Lin Chen was taken aback. He hadn't expected her to recognize him, especially since she was referring to *Mountain Questions*, not any of his commercial works after signing with Xingyao. He nodded.
"I've seen your audition and the videos from the earlier rounds," Su Yuqing said calmly, as if stating a fact. "Your voice is very unique. It's a pity."
A pity? Lin Chen savored those three words, a bitter feeling rising in his heart. He understood what she meant.
"Those materials..." Lin Chen couldn't help but ask in a low voice, pointing to her briefcase, his voice carrying a hint of urgency he himself didn't realize.
Su Yuqing gave him a deep look, her gaze seemingly able to pierce through his carefully crafted facade, reaching the struggles and fears within him. She didn't answer directly, but instead asked, "How do you feel at Xingyao?"
This question was like a key, instantly unlocking the tightly closed door in Lin Chen's heart. Looking into Su Yuqing's clear, seemingly all-knowing eyes, a strong urge to confide surged within him. But he immediately remembered Xiao Yao's betrayal and the omnipresent surveillance cameras, swallowing back the words that were on the tip of his tongue. He forced a stiff smile: "Very well, the company values me highly."
Su Yuqing's lips curled into a faint, slightly mocking smile, as if she had already seen through his insincerity. She didn't press further, but simply took an elegant business card from her card holder and handed it to him.
"This is my contact information," she said, her voice even lower, almost a whisper. "If... one day you feel the need to hear the 'truth,' or if you want to tell me some 'truthful' things, you can contact me."
She emphasized the word "truthful."
After speaking, she nodded slightly to him, then turned and gracefully disappeared down the corridor, as if everything that had just happened was merely a chance encounter.
Lin Chen stood there, clutching the cool business card tightly in his hand, as if he were holding a burning piece of coal. Su Yuqing, an investigative journalist for a financial media outlet… Why would she be interested in Xingyao Entertainment? What did her information mean? What did her words "what a pity" and "the truth" imply?
Countless questions swirled in his mind. But at the same time, an indescribable, long-lost feeling stirred within him, like a pebble thrown into a still lake, creating subtle ripples.
It was the feeling of being "seen." Not as a commodity, a tool, or a patient, but as an independent person with potentially genuine thoughts and circumstances.
In this world filled with lies, betrayal, and manipulation, Su Yuqing's appearance was like a ray of light unexpectedly piercing the prison of his soul. She was like a silent confidante standing outside the fog, seemingly aware of certain truths, and offering him a possible rope leading to the outside world.
He didn't know whether he should trust this unfamiliar journalist, nor whether the other end of this rope held salvation or a deeper trap.
But he knew that this business card was a sudden, unknown variable in his life of silent despair.
He carefully tucked the business card into his inner pocket, as if hiding a secret flame that must never be discovered.
An unexpected kindred spirit appeared.
Could this faint flame ignite a glimmer of hope in the biting cold wind?