When I Meet the Moon - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When getting into the car, Yun Li hesitated for a moment between the front passenger seat and the back seat.

Ms. He hadn't been very clear, only saying that this person was a staff member. Since he might have come to pick her up as a favor, sitting in the back and treating him like a chauffeur felt rather impolite.

She could only bite the bullet and choose the former.

Intersecting lights and rain hammered down noisily from high above, the windows loaded with stars.

Yun Li fastened her seatbelt, pulled a tissue from her bag, and roughly wiped away the large droplets of water on her body.

The inside of the car was dead silent.

In the past, whenever she took a taxi, she always sat in the back and pretended to be dead, at most asking for the fare right before getting out. Sitting in the front passenger seat of a stranger for the first time, she felt awkward and at a loss; staying silent somehow felt even more excruciating.

Racking her brains for a moment, Yun Li broke the silence: "Sorry, thank you for troubling yourself to pick me up."

After a few seconds, the man replied in a flat tone: "Mn."

They lapsed back into silence.

Yun Li truly couldn't think of anything else to say, so she pretended to be busy. She took out her phone and repeatedly scrolled through a few frequently used apps.

After driving for a stretch, the man suddenly asked: "Where should I drop you off?"

"Ah," Yun Li sat up straight and hastily said, "Yangjin Hotel."

"Mn."

After that, the man didn't speak again.

He seemed to have zero desire for conversation; apart from asking necessary questions, he didn't utter a single word the entire time.

He cast himself in the role of a chauffeur with utmost conscientiousness.

The two people she encountered tonight were truly extremes in personality.

One was excessively enthusiastic, while the other was overly cold. Yet their appearances were both remarkably striking and pleasing to the eye.

Thinking of this, Yun Li stole another glance in his direction.

From this angle, she could see the better part of the man's profile, partly veiled in shadow. His cap had been removed, leaving his jawline sharp and rugged. The damp strands of hair across his forehead obscured his eyes slightly.

His lips remained pale.

And he was still wearing a jacket in this weather.

Moreover, he still looked as though he felt cold.

Pulling back her gaze, she feigned an interest in the scenery outside, only to find herself unable to resist taking another couple of looks.

Purely in terms of looks, this man was right up her alley.

His aura was cold and unfeeling, making him seem devoid of worldly desires and weaknesses. Seemingly frail, he inexplicably exuded a trace of sinister sharpness.

Like a wild wolf picked up from the roadside, on the verge of death, yet ready to bite back at any second.

……

The silence that had lasted the entire journey was finally broken only upon reaching the hotel.

There was a glass canopy at the entrance. The man stopped the car, dropped the two words "We're here," and stepped out. Yun Li murmured an acknowledgment, hurriedly grabbed her things, and followed closely behind him.

After lugging her suitcase to the steps by the entrance, he tipped his chin toward the interior: "Just go on in."

Yun Li: "Alright, thank you."

The man nodded and offered no further reply. He turned around and walked back toward the driver's side.

The rain showed no signs of letting up. Staring at the man's retreating back, Yun Li recalled his complexion which had looked as though he might collapse at any moment. On a whim, she took a step forward: "T-That!"

The man's steps halted, and he looked back.

With her heart pounding wildly, Yun Li handed her umbrella over to him: "The rain probably won't stop anytime soon."

He didn't move.

"I'm heading to EAW tomorrow," meeting his gaze, Yun Li grew inexplicably nervous, her voice trembling slightly. "You can just leave it at the front desk, and I'll pick it up then."

Fearing a repeat of what happened earlier when her offer of the umbrella was refused, Yun Li experienced a moment of retreat.

She simply placed the umbrella on the hood of the car and blurted out, "Thanks for dropping me off today."

Before the man could say anything else,

Yun Li had already grabbed her suitcase and hurried inside.

A few meters ahead, just as she reached the hotel entrance, Yun Li finally dared to look back.

The spot where the umbrella had been placed was washed clean and empty.

The car moved forward, shattering the rhythm of the rain curtain. White streaks danced through the air, guiding him into the darkness.

Only then did Yun Li set her mind at ease and let out a light breath.—

Back in her room, Yun Li took a shower and crashed straight into bed. However, sleeping in an unfamiliar environment wrecked the quality of her rest; halfway through, she suffered a bout of sleep paralysis, her consciousness hovering somewhere between hazy and awake.

Finally, she fell into a dream, reliving the events of tonight.

Everything proceeded as normal, but after getting into the man's car, subsequent events took a drastically different turn.

Instead of dropping her off at the hotel, the man drove her out to the desolate wilderness.

There, Yun Li even ran into that young man from the airport. He laughed wildly, cursed her for being a fool, and announced that the man was actually the ringleader of their criminal syndicate.

The look the man gave her was as if he were gazing at a trapped beast in a cage—cold-blooded and cruel.

Overwhelmed with panic, she tried to run.

The moment she turned around, the man used the umbrella she had lent him tonight to pierce straight through her heart—

And then Yun Li woke up.

"..."

The terror of the dream still lingered, and she instinctively touched her chest. After spending a few minutes calming down in bed as her consciousness fully returned, she realized just how absurd that dream was.

