Shen Qi opened the box.
Inside was still a bouquet of roses, but the message on the card had changed to: "Touched by a Mother's Love."
Touched by a mother's love?
She wasn't a mother herself...
Wait, could this be the real theme of this round of the competition?
Shen Qi suddenly grew excited and called out, "I know what the theme is! It's to design a complete look for a mother! The five sections of this competition are: clothing, shoes and bags, jewelry, personal styling, and men's accessories. Since the theme is mother, that only leaves the first four!"
Shen Qi handed the card to the team leader.
The team leader looked at the card and was about to give Shen Qi an excited bear hug when Liu Yi quickly pulled him back: "A handshake is fine, no hugging!"
The team leader grinned so wide his mouth nearly twisted: "Xiao Qi, you're practically our team's lucky charm! I heard that eight out of ten teams will be eliminated this time, and only the last two will remain! Now that we have the exact theme, our chances of winning are much higher!"
The whole team was thrilled and buzzing with excitement.
Once the excitement died down, Shen Qi said, "Now here's the problem: who among you knows personal styling?"
That one question stumped everyone.
Shen Qi continued, "Every mother is different—different backgrounds, ages, appearances, education levels. What kind of mother should we use as our blueprint for the design?"
Everyone was at a loss.
Right, the theme was still quite broad!
"Although I used to work in personal styling, I only handled looks for young ladies and gentlemen from high society. I've never styled an ordinary mother before," Shen Qi went on. "Has anyone here ever worked in personal styling?"
Someone in the crowd spoke up: "I once worked on a web series and did makeup for the actors—does that count?"
Shen Qi wiped a cold sweat from her brow: "It counts!"
After that, no one else said a word.
Most of the people there were focused on designing physical items, not styling people.
Shen Qi gritted her teeth and said, "Alright then, I'll take charge of personal styling. The rest of you divide up the work on clothing, jewelry, shoes, and bags. Any objections?"
The team leader and the others answered in unison: "No problem! Leave those to us! But where do we find a model?"
Shen Qi thought for a moment and said, "Let me think about this some more. Since we can't contact home right now, there's no way to bring our own mothers here to be our models."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"So, we have to look for someone nearby," Shen Qi said, biting her lip. "Maybe we can find a model right under our noses. Perhaps this is another test from the organizing committee?"
Everyone agreed.
With the theme set, it was time to execute.
After the meeting, Shen Qi carried the box back to her room with Liu Yi.
As she placed the roses with the other flowers, Shen Qi suddenly realized something.
All these flowers—were they all from He Yining?
And the word "sorry" he wrote on the card every day...
Was he apologizing to her?
Shen Qi looked at those handwritten apologies and felt a sudden softness in her heart.
He had still told her the theme for this round, even though she had embarrassed him so badly.
He Yining, what are you thinking?
How can you do something like that with Cui Yuelan and then turn around and treat me so gently?
But do you know? The more you do this, the more afraid I am to look back.
Because I'm scared that if I do, I'll get hurt again.
He Yining, if possible, let's just part ways now.
I'd rather you be cold to me now.
That would be better than me falling deeper and then you pulling away coldly.
Liu Yi saw Shen Qi staring blankly at the flowers and couldn't help asking, "Xiao Qi, are you really okay?"
Shen Qi snapped back to reality, put the card back in the box, and arranged the flowers one by one into a vase. She shook her head and said, "I'm fine. But even though we know the theme, what do we do if we can't find a suitable model?"
Liu Yi changed her clothes and said to Shen Qi, "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I'm going swimming. Want to come?"
Shen Qi thought for a moment and said, "Wait for me. I'll change too."
She felt that moping in her room wouldn't help—maybe a change of scenery would lift her spirits.
At this hour, there probably wouldn't be many people swimming.
They could enjoy a nice, quiet swim.
The two chatted and laughed as they headed to the indoor pool.
But when they got there, they found the changing room door locked.
Was it already closed for the day?
Shen Qi and Liu Yi felt a bit disappointed and were about to turn back.
Just then, a soft sobbing sound came from inside, making them pause.
Someone was crying?
What was going on?
Shen Qi turned and knocked on the door: "Is anyone in there?"
The crying stopped abruptly, but no one answered.
Liu Yi raised her voice and asked again: "Is anyone in there?"
A moment later, a rustling sound came from inside.
