Sunshine Filled with Thoughts

It was unclear how long Linlin had been sitting in that position, long enough for the hotel staff to bring her clothes without her moving. A young female attendant, noticing Linlin’s state, approached her with the intention of helping her up. She thought to herself that she had seen girls go to bed with Young Master Jin before, but none looked this heartbroken. Linlin was truly a different kind of girl.

When a hand grabbed her arm, Linlin suddenly jolted awake. She shook the person’s hand off and looked at the young woman in shock. Screaming, she yelled, “Get away! Get out!”

The girl, trained in hotel management, maintained her professionalism despite her inner frustration. She apologized and stepped out. The clothes on the sofa were sent by An Jinmo. Linlin had no intention of wearing them. She despised everything about him.

She opened her handbag, only to find her phone had been switched off for a while. She remembered not turning it off herself; it must have been An Jinmo’s doing. Everything he did was calculated. It was frustrating that her parents had let him take her out without asking if she liked him, especially after she had consumed so much alcohol.

Linlin’s eyes had run dry of tears. She opened her phone to see many messages from Na Xuan, as well as several missed calls from him. Just as her phone powered on, it rang again.

The caller ID showed Na Xuan. She had no desire to answer. At that moment, Na Xuan was the last person she wanted to see or talk to. Yet her phone continued to ring insistently, as if it would not stop until they were connected.

Na Xuan was in his apartment, having dialed countless times. He had woken up in the middle of the night, suddenly yearning for her. The intensity of his longing was almost unbearable. He could not stop himself, dismissing the thought that Linlin was probably sleeping. He obsessively wanted to know where she was and what she was doing. It felt as if something important was slipping away from him, fading into nothingness.

Finally, the call connected, but Linlin did not answer. The unease in Na Xuan’s heart filled him with frustration. He had been staring at the ring on his pinky, the one he had intended to use to propose to Linlin, and he tossed it to the floor. He then picked it back up, unable to let it go.

Na Xuan’s heart was restless.

Linlin’s phone continued to go unanswered until the battery died. Then, it displayed: “The number you dialed is switched off…”

Na Xuan buried his head in his hands, consumed by pain.

Linlin slipped into her little dress and then put on the coat that An Jinmo had given her as she made her way downstairs. The passing servers and managers all greeted her with the utmost respect, as if they were honoring Young Master Jin himself. That sense of false authority made Linlin feel utterly disgusted. She ignored them entirely, strutting out like a proud peacock.

After walking a few steps, she noticed a deserted clothing store. Without a second thought, she entered and grabbed a coat. Before the staff could rush over to assist her, Linlin quickly removed her coat, revealing a body marked with traces that prompted the onlookers to imagine wildly. The expressions on the faces of the female attendants ranged from awkwardness to disdain. Their reactions were particularly entertaining.

Linlin paid no mind to them. She randomly took a coat that caught her eye and threw it over herself. Then, she casually grabbed a pair of boots from the counter, tossing a black card onto the counter before turning to leave.

Before the staff could fully comprehend what had just happened, they heard Linlin’s light voice float back from the entrance. “The password is six ones.”

The attendants were immediately left dumbfounded…

After stepping outside, she spotted a familiar car parked nearby-An Jinmo’s Spyker C8. Linlin’s eyes filled with disdain upon seeing it. A middle-aged man was standing by the car; when he saw Linlin, he bowed and said, “Miss Zhou, I’m Young Master Jin’s chauffeur. I’m here to take you home.”

“Tell An Jinmo that even if I die, I won’t have anything to do with him. I hate him, I absolutely hate him!” Her sharp voice pierced the air. The driver glanced up at her but didn’t back away. He followed her as she walked. If Linlin tried to hail a taxi, he would signal it to drive away.

Exhausted both physically and mentally, being harassed by a chauffeur was the last thing Linlin could take. All her frustrations piled up like a mountain inside her. Clad in five-centimeter high heels on the suburban road, she suddenly sank to the ground and began to cry.

The driver who had been following her got out of the car and stood beside her, saying, “You should get in the car. Young Master Jin insisted on sending you home!”

“Go back and tell An Jinmo! I want him to disappear from my life. Even if I die, I want nothing to do with him!”

The middle-aged man’s face revealed little emotion as he continued to watch Linlin, waiting for her to change her mind.

The two of them remained locked in this standoff, with no sign of reconciliation.

Linlin called Momo, asking her to come over. Momo was still asleep, but upon hearing Linlin’s choked voice through the phone, she instantly woke up. As she put on her coat, she dialed An Jinmo’s number.

