Chapter 26 Three Years

Seeing Lu Zhao's eyes flicker slightly, Ling Wei continued, "When I first transferred to the directing department, a bunch of posts suddenly appeared on the campus network. Everyone was calling me 'Little Su Yuqing,' and some people even put our photos together for comparison and disparagement."

“Interestingly,” she exhaled a puff of white mist, “these sounds gradually disappeared after a classmate told me that I had changed majors.”

Lu Zhao's Adam's apple bobbed as he struggled to speak: "This..."

Ling Wei still didn't let him speak: "I know, Lu Zhao, I know what you mean."

"Yes, I don't know if it was her, and I'm not sure if she had any malicious intent. I don't have the ability to verify it."

Ling Wei smiled gently, her peach blossom eyes behind her glasses as clear as the sky after a snowfall: "But, Lu Zhao, everyone has their own likes and dislikes and the right to choose their friends."

I have no need, nor any interest, in proving anyone's innocence.

If you don't like it, then stay away. My world is small, and I have many more important things to do. I don't have time to play childish games like 'Guess Who's the Mastermind.'

She looked at Lu Zhao and said, word by word, "The same applies to you."

“You and your sister Yuqing have a close relationship, and I look similar to her. Every time I’m with you, as long as her is mentioned even slightly, I feel uncomfortable and awkward.”

Lu Zhao wanted to say no, because he didn't know when it started, but in his eyes they were already two completely different people, but the words got stuck in his throat.

Lu Zhao asked with difficulty, "What about my brother? Why don't you end things with him?"

Ling Wei answered decisively: "Your brother is different. He has been kind to me; in the very beginning, he helped me."

She took a final deep breath, concluding the conversation: "My intuition has always been accurate. I don't want to, and there's no need for me to, compromise myself to please anyone or anything that makes me uncomfortable. So, I'm sorry, let's stop here."

After saying that, she stopped looking at him, walked past him, and prepared to go home.

But his arm was suddenly grabbed again.

His fingers were icy cold and trembling slightly, his voice so low it was almost carried away by the wind and snow: "If... if I hadn't been such a jerk when we first met... would everything have been different? We... wouldn't be like this now?"

Ling Wei stopped in her tracks, not turning around, but gazing at the swirling snowflakes ahead. After a few seconds of silence, she spoke softly:

"Perhaps."

"But I no longer care about the past, so there's no point in talking about 'what ifs' anymore."

"In the future, I just want to live a more comfortable life."

She pulled her hand away from his, and this time, Lu Zhao did not stop her.

He stood there, watching the disheveled figure disappear behind the building entrance, as if it too had completely left the world that he hadn't yet sorted out but which had suddenly come to an end.

Ling Wei returned to her room and looked downstairs. The snow-covered ground was empty; the figure was no longer there.

System: "You're breaking off all ties already?!"

Honestly, I noticed you two seemed a bit flirtatious before, didn't you?

Ling Wei calmly took off her coat: "Su Yuqing is going back to China soon. She's already full of hostility towards me. Rather than becoming a thorn in her side and causing trouble every day, it's better to pack up and get rid of these unstable factors."

She didn't tell the truth earlier; the reason she didn't completely cut ties with Lu Yan wasn't because he had been kind to her, but because he was clear-headed enough not to be easily used as a pawn.

If Lu Yan causes her trouble someday, she'll throw him away too.

This is a critical period for development. Anyone who tries to get in the way should be given two big beatings before getting out of here.

The system weakly reminded, "Um...did you forget? Lu Yan was there yesterday too. He saw everything you did to his brother..."

Ling Wei paused for a moment: "That's true."

She carefully opened the chat window and tentatively sent a transfer.

[Weiwei smiles brightly and transfers 1000 yuan to you. Note: How much do you remember about that night? () deduct? Received 1 clue]

The message was sent successfully and I wasn't blocked.

After a while, it showed that the payment had been received, accompanied by the simple word "Received", and then nothing more.

The system wailed, "Back to square one!"

Ling Wei threw her phone down: "Screw it! I'm not putting up with any of this anymore!"

Just as she was getting ready to do something else, the screen suddenly lit up.

Lu Yan: [The fireworks were beautiful, thank you.]

Ling Wei's eyes lit up, and she instantly became excited.

She gave a light hum to the system and tapped the screen with her fingertip:

"See? I told you—"

"It's okay~"

============

Three years later.

On a summer afternoon, sunlight streamed through the café's huge floor-to-ceiling windows, casting dappled shadows on the tables.

Ling Wei slowly sipped her milk tea, waiting for someone.

Not long after, the door to the café was pushed open, and the wind chimes tinkled softly.

Li Man strode in, her high heels clicking, and headed straight for Ling Wei's table. Without any hesitation, she grabbed the barely touched milk tea in front of Ling Wei and gulped down several large mouthfuls.

"I'm alive..." She breathed a sigh of relief and slumped into the chair opposite her, looking like she had just survived a disaster.

Ling Wei wasn't surprised and moved the cup closer to herself.

Time flies. Who would have thought that the two who barely exchanged a few words at the Lu family dinner back then would become best friends who can share a cup of milk tea?

The beginning of this friendship was quite dramatic.

At that time, Ling Wei was still in college. Once, she went out to shoot footage and worked until late at night. She had just dragged her almost broken body to the dormitory building when she was "kidnapped" into a car by Li Man, who had been waiting for her.

The other person was completely covered up at the time, and Ling Wei was so startled that she almost delivered a kick. Fortunately, the system reminded her in time, and she managed to stop herself from moving.

At that time, seeing her childhood friend Lu Zhao become an instant hit in the talent show, Li Man's heart, which long yearned to pursue her dream of entering the entertainment industry, could no longer be suppressed.

She has an outstanding older sister who is the head of the household, and her parents don't have any strict requirements for her to inherit the family business. Seeing that she is determined to make her own way in the world, they simply send her to South Korea to receive the most rigorous professional training, while also providing her with a professional team, top-notch agents, and ample publicity resources.

The Li family already has a presence in the entertainment industry, so they have no shortage of resources.

Unfortunately, the girl group market is much more competitive than the boy group market. While handsome young men can attract fans with their looks alone, the requirements for girl group members are much stricter.

After more than a year of effort, Riemann remains in a state of lukewarm success.

She even went so far as to swallow her pride and seek advice from Lu Zhao, who had already become a sensation.

She still vividly remembers Lu Zhao's reaction at the time.

At that time, Lu Zhao's limited-time boy group "Apex" announced its disbandment a year after its formation, and the members went their separate ways.

With the immense popularity and outstanding skills she accumulated during her time in the group, Lu Zhao's career has soared since going solo. Her momentum is so strong that she only needs a major award to secure her place as a top star.

He had just finished a gig and hadn't even removed his makeup or hair. After hearing what Li Man wanted to say, he leaned back slightly in his chair, his eyes slightly raised, and his naturally wild eyes lazily swept over her, his gaze carrying a hint of casual scrutiny.

Then, an undisguised sneer escaped from his nose:

"you?"

Just from that one word, Riemann almost couldn't resist giving him an over-the-shoulder throw on the spot.

Just as she thought this trip was a complete humiliation and was about to turn around and leave, Lu Zhao suddenly called out to her.

“Hey,” he said, his tone still not very friendly, “go find her, Ling Wei.”

Mentioning this name seemed to bring up something unpleasant, his tone carrying a hint of gritted teeth: "She has a sharp eye... She knows exactly how to rip people off and how to overcharge. If you want to be tortured, go find her."