A timid, somewhat aged voice replied, "I'm just cleaning. I haven't done anything wrong! Please don't fire me!"
Shen Qi and Liu Yi exchanged a glance.
What was this about?
"Sorry, we came to swim. Is the pool closed today?" Shen Qi changed the subject, letting the person know she wasn't hotel management.
The other person visibly relaxed and opened the door. It was a woman in her fifties. She said, "There weren't many people today, so we closed early."
Liu Yi looked a bit disappointed. "Alright, we'll come another day."
As Shen Qi and Liu Yi took a few steps, the woman suddenly turned pale, staggered, and collapsed to the ground with a thud!
Hearing the noise behind them, they turned around and were nearly scared out of their wits!
The woman lay sprawled on the floor, her face as white as paper.
Shen Qi and Liu Yi rushed back and touched her forehead—it was ice cold!
What was wrong?
"Go get help!" Shen Qi said to Liu Yi. "She's sick! Good thing we came by—no one else passes through here, and it could have been dangerous!"
Liu Yi nodded and ran off to call for help.
Soon, the floor manager arrived with some staff. Seeing Shen Qi still tending to the unconscious woman, the manager said, "Ma'am, could you help us take her to the break room?"
Shen Qi nodded. "Sure, I'll support her."
Everyone worked together to lift the woman off the ground. Two people supported her, with Shen Qi holding her from behind, as they quickly moved her to the break room.
The hotel had its own medical clinic.
A medic soon arrived, checked her eyes and pulse, and said, "She's fainted from hunger."
From hunger?
Shen Qi and Liu Yi were stunned!
In this day and age, in such a bustling city, in a top-tier hotel, someone could faint from hunger?
The woman wasn't some celebrity or model on a diet—she was already thin enough. Why would she starve herself?
Was there something more to it?
Just then, the woman came to after receiving an injection.
Seeing Shen Qi, she suddenly started crying.
Shen Qi was confused: "Ma'am, are you okay?"
The woman shook her head. "Seeing you reminds me of my daughter. If she were still here, she'd be about your age."
Shen Qi grew curious. "Where is she?"
Someone nearby sighed and said, "Ah, it's a sad story. Auntie Zhao's daughter passed away a few years ago. She lost her husband young and raised her daughter alone. But fate had other plans—a few years ago, her daughter died in a car accident. Auntie Zhao spent years trying to get justice, but she never found the hit-and-run driver. Now she skimps on food and everything else to save money to find that bastard and get justice for her daughter."
Shen Qi and Liu Yi were deeply moved.
What a tough life.
Shen Qi couldn't help asking, "Doesn't the hotel provide meals?"
The floor manager replied, "It's not that we don't. Auntie Zhao asked us to convert her meal and accommodation benefits into cash and add it to her salary. And the hotel doesn't allow staff to eat leftover food from guests. Since she doesn't live in the staff dormitory, there's not much we can do."
So that was it.
Shen Qi glanced at Liu Yi, who immediately understood and went to the restaurant to bring back some food.
Shen Qi said to Auntie Zhao, "Auntie Zhao, we don't have much to offer, but this meal is on us."
Liu Yi added, "Yeah, no matter how much you're saving, you can't skip meals. You need strength to find that driver."
Auntie Zhao slowly sat up, tears in her eyes. She tried to bow to Shen Qi and Liu Yi, but they stopped her.
"Thank you both. I'm fine," Auntie Zhao said, her voice low. "In two days, it's my daughter's birthday. But she hasn't had a proper birthday in years."
"They say a child's birthday is a mother's day of suffering. I'd gladly suffer again if it meant bringing her back," she said, wiping her tears. "But no matter how much I hurt, my daughter isn't coming back."
Shen Qi's heart ached inexplicably.
She thought of her own mother.
Her mother must have suffered a lot giving birth to her, too.
Heartache, physical pain.
She missed her mother so much.
Did her mother still remember her birthday?
Did she ever think of her?
Seeing Shen Qi's melancholy expression, Liu Yi suddenly had a flash of inspiration!
Weren't they struggling to find a suitable model?
Auntie Zhao right here was perfect!
She was a mother!
She needed a change!
Liu Yi pulled Shen Qi aside and whispered, "Xiao Qi, what if we ask Auntie Zhao to be our model? Then our team could pool some money to help her find that damn driver. What do you think?"
Shen Qi's eyes lit up!
That was a great idea!