“I said, An Jinmo! What did you do to Linlin?”

Her voice was filled with anger and interrogation.

Just a moment earlier, An Jinmo had called his driver to ask how Linlin was doing. Hearing the answer had left him frustrated, yet he maintained a serious expression as he pretended to listen attentively during the company meeting.

Suddenly, his phone rang, interrupting the meeting. An Jinmo answered and felt a surge of anger upon hearing Momo’s accusations. However, mindful of the setting, he stepped out of the conference room. In the restroom, he spoke to Momo, “I… I was with Linlin. But I don’t know how she’s doing right now.”

Momo was silent on the other end of the line, processing his words. She had been prepared for a situation like this, yet receiving Linlin’s call and hearing An Jinmo’s calm voice filled her heart with turmoil and pain.

Unsure of how to respond to An Jinmo, she also didn’t know if she should rush over to see her closest friend in such a distressed state. She thought she could have prevented this whole situation, yet here she was, watching that man take Linlin away, leading to all of this.

After a pause on the phone, Momo hung up somewhat stiffly, her movements of getting dressed freezing for a moment. Finally, she quickly finished dressing and prepared to leave, driving to pick up Linlin.

Zhaozhao emerged from the bathroom to see Momo getting ready and asked, “Where are you going? It’s still early, only a little after nine…”

“Linlin is in trouble; I need to check on her,” Momo replied, her voice anxious and rushed.

“What happened? Did you inform her parents?”

“This can’t get to Linlin’s parents. I’m going to bring Linlin to my house. Before we come back, you should tidy up the place and cook something light.”

On the way to the car, Momo called An Jinmo and said, “Once your driver sees me, he can leave. I’m going to pick up Linlin now. You need to stay away from her for a while. She’s probably feeling very confused right now. As for the situation with Na Xuan, it’s best if you don’t interfere. An Jinmo, I’m starting to question whether you’re truly right for Linlin. I used to think highly of you, but in this instance, you’ve gone too far. If something happens to Linlin, you…”

Momo struggled to finish her sentence, hanging in the air as if she had no hold over An Jinmo.

After hanging up on An Jinmo, Momo drove towards the outskirts. The morning air in the city was shrouded in a mist-an illusion created by the city’s pollution. Though it looked beautiful and ethereal, it was ultimately a false phenomenon. Momo closed her eyes, recalling the years gone by with Linlin.

There were times when she had envisioned caring for Linlin for a lifetime. Linlin’s happiness was her own. However, over the years, she had become so absorbed in Zhaozhao that she had forgotten her best friend. She had found her own love, but in doing so, she had supported another man in hurting her closest friend. Today could be a day filled with tears. As Momo closed her eyes, tears slipped down her cheeks.

Upon reaching a distant highway leading to the hotel where the Na family was staying, Momo spotted Linlin standing by the side of the road, tightly wrapped in a coat, next to the driver, who was dressed in a suit. Linlin’s hair was a mess, swept chaotically by the winds of Beijing. From a distance, she looked like a disheveled wanderer, her heart already adrift.

Momo got out of the car and stood in front of Linlin, embracing her tightly. She gently patted Linlin’s back to comfort her before leading her to her car, with the driver climbing in and following behind. Once inside the vehicle, Linlin curled up in her seat, saying nothing, her hair cascading over her face. Momo felt a pang of sorrow but chose to remain quiet; she had always known that if Linlin was hurting, she needed to figure it out on her own. If she couldn’t make sense of it, no words could help.

The middle-aged driver followed them all the way to Momo and Zhaozhao’s villa, only leaving after watching them enter. At that moment, he called An Jinmo to inform him that they had safely returned home.

Once inside the house, Linlin headed straight upstairs. She took a bathrobe from Momo’s room and disappeared into the bathroom. Time seemed to drag on, and Zhaozhao had set the dining table, yet Linlin still hadn’t come downstairs.

He turned to Momo and said, “Why don’t you check on her? How come she’s not down yet?”

“Let her take her time in the shower. Zhaozhao, I think I might have made a mistake-a mistake I’ll regret for the rest of my life…”

Momo nestled into Zhaozhao’s embrace, voicing her thoughts.

“It’s okay… Momo, even if you had stepped in to stop An Jinmo, he would still have taken Linlin away. Do you really think there’s anything he can’t do?”

The room fell silent suddenly.

Zhaozhao held Momo close, his large, gentle hand resting on her head, providing her with the comfort she needed.