After Reuniting with My Aloof Movie Queen Childhood Friend - Chapter 31

It was late September, and the early morning sunlight was bright and clear.

Ye Ciyin hurried toward the university, carrying breakfast she had just bought from the food street in one hand and a cup of yogurt in the other.

She was a sophomore at the S City Film Academy.

The instructor for her 8:00 AM class had just warned her last week not to be late again, but the freshly baked egg tarts smelled far too enticing, so she had insisted on waiting for them to come fresh out of the oven.

Ye Ciyin checked the time and quickened her pace slightly, but less than ten seconds later, she slowed back down.

She was anaerobic.

If she was late, she was late. At worst, she would just take a scolding and lose a few participation points.

Trudging along at a snail’s pace, Ye Ciyin held the yogurt cup between her teeth, lowered her head, and opened the bag in her hand.

Just as she was about to grab an egg tart to eat along the way, a sudden gust of wind swept past her.

Subconsciously looking up, she saw a girl riding a bicycle past her side.

The girl had an exquisite profile. Her black hair, tied back into a ponytail, fluttered in the wind, revealing a beautifully rounded back of her head. Dressed simply in a white T-shirt and jeans, she looked youthful and radiant.

The girl’s eyes were fixed ahead. Her face, devoid of makeup, held no expression, and her feet pedaled the bicycle rapidly. Like a bolt of lightning in midsummer, she instantly illuminated Ye Ciyin’s heart.

With a soft clatter, the yogurt carton dropped to the ground, though the straw was still clamped between her lips.

Ye Ciyin froze. Not quite knowing what she was thinking, she quickly scooped up the carton, tossed it into a trash can, and took off sprinting after her.

Ye Ciyin was a film production major and naturally lazy. Her physical stamina couldn’t compare to the students in the acting department, she had to summon every ounce of the latent strength reserved for her lifetime 800 meters fitness tests just to keep the girl in sight.

At the university entrance, the girl was stopped by the security guard. Entering their campus required swiping a student ID card. The girl was likely an outsider and had just been caught red-handed.

Feeling immensely fortunate, Ye Ciyin jogged toward her.

Over there, Ji Youyi was making a show of patting down all four pockets of her jeans. Pursing her lips with a look of chagrin, she muttered, “It seems to be in my jacket pocket, but I didn’t wear it today.”

She looked up with moist eyes. “Sister, save me. Please let me in, okay?”

The guard’s face flushed slightly. Clearing his throat, he picked up the scanner. “It’s a small matter. Just give me your student ID number.”

Ji Youyi knitted her brows, adopting a contemplative expression for a second. Her eyes blinked pitifully as she whispered, “I forgot it.”

“Then your ID card number.”

Those watery, large eyes blinked again. “Is it okay if I don’t remember the last four digits?”

“Fine,” the guard comforted her. “Giving me your name works too. Which department are you from? I’ll look it up.”

Why is this school so strict? Ji Youyi felt utterly helpless.

She hadn’t wanted to disturb Meng Xingshu originally, but since things had reached this point, she could only place a call to ask for help.

“Sister, please wait a moment, okay? I’ll call my friend to bring it over…” Just as Ji Youyi was about to pull out her phone, a loud shout echoed from behind her.

“Xiao Hua!” What a tacky name. “Didn’t you leave early? Why are you still here?”

Ji Youyi turned around. The person calling out to her was a beautiful girl.

Her skin was flawless, her figure tall and slender, and her shoulder length black hair was dark and silky. Her face possessed a pure, fresh beauty, like a lotus flower emerging from clear water.

Perhaps because she had run too fast just now, a faint flush covered her cheeks, adding a touch of liveliness to her entire demeanor.

She had a bit of a “Chen Zhen” vibe about her.

Ji Youyi decided that she might not actually need to enter this school anymore.

Quietly observing the girl, she seamlessly picked up the cue, her voice dropping into a tone of grievance. “I forgot to bring my student ID.”

Panting as she approached, Ye Ciyin gave her a complaining look. “I’m so done with you. You forgot it again.”

