CSGM - Chapter 67
Chapter 67: Cavalier
Left in a cloud of exhaust fumes, Chu Xi stood in place thinking for a long time.
How could she have fallen into Ren Zhi's trap?
It was always her who tricked others, but now she herself had been fooled.
Damn it...
She quickly opened her phone and searched for a few math competition problems, solved them all rapidly, and checked that the answers were correct.
"System, come out. Check my panel."
After calling out the System again and confirming that her IQ value and other talent levels hadn't changed, Chu Xi finally felt at ease.
Her IQ hadn't dropped. It really hadn't dropped.
It seemed she had been careless.
She never expected Ren Zhi would do such an unscrupulous, bad thing. She had underestimated her.
Chu Xi had no choice but to sit back down on the mat, look at her phone, gaze at the sky, and wait for her car to return.
Some trainees saw her still sitting there, scanned the surroundings, and didn't see the off-road vehicle the director had given her.
A trainee walked up, confused, and asked, "Chu Xi, where's your off-road vehicle?"
Embarrassed, Chu Xi pressed her forehead. "I let them play with it."
I let Ren Zhi have it!
I fell for her trick!
After the inquisitive trainee left, Chu Xi sat there, her mind blank. Like a typical victim, she kept flashing back to the moment she "misstepped."
-Ren Zhi looked back with a smile, her tone lilting as she said, "Bye-bye."
The summer sun was bright and lingering, spilling onto her face in the memory.
Thinking about it, Chu Xi didn't feel angry at all. Instead, without realizing it, the smile at the corners of her lips deepened.
Chu Xi smiled to herself for twenty minutes, as if her spirit had fallen into another world, completely unaware.
It was the sound of the off-road vehicle's engine and the cheerful shouts of the people inside that pulled her back to her senses.
Fortunately, Ren Zhi still had some conscience. It wasn't long before she drove the car back and waved at her.
Chu Xi walked over and chided, "You finally realized I wasn't in the car?"
Ren Zhi pressed her lips into a light smile and, as if to compensate her, said, "Get in. I'll give you a ride, too."
This time, it was only Ren Zhi and Chu Xi in the passenger seat. As they drove onto the mountain road, Ren Zhi could hear Chu Xi chattering beside her-
"Don't go straight, turn right. That forest is huge, let's go check it out... Why can't we go in? There are other people there. What's the fun of just driving this car on the road?"
Ren Zhi hit the brakes, turned her head, and gave an exasperated laugh.
"Those are bicycles. Of course they have no problem going through the mountain forest. Why don't you take a look at how wide this car is?"
The forests on both sides were overgrown with vegetation. If the off-road vehicle drove in, it would be too easy to scrape it against trees or shrub branches.
"One more word and I'll kick you out."
Ren Zhi warned.
Chu Xi tugged at the ends of her hair and fell silent with an innocent look on her face.
Can't afford to provoke her. After all, she wasn't the one with the car keys.
The winding mountain road ascended, flanked by forests on both sides. The calls of birds and the chirping of cicadas echoed in the empty mountains, like sound waves surging through the sweltering air.
Floating clouds drifted by, the line between bright light and shadow shifting on the asphalt road. Spreading her arms to the sky, it felt as if she were embracing a lapful of sunshine in the car.
The off-road vehicle moved slowly along the road.
The cool summer breeze was delightful. Chu Xi looked left and right, her strong sense of exploration causing her to scan the surrounding forests several times.
A moment later, she silently called out in her mind: "System."
With a "beep," the System came online.
Chu Xi said, "Open the mall for me."
System: "Yes, Host."
The items she could redeem now appeared before her eyes-
Item Name: Primary Advancement Card
Redemption Cost: 5 IQ.
Description: Use this item to upgrade a designated "Primary" talent to "Intermediate."
Item Name: Intermediate Advancement Card
Redemption Cost: 12 IQ.
Description: Use this item to upgrade a designated "Intermediate" talent to "Advanced."
Item Name: Advanced Advancement Card
Redemption Cost: 35 IQ.
Description: Use this item to upgrade a designated "Advanced" talent to "Expert."
Item Name: Expert Advancement Card
Redemption Cost: 100 IQ.
