His entire demeanor changed drastically; he was no longer aloof and elegant figure, but rather the protagonist depicted on paper.
When Teacher Wen saw his gaze, a look of amazement appeared on her face.
The change was very rapid; at least, his gaze was completely absorbed in the role in a second. Just a moment ago, they were teachers and artists, but now, standing in front of him was a young man with a broken look in his eyes.
And the young man's eyes slowly turned red.
He took a soft breath, his throat tightening, his voice trembling and strained with suppressed sobs: "I trusted you so much..."
His fingers curled up, he raised his hand but then put it down again. He wanted to turn his face away to escape, but he forced himself to turn back halfway. When he turned his head again this time, the corners of the young man's eyes were already red.
What do you take me for?
He clutched his chest, slowly took two steps closer, and raised his voice in a trembling voice: "Speak!"
The admiration in Teacher Wen's eyes was unmistakable. A dramatic emotional outburst isn't just about yelling and screaming with exaggerated facial expressions; Xiao Shulang lacked all of those flaws. So, what follows is—
“I’ve made many guesses and thought of many theories,” the young man shook his head in disbelief, seemingly too heartbroken to bear, and staggered back two steps. “But I’ve never doubted you. I firmly believe that you could never betray me.”
"But now?!" he growled in despair, veins bulging in his neck from the suppressed pain. "We've all become a laughingstock!"
A tear slid down his cheek, and the young man slowly and helplessly squatted down, squeezing out a sob. He stared stubbornly at the person opposite him, his red eyes looking forward with fragile yet determined eyes, struggling to ask: Why?
Xiao Shulang took a deep breath, then stood up. He blinked, and the fragmented feeling from before suddenly vanished, and he returned to himself.
Teacher Wen stood up, clapped, handed him a tissue, and exclaimed with delight, "You acted very well! You can't tell at all that you're an inexperienced person. Your emotional control and eye acting were superb!"
And he can actually cry!
Xiao Shulang dabbed his eyes with a tissue. Although he had already broken character, his eyes were still red and he still carried a melancholy and sorrowful aura. He smiled and said, "Teacher, you flatter me."
He has watched some tutorials at home these past few days and practiced in front of a mirror, so it seems his efforts haven't been in vain.
Teacher Wen felt like he had stumbled upon a treasure. He loved to polish rough stones and help them take shape. He opened the door to the practice room, eager to move on to the next activity.
"Come on, let me ask a few more questions, then we can work out your teaching plan. Tea or coffee, please?"
"Tea will do." Xiao Shulang hurriedly followed and came out. "Let me do it, please have a seat."
Teacher Wen waved his hand: "Haha, no need to be so polite with me."
After asking Xiao Shulang some questions and determining his approximate level, Teacher Wen pulled out a schedule from the folder: "Your courses will follow this schedule."
Xiao Shulang glanced at it and nodded without objection.
Teacher Wen: "Do you have any free time lately?"
Xiao Shulang: "You can come over anytime in the afternoon recently."
He took care of company matters in the morning, and had also negotiated two advertisements that could be filmed in the morning, freeing up his afternoon for studying.
Teacher Wen: "Okay, then we'll start at 2 PM every day. Just let me know in advance if you need anything."
"By the way, another student will be coming tomorrow afternoon. If you attend today's class, you'll be able to catch up with his pace and we can teach together."
Teacher Wen is a well-known acting coach in the industry for his good temper and excellent teaching methods. So many people want to book his classes that it's normal for him to have other students.
Xiao Shulang studied in Teacher Wen's studio until 6:30. He wanted to invite Teacher Wen to dinner, but unfortunately Teacher Wen already had an appointment, so he had to reschedule for another day.
Xiao Shulang then thought about going home and cooking for himself. As he walked out, he took out his phone and discovered missed calls and a barrage of messages from Xiao Jiang and Wang Hao.
Wang Hao also invested some money in his company. Although he did not leave his original company, he could help him as a partner. He noticed that every message from Wang Hao was followed by a series of exclamation marks.
