"Everyone sitting here are the people I"m closest to in the world. I"m already old and plan to settle down here, so the rest will be left to you youngsters." Sitting at the head of the table, Grandfather Yang made a toast.

"Grandfather Yang, I wish you a long and healthy life." Shen Zhining raised his cup.

Sheng Jiaoyang glanced at him and suddenly felt that Demon King Shen wasn"t all that bad.

"Come, everyone, cheers! My legs aren"t well, so I won"t be standing up." Grandfather Yang raised his wine gla.s.s.

Everybody toasted and drank.

Grandfather Yang sighed as he reflected, "In life, the mountain road coils around each new peak, full of twists and turns. Sometimes, you might think that you"ve reached the end, but if you persevere, there"ll always be another way."

In this room, only Sheng Jiaoyang and An Jing knew why Grandfather Yang was sighing like that. Although the others were puzzled, they didn"t think about it too much.

After eating and chatting for a while, Grandfather Yang ran out of energy and called for An Jing to bring him back to his room to rest.

Xu Qing and Li Weiqi were about to get married, which was an intimate and close period, so they also returned to their room.

Sheng Jiaoyang and Shen Zhining were the only ones left in the living room.

"You should rest early, I"m going to my room." Sheng Jiaoyang turned, about to go upstairs.

"I heard that Grandfather Yang wants to pa.s.s on his a.s.sets to you?" Shen Zhining suddenly said, his voice carefully neutral.

Sheng Jiaoyang halted and turned to look at Shen Zhining.

"Any complaints?"

She raised an eyebrow, a trace of pride on her face. "If you have complaints, keep it to yourself. This was my grandfather"s decision."

Shen Zhining"s lips curved; such shameless behaviour was rare.

"I"m leaving." Sheng Jiaoyang started to walk away.

"Your tricks are pretty good. You easily got what other people work for a lifetime for but will never get," Shen Zhining said from behind her.

Sheng Jiaoyang paused. "Thank you for your compliments! I"ll continue to work hard and fight for what other people can"t get even with two lifetime"s worth of work." She didn"t look back as she walked upstairs.

Shen Zhining narrowed his eyes as his lips curved into a sneer. "Heh!"

After not going to school for a long time, Sheng Jiaoyang got up early the next day and bundled up to go to school. She first returned to her dorm where all three girls were present.

"Oh, our big celebrity is back~" Pan Mingyue, who was applying her eyeliner, couldn"t help but mock when she saw Sheng Jiaoyang.

Sheng Jiaoyang ignored her as she walked to her stuff. However, just as she was about to find the books for today"s cla.s.ses, she suddenly frowned.

"Who touched my books?" She turned to look at the three girls in the room.

Although she hadn"t returned to the dorms for a while, she remembered where she"d placed all her books. When she"d looked just now, she saw that all her books had been moved and messily arranged.

"I didn"t touch them!"

"Neither did I!"

The two other girls hurriedly shook their heads.

Sheng Jiaoyang"s gaze landed on Pan Mingyue.

Pan Mingyue"s expression stiffened as she raised her chin. "I did, but so what?"

"I can"t do anything to you, but didn"t your parents ever teach you not to touch other people"s things?" Sheng Jiaoyang said indifferently.

"You!" Pan Mingyue suddenly stood up.

If you wanted to scold somebody, the easiest way to infuriate them was to bring up their parents or other close relatives. If you said that somebody wasn"t taught properly by their parents, then it"d imply that their parents also weren"t educated. Of course, Pan Mingyue would be furious.

"Jiaojiao, Mingyue just flipped through one book, the rest was rummaged through by other people. Many people know that you live in this room, and there"s often people that run over here," the girl beside Sheng Jiaoyang said hastily.

"It doesn"t matter, I"m not coming back." Sheng Jiaoyang turned around and packed her things.

Pan Mingyue became even angrier upon seeing her att.i.tude, causing her to say sarcastically, "The entertainment industry really is messy. It"s filled with men dallying with women and women shamelessly becoming mistresses, living off rich men. Who knows how many people you"ve slept with to become famous?!"

Sheng Jiaoyang was unmoved. She was already at the end of her line, so Pan Mingyue"s words had no effect on her whatsoever. She sent Zeng Huan a text and told her to come at noon to help her move before just taking the books she needed for today"s cla.s.ses and left.

"Heh, I"ve never seen such a disgrace!" Pan Mingyue clenched her teeth.

"Mingyue, how could you say that? Jiaojiao is not that type of person."

"How do you know she"s not that type of person?" Pan Mingyue glanced at them. "If she"s not that type of person, then how did she get famous so fast, despite not being that beautiful and with a poor family background?"

"But, she even got a role in Director Steve"s movie. If you can get such an opportunity by sleeping with people, why are there so few celebrities starring in foreign movies? Mingyue, I really don"t understand why you hate Jiaojiao so much."

Pan Mingyue gaped at the other girl"s words. She suddenly didn"t know how to reply. How could she say that it was because her father kept asking her if she saw Xu Jiaojiao or got along with Xu Jiaojiao behind her mother"s back? Of course she couldn"t say that! Then, what else could she say? After all, family shames mustn"t be spread around.

