Looking at the long dress in her hand, she thought of that woman who had ordered her around and told her to turn around and close her eyes, that woman who had stripped off her clothes with lightning speed, that woman who had patted and painted cosmetics all over her face... that woman who neither feared her nor hypocritically respected her.
Longing is cruel; it always hollows out everything you have, yet leaves nothing behind.
The next day, Song Xinxin packed her things and returned to school.
Li Xuan had more scenes than she did, so she still had to stay for the shoot a while longer.
Before Song Xinxin had even settled into her seat at school, she overheard a few girls gossiping about what had happened while she was away. Yuan Lai had been getting very close to several girls; not only did they rehearse the play together, but they also frequently hung out after school.
In particular, a junior named Lin Miaoke practically stuck to him every day. Lin Miaoke was extremely cute. Whenever she smiled, her eyes curved into crescents, and two shallow dimples formed beside the corners of her mouth, making her look utterly adorable—and of course, there were plenty of people watching those dimples sink in.
Listening to the girls' gossip, Song Xinxin couldn't help beginning to hatch a plan.
First, she called one of Yuan Lai's roommates, claiming that she couldn't get in touch with Yuan Lai no matter what, and asking if something had happened to him. As she spoke, she employed her acting skills, adding a crying lilt to her voice as if she were so worried she was losing her mind.Hearing this voice over the phone, Yuan Lai's roommates all assumed Song Xinxin was on the verge of tears. College students their age were basically defenseless against a young woman's crying; the moment they heard that tearful tone in her voice, their hearts instantly melted.
While comforting Song Xinxin, they couldn't help marveling at how Yuan Lai managed to find such an amazing girlfriend. By comparison, they felt Yuan Lai was being somewhat ungrateful.
They were well aware of what had been happening with Yuan Lai lately. With his girlfriend away and a young, pretty junior keeping him company, his head had gotten a bit turned, and that ambiguous vibe was obvious to anyone. Yet, out of loyalty to their buddy, they covered for him, claiming his phone probably just died or he didn't hear it, which was why he hadn't replied to her messages.
Hearing this, Song Xinxin still spoke with a tearful voice, occasionally letting out a couple of small sobs. "Is that really it? Well, if that's the case, please be sure to tell him to reply to my messages right away the next time you see him."
Facing Song Xinxin's pitiful tone, Yuan Lai's roommates actually swallowed hard and helplessly agreed. In their hearts, however, they were cursing Yuan Lai for being such an ungrateful bastard—holding onto such a beauty while getting cozy with a junior. Truly ungrateful.After hanging up, Yuan Lai's brother, suppressing the urge to curse at Yuan Lai in his heart, called him back.
At this moment, Yuan Lai was accompanying Lin Miaoke in the school's heart-of-the-lake pavilion, chatting idly about topics like Shakespeare and opera. They were having a wonderful time, and at an emotional high point, the two of them even tacitly began to act out a scene.
He knew about Song Xinxin returning to school. In fact, Song Xinxin had told him. Before the present Song Xinxin had been reborn, she had called him to say she would return to school either today or tomorrow.
In her past life, Song Xinxin had returned the night before and had likewise heard some gossip about Yuan Lai and Lin Miaoke. Flustered and frantic, she had run down to the men's dormitory building to demand an explanation from him.
Instead, Yuan Lai had turned the tables on her, accusing her of making a scene out of nothing and believing every rumor she heard, and he even brought Lin Miaoke over to confront Song Xinxin face-to-face. With many people at the school as witnesses, Song Xinxin was turned into the unreasonable, irrational, petty, and jealous woman.
Moreover, because of his subsequent tolerance and understanding toward Song Xinxin—and his declaration of undying love for her—Yuan Lai won over a large fan base of younger female students.
Those brainless junior girls each and every one of them envied Song Xinxin, all hoping to find a man like Yuan Lai who loved them with a devotion that death could not shake. Back then, Song Xinxin had lost herself amidst those envious gazes, shifting from doubt to unshakeable certainty, until she finally concluded that Yuan Lai was her future and the reliance of her lifetime.
Ever since then, a saying had circulated around the campus: "You are Song Xinxin, and I am Yuan Lai; meeting me is naturally fate coming your way. Xinxin's fate is right here with me, and I will fiercely guard the destiny we share!"
This phrase seemed to become Yuan Lai's signature slogan, and because of it, he reaped a great deal of attention from younger students, instantly becoming a campus celebrity.
However, the reborn Song Xinxin would absolutely not allow such a thing to happen again. Not only was she going to stop Yuan Lai from gaining more attention, but she was also going to tear off his hypocritical mask so that everyone could see through the true character of this scumbag, while also allowing herself to easily extricate herself from this relationship.
Yuan Lai's roommate's call came through as expected, with the roommate urging him to quickly break things off with Lin Miaoke. Upon hearing that Song Xinxin had returned, Yuan Lai didn't show much reaction. Over the phone, he righteousness-righteously declared, "Let her think whatever she wants; whatever I didn't do, I simply didn't do. A clear conscience fears no slanted shadow. If Song Xinxin really wants to make an unreasonable scene, I'll just drag Lin Miaoke along to confront her face-to-face. When the time comes, she'll still be completely in the palm of my hand to manipulate however I please."Yuan Lai was not afraid at all, because his persona as a deeply affectionate man had already taken deep root in many people's hearts back during their freshman year. Right now, what he wanted to do was elevate that persona to an even higher level.
