Nobody was perfect. Du Jing wasn’t a villain. She might be a calculating person when she used Yun Xiangxiang’s restriction of fame to force her into proving herself, but she never tried to do anything behind Yun Xiangxiang’s back.
Her entering Qingdao University with outstanding results and keeping that up in the rankings was something that should be appreciated.
For someone who is willing to take on challenges and work to overcome them, if she could open her heart, she could succeed in any field in the future.
I hope she can understand something from this. Yun Xiangxiang and her friends left, leaving a dazed Du Jing standing there.
“Xiangxiang, give me that USB drive of yours,” Tao Manni stretched her hand.
“Why do you want this?” Yun Xiangxiang was puzzled.
“For publicity. Your participating work for the festival film this time is “University Dream.” Coincidentally, that footage was filmed during your filming of “University Dream.” I think if we use it as publicity, we can surely gain lots of votes,” Tao Manni urged. “Give me! Give me!”
“There is no need for that,” Yun Xiangxiang would have used it as publicity earlier if she wanted to.
“There is a need for that. Look at how motivational this footage is. It’s not just creating momentum for you, it’s also to make more people understand that success doesn’t come overnight, and that hard work pays off,” Tao Manni explained seriously.
“Yes yes yes, there is a need for that. Just give it to us and don’t care about anything else,” Feng Xiaolu chimed in.
Yun Xiangxiang handed the drive to them resignedly, “How are your studies nowadays?”
“Don’t worry. A lesson taken is a lesson learnt. I will never have the humiliation of failing like last semester repeat itself,” Tao Manni guaranteed after keeping the USB drive.
“I worked my butt off in high school because I wanted to get into the best university so I can live a more relaxed life.”
Feng Xiaolu held her chin with her hands. She was dispirited, “Qingdao University is colorful. You got various clubs and organizations here. My heart has already been taken by these mesmerising fairies. I lost my will to get any scholarships. Passing is good enough for me. I thought I could do it, but I only knew I oversimplified things when I took the exam. I had already backed out of two clubs.”
“You can do it,” Yun Xiangxiang relaxed once she saw the duo understanding it.
Only by going to a university yourself can you know how different it is from the dreams. Especially the better universities. They would pay more attention to nurturing multiple skills in their students.
The following clubs that appeared made the graduates wish they could clone themselves. If they were born in a family that had nurtured their talents since young, perhaps they would be able to resist the temptation.
However, if the parents only wanted their kids to use all their time studying, and if these kids had an overwhelming desire to learn those skills, the prolonged suppression would cause them to pounce on the clubs in university the first chance they had.
Yun Xiangxiang didn’t know whether Tao Manni and Feng Xiaolu came from that kind of family. However, the duo signed up for many clubs at once, as well as joining the student council. They were busier than her, who was filming. Under this condition, if the duo gave most of their time to extracurricular activites, failing was an inevitability.
“I have always wanted to learn Go [1], Guqin, and flower arrangement since I was a kid. My mom always wanted me to study. I envy kids nowadays. They can go to all kinds of training classes,” Tao Manni puffed her cheeks.
“Your delight is another’s torture. You envy the kids nowadays, but countless of them envy the past you.”
Yun Xiangxiang gave Tao Manni her portion of sweet and sour pork ribs. That was Tao Manni’s favorite. “Life is imperfect. Don’t regret what was not to be. The best thing to do is to clasp those we can in the present.”
“En en en, I don’t really get frustrated after meeting you,” Tao Manni nodded incessantly.
“Xiangxiang, are you going to class after this or?” Ma Linlin who was scarce with words asked.
The trio looked at her all at once. Yun Xiangxiang smiled, “I need to take the driving license’s exam the day after tomorrow. I’ll have to film starting next week.”
“How long is it going to take?” Feng Xiaolu asked nervously. “It can’t be until the finals, right?!”
Yun Xiangxiang smiled, but did not elaborate.
“Heavens, can you not be so extra? If you do that, then you’ll only be in school for a month for this semester!” She meant the month when the school started.
“I can do nothing about it. I love acting. I’ll be counting on you for the lecture notes and recording,” Yun Xiangxiang smirked.
When she finished, she did not forget to remind them, “Don’t just record it for the sake of sending them to me. You girls have to work hard yourselves.”
“Okay, okay. Don’t remind me of last semester’s failure,” Tao Manni gave half of her steamed eggs to Yun Xiangxiang.
After happily finishing their lunch, Tao Manni and Feng Xiaolu skipped out on their afternoon naps to follow Yun Xiangxiang and Ma Linlin to the library.
Once Yun Xiangxiang claimed her one thousand yuan cash prize, she gave a big digital red packet in their dorm chat group which was split into six one thousand yuan ones.
She thought it was no fun to give each of the five girls two hundred yuan, so she waited for the girls to take whatever they wanted, and she would take the remaining money. In the end, the girls ‘politely’ left her a 199 yuan red packet.
They only had three classes today. Two were in the morning, one was in the afternoon. When the classes were over, Yun Xiangxiang was tidying up her things and prepared to go home to practise.
“Oh my god. Xiangxiang, look at this piece of news.”
Tao Manni was someone who would read the entertainment news, especially after knowing Yun Xiangxiang. From then onwards, the level of attention she paid to entertainment news was only second to Song Meng.
She showed her phone to Yun Xiangxiang. Feng Xiaolu and Ma Linlin huddled around them.
Another piece of breaking news from the entertainment industry: The luxurious party of a famous actress turned out to be a pimp trip.
Kang Ran was one of the hottest drama stars right now. With her three big hit dramas, she managed to garner countless fans. She might not be exceptionally gorgeous, but she had a natural elegance to her that lent itself well to historical dramas. She was the quintessential famous beauty of the ancient era.
She also starred in a currently sensational urban drama. This was her peak of fame.
The pictures that were exposed might be blurry, but they were explicit. There were some pictures showing her riding on a man’s figure, and a GIF that showed her chest getting fondled. The entertainment industry exploded.
He Xingzhou’s news was still trending over the last two days. Now, Kang Ran’s news instantly took some heat off of him.
“That’s a chaotic circle you have there,” Feng Xiaolu was extremely uncomfortable as she read the news.
“The chaotic one is not the circle. It’s the human,” Yun Xiangxiang corrected her.
Any circle that is made up of people will see them become demons once interests conflict. It was just that the entertainment industry had the most exposure.
“It’s all negative news these couple of days. I don’t even want to look at them,” Tao Manni took her books and walked outside after keeping her phone.
“You’ll get used to it,” Yun Xiangxiang was calm.
Negativity was what that attracted the most eyes within the entertainment industry. Even if there was some positive news, barely anyone would believe or even see it.
Song Qian came to pick up Yun Xiangxiang. When she got into the car, she called He Wei, “Brother Wei, how did Kang Ran’s news get reported?”
It was obviously a private party. A luxury party like this could only be held by the rich and powerful in private. It was difficult for entertainment reporters to sneak into it.