the sunshine was reflecting the light and shone seven colors like a rainbow.
Her father and mother were sitting in their rooms, their expressions serious. The father was holding a green jade tea cup, speaking to the wife. “Bai Yao’s situation is not good. If she goes to meet Mo Xi, she may bring some trouble.”
The mother nodded. “Yes, if she was still like before, meeting him would not be a big deal. But now Bai Yao has no idea about him. If she offends him, it will become big trouble for us.”
The father nodded and put down the cup as he drew a conclusion. “Let me tell Mo Xi some excuse. Let him meet Yao when she becomes better.”
“Yes, I agree,” the mother also agreed.
Beside the pool, Bai Yao was playing with the fish like an innocent kid.