Chapter 14: Passing the Preliminary Selection

As soon as Lu Ming finished speaking, Lian Youyou felt a chill run down her spine. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the girls’ sharp gazes, cold as blades, as if they wished to flay her alive with a thousand cuts.

“Professor, what are you doing?” she protested, displeasure evident in her voice. “Who wants to sit in the front? I want to sit at the very back!”

In her memories of student days, only the mischievous troublemakers, those who didn’t study, were made to sit by the teacher’s desk, where they could be watched more easily. Lu Ming’s arrangement felt like an outright insult.

“Sit here. Hurry, class is about to begin,” Lu Ming said, patting the back of the chair.

Muttering curses inwardly, Lian Youyou sat down beside him, reluctant and resentful. Her appearance had changed so much that she was already drawing attention from many of her classmates. Now, seated next to Lu Ming, she became the center of everyone’s gaze, making it impossible to keep a low profile.

Standing at the podium, Lu Ming clipped the microphone to his belt and adjusted the headset. “All right, everyone take your seats. I’ll start roll call now.”

Lian Youyou, thoroughly lost when it came to advanced mathematics, spent the entire class fighting off sleep. She longed to play on her phone like some of her classmates, but with Lu Ming right beside her, she didn’t have the slightest chance.

The whole lesson was agony, as though she were sitting on pins and needles, with a thorn in her back and a fishbone lodged in her throat. It wasn’t that she wasn’t trying—she simply couldn’t understand a single word.

In the end, she couldn’t hold on and, at some point, dozed off. It didn’t last long, though; Lu Ming, erasing chalk from the blackboard, sent a plume of chalk dust her way, jolting her awake as she coughed.

Her application for the casting went smoothly, passing the preliminary selection, and she was notified to attend the first round. Even though she had mentally prepared herself, when she received the notice, she couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.

Back when she first entered the industry, she could barely land any commercials. The two she managed to secure were for local stations—one for thermal underwear, and the other… best left unmentioned.

Those commercials were nothing compared to a top-tier online game like Legends of the Martial World. Although competition was fiercer now than in her early days, the game’s status was unshakable, domestically and even internationally.

No wonder she was so thrilled. Still, she was an award-winning actress now, not some green newcomer. Once the initial excitement passed, she quickly regained her composure.

No matter what, she had to give her all to win this ad campaign!

If a newcomer could land a commercial for Legends of the Martial World right at the start of her career, her journey ahead would be infinitely smoother.

“Ding!” The elevator doors opened on the tenth floor, and Lian Youyou stepped out into a bustling lobby packed with young, beautiful women.

Yet, they all seemed to look rather similar.

A middle-aged man in a suit, hands clasped behind his back, walked over, exuding authority. “I heard during the preliminary round that there were two girls who looked like Lian Meng. I didn’t believe it, but seeing you now, the resemblance is uncanny. Do your best—you have a great chance. Our boss is a big fan of Lian Meng.”

“Thank you for your encouragement,” Lian Youyou replied, secretly delighted. It seemed her former self was still bringing her good fortune.

But when the man looked up and spotted Lu Ming standing beside her, his expression changed immediately…