After Ye Zhiqiu reunited with his three dorm mates, he was immediately subjected to a chokehold attack by Xie Jun and Yang Hongwei's arms.
"Confess and be lenient, resist and be punished severely! What did Yu Caiwei say to you!"
"I didn't realize it, Fourth Bro, you with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, actually secretly hooked up with Yu Caiwei!"
Xie Jun and Yang Hongwei's 'torture and interrogation' from left and right looked exactly like male dogs in heat, unable to find a mate, green with envy and stomping their feet.
Even the dorm leader, Zhou Hua, was staring intently at Ye Zhiqiu.
"Wait... Holy crap, I can't breathe...!"
Ye Zhiqiu struggled free from the two men with difficulty, saying in annoyance, "What a mess!"
"Chen Yuan withdrew from the graduation gala and my performance. Yu Caiwei is the president of the school's Arts and Culture Association, and she came to ask me about this matter."
The three dorm mates still didn't believe him. Yang Hongwei asked suspiciously, "Really?"
"Then why did you two sneak off to the side to talk?"
"Believe it or not."
Ye Zhiqiu rolled his eyes and ignored them, heading straight for the school cafeteria.
Xie Jun and Yang Hongwei exchanged glances and quickly followed.
Xie Jun chuckled, "We believe you, we believe you. Speaking of which, Fourth Bro, you really don't have any ideas? That's Yu Caiwei we're talking about."
Yang Hongwei chimed in, "The untouchable beauty of Huahai Media University, a true goddess. Chen Yuan only has a chance to debut, but Yu Caiwei is already vaguely being called the leader of the new generation of Singers."
The dorm leader also nodded, adding, "I heard she has a very impressive background."
With their chatter, Ye Zhiqiu quickly learned a lot about Yu Caiwei.
Yu Caiwei could indeed be called a goddess-level figure; she had a great figure, an impeccable appearance, and although she was not old, her singing ability was rumored to be on par with some of the top Singers in the music industry.
No wonder almost everyone was subtly looking at her just now. It's only because they are all classmates in school that they are restrained; if it were outside, an excited fan might have rushed up to her.
Yu Caiwei's deep background was not unfounded. When she first enrolled in her freshman year, she caused a sensation throughout Huahai Media University. A rich second-generation senior pursued her relentlessly, but Yu Caiwei remained unmoved.
It was said that the rich second-generation's background was quite influential in Shanghai. Angered by the rejection, he made some threatening remarks. To everyone's surprise, the next day, the rich second-generation humbly apologized and then promptly withdrew from school.
Since then, no other clueless suitor dared to act presumptuously in front of Yu Caiwei.
In her sophomore year, Yu Caiwei officially signed with Hua Hai Media, one of the top entertainment companies in the country. Her first single, "fading light," released afterward, stunned the entire music industry.
Although Ye Zhiqiu himself was not familiar with this untouchable beauty, he had indeed had a few encounters with her.
The first time was when new students enrolled. Yu Caiwei arrived at school alone, it was already close to evening, but with such a captivatingly beautiful junior sister appearing, there was naturally no shortage of enthusiastic senior brothers offering to help.
Yu Caiwei refused the help of a group of green-eyed senior brothers, insisting on pulling a heavy suitcase by herself. Unfortunately, she sprained her ankle on the first floor of the female dormitory.
At that time, Ye Zhiqiu had just finished helping Chen Yuan return to her dormitory. He couldn't just stand by and watch, so he lent a hand and carried her luggage up to her third-floor dormitory. Coincidentally, everyone in Yu Caiwei's dormitory was out, and as a new student, she didn't seem to have any other friends in school. So, Ye Zhiqiu saw the good deed through and also took her to the infirmary.
After enrollment, because Ye Zhiqiu enjoyed playing the guitar, the only club he joined in school was this association, and coincidentally, Yu Caiwei also joined.
Yu Caiwei had a cool personality, and Ye Zhiqiu was quite reserved at the time. Neither of them spoke much, and they seemed to have forgotten the small matter of moving luggage back then. At most, they would just nod when they met.
The second encounter was precisely within this Arts and Culture Association. One late night, Yu Caiwei, presumably practicing too late, was accidentally locked in the singing practice room, and Ye Zhiqiu, passing by, happened to discover her.
Ye Zhiqiu casually opened the door, once again rescuing the girl. After she uttered a mosquito-like 'thank you,' she dashed like the wind towards the restroom at the end of the hallway.
That night, one light bulb in the hallway was broken, making the lighting rather dim. Ye Zhiqiu wasn't sure if he was seeing things, but it seemed he saw a small patch of glistening water stains vaguely visible on the crotch of the white casual pants tightly wrapping Yu Caiwei's slender legs as she ran.
Yu Caiwei should naturally not be short of money, and from Ye Zhiqiu's limited understanding, she was not a wasteful person either. However, that pair of casual pants, which looked very high-end, was indeed never seen on Yu Caiwei again.
Ye Zhiqiu didn't dare to think too deeply about it.
Aside from these two brief interactions, the number of times they spoke during the few association activities was negligible; even calling them nodding acquaintances would be a stretch.
The close-up appearance of Yu Caiwei seemed to have quite an impact. Xie Jun and Yang Hongwei were still chattering endlessly about the previous topic even after they had ordered their food and sat down in the cafeteria.
Ye Zhiqiu casually handed back Xie Jun's meal card. It was shameful to admit, but Ye Zhiqiu had used all his living expenses to buy gifts for Chen Yuan. Now, even eating had become a problem, and he had been using Xie Jun's meal card all week.
Damn it! I must make money!
Ye Zhiqiu was extremely depressed; this was too frustrating. Being dumped by a girl and then being so poor he almost couldn't eat, and he still had his pride, so he certainly wouldn't ask his parents back home for money.
He had to find other ways to make money quickly.
As they were talking, a sudden exclamation came from a nearby table.
"Yu Caiwei is confirmed to perform at this year's graduation gala!"
"Wow, it's a solo of one of her hit songs, 'fading light'!"
"And it's the grand finale!"
"Haha, it has to be the finale. Otherwise, after hearing her sing, the audience would find other performances bland, and how would anyone else perform then?"
The discussions reached their ears one after another. The 206 Dormitory was quick to react, and Yang Hongwei immediately pulled out his phone and opened Huahai Media University's official Weibo account.
The top-pinned message clearly read: "Our school's outstanding student and new generation Singer Yu Caiwei will perform the song 'fading light' at the upcoming graduation gala."
The number of comments under this pinned official Weibo post soared, reaching hundreds in a short time.
Among them, a comment from a verified user named "Hua Hai Media Entertainment" received the most likes. The content was: "Huahai Media University alumnus, Huahai Entertainment General Manager Li Wenrui will return to school to participate in the celebration and witness the alma mater's splendor!"
"My goodness!" The rich second-generation Xie Jun exclaimed upon seeing this comment. "Yu Caiwei is confirmed to perform, and even the Huahai Entertainment General Manager is coming. This year's graduation gala is quite a big deal."
Xie Jun looked up from his phone at Ye Zhiqiu, who was engrossed in eating. "By the way, Fourth Bro, didn't you originally have a performance at the gala?"
"Now that Chen Yuan has withdrawn, is the performance canceled?"
"No," Ye Zhiqiu swallowed the chicken leg meat in his mouth, secretly lamenting that it was indeed a university in China's most developed region; even the cafeteria's standard was on par with outside restaurants. He casually replied, "It's not canceled. It's fine if she doesn't perform; I'll sing solo."