At the end of August, as September rolled in, universities in Yanjing began their new academic year. On the day of welcoming new students, the main roads of Jing University were lined with colorful sunshades, each bearing the name of a different college. 

After 9 a.m., the place was bustling with people, as crowded as a train station during the Spring Festival travel rush. As the flagship college of Jing University, the Computer Science College was especially packed under its tents, with more and more staff being called in to help, yet it still wasn’t enough.

“Pei Ge, where are you? You promised to come help out.”

“Oh man, it’s so busy here. Xu Ge? Don’t even mention it, he ran off to the station to pick up new students. Where are you?”

“What! Yan Drama? You went there… Hello? Hello! Pei Ge!”

The call ended just like that. You Jianan struggled to free his other hand from the mascot costume, almost fainting from anger.

“What happened? Pei Hengzhi isn’t coming?”

Seeing him so overheated, Xia Lin, who was in the same major and a year ahead, quickly brought over two bottles of water and turned the fan towards him.

You Jianan thanked her and took the water. He poured half of it over his head, which was almost smoking, and downed the other half in one go. Wiping his face, he complained to her, “He said Xiao Xue is also starting school today.”

“Xiao Xue?”

“Song Xuechen, Pei Ge’s childhood friend.” You Jianan opened another bottle of water, drinking it as he suddenly remembered, “I just realized! He got into Yanjing Drama Academy, no wonder Pei Ge went to Yan Drama, he must have gone to see him off.”

“Hey, hey, hey, Yan Drama is almost thirty kilometers from here.” Xia Lin held a small fan to her face, her voice trembling, “Did he forget there’s a club recruitment event this afternoon?”

The action of drinking water paused. 

You Jianan turned his face away, laughing without much emotion, “He probably won’t forget.”

“Probably?” Xia Lin squinted her eyes, “It doesn’t matter if others don’t come, but he’s our drama club’s vice president. Tell him for me, if he doesn’t show up, I’ll have to reconsider whether to hand over the position of the next club president to him.”

“Senior sister~”

“Don’t act cute with me, this is about attitude.” Xia Lin pinched his cheek mercilessly, “By the way, we haven’t seen each other all summer, why do you look like you’ve lost weight?”

Isn’t losing weight a good thing?

You Jianan quickly pointed outside, “Senior sister, stop pinching, someone’s coming.”

A shadow stopped in front of the sunshade.

A voice as clear as a refreshing rain, very polite: “Hello, senior sister, is this the registration point for the Artificial Intelligence major?”

“Yes.” Xia Lin turned around, and the next second she sat up straight, cleared her throat, and pointed to the registration list on the table, “Junior, come here and fill in your information~”

Cough!

You Jianan suddenly choked on a mouthful of water.

No wonder she’s the drama club president, her face-changing speed is unmatched.

He wiped the water off his face and looked over, following the hand holding the pen upwards. The newcomer was simply dressed in a white shirt, the sleeves casually rolled up, revealing slender, fair wrists.

It was undoubtedly the wrist he envied.

Further up, the young man was bent over filling out information on the paper. A gust of hot wind blew aside his thick bangs, revealing a fresh and flawless face, with long eyebrows, a high nose, and cheeks so fair they were without blemish.

His appearance was pleasing, and his voice was nice too.

No wonder Xia Lin’s attitude changed so suddenly.

Even the people at the nearby tables couldn’t help but look over, generously praising, “Junior is so handsome.”

“Thank you.” The young man put down the pen, gracefully, and asked Xia Lin again, “Senior sister, which building should I go to?”

“Over there, over there!”

“Turn past the artificial lake, to the right of the library, the one shaped like an egg.”

… It’s quite recognizable.

Luo Yunqing identified the location, thanked the people at the nearby tables for their directions, and turned to leave.

Even after he left, Xia Lin hadn’t snapped out of it until You Jianan came over, waving his hand in front of her.

“Nannan!”

Xia Lin excitedly grabbed his hand, and upon closer inspection, there were actually tears in her eyes.

