Zeng Li: "That's more like it."
The two chatted for a little while before hanging up.
However, the phone calls today seemed endless. The moment he hung up with Zeng Li, another call came in. He answered it, and it turned out to be Reba.
Liu Yu: "What's wrong, Reba?" He had just sent her back, so there shouldn't be any problems, right?
Reba stammered, "Senior, is what's being said online true?"
Liu Yu: "It's true. We've been together for over half a year. I'm sorry."
Reba quickly said, "You don't need to say sorry. We broke up three years ago anyway, so what qualification do I have? You're so outstanding, how could you possibly lack a girlfriend? I just wanted to confirm it. I'm hanging up now."
Liu Yu didn't know what to say for a moment. He sighed and hung up the phone.
The phone rang again right after. Liu Yu saw the incoming call on his screen and rejected it, but to his surprise, the other person called right back. Unwilling to take her call, Liu Yu switched his phone to silent, tossed it aside, and ignored it.
He went back to reading his book, and reading soon drifted into sleep. When he woke up, it was already past eight o'clock. He hurried out of bed to wash up, planning to go out for a bite to eat afterward. Picking up his phone, he saw over a hundred missed calls on the screen, all from the same person. Goodness, she was too persistent. Could it actually be an emergency? Hopefully nothing bad had happened.
So Liu Yu quickly called her back. The other side picked up quite fast, her voice slightly hoarse: "You finally remember me! Do you have any idea how many calls I made to you last night?"
Liu Yu: "Meina, do you need something? Why be so persistent and make over a hundred calls?"
Meina continued in her hoarse voice, "I saw the news online. Can we meet?"
Liu Yu said speechlessly, "What's online is true. What else is there left for us to talk about?"
Meina said frantically, "I've already explained it very clearly! This is purely a misunderstanding! Why won't you trust me? Nothing inappropriate ever happened between him and me. We only dated in the past, but we parted ways long ago. Those so-called intimate photos were just traces left from back then, holding hands at most. I had even forgotten about him and deleted everything, but I never expected he would still keep the photos and choose this exact moment to expose them, simply wanting to use the opportunity to blackmail me. But I've already investigated the matter thoroughly, and I even reached an agreement with him, watching with my own eyes as he deleted every single photo. This is the absolute truth!"
Liu Yu was silent for a long time before finally speaking slowly: "Alright, I admit that I was indeed consumed by anger back then, and in the heat of the moment, I made the wrong decision. After cooling down and thinking it over, I realized I actually don't know what I can offer you. After all, I can't even predict what the future holds, and you are so beautiful—becoming famous is just a matter of time. As time goes on, the gap between us will only grow wider. So I feel that rather than dragging this out, we might as well make a clean break. Perhaps that's for the best for both of us."
Meina said with a crying voice, "No, I don't want that. Please don't treat me like this. The misunderstanding between us has been cleared up, why can't we still be together? If worst comes to worst, I'll quit the industry! Because of this scandal, I haven't had any work for a year anyway."
Knowing she was speaking on impulse, Liu Yu tried to comfort her: "But things have already reached this point. Let the past remain in the past."
Actually, Liu Yu ought to thank Meina; after all, it was because of her that he had acquired the System, so he might as well help her out if he could.
Liu Yu: "Let's drop the matter between us. You said you haven't had any work for a year—well, I have a role here. Do you want it?"
Xie Xiaoyu, the female villain in Against the Blade of Gu, would suit Meina quite well.
Without asking any further questions, Meina simply said, "Where are you? Can we meet in person to talk?"
Liu Yu hesitated for a moment. Should he let her come to Modu or not? In the end, he decided to let her come. Otherwise, go find Zeng Li? That certainly wouldn't do.
Liu Yu: "Then come to Modu. I'm near Modu Theatre Academy. Call me when you arrive."
Meina: "Okay, I'll arrive tomorrow."
With that, she hung up the phone.
By the time this delay was over, it was almost ten o'clock. Oh well, he would just find something small to grab a bite.
While Reba was preparing for her exams, he wandered casually around the campus to soak in the school atmosphere again.
As he strolled, he reached the Acting Department. Seeing students rehearsing their plays, he stood on the side to watch and see if anyone performed well. However, after looking around, he didn't find anyone particularly impressive, which left him somewhat disappointed.
Mainly, he didn't know many people anyway. Back when he was a student, he couldn't stand the strong machismo culture, so he never stayed in the dorms. Since his appearance was decent, he managed his expenses by working as a print model introduced by classmates. He was also quite the homebody; male classmates wouldn't hang out with him, while female classmates constantly crowded around him, forcing him to bolt the moment class ended to avoid getting surrounded by girls.
As Liu Yu was reminiscing about his school days, a sudden female scream pulled him back to reality.
"Ah, it's Senior Liu Yu! Quick, grab him!"
"Don't let him run away again!"
Liu Yu bolted out of sheer reflex. Fortunately, he was tall and long-legged, otherwise the consequences would have been unpredictable.
He ran toward the teachers' office area, knowing they wouldn't dare chase him there, and reached it in no time.
Stepping into the teachers' office, Liu Yu immediately shut the door and panted heavily.
The teachers were startled at first, but calmed down upon seeing that it was Liu Yu.
One of the teachers joked, "Look at you. If outsiders saw this, they'd think our school was a den of tigers and dragons."
Liu Yu: "Please don't make fun of me, Teacher. For me, it really is a den of tigers and dragons. If I didn't have pressing business, I wouldn't dare come back. The students are just too enthusiastic."
A teacher chuckled, "You should be content. Didn't you see how much the male students hate your guts? In another two years, it'll get better once everyone who knows you has graduated."
Liu Yu: "Well, that's true enough. By the way, have you had your meeting? What's the status of my request?"
A teacher replied, "Our salaries are fixed, so making a little extra pocket money during the summer vacation sounds nice. You'll need to talk to the principal for the specifics."
Liu Yu: "We need to hurry up and try to audition the actors I need before the students go on summer break. What do the teachers think?"
A teacher said, "That works too. They can go straight to the crew after the break."
Liu Yu: "I'll go ask the principal. You teachers go ahead and get back to your work."
The teachers: "We're heading to class anyway. Go on."
Liu Yu arrived at the principal's office: "Principal Zhang, how is it going?"
Principal Zhang: "I was just about to look for you. We agree. Tell me what your crew is still lacking."
Liu Yu: "We're missing everything except the director."
Principal Zhang asked with curiosity, "Who did you find for the director? Let me help you weigh in."
Liu Yu: "The director is me." Now his grandmaster-level directing skills would finally come in handy.