Chapter 174

Before going on stage, Lu Yan He and Yan Liang frequently looked at Li Zhibai.

Li Zhibai noticed their gazes, waved his hand, and said, "Don't mind me, I'm fine."

"Are you really fine?" Yan Liang muttered.

Li Zhibai forced a smile that looked worse than crying.

Lu Yan He: "You'd better not smile. If you go on stage with that expression, your trending ranking will go even higher."

The smile on Li Zhibai's face vanished, and he pursed his lips.

But Li Zhibai was still Li Zhibai; by the moment they went on stage, he had finally adjusted his emotional state.

"I won't be the one to drop the ball for you guys. If you drop the ball, don't blame me."

Lu Yan He and the others: "..."

Who was that jerk who had been pulling a long face for nearly an hour?!

Watching the five youths coordinate perfectly on stage, setting off wave after wave of heat, Vice President Ma's gaze was somewhat gloomy.

He had nothing to do at home tonight, so he was watching this gala.

However, the performance of these artists from his company was completely inconsistent with his expectations.

Lu Yan He and the others, who had previously been heavily suppressed, all performed excellently in their individual segments. Even without being there in person, one could see how good the effect was through the video. Especially the five of them performing "Dream-Chasing Youth" together—this song was the only group track they had, and they had sung it over and over again these past few years. Even he had heard it countless times and was long since sick of it, yet tonight it featured a brand-new arrangement and a brand-new stage design that made people's eyes light up.

Meanwhile, the most popular group, MX, had hit a Waterloo, making frequent mistakes.

It seems recent events have greatly affected their state.

Vice President Ma's eyes were dark, and he remained silent for a long time.

Regarding Ma Zhiyuan, he had indeed thought for a long time.

Including many things Lin Suyang had said to him, and including his proposal yesterday.

Should he really do that?

The performance of "Dream-Chasing Youth" was a success.

The brand-new arrangement and stage design were very popular after going online. After the performance video was uploaded, the view count broke one million in less than half an hour.

Li Zhibai's terrible mood also improved after the performance, and he no longer kept a gloomy face and refused to speak.

As soon as he got off stage, Li Zhibai slightly raised his chin, glanced at them sideways, and said, "Look at how worried you all were before going on stage. Did I ever need you to worry?"

"Awesome, awesome," Yan Liang said immediately.

Cheng Hai nodded with a smile, "It's still you."

Lu Yan He nodded and said, "Indeed, it's still you."

Li Zhibai raised his chin, shook his head, and the corners of his mouth curled up triumphantly.

With this, all their performances were over, and they could go back.

They went back to the dressing room to remove their makeup first; otherwise, if they did it themselves back home, with all the hairspray and miscellaneous things, it would be very hard to clean off.

Chen Ziyan and Zhou Ping'an were both waiting for them in the dressing room.

Seeing them return, Chen Ziyan clapped and said, "You performed well just now, much better than the performances I've seen from you before. A week of intensive training was still useful."

The youths' smiles were radiant.

Li Zhibai had also been smiling, but after seeing Zhou Ping'an, the smile on his face vanished.

On purpose.

At this moment, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in," Chen Ziyan said.

A tall man opened the door and entered, calling out "Sister Ziyan."

Chen Ziyan picked up her bag and said, "We're getting ready to leave. It's too late, I can't stay up anymore. Chen Gang will take you back in a while."

She turned to look at Zhou Ping'an: "Are you leaving? Anyway, these kids live together, Chen Gang can drop you off on the way."

"Fine." Zhou Ping'an nodded, glanced at Li Zhibai, Cheng Hai, and the others, and said, "I'm leaving too."

After Chen Ziyan and Zhou Ping'an left, Li Zhibai immediately sneered, "Who cares if he leaves or not."

Cheng Hai patted Li Zhibai on the shoulder and said, "In front of everyone, you really shouldn't go against him like that. It's not like you don't know how much he cares about his face. He was only fifty percent angry before, now he's at a hundred."

Li Zhibai: "He's still angry? I'm not even angry."

He knitted his brows, "I must get to the bottom of this matter, whether that person who used the laser pointer to shine into my eyes is really Ma Zhiyuan's fan."

Although the execution of tonight's gala was a mess, it was a very successful gala for Polar Light.

