"Fine, I bet with you!"
Terrified that Zhou Yu might change his mind, Gong Liyang hastily added, "If you lose, you stay away from Mengyan from now on!"
"And if you lose?"
"Ha! How could this young master possibly lose?"
Gong Liyang's eyes were filled with absolute certainty, as if he could already picture the scene of Zhou Yu being humiliated that very day.
He couldn't help laughing out loud.
Zhou Yu rolled his eyes in speechlessness. The guy was starting to indulge in wild fantasies in broad daylight.
Was there something wrong with this idiot?
"Hey! Nothing is absolute. You can't just expect me to put up a stake while you get a free ride, can you?"
"Ha! Fine, if I lose, I'll take a detour every time I see you! Satisfied now?"
To everyone's surprise, Zhou Yu shook his head and said with dissatisfaction, "The stakes are too small. Let's play for something bigger!"
Gong Liyang never imagined for a moment that he would lose.
Therefore, even if Zhou Yu had challenged him to a bet on their lives, he would have agreed.
"What do you want to bet?"
"If I win, you have to unconditionally agree to three things of my choosing. Do you dare?"
Gong Liyang hadn't expected Zhou Yu to propose such a stake, and a trace of hesitation flickered in his heart.
But then, a thought crossed his mind, and he became utterly convinced that Zhou Yu had no way of winning.
Even if Zhou Yu had somehow gotten the script from Yun Mengyan in advance today, it still wouldn't matter.
So, he would take the bet!
"Deal!"
*Ding! Congratulations, Host! 100 million has been credited to your account!*
As the system broadcast finished, Zhou Yu hurriedly took out his phone to check, and sure enough, he received a text message notification confirming the deposit.
Seeing that string of zeros, Zhou Yu finally felt at ease.
With starting capital, it would be much easier for him to strive for his ideals.
...
"Zhou Yu!"
A familiar female voice rang out from behind.
Su Yao had been hiding around the corner, overhearing Gong Liyang's bet with Zhou Yu over Yun Mengyan.
It concerned the cultural arts festival.
She had heard Li Qiang mention a few things earlier—that this year's arts festival was going to be different from previous years.
It seemed there was quite a spectacle to look forward to!
Li Qiang hadn't gone into detail, so at first, she thought the script might simply be terribly written.
Now, it seemed that wasn't the case at all.
Su Yao had assumed that, following past conventions, Zhou Yu should have gotten the script long ago.
But after watching the whole exchange, she realized there might be some conspiracy behind it.
And it was aimed right at Zhou Yu.
Given Li Qiang's appearance, whether he played the male lead or not, it certainly wasn't his turn.
Could it be Gong Liyang?
Yet, with Gong Liyang's ability, if he wanted to play the male lead and partner with Yun Mengyan, he wouldn't need to resort to despicable tactics.
He could simply pull strings through the head of the grade.
Although Gong Liyang wasn't first in his major, he was still near the top of the class.
With a little maneuvering, given his background, the head of the grade would definitely agree.
So who on earth was trying to make trouble for Zhou Yu?
If she told Zhou Yu that trouble was coming for him, could she salvage something between them?
Zhou Yu looked around. At that moment, he had happened to walk into a secluded path.
There was no one else around.
Just the two of them.
Su Yao certainly knew how to pick a spot.
His estimation of Su Yao rose to yet another level.
This woman probably didn't want others to see her interacting with him, lest Li Qiang find out and get angry.
Yet she was utterly consumed by curiosity as to how he could casually give away a multi-million necklace.
And drive a ten-million sports car.
When all was said and done, she simply couldn't accept being left behind.
If he were still a poor loser, she probably wouldn't even deign to give him a second look now.
"What is it?"
His tone was icy, devoid of the slightest emotion.
Su Yao was pierced by the coldness on Zhou Yu's face, a sharp pain stabbing at her heart.
"Do you really have to treat me this way?"
