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The online environment back then was such that beauty, like popular songs, could make someone famous overnight.
Students spent hours changing avatars, personalizing signatures, decorating their online spaces, and were familiar with various popular online personalities.
At that time, everyone’s chat avatars might have been different, but the person in the photos was often the same.
Cheng Mi became famous overnight due to a set of rooftop sunset photos. For a while, five out of ten girls had her as their avatar.
These photos were actually taken by Li Chu. After being taken, they were casually posted online to record, but unexpectedly, Cheng Mi’s face bloomed intensely into public view.
Coincidentally, Qi Yunmiao was also famous in this way, which Cheng Mi only found out after coming here.
Qi Yunmiao’s appearance was not bad; her face appealed to most people. Her personality was straightforward and bold, and she was often active online. Her well-known temperament combined with her beauty earned her many small fans.
Having some popularity online, it was hard for her every word and action not to be magnified by those around her.
Both of them were already somewhat famous online, and both attended Fengxun High School.
Any one of them could be discussed for half a day on the Feng Gao forum. Now, these two met, and it was due to such a highly dramatic conflict.
The school forum was suddenly flooded with posts.
Although GR, this fashion magazine for girls, was very popular among middle and high school students, Cheng Mi had often heard of it when she studied elsewhere, but she basically never read it.
Their style didn’t match her preferences; GR’s fashion wasn’t to her liking.
Because she didn’t follow it, she had no idea that Qi Yunmiao was a GR model, and Zhang Lingyin had never told her.
Cheng Mi clicked on the post accusing her of taking advantage of the situation to snatch things.
The poster must have been very angry, every punctuation mark in their sentences was an exclamation point.
• So angry! She went for the shoot even when Qi Yunmiao hadn’t terminated her contract yet!
She took the photos when Qi Yunmiao hadn’t terminated her contract?
Someone commented below.
• Really? If it’s not true, wouldn’t it be bad to spread rumors like that?
Cheng Mi scrolled down a few posts and saw a reply.
• We all saw it, okay? When we saw her go to GR, we had a bad feeling. We asked the editor who took the photos, and she said Cheng Mi went to them herself when Qi Yunmiao hadn’t fallen out with their magazine yet. What are we spreading rumors about? She’s just meddling when Qi Yunmiao and GR are having issues.
This sentence contained a lot of information.
What did they mean she went to the magazine when Qi Yunmiao hadn’t terminated her contract with GR yet?
Also, were they having issues with Qi Yunmiao when she was taking photos for GR?
Cheng Mi immediately sensed a problem here.
It wasn’t that she didn’t believe the other person’s words; she could tell at a glance that the other person was speaking the truth.
Because she was truly indignant, not adding fuel to the fire and spreading rumors. The difference could be seen in their words.
Meng Yin originally thought Cheng Mi wouldn’t care after seeing the post because she believed it was a misunderstanding, and a misunderstanding wouldn’t bother someone with Cheng Mi’s personality.
But now seeing Cheng Mi seemingly deep in thought, she also became nervous.
“What’s wrong?” she asked Cheng Mi softly.
Cheng Mi hadn’t realized she was lost in thought. Hearing Meng Yin speak, her eyes naturally fell on her: “What’s wrong?”
“They...” Meng Yin lightly gestured towards the phone in Cheng Mi’s hand, “did they say anything excessive?”
Excessive words? Not really, the other party was just stating what they believed to be the “truth.”
Cheng Mi didn’t say yes or no.
She simply seemed to think for a moment, then gave Meng Yin a light, casual smile and said: “It should all be over today, right?”
Meng Yin naturally didn’t understand.
Cheng Mi looked at her and suddenly asked: “Aren’t you going to ask me if what they’re saying is true?”
Meng Yin also looked at her, and in less than a second, shook her head: “I don’t think there’s anything to ask.”
Cheng Mi genuinely found Meng Yin quite cute, the kind of little sister you’d want to pinch on the cheek.
Hearing her say that, she found it amusing and asked again: “Why?”
Meng Yin was a little embarrassed by her gaze, averted her eyes, and scratched her round face: “Well, I just... I just don’t think you’re that kind of person.”
Cheng Mi saw her reaction and stopped teasing her. She held a water-based pen between two fingers, lightly tapping it on the edge of the desk a few times.