The total number of online live viewers broke 80 million, and the peak concurrent viewership reached 63 million.

As soon as the gala ended, Hou Jun received the complete data for tonight's live broadcast.

Polar Light's executives all sent him congratulatory letters.

Hou Jun looked at it carefully. Among the peak viewership numbers tonight, besides the few top-tier stars which were expected, what surprised him was that Lu Yan He's impromptu interview segment actually reached the 50 million viewer range.

In this era of data, nothing is more intuitive than data.

There were only 13 programs with over 50 million concurrent viewers, and only three with over 60 million, one of which was MX.

"Dream-Chasing Youth" fell a bit short, with only over 56 million.

A popular group is still a popular group.

However, this also exceeded Hou Jun's expectations.

Polar Light Video was going to make a battle report.

Nowadays, all kinds of galas and programs like to make battle reports. First, to build momentum for their own programs and increase bargaining chips for subsequent series; second, to satisfy shareholders by creating various topics and trends to raise the stock market's confidence in the group; third, to make advertisers pay up—look, the data is so good, hurry up and settle the final payment, don't drag it out.

For this gala, the data in all aspects was very good. Hou Jun instructed the person in charge to single out and praise the programs that broke 50 million concurrent viewers.

Upon this calculation, they were surprised to find that Lu Yan He actually had three programs with over 50 million viewers, tied for first place.

The person in charge asked if they should put Lu Yan He together with that other first-place holder?

The other first-place holder was Chen Mo, a top-tier star, who had two solo songs and a lucky draw segment tonight.

To be able to pull a lucky draw segment to 50 million viewers, the top-tier star was indeed worthy of the title.

Hou Jun thought for a moment and said, "Of course, why not?"

Originally, Lu Yan He only had two programs, and that interview segment wasn't even a planned segment; it was to save the show. However, looking at the data, the viewership of that interview segment was even higher than when Lu Yan He sang "Memory," about five million more.

The energy of a college entrance exam sensation.

The battle report was released late at night.

It was so fast that Lu Yan He and the others saw it on their phones before they even got home.

Hou Jun even sent it specifically to Lu Yan He, saying: "Your performance tonight was fantastic. The audience's eyes are sharp."

Lu Yan He was astonished.

The battle report showed the artists who had two programs with over 50 million concurrent viewers; there were only eight in total, including him and Li Zhibai.

Cheng Hai's solo performance was just around 49 million, not breaking 50 million, which was a bit of a pity.

Lu Yan He replied to Hou Jun: Thank you, Director Hou, for inviting me to participate!

Hou Jun: You performed so well tonight, I guess many galas will come to invite you.

Based on Hou Jun's understanding, he thought the first to come would be talk shows.

Lu Yan He could get so much attention from a three-minute interview on stage, so what about recording a whole episode?

Surely many people are interested in Lu Yan He now.

Hou Jun didn't know that while he was just thinking about it here, Peng Zhixing had already sent a message to Lu Yan He: Little Lu, any interest in coming to play on my show?

Peng Zhixing had just graduated not long ago and was also a contracted host for Polar Light Video.

But because of his good image and outstanding ability, Polar Light Video invested heavily in his development. Besides hosting opportunities for galas like tonight, they also specifically launched a talk show for him to provide supporting interview promotion for film and television works released on Polar Light Video.

After their brief contact tonight, Peng Zhixing left quite a deep impression on Lu Yan He.

Because hosts easily give people a feeling of being stiff, pretentious, and unapproachable, especially young hosts who just graduated from professional schools, but Peng Zhixing gave Lu Yan He a particularly sunny and cheerful feeling, and his professional ability was very strong.

Being interviewed impromptu was sudden, but the host who shouldered this impromptu interview task was even more sudden.

In a critical moment, Peng Zhixing didn't drop the ball at all.

His hands were shaking a little, but his voice couldn't tell at all; he was calm, generous, and handled it with ease.

This also gave Lu Yan He and Peng Zhixing a friendship of overcoming difficulties together.

Lu Yan He remembered Chen Ziyan telling him not to casually accept interviews about his college entrance exam scores.

He took a screenshot and sent it to Chen Ziyan, asking if he could go on Peng Zhixing's show.

