A life of two souls traveling through time

"Miss Jiang, what do you think of the weather today?"

"Hmm...it's a bit cold, but the sunshine is quite comfortable."

"Yes, the sun is shining brightly today."

In the consultation room, the amiable, slightly plump psychologist raised his hand to push up the black-framed glasses on his nose and gave a friendly smile to the beautiful girl next to him who exuded a classical temperament.

"What would you like to drink? Juice or warm water?"

"Is there any tea?" The girl also smiled gracefully, but it was obvious that she was still very nervous.

"Of course, black tea, green tea or oolong?"

"Oolong, thank you."

Two minutes later, a cup of steaming oolong tea was placed in front of the girl.

"This smell...is it Phoenix Narcissus?"

"Miss Jiang also knows tea?"

"I can't say I understand it, but I drank it with my elders when I was a child, and its unique floral aroma made me remember the taste."

"What a coincidence. I also like this tea because of this floral scent."

"I seldom drink tea. I don't know why I miss my grandma today. But she passed away so early that her face has become increasingly blurred in my mind. I remember that afternoon, it was also sunny like today, and my grandma taught me to drink this Phoenix Narcissus..."

“I can imagine it’s a very warm picture.”

"No, I was sad about my parents' divorce at that time, and my grandmother just wanted to divert my attention." The girl smiled bitterly and shook her head.

After chatting for a while, the psychologist still had a friendly smile on his face and sat back next to the girl:

"Perhaps, now you can tell me why you are here? Or, what is your confusion?"

The girl suddenly lowered her head at the counselor's question. She drank half a sip of hot tea in silence before she slowly spoke: "Doctor Yang... I want to know, if a person loses memory during growth... what is the reason? Is there really a mental problem?"

"There are different reasons for memory loss. It's too early to tell whether it's mentally related." The psychologist frowned slightly, then continued, "Can you tell me more about your situation?"

"Well, the first time I remember this happening was when I was ten years old... Yes, that was the year my parents divorced." The girl raised her head slightly, rolled her eyes, and then continued to speak after she was determined: "My parents quarreled again that day. I remember it very clearly because it was the most fierce quarrel they had ever had. In the end, it was the same as before. My dad slammed the door and left... I thought my mom would still cry like before and everything would be fine, but..."

"When I went out as usual to comfort her... but for some reason she suddenly went crazy and smashed things around the house, including the TV, glass coffee table, vase, table lamp, cups and teapots in the living room... In short, nothing was spared..." At this point, the girl's expression changed from bitterness to a painful frown. She unconsciously bent over and hugged herself: "I was really scared at the time... Even though I hid in the closet in the room, the sound of violence outside kept reaching my ears. I have never seen my mother so completely out of control..."

The girl's face was pale and her thin body was shivering in the heated room.

The psychologist turned around and refilled her tea:

"Can you continue?"

The girl slowly took two sips of hot tea, nodded, and continued speaking after adjusting her mood:

"My memory disappeared suddenly when I was in the abyss of fear and couldn't struggle... It was like a switch suddenly tripped and everything was turned off. It was pitch black... When I woke up again, I was already at my grandmother's house."

"Is there a possibility that you fainted from fright?"

"If it was just that one coincidence, I wouldn't be here today." The girl shrugged and shook her head to deny it without hesitation.

"That makes sense. This is the first time." The psychologist nodded in agreement.

"The second time was probably the summer after I graduated from high school. My male deskmate, who had always been on good terms with me, suddenly confessed his love to me. Do you understand how embarrassing that was? I regarded him as my best friend, but he... I wanted to twist his head off at that time!" The girl said gritting her teeth, and suddenly clenched her right fist and raised it in front of her eyes.

It was obvious that she had gradually become lax about her environment.

"Yeah." The psychologist smiled and wrote a few words on the consultation form. He was very happy that the client was able to let down his guard.

"Later... of course I didn't remember how I rejected him..." The girl spread her hands again and sighed helplessly.

"reject?"

"We never contacted each other after that day. Later, I heard from other classmates that he went abroad. He didn't tell me such a big thing as going abroad. Now I think it was because I sentenced him to death that day and didn't give him any chance. That's why we couldn't even be friends in the end."

"You seem a little depressed?"

"Is it normal to be depressed after losing a good friend?"

"Do you regret rejecting him?"

"Of course I don't regret it. He is a good friend of mine whom I can trust and confide in. He also comes from a single-parent family, so we can be said to be in the same boat... But it might be difficult for me to directly reject this good friend..." The girl closed her eyes in confusion.

"In other words, if you hadn't lost your memory of the situation at that time, it would have been difficult for you to make a decisive decision?"

The girl hesitated for a moment before nodding heavily.

"This is the second time, is there another one?"

"It also happened on the day my mom remarried... Although I was already a freshman at that time, I still couldn't accept a strange man breaking into our lives..."

"The most recent one was three months ago. I unexpectedly discovered that my first boyfriend, who I had been dating for a year, was cheating on me with another woman. The third woman was my college classmate. Ha, isn't that ridiculous?"

The girl sneered, her face looked extremely sad, and her eyes were like lonely stars in the cold night.

"It is undeniable that thinking about these past events again...it is still so...hard to let go..." After a long silence, the girl sighed, but still forced a smile towards the psychologist.

After patiently listening to the girl's story, the psychologist responded with an encouraging smile, then lowered his head and wrote a few words: subconscious escape.

"Doctor Yang, do you think I have selective amnesia?"

"Selective amnesia can be explained as a defense mechanism from a psychological perspective. It means that after a person is exposed to external stimuli or brain damage, he or she forgets some things or people or objects that he or she does not want to remember and wants to escape from. Obviously, you have not forgotten the pain in your life, so the conclusion of selective amnesia should not be valid."

"........"

“Can you tell me more about your childhood?”

"childhood......"

The girl on the recliner couldn't help but frown again.