Chapter 18
Through the sea of people, Jiang Shangwan felt a burning gaze locking onto her with precision. She turned sideways, trying to avoid it more obviously.
Ji Zhao’s eyes rolled around as he followed the direction of her gaze for a long moment, then said sourly, “Sis, you like this type, huh? Really tall. Wearing such formal clothes, I wonder what role he’s here to audition for…”
Jiang Shangwan expressionlessly cut off his guess: “He’s an investor.”
The young man choked on his words, noticing her cold tone, and obediently closed his mouth.
Jiang Shangwan briefly reported the current progress to Qiao Yuqing. Wang Jie hadn’t been too harsh on them so far—perhaps because Qiao Yuqing had privately put this group of young stars through intense training, which had clearly worked.
Everything was going fairly smoothly.
Until Shi Yu’s figure quietly appeared behind her at some unknown time, whispering to her.
“What a coincidence, I came to accompany the audition.”
“Yeah, what a coincidence.”
Jiang Shangwan’s tone was indifferent. She lay back in her chair, legs casually crossed, lazily watching the line of people waiting to audition. Her already small face was covered by large sunglasses, through the thin dark lenses, her expression was completely hidden.
She originally wanted to avoid this.
But he just came and stuck close anyway.
“Director Wang Jie is very strict. Out of the five people I brought, only three passed. One of the others was scolded until she cried, and the other got so nervous she froze and didn’t dare to repeat her lines after being interrupted.”
Shi Yu remembered what she had told others in a voice message before: you can’t be too rigid when doing things. If Wang Jie gets the impression that you’re forcing people through just because you’re an investor, it will trigger his resistance.
You have to first show him your acting skills to pass the test, then naturally use the investment as an added bonus.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have the skills to train actors, and Lin Chuan didn’t worry too much about it—he just brought people along because his family wanted him to get them into the crew.
“What else? Do you think this is a place for kids to play around?”
“No, I just got a preliminary understanding of this famous director, and why so many people flock to his projects.”
“Why?”
Jiang Shangwan chuckled lightly, seeming to deliberately want to annoy him and make him leave.
“You look beautiful today.” But Shi Yu suddenly paused, then changed his tone and said seriously.
Today Jiang Shangwan wore a peacock blue asymmetrical long dress, with a leather-textured belt cinching her waist tightly. Around her neck, two exquisitely intertwined teardrop-shaped diamond necklaces extended down along her graceful curves.
Her curls were gathered behind her back, lazily resting on her shoulders.
At a glance, it was clear she was elegant beyond words.
Jiang Shangwan nodded slightly without replying, just lifting her chin a little in his direction.
Ji Zhao, who was eavesdropping nearby, curled his lips in disdain. Even the investors had to suck up and cling to the powerful? Were they leaving any chance for others? The competition was really fierce.
“The audition’s so early, have you eaten?” Shi Yu asked again.
The dark sunglasses made Jiang Shangwan’s lips look even redder against her fair skin, which glowed with a delicate and soft sheen, though her small face was a little too pale to notice easily.
Jiang Shangwan remained silent and didn’t answer.
She really was being lazy and hadn’t eaten breakfast. In fact, she often traveled for work and had irregular eating habits, rarely eating breakfast at all—usually just one or two meals a day.
Shi Yu turned around quickly, somehow got a cup of hot water and handed it to her, then brought back a steaming bag of soup dumplings.
Jiang Shangwan was momentarily stunned but reached out to take them.
“You’re going to get a stomachache again.”
Shi Yu bent down to look at her, his gaze falling on the soft, fluffy top of her hair.
She couldn’t refuse his kindness, so a soft “Mm” escaped from her throat.
She bit gently into the thin, tender skin of the dumpling. The richness of the fresh meat and the warm, fragrant soup burst in her mouth, sliding down smoothly into her stomach as she swallowed. With food in her stomach, the slight sourness really faded away.
Her stomach felt warm, and her mood lifted a little.
“Sis, I’m a little hungry too. I haven’t eaten.” Ji Zhao whispered.
After eating two dumplings, Jiang Shangwan already felt quite full and was wondering what to do with the rest, so she handed some to him. But instead of taking them with his hands, Ji Zhao tilted his head toward her hand and bit the dumpling directly from it.
When he got close, he even winked at her.
Shi Yu glanced coldly at his move, frowning deeply. His thin lips pressed into a straight line, and the knuckles under his sleeve clenched so tightly they turned pale.
Jiang Shangwan ignored the young man’s little act of trying to win her favor and casually tossed the remaining dumplings to him, then slowly took a sip of the hot water. Eating breakfast on time did feel pretty good after all.
“Director Wang will invite everyone to lunch. Are you going?”
“No.”
Jiang Shangwan wasn’t interested in socializing. Just coming along for the audition was already tiring enough. She had no obligation to help Qiao Yuqing with social niceties. As long as the progress went smoothly, she could just quietly collect her share of the profits later.
“I advise you not to go either—” Her tone stretched out lazily, like a cat waking from a nap, speaking with a gracious air, but what she actually meant was concern: “If you don’t want to be sexually harassed looking like this, just don’t go.”
Shi Yu nodded and lightly tugged the corner of his lips.
He smiled.
“I’ll listen to you.”
