Chapter 133 Midnight Spicy Hot Pot

Lu Yanhe left the classroom half an hour before the end of the second evening self-study session.

If you can avoid catching the last train, then don't.

Who knew that when they were going down the stairs, they would run into Su Su, who was also going down the stairs.

"Teacher Su."

"You went back?" Su Su looked up at him and asked.

"Yes." Lu Yanhe nodded. "Are you leaving this late too?"

Su Su smiled and said, "While everyone has left and the office is quiet, I've tidied up the rest of the lesson plans."

Lu Yanhe asked in surprise, "Are you still going to tidy up your lesson plans?"

"Why don't I need to prepare lesson plans anymore?"

Lu Yanhe said, "These past few days, you've been teaching us so effortlessly, you never bring any lesson plans to the classroom."

"I don't bring lesson plans to class because I've memorized everything. But if I don't prepare in advance, where do I get all this information?" Su Su smiled. "Do you think I'm a genius?"

“We all think you are,” Lu Yanhe said.

Su Su laughed.

The two of them walked together to the school gate.

Just as Lu Yanhe was about to say goodbye to Su Su, suddenly, a figure rushed in front of Su Su.

"Su Su!"

A woman rushed in front of them.

The light at the school gate was dim, but it was still clear that she had delicate features. If it weren't for the overwhelming madness in her eyes, she would actually be a pretty young woman.

But Lu Yanhe still recognized her from those eyes; she was the woman who had hidden behind Qiu Ling's car in the underground parking lot that day.

She was wearing a mask then, but not today.

Su Su frowned immediately upon seeing her.

"Yuan Yi, are you still following me?"

The woman he called Yuan Yi sneered, "You think you can get rid of me by abandoning me and running away from Jiang Guang to Yu Ming? Let me tell you, Su Su, you will never get rid of me in this lifetime. I will keep pestering you!"

Lu Yanhe felt a strange sense of madness.

The last time I met Yuan Yi, I felt that she was a woman who had suffered some kind of trauma and therefore had a somewhat extreme way of thinking. But this time, I felt that she was far more than just extreme; it even made me feel that she had mental problems.

Su Su glanced at Lu Yanhe at this moment.

He said, "You can go now, this has nothing to do with you."

Lu Yanhe nodded, hesitated for a moment, then felt that leaving like this would be too cold-hearted, so he asked in a low voice, "Should I call the police for you?"

"No need, she's my ex-girlfriend," Su Su said frankly. "We didn't handle the breakup well, and there was a misunderstanding between us."

"How can it be a misunderstanding! You promised to be with me for life! You abandoned me!" Yuan Yi screamed hysterically. "Su Su, we've been together since we were sixteen! We've loved each other for twelve whole years!"

Su Su looked at her coldly, but spoke to Lu Yanhe.

"You go first."

Lu Yanhe didn't say anything this time and turned to leave.

Unexpectedly, Yuan Yi caught up with him at that moment.

“You’re his student, right? You’re still wearing your school uniform, so you must be a student.” Yuan Yi spoke quickly, standing next to Lu Yanhe, “Do you know what kind of person your teacher is? Do you think your teacher is a very cultured and knowledgeable person? Let me tell you, don’t be fooled by him.”

Lu Yanhe was utterly bewildered and had no idea how to defend himself.

This was something he had never experienced before.

"Yuan Yi, how long are you going to keep this up? You're not even going to let my students go?" Su Su's stern voice came from behind.

He grabbed Yuan Yi's wrist, pulling her so she couldn't go any further.

Lu Yanhe glanced at them in surprise.

Su Su glanced at him, gesturing for him to leave first, then looked at Yuan Yi and said coldly, "I'll say it again, we've already broken up. It's one thing for you to harass me, but now you're disturbing my students. If you continue to harass me like this, I'll have no choice but to call the police."

Yuan Yi roared angrily, "Go ahead and report it—"

Lu Yanhe walked further and further away, and when he reached the bus stop, he could still hear the two of them talking.

