YABE - 37

Wen Siyu hadn’t expected Jiang Xu to come. Although she was curious, the moment she got into the car and saw him, her first words were a direct outburst—

“What’s up with that woman?!” Wen Siyu rolled her eyes dramatically, her expression fierce, completely losing her previously cheerful demeanor. “Why is she so hostile towards me? Let’s be reasonable here—if anyone should be upset, it should be me, right? Who does she think she is?!”

Jiang Xu looked at her flailing form and couldn’t help but laugh: “Didn’t you just have a nice chat with her?”

Wen Siyu glared at him: “Where did you see me being happy? If you hadn’t opened that car door, I’d be eating exhaust fumes right now! Is she trying to seduce you or what?!”

Jiang Xu replied in surprise: “You’re only realizing this now?”

Wen Siyu: “….”

After a brief moment of thought, Wen Siyu understood, narrowing her eyes as she looked at the man beside her: “So, she’s been trying to hit on you for a while now, huh?”

Jiang Xu nodded honestly.

With a huff, Wen Siyu scooted closer, looking visibly angry: “When did it start?!”

“On the first day of filming.”

Wen Siyu: “….”

Seeing her expression as if she wanted to bite him, Jiang Xu almost laughed again. He cleared his throat deliberately and restrained himself.

“She has one more week until she finishes filming, then she’ll leave.” He tried to sound serious to comfort her.

Wen Siyu immediately bristled with hostility: “You even know when she’s finishing? Why are you so concerned about her?”

Jiang Xu: “….”

Jiang Xu had once watched his mother argue with his father over trivial matters and thought his father was truly inept at talking. Couldn’t he just say something agreeable to smooth things over? It seemed so simple.

Now, Jiang Xu wanted to go back and hug his father, apologize, and tell him that he was wrong.

It turned out that these words were truly difficult to say.

He sighed and directly pulled the little girl into his arms, resting his chin on top of her head, nuzzling her affectionately as he confessed: “She approached me a few times, saying she wanted to discuss the script.”

In reality, it wasn’t just “a few times.”

Wen Siyu obediently stayed nestled in his embrace: “You should’ve told her no, discussing the script too much leads to pregnancy!”

Jiang Xu chuckled: “Yeah, I told her no.” He paused, leaning close to her ear, his voice low as he whispered, “I’m saving my first time for my girlfriend.”

The moment he finished speaking, Wen Siyu’s face turned bright red.

She coughed awkwardly and pushed the man away, glaring at him with a flushed face.

Jiang Xu blinked, his usually stoic face looking innocently confused.

Wen Siyu stared at him speechlessly: “Teacher Jiang, when I first met you, I thought you had such a limited range of expressions and seemed very aloof.”

“And later?” Jiang Xu asked her.

Wen Siyu: “Later, I thought, although you seem a bit aloof, you’re actually a very gentle person, and then…”

Jiang Xu’s lips curved slightly as he smiled: “And then what?”

“And then now I suddenly feel like your apparent aloofness is just because you have a thick skin.”

Jiang Xu: “….”

Zhou Yi, sitting in the front passenger seat, was mentally applauding wildly.

Jiang Xu used his index finger to poke Wen Siyu’s forehead, pushing her away slightly, then cupped her face with both hands and pulled her back, clicking his tongue: “You’ve really grown bold lately.”

Wen Siyu slapped both her hands onto the man’s hands covering her face, and he flipped them over, gripping her wrists. With one hand, Jiang Xu held both of her small hands and pinched her nose: “Be careful after you return.”

The little girl nodded, feeling reluctant at the thought of not seeing him for a long time.

Wen Siyu’s long lashes drooped, her expression somewhat melancholic: “Teacher Jiang.”

Jiang Xu responded.

Wen Siyu: “When this movie wraps up, if your singing turns out to be terrible, I will definitely mock you.”

Jiang Xu: “….”

What happened to the tender farewell?

After getting off the plane and returning to school in the evening, Wen Siyu bought a large pizza and four portions of baked rice, dragging her suitcase and holding several bags as she kicked open the dorm room door and shouted loudly: “Comrades!”

The atmosphere in the dorm was a bit off. Qu Xiawan stood in front of Tang Yier, the studious roommate, her expression stiff, her eyes red with anger, while Tang Yier didn’t even glance at her.

Wen Siyu swallowed her saliva, unable to shout the next line, “I’m back.”

She cautiously walked in, closed the door, and gave another roommate a questioning look.

The roommate shrank back and shook her head.

Qu Xiawan sniffled, looked at Wen Siyu with a pitiful expression, and came over to grab her arm: “Ay Yu, I’m sorry. I couldn’t cover for you during today’s roll call. At first, I—” She stopped halfway through her sentence.

Wen Siyu froze, piecing together the situation, and felt relieved. Ignoring where Qu Xiawan left off, she quickly smiled: “It’s fine. It’s just a roll call. Worst case, I’ll get scolded tomorrow and work harder on my final scores.”

