Request

“So, I won the bet, right?”

“Of course.”

“Then, according to our agreement, you aren’t allowed to keep… wasting… wasting time on…”

Ning Rou’s voice grew smaller and smaller. Perhaps feeling that the word “wasting” was too harsh, she scratched her head guiltily. She stole several glances at Jiang Li, and after seeing no sign of anger on his face, she carefully rephrased:

“In short… you have to keep your word.”

“Naturally. I have already informed Student Xiao; I won’t be disturbing her further.”

“Oh…”

Perhaps the courage she had summoned while playing the Saintess was beginning to fade. The confidence in Ning Rou’s voice wavered. She looked around, realizing the area was nearly deserted, and her posture became even more timid.

“You… you’re a professor. You won’t hold a grudge or try to get back at me later, right?”

Jiang Li shook his head. “Certainly not.”

“That’s good. I’ll have Yuehua join me as a mentored student under Professor Lin…”

“If Student Xiao agrees, that is.”

“I’ll convince her… Um… Professor, do you have anything else?” Ning Rou’s face showed obvious unease. She looked like she was ready to bolt.

Jiang Li, of course, couldn’t let her leave so easily. With a slight smile, he spoke:

“I simply have one question for Student Ning Rou.”

“What question?”

“How would you evaluate Student Xiao’s performance just now?”

“That…” Ning Rou hesitated, peeking at Jiang Li a few more times before making up her mind. “Strictly on the surface, it was very good. Emotion, execution—Yuehua’s improvement has been massive.”

“And in reality?” Jiang Li caught the subtext in her words.

“Well… it feels a bit like I’m talking behind her back, but I truly believe this—Yuehua’s emotions have become somewhat distorted.”

“Distorted?” Jiang Li narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Yes. Even though the protagonist, Rose, isn’t a purely heroic figure in the original work, that comes later. In the early stages of the story, her character arc is actually quite positive. Revenge is only one goal of the speech; her primary intent is to help the masses resist. But…”

“But?”

“But in Yuehua’s performance… it felt like Rose became a shadowy, scheming figure. The ultimate goal of the speech became personal desire—a very intense personal desire. The emotions were completely misplaced.”

“Is that… so?”

Jiang Li recalled Xiao Yuehua’s performance and quickly realized how sharp Ning Rou’s insight was. It had to be said that the displacement of Xiao Yuehua’s emotions had been masked by the soaring fervor of the speech; even Jiang Li hadn’t sensed anything wrong at the time.

But reflecting on it now with Ning Rou’s reminder, the anomaly was clear. In Xiao Yuehua’s performance, there was an extra layer of emotion—a dark, brooding possessiveness. It was this emotion that had deviated from the core theme of the character.

“Um… can I go now?” Ning Rou timidly interrupted Jiang Li’s thoughts.

“Of course…”

Ning Rou was overjoyed. Just as she was about to slip away, Jiang Li blocked her path again.

“But before that, I have one request.”

“A request?” Ning Rou’s face gradually stiffened.

What kind of request could this iceberg monster, this student-misleading, poker-faced professor have for a student like her? Could it be something… lewd?

“I hope to become your student.”

[I knew it! Just because he can’t get his hands on Yuehua because of the bet, he’s targeting me instantly! He wants me to be his stud—wait.]

Ning Rou’s little brain stalled for a moment.

“Become your… student?”

She almost thought she had misheard, but the professor before her looked dead serious.

“Yes. Student Ning Rou’s mastery of emotional performance is that of a master. I hope to learn from you.”

“Eh? No… that’s impossible… You’re the professor… no no no…” Ning Rou’s face flushed red instantly, her hands waving wildly in the air. “I… I… how could I possibly be a professor’s teacher!”

“In learning, age does not matter; the one who masters the craft is the teacher. Why shouldn’t it be possible? Furthermore, Student Ning Rou is a true genius. I believe no one would deny that.”

“A… a genius… hehe…” Ning Rou felt her cheeks burning.

Countless people had called her a “genius” since she was a child. She usually responded with a humble smile and never lost her composure. But today, she didn’t know if it was because of the massive shift in status from her former “enemy” bowing his head, or because of his preferential treatment—being cold to everyone else but praising only her.

