Chapter 53 New Roommate: "I love her, I love her to death."

"I keep her in the most passionate corner of my heart. Whenever she appears before me, my entire heart is ablaze with wildfire."

Second semester of sophomore year, Communication University of China, Second Teaching Building.

Jiang Yan absentmindedly held a pen and drew red hearts on the textbook.

In the warm spring of March, the branches outside the window already showed signs of spring, unlike the barren cold of winter. Her heart was still shrouded in the long, harsh winter of the capital, yet it was also touched by the restlessness of spring.

She switched to a black pen, hid the book behind her arm, and quietly wrote "QL" repeatedly in the blank space of a certain page.

This person was like a fire, burning away all the dampness in her life, but bringing even more fear.

For example, he didn't even dare to write her name.

Writing so much inevitably attracts attention, and the girl sharing the table next to me asked curiously, "Who is QL?"

Jiang Yan smiled flawlessly: "Qilin."

"Wu Qilin from Class 3?" The girl nodded. "He's quite handsome."

A blind cat stumbled upon a dead mouse.

She's also the Azure Dragon.

The teacher coughed and said, "Students, you're all in university now. No one will be watching over you anymore. Whether you succeed on this path depends entirely on your self-discipline. I'm not asking anything of you, but at least don't talk!"

The girl sharing the table quickly shut her mouth.

Jiang Yan was still in a daze, vaguely feeling that the teacher had said a long string of words, and then the girl who was sharing the table with her suddenly nudged her, and everyone around looked over.

"They're calling you," the girl whispered.

Jiang Yan stood up and smiled first. Her smile was very friendly and well-behaved.

The teacher said in a roundabout way: "...Student, good looks alone won't get you anywhere. If your basic knowledge isn't solid, you'll just be called expressionless once you're in the industry."

Jiang Yan continued to smile obediently and nod.

The teacher adjusted his glasses: "I won't give you a difficult test. Just tell me about Shakespeare's four great tragedies."

Jiang Yan was the best at reciting: "The four great tragedies refer to the four famous tragedies by the English playwright Shakespeare, namely Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and King Lear..."

When it was time to eat, she packed a portion of grass at the cafeteria and carried the bag back to her dormitory building.

She lives in Building 1, Unit 2, Room 405.

The key is left in the door. Actually, everyone takes it out and puts it on the door frame when they leave, pretending no one can see it.

Jiang Yan pushed open the door and entered. She paused for a moment. Her roommate, Li Xiaoyi, was sitting at the table watching a drama. She greeted her when she saw her return. A suitcase stood against the wall, and a strange figure was making up the bed opposite hers.

Hearing the voice, he looked over and saw a very familiar face: "Hello, my name is Yun Chui, and I'm moving to room 405 starting today."

"Hello, my name is Jiang Yan, nice to meet you."

Jiang Yan said dryly, but she was actually overjoyed inside.

Oh my god! Qin Lan's friend moved into her dorm! What does this mean? This means...

Okay, she knew that Qin Lan didn't usually live in the dormitory.

Naturally, they wouldn't come to visit.

She didn't know much about Qin Lan's friends, but since they were making up the beds, she might stay there.

She was very excited, but she didn't want to show it in the dormitory, so she put down the grass and ran two laps around the small playground.

When she returned, she took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Yun Chui was still making the bed there.

I struggled very clumsily with the duvet cover.

This person stood there with an air of great refinement, tall and elegant, dressed in an extremely fitted outfit, clearly incredibly expensive. The stark contrast between his long, slender, white fingers and the messy bedsheet made it obvious at a glance that he had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

Jiang Yan walked over with restraint, extended her hand with composure, and asked in a dramatic, high-pitched voice, "Do you need any help?"

Good heavens, that's so deliberate.

But Yun Chui felt as if he had been granted a pardon and immediately handed her a piece of the blanket: "If it's convenient, could you pull this end for me? I'll crawl in and take a look."

Jiang Yan quickly dissuaded her from that idea: "Put it down, I'll do it."

Yun Chui insisted that the two of them do it together. His good manners made Li Xiaoyi, who was watching the drama, glance at him frequently, and even look at him with a lovestruck expression.

Jiang Yan pushed her head back to prevent her from distracting Yun Chui from liking her: "Go watch your drama."

The blanket in Yun Chui was really strange. Jiang Yan fumbled around for a long time before she was able to smooth it out evenly.

Then she "casually" helped Yun Chui pack the rest of the luggage. Yun Chui was polite to her repeatedly, but in the end he couldn't stop her, so he said he would treat her to a meal.

See? Goodwill has increased.

From then on, their relationship gradually warmed up, leading Li Xiaoyi to believe that they were dating.

