Early the next day, after bidding farewell to his parents and listening to Xu Hong's nagging reminders, Gu Bai dragged his suitcase and boarded the high-speed train to Shanghai.
The high-speed train station in August wasn't exactly a sea of people, but it was certainly crowded enough. Even with the air conditioning in the waiting area, waves of heat still surged through the densely packed crowd.
After waiting for about half an hour, following the broadcast announcement, Gu Bai dragged his luggage and boarded the train car.
He glanced at his ticket: second-class seat 14B.
Which meant the middle seat.
In the past, Gu Bai would have chosen a window seat. In any public place, his first choice would always be a spot away from the crowds. To put it nicely, it's called social anxiety; to put it bluntly, in psychology, this behavior is known as a lack of confidence.
However, having lived another life, Gu Bai's mindset had undergone significant changes, and he no longer cared as much about these things.
As for why he chose second-class seating even though his bank account already had 0.3 of a small goal, it wasn't out of deliberate low-key behavior. It was simply because the ticket purchase time was too tight, and the first-class seats were already sold out.
Arriving at his assigned seat, the two adjacent seats were still empty. He put his luggage on the rack and immediately put on his headphones to play on his phone.
As a student of the directing department at the Shanghai Theatre Academy, while Gu Bai might not love movies, he was certainly quite interested in them. He often spent his leisure time watching movies. Just as Gu Bai was engrossed in staring at his phone screen, a slightly gentle voice came through his headphones and reached his ears.
"Hey handsome, could you let me through?"
Standing beside him was a rather pretty young woman, with short, sharp hair, dressed quite sexily, though her voice and image seemed a bit mismatched.
Realizing he was blocking someone's way, Gu Bai quickly pulled off his headphones and stood up: "Sorry, I was watching a movie and didn't notice."
The young lady smiled sweetly: "That's okay."
Gu Bai looked at the two suitcases the young lady had and proactively asked: "How about I help you put them up?"
Although helping someone with luggage was just a small effort for a young guy like him, it's still important to ask. After all, maybe the person doesn't need your help?
Sometimes being overly enthusiastic can be seen as having ulterior motives.
"Thank you so much, my luggage is too much, I probably wouldn't be able to do it myself," she said.
Gu Bai smiled lightly, said nothing, and directly placed the young lady's luggage on the rack.
After the young lady sat down, she took out two bottles of drinks from her bag, opened one for herself, and handed the other to Gu Bai: "Have some water. I bought it at the station."
Just as Gu Bai was about to refuse, the young lady started drinking.
With no other choice, Gu Bai accepted the bottle.
After drinking, the young lady turned her head and smiled at Gu Bai: "Let's get acquainted, handsome. I'm Li Yushi. What's your name?"
Though her voice remained gentle, her actions matched her open appearance.
"Gu Bai."
After Li Yushi introduced herself, Gu Bai found that he could suddenly see her attribute panel clearly.
"Name: Li Yushi
Attractiveness: 84
Health: 82
Favor: 50
(All full values are 100. Favorability indicates this person's feelings towards the host, other attributes are self-explanatory.)"
Gu Bai mused inwardly that displaying attractiveness was really unnecessary since he could tell whether someone was attractive at a glance. As for health, well, that's open to interpretation.
The most practical was the favorability bar — it showed at a glance whether someone was genuinely fond of him or just pretending.
Seeing that Gu Bai didn't continue speaking after stating his name, Li Yushi spoke again: "Where are you headed on this trip, Gu Bai?"
Gu Bai turned his head and looked at this stranger he'd just met, feeling a bit perplexed. Are girls these days always this forward? But out of politeness, Gu Bai answered: "To Shanghai, and you?"
"Wow, I'm going to Shanghai too. Looks like we're destined to meet."
Gu Bai subtly scratched his head.
This train is 90% full of people going to Shanghai, so does that mean he's destined with 90% of the people?
"So, what are you going to Shanghai for this time?"
Li Yushi seemed determined to get to the bottom of it.
Gu Bai felt a bit overwhelmed. He could somewhat perceive that Li Yushi seemed interested in him, but he himself had no such feelings towards her. As a self-proclaimed appearance enthusiast, Gu Bai not only possessed extremely high looks himself but also had his own standards for appearance: if someone's score was below 90 on his scale, it was an immediate pass. Clearly, Li Yushi did not meet his standards.
Just as Gu Bai was considering how to fend off Li Yushi, a man's voice suddenly sounded beside them.
"Hello, could you please make some space so I can put my luggage?"
Gu Bai finally had a proper excuse to ignore Li Yushi, and immediately stood up, "Go ahead."
"Thank you."
Only after the luggage was settled did Gu Bai find a moment to assess the man. He looked about twenty-something, roughly the same height as Gu Bai, but his appearance was quite ordinary. He wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses, with the only commendable feature being a somewhat scholarly air about him.
