Reborn, my online friend is the real me.

In July, Jingzhou was as hot as a steamer, and the cicadas chirped non-stop from morning till night.

Su Yu spent the last week practicing at the driving school, and his road test (Part 3) went smoothly.

Coach Zhou, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, patted him on the shoulder and said, "You're the fastest I've ever coached to get your license. Less than two months, and you passed on your first try."

Su Yu smiled, not mentioning that he had driven for over ten years in his previous life. He put his driver's license in his pocket, turned around, and walked out of the driving school.

One afternoon in late July, Su Yu was writing a script in his room when he heard someone calling his name downstairs.

He peeked out and saw the postman parked at the door on his green bicycle, holding a brown paper envelope in his hand.

Su Yu rushed downstairs, took the envelope, tore it open, and a stiff piece of paper slid out. The front of the paper had the words "Beijing Film Academy" printed in large characters, and below it were the words "Admission Notice" in smaller characters.

He turned the pages and read through them line by line:

「苏宇同学，经审核，你被我校摄影系图片摄影专业录取。请于2004年9月5日至9月7日凭本通知书到校报到。」

Su Yu stared at the line of text, stunned for a long while.

In his previous life, he didn't even finish high school, but in this life, he actually received a university admission letter, and it was even from the best film academy in China.

He took a deep breath, turned and rushed into the house: "Mom! The acceptance letter has arrived!"

Li Xiulan ran out of the kitchen, wiped her hands on her apron, took the notice, looked at it for a long time, and her eyes suddenly reddened.

"Old Su! Old Su!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Your son got into the Beijing Film Academy!"

Su Jian'an came downstairs with an account book in his hand. He took the notice, looked at it over and over again, and slowly a smile spread across his face.

He just kept looking at the notice over and over, as if it were some rare object.

"My son is a college student now."

.......

August 1st, Jingzhou Hotel.

Su Jian'an booked the entire second-floor banquet hall and set up twelve tables.

Many relatives and friends came, including my eldest uncle, second uncle, third aunt, fourth uncle, and several partners from Su Jian'an's construction site.

Li Xiulan wore a newly bought cheongsam, her hair was styled in an updo, and she looked ten years younger.

Su Yu stood at the entrance of the banquet hall to greet guests, a standard smile on his face, but in his heart he was plotting something else.

"Xiaoyu!"

A clear female voice came from the doorway. Su Yu looked up and saw a woman in her early twenties dragging a suitcase as she walked in. She had short hair, wore black-rimmed glasses, a white shirt, dark blue trousers, and flat shoes.

Su Ting.

Su Yu's older sister graduated from the Finance Department of Hunan University and is currently interning at a securities company in Shanghai.

Su Yu smiled and quickly went to greet her, calling out, "Sister."

Su Ting looked him up and down, a slight smile playing on her lips: "You've lost weight. Didn't Mom cook you anything delicious?"

"I did it, I did it every day."

Su Ting put down her suitcase, took a box out of her bag and handed it to him: "This is for you, a gift for getting into university."

Su Yu took it and saw that it was an HP laptop, and the invoice read: 12,800.

"Sis, this is too expensive."

"What's so expensive about it? Your sister's been promoted to a full-time position now, and her salary is over seven thousand a month." Su Ting patted his shoulder. "How can you study photography without a computer? Don't tell me you're going to an internet cafe to edit photos."

Su Yu opened his mouth, as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.

He hugged the box to his chest. "Sister, thank you."

Su Ting waved her hand and went into the banquet hall to find Li Xiulan.

......

The graduation banquet was lively. Su Jian'an drank quite a bit of wine, his face turning as red as Guan Yu's, as he went from table to table toasting people.

Uncle held Su Yu's hand and said, "Xiao Yu, you are the first in our Su family to be admitted to an art school. Study hard and become a great director in the future, so that your father can be proud."

Su Yu smiled and nodded, not mentioning that he was a cinematography major, not a directing major. It didn't matter; they were both from the film academy anyway.

That evening, Su Ting sat next to Su Yu, and while eating, she asked him in a low voice, "What exactly do you study at the Beijing Film Academy's photography department?"

"Taking photos, making movies, learning about lighting, composition, color, and so on."

"Will it be easy to find a job after graduation?"

Su Yu thought for a moment, "It should be alright, if not, I'll come back and open a photo studio."

Su Ting glared at him: "You spent so much money going to Beijing just to come back and open a photo studio?"

Su Yu smiled but didn't reply.

He can't exactly say, "Sister, I have 1.7 million Tencent shares in my account right now. In a few years, I'll be able to buy the entire photo studio in Jingzhou."

Su Ting sighed, took an envelope from her bag, and handed it to him: "This is your tuition and living expenses from your parents, a total of 50,000 yuan. Tuition is 18,000 yuan, and accommodation is 1,200 yuan. Use the rest sparingly. Beijing is not like Jingzhou; everything is more expensive there."

Su Yu took the envelope; it was heavy.