She told Meng Yin: “Don’t trust others too much in the future.”
Such a cute and kind girl shouldn’t be deceived.
As the two were talking, their homeroom teacher, Wei Xiangdong, rushed in from outside, urging a few boys who were loitering in the corridor to take out their Chinese textbooks for morning reading.
Cheng Mi didn’t say anything more to Meng Yin, reaching under her desk to pull out her Chinese textbook.
________________________________________
Throughout the day, whether in the classroom or from the windows outside, a constant stream of gazes fell on Cheng Mi.
However, they weren’t malicious, just curious and gossipy.
Unsurprisingly, her name was probably still being discussed on the forum, but she hadn’t checked it again.
Towards the last self-study period before dismissal, Cheng Mi finished her physics exercises. She couldn’t do the last question and didn’t understand the answer. Twirling her pen, feeling bored, she thought of something, reached under her desk, and pulled out her phone.
She tapped into her messages. As expected, there was only one carrier billing message.
A certain chat box only showed the two words “Good luck.”
Si Tingyan hadn’t replied.
Soon, the dismissal bell rang. Cheng Mi didn’t linger in the classroom. She packed up her physics workbook and other assignments, grabbed her school bag, and left the classroom.
Outside the school street, buses honked as they passed. Cheng Mi walked to the bus stop and boarded bus number 2.
This was the opposite direction from the number 5 bus that went home.
Cheng Mi had taken this bus once before, about ten days ago, when she went for the GR photoshoot.
The GR magazine office wasn’t far from the school. After the bus weaved through the bustling city for twenty minutes, it stopped on that chaotically planned old street.
Cheng Mi walked a few tens of meters along the street to the GR building.
The GR studio’s decor was quite artistic, matching their magazine’s style well.
Cheng Mi didn’t call Zhang Lingyin; she went straight upstairs.
It was almost six o’clock, nearing quitting time, and she ran into several people leaving GR along the way.
Cheng Mi didn’t ask them if Zhang Lingyin was there. When she got upstairs, Zhang Lingyin hadn’t left yet, as expected. Her work wasn’t idle; she was still shooting models.
Cheng Mi stood by and watched for a while, not wanting to disturb her.
It was Deng Zi, who came to get something, who saw her first and immediately said: “Looking for Zhang Lingyin?”
Cheng Mi smiled at him: “What do you think?”
“Go for it, I support you.”
After grabbing his things and about to leave, he turned back and took out his phone.
“How about we exchange numbers?”
When they all went out to eat together before, everyone else had Cheng Mi’s number, except Deng Zi.
At that time, he said there was no need to exchange numbers, as they would see each other often.
But now he wanted her number.
Cheng Mi knew he knew what she was about to do.
After Deng Zi left, not long after exchanging numbers, Zhang Lingyin’s afternoon shoot finally concluded.
She turned around and saw Cheng Mi, looking quite surprised: “Cheng Mi, how did you get here?”
Cheng Mi remained her usual self, smiling: “Am I welcome?”
“Of course you’re welcome! Why wouldn’t you be? Come on, let’s go to my office and get something to eat. I just brought a pile of snacks from the supermarket this afternoon.”
There was a beverage vending machine in the outer corridor, where Cheng Mi had chatted with Deng Zi last time.
She said: “I’m quite thirsty and want something to drink. How about we go outside?”
“Oh, sure, let’s go then?”
Cheng Mi saw her natural and normal expression and didn’t immediately expose anything. She walked out with her.
Outside the corridor window, the sounds of people and cars continuously passed by below.
Cheng Mi pushed the door open, walked to the beverage vending machine, and inserted a few coins.
Two fruit drinks quickly dropped to the bottom. Cheng Mi picked them up and walked to the window, handing one to Zhang Lingyin.
Zhang Lingyin took it: “Thanks.”
It was the same old spot. Cheng Mi stood by the window, recalling the last time she ran into Qi Yunmiao’s friend at the roller skating rink across the street.
At that time, she was with Deng Zi.
No wonder the other person treated her like an enemy.
Zhang Lingyin asked her: “Did you see the magazine?”
Cheng Mi politely replied: “I saw it.”
Zhang Lingyin seemed very happy: “How is it? Isn’t the content great?”
