Mo Lin still went to the studio every day.
However, the store was no longer as lively as before. Instead, there were often people outside taking pictures.
Xu Yuan removed the tables and chairs from the entrance, so the onlookers had nowhere to sit and would leave after a while.
Jiang Yuanmu came to see Mo Lin almost every day around noon, either to have lunch with her or bring the little Border Collie to see her. Every evening when she returned home, Jiang Yuanmu was always there.
Cheng Lulu also came every day. She no longer did live streams, just stayed with Mo Lin to watch the store, although there weren’t many customers.
Jiang Yu came by and picked out a few of the most expensive pieces of jewelry in Mo Lin’s store. She didn’t mention the recent turmoil at all, only discussing with Mo Lin how she wanted to adjust the designs.
Jiang Yuanmu’s mother, Chen Yan, also called, chatting briefly about life and expressing concern for Mo Lin’s health.
They didn’t do anything extra, but each participated in Mo Lin’s life during this time in their own way.
Mo Lin didn’t say it out loud, but she understood in her heart. She could feel the malice, but she could also feel the kindness.
She responded to everyone’s concern with a smile, showing stable emotions.
She hadn’t cried or broken down. She treated the online comments as if she hadn’t seen them, handling them coldly. She also ignored the onlookers and those taking secret photos at the door.
She believed she hadn’t shown any cracks in her “life.”
But… she couldn’t help but open those comments late at night. She read people’s anger and curses, their evaluations and scrutiny.
Several times, she sat up at night, went to her computer, and typed out her “life story,” wanting to prove her innocence. But just before sending it out, she deleted all the words.
Lulu had already done it.
Mo Lin told herself: in times like these, the more you say, the more “cracks” and “knives” you hand out.
So she chose silence in the end and continued to watch.
Then she started losing her appetite, feeling like there was always a stone pressing on her stomach. A sip of water, a bite of food, and she was full.
She also became lazy, her body lacked energy, and her heart seemed devoid of emotions. Even when faced with the enthusiastic little Border Collie, her responses were perfunctory.
She didn’t like to talk and often spaced out. When others spoke to her, it seemed like she only saw their lips moving, with the sound passing by her ears but not entering her mind.
Mo Lin felt… like there was a wall between her and her body.
She knew she should block out all the comments and let herself calm down.
She also knew that none of the commenters truly understood her, knew how she grew up, or how she lived. Their comments were just their self-righteous opinions.
Opinions were not facts.
She knew all this, but she couldn’t stop.
She worked steadily every day, treated people as usual, but at night, she let the cold light of her phone screen fall on her face and eyes.
She couldn’t stop.
Finally, when the situation reached its peak in public opinion, one night at 9:30 PM, Mo Lin was tidying up the studio, getting ready to go home.
Cheng Lulu was also packing up, “I think the design you drew today is pretty good,” she said to Mo Lin, “Is it for Jiang Yu?”
Mo Lin took a moment to respond, “No, it’s just a new design…”
“Bang!”
A brick hit their floor-to-ceiling glass window. The window was of high quality and wasn’t hit at the edges, so there were no cracks, but the loud noise was enough to alarm the entire street.
Mo Lin and Cheng Lulu immediately looked outside and saw a man wearing a baseball cap and a black hoodie standing there, holding half a brick.
He raised the half brick again, this time pushing open their store door and standing at the entrance.
“Ah!”
In Cheng Lulu’s exclamation, the brick flew straight towards Mo Lin’s forehead.
With a loud “thud,” Mo Lin felt dizzy and saw Cheng Lulu’s warm body rushing towards her. Cheng Lulu hugged her, almost instinctively using her body to shield Mo Lin from the sudden attack.
But Cheng Lulu was a step too late. Mo Lin had already been hit on the head by the half brick. As the brick fell to the ground, Mo Lin’s vision went black, and she began to uncontrollably fall to the floor.
Cheng Lulu couldn’t hold her up and was pulled down with Mo Lin.
Mo Lin’s hand instinctively tried to support herself on the ground, causing intense pain in her wrist, but soon her entire body became numb.
She couldn’t feel the pain in her head or wrist; her body felt like a piece of wood, only sensing the impact but not the pain.
“Catch him! He’s trying to kill someone!”
Cheng Lulu got up and rushed to the door, pointing at the man in the black hoodie and shouting.
Across the street, Xu Yuan, who was just about to finish his shift at the coffee shop, had already rushed out at the first sound of the brick. Before Cheng Lulu could shout, he was already chasing the man.
Cheng Lulu ran a few steps but then realized she needed to return to the store. She saw Mo Lin lying on the ground, her head covered in blood, and was immediately terrified, her face turned pale and her body trembled.
She didn’t dare move Mo Lin, not knowing where she was injured and fearing that moving her might make the injuries worse.
“120, 120…”
Cheng Lulu, with trembling hands, searched the store for her phone and tried to control her shaking voice as she called an ambulance and the police.
After doing everything she could think of, she knelt in front of Mo Lin, looking at the blood on the ground and at Mo Lin, tears falling to the floor.
