Huayu98: Starting with mentoring pop divas

The next two days seemed calm and peaceful.

But whenever Li Shuo returned to the hotel, he would always catch a furtive glance from someone.

Li Xiaolu.

Every time she was discovered, she would hurriedly hide as if she were startled, but not long after, she would peek out from another corner.

Li Shuo was getting a little uneasy about her.

Actually, he was quite conflicted.

This young lady, who is about to become the youngest "Golden Horse Best Actress" winner, will have excellent resources in the Chinese entertainment industry afterward, and her "work pool" is truly deep.

And right now she's still a naive and innocent young girl. Should we try to forge a good relationship with her?

The day came when it was time to leave Shanghai.

Early in the morning, the bus to the airport was parked in front of the hotel, and the younger students were carrying their luggage up one after another.

Li Shuo stood aside to help. This "Mainland Exchange Program" mainly covered Shanghai and Beijing, but they would spend a day in Huangdi City in Hebei Province.

Let these Hong Kong Island students experience the place where the "Three Ancestors Reunite," representing five thousand years of Chinese culture.

My phone suddenly rang.

The call connected, and it was a junior student's voice, urgent and flustered: "Senior Li Shuo! Um... hey, what are you doing?!"

The phone seemed to have been snatched away, and then a woman's voice answered.

"So your name is Li Shuo~"

Li Shuo: "..."

Li Xiaolu.

"Your junior just knocked over an important prop for our film crew."

There was a certain excitement in her voice.

"Let me see... Oh dear, it's imported, we'll have to pay for this...?"

Li Shuo interrupted him directly: "Where are you?"

Hotel restaurant corridor.

When Li Shuo arrived, he saw the junior student standing next to a prop car, looking a little lost.

A cracked reflector lay on the ground.

Li Xiaolu and her female assistant stood in front, arms crossed. When they saw Li Shuo arrive, their eyes flashed.

But she deliberately kept a straight face and gestured towards the reflector with her chin: "Look, see..."

There were no other staff members, just the two of them.

Li Shuo knew perfectly well that his junior had been "set up" because of him.

Seeing his somewhat unpleasant expression, Li Xiaolu assumed that she had embarrassed him and became even more smug.

She's been really angry and anxious these past few days... and she's even broken out in pimples.

Lying in bed at night, hugging my pillow, I can't help but think of that scene in the boiler room.

When she thought of Li Shuo speaking English, she felt waves of indescribable emotion wash over her.

It's not pain, it's not itching, it's a feeling that seeps from deep within my bones... a feeling of comfort?

Even my skin, which had been irritated by the artificial snow, felt better that very night!

She tossed and turned every night, trying to squeeze her legs between the pillows to recapture that feeling, but she couldn't get it right.

Even... oh dear... my hands are numb!

And so... the more you try to do something wrong, the more frustrated you become.

The more frustrated you are, the more unwilling you are to accept it.

But these past few days, that wretched guy has been avoiding her whenever he sees her, and now he's even found out that their group is leaving today.

Thinking about his attitude... Li Xiaolu had only one thought in her mind: she couldn't let him off so easily.

So she came up with this idea.

It's a bit clumsy, but it works!

Li Shuo glanced at his junior, then at the board.

Just as she was about to speak, Li Xiaolu suddenly waved her hand.

"Never mind, never mind, you seem to be in a hurry, and you helped me that night... You guys can go now."

The assistant, recalling a good phrase, made a somewhat exaggerated expression.

"Xiaolu, what if the film crew's cameraman asks...?"

"I said forget it! I'll talk to the props team later and say that I accidentally did it, so it's on my behalf."

Li Xiaolu blinked with satisfaction and began to evade the question.

"But... I happen to want to learn a foreign language... Your English was very fluent the other day, so I can call you if I don't understand something in the future... I guess I've paid tuition for this."

She waved the phone she had just used to record Li Shuo's number.

Seeing her attempt to cover up her mistake, Li Shuo gestured for the junior to leave first.

The junior student, feeling as if he had been granted a pardon, thanked him repeatedly and ran off in a flash.

Li Shuo squatted down, picked up the cracked reflector, and flipped it over to look at the nameplate on the back.

"TOSHIBA 4K Adjustable Color Gentle Light Panel 4×4 feet" is an original import from Toshiba in Japan, with a customs declaration price of just over four thousand Hong Kong dollars.

He counted out five thousand Hong Kong dollars from his wallet and handed it to Li Xiaolu.

"I only have Hong Kong dollars with me for now, please exchange them yourselves. Any extra will be on your behalf for tea."

Is Li Xiaolu dumbfounded?

Is this... that professional?

Look at that wallet, thick with cash... and he's a young, rich, and handsome guy...

Li Shuo stood up and looked at her with a hint of mockery.