Description: Use this item to upgrade a designated "Expert" talent to "Master."
Item Name: Master Advancement Card
Redemption Cost: 300 IQ.
Description: Use this item to upgrade a designated "Master" talent to "Supreme."
Host's IQ Pool Balance: 51.
And Chu Xi's current Creativity Talent was still "Primary."
What a pity. She was just 1 IQ point short of being able to redeem the "Primary, Intermediate, and Advanced" advancement card trio.
For now, she could only redeem the "Primary" and "Intermediate" advancement cards and tell the System to use them to upgrade her Creativity Talent.
System: "Redemption successful! Host's IQ Pool Balance: 34."
"Creativity Talent upgrade successful... Creativity Talent upgrade successful..."
Chu Xi closed her eyes. A ray of scorching light beat warmly on her eyelids, and suddenly, inspiration struck.
Many novel ideas flashed through her mind like fleeting glimpses. She vaguely felt that her brain's ability to perform concrete visualization had also improved by a fair amount.
Her new panel information refreshed in the System-
Name: Chu Xi.
IQ: 163.
Reasoning Talent: Advanced.
Creativity Talent: Advanced.
Spatial Talent: Master.
Memory Talent: Master.
Observation Talent: Expert.
Calculation Talent: Primary.
Vision Talent: Advanced.
Hearing Talent: Intermediate.
Other Talents: None for now.
(Talent Level Progression: Primary - Intermediate - Advanced - Expert - Master - Supreme)
It seemed the development of her brain had deepened a little more...
Chu Xi: "That's all."
With a "beep," the System went offline at the speed of light.
"Hey." Chu Xi's lips curved up as she turned back and called to Ren Zhi.
"Hm?"
"Find a place to park. I'll make you a souvenir."
Ren Zhi glanced at her and pulled the off-road vehicle over to the edge of the forest on the right.
"Alright."
Ren Zhi hopped out of the car and took a photo of where they had parked, just in case they walked too far and couldn't find it on their way back.
She didn't forget to remind Chu Xi, "Don't go too deep, be careful not to get lost on the way back."
Chu Xi ran ahead without looking back. "Impossible."
To Chu Xi, every tree here was different, and every stretch of road was unique. The landmarks were distinct, so how could she possibly get lost?
Besides, her spatial sense was sharp. As long as she paid a little attention, she could always tell exactly where she was.
But she didn't run far before stopping abruptly. She paused for a moment, then turned back to take Ren Zhi by the hand.
"Come with me. Don't want you getting lost. I'll remember the way."
She thought, what if Ren Zhi didn't know the way? It was truly worrying.
"Okay..."
Ren Zhi just felt that holding hands was a bit awkward. The gesture was too intimate. The lingering warmth from the other person's palm enveloped her fingertips, pressing against her skin.
Was it possible that, while Chu Xi was straight as an arrow, she herself was not?
She usually subconsciously avoided skin contact with people of the same sex.
The reason was-self-awareness and self-consciousness.
At that moment, she discreetly tried to pull her hand back. She had intended to slip it out without a trace, like a swimming fish, but Chu Xi's grip was tight. She tried to pull away a few times, but her hand didn't budge.
Ren Zhi finally spoke up, "It's a little hot." And with that logical excuse, she withdrew her hand.
Chu Xi nodded, her attention focused above her head.
"Oh, then stay beside me. Don't wander off."
She jumped up and broke off a pine branch, and a shower of pine needles rustled down from the trembling branch, sprinkling all over her head.
A miscalculation. She hadn't expected that!
She quickly backed away, shaking her head and patting the tiny pine needles off her shoulders and clothes. Some fell from her hair as well.
She reached up to pat her hair but, frustrated that she couldn't see, she could only lower her head and run to Ren Zhi. "Help me get them out."
"Why are you like a child?" Ren Zhi asked as she helped clean her up.
"A child?" Chu Xi raised an eyebrow, her tone questioning, clearly not approving of the word.
"How old are you, still breaking branches?"
"This has nothing to do with age."
Happiness and freedom are eternal, an objective definition that doesn't change based on a person's subjective will.
People grow old, but objective definitions do not.
Judging someone as childish or mature based on a single hobby? Chu Xi couldn't agree.