After the young man sat down, he first looked at Gu Bai, then at Li Yushi, who was sitting inside, and with a familiar grin said, "Are you two together?"
Li Yushi glanced at him slightly, without replying. Gu Bai answered, "No, we just met."
Gu Bai could sense that this young man had some thoughts about Li Yushi, which was evident from the way he asked his question.
Although he posed the question to both Gu Bai and Li Yushi, his gaze never left Li Yushi, and his question was quite purposeful. If he gained the information that the two were traveling together, he might not have continued asking. As for now, he was bound to make other moves.
"What a coincidence, it's fate that the three of us, who are the same age, meet on the high-speed train. My name is Ma Ming. That's the 'Ma' from 'the horses go leisurely,' and the 'Ming' from 'The bright moon comes to shine.' What about you?"
Gu Bai had no choice but to reluctantly introduce himself once more, feeling that the word 'fate' was really quite cheap today, though he found this Ma Ming somewhat amusing.
Obviously, those were two common characters, and anyone could know which two as soon as they were spoken. Yet, he had to bring in a couple of phrases from poetry to make his name sound cultured, catching Gu Bai off guard with this sudden display of pretentiousness.
Li Yushi responded with a lack of enthusiasm to Ma Ming's question.
"So, Yu Shi and Gu Bai, where are you two headed?"
As soon as Ma Ming finished asking, Li Yushi couldn't wait to ask Gu Bai again, "Gu Bai, you haven't answered me yet, what are your plans in Shanghai?"
Seeing Li Yushi ignoring him, and instead, eagerly asking Gu Bai, Ma Ming paused, looked at Gu Bai's face, and his gaze flickered under his glasses, but he said nothing more.
Realizing that he couldn't escape Li Yushi's newfound familiarity, Gu Bai rubbed his nose, "Going to Shanghai for my studies."
"What a coincidence! I'm heading there too. It's so dull at home, not nearly as fun as Shanghai. I figured I'd come early to avoid the crowd later. I'm at Shanghai Normal University, what about you?"
"Shanghai Theatre Academy."
Upon hearing Gu Bai mention his school, Li Shiyu burst out in an unrestrained exclamation.
"Wow!
I should have guessed it earlier. With your appearance, it'd be a waste if you didn't become a star!"
Hearing this, Gu Bai merely smiled lightly, saying nothing.
After listening to their conversation and seeing the way Li Yushi looked at Gu Bai differently, a strange feeling stirred within Ma Ming. He joined in, remarking, "Both your schools are among the top in Shanghai. However, I believe that young people should focus more on learning scientific knowledge to contribute to the country's construction and social development in the future.
Today's youth are too restless, always thinking of shortcuts to overnight fame and fortune.
Of course, I'm not specifically targeting your school, Gu Bai. I'm just expressing my thoughts based on the current societal context. If you two ever get a chance, you should visit Zhen Dan University. I can give you a tour."
After hearing Ma Ming's words, Gu Bai furrowed his brows.
To be honest, he hadn't initially had any bad feelings toward him; he was just another stranger. If he liked to show off, that was his business. After this several hours' journey ended, who would remember whom?
However, those words were quite off-putting. It was one thing for him to flaunt his superiority; trying to impress Li Yushi with his school didn't concern Gu Bai. But the condescending attitude he displayed was indeed unpleasant, and all while claiming not to target Gu Bai, almost stepping on Gu Bai's head to elevate himself.
But disgusting as it was, Gu Bai felt it unnecessary to argue with such a person and merely glanced at him coolly, without responding.
Yet Gu Bai ignoring him didn't mean Li Yushi wouldn't. With normal intelligence, she could discern the implications in Ma Ming's speech.
"So, have you contributed to the country's construction yet? What have you done for social development?"
Li Yushi's straightforward tone left Ma Ming momentarily at a loss, but he managed to maintain a composure of casualness while responding, "I'm just an ordinary Zhen Dan student now, but I believe I have the potential to contribute to the nation's progress in the future."
"Oh, seeing you so prideful and bossy earlier, I thought you'd already made some monumental contributions. So it was just all talk, huh?"
People with a more open nature have this trait. If they like something, they like it; if they don't, they don't. Li Yushi was already extremely put off by Ma Ming, who repeatedly interrupted her conversations with Gu Bai.
Although feeling awkward from Li Yushi's mockery, Ma Ming refrained from making any aggressive remarks towards her, choosing instead to redirect his attention to Gu Bai.
"Well, it's not just empty talk. It's merely expressing my ambitions in advance. Don't you think Gu Bai's future dream is to become a big star and make money in the entertainment circle? Isn't that right, Gu Bai?"
Originally planning to put on his headphones and continue watching a movie, Gu Bai observed Ma Ming once again stepping on him to elevate himself, and narrowed his eyes, turning his gaze on him.