Song Sijun had vivid memories of many people from his past life.
Some people, due to trauma, choose to blur out certain unfriendly memories, selectively forgetting them and pretending those things never happened. This is the brain's self-protection mechanism, the body helping its owner escape pain.
But he wouldn't.
He remembered everything clearly.
Every person's face, the tone of every sentence, every person's name.
He remembered them all.
During his childhood, Song Sijun's voice was very soft and sweet, a bit gentle, like a girl's.
When they were young, he was even once thought to be identical twin sisters with Shen Yi rather than boy-girl twins.
If their hair was all cut short, with their identical facial features, they would look like a pair of cute sisters.
Occasionally, those who wanted to tease Shen Yi would mistakenly tease him instead.
They would push him, pinch him, and pierce him with vicious words.
But Song Sijun never pointed it out.
Blood relations are truly indescribably wonderful.
...
Waiters came and went. The venue was filled with a mix of noisy chatter and elegant music; here, Shen Yi would often see a few familiar faces.
The social circles of the upper class all overlap, with the same people coming and going.
Bumping into acquaintances on such occasions was perfectly normal.
For this kind of birthday banquet, the main activities were usually arranged in the first-floor hall, while the other floors were guest rooms and lounge areas for chatting.
The place was too big; even if a few people left the scene, no one would notice.
Looking for someone here was no less than finding a needle in a haystack.
Shen Yi wandered around the hall for a long time to no avail. She decisively lifted the hem of her skirt and walked up the stairs, her eyes sweeping over every child she passed.
A boy, black hair, no.
A boy, skinny, no.
Two boys ran past playing around, one fat and one short, neither was him.
She took a deep breath and looked at the boy following closely behind her.
Brother, did you really not see anyone who looks very much like me?
Shen Xun was looking down, looking at who knows what. Hearing her words, he looked up, his eyes showing no emotional fluctuation.
Shen Yi stared at him without blinking.
Even though Shen Yi had thought more than once that his words and actions were like those of a synthetic human.
But Shen Xun was also absolutely a genius in the universal sense.
His observation, memory, and logical analysis skills far exceeded everyone else's.
As long as he wanted to, it wouldn't be difficult to accurately find a memorable boy in the crowd.
The premise was that he was willing.
And right now, he obviously wasn't willing.
This guy had been spacing out and slacking off the whole time.
He was constantly absent-minded. His gaze drifted aimlessly, or he just stared at the cakes and desserts.
Just now, he even tried to distract her with cake.
Oh right, and whenever someone around accidentally bumped into him.
He would maliciously give them a push.
Secretly wicked.
Facing his sister's gaze, he tilted his head and decided to tell the truth:
There was one upstairs just now. He stared at us for a while and then walked away.
Shen Xun was very sensitive to the scrutiny of others.
He had intentionally looked up just now and even made eye contact with Song Sijun.
Shen Xun's speaking speed was neither fast nor slow, as if stating a rigorously deduced conclusion. But I think blood relations are completely meaningless.
The time spent living together, the memories experienced together, the trust built together, these are the necessary conditions that make up a family.
A simple biological connection is just a random event; it holds no emotional value.
He started another lengthy speech, the main point of which was to tell Shen Yi that blood ties were not important.
But Shen Yi couldn't listen to a single word.
Upstairs??? Shen Yi's brain crashed for a moment, and her heartbeat suddenly sped up. She hurriedly asked, Where is he? Which direction did he go?
Shen Xun stopped and looked at her.
He was silent for a few seconds.
Then he said, I don't know.
He was lying.
Shen Yi could tell.
It was the first time she had seen such an expression on Shen Xun's face.
It wasn't expressionless, it wasn't logical analysis, but a kind of... what? Resistance? Unease? that she had never seen before.
Shen Xun.
She called his name again.
Shen Xun lowered his eyes.
He is on the fourth floor. I really don't know exactly where he went. His voice dropped, and he unprecedentedly spoke a lot, as if he wanted to say all the words of his life today:
Are blood ties that important? Is it worth you coming all the way here?
I don't think you should go looking for him. After the boy finished speaking, he just looked at her with a stubborn gaze.
Seeing his faintly uneasy expression, Shen Yi's impatient mood rarely calmed down a bit, and her voice slowed:
I don't think blood is important. As you said, experiences are more important.
Just as I love you all, I also love him.
Shen Xun was still puzzled: Do you need him very much?
No, Shen Yi knew very well how to communicate with people. Her eyes curved into a smile: I need you.
Please help me.
...
With just one sentence, Shen Xun was coaxed into a dizzy spell.
...Okay.
He said.
His voice was very light. He took Shen Yi's hand and ran towards the location in his memory.
Shen Yi couldn't help but cheer, quickly lifting her cumbersome skirt and following him upstairs.
The building here was a full seven stories high, and it was completely unknown which floor he would eventually go to. In Shen Xun's memory, he ultimately stayed on the fourth floor.
Are we going to look for him here?
Shen Yi felt dizzy just glancing across the area.
He shouldn't be here, Shen Xun said. The first floor is the main banquet, with many acquaintances around the banquet host. The second and third floors are functional areas generally used for business negotiations.
The fourth floor is the lounge, prepared for guests who don't want to attend the banquet but don't plan to leave either. You can look at the people going in and out.
Shen Yi followed his gaze.
A few young women in evening gowns, with exquisite makeup, linked arms with men and entered a door.
Before the door closed, she saw a few people sitting on the sofas inside, holding wine glasses and laughing ambiguously.
Shen Yi understood.
This kind of setting was suitable for people who didn't like socializing in public but still needed to network.
It was impossible for a child like Song Sijun to appear here.
The second and third floors are mainly for businessmen negotiating, and the seventh floor won't be used as a banquet venue; it is generally vacant.
We came a bit late today, he said. The banquet started over an hour ago. He should be leaving early. What I mean is, no matter what his purpose for coming here was, at this point in time, he should be getting ready to leave.
But unfortunately, when he arrived at the fourth floor, he subconsciously glanced down...
I also looked up and made eye contact with him.
At the moment Song Sijun saw him, his expression was particularly astonished.
Shen Xun thought, this person definitely knows me.
Let's look in the lounges first, Shen Xun said. It's possible he's in the guest rooms on the fifth or sixth floor.
They could only hope that her strange brother hadn't run around randomly, but had found a place to hide.
If he really wanted to run, catching him in this banquet would be as hard as ascending to heaven.
If he was just hiding...
Shen Xun felt that meant he wanted to be found.
Whenever he played hide-and-seek with Shen Yi, he always liked to hide in the exact same spot, eagerly waiting for Shen Yi to find him.
Then he would say, "You win."
Shen Yi would always ask why he never picked a different place to hide. At first, even he didn't know the answer.
But later, when he thought about it carefully, he realized the real reason was simply—
He wanted to be found quickly.