You Jianan: “No way, is the junior so handsome he made you cry?”

“Yes!” Xia Lin nodded repeatedly, pointing to the person walking away, “Don’t you think he looks a lot like our new club member?”

You Jianan: “…”

First time hearing such a statement, how novel.

“That gentle and jade-like temperament, that fresh and breezy appearance, ah! The angelic child who is pure and unattainable…” Xia Lin was completely immersed in her own world, unable to extricate herself.

Fortunately, You Jianan was used to it, and the people around, well… they would get used to it too.

But there’s no denying, the junior was indeed outstanding in appearance and temperament, even in a crowd, he could be spotted at a glance.

“Really good-looking.”

“What’s his name, let me see.”

The people at the nearby tables crowded over.

They saw the latest entry on the list, three characters written with force: Luo Yunqing.

It felt like he had heard this name somewhere before. You Jianan craned his neck to look further away, and soon, a man with a suit jacket over his shoulder approached, speaking to the other person.

“Today’s weather is really hot.” Chen Zhao tugged at his tie, fanning himself with his hand, looking embarrassed, “Lady boss, you can’t just walk so fast because you have long legs.”

“……”

Luo Yunqing looked him up and down, from foot to head, at a height of 190, saying he had long legs, “You’re really funny.”

“Is that so, I think so too.” Chen Zhao seemed oblivious to the sarcasm, scratching his cheek, “By the way, have you registered?”

“Yes.”

“Did you… run into anyone?”

Luo Yunqing feigned confusion, “Who could I run into?”

“Pei Family’s eldest young master, Pei Hengzhi.” Chen Zhao said straightforwardly, “He also attends this school, and he’s in your major, currently a junior. He…”

He looked around, then leaned in, “To be honest, he’s very close with Song Xuechen.”

This, Luo Yunqing knew far better than him, they were already so close they were like one.

“Given your situation with Song Xuechen, there’s no guarantee that Young Master Pei won’t do something to you.” Chen Zhao sighed deeply, “The boss is really worried, his appetite has decreased a lot these days, and he can’t be with you all the time, afraid you’ll be bullied and won’t tell him.”

Finally, he blinked, “Our boss really cares about you.”

“Decreased appetite, can’t eat!”

Chen Zhao: “That’s not the point… but it is quite worrying.”

“In the welfare institute, when it was too hot to eat in the summer, grandma would make hawthorn water for me.” Luo Yunqing said as he walked, “Dried hawthorn, Hangzhou white chrysanthemum, fresh passion fruit, and ice sugar…”

“Hold on.” Chen Zhao immediately took out a palm-sized notebook from his pocket.

Luo Yunqing stopped to wait for him to finish writing.

Returning to the previous topic, “This is a school, Young Master Pei won’t bully me.”

“Hey!” Chen Zhao put away the notebook, sighing again, “Lady boss, you’re still too naive. Some bullying isn’t obvious.”

“Then I’ll complain!” Luo Yunqing tilted his head, cautiously, “Complain to your boss, he’ll help me, right?”

“Of course, you’re the lady boss.”

……

Chen Zhao escorted him to the freshman classroom.

Returning to the parking lot.

He got in the car, first downing an entire bottle of water, complaining about today’s weather again, “So stuffy, it might rain heavily this afternoon.”

Pei Yanli was flipping through the proposal in her hand, looking up at his words, “How did it go?”

“The young master didn’t go.” Chen Zhao was concise, “Later, I went to the welcome tent to take a look, no one. I guess he went to Yan Drama, I heard the Song family member also went to school today.”

But to be fair, “Boss, you were really overthinking it, the lady boss didn’t do anything, what’s there for the young master to retaliate against?”

“……”

Pei Yanli pursed her lips, continuing to look at the proposal in her hand.

*

Just past noon, the bright sun was blocked by thick clouds.

Xia Lin, who had been eyeing him all morning, rushed to the freshman class with a promotional poster as soon as the welcome event ended.

“Junior, are you interested in joining our drama club?”

