Chapter 09 Chapter 9
An Jiyue later hid many things from Lu Ye. Tracing back to the beginning, she had never told Lu Ye that she fell in love with him at first sight.
Eighteen-year-old Lu Ye sat in a window seat at the back of the tiered classroom. Beyond the delicate, quaint crimson window lattices was a layer of ivy, and his profile was dappled with morning light filtering through the vines. He lowered his eyes, pursed his lips, and looked indifferent and detached. His crisp, simple casual shirt was soft and smooth, a stark contrast to the classroom's overall atmosphere. Half of his body was absorbed in the room, while the other half seemed to have drifted away from the languid atmosphere of the morning class. His seat in the corner was the most inconspicuous, yet he was called, drawing everyone's attention. He casually waved his arm, then quickly returned to his task.
An Jiyue was a beam of light in the gaze, yet she wasn't lost in the crowd. For a moment, she was certain the boy's gaze met hers perfectly. She looked at him with unfazed, frank curiosity, but his deep eyes took in all her attention. She felt a tightness in her chest, as if her breath had been briefly taken away.
How could she describe the feeling of that moment? It was as if she had been mingling with the crowd, admiring with rapt interest a perfect sculpture from a bygone era, when suddenly, the sculpture came to life, peering over the throng of people and winking at her. She turned back a few seconds later than the others; more accurately, she was pulled back by the professor's roll call, and thus, unwittingly, she accepted the role of class representative. When she sat down again, she received another friend request.
So it wasn't an illusion, An Jiyue confirmed the half-second eye contact that had truly taken place. Then, in the investment class, a simulated trading competition began. She absentmindedly traded, her mind preoccupied with the half-buffered variety show. The classroom was filled with sighs, but her holdings unexpectedly turned positive across the board in the final half of the "trading day," and she and a newly familiar name were both at the top of the list.
The investment lecturer, a bearded professor, was calling out their names with great excitement: "An Jiyue, Lu Ye, why didn't the latest market news fool you? Come and share your experience with everyone!"
Before the market closed, a few pieces of negative news were quietly posted on the news board. "Traders" in the room, sensing the signs, began selling, and the price quickly halved. An Jiyue, previously at the bottom of the yield curve, took advantage of the situation and jumped in. Then, in the final ten minutes, the price began to rise, the K-line chart fluctuating wildly like a roller coaster, finally landing firmly at the upper limit.
"I don't really have much experience to share..." An Jiyue stood up awkwardly, scratching her head amidst the envious gazes. She hadn't actually seen the smokescreen news, so she resorted to boasting. "These targets are concentrated in emerging industries and were already severely undervalued at the time. The trading market may focus on short-term gains, but investing is a long-term endeavor. Naturally, you should buy when no one is interested."
The bearded professor simply smiled and nodded, his gaze shifting to the other side with particular anticipation. An Jiyue breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the target shift.
When she sat down, she happened to meet Lu Ye's eyes again. He seemed to have been looking at her intently for a long time, listening very attentively. When it was his turn to speak, he stood up and thought for a long time. After a long silence, he finally said slowly:
“I can’t be the rational person in economics.”
The classroom was silent, but the professor at the podium unexpectedly led the applause. Unlike An Jiyue, who had bought at the bottom, Lu Ye had already held these stocks and had seen the unfavorable information, but he never sold them and held on to the end.
An Jiyue listened in stunned silence as this statement, seemingly challenging a fundamental assumption of economics, was met with sighs from those around her, mixed with comments like, "It turned out to be just a fluke," and "Tsk, what luck!" She suddenly felt a surge of indignation for the male student who had persevered to the end, and couldn't help but glare in the direction of the whispers.
She steeled herself, lowered her head, and accepted the pending friend request, repeatedly clicking on the rather handsome and aloof profile picture. They say finance majors breed a group of sophisticated egoists, but she firmly believed this person was definitely not one of them.
——
"Let's stop here for now." Director Zhang, seated in the center chair, frowned and signaled a pause. Silence fell over the conference room. The screen froze in on Lu Ye sitting by the pool. He'd removed his swim cap and goggles, his hair dripping with water. The towel was loosely draped across his chest, his vague features even more captivating in the sharpened lens.
The internal review of material is usually the busiest moment, with the director and screenwriter team digging through hours of raw footage to find ingenious storylines and twists, and every pause would lead to a heated discussion. But today, this bone was a bit more difficult to chew. Everyone tacitly lowered their heads in silence, waiting for the leader to set the tone.
"Xiao An, you tell me about the swimming pool."
