There's no need to say goodbye when someone you've never had leaves.
Song Yunxi took the elevator downstairs, intending to go to her original office on the first floor to get her laptop before returning to the small conference room to work with Tang Qingcheng and the others.
The moment the elevator doors opened, she and everyone outside were stunned.
The two asked almost simultaneously, "What are you doing here?"
Dai Shuo said, "Our school has a partnership with Platinum Hotels, and I came here to discuss internship opportunities."
Song Yoon-hee said, "I work here."
Because the two of them were frozen in place, forgetting to enter or exit, the elevator doors were about to close again. Song Yunxi quickly pressed the button, and when the doors opened again, she stepped out, looked around, and then pulled Dai Shuo to the less crowded employee passage.
Dai Shuo was still in shock. "I was in such a hurry at the hospital last time that I didn't have time to ask if you had contacted Senior Mu Chen. I didn't expect you to be working at the Platinum Hotel?"
"He doesn't know I'm Rui Yan yet, so please keep it a secret for me and don't let it slip."
"What does that mean? I don't understand. Can you translate it for me?"
“My name is Song Yunxi now. But it’s okay if you don’t know it, because you don’t need to know me at the Platinum Hotel. Call me when you’re done talking, and we can chat when we meet.”
Dai Shuo then remembered to check the time on her phone; it was still five minutes until her appointment. "Okay. I'll go upstairs now."
"Hey..." Song Yunxi called out to Dai Shuo again. "The person you're talking about collaborating with on internships is Fu Meilin, right?"
"Yes, it's her."
"Friendly reminder: You can mention to her that you are President Mu's junior, but you absolutely cannot mention me, not even a single word."
Dai Shuo suddenly became interested again. "What? Do you have a grudge against me?"
"It's not a big grudge, it's just that she stole a man."
She initially thought she and Fu Meilin were out of the running, and she even wanted to mend her relationship with Fu Meilin, since they would be working in the same office area in the future. She never expected the plot to twist so unexpectedly.
Dai Shuo laughed heartily and gave Song Yunxi a thumbs up. "As expected of you. Tell me more about this part later."
Dai Shuo's meeting with Fu Meilin went more smoothly than usual. They already had a long-standing cooperative relationship; the Tourism College provided internships for graduating students to the Platinum Hotel every year. Her visit this time was simply to check on the previous interns' work and to confirm the number and needs for the next internship.
Although Dai Shuo had always known that Mu Chen was the general manager of the Platinum Hotel, she had never encountered him despite visiting so many times. Therefore, she never mentioned to anyone that she was Mu Chen's junior, and everything was done strictly by business.
Today, after Song Yunxi reminded her, she casually mentioned to Fu Meilin that she and Mu Chen went to the same university and were in the same club. Unexpectedly, Fu Meilin's attitude towards her changed completely.
Dai Shuo called Song Yunxi from the hotel lobby, and Song Yunxi told her to wait in the coffee shop on the south side of the hotel. It sounded like they were on some secret mission; Dai Shuo almost asked if they needed a code word.
Half an hour later.
With an expression that was hard to tell whether it was excitement, surprise, or gossip, Dai Shuo whispered to the person sitting opposite him, "You're pretending not to know Senior Mu Chen? You thought Mu Xian was his girlfriend?"
Song Yunxi nodded. "Mm."
"Anyone who pays even a little attention to the Chinese entertainment industry knows that Mu Xian and Mu Chen are siblings." After saying that, Dai Shuo added two more words: "biological."
"How would I know they were siblings? Didn't you tell me back then that he had a girlfriend?"
Back then, after Rui Yan fell in love with Mu Chen at first sight, her feelings for Mu Chen became a secret known to everyone.
During an English class one day, when she discovered that the boy in the video presentation was Mu Chen, she excitedly exclaimed in front of the whole class, "I like this guy!"
But she didn't dare tell him, because he was too outstanding, and she was too ordinary. She felt that even if a handsome guy fell from the sky, such a good guy would never fall into her lap.
Later, Dai Shuo successfully entered the student art troupe, and when she returned, she told Rui Yan a lot about Mu Chen:
"Don't let the fact that our troupe leader is only a sophomore fool you; he is not only the leader of the Lan University Student Art Troupe, but also the president of the student union of the Department of Economics and Management."
"Our band leader is amazing; he can play every instrument. During rehearsal this afternoon, the student who plays the keyboard couldn't come because of class, so the band leader played it instead, and he played even better than the professionals."
"Another girl came to confess her feelings to our leader today, but he ignored her. I've only been here a few days and I've already run into several."
...
Rui Yan felt happy every time she thought about Dai Shuo's words, "Our regimental commander doesn't have a girlfriend yet!" She felt inexplicably happy.
One day, Dai Shuo returned from rehearsal with the art troupe looking rather down. Standing by the bed, she spoke to Rui Yan, who was lying on it, "I have something to tell you, but don't be upset. Actually, our troupe leader has a girlfriend, but she doesn't go to the same school as us, so nobody knows. He brought her to school today. She's incredibly beautiful and very talented. She even played guitar with us during rehearsal this afternoon."
Rui Yan lay with her back to Dai Shuo, her voice thick with a nasal tone, almost as if she were about to cry. "I know, I saw it today too."
When Rui Yan went to dinner that evening, she happened to see Mu Chen leading a girl to the cafeteria. She was in line for food when she saw Mu Chen and the girl coming up the south-side stairs, chatting and laughing as they walked. The girl noticed her shoelace was untied, so Mu Chen knelt down to tie it for her.
At that moment, Rui Yan's tears welled up in her eyes. She rushed out of the crowd and ran down the stairs on the other side.
