Chapter 17

Yan Ning silently exerted force, pulling her hand back. Straightening her posture while kneeling, she smiled and said, “I don’t allow it.”

Gu Han looked down at his empty palm and then cheered himself up again. “It’s okay. One day, I will plant a miracle flower of love in your heart. Until then, please allow me to serve you by your side.”

“Excuse me, have we met before?” Yan Ning squinted her eyes and asked softly.

The people around them collectively scratched their toes in silence, afraid that they might lose control and end up hitting him.

Gu Han looked down at his watch. “April 27, 20XX, at 11:46:46 AM, was when we first met. April 27, 20XX, at 8:06:32 PM, was when we met again. This truly is a love destined by fate~~~”

Shi Lei shrank into the corner, trembling, and asked Zhou Ye, “When we get to the second year, is there a chance we’ll catch this disease too?”

Zhou Ye sat in the corner with him, pushed up his glasses, and unusually spoke a long sentence, “To be honest, I’m a bit scared. Stay away from him, so you don’t get infected.”

Shi Lei looked at Zhou Ye with a serious expression, “Bro, if I’m unfortunate enough to catch chuunibyou, no matter what methods you have to use, please make sure to wake me up!”

Yan Ning filtered out the useless information. If he said they’d met in the morning, that must have been in the break room. “So, does that mean you’re a contestant too?”

“I was originally planning to join, but after seeing your stunning beauty, I decided to dedicate my life and my body to you. Please, allow me to serve you by your side!” Gu Han’s previous confession had been overlooked by Yan Ning, so he thought he’d strengthen his words this time. After all, no girl disliked being praised for her beauty.

This city would undoubtedly end with his victory.

“We’ll talk about this later. Let’s discuss work first. I have a stage performance in three days…” Yan Ning calmly and ruthlessly ignored Gu Han’s new round of advances and immediately shifted the topic to the main issue.

The performance was in three days, and her progress was almost at zero—there was no time to waste.

Yan Ning briefly explained her needs and then handed Gu Han the plan and a simple stage sketch.

Gu Han was forced to wake up from the blow of his consecutive failed attempts. He took the materials Yan Ning handed over, quickly scanned them without missing any key points, and suddenly leaned in close to Yan Ning. “Did you come up with all of this?”

“Yes, is there a problem?”

“There’s absolutely no problem, in fact, it’s perfect. But what you’re asking for isn’t just a video, but a 3D image that can be projected onto the stage. Such a thing can’t be made in three days. Even if I agree to do it, you won’t be able to afford the cost.” Gu Han shook Yan Ning’s notebook in his hand, speaking clearly with a cold attitude, completely different from his previous chuunibyou persona.

“Hmm, how much would it cost?”

One of the reasons she had been hesitating before was the funding. In order to create a perfect stage performance, props, costumes, and other expenses required a significant amount of money. It would have been a misstep to invest too much for a 100,000 yuan prize, but when the prize was suddenly increased to 500,000 yuan, Yan Ning’s concerns about the cost vanished.

She guessed that the most expensive part would probably be the 3D projection.

“It’s very expensive—so expensive that you definitely wouldn’t want to spend this money on a competition like this.” Gu Han said bluntly, then paused. “But this idea is really interesting. I’ve never thought of using 3D projection technology this way before. I’m very interested in this project, actually, I’m super eager to do it, so wait for me a moment.”

Gu Han stood up, dialing a phone number while walking out of the dance studio.

“What’s he going to do?” After seeing Gu Han leave, Shi Lei moved a little closer but was cautious, fearing he might catch the “chuunibyou virus.”

“Probably trying to trick someone again. Gu Han might have chuunibyou, but he’s not stupid. He definitely has something shady in mind,” Qiao Yingxue said tiredly.

Gu Han’s “deep confession of love” made her feel awkward and guilty. Fortunately, Yan Ning was composed and kept her calm, managing to steer the conversation back to work. Halfway through, Qiao Yingxue couldn’t help but think about giving Gu Han a couple of smacks on the head with her shoe sole.

A few minutes later, Gu Han returned and sat next to Yan Ning. “It’s settled. I can help you with this. Someone is willing to cover the technical costs. But there’s one condition. If you agree, the project can start immediately.”