Su Ruiyi arrived at the train station as heavy snow began to fall. Despite the expensive fur coat she wore over a revealing dress, she shivered.
The driver said, "Miss, I can only stop here to pick you up and leave immediately. If she hasn't come out yet, we'll have to wait in the parking lot."
The driver glanced at his young lady in the rearview mirror, then at the falling snow.
"Miss, why don't you call her and ask if she's out?"
"If I had her number, would I be waiting here?" Su Ruiyi retorted.
"Then you'll have to wait by the exit inside, and I'll circle around here."
Su Ruiyi tightened her fur coat and grumbled as she got out of the car. She cursed her own foolishness for coming to pick up her love rival! She hoped the woman wouldn't make it to the banquet!
At the busy pick-up area, amidst the constant flow of people, Su Ruiyi was the only one dressed in a formal gown with a fur coat, looking as if she were on a reality show.
The train station was indeed cold. Even her exhaled breaths appeared as white mist.
Su Ruiyi stomped her feet shivering, looking left and right, until finally, the train she was waiting for pulled in.
"Mute!" Su Ruiyi shouted.
Her cry not only caught Mo Qingyun's attention but also drew the gaze of everyone around.
Su Ruiyi felt a bit awkward and pulled her fur coat tighter.
Mo Qingyun looked at Su Ruiyi with surprise and then scanned the surroundings.
"Don't look around, it's just me picking you up."
Mo Qingyun quickly took out a pen and paper and wrote: "Why are you picking me up?"
"And who else would you expect? Everyone is busy, yet they still have to pick you up. What a bother!"
Mo Qingyun was about to write something else when Su Ruiyi barked at her.
"Stop writing! You might not be cold, but I am! Let's go!"
And so, Mo Qingyun followed Su Ruiyi. Unfortunately, their return journey was delayed due to traffic caused by the heavy snow.
"Miss, are we still going back to Xi'ou? If we do, we might be late for the hotel."
Su Ruiyi glanced at Mo Qingyun, who was dressed simply and looked a bit greasy from the long train journey.
Mo Qingyun quickly wrote: "You guys go to the hotel. I'll go back to Xi'ou myself and then take a taxi to the hotel."
Su Ruiyi sneered. She snatched Mo Qingyun's notebook and, with a flick of her wrist, tore out the page, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it on the ground.
"If I abandon you halfway, look outside, can you even get a taxi? If you don't reach the hotel, Ou Yunchen will blame me!"
Su Ruiyi kicked the back of the driver's seat and said angrily, "Just drive! Stop asking so many questions!"
Mo Qingyun wrote "Thank you" again, but Su Ruiyi found her face irritating and turned her head away, showing only the back of her head to the mute.
By the time they reached Xi'ou, everyone had already left the company for the hotel.
"Go change," Su Ruiyi said.
Mo Qingyun nodded and entered the changing room.
Just then, Su Ruiyi's phone rang.
--- Su Ruiyi on the phone ---
"Miss Su, have you arrived at the hotel?" Ruby asked.
"Just arrived at Xi'ou. Where is everyone?"
"Just arrived? But it's about to start. The makeup artists must have assumed you were heading here and left with the others."
"It's snowing outside, causing traffic jams!"
"Then, after you change, remember to lock the styling room door from the outside. Leave the key at the reception."
"Got it!"
"Oh, right. There's a delivery for Mr. Ou at the reception. It's a document bag. Could you please bring it along?"
"Got it!!!"
Su Ruiyi first went to the reception to get the key and Ou Yunchen's delivery, then returned to Mo Qingyun's door.
"I don't understand why Ou Yunchen would let you attend such an important banquet," Su Ruiyi said.
Mo Qingyun's hands, busy changing, suddenly froze.
When she learned Ou Yunchen would have her attend, she was overjoyed. It was finally an opportunity to stand before more people and, holding Ou Yunchen's arm, tell them he was her boyfriend.
Even though she was mute, she didn't want to be ignored, nor did she want to remain nameless and faceless, always hiding behind others.
Perhaps it was because Ou Yunchen hadn't explained his behavior in the elevator at Xie's Media – not greeting her, not introducing her – that made her feel uneasy.
"Everyone here today is influential. How do you expect Ou Yunchen to introduce you? What status will you use to interact with them? Oh, I forgot, perhaps only Ou Yunchen in the entire hall can understand your sign language."
The hand resting on the doorknob fell again. Mo Qingyun wanted to prove herself so badly, cherishing this occasion so much, that she had rushed back from out of town...
She didn't want to miss any chance to be by Ou Yunchen's side. Even for a fleeting second, she believed she belonged in Ou Yunchen's world.
"I can't let Ou Yunchen be embarrassed. I'm sorry," Su Ruiyi said.
With that, Su Ruiyi quickly left the changing room and slammed the door of the styling area shut, locking it from the outside.
By the time Mo Qingyun realized what had happened, she was locked in the styling area, and the entire floor was deserted.
With a click, someone pulled the power switch, plunging Xi'ou Entertainment into darkness.
Mo Qingyun was terrified. She frantically pounded on the glass door, yanking at the handle. The lock on the outside seemed to become shackles, confining not just her body but her desperately sought-after formal identity.
But reality was that no matter how hard she tried, she was always left behind, held back in the name of protection.
Mo Qingyun sat on the floor, weeping. The darkness around her amplified her loneliness and helplessness.
As she buried her head deep in her knees, childhood memories resurfaced, nightmarish scenes rushing back.