After a long while, Yun Li picked up her phone to check the time.

On WeChat, Ms. He had pulled her into a group chat, posting a unified notice for everyone to gather in the hotel lobby at three in the afternoon.

Without wasting any more time, Yun Li got up to wash up and pack her things.

She headed out ten minutes early.

Upon arriving, she saw two men and a woman seated on the sofa, with only the woman facing her. Catching a glimpse of her out of the corner of her eye, the woman immediately stood up and greeted her: "Are you Teacher LeisurelyCloudDrip?"

Yun Li nodded.

LeisurelyCloudDrip was the handle she registered on Station E.

Station E, short for EndlessSharing, was a video platform dedicated to creation and sharing. Formerly a small-scale discussion platform, it later expanded into video hosting; as online users gradually grew, the website flourished as well.

During the summer vacation right before the start of her sophomore year, Yun Li had been bored out of her mind and started posting videos on Station E.

In the beginning, she just filmed for fun, never expecting anyone to watch. Her content was quite varied, primarily focusing on food, but she would record whatever interesting material struck her fancy.

By now, while not massively famous, she had gradually accumulated hundreds of thousands of followers.

The girl was Ms. He, whose full name was He Jiameng. The other two men were also moderately well-known up-and-coming creators on Station E—one called Cicada and the other Fee Water.

Afterward, the group boarded a vehicle.

The vehicle arranged for them was a seven-seater SUV. Yun Li and He Jiameng sat in the middle row, while the other two men sat behind them. They chatted back and forth the entire ride.

Her phone vibrated.

Yun Li tapped it open; it was a message from her friend Deng Chuqi.

Deng Chuqi: [Did you arrive in Nanwu?]

Yun Li replied irrelevantly: [I almost died just now.]

Deng Chuqi: [?]

Yun Li: [In my dream.]

A moment later.

Deng Chuqi: [I almost landed a job with an annual salary of a million today.]

Yun Li: [?]

Deng Chuqi: [Too bad they didn't want me.]

"..."

Yun Li couldn't help letting out a laugh.

Immediately following that, whether due to her own imagination or not, the noisy background chatter quieted down slightly. She turned her head sideways and happened to catch He Jiameng's smiling face.

"Teacher Leisurely, you found it funny too, huh."

"Hm?" Yun Li hadn't been listening at all and guiltily replied, "Um... yeah, it's pretty funny."

Perhaps sensing her perfunctory evasion, they didn't dwell on the topic, and before long moved on to other subjects.

Yun Li relaxed mentally, though she felt a bit deflated.

She figured she was just a conversation killer.

……

The EAW Technology City was located inside a large commercial complex called Haitian Mall. It wasn't far from the hotel, about a fifteen-minute drive away.

The neighborhood was bustling. Commercial streets lined both sides of the route, and they even drove past Nanwu University of Technology. Coincidentally, today was Qixi Festival; couples filled the streets, shoulder to shoulder, bustling with a lively, everyday warmth.

Looking past the window, Yun Li could spot a gigantic Ferris wheel standing atop the mall roof.

The entrance to EAW was on the ground floor.

Today wasn't the official filming day, merely an advance scouting trip to familiarize everyone with the layout so they could better plan their shooting schedules later. Attendance wasn't strictly mandatory, leaving everyone free to choose based on personal preference.

Fearing she would fall behind on the process and end up clueless about what to do later, Yun Li hadn't turned it down.

Besides their group, several others had already arrived at the venue, none of whom Yun Li recognized.

After walking over to exchange greetings, He Jiameng led them further inside.

Past the entrance lay the reception desk and ticket gates. Following the escalators downward, EAW’s entertainment facilities occupied portions of the top three floors, partitioned separately from the rest of the mall's storefronts.

Since it wasn't open yet, there were hardly any people inside, and the equipment hadn't been powered on. He Jiameng merely gave them a general overview of the attractions on each floor.

Once the introductions were more or less finished, she gave them free rein to explore on their own.

Yun Li acted alone, marking any attractions that caught her interest in her memos. Once done, she pondered for a moment and began editing her draft copy. At the same time, her phone popped up with a low-battery warning once again.

Fumbling through her bag, Yun Li couldn't find her power bank.

Didn't she bring it?

Glancing around, she spotted He Jiameng sitting on a lounge chair in the hallway on the same floor and walked over: "Jiameng, do you guys have a charger here?"

He Jiameng looked up: "Nope, but the break room has one."

Yun Li: "Then forget i—"

"It's fine, our break room is really close by, I'll take you there." He Jiameng checked the time. "We'll probably be hanging around for another hour, you can rest there for a bit and charge your phone while you're at it."

Having a dead phone was inconvenient, so Yun Li didn't refuse: "All right, thank you."

Leaving the EAW area, they walked out through the nearest fire exit and headed down the stairs to the basement level. Stepping through a nearby door revealed a long corridor featuring several single glass doors, one of which bore a sign reading "EAW Technology City."

Below it was marked: Unauthorized Personnel Keep Out.