When Sheng Jiaoyang arrived at her cla.s.sroom, her cla.s.smates enthusiastically welcomed her.

"Jiaojiao, congratulations!" Everybody applauded.

"Congratulations on what?" Sheng Jiaoyang was a bit startled.

"Jiaojiao, you"re too amazing! You actually kept totally silent about appearing in Director Steve"s movie," one girl exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah!" The cla.s.s chorused in agreement.

Sheng Jiaoyang smiled when she saw how excited her cla.s.smates were. "It was just a small walk-on."

"That"s already amazing! Many people want to be in Director Steve"s movies, but can"t!"

"That"s right, that"s right. Furthermore, the director praised you, saying that your acting was very good. If it was just an ordinary walk-on, why would the director remember you?"

"I can"t wait to see you in the movie, but it"s a pity it"s releasing on January 1st. I really want to watch it now!"

"Same, the clip of Jiaojiao in the movie looks completely different from how she looks now. If it wasn"t for the media reporting it, I never would"ve been able to recognise her! She looked so cool. It"s a shame the clip was so short and I couldn"t see properly!"

"In any case, I"ve decided that as soon as the movie debuts, I"m going to see it with a friend."

Everybody was chattering excitedly, ignoring the bell ringing. Only when the teacher walked into cla.s.s did it finally calm down.

Speaking of this, as long as Sheng Jiaoyang was present, the cla.s.s would always be very energetic, and the cla.s.s"s mood was very conducive for learning. After experiencing this several times, the teachers all looked forward to the days Jiaojiao attended cla.s.s. She was like a stabilising force in the cla.s.s; with her in it, the cla.s.s"s atmosphere would definitely be relaxed and cheerful.

The cla.s.s pa.s.sed with lively partic.i.p.ation and cheerful discussions.

Before the teacher left the cla.s.s, he said to Sheng Jiaoyang, "Jiaojiao, in yesterday"s meeting, the department head said to pa.s.s on this message if we see you: Go to the department head"s office."

"Alright, thank you, teacher." Sheng Jiaoyang gave a small smile.

The teacher nodded back with a smile before turning to leave.

"What does the department head want you for? It doesn"t seem like it"s for trouble. Did something happen?"

"Jiaojiao, do you want us to come with you?"

Sheng Jiaoyang didn"t know whether to laugh or cry as she looked at her worried cla.s.smates. "If you guys go with me, the department head might think that we"re there to give him trouble. Thank you for your good intentions. If you guys have time this weekend, I"d like to invite you all to watch a movie."

"I"m free, I"m free!" the girl sitting next to the door replied, almost reflexively.

The girl beside her laughed. "Xiao Han, didn"t you say that you had a date with your boyfriend this weekend?"

"So what? There"s plenty of chances later. Jiaojiao is inviting us to watch a movie, so of course I"m going!"

Everybody laughed.

"Everyone can bring along a friend or family member. Later, I"ll ask the cla.s.s monitor to give me the list of names and I"ll arrange it. You guys can discuss what movie you want to see," Sheng Jiaoyang said before leaving.

The cla.s.sroom was filled with cheers.

Sheng Jiaoyang hugged her books as she walked to the department head"s office.

Knock, knock!

"Please enter!"

Sheng Jiaoyang pushed the door open. Sitting behind the desk, the department head immediately stood up when he saw her enter and walked over.

"Student Jiaojiao, please take a seat. Do you want a drink? Coffee, tea, or water?"

His att.i.tude could even be considered fawning.

"Thank you, there"s no need. What did you call me here for?" Sheng Jiaoyang went straight to the point.

The department head gestured at the sofa before taking a seat and pouring a cup of water for Sheng Jiaoyang. He then started to speak, his voice evenly paced as he said, "It"s almost New Year"s Eve, so our school wants to hold a New Year"s evening banquet." He paused to look at Sheng Jiaoyang.

Sheng Jiaoyang nodded to show that she was listening.

"I immediately thought about having you represent us for the talent show. What do you think?" The department head laughed.

"But, I can"t sing or dance," Sheng Jiaoyang replied.

"Jiaojiao, you can do whatever you like for the show. After all, talent shows aren"t restricted to singing or dancing. Of course, if you don"t have the time, I won"t force you," the department head said, strategically taking a step back to advance.

Sheng Jiaoyang had to show some consideration for the department head. After all, she"d probably have to request many more leaves in the future. With this in mind, she agreed. "Since you think so highly of me, I"ll go and think about what I can do."

The department head grinned. "I"ll help you sign up, and I"ll ask the student union to contact you later. You two can talk about it then."

"Alright." Sheng Jiaoyang stood up. "Department head, I have something planned, so I"ll leave first."

"Go ahead," the department head said warmly.

After Sheng Jiaoyang had left, the department head returned to his table and made a call. "Teacher Liu, Xu Jiaojiao has already agreed to join the talent show. Later, have a member from your student union talk to her about it."

"Department Head Chen, I"ve troubled you. I"ll tell Lin Yu to contact student Xu Jiaojiao," the person on the other end of the call replied.