Jiang Yan used the rumor that the student behind her had overheard to shut her up: "Don't I like Wu Qilin?"

Li Xiaoyi: "So you know you like him? I've never seen anyone like someone like you. You don't even audit classes or ask around. By the way, you two don't even have each other on WeChat, do you?"

Jiang Yan, thinking of Qin Lan, said half-jokingly, "No, there's nothing I can do. That's how it is with unrequited love. I don't dare get close, afraid of bothering her..."

Yun Chui glanced at her as soon as he entered.

Despite Jiang Yan's repeated denials, Li Xiaoyi still felt that she and Yun Chui had a secret affair.

Anyone with eyes and ears at school knows that Yun Chui and Song Man are dating, so Li Xiaoyi repeatedly warned Jiang Yan not to be fickle, and that it would be one thing to have two men at once, but to interfere in someone else's life.

Jiang Yan had no idea she was such a jerk.

Fortunately, Li Xiaoyi is a loyal friend, otherwise she would be posted on the confession wall tomorrow.

Yun Chui was a great roommate and friend. On the first day of their stay, he distributed fresh fruit to Li Xiaoyi and Jiang Yan. The fruit was so expensive that Li Xiaoyi didn't even dare to eat it. She took a series of photos while she was washing her hands before carefully putting it in her mouth.

This person has an extremely regular biological clock, but doesn't disturb the two girls. Before leaving for class, they'll call out a name, mainly to wake Li Xiaoyi, who always oversleeps. Every now and then, they'll bring them small gifts, and they're always proactive in cleaning and taking out the trash.

Li Xiaoyi idolizes her as a goddess and even started shipping her with Song Man.

The day after Yun Chui moved dorms, his legendary girlfriend arrived to celebrate. The group simply laid out aluminum foil on the table, and Li Xiaoyi went out and bought a bunch of appealing-looking but not too high-calorie foods, which they then laid out on the table for a meal.

Song Man didn't really want to eat this meal because she was deeply influenced by Qin Lan and had a preconceived bad impression of Jiang Yan.

However, unaware of the situation, Li Xiaoyi extended a warm invitation, and not wanting to affect Yun Chui's relationship with her roommate, she reluctantly sat down and forced herself to eat.

He barely spoke throughout the meal, and finished off all the fruit in front of him.

Li Xiaoyi kept trying to find topics to talk about.

Both she and Jiang Yan studied acting, and they weren't familiar with Yun Chui and Song Man's majors, so they had a lot to ask each other. Yun Chui returned the favor and inquired about their university life as well, and before long, another person joined the conversation.

Li Xiaoyi: "Oh, I'm from Class Two."

Yun Chui raised an eyebrow: "Then you should know my friend Qin Lan. She's also in Class Two."

Jiang Yan got excited and blurted out, "Yes."

Song Man raised her head.

Yun Chui also glanced at her.

Li Xiaoyi had also heard about the relationship between the two: "Hahaha, Yanyan, try this braised egg, it tastes pretty good."

Fifteen minutes later, the topic inexplicably veered back to Qin Lan.

Li Xiaoyi was already a little tipsy, and her mind was starting to go into hibernation: "Yun Chui, you have no idea, there's someone in our class who's really funny... just last week... when handing in homework... he got roasted by our class monitor, it was so satisfying!"

Yun Chui laughed: "Your class monitor? It's Qin Lan, right?"

Li Xiaoyi: "Yes, yes, although Squad Leader Qin looks fierce, he is a very nice person."

Jiang Yan: "I remember once Xiaoyi, you took leave to go home and forgot to pay your class fees. Qin couldn't contact you, so he even paid for them for you."

All three people at the table turned to look at her.

Jiang Yan blinked.

Oh no, she seems to be too excited.

Yun Chui seemed to be deep in thought.

About two months later, one evening Li Xiaoyi came home, leaving only the two of them in the dorm. Jiang Yan was scrolling through Douyin on her iPad when she came across two solo clips of Qin Lan.

She put on her headphones, quietly tapped a heart icon, and then quickly swiped it away.

Looking back, Yun Chui was still lying inside the bed curtains, completely covered up.

Jiang Yan felt relieved, but after a while, Yun Chui suddenly asked, "Yan Yan, do you like Qin Lan?"

Jiang Yan's hand trembled in fright. She took several deep breaths before speaking in what she thought was a very composed manner: "Why do you say that?"

Yun Chui's laughter drifted over intermittently: "You're being a bit too obvious."

Jiang Yan felt she had hidden it quite well; at least Li Xiaoyi was completely unaware. When she happened to see Jiang Yan buying Qin Lan's magazine, she assumed it was out of disgust, like wanting to cast a voodoo doll or something.

