Chapter 17: A Rendezvous with a Kindred Soul

Unexpectedly, this trip home turned out to be a wonderful New Year, and although Chu Luoxi was a little reluctant, she returned to school. When she saw Zhu Xueshuang and Liu Yujia both glowing with health, she knew their time at home had been even better than they’d described over the phone.

For students, as long as the final exams go well, nothing could be sweeter; this holds true even in university.

“Look at you, your face is radiant, your smile is about to split your cheeks. You must’ve raked in a pile of red envelopes over the New Year!” Chu Luoxi teased Liu Yujia, unable to resist poking fun at her friend’s perpetual and exaggerated excitement.

“Don’t mention red envelopes to me, or I’ll get mad. Everyone said I’m grown up now, so none for me. I just watched others’ hands cramp from counting their haul!” Liu Yujia clutched her chest, her face a picture of woe.

It made no sense—she hadn’t graduated, wasn’t earning her own money, hadn’t married—so why couldn’t she get a red envelope? It was clearly unfair.

“Pfft, all you care about is red envelopes, how ambitious,” Zhu Xueshuang laughed, opening up her own package of local specialties. She found these days quite pleasant.

It seemed bringing local treats had become an unspoken rule between them. The three friends piled their gifts together, savoring the flavors as they shared stories and joys from the holiday.

Though their dorm housed four, the three of them had always spent time freely together; the fourth had long been collectively ignored.

“What? The fan that Ji Yanjin picked during the show was you?” Liu Yujia exclaimed, still holding a slice of tender beef, her finger pointing at Chu Luoxi in astonishment.

Chu Luoxi rolled her eyes at her and grinned brightly. “Is that so shocking? It wasn’t my fault—my little cousin took my phone to join the show, ended up being selected, but by then he’d already gone home.”

Zhu Xueshuang, still surprised, couldn’t help but marvel, “I really don’t know if it’s your luck or your cousin’s that’s better…”

“Probably his! Afterwards, I quickly called him and had him give me a string of numbers. I bought a lottery ticket with them, and guess what? I actually won,” Chu Luoxi said with a mysterious air, her smile playful. In her heart, though, she thought the luckiest wasn’t herself or her cousin, but Ji Yanjin.

Her confidant from her past life—she knew him all too well, and though they didn’t know each other in this life yet, for him to draw her on a live entertainment show, wasn’t that extraordinary luck? It seemed that her mere involvement had catapulted Ji Yanjin into the center of the entertainment world’s envy and adulation that New Year.

Fate was truly peculiar. In her past life, she hadn’t returned home for the New Year and had missed this entire episode.

Zhu and Liu, tempted by Chu Luoxi’s story, were stunned for a moment before exclaiming in unison, “You won? How much?”

Pleased by their synchronized reaction, Chu Luoxi drew out the suspense, finally holding up her hand and wiggling five fingers. As their eyes widened in shock, she parted her lips and revealed, “Five yuan…”

“Pfft—” The two of them choked at once, nearly suffocating on their food, faces turning crimson from lack of air.

Chu Luoxi happily picked up another piece of beef, savoring its authentic taste, her eyes twinkling with mischief. “Don’t tell me you thought it was five million. Is money just lying around like cabbage for anyone to pick up? I spent two yuan and won five, that’s already a profit!”

As if she hadn’t deliberately led them to the wrong conclusion! Zhu and Liu, still struggling to breathe, rolled their eyes in exasperation, radiating silent grievances.

When they finally recovered, Zhu Xueshuang, still half-dead, asked, “So? Did you get to know Ji Yanjin?” She sensibly avoided the prize money topic, lest she lose her breath again.

Chu Luoxi smiled, “Sort of. After the show, he called me privately, and later he came to Chengdu, so we met up.”

They’d been confidants in her previous life. With her understanding of Ji Yanjin, there was no reason he wouldn’t be swept up by that feeling of meeting someone long overdue, even in this life.

Seeing her friends so interested, Chu Luoxi didn’t hold back, recounting the details. As she spoke, she realized her winter break had been far from peaceful—her life’s trajectory was already changing.

When the new term began, Chu Luoxi returned to her usual routine—no changes, no ambitions, just her contented three-point daily life. She occasionally teased Bai Yun, the campus celebrity, and felt her days were blissfully simple. But before long, a phone call shattered that calm.

“Huh? What did you say? You must be joking!” Chu Luoxi held the phone, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

“Who’s joking? I’m being serious, okay? Didn’t I tell you during the New Year that I’d surprise you? Hey, aren’t you a student? It’s ten o’clock—why do you sound like you just woke up?” Ji Yanjin teased, half exasperated. As a student in the acting department of the Film Academy, how did she always have so much free time? Even if she wasn’t chasing her career, she should at least practice her craft!

“No classes this morning, all right?” Chu Luoxi replied righteously. “What surprise? More like a shock. You know how hard it is for us to get approval for outside gigs, and the worst part is, it’s just a favor—you’re not even paying me. The school takes a fifty percent cut; how am I supposed to explain that?”

“A cut? Oh, right, I heard it’s fifty percent of the net pay. Pfft, that’s outrageous. So besides tuition, you’re basically free labor!” Ji Yanjin sighed. He hadn’t attended the Film Academy and only knew of these unwritten rules by hearsay. “Come on, it’s just helping me shoot an MV. If all goes well, it’ll only take a day or two. I’m broke, I can’t pay you.”

Chu Luoxi rolled her eyes; she’d expected as much. “Cheapskate—labor costs aren’t even coming out of your own pocket. You’re just saving money for your company. What a model employee. Fine, if there’s no pay, then treat me to a meal. Let’s fly to Hainan for authentic seafood…”

Ji Yanjin was delighted by the first half, but when she finished, he nearly spat blood.

Who treats someone to a meal by flying to Hainan just to eat and then flying back? Honestly, he’d be better off paying her the labor fee.

“Xiao Xi… you’re incredible…” Ji Yanjin was speechless, finally understanding how, during the New Year show, picking Chu Luoxi had left the four famous hosts dumbstruck. It was agony.

Chu Luoxi arched an eyebrow and smiled brilliantly. She realized that her penchant for mischief from her previous life seemed to have grown tenfold since she was reborn. Her days were indeed becoming more and more carefree.