He didn't know how Su Su would resolve this matter, and he felt completely baffled.

When the bus arrived and he got on, he looked out the window and saw the two of them still standing at the school gate, facing each other. Yuan Yi was angrily saying something to Su Su, while Su Su silently looked at her.

This scene was quickly left behind by the bus.

The night breeze rushed in through the window.

Lu Yanhe took out his earphones and put them on.

-

Lu Yanhe put aside the influence of Yuan Yi on him and began to seriously think about his own affairs.

He absolutely had to land the role in "The Golden Era." He couldn't let it be like the last time with "Little Song Gathering," where the director practically handed him the opportunity to save the day, only to have it blocked and thwarted by Zhou Ping'an.

The biggest impact of Xu Zijun being bullied by Hong Zhixing on Lu Yanhe was that it made him realize one thing: for someone without a background or the ability to resist, swallowing one's anger is a habitual operation, but simply enduring it will not actually make things better.

Everyone sent a joint letter to the principal, making such a big fuss that Yin Xiangyu was so angry that she ran to the classroom and yelled at them. But in the end, the result was as everyone wished: a new history teacher was assigned.

His previous forbearance and concessions stemmed from his awareness that he had no power to protect himself. But looking back, wasn't he also someone with nothing to lose, so he could simply give up and suffer the consequences?

Moreover, Zhou Ping'an and the people behind him were clearly wary of something and dared not make the termination of his contract public knowledge. The termination agreement that was signed not long ago became a reliance in his hands.

Sitting on the swaying bus, Lu Yanhe kept thinking about his situation and the possibility of breaking out of it.

He suddenly felt a little annoyed.

Transmigrating from one eighteen-year-old into another eighteen-year-old simply adds another eighteen-year-old to the body; it doesn't mean that adding two eighteen-year-olds equals thirty-six years. This doesn't give him the life experience of a thirty-six-year-old.

I can't think of a solution.

Zhou Pingan's intention to obstruct is either because he is unable to do so, or because he wants Luo Yuzhong to be able to disregard Zhou Pingan's obstruction.

What can he do?

Lu Yanhe crossed the zebra crossing and ran into Qiu Ling, who was out looking for food.

"Just got out of school?" Qiu Ling asked in surprise.

Lu Yanhe nodded.

"Come on, let's grab a late-night snack," Qiu Ling said. "Look at you, you were already thin, and now you're even thinner."

Lu Yanhe was already somewhat agitated at the moment, so he went along with Qiu Ling after receiving her invitation.

Qiu Ling wore slippers, loose trousers, and a T-shirt. She was without makeup, her face bare, looking like a college student.

She glanced at Lu Yanhe and asked, "Something on your mind?"

Qiu Ling herself didn't know that, to Lu Yanhe, she was one of the first people he met in this strange world, and also one of the few people he became familiar with and close to.

Lu Yanhe couldn't tell the people at the school about these things, nor could he tell Li Zhibai and Yan Liang. After thinking about it, the only person he could tell was Qiu Ling.

"I've run into a problem and can't figure out a solution, so I'm a bit frustrated," he said.

Qiu Ling subconsciously said, "You're a high school student, your biggest worry is failing your exams, how much could it be... Oh, I forgot, you're also an artist."

"Even though I'm not really famous, you still hurt me." Lu Yanhe glanced at him sideways and complained silently.

"Hahaha." Qiu Ling immediately patted Lu Yanhe's head and said, "I've been so busy lately that my brain is all muddled. What should we eat? Let's find a place to sit down, eat and chat, and let the beautiful Qiu Ling help the handsome little brother Yanhe solve his problems."

Lu Yanhe: "..."

He said, "I'm not really interested in eating it."

"Then let's go eat spicy hot pot together."

Qiu Ling led Lu Yanhe to a small shop nearby.

There wasn't a single customer in the shop.

The small shop was run by a husband and wife team. When they saw Qiu Ling, they smiled and realized they knew her.