“This is too much, too much,” Cheng Lulu said, both angry and scared. “Let’s close the store, Mo Lin, let’s close it.”
“No,” Mo Lin’s voice was hoarse but firm, “If we close the store, we’ve lost.”
“We can admit defeat, can’t we…”
“No,” Mo Lin looked at the half brick on the ground and the chaotic bloodstains, her voice soft yet resilient, “No.”
The ambulance arrived. Mo Lin didn’t feel too badly injured, but she still got in the ambulance for a check-up.
She had a mild concussion and superficial injuries. After cleaning and dressing the wound, it didn’t even require stitches. The mild concussion would heal on its own and wasn’t serious.
However, her left wrist was fractured and put in a cast.
After accompanying Mo Lin through the treatment, Cheng Lulu took her to the lobby to sit down. “Wait here for me, okay? The police are here, and I need to give a statement.”
Mo Lin didn’t respond, so Cheng Lulu waved her hand in front of Mo Lin’s face, “Did you hear me, Mo Lin?”
“Hmm?” Mo Lin blinked, “Sorry, I have some tuning in my ears, and my head is a little dizzy.”
“You have a mild concussion, so it’s normal to feel dizzy, hear noise, and temporarily forget things. The police said they would come to you, but you’re definitely not in the right condition now. Just rest here and wait for me. I’ll explain everything to them and then take you home.”
“Okay,” Mo Lin nodded and sat on a bench in the lobby.
Cheng Lulu looked back three times before leaving, reassured that Mo Lin was sitting quietly.
Cheng Lulu explained the situation to the police and told them that the owner of the neighboring coffee shop had tried to chase the assailant. However, the assailant was very familiar with the surroundings and managed to escape, leaving behind only his hat, which the coffee shop owner had picked up.
The hat was now in the coffee shop.
The police scheduled a time to go to their store the next day to check the surveillance and collect evidence. After discussing these matters and sending the police off, Cheng Lulu remembered she hadn’t notified a certain “family member.”
But before she could take out her phone to call, the name “Jiang” appeared on her screen.
“Hello?…”
“Where are you in the hospital?”
His voice was quick and urgent, a tone Cheng Lulu had never heard from him before.
“How do you know…”
“Where?”
“I’m outside the lobby finishing up the report, and Mo Lin is inside the lobby.”
“…She’s not there.”
“What!?”
Cheng Lulu turned around in horror to look inside the lobby. With a quick glance, she didn’t see anyone. She ran a couple of steps inside and found that the place where Mo Lin had been sitting was indeed empty.
Cheng Lulu panicked, “Mo Lin?” She turned around again and instead saw the “family member” she had forgotten about.
Behind him were Ji Ming and He Ye.
The three tall men rushed towards her like a wall pressing down on her.
“Are you okay? Did you get hurt?” He Ye, leaning on his crutch, reached her first, looking around anxiously.
“I’m fine…” Cheng Lulu said, feeling a bit embarrassed as she glanced at Jiang Yuanmu, “I had Mo Lin sit here to wait for me, just for a moment. I don’t know if she went to the bathroom…”
“I just checked the entrance of this floor, there’s no one inside.”
Cheng Lulu was stunned, looking at Jiang Yuanmu, who had clearly just gotten off work. The thought of him standing at the entrance of the women’s bathroom calling Mo Lin’s name seemed weirdly terrifying to her.
But he was genuinely worried.
“Where could she have gone?” Cheng Lulu opened her contacts and called Mo Lin, but the phone rang from Jiang Yuanmu’s hand.
Cheng Lulu was shocked again, “How…”
“When we first got here, we called her. She didn’t answer. When we got to the lobby, we heard the phone ringing at this seat.” Ji Ming explained from behind, “Just the phone, no sign of her.”
Cheng Lulu was completely panicked.
“It’s over, it’s over. She has a mild concussion, she’s probably still confused, her hand is fractured, and it’s raining outside. She doesn’t have her phone, where could she go? Could she have been kidnapped? Who would hate her so much…”
“Stop guessing wildly,” Ji Ming said with some exasperation, glancing at Jiang Yuanmu whose face darkened with Cheng Lulu’s words, “You’re worried right now, so you’re overthinking. In such a big hospital with so many security personnel, medical staff, and patients, who could silently kidnap a living person? She must have walked off on her own.”
“Then where did she go? Home? I clearly told her to wait for me…”
“I’ll go check at home.” Jiang Yuanmu said and walked off.
Cheng Lulu chased after him for a couple of steps, then slapped her forehead, “It’s better if we split up. I’ll check the studio.”
He Ye immediately followed her, “I’ll go with you.”
“No!”
He Ye pursed his lips, seemingly hurt, but still tried to keep up with Cheng Lulu on his crutch.
Ji Ming called after Jiang Yuanmu, “You go find her, I’ll take care of tomorrow’s arrangements.”
Naturally, there was no response from the anxious person.
No worries, he was used to it.
Ji Ming pursed his lips, opened various chats on his phone, and started sending messages.