What expressive eyes! She is born so beautifully! Just relying on those eyes, she has enough talent for naturalistic acting.

Suppressing her pleasant surprise, Ji Youyi continued to throw prompts to the other girl. “I originally wanted to call you to bring it over. Why did you come out instead? What am I supposed to do about my card now?”

“What do you mean ‘instead’? If I had left any later, I’d be late. Didn’t Professor Jiang say it? Anyone who is late for today’s class can kiss their participation points goodbye.”

The girl directly took a seat on the back rack of Ji Youyi’s bicycle, acting thoroughly familiar with her. “Let’s go, back to the dorm to get it.”

Her articulation is clear, her long delivery of lines is smooth and natural, and her physical expressions are perfectly measured. To be able to seamlessly ad-lib a scene with a stranger like me, her mind must be quite sharp.

Up to this point, Ji Youyi was highly satisfied.

In her heart, she was already plotting to get the girl’s contact information later. On her face, however, she sniffled and mumbled with a crying tone, “Going back and forth will definitely make us late.”

“What else can we do? Who told you to be so forgetful? I’m already used to it. I guess I’ll just have to be late with you.”

Ji Youyi let out an “Oh,” pouting her lips with tears in her eyes as she slowly turned the bicycle around. She looked exactly like a little puppy that had been heartlessly rejected.

Aggrieved and sad, yet not daring to bite the person’s pant leg to continue acting spoiled out of fear of being annoying.

The security guard couldn’t bear to watch any longer.

“Wait a minute!” she asked Ye Ciyin. “Did you bring yours?”

Ye Ciyin pulled out her student ID card and swiped it against the machine in the guard’s hand. With a beep, the verification passed.

The guard actually breathed a massive sigh of relief, looking incredibly happy. “Alright! Go on in.”

The puppy looked up in pleasant surprise, calling out sweetly, “Wow, thank you, sister!”

The two girls expressed their gratitude, pedaled the bicycle, and entered the school gates.

A gentle breeze carrying morning dew drifted through the tree lined avenue. The riding girl’s ponytail swayed in the wind, while the girl on the back rack sat sideways, her pristine white skirt fluttering lightly in the breeze.

On both sides of the road, the tall avenue trees were lush and green. As they rode their bicycle away into the morning light, the imagery was as beautiful as a youth film.

Of course, this was only how they appeared to outsiders.

Ji Youyi had long since tucked her tears away. She sneakily pedaled the bike like a maniac along the path, eager to get away from the scene of the crime as quickly as possible. Along the way, she asked the person on the back rack, “Girl, point me in the direction. I’ll take you to your classroom.”

After asking, she received no response for a long time. Seeing a fork in the road right ahead, she had no choice but to stop by the roadside. Resting one foot on the curb, she turned around to look.

Having rested for a short while, the flush on the back seat passenger’s face had not faded; instead, it had grown even deeper.

Her crimson face was slightly lowered, and her eyes darted around, looking at who-knows-what.

Just now she was acting an extroverted persona, and now… she changed characters? Why does she look so introverted all of a sudden?

Ji Youyi asked with concern, “Did you catch a cold? Should I take you to the infirmary?”

“No need, no need! I… I’m fine!” Ye Ciyin waved her hands repeatedly.

She was incredibly nervous and had been trying to think of an opening line. After agonizing over it for a long time without making up her mind, she could only grasp at a random one for an emergency. “My name is Ye Ciyin. What about you?”

“My name is Ji Youyi. Where is your classroom?”

“Okay, okay.” Ye Ciyin silently repeated that name in her mind, her heart fluttering like a trapped deer.

She looked at Ji Youyi cautiously, her eyes unblinking. “Can I… can I add you on WeChat?”

“Sure.” Ji Youyi had intended to do this anyway. “Where is your classroom? I’ll drop you off there first.”

However, Ye Ciyin seemed to have only registered the first two words. She immediately pulled out her phone, opened her QR code, and raised the phone with both hands to make it easy for Ji Youyi to scan.