"Officer Qiu is here," the boss greeted her.

Qiu Ling nodded and sat down.

"Could you get us a bowl first? I'll have mine mildly spicy. Lu Yanhe, what would you like to eat?"

"Mildly spicy".

The boss nodded in agreement.

Qiu Ling pulled out a string of seaweed from the fragrant pot and started eating it.

"Delicious." Qiu Ling took a bite, and a satisfied expression instantly appeared on her face.

Lu Yanhe wasn't hungry at first, but seeing her expression made his mouth water.

As a result, instead of discussing business, they started eating first.

"This seaweed is really good."

"Taro is delicious too."

"You should try the cold beef skewers the boss makes, they're incredibly delicious."

"I'd like a fried dough twist, boss, and two skewers of cabbage too!"

...

After eating about four or five tenths of a full meal, Qiu Ling finally came to her senses and let out a long sigh.

"Alright, I'm in the mood to listen to you now. Tell me, what exactly happened?"

Lu Yanhe briefly explained the situation he had recently encountered.

Qiu Ling frowned subconsciously.

"They insist on terminating your contract and are preventing you from taking on jobs, but you don't even know where you offended them or why you're facing all this?" Qiu Ling looked puzzled. "This is too inexplicable. I don't understand. I've met your agent, and he seems like a profit-driven person. He's preventing you from taking on jobs, and he's not earning his commission either. It's a bit strange."

“I don’t want to deal with these things now, and I can’t control them anyway. The problem I need to solve is that Zhou Ping’an hasn’t replied to my messages yet, and he hasn’t told me that Director Luo Yuzhong chose me. He must be up to something behind the scenes and ruining the production of ‘The Golden Era’ for me,” Lu Yanhe said. “I really hope to act in this drama. It may be the only chance for me to stay in the entertainment industry after the college entrance examination.”

Qiu Ling thought for a moment and said, "Let's analyze this first. What are your advantages? First, that Director Luo has taken a liking to you and wants to cast you in the role. Second, Jiang Yuqian also admires you very much, and she recommended you to Director Luo. These are the only two advantages I've heard so far. If you want to seize this opportunity, I think you can only start from these two advantages."

“Should I go directly to them?” Lu Yanhe said. “I’ve considered it, but in reality, almost no partner would be willing to use an artist who is risky and difficult to work with. If Director Luo knew that the company actually didn’t want me to act in this movie, he… he might just give up on me to avoid trouble.”

“He will definitely find out.” Qiu Ling said directly, “This is your blind spot. You are always worried that Director Luo and Jiang Yuqian will find out about your conflict with Zhou Ping’an and you want to hide it. But in fact, you yourself said that Zhou Ping’an will definitely do something bad and will try to stop you. From their perspective, it is a certainty that they know that you have a conflict with Zhou Ping’an. You can’t hide it from them at all.”

Lu Yanhe was startled, as if he had been knocked on the head.

“So, since they’re bound to find out about this, you shouldn’t worry about the risks it brings, because it’s bound to happen,” Qiu Ling said. “Then you only have one choice: to minimize the negative impact of this risk on them.”

Lu Yanhe fell into deep thought.

Qiu Ling laughed.

"Do you know that the way you're spacing out right now makes you look like a dizzy, silly bird?"

Lu Yanhe snapped out of his daze, as if waking from a dream.

He really hadn't expected that the problem he'd been agonizing over for so long was actually pointless.

"Then I only have one path to take." Having cleared away these troubling thoughts, Lu Yanhe's path suddenly became clear.

Qiu Ling nodded, without asking him what he planned to do.

"Actually, putting this whole thing aside, Lu Yanhe, you don't need to take this opportunity so seriously," Qiu Ling said. "Once you finish your college entrance exams and terminate your contract with your current company, right? Then you'll truly have the freedom to soar like a fish in the sea and a bird in the sky. You have talent, you can write songs, you can go on shows like 'Little Song Gathering,' and you'll have fame. That's much better than those ordinary people who have no foundation at all. You even have thousands of fans on your live streams, right? I know that kids your age tend to pin their entire future's hopes on a single opportunity, but that's not how it works at all. When an opportunity comes, go for it. If you don't get it, then so be it. There's plenty of time and opportunities ahead."

