Chapter 1 Does Love Make You Grow Up?

Jiang Shuwan had been single for over twenty years and had never once entertained the thought of falling in love. On the contrary, she had always been deeply devoted to her studies—so much so that she would often spend days holed up in the lab. Forget about men; she rarely even saw a male insect.

That was, until one day, her roommate accidentally sent the wrong WeChat message and forwarded a set of photos of a man to her.

Coincidentally, Jiang Shuwan had just completed an experiment successfully that day and was in an exceptionally good mood. She opened the photos and saw a sunny, handsome young man smiling brightly into the camera.

Behind him stood her favorite type of tree—a ginkgo. The golden ginkgo leaves sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight.

In that moment, Jiang Shuwan felt as if she had been struck by Cupid’s arrow.

She thought: I have to meet this man.

When her roommate heard about Jiang Shuwan’s intentions, she laughed in disbelief.
“That’s Liang Hao. Liang Hao! Sure, he’s only a D-list celebrity, but he’s still a legitimate actor. He’s had a number of roles and even has his own fan forum. It’s not like just any regular person can go up and get to know him.”

But she had seriously underestimated Jiang Shuwan’s determination and initiative.

A few days later, Jiang Shuwan managed to get her hands on an invitation to a banquet. Taking the occasion seriously, she dressed in a white shirt and black suit, with her hair in a high ponytail and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. She thought she looked very much like a professional elite.

But when she arrived at the event, she realized even the waiters carrying trays were dressed more glamorously than she was.

Standing among women in evening gowns that bared shoulders, backs, and cleavage, Jiang Shuwan looked painfully out of place.

As expected, she didn’t manage to get Liang Hao’s contact information. In fact, she had barely approached him and said a single sentence when he handed her his wine glass with a quick, “Thanks.”

By the time Jiang Shuwan returned the glass to where it belonged, Liang Hao had vanished without a trace.

Plan A: Failed.

Naturally, Jiang Shuwan wasn’t one to give up easily. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have earned the title of “lab genius” at H University.

She tracked down Liang Hao’s itinerary and learned his upcoming work schedule.

Then, she took a one-week leave of absence from her mentor and applied to join the production crew Liang Hao was currently filming with—as an extra.

In between tasks, she brought him tea, delivered coffee, and handed over boxed meals, serving him just like she used to care for the lab mice. Just like that, after a week, she got Liang Hao’s contact information.

See? Getting to know Liang Hao wasn’t as impossible as her roommate had made it out to be.

Plan B: Success.

However, Jiang Shuwan was fully aware that her desire to meet Liang Hao didn’t stem from the mindset of a fangirl, as people online would say.

Yes, in order to understand him better, she even studied the ecosystem of the entertainment industry. In just a week, she had mastered fan culture jargon like “super topics,” “fan site masters,” “support events,” “ranking campaigns,” and other terms she had never even heard of before.

See? Love really does lead to growth—her scope of knowledge had broadened thanks to Liang Hao.

Indeed, Jiang Shuwan believed she had fallen deeply in love with him. She wasn’t content with simply having his contact info and maintaining a distant, superficial connection.

She gave herself a new goal: Make Liang Hao fall in love with me.

But love needed time to grow. Staying at school or in the lab every day was not going to lead to a beautiful romance.

After serious consideration, Jiang Shuwan made a decision: she would take a one-year break from school.

She had always felt that she was just average when it came to academics—her research was more a way to pass the time than a true calling. So pausing her studies wouldn’t be the end of the world. But love? Love was different. If you hesitated, someone else might swoop in first.

When word got out that H University’s legendary lab genius was taking time off for love, everyone who knew Jiang Shuwan—or had even heard of her—was shocked to their core. Honestly, the idea of her dying from overwork in the lab seemed more believable than this.

Her roommate, who knew the full story, was devastated. She wailed that she had committed a grave sin against H University and swore to go confess to their mentor in person.

She stared at Jiang Shuwan in disbelief and muttered, “Who would’ve thought—you were a closeted hopeless romantic all along.”

Great—another new phrase: hopeless romantic.

And so, Jiang Shuwan packed her bags and moved into the film city, following Liang Hao’s shooting schedule and rotating through various small productions as a background actor.

Even as an extra, she continued to use her downtime to bring Liang Hao tea and water, coffee and lunch—serving him just like she did with the lab mice.

As time went on, her admiration for Liang Hao only deepened.

Though he always played minor roles, he had an incredibly earnest work ethic. Even the simplest scenes, he would quietly rehearse again and again beforehand, striving to deliver the best possible performance.

As for what others said — “Liang Hao only has a good-looking face, empty inside, with acting skills that are utterly trash”… well, which outstanding figure hasn’t suffered from misunderstanding and slander before achieving success?

Liang Hao was working so hard, and he was so talented. He had simply been lacking opportunities — that’s the only reason he had remained buried.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, three months had gone by. Jiang Shuwan’s feelings for Liang Hao grew deeper with each passing day.

Well, of course, that was from her point of view.

Still, the two had definitely become much more familiar with each other. Liang Hao would even occasionally say things to her that made her blush and her heart race.

Jiang Shuwan was convinced: Liang Hao had definitely fallen in love with her too. All that remained between them was a thin layer of paper waiting to be pierced.

Her love plan was about to succeed.