Although Mu Chen might not remember her anymore, she simply couldn't stay in that place any longer. She felt like the most presumptuous person in the world; how could someone as ordinary as her be worthy of liking Mu Chen?
The girl next to Mu Chen was truly beautiful; she possessed a beauty that could amaze everyone simply by standing there quietly.
So much so that years later, when Song Yunxi saw her again, she immediately recognized that the popular young actress Lin Xiaoran had mentioned was Mu Chen's "girlfriend" from back then.
*
Dai Shuo said, "We were all mistaken. We thought they were a couple. Besides, they both have the surname 'Mu,' which is not a common surname. They must be from the same family."
"Having the same surname means you're family? Not necessarily, right? There was a case where the father's surname was Yang, the mother's surname was Yang, and their child happened to also have the surname Yang, so they named him..."
Before Song Yunxi could finish speaking, Dai Shuo interrupted, "Yang Mi!"
Song Yunxi glanced at her and replied in a flat tone, "Yang Yangyang."
"Heh..." The waiter who was serving coffee to Song Yunxi and Dai Shuo couldn't help but laugh out loud, then quickly apologized, "Sorry."
Song Yunxi and Dai Shuo exchanged a glance and couldn't help but laugh.
Afterwards, Dai Shuo continued to verify the theory that people with the same surname are family: "Whether it's Yang Mi or Yang Yangyang, aren't they a family of three with their parents?"
"But have you ever thought that although they are a family of three now, their parents, who also shared the same surname before they got married, were not related by blood?"
Dai Shuo fell silent, for she had nothing to say. No, Song Yunxi was right.
Back then, if they hadn't all thought Mu Xian was Mu Chen's girlfriend, Rui Yan wouldn't have cried so much, refused to eat for three days, and given up on her feelings for Mu Chen. She also wouldn't have called him on her birthday to confess her love, only to immediately change her mind and say she no longer liked him.
Confessing my feelings was just a way to give my own emotions closure; no longer liking him is a way of respecting and fulfilling his feelings.
At this moment, Dai Shuo was still full of doubt. "So Mu Chen believes you're not Rui Yan? He can't be that easily fooled. Even I can recognize you at a glance, how could he not?"
“Because I now have a new identity. I have a South Korean passport, and my nationality, name, and date of birth are all different from before. Faced with the facts, he has no choice but to believe it.”
Why did you change your identity?
“Back then, my mother fell ill. She was Korean and wanted to return to her homeland to be with her family, so I went back with her. Song is my mother’s surname.”
Song Yunxi thus glossed over a "long story" with a single sentence.
Dai Shuo didn't press for details. For Rui Yan to leave without saying goodbye back then, her mother must have been very ill. Although Dai Shuo knew there must be many more stories behind it, he didn't want Song Yunxi to relive this past she didn't want to mention.
"Poor Mu Chen. After so many years, he finally met you again, but you told him: You are not you. You have no idea how heartbroken he was when you left without saying goodbye back then."
"He's...heartbroken?"
Dai Shuo sighed deeply. "It was heartbreaking. For a long time, although he ate, slept, attended classes, and participated in activities normally, everyone could tell that he was forcing a smile. Many times I saw him sitting by the flower bed downstairs in our dormitory, just staring at our window without moving. That scene, even now, makes me feel infinitely desolate."
So, after she confessed her feelings, Mu Chen started to show her affection, took the initiative to teach her martial arts, asked her out to dinner, and took her out to play. It was indeed because he liked her.
At that time, Rui Yan had also thought that Mu Chen was so good to her; apart from confessing his feelings, he had done everything a boyfriend should do for his girlfriend. She thought that Mu Chen might have broken up with his previous girlfriend, and that they might have a chance to be together.
What truly drove Rui Yan to despair was the day she returned home for winter break. Dragging her suitcase to the high-speed rail station, she spotted Mu Chen and his "girlfriend" from afar in the square.
The two stood facing each other. Mu Chen held Mu Xian's hand and rubbed it in his own to warm it. Then he put Mu Xian's hand in his coat pocket, and Mu Xian leaned gently against him.
Rui Yan suddenly wanted to escape from this place; she didn't want to see this scene. Mu Chen was such a gentle and warm boy, so good to his girlfriend, tying her shoelaces, keeping her warm... but such a boy would never belong to her.
There's no need to say goodbye when you leave someone you've never had.
The waiter brought over the small cakes they had ordered, and Dai Shuo pushed Song Yunxi's cake in front of her.
"Forget it, what's past is past, let's not bring it up again. It's good that you're back now, and you both know how you feel about each other, so let's be together from now on. The time we missed in the past can be made up for in the long future."
Song Yunxi stuck a small fork into the cake, but her brows furrowed involuntarily. "The time that has been missed can indeed be made up for in the rest of my life, but something seems a little off."
"What's wrong?"
"If Mu Chen really liked Rui Yan back then and couldn't forget her, then now, he's with me not because he likes me, but just because I look like Rui Yan. He's using me as a substitute for Rui Yan."
"Wait a minute." Dai Shuo gestured for Song Yunxi to pause. "Let me sort this out. Aren't you Rui Yan? He hasn't forgotten Rui Yan all these years, shouldn't you be happy? Who are you replacing?"
“I am no longer Rui Yan, I am Song Yunxi. The girl he liked in the past can only remain in the past, otherwise he wouldn’t truly like me now.”
"How come you've turned into your own love rival while we're chatting? Do you want to fight yourself to the death?" Dai Shuo said, then pointed at Song Yunxi and added, "You're just asking for trouble!"
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