Regardless, Ning Rou felt her heart beating exceptionally fast today.

“Of course, you might think I’m mocking you. It’s understandable if you lack trust in me since we don’t know each other well, so…”

As Jiang Li spoke, he took a few steps back. Under Ning Rou’s stunned gaze, he gave her a deep, formal bow—just as a student would thank a teacher.

“Wait… wait! This is wrong!” Ning Rou’s thoughts were in complete disarray. She threw up her hands and shouted, “Anyway… why did it turn out like this? I’m just an ordinary student, what could I possibly teach a professor!”

Jiang Li stood up, his expression calm, as if everything he had just done was perfectly natural.

“Student Ning Rou, do you know that I competed for the title of Best Actor two years ago?”

“I… I know.”

“Back then, I felt my acting skills had hit a ceiling, and I thought the competition would help me take the next step. Before that, I had imagined many outcomes—winning the title, or losing by a narrow margin. I thought I could accept any result calmly. However…”

“In the very first round, I suffered a crushing defeat. It wasn’t a close match; it was a total massacre. Do you know why?”

Ning Rou seemed infected by his words, feeling a sense of despair, shame, and helplessness as if she were in his shoes. She swallowed instinctively. “W… why?”

“Because of emotion. Acting without emotion has a hard ceiling at Grade B+. Not only that, when acting lacks emotional investment, it affects the performance in practice; one can’t even maintain a standard level.”

“…” Ning Rou fell silent.

As a genius born with the ability to achieve 100% emotional synchronization, investing emotion into a role was as natural as breathing to her. Performing above her skill level was a daily occurrence. She had never imagined that for an actor with an emotional disorder, something so fundamental to her would be so unreachable.

“Then… is Yuehua also…”

“Yes.”

“After that match, I retired behind the scenes. For two years—two years—I summarized a method that would allow someone like me to perform with emotion. I thought it would help me complete the most important piece of the puzzle, but I didn’t realize it was a path leading astray.”

Jiang Li lowered his eyes. His tall, straight figure actually looked somewhat pitiful in Ning Rou’s eyes. At this moment, she truly wavered.

“But, even so, I’m not sure I can…”

“One month.” The professor’s firm voice interrupted her hesitation. “Your talent is higher than anything I have ever seen. I will only trouble you for one month. If after a month I still haven’t succeeded, it will only prove that I am a piece of rotten wood that cannot be carved. I won’t disturb you again.”

“Then…”

“What do you say?”

“I… I’ll give it a try?”

“…Thank you, Student Ning Rou.”

“Oh, Professor, don’t use that tone! It’s so weird…”

“…”

The conversation drew to a close, and their voices drifted further away. Around a nearby corner, Xiao Yuehua bit her lip so hard that beads of blood slid down in a crimson trail.

What is going on?

What exactly is happening?

Today wasn’t supposed to end like this.

Why? Why did I lose? I gave it my absolute all, while Ning Rou just laughs and plays every day, doesn’t she? Doesn’t everyone say hard work and sweat bring success? Then why is she the one who wins everything in the end?

She won the competition. She won the bet. She even won the Professor.

On what grounds?

Was her acting really that good? Good enough to make the Professor lose his composure like that? Having spent so much time with him, she had never seen the Professor make a request of anyone. Such an arrogant person actually bowed to someone else.

It was too fake. This must be a nightmare, right?

Xiao Yuehua’s heart was in an uproar; an intense sense of frustration and resentment boiled in her chest. She tried to lie to herself, but the stinging pain from the wound on her lip reminded her constantly that this was reality.

Even so, she didn’t let go of her lip. She needed the pain. She needed it to dilute the endless negative emotions in her heart, even if it was like trying to put out a forest fire with a cup of water.

“Professor…”

“Professor, Professor, Professor, Professor, Professor, Professor…”

She seemed broken, repeating the word over and over in a rapid, eerily gloomy voice.

“Why did you abandon me, Professor? Why give me everything only to take it all away? That’s the cruelest part, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean, ‘don’t want to hold me back’? Did you even ask for my opinion?”