Cheng Mi smiled: “It’s good.”
Zhang Lingyin said: “Our issue sold really well! Several bookstores called at noon saying they needed to restock. It all sold out in just one morning.”
Cheng Mi glanced out the window: “The effect is quite good.”
“Right, sales are particularly good.”
Cheng Mi withdrew her gaze from downstairs and looked at her: “The forum effect is particularly good too.”
Zhang Lingyin’s expression froze, looking bewildered: “What forum effect is good?”
“If I’m not mistaken,” Cheng Mi’s tone was still unhurried, “the first time you called me, you said you often checked the school forum.”
She looked at Zhang Lingyin: “So, did you check the Feng Gao forum today?”
Zhang Lingyin’s eyes darted around: “I’ve been crazy busy today, no time to look at those things.”
She immediately fell into Cheng Mi’s trap.
Cheng Mi said: “It’s fine, it doesn’t matter if you don’t look.”
She said: “Answer me two questions.”
Although she phrased it as a question, she gave Zhang Lingyin no chance to refuse.
“First, when you came to find me, had you not yet terminated your contract with Qi Yunmiao?”
After saying that, she just looked at her.
Zhang Lingyin stammered for a moment. Under that gaze, she couldn’t lie: “At the time, we were in negotiations, already preparing to terminate the contract...”
“But you didn’t tell me. At that time, you only told me that the model was trying to terminate the contract, and you needed to find another one.”
Zhang Lingyin opened her mouth: “But we couldn’t just wait for her, could we...”
Cheng Mi said: “Okay, now let’s talk about the other one.”
“Did someone call you and ask about me?”
Zhang Lingyin’s face was visibly uncomfortable, but she still tried to maintain composure: “No.”
Cheng Mi said: “Did you say that I came to you to sign the contract myself?”
Zhang Lingyin was slightly stunned.
Cheng Mi added: “When Qi Yunmiao hadn’t terminated her contract with you yet.”
Zhang Lingyin probably didn’t expect Cheng Mi to be so direct; she was at a loss for words.
Cheng Mi said: “Don’t pretend you don’t know. When you decided you didn’t want to offend either side, the consequences of this matter were already beyond your control.”
Zhang Lingyin, to put it nicely, was cheerful and easy to get along with; to put it less nicely, she was slick and worldly.
But her worldliness also led her astray. She concealed the truth from Cheng Mi and fabricated facts for Qi Yunmiao.
If both parties weren’t prone to causing trouble or holding grudges, it might have just passed.
But she happened to encounter people like Qi Yunmiao.
They wouldn’t swallow their grievances; they would retaliate with double the force.
Cheng Mi didn’t want to dwell on this with them because they were also being played.
Zhang Lingyin paused, silent for a long time, then finally said apologetically: “Cheng Mi, I’m really sorry. I handled this badly, but I’ll clarify everything online. We’ll just—”
She didn’t finish, interrupted by Cheng Mi.
“The contract states that breach of contract means returning all profits.”
“Perfect, no need to bother you with sending me money.”
________________________________________
It was almost dark when she left the magazine office. By the time the bus took her back downstairs, it was completely dark.
Cheng Mi went upstairs, used her key to open the door, and as always when she came back late, Si Huiru was sitting on the living room sofa waiting for her.
“You’re back?”
Si Huiru seemed to enjoy knitting things; last time she was holding knitting needles, and today was no different.
Only the yarn color had changed; last time it was black, this time it was white.
She put down her knitting needles: “Is it very cold outside? Auntie will pour you a cup of hot water to warm yourself up.”
Cheng Mi spoke to stop her: “No need, it’s not very cold.”
Si Huiru didn’t insist and continued to get up: “Then I’ll go heat up the food. You wash your hands, and we can have dinner.”
“Mhm.”
Si Huiru went into the kitchen.
She looked around the house but didn’t see Si Tingyan.
Cheng Mi walked to the shoe cabinet to change her shoes and saw his shoes there.
She looked up, glancing at his room door.
It was closed.
Cheng Mi averted her gaze, put her shoes in the cabinet, and walked towards her room with her school bag slung over her arm.
This house was old, and the soundproofing was terrible. Usually, any slight noise outside could be heard clearly in the rooms.
