Recalling the scolding she received last night, Lin Miaoke felt extreme aversion toward the acting exercise assigned by the teacher. With the boy opposite her being utterly uncooperative, after trying several times, her emotions began to break down.
"When we meet, I'll link my arm through yours, and you just need to let me link it. Why are you looking around and adding all those unnecessary movements?" Lin Miaoke finally reached her breaking point and exploded.
The boy was no pushover either. He threw his hands up and retorted, "How am I supposed to understand this stuff? I definitely don't have your experience; I've never gone behind anyone's back. Teacher Qiu, I can't play this role! I think nobody except Yuan Lai can pull this character off. After all, the two of them are a matched pair, old hands at this—they just have to stand there, and everyone knows they're up to no good." With a sneer, the boy turned around and stalked back to his seat.
Hearing this, Lin Miaoke was stunned with anger on the spot. Everyone caught the implication, and a wave of overwhelming laughter suddenly erupted across the classroom.
Standing in the center of the stage, Lin Miaoke couldn't understand how a simple acting practice had turned into a personal attack. Tears of grievance streamed down her cheeks drop by drop. She desperately explained, "I didn't steal anyone's boyfriend, I didn't... Please stop talking nonsense..."
Her line delivery was already poor, and her facial control left much to be desired. Once she started crying, her originally pretty face instantly twisted, making it quite an ugly sight.
Teacher Qiu didn't stop her, nor did he stop the students' mocking laughter. He just watched quietly, thinking of the things he had seen on the forum last night.
Song Xinxin was also his student, and he was well aware of her talent in acting. He was the one who had recommended her for the audition for her last show, so he held high hopes for her. But like Li Xuan, he did not think much of Yuan Lai.
After Li Xuan called him last night, he had logged onto the school forum and seen the tearful post written by Song Xinxin. It was enough to make even a teacher's heart ache. At that moment, an idea had formed in his mind, and being a man of immediate action, he had put that idea into practice today.
As Song Xinxin's class arrived for their acting lesson, fresh-faced freshmen who had just finished their own class seemed to be discussing something utterly ridiculous.
Song Xinxin walked up and politely greeted the teacher, "Teacher Qiu, long time no see."
Teacher Qiu smiled and asked, "You've been at the film set for over half a month, haven't you?" As he spoke, he couldn't help but glance at Song Xinxin's somewhat swollen, tear-stained eyes.
"Yes. I originally wanted to come back the night before yesterday, but I was so exhausted that I delayed it by a day..." Song Xinxin replied softly.
Teacher Qiu didn't say anything more and told her to return to her seat.
As the class proceeded, Song Xinxin listened very attentively. She was naturally someone who loved to learn and enjoyed pondering the craft of acting. Over the years, she had developed a habit: no matter how upset she felt off-stage or at home, the moment she stepped back into the classroom, she would transform into that fully focused, dedicated student.
Just like a character switching in a split second, the moment the class bell rang, Song Xinxin became the student whose eyes shone with eagerness, studying hard and taking frantic notes.
Seeing Song Xinxin like this, Teacher Qiu felt a great sense of relief. She wasn't the type to let emotions cloud her judgment, though it would be even better if she could clearly separate love, studies, career, and family.
While Song Xinxin was studying diligently, trouble was brewing on Yuan Lai's end.
Having been publicly humiliated, Lin Miaoke went looking for Yuan Lai.
Just as the second period ended, she saw Lin Miaoke walking toward Yuan Lai, crying a river of tears. Yuan Lai thought to himself that whatever made a girl cry this bitterly was a golden opportunity for him to step up, show off his chivalry, and comfort her properly.
Seeing her approach, Yuan Lai hurriedly rushed over. Before he even reached her, the words spilled out of his mouth: "Lin Miaoke, what's wrong? Who bullied you?"
Lin Miaoke looked at him with eyes burning with rage. Throwing her usual ladylike image to the wind, she pointed straight at his nose and cursed, "Yuan Lai, can't you control your girlfriend? Tell her to stop posting all that garbage on the forum, making it look like I'm some kind of homewrecker! I just had some questions I wanted to ask you, hoping to get a good grade at the end of the semester. Do you really think I'm interested in you? Let me tell you again, I—ab-so-lute-ly—de-spise—you!" By the end, Li Miaoke practically spat out each word, terrified that Yuan Lai and the surrounding crowd wouldn't hear her clearly.
Yuan Lai instantly felt as though he had offered a warm face to a cold backside, leaving him in a very awkward position. Lin Miaoke was ruthless, openly declaring in front of so many people that she despised him—a devastating blow to a man with immense pride. With a crowd of onlookers watching the spectacle, Yuan Lai felt a sudden, desperate urge to crawl into a hole and hide.
Before he could figure out how to extricate himself from this humiliating predicament, Li Xuan suddenly burst out of the crowd and delivered two crisp slaps to Lin Miaoke's face. Then, with lightning speed, she swung back and landed two more slaps on the shocked Yuan Lai's cheeks.