Tang Yier, who had remained silent, chuckled lightly, her voice as usual, calm and indifferent: “Si Yu is indeed magnanimous. It’s exactly as you said. What’s the big deal? Skipping class whenever you want and worrying about a single roll call?”

Listening to this, Wen Siyu raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Something just felt off.

Sure enough, the next day, she received a summons from above.

Old Baldy, whose real name was Shen Guorun, the director of the directing department and also their lecturer for Audiovisual Language, lived up to his nickname. His hair was nonexistent.

At this moment, Wen Siyu stood in his office, unable to look at the professor’s stern face, keeping her head low in a seemingly sincere and apologetic manner.

Old Baldy’s face was stern, his voice loud: “Look up!”

Wen Siyu cautiously raised her head, avoiding his gaze.

“You still know fear?” Old Baldy sneered. “I thought you were fearless.”

Wen Siyu grinned cheekily: “Professor Shen, I get especially scared when you scold me.”

“Don’t try to fool me, young lady! Not studying properly and secretly skipping classes?” Old Baldy’s tone was harsh, but his eyes softened a bit. “Skipping two whole days? What did you do during those days?”

Wen Siyu answered briskly: “My mom’s shooting a new drama, so I went to learn.”

Old Baldy snorted, clearly disbelieving: “Learning by skipping class? Do you think I’m naive?”

Wen Siyu: “It’s true! Professor Shen, if you don’t believe me, you can ask her.”

Shen Guorun extended his index finger, tapping on the desk: “I hope it’s true. Otherwise, I’ll tell your grandfather.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Wen Siyu trembled, her legs going limp. She raised both hands, swearing while looking sorrowful: “Grandpa Shen, please don’t tell my grandpa. If he finds out, I’ll either die or lose a layer of skin. Then this promising future star of the directing world would fade away before shining brightly. Would you bear to see that?”

Growing up, Wen Siyu had never feared her parents or brother, but she was genuinely afraid of her grandfather.

Director Xu Qiubai, usually smiling, could scare Wen Siyu into trembling just by raising an eyebrow.

Wen Siyu felt her grandfather had a director complex.

She remembered when she was younger, her older brother Wen Siyuan secretly filled out his college applications behind their family’s back, choosing finance programs. Her grandfather, enraged, smacked him on the head with two books.

Weny Siyuan’s stubborn temperament led him to insist on abandoning directing for business, leading to a prolonged standoff. Eventually, their grandfather relented.

Thus, the focus naturally shifted to Wen Siyu.

In second grade, she watched Eternal Life with her grandfather and fell in love with the film. Director Xu Qiubai was delighted, thinking that even though Wen Siyuan wouldn’t follow in his footsteps, there was still a promising seed.

—Unbeknownst to him, Wen Siyu was just admiring Jiang Xu.

Fortunately, the young girl had never harbored lofty ambitions. Thinking that studying directing might bring her closer to idols, she didn’t resist.

Students in the directing department were ambitious, hardworking youths. Ninety-nine percent of them were incredibly diligent. The program was notoriously grueling, with numerous courses and heavy workloads. Editing videos until dawn was a daily occurrence.

The remaining one percent probably consisted of people like Wen Siyu.

Attending classes when possible, skipping whenever they could, their routine involved playing games or live-streaming in the dormitory. Suddenly realizing that this semester’s assignments were piling up, they would hastily form groups and pull all-nighters to film.

Perhaps due to innate talent, Wen Siyu, the third-generation director who hadn’t fully jumped into the fire yet, somehow managed to coast through three years with decent grades.

Moreover, the short film she made with Yuan Zhen and others not only scored highly but also received good reviews on campus and online, gaining some popularity.

An hour later, Wen Siyu emerged from the department chair’s office, her head hanging low. She marveled at how professors could lecture for hours during large lectures and seminars.

Leaving the teaching building, she headed toward the dormitory, reflecting on what Old Baldy had told her. Deeply sighing, she was pondering the depth of schemes within female dorm life when she suddenly felt something was amiss.

She realized that along the way, she had garnered quite a few sidelong glances.

Wen Siyu initially didn’t notice, but when she did, the situation was already quite obvious and severe.

The scene felt familiar, reminiscent of the photo scandal with Yuan Zhen. However, the level of attention she received this time far exceeded that incident.

Walking to the dormitory building, she coincidentally saw Qu Xiawan running out.

Upon seeing her, the girl waved and rushed over, looking urgent: “Ay Yu, have you seen the school forum?”

“No,” Wen Siyu looked at her blankly.

Qu Xiawan caught her breath, pulling Wen Siyu’s arm: “Someone posted a thread saying you’re juggling multiple relationships and being kept as a mistress or something. You should check it out quickly!”

Wen Siyu: “???”