The next morning.
The Academic Affairs Office.
Outside the office, people were bustling about. Li Mu moved through the line, entered the room in an orderly fashion, and after explaining his reasons to the staff member in charge of approvals, easily completed his leave paperwork.
"Young man, good luck," the reviewing teacher said with a smile.
"I'll gladly accept your kind words, Teacher." Li Mu flashed a bright smile, bowed deeply to the teacher, and stepped out of the Academic Affairs Office.
It had rained a bit last night. Leaves were scattered across the campus, and the ground was blanketed in pale yellow osmanthus flowers. A cool morning breeze blew, carrying the fragrance of osmanthus mingled with the freshness of dew, filling the entire campus.
Walking along the tree-lined campus path, Li Mu felt light in every step.
A young and healthy body.
This, damn it, was a time-traveler's greatest wealth.
At least he wouldn't be like a forty-year-old, going at it once a night and having to get up four or five times in the middle of the night to pee. Right now, he could go seven or eight times a night without even batting an eye—that was the advantage of having a young body.
This was something money couldn't buy.
Of course, his most important task right now was to go gain some experience on his second uncle's film crew. He was a director of sorts, after all, and the resources and connections at his disposal were far superior to an ordinary person's.
With a brisk stride, he walked to the bus stop at the school gate.
Li Mu stopped in his tracks and searched his memory for how to get to Huairou Film and Television City.
Just then, a silver-white Mercedes-Benz S350 with a Beijing license plate slowly pulled up beside him.
The car was about five meters long, and the iconic Mercedes triangular hood ornament held its head high proudly in the sunlight.
The silver-white paint job added a touch of elegance to the entire vehicle.
Li Mu couldn't help taking a second look, thinking to himself: *Damn, which rich kid is this, coming to the Beijing Film Academy to pick up girls?*
The car window slowly rolled down.
The owner of the car came into Li Mu's view.
It was a young woman, early twenties.
She wore a white fitted shirt on top, with exquisite and stunning facial features. A cascade of jet-black hair fell past her shoulders, and her large, watery eyes seemed capable of speaking.
On the bottom, she wore a black mini skirt not even thirty centimeters long.
Her long, fair legs poked out from beneath the hem of the skirt, looking full of life.
Of course, in Li Mu's view, all these numerous adjectives could be summed up in three words: rich, beautiful princess!
Why rich?
Because he recognized the girl—she was a classmate from the Beijing Film Academy Class of 07, Jing Tian!
"Where are you going? I'll give you a ride!" Princess Jing rested her fair-skinned elbow on the steering wheel, wearing a smile and acting like a female thug as she called out to Li Mu outside the window.
"Forget it." Li Mu gave an awkward, wry smile and declined; he didn't dare provoke this pampered young miss.
"Don't force me to use physical force." Princess Jing knitted her delicate brows and shook a petite fist.
"Fine!"
Li Mu nimbly got into the car and sat in the front passenger seat.
As soon as he entered the cabin, the unique youthful fragrance of the young woman washed over Li Mu in waves, instantly causing him to subconsciously straighten his posture and look straight ahead, unblinking.
One look and he appeared thoroughly nervous.
"What on earth are you so nervous about? It's not like I'm going to eat you," Princess Jing said with mock annoyance. "No matter what, you're my savior. It's not like I'd harm you."
Li Mu smiled sheepishly, completely lacking the casual ease he had when talking to Zhang Ruoyun.
The "savior" the girl was referring to was an incident during military training when she suffered from heatstroke, and he had grabbed her and sprinted all the way to the infirmary.
Ever since that time, the girl before him had been clinging to him.
However, Li Mu had always remained cautious about the girl's advances, because given their current family backgrounds,
they wouldn't have a good outcome.
The love story between a poor boy and a rich girl only ever appeared in novels.
Just as Li Mu was thinking this, the girl asked again: "Where are you going?"
"Oh, Huairou Film and Television City." Li Mu replied.
"Oh? Going to shoot a movie? That's great, you've got to treat me to a meal," Jing Tian's eyes lit up.
"It's just a small production by a minor director, nothing is set in stone yet. I'm just going over there to do odd jobs," Li Mu answered with a smile, his tense and stiff body finally relaxing at that moment.
The girl sensibly asked no more, started the car, and drove toward Huairou Film and Television City.