"You scumbag and bitch! What kind of act are you putting on? Taking advantage of my absence from school to bully our Xinxin—you must have a death wish!" Li Xuan cursed, exuding the intimidating aura of a wealthy heiress demanding everyone clear the way.
Li Xuan had been shooting scenes the past few days, but to protect her best friend from being bullied, she had asked the director for leave specifically to beat the living daylights out of this wretched pair.
The surrounding students panicked when a sudden brawl broke out. They knew Li Xuan's explosive temper all too well and feared she might do something irreversible. Several girls rushed forward to hold back Li Xuan, who was ready to strike again.
Holding her burning, reddened cheek, Lin Miaoke cried and argued, "Can't you get your facts straight? You don't know anything, and yet you're running around hitting people!"
"Me running around hitting people? Didn't see clearly? I saw crystal clear! I came here specifically to beat you, little sl*t!" Li Xuan's tone was dripping with provocation. "You seduced our Xinxin's boyfriend, and you still stand there acting so righteous and blaming me? What, is being a homewrecker and a mistress something to be proud of?"
Li Xuan's words struck like daggers. Words like "homewrecker," "mistress," and "seducer" had been ringing in Lin Miaoke's ears from last night until this morning, and she was at her breaking point. She wished she could smash those words to pieces so they would never appear in her world again.
Howling in rage, Lin Miaoke lunged forward to fight Li Xuan to the death.
Li Xuan, being held back by several girls, was caught off guard for a moment.
Just as Lin Miaoke raised her hand to strike Li Xuan, someone suddenly grabbed her from behind by the hair. Lin Miaoke let out a painful shriek: "Ah..."
Song Xinxin emerged from behind her. "Lin Miaoke, bullying me was bad enough, stealing my boyfriend was bad enough, but now you're even hitting my best friend. This is the last straw!" Angrily grabbing Lin Miaoke's hair, Song Xinxin dragged her toward the wall.
Turning to stand right in front of her, Song Xinxin rained blows upon her face and body.
Lin Miaoke could only hurl curses at Song Xinxin while emitting miserable screams.
Yuan Lai was paralyzed with terror by this sudden turn of events, staring blankly at the people before him.
Just as he was trying to process the plot and figure out where things had gone wrong, a slap descended from the heavens. Before he could react, the blow landed squarely across his face.
"You still want to help? Your opponent is me!" Li Xuan, having broken free from the restraint, unleashed a barrage of attacks on him.
While Li Xuan was tearing into the bewildered Yuan Lai, Song Xinxin suddenly threw herself in front of him. Tearfully, she pleaded with Li Xuan, "It's not his fault, please don't hit him."
Li Xuan looked at the suddenly appearing Song Xinxin in utter bewilderment, her gaze severe yet filled with lingering pity—like a deeply disappointed mother shaking her head helplessly at Song Xinxin.
Yuan Lai, still dazed from the beating, found the whole situation mind-boggling. Their previous violent rampage against him and Lin Miaoke could still be written off as unreasonable, vengeful tantrums, and he could have maintained his devoted-lover persona afterward. But Song Xinxin's kneeling completely cut off any retreat for his devoted-lover image.
Yuan Lai stood frozen, his brain completely short-circuited.
At that moment, Song Xinxin cupped his swollen, bruised face and said emotionally, "I know a year's time has already made you sick of me. Perhaps, as you said, you are as brilliant as the stars while I am merely a tiny, lonely lamp—completely unworthy of being with you. My presence will only hold back your future. Since that is the case, I am willing to let you go. So that you can have a better future, I have decided to bury this heavy love for you in my heart forever... Yuan Lai... you're free..." By the end, she was shedding genuine tears, masterfully acting out the agony of a heartbreaking separation.
Song Xinxin's superb acting nearly fooled everyone present.
For a split second, Yuan Lai felt an inexplicable twinge of guilt, feeling a pang of reluctance to lose Song Xinxin's affection.
He suddenly wanted to explain, but how could accomplished facts be explained away with just a few words? Moreover, the devoted persona he had worked so hard to build had now been snatched away by Song Xinxin. This kind of self-sacrificing, heartbreaking devotion seemed far more likely to win the pity of others than the magnanimous, broad-minded persona he had originally envisioned.
For the sake of his persona, he decided to make one last desperate gamble. He reached out to touch Song Xinxin's hand and wept, "Xinxin, you have to believe me. There is truly nothing between Lin Miaoke and me. Even if there was, it was Lin Miaoke who seduced me! My heart belongs to you alone, unwavering and unchanged for a lifetime."
The moment Yuan Lai's hand touched hers, Song Xinxin felt physically sick to her stomach, but in order to pull off this performance, she desperately fought down her revulsion. Weeping, she said tenderly, "Really? Is everything you're saying true?" Her expression was like that of a pious pilgrim kneeling before a Buddha—full of desperate faith yet riddled with uncertainty.