After a long while, Jiang Yan couldn't help but speak up: "Why don't you suspect that I hate her?"

Yun Chui: "Hmm? You haven't done anything to dislike her, have you? Except for that first drama, where A Lan said the role was originally hers, but the director gave it to you. Is it convenient to ask why?"

After much deliberation, Jiang Yan concealed part of the truth, but did not lie: "This was my agent's idea; I was unaware of it beforehand."

“I thought so too.” Yun Chui lifted the curtain and winked at her. “I heard someone say that you like Wu Qilin from Class 3, and even wrote the initials of his name in your book. Now it seems to be ‘Qin Lan’, right?”

Jiang Yan blushed. She hadn't expected to be exposed in front of Qin Lan's friends so soon. "Could you help me... um..."

She made a zipping motion to her lips: "Keep it a secret, especially don't let Qin know."

"Of course." Yun Chui smiled and sat back down, blinking happily. "But pursuing someone still depends on your own abilities."

"Mmm." Jiang Yan was deeply moved, and with nowhere to vent her passion, she ran two more laps around the playground.

In April, the Huaxing Fashion and Entertainment Awards were held, and Jiang Yan was invited to attend.

She was seated near the front and walked the red carpet first before taking her seat.

Around 5:30, a sudden commotion erupted outside. Flashbulbs went off, illuminating the red dress and its sparkling rhinestones. The figure turned around and gave a glare in front of the logo wall.

With a flourish of his pen, he wrote the two characters "Qin Lan" and then walked towards his seat.

Jiang Yan was mesmerized by her beauty until Qin Lan walked straight towards her, at which point she realized what was happening and smiled, "Teacher Qin, this way."

Qin Lan's face contorted for a second, which was captured by the camera.

She remembered that Jiang Yan was hostile towards her during the movie promotion, so how come she suddenly became enthusiastic after a few months?

The more Qin Lan looked at her, the more she seemed like a manipulative woman, and she sat down next to her with great disdain.

Lee Jun-han, the male lead in "Watershed: 1938", sat to her left and greeted her politely: "Teacher Qin".

Qin Lan responded once, but ignored Jiang Yan completely.

Jiang Yan initiated a conversation: "Teacher Qin, have you been busy lately?"

Qin Lan replied dismissively, "Yeah, I'm pretty busy."

Jiang Yan added, "I heard that Teacher Qin's new drama is about to premiere. I wish you all the best!"

Qin Lan: "Mmm."

"This dress suits Teacher Qin very well today."

"Thanks."

Jiang Yan was injured and lowered her head in grievance, but had to force a smile because of the camera.

She was so depressed that she was listless for a week. Yun Chui couldn't bear to see her like that, so he took her out to the library entrance, where Yu Jintang and Song Man were handing out promotional posters to passersby.

"The play 'A Doll's House' is being adapted. If you're interested, you can go to the concert hall to see it. Thank you."

Yu Jintang skillfully shoved the poster into Jiang Yan's hand. She looked up and was stunned for a moment, then saw Yun Chui next to her: "Wow, is this the friend you brought to support us?"

Then, he earnestly took Jiang Yan's hand and said, "Hey classmate, would you like to support 'A Doll's House'? Our female lead is the rising star Qin Lan, and the male lead is Hai Tao, a senior. It will be performed at the concert hall this Saturday at 1 p.m.!"

Jiang Yan's heart was pounding. She immediately grasped Yu Jintang's hand, her eyes sparkling: "Hello, Yu Jintang. It's an honor to meet you. May I ask where the play is being performed?"

Yu Jintang: "Thank you for stopping by, classmate. We're performing at the concert hall this Saturday at 1 p.m.

Jiang Yan: "Who are the male and female leads?"

Yu Jintang paused for a moment: "The female lead is the rising star Qin Lan, and the male lead is the young actor Hai Tao. Welcome to follow us!"

Yun Chui, who was listening in: "..."

Yu Guangli and Qin Lan got closer and closer.

He was wearing a very nice white suit.

Jiang Yan immediately tried to improve her image: "Is that the outstanding and beautiful Qin Lan from Class 5 of the second year? I've always wanted to see her perform."

Yun Chui's lips moved slightly: "That's enough for you. You're acting a bit strange."

Yu Jintang began to suspect whether this person was Erduolong or Jixingcha: "Hahaha, yes, that's her..."

Qin Lan patted her on the shoulder: "Aren't you going to work and just sit here chatting?"

Yu Jintang waved goodbye to Jiang Yan and went to hand out flyers.

Qin Lan greeted Yun Chui, then walked away without looking to the side.

When Yun Chui turned his head, Jiang Yan's eyes were red.

