"Click." The melodious music inside the car stopped abruptly, and the car was haphazardly parked on the side of the road.
Song Jiayan's face was half-hidden in the darkness, his expression inscrutable: "I checked out Zhu Yu—"
That's where the conversation stopped.
He carefully observed Fu Wang's expression, considering whether or not to continue.
Fu Wang reached out to protect Zhu Yu's ear, "Go down and talk."
Song Jiayan raised an eyebrow, only to see Fu Wang carefully cradling Zhu Yu's face, replacing his own shoulder with a cushion behind her neck. He gently pulled away only after confirming she hadn't been startled awake.
Two meters away by the railing, Fu Wang loosened his tie: "Go on."
Song Jiayan handed over her phone: "These are photos of her studying in Italy. Take a look for yourself."
The photos show Zhu Yu meeting with different men in ambiguous poses and intimate behavior.
A breeze swept by, and Fu Wang's thumb, which was swiping across the screen, suddenly stopped on a certain image—Zhu Yu nestled in the arms of a man whose face was obscured, with a sweet expression on her face.
"If you hadn't asked, I wasn't planning on saying anything." Song Jiayan casually lit a cigarette. "I originally went to investigate the Zhu family's bankruptcy, but I didn't expect to find all this by following the clues…"
"Shhh."
Fu Wang suddenly raised his hand, and the two of them turned around at the same time.
Zhu Yu unconsciously curled up in the back seat, her fair arms exposed to the air, and the cold air gave her goosebumps.
Fu Wang strode back, carefully draped the coat from the back seat over her shoulders, making sure not an inch of skin was exposed, and lingered his fingertips on her hair for three seconds before turning around.
Song Jiayan: "Brother Fu?"
He turned to look at Fu Wang, only to find that the expression on his face was not the furious and heartbroken one he had guessed, but rather an extremely flamboyant smile.
"Could it be that the shock was too much and he went crazy?" Song Jiayan muttered to himself.
"You think I don't know all this?" Fu Wang leaned against the railing, his shirt fluttering in the river wind.
Song Jiayan was at a loss for words.
"You know everything, and you still want to be with her? Dude, I never knew you were such a hopeless romantic!"
Fu Wang patted him on the shoulder: "But thank you for finding something useful, which confirmed some of my guesses."
"What guess?"
"You don't need to know." Fu Wang's hand on his shoulder suddenly tightened, the veins on the back of his hand bulging. "Stop investigating her. You know the consequences of disobeying me."
His eyes gleamed with an almost violent darkness, and his voice was low and hoarse, each word sharp and icy.
Song Jiayan opened his mouth, but could not refute it.
He knew his childhood friend's personality all too well: cold, stubborn, and domineering. Regardless of the reason, the fact remained that he had investigated Zhu Yu. Fu Wang didn't react on the spot, which was already out of consideration for their childhood friendship.
During the stalemate, Fu Wang suddenly let go.
He slowly and methodically straightened his cuffs, as if the loss of control just now was merely an illusion.
"Go back after ten minutes in the breeze."
He snatched the cigarette from Song Jiayan's mouth and slammed his high-end black leather shoes down on it. "Xiaoyu can't stand the smell of smoke."
The car lights came on, illuminating Song Jiayan's frozen figure.
In the rearview mirror, Fu Wang's hand returned to the side of Zhu Yu's face, as if the previous hostility had never existed.
——
[Broadcast complete, 10 points deducted]
The cold system echoed in the space.
Zhu Yu looked at the light screen that had returned to calm and smacked her lips with a lingering sense of satisfaction.
"It's so exciting, it's like filming a movie."
It's a pity you can't eat sunflower seeds in the system space; it's missing something.
[Please complete the side quest as soon as possible to ensure stable system energy.]
"Okay—" Zhu Yu nodded perfunctorily and continued to sprawl on the large bed in the system space.
She thought that after being bound to the system, she could live a carefree and beautiful life.
As a result, the system runs out of energy and will shut down without any energy replenishment.
If the system shuts down, she'll become a wild woman stranded in the small world.
Now she can only diligently complete side quests to accumulate energy for the system.
With that in mind, she casually opened the task panel.
[Side Quest:
① Signed agent (completed)
②First film appearance (to be completed)
③ Over one million followers (to be completed)
④ Win the Best Actress award (to be completed)
⑤ Audience popularity score exceeds ten million (to be completed)]
Zhu Yu couldn't help but clutch her head and wail again.
"Ugh, why force a socially awkward person to act!"
Although she often enjoys performing small skits when she's alone, that's on a completely different level than performing in front of a crew.
For someone with social anxiety, this is even more horrific than the Ten Great Tortures of the Qing Dynasty.
She has only completed the first task so far.
This was achieved by leveraging her mastery of the plot to find a legendary agent who would later produce two Best Actress winners and one Best Actor winner, and signing him before he was even recognized for his talent.
If he were to become famous, an ordinary person like Zhu Yu wouldn't even have the chance to meet him.
"System, are there any side quests that don't require interacting with other players?"
The system is extremely cold and ruthless.
[No]
"Ugh—" Zhu Yu scratched his head in frustration, "Acting is one thing, but to also win awards and gain popularity is just too difficult."
The system space contains various learning materials and virtual AI teachers. The host can enter the system space and select performing arts for learning.
Zhu Yu: ...
"Why didn't you say so sooner?"
The host did not ask any questions.
The system really treated her like she was the real person and messed with her.
But life goes on.
It's just studying, it's just acting, she can learn it.
She believes in lifelong learning and loves learning the most!
Zhu Yu opened the system's learning section and indeed saw many sub-disciplines.
From mecha manufacturing to postpartum care for sows, everything is available.
Time within the system space is not connected to the outside world.
In some ways, the system space is similar to an independent little world.
In other words, even if Zhu Yu stayed in the system space for three years, the time in the outside world would not change.
It can be considered a powerful tool for cheating.
But if Zhu Yu were to study in an empty system space for three years, she'd rather hang herself.
Zhu Yu found the entertainment section among the dazzling array of smaller sections.
The most basic skills are: posture, stage presence, form, and expression.
This is also the foundation of acting.
While it cannot determine the upper limit of her acting career, it is an important factor in determining the lower limit of her acting career.
If you have a solid foundation, even if you act blindfolded, you'll only be criticized for being too academic.
"Let's do it!" Zhu Yu shouted to herself, encouraging herself.
Her greatest strength is that she never suffers from internal conflict and can always soothe herself.
Socially anxious, she boasts about her independence; homebody, she boasts about her ability to endure loneliness; lazy, she boasts about her understanding of work-life balance.
Even when faced with a task as absurd as this, she can console herself by treating it as an immersive simulation game.
Even the system, which had been observing coldly, was startled by her inexplicable passion.
Such emotional regulation ability is truly terrifying.