“There are lots of activities, like the welcome party, New Year’s Eve party… We often rehearse with other schools, you can meet a lot of people.”

“We even have teachers from the Yanjing Drama Troupe who often come to give us professional guidance. If you’re lucky enough to be noticed by a big shot, it’s not impossible to be taken as a disciple. How about it? Want to join?”

Xia Lin rattled off a bunch.

Clinging to the other person’s arm as if afraid they’d run away.

When she was sitting in the chair, she didn’t feel it, but now Luo Yunqing had to bend down to listen to this senior sister who wasn’t even shoulder-high to him.

Don’t be fooled by her small size, she had quite a bit of strength.

Luo Yunqing had the illusion that his arm would be bruised by her grip, fortunately, it wasn’t his injured one. He waited for her to finish speaking, then pointed to himself, “But, but I, I don’t speak well, can I still join?”

The grip on his arm suddenly loosened.

Come to think of it, he did speak with a stutter during registration, but Xia Lin was too mesmerized by his looks to notice.

What to do now?

The drama club can’t have someone who doesn’t speak.

A miscalculation, a miscalculation.

Xia Lin hesitated, wavered, yet was reluctant to let go of this face that perfectly matched her image of an angelic child.

As a background angel…

“Senior sister! Pei Ge… Pei Ge is back.” In her indecision, You Jianan ran over, panting, “Finally made it back, no problem with the afternoon recruitment. This junior…”

Xia Lin looked regretful, turning her head to whisper, “He’s a stutterer.”

You Jianan: “Huh?”

A stutterer?

How can a stutterer act in a drama?

Luo Yunqing looked at him deeply.

He didn’t mishear, he just called “Pei Ge,” meaning he’s Pei Hengzhi’s friend.

“Senior sister.” His dark eyes shifted, and he spoke to Xia Lin again, “I’m quite interested in drama. But like this… I can’t join, right?”

His thin eyelids drooped, inexplicably pitiful.

Xia Lin was already reluctant to let go of this talent, and immediately, blinded by beauty, she slapped her thigh, “Who said that! Come on, give it a try!”

……

On the third floor of the Cultural Activity Center, the drama club.

Pei Hengzhi was called back by one phone call after another, his face extremely unpleasant, constantly twirling the pen in his hand.

“No, too short.”

“This one won’t do either, too fat.”

“Look at his face full of acne, during the performance, do you want the audience to stare at the acne on his face?”

“No, no, none of them.”

……

Before Xia Lin came in, the new students painstakingly brought in for interviews by the club were driven away, eight out of ten, and the remaining two were about to be crossed off.

“So what if they’re short? There’s always a suitable script for them. If they’re fat, they can lose weight. A face full of acne is just a hormonal imbalance.” Xia Lin strode to the table, took the interview paper, and gave him a sidelong glance, “You don’t like this one, you don’t like that one, who do you like?”

After all, she was a year ahead, and Pei Hengzhi didn’t want to argue with her, just turned his face away, clearly in a bad mood.

Xiao Xue blamed him for not attending the birthday party, causing him to be bullied by that Qing. He spent the whole morning coaxing, and just when it was about to work, he was called back. With Xiao Xue’s temper, he wouldn’t talk to him for days.

How could Pei Hengzhi not be angry?

“Forget it.” Xia Lin was in a good mood today, too lazy to argue with him, “There’s a junior coming later, you better behave.”

Pei Hengzhi rested his chin on his hand, twirling the pen, responding nonchalantly, “Got it.”

The only way to make Xiao Xue happy now was to find this Qing, regardless of whether he was the second uncle’s arranged partner, daring to bully Xiao Xue…

“Luo Yunqing, come in.”

The sky was completely covered by dark clouds, oppressive.

As a pair of straight long legs stepped in, a flash of lightning split the sky. It was unclear which window wasn’t closed properly, the wind howled in, lifting the hem of the thin clothes.

