They were all anxious, so they walked quickly towards the drama club.

The heavy wooden door to the rehearsal room was ajar. As soon as it was pushed open, Wang Lina was seen standing on the small stage that had been temporarily set up in the center of the rehearsal room.

She wore a well-tailored dark red cheongsam that accentuated her tall and slender figure.

The dim light shone on her, making her face appear snow-white. Her expression was as cold as ice, yet her eyes revealed an indescribable determination and suppressed madness.

The room was quiet, and everyone's eyes were focused on her.

Why are you ignoring me?

Her voice wasn't loud, but it was cold and harsh, piercing everyone's ears.

Are you afraid of me? Do you loathe me? Or have you—had a change of heart?

The last few words were almost squeezed out through clenched teeth, conveying a strong sense of hatred and self-mockery.

Ye Linchen and his three companions, who were about to rush in, stopped abruptly in their tracks.

They all looked up at the stage at the same time, stunned by Wang Lina's performance, and for a moment forgot what they were there for.

They had never seen Wang Lina like this before.

The usually cheerful, proud, and even somewhat spoiled Shanghai girl seemed like a completely different person at this moment, exuding a sense of history.

At that moment, a tall boy dressed in black noticed the commotion at the doorway from the side of the rehearsal room.

He took two steps over and rudely stretched out his arm to block their way.

"What are you doing here? This is an internal rehearsal; unauthorized personnel are not allowed in."

He looked the group up and down, clearly impatient.

Ye Linchen nodded to him and politely explained, "Hello, we are Wang Lina's roommates. We have something very important to discuss with her."

Upon hearing that he was looking for Wang Lina, the boy in black frowned even more deeply.

"You can't disturb them during rehearsals, that's the rule."

"Whatever it is, let's talk about it after she finishes rehearsal and goes back to her dorm. Don't disturb everyone here."

“But things are really urgent!” Lin Xiaojuan couldn’t help but interject.

The boy's face darkened, and he was about to explode when another girl, who had noticed the commotion, walked over.

The girl was wearing a training uniform and had her hair tied in a neat ponytail. Her gaze lingered on Ye Linchen's face for a moment, and a knowing look flashed in her eyes.

She patted the boy in black on the arm and said calmly, "Senior brother, leave this to me. You go ahead and get busy. I roughly know why they came."

The boy in black was clearly hesitant, but after seeing the girl's determined expression, he reluctantly nodded in the end, and before leaving, he didn't forget to glare at Ye Linchen and the others.

The girl with the ponytail waited until he was far away before turning her attention back to Ye Linchen and the others.

Her attitude wasn't cold, but it certainly wasn't enthusiastic either. She just looked at them calmly and spoke softly.

"Hello, you must be Ye Linchen, right? My name is Shen Jiayu, and I am the vice president of the drama club."

Ye Linchen nodded: "Hello, you just said you knew why we came?"

"Yes. You've heard the rumors about you and Wang Lina, right? I understand how you feel right now. Anyone would find it hard to stand being slandered like that."

She paused for a moment: "But I hope you won't tell Wang Lina at this time."

Ye Linchen frowned slightly: "Why can't we tell her? This concerns her reputation; she has the right to know."

Shen Jiayu sighed: "Of course I understand. But right now, we're in the preparation period for the performance, and Wang Lina is very nervous. You may not know this, but not only will school leaders be attending the performance, but casting directors from several well-known performing arts companies will also be there."

"Although Wang Lina is not a student at the drama academy, she has an outstanding appearance and temperament, and her acting potential is very high. She has been the focus of our club's training. This is a rare opportunity for her, and she may be selected to embark on a professional acting career."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xuemei immediately frowned and spoke with some dissatisfaction.

"So you mean that Wang Lina might become a star in the future, and how well she performs on stage is more important than her personal reputation?"

Shen Jiayu looked at her: "It's not that one is more important than the other, but at this critical juncture, any emotional fluctuation could affect her. She's been rehearsing for so long, and it's only with great difficulty that she's finally gotten into character. If she finds out now that she's involved in rumors, and her mind wavers, and something goes wrong, who will be responsible?"

Feng Linlin couldn't help but ask, "So what do we do now? We can't keep it from Wang Lina forever, can we? Let her know nothing?"

Shen Jiayu shook her head and said, "It's not that I don't want to tell her, it's just that I won't tell her for now. I'll tell her as soon as the performance is over."

Ye Linchen looked at her: "There are still five days until the performance. The rumors have spread throughout the school in just three days, and now even the stadium is covered in flyers. If it drags on for another five days, who knows how bad things will get? Will we still be able to keep it a secret then?"

She said firmly, "I will find out who is behind this, who is printing leaflets and spreading rumors. I can keep it from Wang Lina for now, but you have to cooperate with my investigation."

Shen Jiayu pondered for a moment, then nodded: "Okay, I'll definitely cooperate if I can help."

Ye Linchen thought for a moment and asked his question: "Since this performance is so important and the female lead has such a big role, is it possible that someone is jealous of Wang Lina and is deliberately spreading rumors to make her perform badly?"

“Impossible,” Shen Jiayu replied quickly. “Wang Lina’s role was chosen by a vote, unanimously approved, with no objections. After the incident, our entire club did its best to protect her from the impact. If it were really done by someone from within our organization, it would have been exposed long ago after three days.”

Feng Linlin frowned: "That's hard to say. What if that person is deliberately hiding it, waiting for the most crucial moment to strike, just to suddenly tell Wang Lina something before she goes on stage, completely disrupting her emotions?"

“Impossible.” Shen Jiayu’s attitude was firm. “I will stay with her the whole day of the performance. Even if it’s true that it’s just rumors spread by people in the troupe, I won’t let them have a chance to get close to her.”

Ye Linchen didn't delve any deeper and changed the subject: "Wang Lina said she met a man from the steel factory at a dance outside of school. Do you know who he is?"

"You mean Liu Mingxuan?" Shen Jiayu said. "I didn't go to that dance. I've only heard the name, but I've never seen him. I'm not sure if he works at the steel mill. I don't know what kind of private relationship the two of them had afterward. Anyway, Wang Lina never brought him to our club."

Shen Jiayu rattled off a long string of words, trying her best to make everyone understand that she didn't know Liu Mingxuan at all.

Ye Linchen's eyes darted around her face, as if trying to discern the truthfulness of her words.

"Okay, I understand."

After she finished speaking, Ye Linchen nodded, turned around and walked out of the drama club.

The other three quickly chased after them.

As Lin Xuemei walked, she asked, "What do we do now? The drama club is so wary of us, how can we continue the investigation?"

Lin Xiaojuan said in a low voice, "I always feel that there's something wrong with Shen Jiayu. It's like she's hiding something. Maybe the flyers were printed by someone in their gang, maybe even by her."

"I think I know who did it," Ye Linchen said confidently.