On the subway ride home, Mu Wanqing was in a daze, her mind cloudy and confused.
Childhood memories flashed through her mind...
The little girl who waited eagerly by the roadside every day.
The little girl who cried for her mother, even murmuring in her dreams for her mother to hurry back.
The girl who, during puberty, didn't understand what a period was and dragged her bloodied legs around.
The girl who was cornered and mocked by a gang of bully girls, calling her an orphan and a pathetic creature.
...
Too many, too much.
Throughout her lonely and bullied childhood and adolescence, she had constantly longed for her mother's return, for her mother to stand up for her, to warm her.
But day after day of hope and waiting was met with increasing disappointment and pain.
Until she no longer held any expectations and learned to be strong on her own.