Having no choice, Ji Youyi scanned the code and asked once more, “Aren’t you going to class? You’re about to be late.”

Busy accepting the friend request, Ye Ciyin didn’t even look up as she said, “It’s just a few participation points. Let them be docked.”

She hadn’t expected the security guard to let them in just now and had already prepared to request a temporary leave of absence.

“How can you do that? Even if you don’t treasure the opportunity to learn, you should respect your teacher’s hard work.” Ji Youyi’s face darkened instantly, her tone turning as stern as a dean of students. “Are you going or not? If not, I’m leaving right now.”

“Ah, ah! Don’t be angry! I was wrong! Then, then, then,” Ye Ciyin panicked. “Can I still look for you after class? I… I’ll buy you milk tea…”

Ji Youyi’s expression softened. “If you pay attention in class, you can.”

Ye Ciyin instantly became overjoyed, nodding vigorously. “Definitely!”

Ji Youyi escorted Ye Ciyin to her classroom. Before leaving, she casually scanned the room.

She had come to the Film Academy to cast the female lead, Chen Zhen.

They had reviewed all the actors previously selected by the assistant director, but they hadn’t found anyone suitable from beginning to end.

Setting aside the complexity of the character, many actors couldn’t even pull off Chen Zhen’s most basic premise.

Chen Zhen was a young girl who had emerged from the deep mountains and passed the examinations to enter a prestigious university for a Master of Arts. She possessed a hidden inner strength, yet she was weary, she had a spark in her eyes, yet she was self-deprecating.

The current era was no longer like ten or twenty years ago. The vast majority of actors in the entertainment industry had either never read many dry, tedious books or had never endured material hardships. And those who could evoke that flavor did not match the physical appearance required.

Meng Xingshu was actually perfectly suitable, but unfortunately, they couldn’t invite her.

Joining this project in the capacity of a producer could still be framed as “a rookie team growing together.” If things fell apart, they could find ten thousand scapegoats.

But if a Movie Queen descended from her pedestal to take the lead role, wouldn’t that purely be an act of poverty relief? If the project crashed, the first person to get flamed would be her!

Ji Youyi felt that their crew hadn’t yet reached such a frantically desperate level of poverty.

In truth, the best approach for a character like Chen Zhen was to hold open auditions across various universities nationwide to find an amateur.

However, open auditions were costly, time consuming, and exhausting. Thinking of their spendthrift producer, Director Ji didn’t even dare to mention this idea. She could only secretly sneak into universities herself to try her luck.

Having finished scanning the interior, Ji Youyi didn’t see anyone with better potential than Ye Ciyin. She waved to Ye Ciyin and moved on to other areas of the campus, continuing her “Heavenly Star Scouting Plan.”

Inside the classroom, Ye Ciyin’s soul was practically leaving her body. Her gaze lingered on the spot where the figure had vanished, only for her deskmate to shake her violently.

“Ah, ah, ah, Yinyin! You know Ji Youyi?!”

Ye Ciyin cupped her burning face and turned around, her entire being still floating on air. “How do you know who she is?”

“Please, didn’t you watch The Daughter’s Bones, which became a massive hit over the summer break? She played Ning Li! If nothing else, the mole on the tip of her nose is incredibly recognizable!”

Ye Ciyin really hadn’t watched it.

She wasn’t interested in face slapping popcorn dramas to begin with, and that particular drama had been promoted by a celebrity she disliked, making it even less likely for her to click on it.

Ye Ciyin instantly felt like she had missed out enormously. Ignoring the fact that the professor had already walked into the classroom, she pulled out her phone and covertly searched for the drama’s information under the desk.

Looking at the character poster of Ning Li, her heart began to accelerate again. The corners of her lips curved up uncontrollably as she tapped “Download All Episodes” for the series.

Yet she heard her deskmate lean in close to her ear and continue, “Oh right, and she is Meng Xingshu’s girlfriend. Don’t you like Meng Xingshu? How could you not know her?”

Ye Ciyin snapped her head up to look at her deskmate, her smile freezing on her lips.

She didn’t like Meng Xingshu.