Zhou Yu let out a sneer of derision. "What else? Should I still act like a fool, at your beck and call?"
Su Yao's face turned pale, tears shimmering at the corners of her eyes.
"We used to support and encourage each other! Everything you did for me, I've kept locked in my heart! How can you say such hurtful things now?"
Zhou Yu crossed his arms and leaned against a tree, his posture casual.
His long legs were crossed, outlining perfectly sculpted lines.
That was once a place where she used to lie.
She had tested the elasticity of the muscles there with her hands, using them as an exceptionally comfortable pillow.
Yet now, its owner would certainly never be willing to act as her pillow again.
"What do you actually want?"
Zhou Yu had no patience to keep playing games with Su Yao and cut straight to the point.
Su Yao gave a bitter smile. "You don't need to be so guarded against me. I only came to warn you that someone might be targeting you over the arts festival, just to tell you to be careful! There's nothing else. I'm leaving!"
With that, she turned and walked away, leaving Zhou Yu with a resolute and stubborn back.
Su Yao knew very well that nothing could be achieved overnight; things had to be done step by step.
Zhou Yu currently had a terrible impression of her, and having the chance to warn him to be careful was already a gift from the heavens—a second chance to get close to him.
She had to seize it firmly.
In the past, she had been able to slowly train Zhou Yu to become her obedient lapdog, and she could do it again now.
As for Yun Mengyan...
She certainly posed a bit of a challenge, but nothing in this world is difficult for one who sets their mind to it!
There was still plenty of time; they would just have to wait and see.
...
"Not bad, Zhou Yu! You've been hiding your true colors!"
The moment he stepped into the dorm, Zheng Hao threw an arm around his shoulders and bantered.
"Our dorm actually has a hidden billionaire! The futures of us brothers will all depend on you from now on, so don't forget to look out for us!"
Amused, Zhou Yu slapped away Zheng Hao's arm.
"Get serious!"
He didn't bother to address the "hidden billionaire" comment, mostly because he couldn't explain the sudden influx of wealth anyway.
He might as well just let these guys keep thinking that.
"Heh, as expected of the male lead, look—you've already got the script! You can hand in your assignment as the male lead, but small fries like us are in for a tough time!"
Zheng Hao looked miserable as he stared at a single sheet of paper in his hand.
Zhou Yu glanced over. There were only two lines of dialogue, and both were interjections like 'Ah,' 'Mm,' and 'Sigh'...
That sort of thing.
"Brother Yu, do you think the monitor is targeting me? Everyone else in the class has lines, and all I get is this garbage! Even bed scenes have more dialogue than this!"
Zhou Yu frowned and looked at the scripts of the other two roommates; they were from the same play.
There was hardly any dialogue in those either.
Well, it made sense—what kind of dialogue could you expect in a play about deaf-mute characters?
Were they deliberately messing with these guys?
The freshman arts festival, though not large in scale, was supposed to be an opportunity for freshmen to showcase their learning achievements over the past year.
How could a script like this possibly exist?
Something was wrong.
The four guys in their dorm all had good academic grades.
Even if scripts were distributed based on grades, it wouldn't be their turn to be saddled with this kind of trash.
That meant someone was deliberately targeting them!
Zhou Yu's eyes narrowed dangerously.
Thinking of his bet with Gong Liyang, it seemed there was a much bigger conspiracy behind all this.
He patted Zheng Hao on the shoulder. "Having fewer lines is even more of a test of an actor's understanding of their role. Even though the character background in the script is only two sentences long, we can expand on it ourselves! I believe that as long as you understand it thoroughly, even a deaf-mute can become a standout role!"
*Ding! Congratulations, Host! You kindly helped your roommate solve a problem, rewarded with Photographic Memory!*
A shock went through Zhou Yu. This was the first time the system had directly skipped giving a mission and just handed out a reward!
Photographic memory!
He looked at the script in his hand. It had come just in time!