Instead of returning Song Xinxin's call, he secretly hoped that she would blow the matter completely out of proportion, as that would only make his popularity soar even higher.
In his view, good looks were a gift, but knowing how to boost one's fame was a matter of personal skill.
He felt extremely fortunate to have spotted Song Xinxin—the most gullible, easily manipulated, and hopelessly lovestruck girl—out of so many outstanding female students.
Without taking any further action, Yuan Lai stayed out late accompanying Lin Miaoke, and only after walking her back to her dormitory did he remember to call Song Xinxin back.
Meanwhile, Song Xinxin stared at the illuminated screen of her phone, but she did not answer. Her hands flew across the keyboard as she poured out her deep devotion to Yuan Lai on the campus website, adding that she could accept his ambiguity with Lin Miaoke. The gist of it was that no matter what, she only hoped Yuan Lai would get back together with her and not abandon her, along with many similar sentiments. In short, in order to stay with Yuan Lai, she could accept his falling in love with another woman, but she begged him not to cast her aside, because she truly, wholeheartedly, and sincerely loved him.
The post also featured photos of herself and Lin Miaoke, accompanied by tearful analyses of why Yuan Lai might have transferred his affections to Lin Miaoke. She listed many of Lin Miaoke's merits, specifically pointing out halfway through that Lin Miaoke came from a good family and was a freshman. Anyone who knew them both remembered how Yuan Lai had pursued Song Xinxin during their freshman year, which indirectly proved that he didn't care specifically for Song Xinxin, but simply loved innocent freshman girls.
At the very end of the post came Song Xinxin's feeble plea, stating that she could completely accept Yuan Lai's change of heart, yet even so, she still loved him deeply and begged him not to leave her.
After finishing the post, Song Xinxin felt so disgusted she nearly vomited the food she had eaten the day before.
The moment her roommate pushed open the door, she instantly transformed into a frail, boneless, tearful little girl trapped in the agony of love.
Seeing her like this, her roommates quickly figured out what had happened. Some offered comfort, others urged her to keep an open mind, while those with fiercer tempers were already spreading the news all over the girls' dormitory about Yuan Lai's infidelity.
Downstairs in the dormitory building, Yuan Lai was wondering why Song Xinxin hadn't answered his call. "Could she be planning to give me the silent treatment?" he thought to himself, before suddenly realizing that this might actually be a good thing. If you wanted a spring to bounce back with force, you had to press it down hard until there was no gap left at all. Only then would Song Xinxin truly erupt, and the energy released by that eruption was precisely what he wanted to see.
He hoped Song Xinxin would bare her teeth, spew venom, and curse him the moment she saw him, without giving him the slightest chance to explain. Only by making Song Xinxin go mad with love and lose her reason could his own deep affection be highlighted even more.
At this thought, Yuan Lai felt not a shred of fear. Putting away his phone with a disdainful smile, he headed back to the guys' dormitory.
Upon his return, his roommates treated him with cold indifference. One kind-hearted roommate asked if he had called Song Xinxin back, and he replied that he had, but unfortunately she hadn't answered, wrapping every word in the grievance of being misunderstood. To maintain his devoted persona, he was laying the groundwork quite extensively.
By this time, the girls' dormitory had blown up, with everyone condemning Yuan Lai as a heartless scoundrel. A few with hot tempers even stormed directly into Lin Miaoke's room, pointing fingers at her face and demanding to know why she was seducing someone else's boyfriend. Lin Miaoke's delicate little face had never witnessed such a spectacle, and she was so frightened on the spot that she sat there weeping pear blossoms drenched in rain.
Because classes resumed the next day, the dormitory lights went out on schedule, and the matter was temporarily put on hold until the following morning.
In the morning performance class, Teacher Qiu suddenly called out Lin Miaoke and a male student to act out an affair scene.
Teacher Qiu deliberately increased the difficulty, instructing them that the affair should not look like stealthy cheating, but rather like a genuine romance. At the same time, however, it had to be obvious to everyone watching that the two of them were not in a legitimate boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.
As soon as this requirement was proposed, everyone clearly felt it was extremely difficult, and Lin Miaoke felt the same, so she asked Teacher Qiu a few questions.
Teacher Qiu explained: "Your character's position is that of a mistress, but you mustn't think of yourself that way—you have to think of yourself as his true girlfriend. At the same time, though, you're terrified that his girlfriend will discover your relationship, so there's a contradictory mindset inside you. That's how you need to play it."
Then, turning to the male student sharing the scene, Qiu added: "As for you, you need to project this sort of vibe: even though you have a girlfriend, you want to extract a sense of romance from her, while simultaneously figuring out how to keep both your girlfriend and her steady. Your character has a much heavier sense of sneaking around—she makes you two look entirely like a couple, but you have to tread carefully, terrified of being spotted by others, harboring a guilty conscience throughout."