She choked up as soon as she opened her mouth: "Why does she hate me so much?"

Yun Chui: "..."

Yun Chui's original intention was to cheer Jiang Yan up, but Qin Lan's appearance shattered everything. Feeling guilty, she took Jiang Yan through the back door into the film crew's dressing room on Saturday morning.

The place was a complete mess; there was hardly any room to move. People were searching for clothes, shoes, and accessories everywhere. Every few steps, someone would be sitting in front of a mirror, surrounded by several makeup artists, frantically trying to get their hands on them.

Yu Jintang shuttled back and forth, her voice hoarse from shouting, but her expression was extremely proud.

Seeing that it was too chaotic inside, Yun Chui didn't squeeze in and instead walked around the stage with Jiang Yan.

The concert hall was empty. Yun Chui sat down on the side of the first row and took out his phone to scroll through it.

Jiang Yan paced back and forth nervously, then stood in the middle of the stage, stunned.

Yun Chui found it amusing: "Seriously? You're acting like you're the one going on stage."

Jiang Yan sighed and said, "You don't understand. You've obviously never been a fan of any celebrities."

Yun Chui gazed at her intently: "You like it that much?"

Jiang Yan stopped and answered earnestly, "I like her because she changed my life."

Yun Chui thought for a moment and said, "I don't quite understand what you mean, but I can understand a little bit."

"What are they having for lunch?" Jiang Yan wondered, then added, "They're not going to skip lunch, are they?"

"You guessed right." Yun Chui smiled. "Did you dare to eat before filming?"

“That won’t do, what if I get low blood sugar?” Jiang Yan said, “I’ll order one… I’ll order takeout for the whole crew, can you deliver it to them for me? Just say… just say it was bought for the crew by a fan of Ibsen.”

"Wow, you actually..."

Yun Chui laughed: "I'm starting to think about helping you achieve your dream."

Jiang Yan was a little uneasy: "So you didn't really think highly of us before?"

Yun Chui thought for a moment and said, "No, I don't have a hobby of matchmaking, but I think A Lan's opinion is very important, so it doesn't count as support."

“I’ve changed my mind now. Alan probably never imagined you actually like her this much.” She stood up, stretched gracefully, making her appear even taller and more slender. “When will it be delivered? I’ll take it inside for you.”

Jiang Yan held her hand, her eyes brimming with tears, looking as if she was about to call her "Mom" on the spot.

Yun Chui laughed and raised his hand: "Hey... really? You like it that much?"

Jiang Yan nodded vigorously: "I love it, I love it to death."

At 11:40 a.m., Yun Chui walked into the dressing room carrying a large pile of low-fat meals: "This is lunch that an Ibsen fan bought for the crew. She wishes everyone a smooth performance and rave reviews later on."

Unaware of the inside story, Yu Jintang smiled broadly: "Great! I didn't expect we'd have fans now. Let's all recharge our energy!"

Yun Chui helped distribute the lunches. Jiang Yan had ordered from a famous, long-established restaurant near the school; the food was light and delicious. If it weren't full of corn, egg whites, and chicken breast when you opened the box...

Qin Lan was now completely relaxed. She has a habit when acting: she memorizes her lines in advance and stops looking at the script half an hour before filming begins, allowing her mind and body to relax to the extreme as her confidence grows.

"Have some." Yun Chui placed the box in front of her and opened the lid: "To replenish your energy."

Qin Lan lazily picked up a piece of corn: "I don't really want to see this."

Yun Chui: "That's also a token of the fans' affection."

"Okay." Qin Lan shrugged. "Look how happy Yu Guaiguai is. It seems she's even planning to send a banner to that fan."

Yun Chui couldn't bear to tell them the truth, so he silently left.

"Has she eaten? Even a little bit is fine," Jiang Yan asked expectantly.

"Uh-huh."

Yun Chui responded, her eyes lighting up the instant she saw Jiang Yan's expression. In that instant, she didn't think of anything else, only of Jiang Yan's financial situation. She knew Jiang Yan wasn't well-off.

She had never had a crush on anyone; her feelings for Song Man were mutual, and things had progressed naturally. Now, standing in the shoes of someone who had a crush on someone, seeing her roommate so fond of her best friend, she suddenly felt a deep sense of empathy.

Perhaps I'm being empathetic? Yun Chui wondered. That wasn't so easy. Qin Lan had once joked that out of the five people, she and Song Man were the least suited for acting. Song Man was too inflexible, while Yun Chui was like a cup of lukewarm water, without any emotional ups and downs.

————————!!————————

Desperately trying to gain attention

It's all for love

Looking forward to the day when we can show off our love.

I tried my best to think of a dialogue.

Please don't push me away.

I'm just a fool who loves you.