Chen Ziyan asked: Do you want to go?

Lu Yan He said: Brother Xing took good care of me today, and he invited me to his show. I feel bad not going.

Chen Ziyan: Then go. The scores have been out for so long, it's time to make a response.

Lu Yan He: Okay!

He immediately replied to Peng Zhixing: I asked my agent, it's okay. Thank you, Brother Xing, for inviting me!

Peng Zhixing: Then I'll prepare well and strive to let more viewers see our talk show episode.

"Lu Yan He had so many viewers when he performed?!"

Seeing this data online, Xu Wei Yang exclaimed in disbelief.

Xu Wei Yang also participated in today's gala. She sang three songs, and the average viewership was only about 20 million, which was at the middle level among all the gala guest performers.

But Xu Wei Yang herself was already very satisfied. She wasn't some popular singer and couldn't compare with MX and the others, but she didn't expect that she couldn't even compare to Lu Yan He.

Her agent immediately comforted her: "He's very popular recently. Why are you comparing yourself to him right now? 657 points on the college entrance exam—this score will let him be proud for a while longer. It's exactly when everyone is curious and interested in him, but the 'straight-A student' persona won't last long. Chasing stars isn't chasing straight-A students."

Xu Wei Yang said: "But he's not just a straight-A student, he's also a straight-A student who looks very handsome. Now I'm going to get slapped in the face."

Previously, when she was recording "Small Song Gathering," she had publicly mocked Lu Yan He's grades.

At the time, she was also squeezed by Yan Liang and Qin Zhi together, losing face.

The agent also remembered this.

She said: "This will probably become a stain on you that can't be washed away, but this kind of stain is harmless. It's not a big problem; at most, you'll be ridiculed for it."

"It's too embarrassing." Xu Wei Yang pouted.

Agent: "You're all still young, what are you afraid of being embarrassed about? Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west. His talent for singing isn't as good as yours. You sing well, and one day you'll be big and popular."

"You have so much confidence in me?"

"If I didn't have much confidence in you, why would I manage you?" the agent said. "Sing well and just do your own thing."

"Hmm." Xu Wei Yang nodded, was silent for a while, and then said: "Do you think I should go and apologize to Lu Yan He?"

"Just apologize when you see him later. I told you to apologize back then, but you wouldn't. Now that more than half a year has passed, and seeing that he's popular now, if you go to apologize, it will make you look too snobbish."

"I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I didn't use my brain when I mocked him, and I regretted it after the show was recorded. You know me, I just habitually like to mock others."

"I told you long ago to control that mouth of yours." The agent couldn't help but roll her eyes at her, "What's the use of regretting it after saying it."

"Sigh."

After this night, there were even more discussions about Lu Yan He.

There were also more people contacting Lu Yan He on social media. Many people got his phone number from who knows where, sent him messages, and even called him. Later on, Lu Yan He stopped answering missed calls.

This gala contributed too many topics to the internet.

Just these few people alone created several very high-heat topics.

By the next day, the incident of Li Zhibai being intentionally shined in the eyes with a laser pointer by Ma Zhiyuan's fans became the number one trending search.

The matter involved two popular idol artists, so many people were paying attention, and the fans of the two were arguing like crazy.

Ma Zhiyuan's fans defended their idol, first saying there was no evidence that the person was Ma Zhiyuan's fan, and that it was all just rumors now. They also said that even if it were a fan, it was just an extreme individual and couldn't represent all of Ma Zhiyuan's fans, let alone Ma Zhiyuan himself.

Li Zhibai's fans, of course, wouldn't have it. How could they accept this attitude of pushing things onto individuals whenever something happened? They started arguing directly.

When idol artists' fans start arguing, the scene is about the same as an army of thousands fighting.

Li Zhibai had originally gotten up late in the morning, but at nine o'clock, his phone rang. In his groggy state, he saw it was actually a call from Zhou Ping'an and hung up directly.

Didn't want to answer.

He was still holding a grudge from last night.

After a while, Yan Liang came to knock on the door.

"Li Zhibai, Zhou Ping'an asked me to wake you up and tell you to call him back."

"Tell him to go eat shit!" Li Zhibai said irritably.

Yan Liang sighed, opened the door directly, and walked in.