A sixty-year-old grandmother and an eighteen-year-old girl can both love playing Candy Crush.
But Ren Zhi wasn't talking about her mentality, but her disposition.
She saw in Chu Xi a clean and pure disposition, like the morning sun on the first spring waters, or when the forests first bloom in spring-ardent and pure. It was something she hadn't seen in those around her for a long time.
I hope she isn't tainted by a place like the entertainment industry.
"Is it clean yet?" Chu Xi urged.
"Almost done, just a moment."
Ren Zhi had to carefully pick the pine needles from between the strands of her hair, trying her best to avoid messing it up.
After gathering a circle of branches and leaves, Chu Xi tore off two large banana leaves, spread them on the dirt ground, and sat down with Ren Zhi.
Ren Zhi twirled a willow twig and asked her during a lull:
"Have you decided which role you're going to compete for?"
Chu Xi, focused on the craft in her hands, answered casually:
"No."
Ren Zhi was slightly taken aback.
She had already been shocked when she heard that Chu Xi was actually turning down outside roles to come here for six months of training.
Shocked that after working so hard to gain some fame, Chu Xi could be so calm and patient, coming here for closed-off, intensive study.
The pay for a third-tier artist isn't low. Filming two shows in six months could often earn several million, though they would most likely be formulaic, mass-produced dramas.
This made Ren Zhi think that Chu Xi must have more far-reaching goals and ambition. She had admired Chu Xi's courage for being able to make such a trade-off.
So much so that she had subconsciously assumed Chu Xi's goals were crystal clear.
But now, Chu Xi had answered her without hesitation that she hadn't even thought about which role to compete for.
Didn't she have her sights set on the big screen?
What? Her specific intentions weren't clear yet?
Ren Zhi offered warmly, "Need some advice?"
There weren't many female roles in this film-basically only three with screen time. Ren Zhi had read the script and, in private discussions with the director, they both agreed that two of the roles were quite suitable for Chu Xi's temperament.
Chu Xi tilted her head, looking at her with considerable interest.
"Then tell me?"
She also wanted to hear what kind of image she had in Ren Zhi's eyes.
"The role of the female general is suitable for you, and the Dancer's role isn't bad either. One is quite heroic, which your features can carry, and the other is an orphan girl in chaotic times, which would be a challenge for you, but the director thinks you could play it well."
A contrast between the role and the actor herself can actually have a greater impact.
Of course, that's based on the premise of competent acting.
"You know the director well," Chu Xi said, raising her eyebrows.
"We're just friends. Besides, I've been on set recently, so he discusses some topics with me."
"And what do you think?" Chu Xi asked, looking at her.
"I think the same as the director." Ren Zhi asked curiously, "Don't you have any ideas of your own?"
"None..."
Chu Xi snapped a twig and said leisurely, "I was originally planning to leave the camp at the end of next month."
"Leave the camp?" Ren Zhi repeated the words, her tone heavy.
Her brow furrowed slightly as she stared at Chu Xi, her face full of confusion.
"Yeah. It's not like I absolutely have to be in this movie. I just came to have some fun. I was going to leave when I'd had enough."
Chu Xi's expression was carefree and nonchalant, but she was telling the truth.
What was her purpose in coming here? To attend classes.
At the end of next month, she would no longer be a teacher. Her job would be done. She originally hadn't planned on staying for the remaining two months to participate in this training, which was like a labor reformation camp...
But then Ren Zhi came to accompany her midway through, so she reconsidered.
She turned her head and said with a grin, "But I did say originally..."
But as her gaze shifted, she suddenly saw Ren Zhi's brow turn frosty and her expression darken. Her words came to an abrupt halt.
Ren Zhi's current expression was like a switch for her heart. The moment it was flipped, her heart reacted instinctively, clenching with tension.
"Ren Zhi... what's wrong...?" Chu Xi felt inexplicably guilty.
She hadn't provoked her.
She hadn't provoked her... right?
Ren Zhi looked straight at her, her gaze lingering on her face for a long time. First, there was anger, then disappointment. Finally, she let out a cold sigh and spoke in a tone of disgust.
"I thought you were just free-spirited, but I never expected you to be truly cavalier."
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