His eyelids lifted slightly, and those indifferent black eyes silently gazed over, yet the corners of his mouth curved into a smile, as if saying, “Caught you, don’t think of escaping.”

Xia Lin instantly had a new inspiration: a fallen Seraph.

Originally a noble and pure angelic child, but grew a pair of pure black wings, luring ignorant humans step by step into the abyss.

Absolutely perfect!

“What do you think? Not bad, right?” Xia Lin crossed her arms, raising her chin, full of pride.

She found him first.

“President, where did you find him?”

“So handsome! No, handsome doesn’t even begin to describe it, he’s like from another dimension!”

“Junior, are you interested in joining the cosplay club? I guarantee you’ll go viral!”

……

The club members crowded around, amidst the sound of camera shutters clicking.

“Junior, come, look here.”

“Enough.” Xia Lin quickly went over, pulling him behind her protectively, “You guys are surrounding the junior like you’re going to eat him?”

“Not that we wouldn’t.”

Xia Lin: What kind of wolfish words?

She then asked Pei Hengzhi, “How about this one, does he meet your standards, Young Master Pei?”

All eyes focused on him, Pei Hengzhi coughed and withdrew his gaze, “Barely.”

Xia Lin: “……”

Others: “……”

“But—” You Jianan had to pour cold water on them at this time, “The junior, he stutters a bit.”

Pei Hengzhi: “Then he can’t be used!”

“Why not.” Before Luo Yunqing could say anything, Xia Lin was already anxious, “It’s just a speech problem, what’s the big deal. Practice, practice more and it’ll be fine.”

If she gave up because of such a small issue, she’d cry to death later.

“But President, don’t forget, since it’s acting in a drama, the most important thing is still acting skills.” Pei Hengzhi twirled the pen, resting his chin on his hand, looking over.

So what if he’s good-looking? Without acting skills, he’d just stand there on stage, still useless.

And this person…

Pei Hengzhi felt he looked familiar, but couldn’t remember where he’d seen him.

“Pei Ge is right.”

Many people were worried: if he’s just a pretty face, it’s over.

“Why not let him perform a scene on the spot.” The boy named Cheng Xu, leaning against the window, grabbed a script from the table and tossed it over, “Let’s see his skills first, then talk about the rest.”

Xia Lin opened the script, it was a scene the club’s writer had just finished, about a big mansion in the Republic of China era.

The play was nearing its end, most people were dead, leaving only the seventh concubine brought back by the old master from the theater, and the second young master who had returned from studying abroad.

The latest scene was a brilliant confrontation between the two.

She remembered when it first came out, it made Xia Lin’s blood boil.

But often such brilliant scenes tested acting skills even more.

She was already planning to give up.

Using this to test a new club member…

“Cheng Xu, you’re doing this on purpose.”

The boy named Cheng Xu turned his face away, countering, “I didn’t say it had to be performed well, just to see his skills.”

“Fine, you’re really something!”

Xia Lin was almost driven mad by them.

Is it easy to find a good talent? Why waste it like this.

“This matter…”

“I’ll give it a try.”

The hand pointing out suddenly turned backward, Xia Lin’s eyes widened, blinking twice, “What did you say? Give it a try?”

Luo Yunqing took the script, nodding.

“But this play… fine!” Since he accepted it himself, Xia Lin had no more hesitation, “You perform, no matter how it turns out, senior sister will take you in.”

The last sentence was directed at Pei Hengzhi and Cheng Xu.

……

Soon, the news of a handsome junior joining the drama club spread like the pouring rain outside, sweeping through the entire Cultural Activity Center. Along with it was the junior’s acting audition, different from others.

The anime club and music club on the same floor all came to watch.

“What are they performing?”

“Wow, they’re even in costume!”

“Cool and aloof actor, love it.”

To better help Luo Yunqing get into character, Xia Lin didn’t hesitate to open the pink phoenix crown that was custom-made at great expense.

And it really looked the part once he put it on.

Xia Lin helped him put it on, squinting as she scanned the surroundings, “Who will play the second young master? Cheng Xu?”