Then, before long, Li Mu regretted it.
On the highway.
A silver-white Mercedes-Benz S350 was driving slowly.
The cool Jing Tian from just a moment ago was now tense all over, her upper body rigid, gripping the steering wheel with both hands like a wooden statue, her eyes fixed straight ahead.
"Big Sis, can you drive a bit faster? This is a highway, you know."
"Is... isn't this fast enough?"
"The minimum speed limit is sixty. Are you even doing sixty?"
"Ah, oh."
"And could you please not drive right on the bumper of that big semi-truck? I'm terrified, Big Sis." Li Mu's hair stood on end. *Don't tell me I just got a second chance at life, only for this woman to step on the gas and send me off to the afterlife.*
Jing Tian let out an "oh" and steered the car away from the cement mixer truck.
"Sorry, it's been a long time since I got my driver's license. I rarely drive; my chauffeur usually does it."
*So this is how you repay my lifesaving favor? You're using me to practice your driving!*
Li Mu was almost driven mad with anger. That line about "my chauffeur usually does it" dealt him another critical hit of a hundred thousand damage. Being rich must be amazing, huh? Being rich means you can do whatever you want, huh?
That's right, being rich really did let you do whatever you wanted.
"Pull over at the service area up ahead. I'll drive," Li Mu said with a stern face, in a tone that brooked no argument.
"Oh, okay." Jing Tian nodded like a chick pecking at rice.
...
The service area.
The two of them opened the doors and switched driver's seats. Li Mu adjusted the seat position slightly, stepped on the gas, and roared out.
He drove quickly and smoothly down the highway toward their destination.
It was Li Mu's first time handling this car, and he had to admit: apart from being expensive, expensive things had only one other flaw—everything else about them was wonderful.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Jing Tian stuck out the tip of her pink tongue and smiled awkwardly, "Sorry, it's my first time on a highway, so I might have been a bit nervous. If you accompany me to practice a few more times, I should get much better at it."
"If I accompany you to practice a few more times, the grass on my grave will already be overgrown," Li Mu retorted unhappily.
The girl slumped her head in depression, flicking two tender, scallion-like fingers together lightly against her chest, thinking to herself: *Am I really as hopeless as you make me out to be? Besides, nothing bad happened just a moment ago, did it?*
And besides, *how dare this guy talk to me like that?!*
Thinking this, the girl bit her lower lip, feeling both embarrassed and annoyed as she cast a stealthy glare at Li Mu.
Unaware of the girl's thoughts, Li Mu focused entirely on driving.
After a while, the car reached the small town near Huairou Film and Television City.
Li Mu turned off the engine, pulled out the keys, and handed them to her: "Here."
The girl shook her head and pushed his hand back, "I think your driving skills are pretty good. Why don't you keep this car? I'll have my chauffeur come pick me up later."
"Big Sis, if I scratch this, I can't afford to pay for it," Li Mu refused.
"Oh, come on, nobody's asking you to pay!" The girl didn't care at all, slapping the keys into Li Mu's hand. "You're my savior. Compared to my life, what's a car?"
"Besides, you were acting all tough a minute ago, how come you've turned into a coward now?"
With that, the girl leaned closer to Li Mu.
The space between them was extremely narrow, separated by barely the distance of a single fist.
Li Mu could even feel the shifts in body temperature coming from beneath the girl's white shirt.
Li Mu was left at a loss by the girl's enthusiasm. What kind of family was this, letting him casually trash a Mercedes S-class like it was nothing?
For a split second, Li Mu even entertained the thought of just marrying the girl and being done with it.
However, Li Mu quickly dismissed the idea.
The girl might be a hopeless romantic, but her family certainly wasn't.
Quit while you were ahead.
Being friends with her seemed pretty good, too.
Li Mu accepted the keys and said earnestly, "Thanks, Princess Jing."
Jing Tian knitted her delicate brows, clearly disliking Li Mu's form of address. She pined her lips and muttered in disappointment, "You're just like the rest of them, thinking I'm some kind of caged bird. You clearly know I—forget it, I can't be bothered talking to a blockhead like you."
At that moment, Li Mu desperately wanted to say to the girl, "I know," and then pull her into his arms for a passionate French kiss.
In the end, though, he held back.