The old Liu Man went to Shanghai twice in the past, so she was not a stranger to Shanghai.

TL’s Note: Yup, the old Liu Man went there twice only to buy AJs.

Professor Qiu was generous to Liu Man. She even sent a driver to the airport only to pick her up. Most stars that are not super famous don’t even get a private driver.

The driver directly drove Liu Man to the hotel and told her her room was ready. They had already paid the twenty-days fee, and now she only had to move in.

This hotel was very near to the center of the city. Although there weren’t any stars on the front desk, the entire design and the decorations of the hotel were still based on a four-star level. The pricing for one night wasn’t cheap, either.

Liu Man had just finished unpacking her luggage when Professor Qiu sent a WeChat message telling her to come out and have lunch.

When Liu Man got downstairs, that same driver had already parked the car in front of the hotel.

The address of the restaurant wasn’t anywhere near the hotel. The driver drove her to a restaurant that had a very private location; It was located in a dull and dilapidated neighborhood. From its appearance, Liu Man couldn’t have told it was a restaurant at all.

As she mounted a very narrow staircase onto the second floor, she met a heavy and thick wooden door. Liu Man knocked, and someone inside asked,

“Greetings, who are you?”

“It’s Liu Man.”

The door opened from the inside. A man, smiling and wearing a western suit, bowed at Liu Man, “Miss Liu, please come in.”

Liu Man entered, and as the waiter helped her take her jacket off, she realized that this place seemed unique. As she walked in, the first thing that she noticed was the overwhelming, expensive perfume that rushed into her nose. She then noticed that the floor was built from solid wood. The walls were half-built with hardwood, and the other half was covered with wallpaper in warm yellow. The decorations were delicate and retro. With her first glance, she couldn’t see any furniture, nor could she see any customers. On the sides of the wide corridor, there were six doors. Behind each door, there was a room inside. This restaurant only served six tables of customers during mealtimes, and customers would have to reserve their spots ahead of time.

The waiter pulled opened the door that led to a room named ‘Si.’

“Miss Liu is here.”

The people inside looked in Liu Man’s way.

Seeing Tang Tu, she was surprised.

Seeing her, Tang Tu was also surprised.

Tang Tu was still as handsome as before; even his surprised face looked attractive. The room was a bit hot, so he only wore a light purple shirt. As he sat on his chair, his left leg was crossed over his right. The pose was comfortable yet playful, and he didn’t have the attitude of a celebrity at all. He probably trusted Professor Qiu a lot to be this relaxed.

Qiu Jing noticed how the duo was staring at each other, and she laughed, “Looks like I don’t even have to introduce you to each other. You must know each other already.”

“We indeed know each other already,” Tang Tu quickly hid his emotions and smiled, “It was surprising that ‘Ji Ning’ is my underclassmen.”

“Which is why I want you two to have a meal together before we start filming, so you can get familiar with each other. Liu Man had never taken part in a film before, so you should give her some suggestions and help her. You two are in the same school, after all.”

“Of course. Taking part in the same movie is fate, not to mention how familiar we are with each other. I am definitely going to help,” Tang Tu said with confidence.

Liu Man was confused. She thought she wasn’t familiar with Tang Tu…

Qiu Jing continued to say, “Tang will be the actor of Duan Nanfeng. The actor of this role needs some piano skills anyways.”

Liu Man was even more bewildered, “Doesn’t he study the violin, though?”

Tang Tu couldn’t help but laughed, “I know how to play piano, too. When I was a Freshman and a Sophomore, I even studied piano electives. Don’t you know that?”

The whole school knew Tang Tu played both violin and piano, but the piano was only a hobby of his, and the violin was his main instrument. Liu Man of the past knew that, but the present Liu Man had already gotten rid of this piece of useless information from her memory.

Tang Tu was confused, too. Who was the person who told him Liu Man had a crush on him, again? He couldn’t see any fondness of him from her eyes. Those pairs of eyes looked indifferent as if he was just a passerby.

To be even more ironic, Tang Tu’s role, ‘Duan Nanfeng,’ had a crush on Liu Man’s role, ‘Ji Ning.’

Duan Nanfeng was the second male lead in the film. He and Gu Qing were in the same class at a Shanghai experimental high school. He was a top student in his class, and on every single test, Duan Nanfeng would always get the best score while Gu Qing would usually get the second-best score. At that time, Gu Qing was nicknamed “Always number two.”

Except for his exceptional grades, Duan Nanfeng and Gu Qing’s god-like faces were the most appealing to girls. Duan Nanfeng’s features were rather cold. Because of his background of high class, he was a bit aloof and wasn’t compassionate at all; Gu Qing was a beautiful young man, he loved sports, he had a good personality, and he was nice to everyone. Because of that, everyone chose him as the class president.

Gu Qing had never seen eye-to-eye with Duan Nanfeng. He believed Duan Nanfeng was his greatest opponent, but he could never get a better score than Duan Nanfeng. Duan Nanfeng’s personality had always been calm and indifferent, so he had never really thought of Gu Qing as a rival. This was yet another reason for Gu Qing to be jealous and angry.

Since he couldn’t get a better score, Gu Qing started to think of other ways to beat Duan Nanfeng.

Gu Qing continued to be jealous of Duan Nanfeng until his two months older stepsister, ‘Ji Ning,’ came back to China because her mother passed away.

TL’s Note: They didn’t have the same mother, nor did they have the same father, which means they were not at all blood-related.

The first time Gu Qing laid eyes on Ji Ning, he was mesmerized. Ji Ning was at the prime of her years. She had good looks and lived across seas from birth, making even her gestures stand out from others.

Ji Liguo contacted the teacher to have Ji Ning go to the same class as his stepson, Gu Qing.

It was Duan Nanfeng’s first time seeing Ji Ning, and his face, which had always been calm, showed another expression. He kept on gazing at Ji Ning, and couldn’t look away.

Yet, this scene was witnessed by Gu Qing.

He used his privilege of living in the same house as Ji Ning to successfully make her like him. On top of that, he also had a talent for flattering girls with his smart sayings. Duan Nanfeng was angry, but he could do nothing at all.

To be honest, Liu Man thought Tang Tu and Duan Nanfeng had very different temperaments, but she did not dare to say it out loud and just sat quietly beside Qiu Jing. There were only three of them inside the huge room. Qiu Jing rang a bell that was on the table, and within just a minute, waitresses came in with dishes that were pre-ordered. Soon, the table was laid with plates and plates of delectable food.

Every plate was presented with only a small portion of food, yet the dishes were huge. The side dishes were fancy and refined. The food even felt expensive and high class.

“No wonder this is a restaurant in Shanghai, the details are the extremely petty bourgeoisie,” Tang Tu picked up a fork that was embedded with pearls, “I still like how the proud northern people eat meat better, though.”

Qiu Jing rolled her eyes at him, “Duan Nanfeng is a person of class, not a ‘street thug’ like you.”

They did not expect it when Tang Tu suddenly sat up. He uncrossed his legs, and his figure was now proud and formal. He was still holding that fork, and his other hand was holding a knife. He then cut the steak skillfully. His movements were elegant as he picked up a piece with his fork. He then said lightly as he ate it, “I think Sirloin’s steak taste better, the steak here tastes bland. Eating with you two makes it even blander.”

Tang Tu looked at Liu Man and Qiu Jing, his eyes were filled with a hint of disdain, and loathe.

Credits: Sydney & Puppxteer