Cheng Xu didn’t even think, “Do I look like a young master returning from studying abroad? More like a mountain bandit.”

Xia Lin: “Then who will?”

“Why not let Pei senior do it.” Luo Yunqing extended his finger, pointing at the person watching coldly.

“Pei Hengzhi?” Xia Lin was stunned, then shook her head, “Better choose someone else…”

“Alright, I’ll do it.”

Pei Hengzhi put down his crossed arms and went over, sitting on the wooden chair.

Seeing this, Xia Lin said no more, just instructed people to tie his hands behind the chair according to the script.

Everything was ready.

Xia Lin retreated to the door, raising her hand and shouting, “Ready—start!”

Bang!

As soon as she finished speaking, a foot stepped on the stool, making Pei Hengzhi’s legs go numb.

Immediately after, a sharp knife was pressed against his cheek.

At this moment, a flash of lightning outside the window illuminated a pair of calm eyes, pupils like ink, without sadness or joy.

At such close range, Pei Hengzhi could even see his eyelashes, dense and straight, like two feather fans.

“Second young master, awake?” The tone was extremely cold, the end note slightly raised, inexplicably carrying a hint of teasing mockery.

Pei Hengzhi was momentarily lost, turning his head, realizing the crowd was watching, he remembered this was an act.

He quickly adjusted his state, reciting the lines, “It was you who killed father and the butler.”

“At this point, isn’t it obvious?” The knife on his face moved to his neck, Luo Yunqing reached out with his other hand to lift the beaded curtain on the phoenix crown, leaning closer, “Next, it’s your turn, second young master.”

“Why? Why did you kill them!”

“You should ask them.” Accompanied by thunder, Luo Yunqing’s voice was almost blood-curdling, “Why did they kill my brother!”

At the same time, the knife on his neck pressed down two more points.

The murderous intent was overwhelming, Pei Hengzhi couldn’t help but struggle against the tight bindings on the chair, not knowing who tied him so tightly.

Originally, just a few lines would do, but Xia Lin didn’t call stop.

Pei Hengzhi had no choice but to continue the scene, showing confusion, “Brother?”

“Ten years older than me, brother…”

The pauses were very obvious, even outsiders could tell there was a problem, but they couldn’t resist the forlorn expression after the softly spoken “brother.”

“The expression is spot on.” Xia Lin’s eyes sparkled, shaking the arm of the person next to her, “That’s the effect we want, see, see!”

Victim·You Jianan: “…… I see, so can you let go of me first, or you’ll strangle me.”

“The climax is next. After revealing his background, the next to be punished is the second young master, at this point emotions reach a peak, the second young master’s acting is also important, he has to show shock and disbelief that the person he loves would kill him…”

“President!”

The sharp knife fell above the eyes, interrupted by You Jianan’s shout.

Luo Yunqing slowly retracted the prop knife.

Only then did everyone wake up as if from a dream, followed by unanimous applause.

Such brilliant acting.

One word, superb.

Yet no one knew, at that moment, Pei Hengzhi broke out in a cold sweat, feeling as if he would really stab down.

“Junior, you’re amazing!” Xia Lin finally let go of the arm she had pinched red, striding over, “This role is perfect for you, it has to be you. Right, Vice President?”

After being untied, Pei Hengzhi rubbed his wrists, lacking the previous confidence to refute, “The acting is indeed okay.”

“Tch!” Xia Lin rolled her eyes, facing the crowd, “Come, let’s welcome the junior to the drama club.”

Inside and outside the classroom, cheers were continuous.

Luo Yunqing carefully removed the phoenix crown and handed it back to her, turning to stand in front of Pei Hengzhi, “Senior, just now, I, I really apologize.”

“No problem.” Pei Hengzhi wouldn’t hold a grudge over such a small matter, “Welcome to the club, junior.”

A hand reached out.

Luo Yunqing glanced at it, tucking the stray hair behind his ear, stepping closer, curling his lips, “Perhaps, senior should call me, second aunt.”