With 50,000 yuan, plus the 100,000 yuan he had in reserve, he now had 150,000 yuan in cash at his disposal. That was enough.

After the graduation banquet, Su Yu stayed at home for less than a week.

.........

On August 8th, he told his parents that he wanted to go to Beijing in advance to get used to the environment and also to travel around the surrounding area.

Su Jian'an didn't say anything. Li Xiulan helped him pack two large boxes, one for clothes and the other for food, filling them to the brim.

"Mom, you can't take these on the plane."

"Then let them ship it. Remember to call when you get to Beijing. Don't skimp on the money, eat and drink as you please."

Su Yu hugged Li Xiulan and then shook hands with Su Jian'an.

Su Jian'an's hands were rough, covered in calluses and cracks, and felt like sandpaper to hold.

"Dad, I'm leaving."

"Go on, study hard." Su Jian'an said, smoking a cigarette, without saying anything more.

Su Yu dragged his suitcase out the door, glanced back at the loquat tree, the silver-gray pickup truck, and his parents standing at the door.

He didn't tell them that he wasn't going to BJ.

........

Su Yu flew directly from Wuhan to WLMQ; when the plane landed, he saw a gray-yellow land through the porthole.

In his previous life, he drove for more than ten years, traveling all over the south and southwest, but he had never been to XJ.

He had watched countless short videos of Xinjiang tourism: the lakes of Kanas, the morning mist of Hemu, the bends of the Duku Highway, and the starry sky of the Pamir Plateau.

Every time he sees those images, he says, "I must go there once if I have the chance."

Then there was no more chance.

Now, he has it.

Su Yu rented a car from WLMQ, a Beijing Jeep, for 120 yuan a day.

The car rental owner looked at his driver's license, then glanced at him: "You just got your license, and you dare to drive on XJ roads?"

Su Yu smiled and said, "I dare."

The shopkeeper shook his head, took the money, and tossed the keys to him.

Su Yu bought a Nikon camera, a D70, with six megapixels, for over ten thousand yuan at WLMQ.

This was Nikon's first-generation digital SLR camera, considered a high-end product in 2004.

He used many cameras when he was an internet celebrity in his previous life, so he is quite familiar with Nikon's operating system.

He carried a camera, drove his jeep, and headed alone into the vast Gobi Desert.

.........

In early September, Su Yu arrived in Kanas.

Kanas Lake is located deep in the Altai Mountains. Its waters are as blue as a giant gemstone, surrounded by continuous coniferous forests and snow-capped mountains.

He stayed here for five days, getting up at 5 a.m. every morning to photograph the sunrise and not returning to his accommodation until after 10 p.m.

He took many photos: the morning mist on the lake, the cattle and sheep on the hillside, the wooden houses in Baihaba Village, and the rainbow after the rain.

His photography skills from his past life as an online influencer came in handy at this moment; he knew how to compose a shot, how to use light, and how to color grade in post-processing.

But he doesn't plan to use these photos to enter any competitions, nor does he plan to post them online.

He took these photos simply because they were aesthetically pleasing.

On September 14th, Su Yu was having breakfast in a small wooden house in Hemu Village when his phone suddenly rang.

An unfamiliar Beijing number.

"Hello?"

"Is this Su Yu?" A middle-aged woman's voice came from the other end of the phone, sounding somewhat anxious. "This is the admissions office of the Beijing Film Academy. Our records show you haven't registered yet; today is the last day. Have you encountered any difficulties? Or have you decided not to come?"

Su Yu was stunned for a moment, and almost spat out the naan he was eating.

He glanced at his watch: September 14th.

The reporting period for the Beijing Film Academy was from September 5th to 7th, and he was a week late.

"Teacher, I'm sorry, something's happened here, I'll be right back!"

"When will you arrive?"

"Within three days!"

"Okay, then hurry up. I'll explain things to the photography department for you, but you need to get there quickly."

After hanging up the phone, Su Yu quickly finished his naan, packed his luggage, and drove towards WLMQ.

He drove for a full day from Hemu to WLMQ, a distance of over 800 kilometers. After returning the car, booking his flight, and packing his luggage, he flew to Beijing early the next morning.

........

On the afternoon of September 16, Su Yu stood at the entrance of the Beijing Film Academy, dragging two large suitcases.

No. 4, Xitucheng Road, HD District.

The gate wasn't particularly grand, but the sign that read "Beijing Film Academy" made him freeze for several seconds; he had never dreamed he would be standing in this place in his previous life.

Su Yu took a deep breath and dragged the suitcase inside.

The photography department is located on the east side of the campus in an inconspicuous teaching building.

.....

Su Yu found the office, pushed open the door, and saw a man in his fifties sitting behind a desk, wearing glasses, looking at documents.

Su Yu recognized him: Mu Deyuan, the head of the photography department, a famous photographer who had taken works such as "Youth Sacrifice" and "Face Changing".