Lu Yanhe smiled and lowered his head.

He nodded and said, "Thank you."

"Keep it up, young man." Qiu Ling put a quail egg in his bowl. "I believe in you."

Lu Yanhe scratched his head.

"You—" Li Zhibai's voice came from the doorway, tinged with surprise, "What are you doing here too?"

Lu Yanhe and Qiu Ling turned their heads and saw Li Zhibai and Yan Liang, who were dressed in very "dazzling" clothes.

"Did you just finish performing? Why haven't you even removed your makeup?" Lu Yanhe asked in surprise, looking at the layer of glitter on their faces.

Li Zhibai and Yan Liang didn't stand on ceremony and sat down next to them.

"Stop talking, I'm so angry! Those idiots from MX stole our makeup artist, and we have to wait for them to finish before we can remove our makeup. I'm too lazy to wait, I'll just go back and wash it off myself." Li Zhibai cursed, his eyes still darting between the two of them. "Why did you two sneak over to eat spicy hot pot? You didn't even invite us."

"We bumped into each other on the way," Qiu Ling said. "I didn't specifically call you. What's the big deal about calling you over for a hot pot meal? I'll treat you to a big meal next time."

Li Zhibai immediately said, "That won't do, we'll have to treat you."

-

Mala Tang is a great dish. A few people sit together around a steaming pot, eating and chatting, and the atmosphere gets as lively as the pot, never getting cold.

Although Qiu Ling was a few years older than them, she was just like a college student in private. She was lively and unpretentious, laughing and scolding as she pleased, and making jokes that were even bigger than theirs. She often referred to herself as the "big sister" and teased the younger kids until they blushed.

Because of the nature of her work, Qiu Ling didn't talk about her work, so Li Zhibai and the others talked about their own things later on.

It's all just trivial stuff.

Artists at their level, to put it nicely, are idols, but just by looking at how openly they can go out and eat spicy hot pot, you can tell they're not actually that famous.

Li Zhibai's popularity is limited to his small circle. When he walks outside, he might be recognized by a few people on the streets of a first-tier city. But in this kind of residential area with a strong sense of community, unless he happens to run into a fan, he's just an ordinary person who's good-looking and gets a few extra glances.

Therefore, their work is far less glamorous than most people imagine. It's more like being a working person in the entertainment industry, running around to different venues and experiencing the mundane things that most people go through, such as suppression, competition, and being looked down upon by others.

“Anyway, idol artists will always have some people who don’t like you and think you’re just selling your looks,” Li Zhibai said. “And it’s really hard for you to deny it. You don’t release any songs or do any good performances. The company’s arrangement is to find ways to increase your popularity and raise your profile. Produce works? Heh, the return is too slow. It’s not as fast as going on variety shows. You’ve been in the industry for several years. If they ask you what you’ve done, you don’t have anything to say. It feels like these past few years have just passed by like this.”

Qiu Ling said, "I see there are quite a few idol artists in our country now, but there are fewer in the last two years. In the past few years, it seems like all kinds of talent shows have sprung up, and a lot of idol artists have emerged as a result. You guys came out during that period, right?"

“Yes.” Li Zhibai nodded. “Then he debuted at his peak, and then his career has been declining ever since.”

"Doesn't the company plan to make any changes for you? What about you yourselves?"

“The key is that the company doesn’t think you can do anything. They just think we can only sell our looks,” Li Zhibai said. “There’s someone in our group who has always wanted to be a real singer and has tried every means to release his own songs, but he has been blocked. Because he has too many ideas, they specifically don’t let him take on shows where he can sing.”

Upon hearing this, Qiu Ling clicked her tongue.

"Your company doesn't sound very good; they don't seem to care about your development at all."