Then, Liang Hao received an invitation from the film crew of The Regent Prince to play a supporting role with considerable screen time.

It was the most substantial role he had received since debuting. Not only was Liang Hao overjoyed, but even his manager — who had several artists under his care and had never paid Liang Hao much attention — was completely stunned.

After all, The Regent Prince was a major film starring none other than Best Actor Ji Hanzhang, with a stellar production team and an all-star cast. Even for background roles, countless people were fighting tooth and nail to get in.

The manager had once tried to insert a moderately well-known actor from his roster into The Regent Prince’s crew, but due to the fierce competition, he had failed.

So for Liang Hao to land the role… the manager simply couldn’t believe it was all down to luck.

“Did something strange happen to you recently? Or did you meet some big-shot benefactor?” the manager asked, probing with a weighty tone.

“Xiao Hao, you’ve got to trust Brother Long. As your manager, I’m tied to you — whatever happens to you, affects me. There’s no need to keep secrets from me.”

“To put it bluntly, even if you killed someone or burned something down, I’d still help you find a way out, right? So when it comes to… romantic relationships—”

He paused, then added, “Be it with a woman or with a man, just tell me. I’ll keep your secret. Not only that, I’ll help you cover it up and even plan how to turn it to your advantage. Am I right?”

Liang Hao wasn’t a naive little rabbit — he understood exactly what the manager was hinting at.

But understanding was one thing. In truth, he was thoroughly baffled.

“Brother Long, of course I trust you. You’re my manager — I’d definitely tell you if something was going on. But honestly, nothing special has happened lately. I really don’t know how I got the role in The Regent Prince.”

The only slightly unusual thing was that he’d met a female background actor who had been particularly attentive — always bringing him tea, coffee, lunchboxes. She’d even followed him through several sets.

Since the company hadn’t assigned him an assistant, having someone around to help out with chores wasn’t bad. Tossing out a few sweet words and flashing some charm didn’t cost him anything.

As for her being a benefactor? A low-level extra like her — how could she possibly qualify?

The manager didn’t buy Liang Hao’s explanation.

But he understood why Liang Hao didn’t want to tell the truth. After all, this was the entertainment industry. Who really bared their heart to anyone? Plenty of artists had been screwed over by their own managers.

Besides, Liang Hao wasn’t the only artist he managed. Liang Hao being guarded was understandable.

“Alright then. Once you’re on set, I’ll assign you an assistant.”

“Okay, thanks, Brother Long.”

Liang Hao thought to himself — with a company-appointed assistant coming, he wouldn’t have to bother with that tacky, clingy extra anymore.

But then he hesitated. Maybe it was better to keep her hanging on a bit longer.

He didn’t have much standing in the company. If the role in The Regent Prince didn’t amount to much, the assistant would probably disappear too.

He’d gotten used to being waited on — he wasn’t keen on going back to the days of smiling obsequiously just to get a boxed lunch.

Jiang Shuwan was completely unaware of all this. She had just moved into the most luxurious hotel in the film city and was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of her suite, looking out at the misty mountains in the distance as she talked on the phone.

“Ge, it’s just me — I don’t need a room this big,” she said plainly, stating a fact.

The person on the other end knew her personality well and didn’t argue. Instead, he said, “This suite is empty all year round. Wouldn’t it be more wasteful to leave it unused? I’m just putting it to good use.”

That explanation seemed acceptable to Jiang Shuwan. “Alright then.”

Her brother continued, “What’s with your school? What kind of social practice project sends students to film city? So weird. Anyway, I’ll come visit you once I’m back from this business trip.”

For once, Jiang Shuwan felt a little guilty and obediently replied, “Okay.”

He laughed. “So this time you’re not using the ‘too busy with experiments’ excuse?”

Jiang Shuwan muttered, “…Because I really don’t have any experiments. I’m free.”

He chuckled and hung up the call.

Jiang Shuwan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

She hadn’t told her family about taking a leave from school.

Anyway, aside from her late mother, no one in her family really understood what she did at university.

Besides, her brother was so busy — there was no need to burden him with this.

She would tell him once she successfully won Liang Hao’s heart.

Quickly putting the matter out of her mind, Jiang Shuwan took out An Actor Prepares — known as the “Bible for actors” — and began to read.

Whether for her own professional improvement as a background actor, or to cultivate shared interests with Liang Hao, she was determined to study and improve her acting.

After gathering information from multiple sources, she had created a reading list for herself.

Ten books in total — her plan was to read and fully understand them within three months.

Late at night, she set the book down, washed up, and went to bed.

The Regent Prince crew, being wealthy and well-resourced, had booked this same hotel. The production team would be moving in tomorrow, and naturally, so would Liang Hao.

However, since the hotel provided meals, she wouldn’t get a chance to bring him coffee or boxed lunches tomorrow…

Just as she was thinking this, she saw her roommate’s WeChat Moments update:

“First milk tea of the winter month. Bring it to me and I’ll hold your hand. See you tomorrow!”

Jiang Shuwan’s eyes lit up — she had an idea.

Indeed, love was a continuous learning process.

She decided that tomorrow, she’d look up more materials on how to pursue love, and with that thought, she pulled the covers over herself and fell soundly asleep.

In her dreams, Jiang Shuwan vaguely heard a robotic voice:

[Ding. Gossip-Eating System has been bound.]

She turned over and continued sleeping, completely unaware.