Chapter 79

He suddenly remembered who Chen Nuo was, and he even suddenly understood why Jiang Yan, Xu Lingxue, and Chen Shu were acting so strangely today.

Luo Jin shouted, "So you guys..." He was dumbfounded, the words on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't get the rest of the sentence out.

Xu Lingxue pulled Chen Shu's hand and said, "Alright, since you guys aren't busy, we're leaving. Bye."

They walked away arm in arm. Luo Jin watched their backs, various emotions surging in his heart. He only felt that this world was so worldly, so sycophantic, and couldn't help but curse, "Fuck."

He looked at Jiang Yan again: "You're not leaving?"

Jiang Yan frowned again, displeased: "Luo Jin, what are you saying? Why would I leave? If I leave, are you going to receive the freshmen by yourself?"

Luo Jin slapped his forehead, "I was muddled by those two women. Hey, wait, you dressed up so carefully today, weren't you also trying to find that Chen Nuo?"

Jiang Yan was suddenly very angry and said loudly, "Luo Jin, are you sick? What's wrong with me dressing up? I dressed up because I'm happy looking at myself, is that not allowed? What does it have to do with anyone else?"

Being yelled at by her, Luo Jin's original momentum vanished, and he said ingratiatingly, "Oh, I know, I didn't mean that, I just said it casually, don't take it seriously."

Jiang Yan snorted, "With that mouth of yours, sometimes no girl can stand what you say! No wonder you can't find a girlfriend."

Luo Jin chuckled, "Yes, yes, yes, I'll slap my mouth for you."

"Slap, slap." Luo Jin really slapped himself twice.

Jiang Yan couldn't help but smile, "Forget it, spare me that act."

Luo Jin also laughed, "Alright, don't be angry anymore."

It was nearing noon, and no more freshmen were coming.

The two sat behind the table chatting, waiting for the time to eat. After a while, Luo Jin received a phone call, so he stood up and walked to the side to answer it. He didn't see that behind him, Jiang Yan, who had been texting, slowly raised her head, her dazed gaze falling on the register.

Chen Nuo went to register as a freshman so early that day because he was only back in Beijing for a day and a half, and he had to fly back the next night. His schedule was extremely full.

Although they were rushing in Zhejiang, his scenes still hadn't been finished. Yu Min said there were about ten days left and suggested he go to school to register, then ask for leave, skip military training, and go back to finish the filming.

Besides school matters, he also had to pick up a car and shoot an advertisement.

Picking up the car was naturally the 740Li that Chen Bicheng had bought for him before the New Year. After half a year of waiting, this "son-pit" boss car had finally crossed the ocean to Beijing. Qi Yuntian was quite excited about this because Chen Nuo still didn't have a driver's license, so who would be driving this car? That went without saying.

Chen Nuo had originally planned to keep this car at the studio.

As a freshman, if he dared to drive this kind of car to school to urge his classmates to work hard, his reputation would be ruined on the first day.

Moreover, the small studio run by a small actor was currently in the midst of breaking through thorns and thistles; having better equipment meant not losing face when going out, and it might also lead to more opportunities.

For example, advertisements.

Chen Nuo and Qi Yuntian had discussed that they could take more advertisements, try not to take TV dramas, and take movies as they saw fit. In general, he had to go to school for the next four years, but he couldn't stop making money. Qi Yuntian had been running around quite actively these days, and his business capabilities had improved. The advertisement he was going to shoot tomorrow was a new job Qi Yuntian had secured.

Two years of endorsements plus two TV commercials, totaling 600,000. For the current Chen Nuo, the cost-performance ratio was not low. It was just that the product was a bit strange: diapers.

Of course, compared to later male celebrities endorsing sanitary napkins, or even having to produce sanitary napkins themselves, diapers were nothing.

The reason this manufacturer chose Chen Nuo was that the boss had watched *The Zhang Zhang Yaba* and liked Chen Nuo very much. Later, after seeing some of Chen Nuo's photos and public opinion online, and under Hearing Qi Yuntian instigation, he was very optimistic about Chen Nuo's influence among young married women.

Chen Nuo had originally been a bit hesitant about diapers, but once he heard the price, he nodded involuntarily.

Still the same saying: to make a living, don't talk about diapers; as long as the money is enough, sanitary napkins aren't impossible. It's not like no one has done it before.

There was actually still money in the studio's account.

The salaries from *Return of the Condor Heroes* and *Perhaps Love*, plus the big red envelope Zhang Yiyi gave him after *The Zhang Zhang Yaba* finished its run, now added up to nearly 2 million. He could get a dividend at the end of the year, which would be enough for him to pay back the car money to Chen Bicheng.

The BMW sales manager had already called Chen Bicheng many times. The originally agreed-upon pickup time was September 1st, but it had actually arrived at the store in August, and Chen Bicheng had already paid the full amount; it was just that Chen Nuo hadn't had time to pick it up.

At the beginning, Chen Bicheng had haggled with the manager for a long time over whether the delivery time was a month early or late. Facts proved that all cars that negotiate delivery times with you are doing so for hunger marketing.

The 4S store had originally prepared a quite grand ceremony, with beauties, flowers, and filming, but in the end, it was all vetoed by Chen Nuo.

When Chen Nuo and Qi Yuntian arrived at the store, it was one o'clock in the afternoon. There was no one in the store, and the sales manager and two sales staff were standing at the door with smiles on their faces to welcome them. After skipping the ceremony, the pickup procedures were relatively simple. In about half an hour, Qi Yuntian drove the 740Li out of the 4S store gate.

"A good car is just different; it's much more comfortable than my broken Mazda. This acceleration from a standstill, tsk tsk, fast and stable. It's different, really different. A car worth over a million—just touching it makes me feel like I've earned it. Stepping on the gas pedal feels like stepping on RMB, soft yet firm," Qi Yuntian said with a grin while sitting in the driver's seat.

"The G-Wagon is more expensive than this car; why didn't you have so much to say when you drove it last time?"

Qi Yuntian said, "Because that car belongs to someone else. By the way, did you see my mom when you went to register this morning?"

Chen Nuo nodded, "Of course I did, and I also met a school leader."

When meeting the vice director surnamed Liu in Li Er's office, Chen Nuo always felt the other party's attitude was strange. He even mentioned an interview once. At first, Chen Nuo thought he was talking about the one with Channel 6, but it turned out to be the interview with Beijing TV that he had done with Yang Mi on the day of the preliminary exam.

Vice Director Liu was quite old and told Chen Nuo very kindly and gently that Beijing TV had tampered with that interview, conducting malicious editing to deliberately provoke the relationship between Chen Nuo and the school. Fortunately, the school leaders discovered the problem in time, made the other party correct it, and even sent an official letter of apology.

Vice Director Liu carried the official letter with him, showed it to Chen Nuo, and finally patted him on the shoulder, looking as if he were comforting him.

In this warm atmosphere, Chen Nuo's request for leave went quite smoothly.

Vice Director Liu said he would report back to the leaders, and there shouldn't be any major problems, implying that he would take care of this matter.

Chen Nuo immediately had a much better impression of the Film Academy's leaders, feeling that it wasn't at all like what was said online—that there were many dark secrets and everything depended on connections.

Chen Nuo didn't know that after he walked out of Li Er's office with satisfaction, a boy who had been standing in the office said to the teacher in front of him: "He can ask for leave, why can't I?"

The female teacher didn't even look up and said, "If you go to Berlin and win an award, you can too."

The boy walked out of the office indignantly, spat on the ground, and cursed in a low voice: "It's all fucking dark secrets, all fucking connections!"

(End of chapter)