“What are you even thinking about? Do you know how many idol artists our company has signed?” Li Zhibai said. “We have more than 200 signed artists. Our batch of artists who came out of talent shows were relatively better off. At that time, our contracts at least guaranteed a minimum salary. The artists who became artists later, who were trainees, didn’t even have a minimum salary guarantee. They all relied on their families to support them.”

Lu Yanhe nodded in agreement when he heard what Li Zhibai said.

Fortunately, the contract he signed stipulated a monthly living allowance of 3,000 yuan; otherwise, he wouldn't know how he would survive now.

Yan Liang also sighed, "We're being raised like a 'poisonous insect,' watching to see who among us of several hundred wins in the end, and whoever does will survive."

Qiu Ling frowned.

"I always thought that although the competition among idol artists is fierce, they are all roughly the same and still live much better than ordinary people."

“Sister Qiuling, that’s because in this era, most people who become artists come from well-off families,” Li Zhibai said. “I heard a senior say that ten years ago, most people in China who chose to become artists came from ordinary families, but that’s much harder now.”

“Hmm.” Yan Liang nodded. “People like me and Lu Yanhe, who come from ordinary families, can still get opportunities through talent shows. But these days talent shows aren’t really held anymore. If you’re going down the trainee path, unless you’re exceptionally good, you have to rely entirely on yourself. If your family can’t support you, you simply can’t make it through several years of training. Nobody knows when you’ll be able to debut.”

Qiu Ling was somewhat surprised by what the young people said. It was quite different from what she had previously known about the lives of celebrities.

"So why did you want to become entertainers in the first place?" she couldn't help but ask.

Li Zhibai shrugged. "I signed up for the talent show by accident. I just wanted to have some fun, but I never expected to become famous."

"I've loved singing and dancing since I was little," Yan Liang said somewhat shyly. "I love performing on stage."

Lu Yanhe said, "I...everyone knows, right? It's all for making money."

Qiu Ling asked, "Are most idol artists like you?"

Lu Yanhe said, "Pretty much. They want to make money, become famous, be liked by others, perform on stage, and receive applause. These are basically the reasons."

“You are already very fortunate. At least you are doing what you want to do,” Qiu Ling said. “No industry is easy or simple. You are still young, so keep working hard. Anything is possible. When you become big stars in the future, think about what you said today and see if you have the ability to change all of this.”

"Wow, did you suddenly raise the height so much?" Li Zhibai looked at Qiu Ling in shock.

Qiu Ling smiled and said, "People always need to have ideals."

-

Because of this late-night snack, Lu Yanhe didn't start his live stream until 11 PM tonight.

Many people spoke up:

—I thought the streamer wasn't going to be live today.

—Why did you start so late today? I've been waiting since 8 pm. I've gotten used to watching your live stream to study. I don't feel as motivated when you don't stream.

—Is it because tomorrow is a holiday, so you're slacking off today?

—And they still say they'll test Zhenhua and Yuming?

...

Good-natured, malicious, cheerful, sarcastic—all sorts of comments.

Lu Yanhe had already gotten used to it.

Anyway, once there are a lot of people in the live stream, all sorts of voices will come out.

He rarely reads the comments now because there are just too many.

At 11:30 p.m., Li Pengfei sent him a message saying: I'll be waiting for you at the entrance of your residential area at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow.

Lu Yanhe replied with an OK.

Li Pengfei then said: "Why are you still studying after you got back? How late are you going to study?"

Lu Yanhe: ? You're watching my live stream?

Li Pengfei: Of course! I learn by watching your live streams. I only go to sleep after you finish your stream! I'm working really hard! You think I'm joking?!

Lu Yanhe: Uh, what's your ID?

Li Pengfei: I'm not telling you that, hmph.

Li Pengfei: As far as I know, many people in the class have been following your live stream.

Although Lu Yanhe hadn't hidden it from everyone, Li Pengfei's words suddenly made him feel a sense of shame.

I don't know what happened.

(End of this chapter)