Ji Zhao, who was eavesdropping nearby, was speechless: “…Why does that sound kind of off? Is there some awkwardness there?”
“Then how about we go eat together after this?”
“No.”
Jiang Shangwan didn’t want to break the boundaries between them again for no reason. Keeping their distance was better for both of them.
The last upheaval left a complicated impact on her heart. In order to avoid things spiraling out of control again, she calmly reminded him: “After this busy period, you should go back to Jiang University. Don’t forget your studies are your main focus. Keep your GPA high and prepare well for postgraduate recommendations or studying abroad.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t bother with those who contact you about signing with companies. There are no good people among them, and you don’t need to enter the entertainment industry.”
“Okay.”
“Once you return to Jiangcheng, I’ll have someone keep an eye on the progress of filming here. If anything comes up, I’ll let you know.”
“Okay.”
One reminder after another flowed naturally from Jiang Shangwan’s red lips. Ji Zhao looked a bit stunned, he didn’t expect that this seemingly noble and aloof sister would have such a thoughtful side.
He remembered seeing her face on the front page of a world-class elite list in a certain wealth magazine.
He was so jealous he felt like his molars might break from grinding.
Shi Yu’s heart softened. His arm rested on the armrest of her chair, and her steady flow of words washed into his heart, stirring a gentle ripple.
How wonderful.
She not only didn’t block him but also cared about him so much.
Jiang Shangwan always had an almost reflexive instinct to look out for younger people. Right after speaking, she realized she might have said too much and felt a little regret. But then she noticed a barely noticeable smile tugging at his lips, his gaze light and clear, and even his jawline curved smoothly upward.
It felt like a feather lightly brushed the tip of her heart.
Why was he so easy to please? Useless.
Jiang Shangwan deliberately put on a serious face and said in a low voice, “Alright, go take care of your business. We need to finish the registration and leave.”
After Shi Yu left, Ji Zhao slyly moved closer. “Sister, can I go eat with Director Wang instead of you…?”
Jiang Shangwan casually pushed away his hand that was trying to support her arm. This kind of clumsy closeness didn’t stir any feelings in her. She realized again that attraction was a kind of mystery.
Not everyone was like Shi Yu, who made her want to get close.
Beautiful things are wonderful and attract many people, but when faced with this delicate face, she felt only a hard-to-hide disgust.
“Later, whoever wants to eat with Director Wang can go. Go contact the crew for the address and give Qiao’s name.”
Jiang Shangwan raised her voice, speaking to everyone at once.
Ji Zhao choked on his words.
The other silent young actors looked at each other, never having imagined that such a good thing would be shared openly…
—
Shi Yu returned to Jiangcheng on a day that started cloudy and turned overcast, with strong winds blowing. The flight almost couldn’t take off, but after taxiing for a long time, the plane finally slowly spread its wings.
The investment promotion meeting came to an end, and the second semester of Jiang University’s sophomore year entered the dreaded final exam week in the cold winter chill. The workload in the Economics Department was so heavy and the exam scope so broad that it made all the students groan in despair.
Lin Chuan quietly wiped away tears, holding a book as he struggled to memorize countless knowledge points, while quickly going through practice questions. Even his usually inseparable gaming mouse was tossed aside—he already considered himself extremely efficient.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Shi Yu’s figure and sought comfort: “Bro, I’m crying. That elective course I took to make up credits turned out to be a closed-book exam. I thought it was open book.”
“Who has electives that are closed-book exams?! Look at these materials—I can’t possibly memorize everything.”
Shi Yu was silent. This was really hard to comfort. After some thought, he pulled out his own exam schedule to show him.
“No way!” Lin Chuan clutched his chest in shock. “Did I read that right? Every single day from today until finals is packed with exams?! Are you even human?”
Yes.
While majoring in finance, Shi Yu had also signed up for countless electives at the School of Information, even so many that some classes conflicted. He had to go to the academic office to coordinate with teachers individually.
“You really aren’t human, man. That’s you for sure,” Lin Chuan patted his shoulder with admiration. “Truly the man I admire, God Yu.”
Although the dorm was supposed to house four people, the other two roommates were mostly at the library or the department office, so it was almost like living with just two people. Those two roommates were very focused on their grades and never studied in the dorm.
But Shi Yu didn’t care about any of that.
He casually pulled out a notebook and handed it to Lin Chuan: “These are the key points I marked.”
Shi Yu went to the academic office to coordinate his exam schedule and happened to run into Jiang Yingting, who was holding a notebook. They exchanged greetings.
Jiang Yingting, wearing thick-soled white sneakers, gave a long yawn. The dark circles under her eyes clearly showed the toll that the Economics Department’s intense workload had taken.
She spoke lazily: “You’re here to check exam times too, right? I see you also chose Data Structures, but it clashes with your major exam schedule. I already asked before—Teacher Wang said he postponed the exam by a week, so you can go home.”
Shi Yu stood still and didn’t leave. After a pause, he said, “I’m afraid that won’t work.”
Jiang Yingting looked puzzled: “Our department’s exams were finished a long time ago.”
So Shi Yu pulled out his densely packed exam schedule again, earning the same shocked expression from her as Lin Chuan had shown.
“Are you okay…?”
Jiang Yingting rubbed her eyes in disbelief, thinking either he had gone crazy or she was losing her mind.