“You’ve been helping me all along. I understand that, and you should understand it too! Why give up because of some messy bet?”

“Professor, am I really that worthless? Do you want to leave me that badly? Is Ning Rou really that much better?”

Drip… drip…

At some point, the sunlight had dimmed. Fine droplets of rain fell onto Xiao Yuehua’s hair, but she seemed completely unaware. As the rain began to fall in earnest, she stood dazed in the downpour. Her eyes remained fixed in the direction Jiang Li and the other had gone. Though the space was now empty, her gaze seemed to pierce through physical matter to reach some distant place.

[Yuehua’s emotions have become somewhat distorted.]

For some reason, Ning Rou’s voice suddenly echoed in her ears. In the rain, Xiao Yuehua remained silent for a long time. Her eyes shifted from chaotic to dark.

“Distorted… Hehe…”

Finally, as the rain intensified, she began to walk.

“Yuehua…”

“What is it?”

“Um… did Professor Nangong tell you… you know…”

“Hmm?”

“Oh, it’s about the bet!” In the dormitory, Ning Rou spoke up awkwardly. Her relationship with her friend hadn’t fully recovered yet, and she felt uneasy bringing up anything related to their previous argument.

“Oh, that. The professor already notified me that the tutoring is stopping. Though my status and resources as a mentored student are being kept.” Xiao Yuehua flipped through a book with a normal expression and shrugged.

“Oh, that’s good…” Ning Rou replied dryly. The atmosphere in the room turned bizarre again. She desperately wanted to reconcile with Xiao Yuehua, but she didn’t know how to break the ice. She could only watch as Xiao Yuehua flipped through the pages one by one.

A moment later, as if sensing something was off, Xiao Yuehua looked up and waved the book in her hand. “What’s wrong? Do you want to read this book too?”

“No… no…” Ning Rou pinched her hair awkwardly. “I just wanted to… look… haha…”

The moment the words left her mouth, Ning Rou wanted to punch herself. What was that? Who talks like that?

However, Xiao Yuehua seemed to see through her. She closed the book and sighed. “Ning Rou, let’s make up.”

Ning Rou was completely caught off guard by this unexpected turn. She froze, the topics she had been racking her brain for completely forgotten. “Eh? Hehe… well…”

“Actually, I’ve wanted to apologize to you for a long time. You’ve always been reaching out to me, trying to help. But I misunderstood your kindness. It was entirely my fault.”

“Wait, Yuehua, don’t say that. It’s my fault for not considering your feelings…” Ning Rou instinctively waved her hands in explanation.

Xiao Yuehua simply shook her head. “No, Ning Rou. I was the one who was intentionally hiding my thoughts. You were not wrong. I was. My heart was just dark.”

Ning Rou frowned slightly. She didn’t want to see her friend take the blame all on her own. “Yuehua, don’t say that…”

“Forget it. I’m already grateful you don’t resent me. Let’s not talk about this heavy stuff anymore.” Xiao Yuehua seemed unwilling to continue, waving her hand to end the cycle of apologies.

As if remembering something, she tilted her head and smiled at Ning Rou. “By the way, why have you started calling him ‘Professor’ too? Didn’t you used to call him an iceberg monster and a ‘water-injected meatball’?”

Ning Rou was clearly startled by the sudden change in subject. she gave a forced laugh. “Ah? What? Well… it’s not good to gossip about people behind their backs… haha…”

“Is that so?” Xiao Yuehua nodded and looked away. “I thought you might have had some private contact with him and changed your mind.”

“That…” Ning Rou was momentarily speechless.

She didn’t know how to explain it to her friend. Should she tell her: Your professor is now my student? No matter how she phrased it, it would sound like she was using her talent to mock and provoke her…

She had just made up with Xiao Yuehua. If their relationship froze again…

After a moment of hesitation, she spoke haltingly: “I mean… no, of course I wouldn’t have contact with him…”

“Oh, is that so? I understand…” Xiao Yuehua nodded with a smile. But in the corners of her curved eyes, there wasn’t a trace of warmth.