She had just returned and was talking to Si Huiru out here, so Si Tingyan in his room must have heard them.
The corridor outside the room was very quiet, with only a clinking sound or two of pots and spoons coming from the kitchen, from Si Huiru.
Her footsteps echoed in the corridor.
From the living room, gradually approaching the room.
Si Tingyan’s room door remained motionless.
Cheng Mi’s footsteps stopped in front of her own room door. Across the corridor, she glanced at the opposite room door, then looked away, pushed open her door, and went inside.
After putting down her school bag, she came out of the room, the door closing with a soft sound.
She didn’t look at the opposite room door again, heading straight for the kitchen.
Cheng Mi and Si Huiru didn’t have much to talk about. Sitting at the dining table, Si Huiru told her: “Xiao Yan already ate out with his teacher.”
Cheng Mi casually asked: “Just got back?”
“No, he’s been back for a while.”
Silence.
After dinner, Si Huiru, as usual, didn’t let Cheng Mi touch the dishes. Cheng Mi, as always, did what she needed to do.
Passing the opposite room, she didn’t pause. She entered her own room, opened the wardrobe, took out a white casual long T-shirt, and left the room to shower.
The weather in Fengxun had started to turn chilly. While showering with warm water, she could already feel a faint coolness permeating her bones.
After coming out of the bathroom, Cheng Mi dried her hair and returned to her room.
Tonight’s homework wasn’t light: one English test paper, one biology test paper, and two workbooks.
These were all subjects Cheng Mi was good at, so they weren’t particularly difficult to do.
While doing homework, there were one or two sounds of a door opening and closing from across the hall.
Cheng Mi’s pen continued to flow smoothly across her test paper.
Time passes quickly when one is focused. Cheng Mi finished her homework already past eleven o’clock.
The curtains weren’t drawn, and half the lights outside the window had gone out.
A cool night breeze drifted in through the window, rustling a page on Cheng Mi’s desk, then letting it fall.
It also cleared Cheng Mi’s mind.
Her gaze fell on the physics workbook on her desk. Actually, she had finished the physics homework assigned by Wei Xiangdong in school tonight, but there was one question she truly didn’t understand. Cheng Mi hadn’t touched this workbook since bringing it back.
The room outside was completely silent.
Cheng Mi put down her pen, picked up the physics workbook, and opened her room door to go out.
Familiar scene, the corridor was completely dark.
Cheng Mi held the book under her arm, took a few slow steps, and placed her hand on the doorknob.
The metal doorknob was cool. Cheng Mi tapped it with her fingertip, and two seconds later, pressed it down.
Pushing open the door, a small, not-too-bright light caught her eye—a desk lamp.
Si Tingyan was at his desk, working on practice problems.
Cheng Mi just noticed he wrote with his left hand.
Hearing a sound, Si Tingyan turned his head.
Cheng Mi’s long hair was tucked behind one ear, her peach-blossom eyes fixed on him in the dim light.
After closing the door, she walked in barefoot.
Her white casual long T-shirt reached her thighs, hanging loosely by her legs, revealing a pair of straight, well-proportioned legs beneath.
Si Tingyan turned his head back, no longer looking at her, and continued his work.
Cheng Mi slowly approached his desk. There was a chair next to it, on which were some circuit boards, parts, and a few blueprints.
She naturally leaned against the edge of his desk, her physics workbook casually placed on his desk, almost as if she was sitting on the desk itself.
Si Tingyan’s pen continued to move ceaselessly on his scratch paper, ignoring her.
Cheng Mi’s eyes shifted from his pen to his face.
Light came from the front, casting a shadow from his long eyelashes onto his pale skin.
Cheng Mi stared at his face for a few seconds, then slowly raised her hand, her fingertips touching his cheek.
First, her fingertips brushed against his pale skin, then her palm slowly conformed to the side of his face.
“Haven’t seen you all day, did you miss me?”
Si Tingyan’s pen had stopped at some point. He looked up at her, his eyes unreadable: “What do you want to say?”
Cheng Mi’s gaze shifted slightly, tracing his eyes back and forth.
She said: “I guess you did.”
She looked into his eyes, skipping the inquiry entirely, asking him with certainty.
“Were ‘Good luck’ just two words too short?”
He must have seen the text message.
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