Li Xiaolu felt a little uncomfortable being stared at, but quickly puffed out her chest and acted spoiled.

Li Shuo glanced at it...tsk tsk, that "colonizer" later found a "body double" in the US, but the size was a bit off.

"Who knows if what you're saying is true..."

Li Xiaolu muttered, a little annoyed.

"Since you're willing to take the loss... fine, I have your phone number anyway, I can contact you anytime if there are any problems. Remember to answer the phone, okay!?"

Li Shuo looked at her.

Li Xiaolu's features are already very delicate, I don't know why she will love to get facials done so much in the future.

Now her eyes gleamed with a cunning light, as if she were about to have him completely under her thumb.

Speaking of being able to eat...

Looking at the smug look on this young lady's face, I was reminded of the time in the water dispenser room when she looked up at him, her eyes unfocused, and drool still lingering at the corner of her mouth...

Li Shuo suddenly smiled.

Fine... so you're still being so aggressive towards yourself, huh... well, you brought this on yourself.

Without further hesitation, since it wouldn't do him any harm... he took a step forward and looked down at her, who was a little over 1.6 meters tall, petite and charming.

"Okay, let's keep in touch then."

My subconscious has confirmed that the female celebrity with whom I have a connection (caution): Li Xiaolu.

But as soon as I confirmed it, my mind immediately refreshed with new information.

[Reward: 10 tangible rewards for the positive connection with actress Li Xiaolu]

[Start drawing rewards: Confirm/No]

Li Shuo was stunned for a moment.

What has this girl been doing these past two days because of him?!

Does this mean there's a reward draw right away?

------

Huangdi City.

Li Shuo stood on that patch of yellow earth with more than twenty junior students, pointing to the ruins of the He Fu Altar in the distance.

"Five thousand years ago, the Yellow Emperor, the Yan Emperor, and Chi You 'united the three ancestors' here. You may not know what this means, but this is the starting point of Chinese civilization's transformation from tribes to a nation, and the source from which all of us can sit here, speak the same language, and write the same script."

He looked at the bewildered and somewhat unfocused junior students in front of him.

Some people were daydreaming, some were whispering to each other, and a few were muttering something with a clear sense of superiority and disdain, typical of people from Hong Kong.

I could vaguely hear complaints... The loess soil is dirty, it's so hot, what's the point of coming to this ruins?

Li Shuo didn't say much.

I simply continued to introduce some aspects of Chinese civilization to those who were willing to listen; I had no intention of correcting anything.

…You'll find out later just how terrifyingly fast "our mom" is developing.

Those who are clever will reap the benefits, while those who cling to the old ways and are pretentious... will only face astonishment and lamentation in their eventual decline.

After a while, more people started complaining.

"Senior, I'm hungry..."

"Teacher, what time do you eat?"

Li Shuo glanced at the time and then consulted Teacher Zheng.

"Let's go back to town for dinner."

Back in Zhangjiakou, we arrived at Mingde South Street, near our hotel.

I asked three or four restaurants, and they all said that lunchtime had passed and the chefs were on break.

They finally found a small restaurant that was still open, and the aroma wafting out of it captivated the group.

When the boss saw more than twenty people come in, his face lit up with joy, and he quickly started arranging for tables to be put together.

Li Shuo casually ordered a few home-style dishes.

Braised donkey meat, deep-fried pork, hot and sour shredded potatoes, braised eggplant... plus two large bowls of rice.

Twenty-five people huddled around a long table pushed together, chopsticks flying everywhere, churning up bits of food.

Among them, the first few who complained about this and that... ate the most heartily.

Li Shuo quickly ate a couple of bites and then went outside for some fresh air.

Then he saw a group of people gathered around something.

Reflector, camera.

A girl wearing a gray cotton-padded jacket stood at the entrance of what looked like an office building, going in and out repeatedly.

Li Shuo was puzzled.

What's going on? How come I ran into a film crew again on my way to Zhangjiakou?

Is she another strange female celebrity?

However, there was no system notification.

He was a little curious, so he walked over and stood on the outside to watch.

Not far away, a man taking pictures was complaining to a man wearing glasses next to him.

"We wasted several thousand feet of film today. The film exceeding the limit will be enormous...and the cost?"

The other party also smiled wryly: "That's how it is for non-professional actors; they can't control the scene and can only pile up film."

There was also a man in his forties standing next to him, looking depressed and helpless.

"It's all because of the clichéd acting in TV dramas these days that these kids are suffering. The only solution is to stop teaching them acting and focus on getting their natural reactions."

Li Shuo glanced at the person who was throwing a tantrum.

Huh?

He had a wide face, small eyes, a buzz cut, and wore a faded gray jacket. He stood there like a bystander.

But Li Shuo knew him.

Hey!

Zhang Yimou?!