Li Zhibai was sprawled on the bed, hugging a pillow. Just looking at his face, you could see the words "not awake yet."

"It's about the laser pointer. Your fans and Ma Zhiyuan's fans are fighting." Yan Liang said helplessly, "You'd better call him back. I looked at the situation online, and your two fan bases are almost fighting."

Some fans even ran under his Weibo, asking him to control Li Zhibai's fans and not let them bite people like mad dogs.

Yan Liang was furious; he was the one who suffered an unprovoked disaster.

He suppressed his temper and continued to persuade: "If things really blow up, your fans will get hurt too."

Only then did Li Zhibai impatiently open his eyes, looking at him with an unhappy face, his eyes still bleary.

"Call Zhou Ping'an back." Yan Liang emphasized this sentence and turned to leave.

Li Zhibai sat up very unhappily, picked up his phone, and called Zhou Ping'an.

After a while.

Li Zhibai's voice roared from his room: "Let me pretend to be friends with Ma Zhiyuan on Weibo and show off our friendship? Let me appease my fans? Do you think I'll agree? I don't care how he gets scolded, it's none of my business! He makes money for you, not for me! Tell him to go eat shit!"

Li Zhibai roared the last sentence, and then there was no sound.

Yan Liang silently covered his face.

Sure enough, with a stomp, Li Zhibai rushed out of the room.

"Fuck his Zhou Ping'an, he actually asked me to appease my fans? I'm sick if I go to appease them!" Li Zhibai came out with a head full of bird's nest hair. Seeing the living room empty, he immediately rushed to Yan Liang's room, burst in, and scolded, "If Zhou Ping'an calls you again, you scold him back for me, tell him to act like a human!"

Yan Liang took a deep breath.

"Is he asking you to take this loss?" Yan Liang asked.

"Heh, yeah!" Li Zhibai gritted his teeth, "I think this jerk is ten to one going to take over Ma Zhiyuan. Damn it, if I let him succeed, I'm not surnamed Li."

"Whatever your surname is, you can scold Zhou Ping'an, scold Ma Zhiyuan, but don't go on Weibo to vent your emotions, and don't make any comments or likes." Yan Liang warned, "Then you'll be adding fuel to the fire, and you'll get dragged into it, getting covered in dust."

"Let me tell you, I really wish I could post a Weibo right now and scold Zhou Ping'an, this jerk, to death!" Li Zhibai was furious.

After venting for a long time, the only audience was Yan Liang. Li Zhibai finally came to his senses, "Where's Lu Yan He?"

Yan Liang said: "He has an appointment at noon today, he went out early in the morning."

"He has an appointment at noon, why go out so early?" Li Zhibai asked, "Is he planning to walk to the appointment?"

Yan Liang couldn't laugh or cry, saying: "You're so angry right now that every word out of your mouth is full of fire."

Li Zhibai yawned.

"Calling me early in the morning, only a ghost wouldn't have fire." Li Zhibai finished, then added, "Let alone for this shitty matter."

He didn't care why Lu Yan He went out so early either.

"No, I have to sleep a bit more." Saying that, he went back to his room.

At this very moment, Lu Yan He was wandering around the mall, thinking about buying a gift for Chen Siqi.

Actually, it was quite strange to give a gift at this time; there was no legitimate reason. A graduation gift?

It sounded a bit aimless, and it wasn't like girls giving each other a keepsake because they were reluctant to part.

But Lu Yan He still thought about buying a gift for Chen Siqi.

It was both a thank you for helping him with the arrangement at the time and a graduation gift.

Lu Yan He wandered around for a long time without seeing anything suitable.

Finally, after thinking for a long time, he decided to give a pair of headphones.

Although Chen Siqi surely had some herself.

Electronic products like this always need to be updated.

Lu Yan He bought Chen Siqi a pair of the latest bone-conduction headphones, costing a little over a thousand.

After buying the gift, Lu Yan He breathed a sigh of relief.

Having finished one thing, he just waited to meet Chen Siqi later.

As a result, just as he came out of the store, he was stopped by two girls who looked like students.

"You're Lu Yan He, right?"

"Can we take a picture with you?"

The two girls looked at Lu Yan He with starry eyes.