This is bad luck. An Jiyue averted her gaze from the screen, feeling guilty. She'd been in the industry for a while, so she knew the pitfalls of this footage and understood Director Zhang's tone. She bit the bullet and forced herself to smooth over the storyline: "Both male guest #3 and female guest #2 are strong personalities. They were reluctant to back out when they learned they were the only ones working on this project. That's where the chemistry between them came from. We can edit it in the direction of 'Before you love someone, you need to love your own independence first.'"
"This is a dating show. If it's all one-man shows, what emotional value does it have?" Director Wu, who's in charge of the female guest group, interrupted her and demanded, "If Xiao An had directed Male Guest #3 to regret the outcome after learning about it and then run to Female Guest #2, this scene would have definitely been a highlight!"
An Jiyue's anger boiled over. Director Wu, who had attacked her, had been filming the scene where Zhu Ling was planting flowers alone, another solo shot. They were all in the same boat, so what was the point of suddenly turning against her? Her anger was written all over her face. She was about to retort, but Director Zhang spoke back first.
"Editor Tang, what do you think?"
Tang Bian was unusually serious during the meeting, clearing his throat solemnly before speaking. He completely ignored the recent, explosive attack, having clearly reached his own conclusion: "As a dating variety show, our "Last Day Lovers" is characterized by authenticity. Think about it, after five days of work, you have a rare weekend afternoon. You planned to go to the gym, but your crush wants to go to the movies at the same time. If you abandon your plans to accommodate them, will the date still be enjoyable? If we force two people to team up, will the audience buy into this forced, industrial-grade sugarcoating, or will they think, 'Even dating is so tiring?'"
The workers who felt the same nodded in agreement. Even Director Zhang, who had a frown on his face, relaxed his expression and gestured for him to continue.
"Of course, dating shows definitely have to consider the show's effectiveness. If it's always 'you do what you want, I do what I want, and we don't interfere with each other,' then there's no point in pursuing this relationship. The best approach is to have them work on something together after completing their own projects. This will both establish their personalities and allow for interaction. This creates a very high-level contrast between the two. When they're apart, they both pursue their own goals, and when they're together, they can break through the external filter and show their sweetness. It's much more enjoyable than a forced relationship!"
Director Zhang thought for a moment and immediately decided, "Then let's give them an extra scene. Also, the individual parts will be edited according to Director An's ideas. Director An, Director Wu, please talk to the two guests and find time to shoot an extra scene this week."
Director Zhang, who always called her "Xiao An," suddenly changed his address. An Jiyue sensed the defense and felt grateful, but also felt a small vent of anger. So she agreed straightforwardly, "Okay, I'll do it right away."
She agreed readily, but she had no idea if it would work out. The mere step of "contacting Lu Ye" was enough to daunt her. An Jiyue sent Xu Mu to lead the charge, then plunged headfirst into the office to edit the script and review the sample film. It wasn't until late afternoon that she finally emerged, apprehensively.
"How's it going? Is it done?"
Xu Mu turned around and gave a dejected look: "It seems that it didn't work."
"What do you mean it didn't work out?"
"I called twice, and male guest No. 3 politely answered both times. But when it came to the specific details of the reshoot, he didn't explicitly refuse, nor did he clearly cooperate. He only replied with an ambiguous 'I've already left P City.'"
Lu Ye left P City? He left? An Jiyue was distracted for a few seconds, as if something was missing in her heart. Xu Mu's words quickly pulled her back to her senses:
"Director An, Director Wu from the next group has already secured female guest number two. We must give her an answer today..."
An Jiyue gritted her teeth and stretched out her hand to Xu Mu, "Give me the phone number, I'll call."
Xu Mu shook his phone awkwardly, "It's out of battery and turned off."
Driven to her wits' end, Director An took two deep breaths and walked back to her office with a dignified demeanor. She gently closed the door, dug out the guest contact list, and slowly entered the number on her phone. She hesitated for a moment, her thumb hovering in the air, before finally pressing the dial button.
She closed her eyes, and saw nothingness in front of her. The dial tone in her ears resonated clearly.
beep--
"I'm really busy. Don't call me anymore and I won't bother you anymore."
beep--
"I don't need your help. At no time, under no circumstances, not even if the world ends, do you understand?"
beep--
"An Jiyue, I wish you a prosperous future. Don't worry about me, I can survive even in hell."
An Jiyue was panting, with beads of cold sweat on her forehead. She forced herself to open her eyes the moment the call was finally connected.
"Hello?" She gripped the back of the chair tightly and heard the end of her own voice trembling.
"Hey, Jiyue."
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