He Jiameng swiped her access card to enter.

Inside, there were two doors ahead and to the left, leading respectively to the office and the employee break room.

The two entered the break room and switched on the lights.

An entire wall on the left was lined with lockers, flanked by two small fitting rooms, while the center held two rectangular tables and a small bar counter.

The space was quite large. He Jiameng only turned on the lights on this side, leaving the interior somewhat dim. Even so, it was clear enough to make out three sofas at the very back, arranged in a U-shape, surrounded by several bean bag chairs.

He Jiameng picked up the air conditioner remote, muttering: "Why is the AC left on, and set to thirty degrees..."

Yun Li: "Is someone in here?"

"Maybe someone came down earlier. Only a few people came today, and they're all out in the shop right now." He Jiameng lowered the temperature by a few degrees, dug out a charger for her, and pointed to one of the tables: "You can charge it right here or over by the sofas."

"Okay."

She had originally intended to sit with her for a while, but catching sight of her phone, He Jiameng whipped a compact out of her bag to touch up her makeup.

Yun Li blinked: "What's wrong?"

"The boss is here, he's in the store right now," He Jiameng said excitedly. "My boss is insanely handsome, filthy rich, and super gentle! Teacher Leisurely, you should put on some lipstick too!"

Insanely handsome?

Hearing this key descriptor, Yun Li asked: "Is it the guy who came to pick me up yesterday?"

"No. Yesterday the boss called me, first gently reprimanding me for a bit," He Jiameng cupped her cheeks, "and then said he arranged for someone to pick you up. I have no idea who it actually was. I guess it must've been one of my coworkers."

"..."

Reprimands could apparently be gentle.

"My boss rarely comes by. He only showed up once during those trial days, and I didn't even get to see him then," He Jiameng said. "Since he has free time today on Qixi Festival, he's probably single." With that, she smiled invitingly, "Do you want to come up with me right now and take a look?"

Amused by her, Yun Li smiled: "No thanks, I'll just charge my phone for a bit."

He Jiameng didn't push: "He probably won't leave yet by the time you head up later, so I'll go back to the shop first."

"Alright."

There was a power strip right by the table. Not planning to stay too long, Yun Li didn't bother moving over to the sofa area, intending to leave once the battery was half full.

A short while passed.

Deng Chuqi sent a voice message: "So what kind of dream did you have yesterday?"

Yun Li tapped out a reply, briefly describing the content of the dream.

Deng Chuqi: [An umbrella can kill people?]

Deng Chuqi: [What an ominous dream, turning a borrowed umbrella into a murder weapon. Remember to get that umbrella back, otherwise having that 'murder weapon' held by the 'killer' feels kind of unsettling.]

"..."

That statement wasn't without merit.

Yun Li was somewhat superstitious.

Normally she forgot her dreams the moment she woke up, but this time felt so vividly real that she could still recall the spray of blood right before her eyes.

Getting it back could also be considered cutting clean ties in time, right?

She had asked that man to leave it at the front desk yesterday; she wondered if he had come by today.

She'd ask He Jiameng in a bit.

With that thought in mind, Yun Li lost all interest in charging her phone, packed her things, and stood up. Right at that moment, she heard a faint rustling sound coming from the sofa area—neither too loud nor too soft.

Yun Li paused, hesitating as she walked toward that direction.

Growing closer, she realized that someone was lying on the sofa.

That spot had been blocked by the back of a chair just moments ago; coupled with the dim lighting and the distance between them, Yun Li hadn't looked closely and completely failed to notice.

The man was tall, and the sofa was far too short to accommodate him properly, forcing him into a cramped posture. A thin blanket was draped over his body, and his brows were slightly furrowed, making it impossible to tell whether he was asleep or awake.

Yun Li recognized him instantly.

It was the man who had picked her up.

"..."

Her breathing hitched.

Recalling the voice message that had just played out loud, Yun Li wasn't sure if the man had heard it. As her mind went blank, something even worse followed.

——She saw the man open his eyes.

His gaze was clear and sharp; who knew how long he had been awake.

The surroundings were dead silent, making even the sound of their breathing distinct.

The next second, the man withdrew his gaze and sat up, his movements unhurried, and picked up her umbrella from beside the sofa. Instead of handing it to her, he placed it on the coffee table in front of him.

"Your umbrella."

Feeling like a student caught playing on her phone by a teacher, Yun Li froze in place for three whole seconds before walking over to retrieve it.

The man said calmly: "Thanks."

Yun Li didn't dare look at him, simply murmuring an acknowledgment.

Seeing that he had no intention of speaking further, Yun Li couldn't bear the awkward atmosphere any longer. Swallowing hard, she stammered, "Then I'll head back up first."

Before she could take a step, the man spoke again. His voice was very light, sounding like an offhand reminder.

"That's a folding umbrella. You can't kill anyone with it."

Yun Li stiffened, turning her head to lock eyes with him once more, as if she had been plunged right back into that rainy night in her dream. The cold, damp drizzle seemed to drill mercilessly into her chest with his ensuing words.

"A straight-handled one might have a chance."

"...”