Lu Yan He was stunned. Being stopped, what could he do? Of course, he could only agree.

When taking the photo, Lu Yan He smiled slightly.

The two girls' cheeks flushed slightly, and they couldn't help but be excited.

"Are you shopping by yourself?" the girl asked.

Lu Yan He nodded, "I'm leaving now."

"Bye-bye."

Lu Yan He hadn't walked two steps before he was stopped again.

It was another young girl.

Lu Yan He realized something was wrong.

He usually went out a lot and was occasionally recognized, but he hadn't been recognized so frequently like today.

After the fifth photo ended, Lu Yan He didn't dare to take it lightly anymore and immediately found a store to buy a mask to wear.

After a while, when Lu Yan He was going down the elevator, he heard someone next to him say: "Someone said Lu Yan He is in this mall right now!"

Lu Yan He was startled and subconsciously lowered his head.

Fortunately, the person speaking didn't seem to realize Lu Yan He was right beside her and didn't notice him.

Lu Yan He reached the first floor, hurried toward the nearest exit, and left the mall.

Lu Yan He headed straight for a bookstore in front.

Nowadays, many bookstores are in the model of selling books + selling coffee.

At ten in the morning, there weren't many people shopping in the business district.

The bookstore was even more so.

After Lu Yan He went in, he walked straight to the bookshelf.

Behind the bookshelf, he took off his mask.

In such hot weather, he started sweating after wearing the mask for a while.

Very uncomfortable.

Lu Yan He breathed a sigh of relief, let himself gradually calm down, and looked up to find books on the shelf.

The last time he came to a bookstore was when he was out with Li Pengfei. Now bookstores are becoming fewer and fewer, and bookstores are becoming more refined and bourgeois. Books have instead become a gimmick and atmosphere, mainly selling drinks and snacks. Lu Yan He wandered around, picked two books, went to pay, and then ordered a cup of coffee and found a corner to sit down.

Specifically facing away from the door, facing the corner in front, no one could see his face.

Among the books he bought today, one was another novel written by Nian Jin, the author of "Eight Difficulties," which was also a fantasy novel called "Guanyin Statue."

Lu Yan He read the summary, which said: "On his eighteenth birthday, he looked up at the sky and found a huge Guanyin statue appearing before his eyes. Guanyin was originally closing her eyes, but when he looked up, Guanyin slowly opened her eyes. Around him was the bustling street, the noise of people, people rubbing shoulders with each other, lively and crowded, but the moment Guanyin opened her mouth, the whole world lost its color and sound. Only her grand voice was solemn and simple, calling: Wukong."

It looked like a new derivative novel of "Journey to the West."

In this world, "Journey to the West" is still one of the Four Great Classical Novels and is still a classic in everyone's heart.

Although there is no Liu Xiao Ling Tong here, there is also that Sun Wukong in countless people's hearts.

It's just that the actor who played Sun Wukong passed away early, unlike that Teacher Liu, who caused many scandals in his old age, quite having a trend of failing to maintain his integrity in his later years.

Lu Yan He felt that it was good for him to read more novels. Every novel is a different story, and every different story is a different experience, a different feeling.

Lu Yan He felt that his past was too unremarkable, the past of an ordinary person.

At this moment, his phone rang.

It was a message from Chen Siqi: What time are we meeting later?

Lu Yan He glanced at the time; it was already 10:40.

He said: Have you left yet? I'm fine with anything. I'm already nearby. Tell me when you arrive, and I'll come over.

Chen Siqi: Okay.

"What did Ma Zhiyuan do wrong in this matter?!" Two girls were sitting at a table not far away. Although one of the girls lowered her voice, what she said could still reach Lu Yan He's ears.

Hearing a familiar name, Lu Yan He's attention was immediately attracted.

Eavesdropping is certainly not a good habit, but occasionally listening is harmless.

Girl B seemed to disagree with Girl A, saying seriously: "Ma Zhiyuan has no direct fault, but since it has been confirmed that the fan is indeed his fan and not an impostor, shouldn't Ma Zhiyuan come out and make a statement at this time? He is an idol, and the relationship between an idol and fans cannot be separated. He cannot control what his fans do, but he should show a correct attitude, right?"