"Brother!! What's going on between you and Qin Shuang?!"
"You two are dating? Are you going to go public? Why didn't you tell me?!"
Xiao Jiang's painting style is very similar to Wang Hao's.
"Brother Xiao! The studio's private messages are going to explode!!"
"It's okay, Brother Xiao, I support you! What's wrong with dating normally?!"
Xiao Shulang: "?"
What did he do? What did Qin Shuang do? How come their relationship has become public just because they came out to give a class?
Xiao Shulang was completely baffled. If anyone insisted on saying he had done something else today, it was just a trip to a pottery shop and a Weibo post...
Wait, Weibo?
Xiao Shulang, feeling a sudden inspiration, opened Weibo.
Then he saw that he and Qin Shuang were posted photos of their pottery pieces, one in front of the other.
Xiao Shulang: "..."
It really looks like we should go public with this!
The number of reposts on Weibo has caused his news feed to explode, and his and Qin Shuang's names have appeared at the top of the Weibo trending topics.
Xiao Shulang choked up. No one would believe it was just a coincidence or a misunderstanding. Responding was inappropriate, but not responding was also inappropriate. In a hurry, he opened the chat software, wanting to ask Qin Shuang if she had started public relations efforts.
Unexpectedly, another new discovery was made—Qin Shuang changed her profile picture.
The drawing was done by him, and Xiao Shulang recognized it at a glance.
The profile picture hadn't changed by noon!
When rumors about their relationship were circulating online, Qin Shuang changed her profile picture to a chibi-style figure he drew. What was going on?
It should be sparse and elegant... How should I think about it?
Chapter 48 He never learns his lesson; he still thinks he's an easy target.
Qin Shuang's newly changed profile picture successfully prevented Xiao Shulang from clicking the chat box.
He turned to check the Weibo accounts of Qin Shuang's studio and company, but there were no statements from them, even though several hours had passed since he and Qin Shuang posted on Weibo.
Given Qin Shuang's efficiency, if she really wanted to distance herself, she would have done so long ago.
His silence already speaks volumes about his attitude.
Without clarifying or defending, although the hype will die down, many people will still remember that such an incident occurred.
Xiao Shulang didn't know whether he felt relieved or more nervous.
He still can't understand why Qin Shuang would let him go to such lengths, far exceeding the boundaries of normal friendship. He longs for, yet fears, developing overly intimate relationships with others.
Qin Shuang seemed to know this, and slowly approached from the edge, making him aware of her presence, but he couldn't muster the thought of running away immediately.
Each slow approach was within Xiao Shulang's tolerance.
Xiao Shulang understands Qin Shuang well because he has read the original novel. So how did Qin Shuang manage to understand him so quickly?
Actually, Xiao Shulang himself overlooked the fact that because he understood and appreciated Qin Shuang, he was most relaxed in front of her when he came to this unfamiliar world. The two of them got close to each other with the most sincere attitude, so it was not difficult for them to figure out what kind of person the other was.
Understanding and trust both stem from genuine connection.
Being caught up in the situation, Xiao Shulang couldn't see things clearly.
Xiao Shulang also thought of Chu Beiyao and Hua Che, whom they were about to play in "No Clothes". The feelings between the two were also a tacit understanding without being spoken. However, although they did not speak, there was at least a premise of marriage first, and it was natural for them to get married. He and Qin Shuang did not have this premise.
What are you thinking? Could there possibly be such a premise between them?
Xiao Shulang shook his head with a laugh, feeling that his thoughts were absurd.
His impulse was interrupted by Qin Shuang changing her profile picture, and he didn't do anything else. After the two of them were trending for a day, they were quickly pushed down by other new terms, and only their fans would occasionally discuss them.
However, more and more people are shipping them as a couple.
The next day, after Xiao Shulang arrived at Teacher Wen's studio, another person also arrived. He was a little surprised to see Xiao Shulang, and Xiao Shulang raised his eyebrows slightly when he saw him.