"Hello teacher, I'm Su Yu, a freshman in the photography department, here to register."

Mu Deyuan looked up, glanced at him, took off his glasses, and sized him up.

"Su Yu? That Su Yu who was a week late?"

"Yes."

Mu Deyuan slammed his glasses on the table, not loudly, "Do you even know when the Beijing Film Academy's registration period is?"

"September 5th to 7th."

"What's your date today?"

September 16th.

"You even know that?" Mu Deyuan stood up, placing his hands on the table. "Are you here to study or to travel? There are twenty people in the class, nineteen of them are here, only you are missing. The admissions office called your house, and your mom said you came to Beijing early. Where did you come to Beijing early? To Mars?"

Su Yu lowered his head, not daring to utter a sound.

Mu Deyuan added, "The photography department isn't what you think, where you can just casually take pictures with a camera. This is a place to train cinematographers, not a place for you to dabble in. If you don't want to come, you can still drop out now."

Su Yu looked up and said earnestly, "Teacher Mu, I'm sorry, I was really held up by something. I promise it won't happen again."

Mu Deyuan stared at him for a few seconds, snorted, took a form from the drawer and threw it at him: "Fill this out, go to the finance department to pay, then go to the dormitory. Classes start tomorrow. If you're late again, don't bother coming back."

Su Yu took the form, thanked him repeatedly, and turned to leave the office.

........

The dormitory is in a building on the north side of the campus. It's a four-person room with bunk beds and desks underneath.

When Su Yu pushed the door open, there was only one person in the room.

The person was sitting by the window, head down, reading a book.

He raised his head, revealing a thin face and wearing black-rimmed glasses; he looked to be in his early twenties.

"Hello, are you a freshman in the photography department?"

Su Yu smiled and nodded: "Su Yu, what about you?"

"Lu Yang, a graduate student in the directing department." The man smiled. "There are no more dorms available in the directing department. There's only one other student from your department in the dorm, so it's just the three of us living there."

Su Yu was stunned for a moment. Lu Yang? He had heard of this name in his previous life; the Lu Yang who directed "Brotherhood of Blades" and "A Writer's Odyssey"?

That Lu Yang graduated from the Directing Department of Beijing Film Academy; it should be this Lu Yang.

"Hello, Senior Brother Lu," Su Yu said with a smile.

Lu Yang waved his hand: "Don't call me senior brother, just call me by my name. Where are you from?"

"Jingzhou, Hubei".

"Hubei is great, the hot dry noodles are delicious." After saying that, Lu Yang lowered his head again to continue reading his book.

Su Yu put his luggage away and chose a lower bunk near the door.

He had just finished making the bed when another person came in through the door.

This person was not tall, had a round face, two dimples when he smiled, carried a large camera bag on his back, and held a suitcase in his hand.

"Hi, hello! I'm also from the photography department, Wang Boxue, from Luoyang, Henan." His voice was loud enough to be heard throughout the entire corridor.

Su Yu was startled again when he heard the name "Wang Boxue".

In his previous life, he had seen behind-the-scenes footage of "Dying to Survive," and the director of photography was Wang Boxue.

Later, films like "Miracle: The Stupid Kid," "Mr. Red Carpet," "My People, My Country," and "My Hometown and Me" were all directed by Wang Boxue.

In other words, his current roommate will become one of the top photography directors in the country in the future.

Su Yu suddenly realized that his dormitory room was pretty amazing.

"Su Yu, Jingzhou, Hubei." Su Yu smiled and extended his hand.

Wang Boxue shook hands with him and said, "Hello!"

..........

After settling his luggage, the first thing Su Yu did was connect his computer to the internet and open QQ. The message notification sounded more than a dozen times.

Most of them were sent by Anxi.

The earliest message was on August 20th: "Su Yu, have you arrived in Beijing yet? Why haven't I heard from you?"

August 25th: "Su Yu? You've disappeared?"

August 30: "Hey, you haven't been kidnapped, have you? I'm calling the police."

September 1st: "Su Yu, if you don't reply to my message, I'm going to block your QQ account."

September 5th: "Are you in Beijing yet?... Never mind, I'm going on a business trip if you don't want to see me. Let's talk again when you want to come back."

The last message was dated September 10th: "Am I going to Sichuan?"

Su Yu felt a little guilty as he looked at these messages.

He thought for a moment and typed: "Sorry, I went to Xinjiang for a trip a while ago, and there was no internet there. I just settled in, and I was a week late reporting to the Beijing Film Academy, so I got scolded by the department head."

After sending it, he waited for a reply.

Anxi's profile picture was gray and not lit up.

Su Yu posted another message: "How have you been lately? Has the cast for The Return of the Condor Heroes been officially announced yet? I saw the news, Xiaolongnu is still Liu Yifei, and Yang Guo is Huang Xiaoming. What did I say before? It's all just hype."

There was still no reply. Su Yu stared at the gray avatar for a few seconds, shrugged, and closed the chat window.