"It's not his fault at all, why should he make this statement? Li Zhibai's fans are biting people like mad dogs; did Li Zhibai come out to make a statement?"

Lu Yan He silently turned his body to the side.

Sitting in this corner reading a book, he could hear about Ma Zhiyuan and Li Zhibai. It seems last night's incident was a big deal.

Many people are paying attention.

Lu Yan He hadn't looked at the news online and didn't know that the fans of the two had already argued like crazy.

Regardless of who is right or wrong, Lu Yan He already had his own inclination toward the parties involved, so of course, he wouldn't change his attitude because of this.

Not to mention, in Lu Yan He's view, Ma Zhiyuan might not be wrong, but Li Zhibai was definitely a victim.

Lu Yan He felt that the girl was right; no matter what, Ma Zhiyuan should have stood up and made a statement.

He listened silently, holding the book, pretending to be reading, but actually didn't read a single word.

Girl A: "I can't understand why you all have to link fans' behavior to idols. This is not something they can control."

"Not linked, but for the same thing, different people handle it differently." Girl B was also stubborn, unmoved, and continued to explain her point of view, "If it were me, I would make a statement after this happened to restrain my fans from doing such things to hurt others in the future, instead of being a coward, pretending this didn't happen, and pretending this has nothing to do with me."

"This matter has nothing to do with him in the first place."

"Hmm, so this is the difference in our values." Girl B said decisively.

Girl A was a bit exasperated: "Then go find someone with the same values as you to be friends with."

After saying that, Girl A got up angrily and left.

Leaving just like that.

While surprised, Lu Yan He was also astonished.

A pair of friends just had a little argument because of this, and it fell apart?

Does the little boat of friendship have to be so fragile? It capsized just like that.

However, the conversation he heard touched him a little.

What kind of relationship should there be between an idol and fans?

If it were his fans who did such an extreme act, what would he do?

After careful consideration, Lu Yan He felt that he would be the same as what Girl B said. Regardless of whether this matter has anything to do with him, he cannot ignore it. Attitude is a very important thing.

Maybe some people say that fans' behavior cannot be controlled by idols, which is indeed true, but an idol's attitude can affect many things.

He thought silently for a while until 11:37, when Chen Siqi sent him a message: I'm almost there.

Lu Yan He came back to his senses and set off immediately.

This is a business district, but the restaurant for eating is not inside the mall, but in an old residential area across from the mall.

There is a place that makes local dishes, which was recommended to Lu Yan He by Chen Siqi.

Lu Yan He booked a table here.

The best thing about this place is that it has small cubicles.

Two people couldn't sit in a private room, but a small cubicle for four could be used.

Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi arrived almost one after the other.

Chen Siqi was dressed very brilliantly today and even wore makeup.

"Wow." Lu Yan He exclaimed in surprise as soon as he spoke.

Chen Siqi rolled her eyes at him: "Don't be so surprised."

"It is rare; it seems I've never seen you wear makeup."

"Nonsense, didn't I wear it on my birthday?"

"Oh, right."

Chen Siqi: "Congratulations, you got into Zhenhua as you wished."

Lu Yan He was stunned, his eyes widened: "How did you know I applied to Zhenhua?"

Chen Siqi pursed her lips slightly, unable to hide her triumphant smile, "Haven't you noticed that you mention Zhenhua much more often than Yuming? I guessed it. You must like Zhenhua more."

Lu Yan He really hadn't noticed this habit of his.

"You even noticed that."

"How does it feel to become a legend?" Chen Siqi asked.

Lu Yan He: "It doesn't feel like anything, just happy that I did well on the exam."

"Keep pretending." Chen Siqi didn't believe Lu Yan He at all, "You might be hiding from people, crying and laughing."

Lu Yan He remembered the half hour after receiving Liu Qin's call in the rehearsal room.

"... How is that possible." Lu Yan He denied.

Chen Siqi had an expression that she had seen through him long ago.

Lu Yan He hurriedly changed the subject, picked up the paper bag containing the headphones, and handed it to Chen Siqi.

"A gift for you, thank you for helping me with the arrangement." Lu Yan He said, "The fact that my artist career could survive this past year is all thanks to your help with the arrangement."

Chen Siqi took it with some surprise.

"I didn't prepare a gift for you."