Wu Feiyu is one of Luo Tian's typical cronies.
Wu Feiyu rolled her eyes and greeted him with a smile: "Teacher Xiao, what a coincidence, you're here to teach too."
Xiao Shulang nodded indifferently, not wanting to have any further interaction with this person.
Wu Feiyu has now found a good sugar daddy. That person went through several connections and used personal favors to get Teacher Wen to take Wu Feiyu in.
Although Wu Feiyu didn't learn well, he didn't cause trouble in front of Teacher Wen. Teacher Wen only thought of him as someone who was trying hard and willing to improve his acting skills, and he taught him everything he knew.
He hadn't noticed anything when he was studying alone, but now that Xiao Shulang was there, the difference was immediately apparent, even with the same course.
Seeing Teacher Wen's admiring look at Xiao Shulang, Wu Feiyu sneered inwardly. He only came to learn to earn a good reputation for hard work; he didn't care about honing his acting skills.
There are plenty of people with better acting skills than him who earn less. The biggest difference between Wu Feiyu and Luo Tian is that Wu Feiyu knows what kind of person he is.
For example, when looking for a sugar daddy, he doesn't talk about feelings. He just humbles himself and uses himself as a bargaining chip. If the sugar daddy wants to play around with other people, he can go ahead, as long as they still have feelings for him and can give him benefits.
After the afternoon classes ended, Wu Feiyu got back into her car and took out her phone.
These days, Luo Tian's job opportunities have decreased sharply, and he doesn't dare to show his face online at all. He trembled and asked Wu Feiyu and Ji Mingming to come up with a solution, otherwise, if they were pushed too far, he would release what he had and make things difficult for everyone.
Wu Feiyu and Ji Mingming were naturally annoyed, but they dared not ignore him. But nowadays, where could they find a good employer willing to hire Luo Tian? If the job they found paid too little, Luo Tian wouldn't be happy. He was very difficult to please.
Wu Feiyu opened the chat software and posted in their group chat: "Guess who I saw in class today."
He seemed to know that no one would respond to his question, so he answered it himself, just for fun: "Xiao Shulang".
As soon as those three words were sent, Luo Tian appeared immediately and sent a long string of emojis.
Wu Feiyu: "Alright, alright, stop spamming. Brother Luo, listen to me, I've come up with an idea."
"If you want to turn your reputation around, the previous irrefutable evidence won't work, so let's just make Xiao Shulang's reputation worse."
Luo Tian excitedly sent a voice message: "Tell me."
He had been waiting for a chance to turn things around for far too long. It's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. Now, he has fallen from being a popular idol, and the drastically different treatment he is receiving is driving him crazy.
Wu Feiyu: "I recently met someone who seems to like the sparse and elegant type. No need for anything particularly exaggerated, just a photo with some rhythm, and it's guaranteed to work."
Wu Feiyu acted immediately. He was so annoyed by Luo Tian's threats that he figured the sooner Luo Tian was freed, the sooner he could relax. The next day, on his way to class, he made a phone call and asked someone to drive him.
He mentioned in the group chat that he had recently met someone—or rather, hooked up with—who was a rich second-generation heir. He said he met him at a bar and they hit it off. He wasn't Wu Feiyu's main sugar daddy, but he did have some money, and Wu Feiyu didn't mind hanging out with him.
Wu Feiyu called this man "Young Master Wang". He timed it perfectly and had someone take him to the underground parking garage. The two even shared a deep kiss in the car. After the kiss, Wu Feiyu didn't rush to get out of the car. A short while later, Xiao Shulang's car arrived.
Since they were already in the underground parking lot, there was no need for any disguise. Xiao Shulang got out of the car, and Wang Shao immediately saw him from inside the car.
"What a beauty..." Young Master Wang stared, his eyes wide with admiration.
Wu Feiyu laughed at him: "Are you dumbfounded?"