Lu Yan He smiled: "It's okay."

Chen Siqi pursed her lips.

At this moment, the waiter came over with the menu, "Would you two like to order now?"

"Yes." Lu Yan He took the menu and handed it to Chen Siqi, "See what you want to eat?"

Chen Siqi looked at the menu, quickly reported a few dish names, and handed the menu back directly, without any intention of being polite.

The waiter had the ambiguous expression of looking at a pair of young lovers in love.

He didn't recognize Lu Yan He and just thought they were a student couple.

One quite handsome, one quite pretty, quite a match.

Chen Siqi said: "That waiter must have taken us for a couple."

Lu Yan He's heartbeat skipped a beat.

He didn't answer for a moment, not knowing what to say.

Chen Siqi looked at him suspiciously instead.

"Why are you stunned?"

Lu Yan He shook his head and denied: "No."

His hands were under the table, scratching his knees, his palms were sweating.

"You—" Lu Yan He hesitated, wanting to beat around the bush.

Chen Siqi suddenly spoke, "But it's normal. It's normal for others to misunderstand when a young and pretty girl like me comes out to eat with you alone."

In terms of self-confidence, Chen Siqi is always far ahead.

Some people might not like her pride, but Lu Yan He has always liked it.

He likes to see Chen Siqi's proud, confident, and haughty appearance.

Lu Yan He smiled.

"I'm planning to go to Jiangguang University." Chen Siqi suddenly said.

This sentence was unexpected, catching Lu Yan He off guard.

"Ah?"

"Jiangguang." Chen Siqi emphasized, "I don't want to stay in Yuming."

Lu Yan He was stunned.

"I've always wanted to leave home, go to a faraway place, get rid of Liu Weian, and try to live alone." Chen Siqi said, "Going to college is my biggest opportunity. They wouldn't let me study abroad. When I wanted to apply to Jiangguang University, they wouldn't let me either, insisting on keeping me in Yuming. I argue with them almost every day."

"You... go to Jiangguang University, does that mean you won't return to Yuming except for winter and summer vacations?"

"Hmm." Chen Siqi nodded, "I don't even want to come back during winter and summer vacations."

At this moment, Lu Yan He felt a sense of blockage for no reason, and some words he wanted to say couldn't come out.

"Okay, then we won't be able to see each other much in the future." Lu Yan He lowered his gaze.

"This is the price I must pay." Chen Siqi looked into Lu Yan He's eyes, "I must leave Yuming, otherwise I will be suppressed by Liu Weian for the rest of my life and won't be able to turn over."

"Hmm, I understand." Lu Yan He nodded.

"You will be busier and busier in the future anyway, where will you have time to meet?" Chen Siqi suddenly said with a smile, "Studying while being an artist, you must be busy every day, not even having time to touch the ground."

"That's true." Lu Yan He's face showed a smile again, "No matter what, I have to congratulate you on successfully realizing your wish."

Chen Siqi: "Not yet, it only counts as confirmed after receiving the admission letter."

"Are you sure?"

"Almost." Chen Siqi nodded, "Should be okay."

"That's good."

Lu Yan He smiled on his face, but his mood sank uncontrollably.

He could only cheer up and talk and laugh with Chen Siqi.

After finishing this lunch, Chen Siqi looked at him and asked: "Are you free this afternoon?"

"Yes, why?"

"Accompany me to watch a movie." Chen Siqi said.

"Okay, what movie do you want to watch?" Lu Yan He took out his phone, ready to buy tickets.

Chen Siqi: "Anything is fine, see what you want to watch."

Lu Yan He: "I don't know what movies are showing recently either."

"Just pick one."

Chen Siqi laughed out loud at him, "Anyway, this is the first movie we've watched together. You have to pick well. If it's not good, you'll remember it ten years later."

Hearing "first one" and "ten years later," Lu Yan He was touched and couldn't help but think more, but he didn't know if Chen Siqi was intentional or unintentional.

He looked at Chen Siqi, and Chen Siqi was also looking at him.

"Why are you looking at me? Pick a movie." Chen Siqi said with a smile.

Lu Yan He lowered his head, still unable to hold back his smile.

"You can't blame me if you pick a bad one; it's you who refused to pick."